Windmill Fever

Windmill Fever...It's a lot like spring fever, only way more expensive. It happens when I see windmill parts. Every windmill tail I saw seemed more awesome than the last. I purchased most of these from Ed in Nebraska on my spring break buying trip, click here to read about my other spring break purchases.

So I ended up bringing home EIGHT tails from my buying trip to Nebraska.

Most have graphics on both sides. 

I love the bullet holes in this one.

I think that two of them were manufactured in Fairbury, Nebraska

and the Dempster one was manufactured in Beatrice, Nebraska.

Ed said that this was the rarest one, made by Woodmanse of Freeport, IL.

 

And, I even got feverish enough to buy EIGHTEEN windmill wheel sections. For y'all who are not windmill savvy (myself included in that) this translates to three full wheels of windmill blades. Ed informed me that two of these wheels were Dempster Brand blades. I will be selling them in half circles (composed of three sections each).

I already mentioned my last purchase in a previous post...which is a windmill weight.  It is my keeper.  Made by Dempster, of Beatrice, NE.  I am trying to figure out where to best display it in my house.


Both gentlemen that we purchased from were in awe of my husband's packing job.  It all made it inside the van except for some windmill wheel sections which were tied on top.  Pretty impressive.

Two Vintage Window Wall Hangings

I have been doing some MAJOR spring cleaning.  Garden shed, house, yard, back porch and antiques shed.  I have uncovered some items that were totally lost in space and time (i.e. I had forgotten them.)  These two windows fell under that category.

One of my many reasons for purging now is knowing that after "buying season" begins I won't have much time for projects.  I love this size and shape of this type of window, because I know that they make perfect wall decorations.  But they don't just get that way magically, it takes time.

Major cleaning.  I know that it least one of this pair actually came out of a barn.  I was lucky enough to have a couple of the vinyl cling decorations on hand, but one was very light and needed some backing to make it pop.

So I thought of my paintable wallpaper that I had leftover from my bathroom renovation.  I did not paint it for this project, because I wanted it to be white. 

I actually got it wet so that the paste would activate, and pasted it to a cardboard piece cut to fit the back side of the window.

I left the old hinges on the top to add some character, and actually threaded the wire through parts of one for hanging.  I love the pale aqua chippy paint on this one.

Spring Break Vintage Purchases

I shared on an earlier post that we had spent the week before Easter travelling to Nebraska on a buying trip.  Primarily I purchased from two gentlemen that I had met on my buying trip last year.  I had called them ahead of time, and they assured me they had a lot to sell.

Richard & Ed in central Nebraska.  I love these guys!  They are so kind, patient and helpful.  I purchased this windmill weight from Ed.  It wasn't cheap, but it won't be for resale -- EVER.  Happy Easter, Birthday (and maybe Christmas) to me.  I purchased quite a few windmill related items from Ed, click here to see those.


Richard met me at Ed's house and brought me a truckload of stuff that he thought I may be interested in.  And for the most part he was spot on.  I love the old farm related stuff.

Two complete iron beds, these two iron wheels and

several rusty smaller wheels.

Two implement seats, wooden handled shovels, buckets,

cast iron containers, lovely iron spigot on the left of the tree.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and absolutely packed the van.

I didn't mind paying a bit more for the privilege of a private showing. 

Thank you Richard!

Spring Break Buying Trip To Nebraska

When we left on Wednesday for our buying trip, it was none too soon.  Half of my vintage booth was resting on the floor because I had literally had no furniture in my stash to replace what had sold over the weekend.  Time to make some purchases.

Our first stop was in Lincoln at my friend Cindy's house first.  I found the perfect furniture piece to get all those smalls off of the floor of my booth. We enjoyed a pleasant 62 degree lunch with my dad and his wife in Lincoln (and emptied our van at their house) before we headed further west.  The temperature dropped 20 degrees in 20 minutes as we went westward ho. 

By the time we checked into our hotel room on Wednesday night, the sky looked like this.  I have seen a lot of skies in my time, but never one like this.  Big storm a-comin'.

And the next morning looked like this!  This is not fake snow in the background people!  Some spring break!  Actually the sun came out on Thursday morning, so it was not too bad.  We spent Thursday morning buying from some friends (more on this in the next post -- let's just say we stimulated the economy in Nebraska.)

Then Thursday afternoon we explored downtown Hastings.  There is so much beautiful architecture in the downtown area. 

We visited a downtown  bakery twice in 24 hours.  YUM.

We visited a couple of fun antique shops. 

I went to a great little shop that sold original art from local artists, as well as bags and jewelry from other countries. 

Click here to view the awesome loot I came home with from this buying trip to Hastings, Nebraska.

Plain Dresser Turned Awesome -- Furniture Redo "AUSTIN"

I don't believe this little guy could have been any more plain.  Back around the 1970s he was given a weird two step treatment: to make worn wood look "new" again, they painted a kind of orangish tan base coat, then a varnish coat over that.  This was supposed to simulate wood (like the wood that was hiding underneath).  Anyway, the top varnish layer had mostly peeled off, exposing the orangish base coat -- UGH.

 

So I had no qualms giving the dresser a coat of white chalk paint -- almost dry brushed it on because I wanted just a very thin layer.  When it dried I did very light distressing, it was already a little flaky. 

If I would have had more time I may have given it a coat of light brown wax -- but being blessed with 55 degrees on winter day, I had to try to finish two pieces of furniture in one day. 

 

I had been hanging on to these well-worn license plates for awhile, waiting for a nice flat-front dresser to use them on.  I switched out the ugly painted knobs for some nicely aged oak ones. 

I thought the whole thing looked a little masculine, so I named him "Austin" with a nod to the 1956 Texas license plate.

First Fairy Garden Of The Year

Unbelievable warm weather.  Birds chirping. Sun shining.  Flowers bursting.  Spring everywhere you look....Easter in a few days.  And I was in a mood to whip up a Fairy Garden.  A fairy good mood.   

This little pixie wanted to live in a garden of clear colored glass chunks. 

A goose lives behind the fence with a little pond.  The tiny pine tree is something of a bonsai -- it has been mowed over (probably not proper bonsai technique) for several years, and now is content with just being tiny.

His garden will fill out a little more as the summer progresses,

but will need very little maintenance because of using succulents.

 

As always, I used a roasting pan base.

They are a good size and easy to move around.

SOLD before Easter!

Missouri License Plate Empire Library Table -- Furniture Redo "JEFFERSON"

I bought this table way back in September or October, and did not get inspired to do anything with it because it had damage to the veneer on top. 

I love me some empire furniture, but damaged veneer really takes the wind out of my sails.

During my "license plate phase" when I was slapping license plates on everything, it occurred to me that I could plaster the top of this baby with license plates. 

Very manly looking, so I named this piece "Jefferson" (also after Missouri's capital city).

Once I decided to do that, things really got rolling.  I decided to use all Missouri plates (which I had on hand) in multi-colors.  I really like the finished product, and would probably do this simple fix to another damaged top.

Batch #1 Of Vintage Planters To Sell -- Printed Tin Canisters

Yeah, I know that it is a little crazy preparing succulent planters to sell in the middle of March.  But, that is just the kind of spring it has been. 

Crazy warm weather with no hard frost in sight.  I have to take advantage of everyone getting spring fever and get some planters ready to sell.

My succulent beds have overwintered great.  They are not very mature yet, but I can't let that slow me down. 

I purchased a flat of dianthus to give the pots some color.  The succulents I am planting and the dianthus can all take a soft frost without damage. 

For this first round of planters I chose vintage tin canister planters.  I had several that I had saved for this spring.

Selling vintage planters before Easter?  I've done crazier things.

Estate Sale Pictures & Frames

Day two (half price) of an estate sale...you know the drill.  Wait in line, run to that item that you are hoping is still there...

Fortunately my quarry on this particular day was not just a singular item.   Several prints and many frames had caught my eye the day before. 

So I told my husband to make a dash and see how many of those he could gather up. 

(This print is titled "Devotion" and dated 1888)

I have a few painted frames in my booth at the Rusty Chandelier, but NONE in my stockpile at home -- so these could not have come at a better time.

Look at the patina and detailing on this frame!

Making A Potting Area While The Sun Shines

I shared in an earlier post (click here) that I had collected (hoarded) vintage rusty items for early spring sales.  When I was able to get that area cleared, it was time to begin prep for spring planting. 

I enjoy collecting vintage containers to use as planters for the succulents that I grow.  After July every potential planter that I collect gets carefully stored (more like piled and crammed) in the garden shed or anywhere else I can find space.

So in the early spring I need to confine all these containers to one easy outdoor spot to access.  Last year I used the area in back of my garden shed for that purpose, and it worked out so well that I will be doing that again.

Since there is no permanent shelving back there, it is pretty much composed of whatever shelves were in my winter stash pile.  Then I spent the afternoon gathering up all of the containers I had stashed. 

And as always...still room for the "spectators" by the basketball court.