Treasure Box Thursday: Renaissance Plunder

Just a few baubles in the Treasure Box this week! Two items of which were plunder from the Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival I told you about on Sunday.

Their marketplace is filled with everything from replicas of medieval weaponry to jewelry to soaps and candles. Not being in the market for a dagger at the moment, I selected a couple of necklaces, like this one bearing the image of one of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's red-haired maidens...
I also got this shimmering purple pendant made from lab-adjusted minerals...
And beyond the walls of the Renaissance Faire's "Shire," I picked up a curio wall cabinet I'd been looking for for a while to hold some tiny treasures based on Victorian artist John Tenniel's illustrations...
Complete with a dust-resistant glass door, this was more than I had even expected. It was a find from the Salvation Army Superstore in West Mifflin.

And that's it for our teeny Treasure Box this week. I should be back on schedule again this coming week. The Labor Day holiday just threw me a bit off with my posts. Can you believe it's September already?

How does it happen?

Oh, and because I thought it was funny, I'm going to try to start remembering to include my weekly BlueBoy count on my travels (you can read about the running Blue Boy joke here).

This week's Blue Boy Tally?: Two.

Have a great week!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Second Bloggiversaries and Big Thanks

It's "Treasure Box Wednesday" and as we approach September 11-- The Thrift Shop Romantic's second bloggiversary-- I can't think of anything that's really been more of a treasure to me, than having you folks stop by and share your insights and wit these past two years.

It's been a speedy two years, really. Two years full of thrifting and antiquing road trips... And crazy craft projects... And meeting new friends online. We've shared ideas and humor. We've transformed furniture found at the side of the road. We've given orphaned items a home-- and made a bit of a home here, as well.

So I wanted to thank you today for stopping by and pulling up a chair in my virtual parlor... For having some e-tea with me every week, and just for being so kind over the years. I have appreciated each of you more than you probably know. So here's to another year of sharing, recycling, laughing and surrounding ourselves with the things-- and people-- we love!

In honor of the bloggiversary, I've pulled a few posts from the deep, deep archives you all may not have seen-- all the way back to 2006, which in Web years is pretty aged when you think about it. Maybe they'll put a smile on your face for the day ahead.

• Small but Mighty: A Look at Decorative Cherub Rights. Cherubs-- whether they lift lamps, soapdishes, or centerpiece bowls, they work hard to heft things many times their size. What would happen if they unionized? Get a chuckle from the very first ever Thrift Shop Romantic post, as we form the Freedom and Liberation Association for Putti (F.L.A.P). Click here.

• The Sunday Drivers of Thrift Store Art. Inspired by the Museum of Bad Art and other thrift store art galleries, I started decorating inexpensively by picking up Sunday paintings-- mostly landscapes and still-lifes-- during my various thrifting adventures. This post showcases a number of my favorites and talks about the fun of discovering just the right artwork for cheap. Click here.

• One Little, Two Little, Three Little Blue Boys. My friend Scoobie and I have this running joke about the painting Blue Boy. Over the years, it's turned into a practical joke involving Blue Boy themed gifts, from needlepoint Blue Boys to ceramic statuary and other items of questionable good taste. Read about all the silliness here.

• Sweet on Decorative Tins. For those of us who are terrible with wrapping paper, decorative tins-- found easily at thrift stores-- become a great way to wrap things up and give an extra little gift, too-- the tin itself. Check it out here!

• Hominidae Grabbitus. Hold on to your thrifted candlesticks, my friends, as we flashback into a funny, surprising moment where it's woman (me) against a serious thrift-pilferer! The competition can be fierce. Click here.

And if you missed last Sunday's post, where we take a humorous look at a 1940s Spry shortening cookbook, click here.

This coming Sunday, I'll take you along with me on my trip to Lambertville, NJ and New Hope, PA where we flea market, antique and explore.

Thanks for making these two years such a joy!

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Blue Boys

Gainsborough’s Blue Boy has to be one of the most reproduced paintings in the world. I’ve seen it so often at antique malls, that if my housemate joins me on a shopping adventure, we actually keep a Blue Boy tally. It’s like the license plate game. But, you know, with 18th century art.

“Was that six or seven Blue Boys we’re up to now?”

And Blue Boy doesn’t come in just prints, either, oh no! He’s been replicated on everything from jigsaw puzzles and ashtrays to needlepoint and latchhook rugs....

(This needlepoint was an Ebay find-- on the back it reads, “From Grandma to Jeffrey”... Somehow I think Jeffrey wasn’t exactly into yarn crafts of kids in knickers...)

Well, the Counting of the Blue Boys had gone on for quite a good long while. Then one day I found a set of Lefton bisque Blue Boy and Pinky plaques at the Goodwill. And because they were so cheap and made me laugh so hard in the glassware aisle, I bought them-- And promptly gave them to my housemate.

The running Blue Boy joke has moved, fleet-footed. I now have a three-foot-tall Halloween Blue Boy portrait where his face has been replaced by a ghoulish skull. My housemate owns a 30s Blue Boy in an art deco frame, and a seven-inch tall glass figurine. SHE has the idea I should have a wall of just Blue Boy items in a shop someday. I think SHE should have a wall of Blue Boys when she purchases her own house.

Somehow I suspect we’re both going to be up to our bums in Blue Boys.

So I’ve been scanning the thrift stores, looking for the ultimate Blue Boy item to pass along. Because, you know, funny is good, but funny and dirt cheap is really the goal here. So while I still cruise the aisles for proper Thrift Shop Romantic decor, I continue to keep my eyes peeled for that very special Gainsborough goody. I imagine some day soon I’ll stumble on a Blue Boy lunch box, a Blue Boy mousepad. Or, hope upon hope, a Blue Boy on velvet.

My golly, that would be good enough for CHRISTMAS.