Treasure Box Wednesday: Somebody Else's Treasure

I didn't hit the thrifts and antique malls this weekend. My attentions have been directed more toward wrapping up the draft of my humor novel-- which, happily, I have-- all 530-some manuscript pages of it! (Manuscript pages run about 2-1 on actual book pages.)

It's been a long time coming, let me tell ya. So with another good editorial scrubbing of the draft, hopefully soon, I'll have something truly worth sharing. That was my real treasure for this week: positive progress.

That said, "Why is there a giant deer posterior on your romantic decorating and thrifting blog, Jenn?" you ask.

"Ah," I tell you, "I was just getting to that."

Sometimes, my secondhand adventures lead to items that I do not so much wish to come home with me (please no), but which make me happy by their simply existing, and which need to be documented for posterior-- er, posterity and shared with my blogly buddies. Like this... unique... deer trophy.

We might title this, "The One that (Almost) Got Away."

I also spied this original and possibly hand-made with love (because I suspect it couldn't possibly be mass-produced) banana chandelier.
Doesn't it just make you think of the charm of Carmen Miranda?... The calypso musical stylings of Harry Belafonte... the, er, Clyde from "Every Which Way But Loose"?
I never got a chance to mention to you, that big-eyed pig-dog-Carol Channing-looking painting from the Ohio River Boulevard Antique mall we chuckled about in a post not long ago?-- well, that must have found a home somewhere.

After hanging in that mall for months on its third floor, only a week or two after the post here, it was vanished from its spot.

Did some TSR reader fall in love with it here on the blog and need to make it his or her own? Was it artistic admiration at first sight? Was it the so-tactile black velvet surface? Was it due to falling down laughing and saying, "Hey, won't this be a conversation piece when friends come over?"

I'd love to know. So if one of you dear folks felt inspired to install this art in a spot near and dear to your heart, I hope you'll leave a comment and share with us.

I need closure on this.

Well, must run off now-- like a white-tailed deer through the wall of a second-floor antiques booth. :)

Treasure Box Wednesday: Pre-Christmas Thrifting

In spite of the hustle and the bustle of the holidays, the lure of the Red, White and Blue thrift store ended up being a little too strong. So I popped in to see what might await.

The first thing I spied was this set of pretty vintage prints, which I believe will go in my blue sitting room...

If you look at the Queen Anne furniture in the photos, they're almost identical to what I have in that room. In fact, the blue tapestry chair in the print on the right looks like a reverse of my pink arm chair there. I think they'll be a nice addition to the room.

I also came across two Shabby Chic pillows, in great condition and-- HALF OFF!

This made them, oh, $1.50 each. And anyone who's bought Shabby Chic anything knows that even the Target Rachel Ashwell line doesn't end up reduced that much.

And lastly, maybe my brain was thinking ahead-- way ahead-- to summer. But I couldn't resist this awesome vintage strawberry covered tablecloth.

How cute would that be on a table filled with green Depression glass?

The last two things I wanted to show you were not thrifted, they came from an antique store. But I'm really excited about them. While my first floor has some pretty ornate bare bulb art deco/nouveau cast iron chandeliers, my second floor lighting has never wowed me. I have modern, brassy, pseudo-Victorian fixtures in the blue room, my master bedroom and in the hall.

Recently, when a part of the one in my bedroom came off in my hand as I was changing a bulb, well, I knew I needed to make some changes.

So how about these painted, porcelain bare-bulb babies?....
They remind me of the early movie houses and dramatic theaters... so elaborately encrused with detail...
Anyway, I think this will be a big improvement.

And that is where we stand this Treasure Box Wednesday!

To all of you celebrating this holiday season, I hope you have a happy, healthy, merry one!

Signs You Might Be a Vintage Lamp Addict

Hi, everyone. My name is Jenn... and I'm a vintage lamp addict.

(Chorus: "Hi, Jenn!")

I have been picking up interesting old lamps willy-nilly at thrift stores and antique malls for... oh... six years now. But I know I'm not the only one. No, indeed-- studies say Vintage Lamp Addiction affects one in 50. And it is the most popular thrifting addiction right after Wicker Basket Amassment Syndrome, Pyrexia, and Dishaholism.

And so I thought that today, as a Thrift Shop Romantic public service, I would detail for everyone, the top signs that you, too, might suffer from this fascinating yet powerful need for unique yet affordable table lighting.

Signs You Might Have Vintage Lamp Addiction

• Your hands tremble slightly each time you approach a thrift store lighting section

• You pick up chandelier crystals at flea markets and salvage yards "just in case."

• You have three lamps in every room, but only two outlets. And you don't care.
  

• You hoard rewiring kits the way some people collect cats.

• The sight of a box of interesting fennials, or a roll of shade fringe, leaves you a little breathless and dizzy.
  

• When you hear people use the phrase "time to cut the cord" you immediately envision a lamp with a wiring problem.
  

• When you have a lighbulb idea go off in your head, you can also identify the wattage.

• You named your daughter Tiffany after your favorite lamp manufacturer. Her middle name is "Wisteria." Your son's name is Dale.

• You catch yourself checking out the lighting in pubs, those restaurants with all the stuff on the walls, and movie sets.

• For Christmas, some people ask for new socks or jewelry. You request socket sets.

• At the corporate holiday party, you're the only one who comes to the party already wearing the lampshade on your head. You bring spare shades for others.
  

Yes, Vintage Lamp Addiction plugs thrifters into a strange subculture of electricity consumption and unending lamp display rotation. Rehabilitation is rarely successful; addicts find the fascination almost impossible to kick. We see an exciting specimen of lampness and suddenly, we are reaching for our wallets. Before we know it, we are embracing our new find on the way to the car.

We can't help it. You might say, we're simply wired this way!

• If you missed last Treasure Box Wednesday, where we take a look at the latest lamp find, and other less obsessive goodies, click here.

Otherwise, I hope you see your smiling faces here again this coming Wednesday, for more Treasure Box fun!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Gaudy Gorgeousness, Porcelain Pretties and More

I have vintage lamp addiction. And I'm sick enough with this incurable disease that the more outrageous the vintage lamp-- the more geegaws and nubbies and curlicues and crystals that sprout from it-- the more it fills my heart with mad, unbridled joy.

Such was the case this last week at the St. Vincent de Paul as I laid eyes on this 60s table lamp and its great, green, gaudy gorgeousness. I spied it and immediately seized the 20 pounds of lamp from the top shelf, carrying it around the store like Galahad with the Holy Grail... Y'know, once Galahad got his hands on it during the Crusades version of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and took a moment for a celebratory spin around the castle.

(Somewhere I'm sure my Romantic Lit professor is weeping.)


Anyway-- my triumphant glee undoubtedly shone to my fellow shoppers, too-- whose attention was caught by the big, goofy grin on my face. Or... um... the massive green, brass and marble protuberance cradled in my arms.

I braced myself for criticism. And such is my Lamp Mania that I was prepared to defend my obvious lack of taste with a bit of wit and self-awareness... I mean, I KNOW it's a singularly unnatural example of interior lighting...

And that's really the point, isn't it?

Only my fellow shoppers smiled back kindly and confided to me, "Now THAT is a beautiful lamp."

One by one: smile and... "THAT is a beautiful lamp."

Perhaps they were just humoring an obviously very sick woman. Maybe they didn't want me to flip out and.... I don't know... start flinging Pyrex in the Housewares section while speaking in tongues...

But it didn't really sound that way. Could it be the gaudy lamp is having an underground resurgence?

Whatever the case, with this fine example of 60s schmaltz in my possession, I admit, I was riding a bit of a shopping high. Could anything else rival the discovery of my Great Green Beauty?

Well, no. But I did find some stuff I certainly wouldn't trade. Like this delicate "Made in Japan" handpainted mantle statue...



Pretty as a picture!


And some Irish linens I plan to use for a bit of a St. Paddy's display this year. Irish potato soup anyone?...


I found an Imperial Grape milk glass goblet, which I plan to put away for my family friend who collects this pattern (I'll amass a nice big box of it for her over the course of the year!)...


And I found a couple of books that I do believe will make for some funny features for the future...


So all-in-all, it was a faboo week for thrifting. Thanks for joining me for the second weekly Treasure Box Wednesday, (click here if you missed last week's installment) and I wish YOU all the little treasures that make life special. Hope to see you again soon.