Happy Monday to all!

Hope you found some treasure this weekend.

This sweet little angel wins my Find of the Weekend award. I shopped with my mother on Friday, and we checked out a shop in the Lakeside area, an old retail hub that we love.

This neighborhood is where Mom hauled  my brother and I to the grocery store when we were kids. It has been recreated into a vintage shopping area.

It's a great place to take Mom, who is 84 and doesn't have the shopping stamina that she once had.

This precious girl was in the 25 cent bin at McAdoo's Thrift.

She is in perfect shape with no breaks. Her name is Margaret, written at the bottom of her skirt. She carries a tiny black poodle and of course she has gold wings. She is stamped Made in Japan.

She will be coming soon to OneCoolCentury on etsy.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/OneCoolCentury?ref=hdr_shop_menu

If you are close to RVA, check out Lakeside Avenue. Best best are McAdoo's, Vintage Pottery and Glass, RVA Antiques, and Pass It On. And , if you are hungry, have an empanada at Los Gauchos or a bbq at Virginia BBQ.

Wishing you an angel kind of day!

If you read this morning's post, you know that today was a thrifting day for me and my friend Julie. We hit our favorite spots, CHKD Thrift and two GoodWills.

Didn't find as much today as last time, but I did score a glass baby bottle, an Inarco Santa mug with its foil sticker on the bottom, and a miniature blue mixing bowl.

I thought the mixing bowl, priced at $2.25 in the GoodWill, might be a repro, but for that price, I
was willing to take a chance.

I brought it home and set it next to my large blue bowl that I paid $55  for in an antique shop in Florida. They are virtually identical except for size. My new tiny bowl is the real deal!

I love a rainy day! Especially after a dry spell when the thirsty flowers and grass just seem to drink it in. It's that kind of morning in RVA, and it's a good day because I'm going thrifting!


First I have to share a photo of another treasure that I found in my house. This antique fan came from Asia long ago and it belongs to my neighbor.

I thought I couldn't list it for her online because I believed it to be an ivory fan.

Did some research and learned that these fans were carved from bone, from water buffalo or oxen.

So this beauty is going in my etsy shop Pastel Vintage in just a few minutes, as soon as I pour my second cup of coffee.

Have a good day everyone, and happy treasure hunting!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Pastelvintage?ref=hdr_shop_menu

As promised, here is a report on yesterday's thrifting. It was fabulous, as it always is when I take my friend Ruth Ann. As you can see, she is a very serious thrifter.

We visited the local Salvation Army and one of our favorite GoodWills and found lots of treasure. Highlights included smocked baby dresses for Pastel Vintage and this great old Italian nativity set in pristine condition, which is coming soon to Oddballs Antiques.

And the weekend is just beginning. Happy treasure hunting, everyone!

Another garage find!

I was digging through an unlabeled plastic tote and found a leftover container filled with costume jewelry, wrapped in paper towels. Pretty scientific filing system, don't you think?

The beauty of my total disorganization is that I find surprises every day!

So today's surprise is this amber paste rhinestone brooch. It's a large piece, measuring over 2" across.

Yummy fall colors!

It will be listed by tomorrow morning, in Pastel Vintage on etsy.

Now I'm off to pick up Ruth Ann, one of my best shopping buddies and hit the Salvation Army and the Goodwill.

Wish me luck!


https://www.instagram.com/onecoolcentury/

Garage shopping today in my own garage. I was looking for my shabby and adorable "Pastel Vintage" sign which I cannot find anywhere. But look what I did find! 

A wooden peg doll , all original; 2 boxes of West German aqua ornaments; a vintage Christmas towel; a Christmas tray, an amber swung vase; and a 60's milk glass coffee jar! The item on the right with tulips on top is one of those baskets that people used to make out of greeting cards. Not sure how old it is, but I will enjoy studying the illustrations on the cards to figure it out.

This was WAY more fun that scrubbing the kitchen floor! 

Happy Friday! An approaching weekend means yard sales, estate sales, and more treasure possibilities.

I kicked off the weekend with a quick stop in a local thrift store here in Henrico County, Aggie's Attic. This is a delightful tiny hole in the wall that is sponsored by a group of local churches. They support the food pantry where I volunteer, so I do try to stop in occasionally.

Today they had treasure with my name on it. Red polka dots and old baby shoes... these are a few of my favorite things! Isn't this apron the cutest ever?

Can't wait to clean these up! Happy weekend, all!

Seems that I write about the weather a lot. Does the weather influence shopping habits? I'm not really sure.

I certainly would not have expected to find a sale on the day that a tropical storm, recently known as Hurricane Hermine, hurried through RVA. No serious effects, but the day has been gray and rainy, with 2 brief power outages ( so far!).

So I was surprised when, returning home from the dry cleaners, I saw a fresh and only barely wet Garage Sale sign. I turned my car to follow the sign's arrow without even giving it a thought.

At the end of the arrow, I found a rain soaked front yard with some mediocre furniture and 3 tired looking people sitting in it. Can I go inside? I asked. Yes, please, they replied. Inside, I found a small and tumbledown house that looked as if it had been looted. Things were kind of tossed everywhere and none of them had prices. This could either be very bad, or very good.

I went quickly through the downstairs rooms and found nothing exciting. Even the kitchen was picked clean. Is there anything in the attic? I asked. The tired looking woman in charge said that she   really didn't know, but that I was welcome to go up there. An unfamiliar attic on a rainy day? Fabulous!

I enjoyed combing the attic, but didn't find anything that really needed to go home with me. I rechecked the kitchen and headed outside. Not one shed, but three! Seemed like more shed space than house space. Sniffing for McCoy flower pots, I headed into the first shed. Pretty empty. The second one was the same. In the third shed, I found an interesting box. Full, not of flower pots, but of old kitchen items. At some point in the past, the homeowner had apparently updated her kitchen, bought new stuff from Target, and banished her MidCentury treasures to the third shed.

I returned to the house with a few things. I told the woman that there was a great box of depression glass in the smallest shed, and that  it might fetch some good prices if she wanted to bring it inside. She looked at me as if I needed medication. Not worth it, she said and then elaborated. Her mother had moved with her to Florida; they had all they wanted out of the house; she was not going to have another sale; the rest of the stuff was  going " onto the swale".

So, for a dollar, I bought a few delightful old kitchen pieces. My favorite is the small red Pyrex leftover container with a lid. It is a piece that I have longed for over the past few years.

Since I returned home, we have had more rain and another power outage, now over. I may go back over after dark and see if I can find "the swale". it may have some good stuff on it.

A pretty good day of thrifting today in RVA!

First, I've had some questions about the pretty quilt doll that I posted this morning, so here is a link to find out more about her.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/459467396/vintage-decorative-doll-handmade-quilt?ref=shop_home_active_2

She is a pretty girl.

Now, back to today. My best thrifting buddy Julie and I started out early. Our first stop was a suburban Goodwill in the more affluent end of our county. They were stuffed full of treasure!

My best finds were a Razor scooter for our grand daughter for $5.45, a vintage European BMW
 t shirt for my BMW driving son, and a Mid Century salt and pepper set which are POTATOES! Cute little baked potatoes, with   sour cream and pats of butter, with their paper Japan s ticker still on the bottom.

I also brought home a nice floral print ironstone platter. I KNOW that I have seen this pattern before , but WHERE? The back says only "Naomi".  Would love to hear from anyone with info on this pattern!

No chips or cracks. It does have some brown burn marks, but I'm pretty sure I can bleach these away; that usually works for me. It was the half price color of the week, so it cost $1.85. Yea!

Our second stop was another Goodwill closer in to the city. Slimmer pickings here. I did get 4 ruby glass etched plates, perfect for Christmas cookies. Again, they were the half price color, so they cost about $1.10 for all  4.

We took a break for lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, conveniently located along Broad Street, which is Thrifting Central in my area.  After refueling on taco salads, we headed to what is my current favorite thrift store, CHKD, which supports a cancer hospital for kids. LOVE their merchandise, their adorable salespeople, and the fact that  those of us over 55 receive 25% off on Thursday!

We had a fabulous time and found MUCH treasure!

Check out this sweet little potty chair with a lamb decal on the back. It folds up for storage. So cute and in nice condition.

I wondered if someone had brought in a load of old baby items, because I also bought a vintage nursery jar with a milk glass lid and pale blue character running around the edges, very sweet.

If you frequent my Etsy shop, Pastel Vintage, you know that I adore old baby things.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Pastelvintage?ref=hdr_shop_menu

I also bought a plastic bag stuffed with old sewing notions, pink rickrack and lace hem tape. They will probably be a surprise gift for my friend Ruth Ann who collects such things.

So a great thrifting trip in RVA, with Mexican food to boot. I continue to be a lucky girl.





Follow me on instagram to see more of my vintage treasures.

https://www.instagram.com/onecoolcentury/

Thrifting today with my shopping partner Julie. Have to get another trip in before the Back to School shoppers descend on the stores. Love them and have been one myself; just don't like it when the  checkout lines get longer.

Hope to report later on some treasure! Have a good day, everyone!

Today's eye candy is from a great treasure hunt of a year ago; met with my fellow booth renter MM in the parking lot behind our antique mall and shopped out of the back of her car. Great treasure and great fun! Haven't heard from her and praying she is ok.

Happy Friday! Hope you are looking for estate sales today and yard sales tomorrow!  On the East Coast, there may be fewer shoppers tomorrow due to the extreme heat. Go early, take your water  bottle, and your vigilance may pay off.

I haven't been treasure shopping lately, because I have had a special shopping partner visiting me, our 4 year old granddaughter.

She loves to shop, but she is not the easiest girl to take to a treasure sale, so we have limited our excursions to the grocery store and shops that sell things in her size. She wants EVERYTHING.

Our Kroger Maarketplace was actually an easy place to take her for clothes and pink shoes, and she got a cupcake in the bargain.

Sometimes a sale is just a dud. Nothing fun to see, nothing fun to buy, nothing fun to write about.

That was the case this morning.

The good news is that my wallet weighs the same as when I left home, and I have more time to play with the treasure that is already filling my shelves and closets.

So here is a little eye candy for you from this morning's efforts, treasure from better sales gone by.

Everyone have a fabulous weekend and happy treasure hunting wherever you are!

100 degrees in RVA today, so it has been a good day for indoor projects. 

SO... I have been working on the box of vintage clothing that I found in my parents' attic.

 Turns out, the orange Norman Wiatt belonged to my great aunt, not my mother. Today, I worked on this handmade PINK gingham sailor dress that my Mom wore about 1949. It is way too small for my size 8 mannequin. I have ironed it for an hour this afternoon, and I am nowhere near finished!

Hope you have all ready this morning's post about finding the box of vintage clothes in my parents' attic. Today was a busy day, so I only have  one dress ready to photograph. It is a 1960's Norman Wiatt, made of a slub finish fabric which may be silk. I'll probably sell this one because I'm not an orange fan.

It's pretty cute and in excellent condition.

GREAT treasure hunt this morning in one of my favorite places to hunt ... my parents' attic.

Some of you know that a recent thunderstorm here in RVA bought down 11 big old trees in my parents' yard. One landed smack on the roof, causing significant damage.  Roofers sealed the opening with tarps, and starting next week, half of the roof will be replaced.

This morning, in advance of the roofers, I went to the attic to cover the treasure in the back half of the  attic with tarps, shower curtains, sheets, and whatever else I could find, in order to keep the black tar particles off of things when the roofers are working. Not an easy job on a hot morning, but I am truly always happy in that attic.

I had been working for about an hour and had moved lots of treasure to the front of the attic for safety, including green stemmed depression glass and some of my father's antique fishing tackle. I was wearing out and thinking of a cold glass of lemonade when I spied  a box that I had never seen before. It was in the far back corner of the attic with 40 years of junk in front of it, which makes me think that this may be the FIRST box that my father moved into the attic  in 1971 when my parents bought this house.

The box appeared clean and dry which meant that whatever was inside was probably pristine. Ok, I told my tired hot self. Got to climb over the old stroller, box of curtains and hobby horse and get to that box. I was not disappointed.

It turned out to be a heavy box from Miller and Rhoads, the iconic Richmond VA department store of the 40's through the 80's. This box was heavy and hard. I knew that it predated our move to this house. It wasn't easy to move, as it was about 3 1/2 ft. long and about 2 feet deep. I finally got it moved to where I could remove the lid and    I found TREASURE inside.

It contained some amazing old dresses of my mother's, dresses that she wore in her 20's.  One turned out to be the lavender cotton number that she wore on her first date with my father in 1949. It also contained several tiny dresses that belonged to me, including a Cinderella sailor dress from about 1957. I also found a baby dress of   my mom's, a couple of tiny blouses that were mine, and an old railroad cap that belonged to my grandfather.

Perhaps the piece de resistance was a tiny cotton bib apron. My mother wore it to cook as a little girl and a generation later, so did I.

The old Miller and Rhoads box had served as a secure chamber for these treasures, and I felt as if I had found a time capsule, linking me to several periods of my past.

Sorry there are no pictures yet, but I will post pics as I get the items freshened and displayed.

I will sell a few pieces but mostly I will probably keep these treasures and enjoy them another day.

Haven't written in a while. I truly haven't had any great shopping adventures lately, but I plan to make up for that soon.

I have had fun this morning playing Christmas. Temps in RVA this week have been in the mid 90's, so why not think of Christmas and cool off, right?

I tend to buy so much Christmas treasure throughout the year that, when the busy season arrives, I don't have time to see what I have and decide what to display and what to sell. So, a new tradition... Christmas in July.

I have been   sorting and listing and have  definitely found some treasure right here in my own relatively cool basement.

Here's just one example: a sweet Lefton angel, complete with her foil sticker. She reminds me of the Swedish angels who wear a candle wreath, or crown, or something like that, on their blonde heads.



ref=shop_home_feat_2https://www.etsy.com/listing/205653759/lefton-angel-christmas-candleholder?ref=shop_home_feat_2

Stay cool everyone and get those Christmas decorations organized while there is still time.

I didn't have any eye candy to add to that last post, so here is a bit of pretty for today:

This is the chenille bedspread that I bought for $2.00 at the church
megasale in Kilmarnock 2 weeks ago.  It cleaned up very nicely!

Unexpected treasure hunts! Sometimes they are the best. This morning, I reluctantly helped my husband Paul pick up his truck from a repair appointment. I would much rather  have stayed home, had another cup of coffee, and played with old stuff, but, grumbling a bit, I helped him out.

On the way to the repair place, I spied an estate sale sign; surprising on this Memorial Day weekend. I delivered Paul to pick up his truck and on  the way home, I decided to check the sale out. I drove into a residential neighborhood to find a modest home with a for sale sign in the yard and an estate sale sign beside it. I parked, called my husband and told him I would be a few minutes late getting home. He decided to join me. Trouble was, I hd no idea which  street I was on... I had just followed the estate sign. I brake for estate sales, as the bumper sticker says.

I approached a solemn looking elderly gentleman sitting under  his carport and asked what street I was on. He looked at me as if I might have a mental defect, but he did give me the info I needed for Paul.  With the ice broken, I began to talk to the man and his daughter.

By the time Paul arrived, I knew that the man's wife had died in April, that he had retired from driving a beer truck, and that he had been a committed golfer. His daughter was cool at first, but warmed up when she offered to sell me the entire contents of her mother's gardening shed for $1.00.

Forty five minutes later, Paul and I wished the golfer the best of luck for his move to Texas to live with the daughter on her goat farm. I had scored a Mattel Baby 1st Step in near mint condition, aqua  vintage glass, and a vegetable bowl in Homer Laughlin Virginia Rose, along with a boatload of potting soil from the shed.

Paul, my usually reluctant shopper, bought a leaf blower and a Calloway golf bag. We both went home smiling.

This afternoon, I took my elderly neighbor to the doctor. She often comes up with interesting treasures for me to  consign for her. Today, she  found more ivory which her mother brought back from Japan in the late 1940's, just after World War II. In previous blog posts, I have written about her amazing collection of treasures from the east, which she stores in drawers while displaying her Beanie Babies. No accounting for taste!

Today, I brought home an ivory cigarette holder, an ivory fan, and a pair of ivory hair pins. Beautiful stuff. Will have to do a bit of research before doing anything with these.

So... lots of treasure hunting today, all in a day's errands.

After two  crummy weeks of weather, May has finally arrived in RVA. Gorgeous weather yesterday and this morning... flowers and birds... green grass... magnolia blossoms... all the stereotypes of Virginia in the spring time. All true!

I just arrived home from a short trip to Venice, Florida, one of my repeat shopping spots. All of my regular treasure spots did me proud once more!

At Emmeline's Antique Mall in Palmetto, I bought some beautiful china for beautiful prices.  My brother scored a walnut fern stand for $20.

At the Venice  Salvation Army, I bought some vintage pyrex, and my mom found a chocolate pot, Bavarian and beautifully painted. The lid has a crack but she has an attic full of lids, so that isn't a major problem.

I also brought home this pretty girl that I bought at Emmeline's    in the winter. Couldn't bring her home then because I was flying. Since this  time we made a road trip, she is now residing in my Etsy room. She has a new dress and shoes, and we are still shopping for socks, panties and a bonnet. Maybe a coat when she gets cold! Guess I will name her Emmeline.

Prologue to this post... Last week in Tidewater, Virginia, it rained. A lot. This explains my lack of enthusiasm last Saturday as we drove an hour and a half to Kilmarnock, Virginia to meet friends at an outdoor sale.

My friend Megan moved to Kilmarnock 2 years ago to accept an assistant rector position at Grace Episcopal Church in Kilmarnock. Every year, the church has what Megan has described as a yard sale. Last year, we had another commitment on the day of the event, so this year we decided to make the sale priority in order to see our friends.

The trouble was that Kilmarnock had just had 5 days of tornado warnings, thunderstorms, and downpours. Could an outdoor sale be possible after all the rain?

Yes, it turned out, yes, yes , yes!

The sale, I learned, has outgrown the church parking lot, so it is held at a YMCA camp on the banks of the Rappahannock River. Grace Church collects , prices, and sorts donated goods all year. Church members donate warehouses and storage spaces. The man hours involved are enormous. But the church does not keep the fruits of their labors. All the money from the sale is poured into charities in the community.

Goods are divided into categories, and a team works on each category. For example, the Linen Sisters work all year to sort donated bedspreads, sheet sets, tablecloths, curtains, and so forth. Damaged linens are discarded.

It took us 45 minutes to get a mile down  muddy Boys' Camp Road into the sale. Finally we came in sight of a large field with camp cabins all around it and merchandise as far as the eye could see. And what merchandise it was! There is some affluence in the Kilmarnock community and it definitely showed up in the merchandise...high end appliances, designer shoes and handbags, antiques, Gullah baskets, quality sports gear. Treasure old and new.

In an hour and a half, I had accumulated a pink chenille bedspread, old embroidered hand  towels and pillowcases, a large Bagellini travel bag, $200 boots, shoes, and a load of books.

Our friends took home a recliner and a dishwasher.

We took a break watching the  river go by. Other than muddy shoes, we suffered no damage from the high water in the field.

When the sale was over, gleaners from local charities drove through the mud looking for leftovers that they could use or sell. I watched Boy Scouts load a golf cart onto a flatbed and shovel up old luggage with an earthmover.

And in two weeks, preparations for next year's' sale will begin.

I plan to be there, on Boys' Camp Road, rain or shine.