Putting On My Big-Girl Pants

So far this year I haven’t purchased anything for my store! Not one thing. I’m only allowing myself a few sourcing trips this month and the two I’ve done so far were total busts. I considered going to a rather posh estate sale about 10 miles away but most of the items were large (furniture, rugs, statues). Not my thing.

Instead of hours of sourcing and dealing with “new” finds, I’ve been sloughing through piles of previous purchases and getting them listed in my Etsy store. Not as fun as sourcing (vast understatement) but it feels good. Real good. And some piles are dwindling. 😉

Store listing highlights…

I finally listed this antique cast iron “bear stealing pig” bank that I bought in October. I had dithered on listing this because I was trying to find similar ones with the same manufacturing number that would point me to its maker. No luck. Still with my research (including a guy who knows banks) I had enough info to list it.

I also listed six teneriffe (spider or needle) lace coaster/doily pieces. I bought these in November thinking I might put them on our Christmas tree. I didn’t, but decided these delicate beauties are perfect for upcycling.

Last spring I received a huge number of hankies in a mystery linen lot. I’ve been slowly listing them, but finally decided to group the remaining ones in a huge crafter’s hanky lot. Some of these had tiny condition issues, but were too nice to throw away. Others were in good condition, but not worth listing individually. All have embroidery or other embellishments.

From time to time I buy songbooks and sheet music though I know nothing about them. Years ago I bought this 1940 “Boogie Woogie Piano Styles” songbook at an estate sale for a buck thinking my budding pianist daughter might be interested in it. She wasn’t. So I kept the book in one of my piles. Today I unearthed it and happily discovered that it had more value than I thought. Cool!

I decided to bite the bullet and list my “begging spaniel” jug as Staffordshire-style because, after hours of research, I still can’t decide if it’s a true Staffordshire piece or not. (Here’s the post I wrote on trying to figure it out.) It is hand painted, has a bit of age and is quite appealing.

This Art Nouveau-era sterling calla lily bracelet is a scarce La Pierre that I bought over a year ago. It’s an old piece perfect for smaller hands and wrists.

January sales highlights…

January sales tend to be a bit of a letdown after the hurly burly of November and December, but still things are selling so I’m happy.

Was glad that this wonderful green confetti lucite set finally found a new home. I bought this at an estate sale two years ago.

At the same estate sale I bought this sweet vintage green gingham apron. I have other aprons to list but may group them into lots as they really aren’t worth the effort to list individually.

Individual charms continue to sell, including this heavy, detailed Danecraft one.

This carved pot (a December thrift store find) sold in the blink of an eye.

So no fabulous finds yet this year, but I’m glad to be making progress at cleaning up my backlog. I feel like I’ve put on my big-girl pants and am starting the year right.

Would love to hear if you’ve been finding lots of goodies.

As always, happy hunting,

Karen