Steve Allen & the Fairy Godmother in a Box

Between the holidays and the weather, we’re traveling further afield this month to find sales. Last week we drove to the little town of Sublimity (is that not a great name for a town?) for an estate sale, and lucked into a second one while we were there.

I think I need a keeper though. or at least need to stop talking to everyone and pay attention to the stuff I buy. I paid for things at both sales that didn’t make it home with me, dang it. We’re talking about a total of $2 in merchandise, so I’m not going broke because of it, but in both cases I wanted the items. So from now on I’m planning to take two of my canvas bags along – one to leave in the car to put purchases in, and the other to take in to the sales with me to hold everything until I get it ALL back to the car.

But while I didn’t get home with the cute little wooden Steinbach ornament or the DVD of Steve Allen teaching a jazz piano lesson (I’m REALLY sorry about that one, the copies I’m seeing online are about thirty bucks!), it turned out to be that proverbial ill wind. I texted KK that I was missing some items, and she did a thorough search of her car. Alas, did not find the DVD or ornament, but she did find her missing sunglasses, and the little case of Stickum I lost out of my pocket weeks ago.

And the sales were fun, and I still made it home with some good stuff. Here’s an example of the fun: KK trying on the Mr. Magoo glasses at our second stop.

I gleaned a few vintage textiles, including this beautifully embroidered linen runner.

 
Even though the Steinbach ornie didn’t make it home, this silver plated running gnome did.

He got much shinier after a bit of polishing.

Two and a half yards of lovely wool fabric for a couple of bucks, and I think it might possibly be Pendleton.

Couldn’t resist this framed picture of Hobbes the tiger.

On the back, someone had taped a plastic sleeve with the original strip it came from, which came out in 1992.

The second estate sale was handled by the family, who had the sad task of clearing out their parents’ house. Dad had been a piano tuner and there were several items connected to his profession for sale. And that Steve Allen DVD.

I fell in love with this vintage planter.

She’s currently holding the pens, pencils, scissors and knitting needles I keep on my desk. Why yes, I do keep a few double pointed knitting needles close at hand!
I tried to resist this fabulous bowl, but I’m glad I didn’t.

It was made by Deb Shapiro, an Oregon potter. Showed it to my SIL Linda the other day, and she has several pieces by the same artist!

I like this glasses case better than the one that came with my glasses. I’m loving my big round frames, but I think I’ll keep the smaller ones that came with the case. I might want to try that style one of these days.

My favorite find of the day was actually the cause of the DVD not coming home with me. On a table with lots of other random stuff I saw this wooden box and picked it up.

I couldn’t figure out how to open it, so I asked what it was. “Oh! Be careful!” one of the ladies exclaimed. “That is a Jack in the box!” She said it with a real note of alarm in her voice. Apparently one of them had accidently opened the box earlier and I guess it scared them all when this popped out.

She’s not a scary figure – in fact, she's a fairy godmother. She has her wand, and a bag full of wishes.

She was hand made in Maine, probably back in the Eighties. I fell instantly in love. Ended up paying two dollars for everything, so she was fifty cents. But before I left, I wanted to know the secret of how to open the box. So I laid down all my finds, closed up the wooden box again, and asked them to show me how it opened. And everyone tried…and no one could get it open! We poked, we pried, we pushed, nothing worked. Not to worry, I finally said, I’ll figure it out later. Gathered up my stuff and off we went, and that must be when I didn’t pick up the DVD. Sigh.

But the good news is, it only took a few minutes after I got home to learn the trick of opening the box. (You just press in a certain spot on the front.) I don’t have Steve Allen, but I do have a fairy godmother. I’m hoping she’ll let me have a few of those wishes in her bag, and in the meantime, I’m finding that she is an excellent listener.