Cool Vendors at a Hot June Trade Days

    We finished our June Trade Days at Fredericksburg and I have to admit it wasn't our best show, but not our worst, but what sums up the theme for most at the show was HOT! The weather that is! The thermometers said 92 -- 94 during the show and that is hot, but with the humidity it felt like 102 to 104! Ugh!
      Elaine and I did enjoy the show and were very grateful to all our customers who braved the heat to shop with us and our fellow vendors.

    One thing that makes the show one we look forward to each month is our seeing our friends (fellow vendors) and looking at the treasures they brought.  I thought it would be fun to highlight a few of those vendors who are our "neighbors" and friends and show you the fantastic displays and items they had for sale.

Love the name of their shop!



      First up is The Junkyard Dog, owned by Deidra and Mike from Glen Rose, Tx.  Their mix is similar to ours which is probably why I'm so attracted to it.  Deidra also makes the most amazing jewelry out of vintage hardware and other finds.

Deidra will probably hate me for posting a pic with her eyes shut, but she's beautiful anyway, right?
Isn't her display on the vintage plant stand of her jewelry clever?

    Here are a few pictures of her booth.  I love her attention to detail.



Marrying this lamp with the vintage can is perfect. They're not attached but look great together.





She has a great eye for French Provincial and the wrought iron gate behind it is fantastic.



I love the old dress form, used to showcase her original jewelry



This was a great vignette.

These are just a few of the many vignettes and fantastic antiques and vintage wares that they offer.
I'll post another of my favorite vendor friend's shop tomorrow and our booth to follow.

Thanks for stopping by,
Betsy

Put a Petal to the Metal!

   There's this trend now for anything industrial and in particular anything metal, particularly, rusty metal. 
     Guess what??? Sisters' Treasures is on that bandwagon and so am I personally.
    Galvazined steel.....

  Back in the day, when this double wash tub was in use, I'm sure the woman or women who scrubbed their laundry in this never dreamed it would one day be a highly sought after piece of "art" for a garden or a party holding drinks,

source

Industrial metal

When Elaine and I saw this stool at a garage sale on our Sisters' vacation, we both knew we had to have it.  The guy who sold it to us said it belonged to the doctor his mother worked for and dates back about mid century.  The patina on the legs is one that age created and is nearly impossible to duplicate.  Now this stool will make a great seat in a kitchen or a patio bar or who knows??

Metal lawn chairs, motel chairs, 50's patio chairs.. whatever you want to call them, I have a "thing" for them and the old patina is the way I like them.

Wrought iron columns, once a bain of existance to those wanting to update their 50's style homes, now a sought after must have at antique shows.   The candlebra is one of two and a fav of mine.

I just love all forms of vintage metal, galvanized, wrought iron, enamel, tin, aluminum and of course the precious metals!  What about you? 

Betsy of Sisters Treasures

Gardening--It's in our blood!

  

Ever since I was a little girl, I've been surrounded by flower gardens.  My mom's mom, (Oma to us grandkids) was an amazing flower and vegetable gardener.

  Here's my mom and grandmother (Oma) showing off an arrangement made from one of their flower beds.  (This picture was a pre-color photo).

     When we were young, my little sis, Arlene and I would stay with Oma for a week each summer and "help" (I use that term VERY loosely) with her gardens.  She'd show us when the carrots were ready and would pluck one fresh from the black soil, dust off that dirt and bite in, then share a bite with us.  How sweet.
       I wish I had pictures of those times but sadly we didn't have instant access to I Phones, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all those other goodies.   But, my grandma taught us to appreciate flowers and vegetables and berries fresh off the vine.  Oh what sweet innocent times.
     My mom definitely inherited her mother's green thumb. This picture is looking out at one of Mom's many gardens but sadly I didn't capture flowers, but believe me she always has some in bloom.

  When I was younger, I always told people that I inherited a "black" thumb and couldn't even 'grow' artificial plants, but I always loved looking at them and enjoying the sweet scent of fresh blooms.  After, my dad passed away and Mom had some health issues that prevented her from being as active as she used to be with gardening, I felt God blessed me with a love for gardening and an amazing family inherited 'green' thumb.  I started helping Mom garden and found a new joy in watching what I planted grow and bloom.

         I love that there is beauty even in imperfections like this rose from our garden.  This resonates to so many aspects of our lives, which is why I find gardening somewhat philosophical (or it's just a good excuse to wax poetic!).
        Of course, me being the antique/junker I am, I cannot garden without mixing in some fun garden junk both in the way of planters and good ole junk, objets d'art (which is probably an oxymoron, but let's not get technical!)  Now, let it be noted that both my mom and boyfriend DON'T get my vision of beauty in junk... BUT I'll excuse their lack of perception! lol.

      When I purchased this cool speckled enamel bowl, the seller apologized for the holes, but I merely replied that it was perfect for one of my succulent gardens.
    Succulents are not something that my Mom is into, but I have fallen in love with these easy to care for almost impossible to kill plants.  They're perfect for junk containers and I've had fun creating fun mini gardens with them.  Here are some of my results:

Colanders are great for drainage and the old aluminum tea kettle catches the excess water



My latest planting is using a large chicken feeder for lots of succulents.

I bought this chicken wire basket in Fredericksburg and always felt it should be a succulent planter... solution for holding dirt... just add moss!

                              An abandoned hibache grill worked perfectly as a cool junk planter.

One of my objet d'art... formerly a lamp base!

THis is one of my favorite garden projects that my sister, Arlene helped my with... My bed of flowers!
       This blog is also my tribute to my inspiration for gardening, my Mom, Evelyn, who celebrates her 88th birthday on Monday AND she still gardens! Happy Birthday, Mom!

Betsy of Sisters Treasures

The Weary Hunter

The Sisters 'Shades of Light' Designs

Did you ever dream that “Treasure Hunting and Selling” would be so much work? It seems that I am still catching up on my needed sleep reserve after Warrenton, Estate Sale, floor rebuilding, lampshade designing, plus Fredericksburg Trade Days, then had fun helping Kim Hughes of Bungalow set up her Country Living space.   

Warrenton Treasures that we sold

 

 

Ray, sweet hubby

Did I mention that I also have a hubby and keep my grand daughter once a week? Of course, no one wants to hear about my bemoaning or “wonder woman” syndrome. BUT, Want to see my cape?

The weeks since Texas Antique Week have been busy, but never too busy to uncover new places or to tromp through my local haunts for more “treasures “. Ray, aka hubby, shared a video of a gentleman in Texas that found a 1600’s Danish art work at his Goodwill, so I am always on the hunt for one of those. That alone is enough to rummage through the thrift stores and vintage dirt. http://news.yahoo.com/video/greenvillewyff-18211287/3-goodwill-store-purchase-earns-190k-at-auction-28519106.html

Lamps, Shades & Bigs!

A recent trip to Waco, took us through Marlin, where Hubby showed me his Grandmother Carter’s home and the streets that he played on as a young boy. It just so happened that I spotted several thrift stores, and Ray was gracious to indulge my fixation on “treasures”. Thirty minutes later we were loading up lamps, shades, and “smalls” (which I tell Betsy, my sister & partner, we have enough). There are times when power shopping is essential. Since we were in my Honda, it didn’t all fit, so we must return for the BIG “TREASURES”!

Only the Tangerine Tango Sofa is coming home

 Thinking of returning this weekend, and I am certain that across the street it read “AUCTION – MAY 5”. Also the proprietor stated there were a total of 2 or 3 estate sales this weekend! So I have been preparing, by getting plenty of rest, haircut scheduled for today and bank account balanced. I think that I am ready, Good Lord willing!  Blogging has also been work, so I am ready for a nap!

We are Hunters (of vintage goods)

  I love finding a treasure that was handmade by someone with a creative mind.  This cigar box storage cabinet is the perfect example.  It was filled with screws and nozzles and springs and made me wonder about the person who created and used it.  I just loved the imperfections of it.

  What an eclectic mix... from cowboy hats to a violin case (unfortunately there was no violin to go with it), to fruit and cheese containers and crates to a handmade tool box.  This describes my taste- eclectic chic!

       At our Garden Club Thrift store I had found a large fox collar (most likely it came off of a vintage wool coat). I also added to our vintage wedding dress collection with this 50's beauty.

This is one of my favorite colors, so it was a no brainer to buy this aqua shelf and as a bonus, there was on old phone shelf (like they used to have mounted on walls).

I got six old soda crates (two shown below).  I've seen ideas of using them as planters, a birdhouse, table centerpieces, Any other ideas?  You can also see the phone shelf in the picture and the legs of two mid century folding chairs. I'm betting there were once four and a card table to match!

Elaine went "hunting" also, but I'll let her post her pictures.  I'm thinking of hunting at a salvage yard this afternoon, sound like fun?
Betsy of Sisters Treasures

A New Look

A needed repair to our cottage floor (done beautifully by Elaine's husband, Ray, and Elaine and their crew) at Fredericksburg Trade Days, gave us the perfect opportunity to revamp our store. With the help of Elaine's son Dan, we used Elaine's wonderful vision to open up our space so everything wasn't so crowded and easier to see our "goods". Wouldn't you know I only took one picture of the inside!! Go figure! Ha!
Our friend and neighbor vendor Patty, of Old Gold, helped us set up vignettes outside.
We had a great weekend and got got to see lots of our regular customers and met lots of new ones. Thanks everyone for coming out this weekend!
We might go Check out the Country Living show and the Junk Salvation both in Austin this weekend.

Garden Antqs Vintage at Zapp Hall

   I had the pleasure of meeting Teresa Cano of Garden Antqs Vintage in Fredericksburg at our Trade Days in February (where I admitted to her, I've been an adoring fan (i.e. blog stalker!!!), for a long time.
     She is truly the sweetest, just as I had been told by several of her friends when I mentioned her, before actually meeting her.  Her nickname by her friends is "Sweet T" and I think that totally fits her.
           Not only is she a great blogger and antique dealer, she also hosts the famous "Bloggers Party" at Zapp Hall twice a year during Antique Week in Warrenton

  That is Teresa on the left (my apologies, Teresa, for not getting a close up picture).

  Here a few of the fun ladies who attended the Blog Party! (what fun we had).

    What I wanted to show is the amazing design talents of Teresa with her booth vignettes.  They are amazing and my poor photography doesn't do them justice, but I think you'll enjoy her creativity and awesome vintage and antique finds.

     She does several shows around Texas so be sure and check out her blog Garden Antqs Vintage.
     
 Betsy of Sisters Treasures (hopefully Elaine will post some pictures her husband took of our tent at the Warrenton show soon).