First flea market in a very long time

I didn’t’ t go to the flea market in a very long time, maybe since November? It was a cold and busy winter and I didn’t have the energy or the motivation to go, even if it is one of my favorite things to do. But this Sunday was nice and sunny. It was a very good flea market day, with some good finds for my collection, with some relaxing time walking around and looking at stuff and also with some friends met there.
These are the things I have found:
An antique gold plated locket in a very good condition, with the two photos (of mother and sun, maybe) still inside under the clear celluloid). It’s my new favorite from my collection.

An old pocket watch winder that I’ll wear as a pendant.

A glass brooch ( I think it’ from the forties).

This unidentified thing (maybe some fastening for a jacket?). I don’ t know what I’ll use it for, but I liked the acorn like shape and it was very cheap, of course.

An old wood and brass knitting doll for my collection.

And a pretty silver ring.

 

2 years

It’s my blog anniversary today. I still enjoy posting here even if I don’t manage to do it so often.

These weird Christmas cards are from my childhood collection, from the eighties. The faceless Santa is really creepy and I also think the faceless child in the left is nice, too :).

I clearly remember the pink fluffy doll the child holds in the second card. I didn’t have one like it but many of my friends did. I also appreciate the very typical carpet in socialist homes and how the card was badly printed, with a lighter stripe in the left. So funny and also so nostalgic.

We have a peaceful day, it’s snowing outside, we have lots of delicious vegan food and the dogs are really happy that we are all at home.

My birthday gifts

My birthday was 10 days ago, but I was so busy these days and I neglected my blog. I took a sick day today, in order to heal from a flue, that kept nagging me for some time now. So, I have found the time to take pictures of some of my birthday presents, of the hand made, vintage and second hand ones, my favorite kind of presents.

My friend Rodica made me these beautiful bags. The bigger one is from an interesting fabric that looks like paper.

She also made me the white blouse in this photo. The vintage Japanese yellow cardigan is also a gift from her, but form last year.

This beautiful fancy dress is also made by Rodica, initially for her sister who wore it for some special occasions. But her sister decided to give it to me, as I usually wear fancy dresses with cardigans and such in informal situations, too. I was very glad to receive it. 

My friend Maria gave me a ring for my figural jewelry collection. Also, she transformed for me a nineties troll doll without any hair or clothing. She made the hair out of a mineral and she created for the doll a cosmic dress :). She never liked troll dolls but I like them a lot, so she spend a good deal of time on it :). 

Also, she transformed the cover of a notebook that I used to have since a long time ago, but I didn’t want to use it as I was embarrassed by the colonialist map on its cover. This transformation deserves its own post, in details.

My favorite coworker gave me this set of geometric shapes used by teachers in the eighties. I wanted such a set for a very long time, but it is kind of expensive to buy online and I have never found it at the flea market. I was very happy to finally have them! They were produced in a factory from the town I grew up in. Another coworker gave me also a beautiful gift of a book she illustrated,  a tasty syrup and this soap she had made herself and wrapped in a doily. 

Oti found at a second hand shop this cute t-shirt. 

And the kids at school gave me these flowers that we have planted in our urban garden. 

It wasn’t only my birthday last week. Our dog Cici was born sometimes in October, this is the time frame our vet estimated. So, he put down in her id the same birthday as mine. We had celebrated together :).  

Needle holder

This sweet Soviet needle holder is probably from the seventies or eighties. It’s wooden with a plastic cap. I bought it almost by accident, I liked the nesting doll but I didn’t know it’s also something (more or less) practical :).  

Doll

This funny postcard is from the seventies or early eighties (it used to be in my childhood collection but I don’t know who are the people who wrote a formal note of spring good wishes on the back). I used to have dolls similar to the one in the photo and I can say they were much less creepy in reality :).

Linking up with Vintage Bliss Tuesdays.

Vintage troll dolls

I didn’t have trolls as a kid, didn’t even know they existed. I think I was slightly aware of them in the nineties, but I was already a teenager then and wasn’t interested, of course.

I have found these Thomas Dam trolls from the sixties at the flea market. I think they are very sweet, with their kind smiles. They have glass eyes and their original felt clothes.

Lots of celluloid

I have finally went to the flea market today after a two weeks break, which feels like a lot to me :). I have found lots of celluloid things.

This collection of dolls from the forties, I think, were really clean, obviously someone cared for them. I think most of the damages happened to them during transport, some of them were under piles of other, heavy stuff. I’m glad I have so many of these really frail toys. They are marked Japan with a clover logo. I have found online that this logo belongs to a company called Sekiguchi Corp. I will try to find out more about them. I will keep them in this needlepoint box, found also today.

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I wanted this kind of celluloid dog brooch for a long time now. My friend spotted this for me in a pile of other things.

The ring and lizard pendant are also celluloid.

I have also found this barrette for my collection.

Other non-celluloid things were this really pretty art deco brass pendant and chain.

A glass and brass pendant, from the twenties or thirties.

A small glass and brass box.

And another old brass ring for my collection of modest jewelry.

Linking up with Vintage Bliss Tuesdays.

Domestic

I don’t necessarily collect toy tea sets or other doll dishes (and I don’t intend to start collecting them) but I have found some dishes that were too nice to leave behind.

This pottery plates and bowl were in a box at the flea market among other vintage things (from the fifties or older). So, I assumed they are from the same period, and also the design and wear on the dishes seems old. Searching them online, they are sometimes listed as being from the twenties. Also, I have found a French listing that shows a set produced in 1998-1999, as a reproduction of the original vintage tea set. In the photos, the reproduction set has different drawings than mine, but in the end I don’t know if this is a well loved toy from the nineties or is it a really old one. I really like it anyway, and the size of the bowl makes it usable for people too, not just dolls :).

Searching further, I have found that the company was funded in 1972, so yes, it’s not an old toy.

Another set of doll dishes I have is also a mystery. I have found these tin plates in two different occasions at the same vendor at the flea market. I don’t know what language it is the writing on them (I would really appreciate help on this), but the way the lobsters are drawn seems Japanese to me. They are really small and they seem old, but again they could be only heavily played with.

Another thing for my dolls is this beautiful doll quilt my friend made for me as a birthday present in October. It is for one of my favorite dolls, I have written about her here.

This is the back of the quilt.

My dolls have an well equipped household. 🙂

And the dogs enjoy the quilt, too. 🙂

Linking up with Idle needle's great party, Make, Thrift and Tell.

Cacti and succulents

I am lucky to have one window that gets sun all day long. A perfect place for cacti and succulents, even if it is kind of small (and I always have to take space into account when I think about bringing home a new plant). One of the succulents bloomed these days. The tree shaped plant next to it seemed dead for such a long time but I couldn’t bring myself to trow it out. I’m so glad I postponed, because it’s not dead after all, it’s now full of new leaves.

The doll head is a flea market find, it is a ceramic head from the eighties maybe. It was very cheap and great for a small cacti.

The flower stand used to belong to my grandmother, it was bought in the fifties and I remember it well as a child, when it was painted in mint green.

The big cacti was a gift. My friend started two years ago an urban garden next to our building. She is very much appreciated by many of the neighbors for the pretty garden. One morning we have found this huge cacti in the garden. Of course it is not a plant that could be outside in the cold winter and humid spring/fall, so I took it home to my sunny window. A few days later we have met one lady from the neighborhood that we know because she has a dog, also. She asked about the cacti, she was the one leaving it for us and she was glad that the plant is safe and very appreciated! I hope it will bloom this spring.

These cacti were also left by someone (unidentified, this time) in the garden. It was a long stick, cut out from a bigger plant, with some damage in the middle. We have cut out the damaged part, put them into sand until they grew roots and they are ok now. Rescued cacti :).

Linking up with Idle needle's great party, Make, Thrift and Tell.

Kokeshi doll and some other small things

I wanted a vintage kokeshi doll since a long time. Yesterday I have finally found one and it is also a really small one! And it is so detailed and well made.

I have also found other really small vintage wooden toys, some with funny rhinestone eyes.

Another thing that I wanted for a long time is a celluloid or bakelite Scottie dog something :), a brooch or pendant or such a thing. I found yesterday this small photo album with Scotties on the cover. I suppose they are celluloid but I don’t know how to test them as long as I cannot submerge them in hot water. Maybe they could also be bakelite? Judging from the clothes and hair cuts of the people in the photos, the album is from the forties. The photos are not very interesting but still nice, so they will go to my found photos collection in a separate envelope to keep them together and I will probably use the album for some photos, drawings and small embroideries about our dogs.

And, lastly, I have found these two celluloid bangles. I really like them together, with their soft colors.

Linking up with Vintage Bliss Tuesdays party.