a few keepers.

Yesterday when I got to work there were workers on the roof, and the whole office smelled like tar fumes, so I was able to leave after only about an hour. Since I got to leave so early, I stopped by one of my favorite antique stores to poke around and dig through olde stuff. I ended up finding so many things I wanted, but since I had just gone on a whim and hadn't planned on doing anything that required money that day, I didn't really have much money with me. I was able to bring some of my finds home, but the rest I had to leave behind to be picked up on Wednesday.

I found some really pretty antique clay marbles, I'm always drawn to them because I love the colors and how primitive they look. The little pink one even has a star on it! I think these will end up being for thefoxparade, but if I hang on to them too much longer they might turn in to the beginnings of another collection! I'm having them appraised before I list them because some of these little guys can be worth a lot, and I'm not an expert when it comes to marbles.

I came across this pretty flower lamp in one of the tiny back rooms that I almost skipped because I usually don't find anything in there, but something told me to go peek and I'm so glad I did because I've been looking for something like this for ages. When my brother saw it later in the day, he laughed at it and said it looked like something that would have been in my great grandmother's house, but that only made me like it more, and was probably what drew me to it in the first place. It looks so lovely lit up at night, and gives off the most perfect glow. I've been sleeping with TCM on every night ever since I had a run-in with a spider on my bed (worst nightmare), since it's always on anyway and the olde black and white films don't give off light as harsh as other "color" channels, and I think this will be a nice replacement so I can actually turn my tv off when I go to sleep.

This little guy, I fell in love with him one of the first times I went to this shop. He's so adorable and just about broke my heart. I have such a weird, emotional soft spot for olde stuffed animals, I feel like I have to "save" them in a way, and this one was no exception. But his price tag was a bit higher than what I usually let myself spend on these silly things, so I'd had to leave him behind in the past. This time when I went, the lady who owned the items in that room was in there straightening up, and she told me that if I saw anything I liked she would "make it" be on sale for me, haha. I probably should have hesitated for at least a second but I saw that little zebra was still sitting there so I immediately snapped him up and said "what about this guy?" and she laughed and said she would give me a good deal, which she did, so I added him to my growing pile at the front of the store. Look how sweet he is! So raggedy and tattered that my mom looked at me a bit like I was crazy when I showed her later, but that's what I love most about him.

When I spotted these I knew I had to buy them, as I'm sort of obsessed with anything antique-y circus animal themed, and my birthday is also coming up next month (not that I would actually light them or anything). Adorable.

i think these two are my favorites!

I had to leave behind a few lovely things for now, including an olde 1930s quilt and an amazing suitcase, and some weird antique photos I had picked out, of things like creepy olde Victorian ghost women, and olde men with horses, and some flapper girls. Also a vintage kitty print kitchen towel and a rose wall hook. My poor shops have been so bare lately, because I've been finding so many amazing things that I'm finding it hard to part with any of them! I'm going to try to start being less selfish with my finds, at least until I move into a bigger place that can accomodate my growing hoard of vintage dresses and antique knick knacks!