A start of summer and agardencottage news

Last week was marked by the official start of summer here in Arizona. With 118'F yesterday it looks like we are not going to have much break from heat for the next 3 Month.

Happy summer and be strong, Phoenicians!

I already started to think about the Fall and even announced the Halloween party date at our place this year. So I am excited and getting ready for some fun in October. I am hoping to make lots of decorations myself (I will share the ideas!) but of course, I will use store-bought items also.

Here is what was new and relisted at agardencottage this week:

This wonderful French set of 4 Cristal d'Arquescordial/port/liquor glasses. They sound wonderful when you gently tap them with another object. They are perfect for the dinner party or maybe, a nice evening of playing cards with friends.

This gorgeous (and collectible) cobalt blue bottle was made by James Beam (Jim Beam). It has the original labels and tax seal and is from 1971. I just sold one like this in periwinkle blue, these are so pretty! It will go nice with a blue themed dinner party and will look gorgeous as a photo prop.

Here is a lovely polar bear miniature figurine from the Endangered North American Animals series:

I have sold so many little Wade figurines and I still have so much more to list. If you are a collector of these please stop by to see what I have. Maybe, you will find a missing piece?

See you next week!

New at agardencottage

I skipped my post last week because of our great vacation to San Diego, California. It was my first visit and I love everything about this city. We took our 2 little dogs with us and it was fun to see these 2 little pups on the beach.

We even had a family dinner at the dog friendly restaurant in Del Mar! So it was a fun experience for everyone.

I was so relaxed after we got back that I did not list too many new items at agardencottage. But the ones I did are lovely!

Here it is, a classic sterling silver bracelet and large vintage brass skeleton key.   

Both are great and can be a perfect gift !

Stop by and see more vintage and handmade items at my shop on Etsy!

Look what's new at agardencottage

I just realized today, I am not showing enough or not at all my gorgeous vintage collection in my agardencottage shop on etsy. So I have decided to write short posts on Sundays about new additions to my shop.

Please keep up on checking my blog and on Sundays you will see what's new at agardencottage. 

Here is what was listed last week: 

A party-perfect Blenko light amber pitcher/ water bottle, made in USA:

A pretty wooden Shalom sign:

 ... and a gorgeous Celtic cross Irish silver necklace:

 

This is just a small sample of the treasures I have in my shop. Please stop by and  take a look at my shop on Etsy!

See more of prettiness next week and happy Mother's Day to all  mothers in the world!

Teacups and saucers collection at agardencottage

Did you see my vintage teacup and saucer collection lately? I am adding more of them weekly. I love to collect them myself and it is hard to let them go but it feels that I am running out of space. Especially knowing that I can not pass on a new find if I see one :)

Tea cup and saucer Royal Sealy China Japan

Take a look at my collection for sale and find the one that is special for you. They are collectible, great to use or give as a gift and definitely perfect photo props! I love the idea of a tea party involving pretty teacups and teapots, cute desserts and miniature sandwiches. Don't forget the flowers of course!

Tea cup and saucer Paragon England roses & violets 

I have some multiple teacup and saucer sets but many just one of a kind that I find. So please stop by my agardencottage shop to see the selection. I am going to put a new one today or tomorrow.

 

C. Ahrenfeldt Limoges teacup and saucer France deposeLimoges Patented

 

 Shelley England trio tea cup,saucer and desert plate set of 3 mint fruits bone china

Wade whimsies, Mothers Goose nursery rhyme series miniature figurine. New at agardencottage

Today I listed my first Wade figurine of the Mothers Goose nursery rhyme series. It's TheHouse That Jack built. Doesn't it bring nice childhood memories to you?

 This is a part of wade figurines collection from the Canadian Red Rose Tea Premium series Nursery Rhymes (1971-79). Please visit our agardencottage shop for details and other figurines available.

Vintage watercolor, An Ice Skating Lady

I just was not able to pass on this painting. Something is so touching about this little lady ice skating in the wind. I don't know who's work it is or the name of the painting and was wondering if any of you are able to help me.

I can see that it's a limited edition and was made in 1983 but I can not recognize the painter's name. I will love this painting even if I will not know it but I am curious. Please let me know if you recognize it.
 .......
~ October 28th, updated ~

Thank you to everyone who contacted me regarding this painting. I now know that this is the work of Pat Buckley Moss. I found 2 previous editions of this painting Solitary skater online but mine is slightly different and I still did not find the identical one. I assume this might be the third edition, or maybe, fourth? Please let me know if you know anything about this - thank you!

Gift wrapping ideas

These vintage colorful tin jars are so sweet. They are great to store some sewing supplies in and they will work wonderful to present your home baked treats during winter Holidays.

 Home made sweets are a very thoughtful gift by itself, but it is even sweeter when wrapped nicely.

You can also use other vintage containers like clear glass jars topped with a pretty handmade cover and hand written or printed label.

A clean cigar box can be washed and altered with acrylic paint and sealer for a personal look. Let your imagination be your guide.

I am always in the mood for Christmas so I will start my preparations early this year. I will be happy to share with you some ideas later.

USPS postal rates increase

The sad news: USPS is increasing the postal rates today. While it will not affect too much for smaller items sent within US it will have a great impact on international shipping.

 This is really bad news for many vintage sellers, including us. It is always hard to guess on shipping due to different shipping boxes, the amount of packaging materials involved and of course, the weight and size of an item. The shipping was expensive enough, but now it will jump up even more.

We are not sure yet what is the best way to save on shipping but we are working on it. Thank you for being our loyal customers!

Front Page this morning

Front Page, Front page, again :) It's our vintage purple bottle today.

The bottles like these stored Kentucky Bourbon and were sold at the Kentucky Derby. Now it can be used as a decanter, a vase or just add it to your bottles collection.

 Thank you, imali, for featuring us in your treasury made for Pretty Things Team.

Our tea cup and saucer are on front page this morning

We are on FP again :)

This time is with the cutest vintage tea cup and saucer, the beautiful Royal Albert bone china tea cup and saucer from the Pompadour Series made in England.

This set is available for sale at our AGardenCottage shop on Etsy.

Masha Lepun featured our cup in her Favourite Colors treasury for Russian Artists - thank you, Masha!

Your treasury is stunning!

Our vintage item was featured on Etsy Front page today!

Our vintage mint enamel steel cup made it to the Etsy home page today!

 So many beautiful mint colored items were gathered in one place.

Thank you, Katie, for featuring our shop!

Coffee browns

We just came back from our very busy vacation and I can not get enough of coffee! It has such a great taste and aroma, I wish I could share a cup or two with you!

Since I can not, let me share my collection of Coffee Browns with you:


Please enjoy!

Plush pastels

I am in a plush pastels mood this morning - take a look at my collection!


The featured items are from :
1. MamaTita 2. Baymut 3. Artistico 4. PassionArte
5. yevgenia 6. bonbonland 7. GoldenSection 8. BelleCoccinelle
9. Shugabeelane 10. SouthernBelleOOAK 11. WatercolorByMuren 12. allmadewithlove
13. CallOfEarth 14. kirevi8 15. TheShabbyHome 16. OliveandFern

A necklace from the past

There is something so romantic about the skeleton keys! There is a little bit of mystery, a lot of old time charm and definitely, a story!

I remember as a child I was running free and happy alone with my friends. That was a quiet simple times in a small town. Summer bushes were blooming and the air was filled with flower's aroma. Parents were not afraid to leave their kids play by themselves for a while. You could build a tent outside of multistory building, wear a crown made of dandelions and pretend you are a Princess. You can fall in a rye field full of wild poppies, cornflowers and stare in the blue sky for hours, counting the quick moving clouds. During these times I always had my keys on a piece of hemp ribbon hanging down on my neck that I would not loose it and I was not considering it as a necklace :)
Well, I am now! I was looking at my vintage finds the other day and then I found these old rusty skeleton keys. I put one on a dog's tag chain, added a vintage enameled necklace and voilà !
I hope you like it :)

New at AGardenCottage, Marbles

We are working hard on our new spring and summer collection for our knit shop, SocksAnMittens but in the same time we are paying much more attention to our vintage shop, AGardenCottage.

There is so much new cute things I'd like to list! But patience, guys :) I am trying to do a listing per day, sometimes two. Our life got a new twist right now so it is hard to find time for everything but please visit our shop often to see whats new!Today I've listed some marbles from my husband's collection. Aren't they beautiful? Marbles for many people are both, nostalgia and a colorful toy and you can quickly become addicted as soon as you started your collection.
Marbles can be made of glass, clay, steel, agate or other stones and some of them are really, really expensive! The size of marbles can vary, too, they can be as small as 1/4" and as large as 12" for display purposes. Various games can be played with marbles and it is so much fun! But you have to be careful as a lot of marbles can be damaged in these games. So you do not want to play these with your vintage marbles :)I love my marbles for color and I really like how they look in clear apothecary jars. I put them in several of these to decorate our home... so pretty!

So please visit our shop to see if you like what we have to offer. The assortment will always be different.

Chocolate cake vintage recipe

Cooking and just a little bit of vintage today!

I found this fabulous vintage recipe box at an estate sale last Month.It is full of little hand written cards with someones favorite dishes. I am happy I saved them and will give a new life now. It somehow feels like lifting a curtain to pick another card. I try to imagine how this people lived their lives, how they got these recipes. Maybe they exchanged with their friends or got it from their mothers. Maybe it was their favorite dishes to bring to the party. Who knows! But these recipes were written way before I was even considering cooking due to the young age.

I already tried a cole slow recipe and it turned out to be the best one I ever had!

Another day I was in a mood for chocolate and baking. So I pulled out the other card, a chocolate cake recipe.The cake is easy to make and it is very good but I would prefer adding frosting. I found the recipe for butter cream frosting later in between some cards, and will make it another time. I also found that soda smell is a little overpowering to my taste so next time I am going to make some improvements. Like my mother said: "Always add just a little bit of vinegar on top of the baking soda until it sizzles, the smell of the baking soda will dissapear, my dear!" I should have listened to her :)Anyway, I am very happy with this chocolate cake dough recipe. It will make great mini cup cakes, too!

Serenity, my new treasury this morning

I had a couple of nice quiet hours last weekend and woke up refreshed today. So I made this treasury for you, it is kind of reflecting my morning mood today :)

Please take a look!
Featured sellers - from left to right, from top to bottom:

1. Katrinshine 2. marina826 3. Btrseller 4. enchantingsoapfavors

5. CityCrochet 6. lanavaa 7. yevgenia 8. StudioElenus

9. marissahandmade 10. AleksandraRoo 11. SouthernBabyCakes 12. Olive

13. agardencottage 14. FleetingStillness 15. cottonbirddesigns 16. daimblond

Fall for owl

Isn't it nice to see the owls this fall?

No, I did not mean I see them flying around. I mean, I see them in stores, magazines and of course, on Etsy!
But as I have seen them at the estate sales I am visiting they were popular for many many years. Over the years they were made in so many different materials. Recently I found some exquisite ones made of glass and brass. I found some other very nice large wax ones but unfortunately they were damaged. You have to be at the estate sale early in order to buy them because everybody wants them.Some of the owls are listed in my AGardenCottage store and some I am still planning to list. Many of them are one of a kind and unfortunately you might not see them again.It is hard to let them go... I think I am getting attached :)

New store opened - AGardenCottage!

As I mentioned before, I have a passion for antiques. If I see something I like, I will collect the interesting pieces! Some of them I love and cherish and will never let it go and some I just like to have in my collection.

Since my collection is getting a little too big for my abilities to store it I started to think about selling some items. I still love them but I don't have room for them!

So that's how the new shop idea was born and I am happy to present you our new store - AGardenCottage!There is several sections in the store. Right now I am filling it with vintage but there is going to be photography also. The illustrations and hand crafted items added will be my own work. This items will include collectibles ACEO cards that I used to sell earlier in another store. One baby step at a time :)
If you like vintage items please keep your eye on it - the items I am listing sometimes was mass produced and I may have more than one. Many of the items may be one of a kind and once it is sold it's gone!
So please visit my store when you get a chance and see what you like!