Home Vignettes (part 1)

(milk glass plate painted with my favorite pansies, a pot metal bird head from New Orleans, and a hand form a vintage mannequin)

hey friends!

today i am going to document and show you some of the vignettes around my house.  i spent the "snow week" blissfully stuck at home, rearranging, clearing clutter, re-displaying, dusting, and sorting, and packing up a LOT of stuff to bring into the shop!

this is my collection of russian carved wood bear toys.  most of them have a wooden ball that hangs down and when you gently swing the toy in circles, the weight of the ball, attached to strings, makes the bears arms move up and down. pretty cute!

i have been inspired to collect old and odd toys over the years because my Aunt Karen always had a shelf full of cool old odd toys for use to mess with at her house.  and now she gifts us with cool old folk toys once in a while and we love that.

so i have a thing for figures and statues.  But they have to be interesting, odd, old or a bit, shall we say, deconstructed! 

starting from the left: an almost naked guy corralling a rearing horse in heavy metal and the perfect patina of gold and silver.  in front of him is a gorgeous woman standing by a bird and holding a star wand in her outstretched hand.  the engraved plate on the front says la nuit, which means "the night" in french and i got her in Tucson.  the tall figure back behind her is old silver pot metal and is missing one arm.  in her other hand she holds a string with a bunch of fish.  not sure who she "is" but would like to find out.  next to her in the back is a very rough bronze cast of a woman in a frilled skirt/dress and a man holding a string instrument.  no markings and i wonder if its a student piece because it is so heavy and primitive.  in front of them, is the silver zinc man whose hand is raised and has a hole thru it to hold something, perhaps a torch.  now he holds a peacock feather. behind him is a very dapper gentleman i found in new orleans.  maybe not dapper....more....flamboyant, with the huge feather in his hat, knee high boots, and cape....a pirate perhaps.  next to him, the white lady, she is the top part of a broken garden statue made of plaster. she is very pastoral and keeps her hands folded.  the little gold 1920s woman figure in front of her is an incense burner from france.  and also from france is the chalk/plaster bust of a woman with dark hair atop a pedestal. 

and there are others as you shall see...

a grouping of fuzzy vintage elephant bobble head, a sly Brownie, and a deity/goddess, Durga, i believe.

a tiny glass house and a very petite french globe

and an old metal train station.

all of the above are interspersed on an old wooden book shelf between books and whathaveyou.

here are some groupings of things on two matching tall bookshelves.

this is a shelf full of things from our Mexico trip, bead work, string paintings, painting, etc.

here you can see some of my vast collection of mercury glass.  the gold cherub candlestick i have had for over 20 years and found at a thrift store while in high school!  i collect old vintage picture frames and they just hang around until i can fill them.  the opaque white bristol glass is hand painted.  one is a vase and the other is a water decanter with a stopper that is a tiny cup!  the piece on the right is an antique french wedding display piece and right now it has a taxidermied turtle popping out of its bowl!

one very large wool carder, vintage binocular collection, a rough carved dutch wooden clog, aluminum topper with a butterfly image, and a huge plaster foot with a snake anklet.

some of my ocean/beach/sea collection

vintage bird beadwork, more mercury glass, old mirrors, a silver bird topped spoon holder, and my beloved stereoscope and card collection.  good old-timey fun!

mexican silver frames, vintage scopes and magnifying glasses, old beveled mirror, a velvet covered wood box, my beloved kerry kate doll, a silhouette of j, and my perfectly creepy and adorable velvet pixie from portland. here's a better picture of him cuz he deserves it:

i'm a freak for vintage luggage, boxes, and trunks.

any kind.  all the time.

mostly vintage leather camera bags, one dr. bag, a leather boy scouts first aid kit for your belt, and a chalkware swanky lady from Nashville.

glass front cabinet holds preserves and loot.

to the left you can barely make out the inner remains of an old pony saddle hanging on the wall, a vintage beekeepers veil hanging on the pommel, and a perfectly decayed violin hanging beneath that.

to the right you can see my growing collection of vintage nets with wood handles. they used to rest in our big picture windows but for now i am keeping the windows totally clear and bare.

below are some cabinet interior shots:

i think i have shown you my favorite ladies before.

these are vintage french plaster pin cushion dolls and tops.

perfectly odd, creepy, and decayed.

love!

on the left are two crowns i found diggin in a cruddy old shop in the french quarter in new orleans.  one still has the purple silk material and one doesn't.  the harvesting girl is a print on a little old wooden box, and the paper mache bird j made at art class. love!

here is a collection of small baskets i have made over the years.

the shelf edging paper is vintage and i love it.

that's an old scale with a dried shelf fungus in the back.  and a resin mushroom specimen and remains of a paper wasp nest too.

all my jams, marmalade, jellies, chutneys. and the other vintage shelf edging crepe paper that i adore.

and lastly on the two matching book shelves, a velvet framed mirror, a ceramic snake pot holding a cast metal snake head, two painted horns, a shoes brush advertising caskets, a piece of carved wood from nashville, a silver heron, a turkey leg holding a crystal ball, a wax head with one glass eye, a big metal 3D bee, an old clock, a covered scarab print jar that was the first thing chad and i bought together 18 years ago, and a floral engraving plate. whew! and the wooden guy below is this guy:

he holds a bowl and it holds crystals.

i am a sucker for any kind of wood carved figure.

bet you couldn't guess that, huh.

and an vintage owl on an old gourd bird house.

wow.  that's a lot of stuff.  and there is a lot more to document and show you here.  so stayed tuned for part deux.  there's another glass front cabinet full, the other glass front cabinet full, the alter shelves, the nature table, and other random bits of goodness you may, or may not, give a hoot about.  come back if you want to see.  it all has the potential to end up in the shop!

other news: i am going on a little buying trip to southwest washington and portland this coming weekend so there will be even more new stuff in the shop next week.  i will be posting about the new finds and other road trip adventures in the coming weeks.  also, watch for a possible shift in store hours.  you'll be the first to know.

pricing, rearranging, displaying and merchandising,

xoxoxox

jennette