Vintage Napco Figurine - The Joy of Rescuing (and New Finds)

Can't believe the weeks have gone by and I haven't posted even once yet in December.  There has been a lot of hunting for vintage Christmas goodies.  I've got bitten by the vintage putz houses and I started making my first one yesterday.  Then there is the kit I'm building to make a vintage felt and sequin wall hanging (or something) fashioned after this really nice mid century tree skirt I saw online.

We have bought more Christmas (vintage) stuff than I would have imagined.  Below are some of the ceramics we just couldn't pass up.  Three music boxes that my husband would not leave the store without-- and at 2.99 and .99 I couldn't say no.  They are adorable!  There is the Santa that circles over the house with Mrs. Santa functioning as the flagger, the swinging Santa and the Santa on the rocking reindeer.  The figurines were reasonable at .49, .99, and the angel with the accordion was my splurge at 3.99.  Unfortunately, the little girl holding the candle is/was broken, but I fixed that (see below).  The yellow angel is missing part of her wing, what a shame.  I passed her up a couple times.  In the meantime I repaired the other figurine and since it came out so well, I told my husband if the .49 cent broken angel was there I would get it and try and repair it.  It wasn't there that day, but a couple days ago he found it in an odd spot, so I got her.  The angel with the red cape was very faded so I diluted some red acrylic paint and freshened up her flocking.

 
The object missing from this 1958 Napco little girl's hand appears to be freshly broken off (we think while handled at the thrift store).  She is so precious, I just couldn't leave her on the shelf.   I suspected she was holding a candle and  I searched on line to find out I was right.

I molded a candle and holder from polymer clay--mine is a bit Suess-ish, but I like it.  I only had red, blue and yellow clay, so I used the red.  Below, painted and varnished, I'm very happy with the results.  On to the angel with the broken wing.  I'm expecting a challenge with that as it is broken half way down and it will be hard to disguise where the old and new materials meet. 

Gravel Art - Mosette

I'm calling this gravel art because that seems to be what folks are referring to it as being.  When I was a kid my mom got me craft and activity kits. I was always creating things, building things, drawing pictures... 

When I was perusing ebay one day I ran across a finished gravel art piece and it jogged my memory--I had seen this before, and not only did I remember seeing it, but I remembered making it.  Well, I don't know if I made that particular on ebay, but who knows, maybe, just maybe.

Here's a kit I found that is from the early 70s, mine was from the 60s.  This kit has never been opened!  It still has the original cellophane and price tag on it!  Cost me 49 cents.  I'm going to make this kit and try to figure out where the heck I'm gonna put it (kinda hard fitting some of this stuff into the current decor).

Syroco Before and After

I see vintage plastic wall plaques pretty regularly at the thrift stores.  Most don't appeal to me, the ones I might like aren't the ones I find.  I was on my way out one day and did my last glance as I went down the aisle to leave and spotted these.  Not my subject, but spot on for our resident historian.  They were 99 cents a piece and far be it from me to pass up a new project!  A coat of white primer and acrylic paints--voila!

Working with these craft acrylics is new to me.  I love that you can thin them down and apply layers building up the colors and creating texture.  The metallic colors are excellent for a water based paint.  Soap and water clean up and no odor!  I ended up finding way more of these paints than I needed at the thrift (funny--whenever I need something a few trips to the thrift and there it is!)

More Cute Critters!

Been busy lately,  posting to my blog has been on the bottom of my list.  I downloaded some pictures off my camera, they've been on there for awhile.  A salt and pepper shaker pair and three lamby-kins.  They are so darn cute!!!  Here they are drying off after a bath. All five pieces cost me $3.50.  Beats those auctions site prices!

Sing and Dance! Beautiful Hand Painted Japanese Tiles

The score of the day!  This find made my day!  Still pinching myself.  This is a vintage set of 4 hand painted porcelain tiles.  Each framed panel consists of 3 separate tiles.  Overall measurement of each is approximately 3.75" by 18.75".  I've been searching high and low for art for the walls and it has been slow.  Finally, finally a fantastic find.  Price? $3.99 each. 

I've found some really nice oil paintings also--I'll need to post some of them soon.

Beautiful Reglor Chalkware Lamp

Can you believe we passed this up the first time we saw it?  Well, we weren't sure what it was--how old or who the maker was, but it was stunning.  We since found out it is a Reglor (of California) lamp, one of those wonderful mid century American manufacturers no longer in existence.  Anyway... it went from the front of the store, to the back of the store in a period of a 2-3 weeks.  I guess we are meant to have it since no one else picked it up.  Price?  $25!  The lamp with shade is 37", made of  chalkware and HEAVY!!  I have yet to weigh it, but I'm going to guess it's no less than 20 lbs.  I bought the shade separately for $1.99.  This particular lamp is named 'contemplation' which is carved in the base along with the manufacturer's name.

Labor day weekend can't be without a little work!

I had big plans for today--I was going to sand the Egyptian revival desk I bought a couple months ago.  I won't have 3 days off in a row for the rest of the dry season.  But I laid in bed this morning struggling with the thought--there are so many other things I need to do  I decided not to stress out about it and ended up working 7 hours straight on all kinds of other stuff, to include--cleaning up that Egyptian ottoman that's been sitting around...even longer than the desk!  This piece is likely from the 60s, I've seen some similar, but this one is way cooler in that it has hieroglyphs embossed in the leather cushion and there are three different styles of medallions in a very classical ancient Egyptian motif.  The other ottomans I've seen have camel medallions and a large pyramid on the cushion.

 

Initially I thought it was missing an end cap, but I found that they were stacked together.  Very, very grimy, I dare not speculate what was all over it.  

 

I had to bang out one of the end caps and here I already shined them up. 

 

Here it is all cleaned up.   I fluffed up the stuffing and put a new (old) shoelace in.   I will order a special leather product for leather cleaning and restoration--just to perk up the tone and sheen hopefully.

 The ottoman in it's new home under the vanity of the Egyptian themed bathroom.