We're Having A Heat Wave, A Tropical Heat Wave

It has been seriously warm this summer.  Temps in the 90s with little humidity (and no mosquitos!) to speak of.  I couldn't be happier.  I'm sure most people up here in the frozen north have had it with all this heat, but I say, BRING IT.  Because already I'm fearing the icy breath of Old Man Winter.  I'm trying very hard to "live in the now" and enjoy summer while it lasts and not worry about the ever encroaching winter.

I went to some estate sales and one of the area flea markets in my quest to celebrate summer fully.  The flea is about an hour away, but huge.  Indoor booths, outdoor booths, those weird garage type spaces.  All kinds of stuff.  Unfortunately, this flea market very clearly has an identity crisis.  It thinks it's an antique store. Because whoa, prices!  When I go to a flea market I'm looking for people wanting to get rid of some junk.  For cheap. And fast.  People who don't want to haul it all home.  People who are ready to make a deal.

Although the prices were nuts, I was able to find a few things for reasonable amounts. 

I found my first jadeite swirl mug! $3. The Butter Mints tin came from an estate sale for a quarter. (I'll display it at Easter) I really do think the estate sales around here have ruined me for other vintage shopping venues.  They have great prices and great items.  Maybe I don't need to scout out other places to get my fix.  I'll just stick to what works!  The ceramic dog / pineapple (?) planter thing might well indeed be a creamer.  See that the plant portion has a spout?  And the dog is acting as a handle?  It had an adorable dog, and the right colors, so I swooped it for $5. Mint green is just so delicious!

I just love that nobody in this area is hot to trot over holiday stuff like I am. It used to be cut throat around here.  Now I can visit an estate sale on day two and score a little Lefton holly Christmas footed cake plate in mint condition for $4 without any competition.  Most of the holiday stuff is relegated to the basement and garage. Which is where I found the large , wired, mercury glass balls for 50 cents.  The Christmas corsage in the back was found at the flea market for an amazing $1.  The package has a lid, but I removed it for the photo.  I love finding them in the original packing.  The care that was taken to present such a wacky gift!!  "Here, I got you this Christmas corsage.  It's made of a painted pinecone, a ribbon, some random floral berries, a glass ornament, and some plastic Christmas bits. You're welcome."

I found the hankie at the flea market for $1.  There was a basket of them with a sign reading "Eco Friendly" which made me chuckle.  It's rare for me to find a fall / Halloween colored vintage linen to use in my displays, so I was pretty excited about this little beauty.  The two sets of earrings were $1 each.  They were in baggies with other gross earrings, so I couldn't really tell that one of the parrots was missing part of it's tail.  :(  But, I'm still going to wear them anyway.  The hot pink enamel clasp bracelet was gotten at day 2 of an estate sale for $2.50.  It's an "Original by Robert" and small enough for my child-sized wrist.

I was walking around the flea market thinking (And by "thinking" I mean "talking out loud to myself like a crazy person".) how I hadn't found anything really really awesome, just a few cute things. And you always want to find that one item that makes your guts clench with desire and gives you that throwy-uppy feeling of excitement, right?  No?  Just me then? At the moment when I was about to call it a day and go home, I saw this gross little bird-like head sticking out above a pile of crap!

BA-BAM!

That's right, baby!  A Dark Crystal lunchbox! An item I've never even seen in real life!  Gack!  I flew over to the table and tried to non-challantly grab it before anyone else could, (Even though the only other person at the booth was the proprietor.) whilst maintaining my smoothest poker face.

It had a masking tape price tag splayed right across the front, (What are we, barbarians??) reading $9.50.  A price I was more than willing to pay, even though the box is not in great shape and has it's fair share of rust.

As I was pulling out my cash, the chatty older gent manning the booth told me he just couldn't ask me to pay $9. So I asked if $7 would do.  He said, "I'll take six!  How often does that happen!?" Haha!  I told him not often, and that I'd never forget it, he could be sure of that.  When I got home I gave the lunchbox a few coats of clear spray paint to halt the rust erosion. It was a trick finding a spot for it in the very full Muppet room, but us collectors are good at forming towers and piles.  :)

Recently I separated my personal Instagram account from my shop Instagram account. Personal: @thesnugbungalow  Shop: @thesnugbungalowshop I'll be posting items for sale on the shop account, and personal treasures on the personal account. In August I'll be doing a small giveaway of a single Muppet (Animal) MiniMate. (Because of the new (stupid) way they are packaged this time, you end up with an extra Animal or Rowlf)  I will also be posting a coupon here and on Instagram for my Etsy shop, during the moth of August.

I've posted quite a few items in my Etsy shop since last time I shared some with you.  So let's do a 

New In My Etsy Shop:

Click on a photo to be redirected to that listing in my shop.

Vintage Princess of Power Action Figure Doll She-Ra

Man, I still remember the birthday that my dad arrived home from work toting a Princess of Power and her pegasus Swift Wind. My gawd, the thrill! What an awesome toy line, and role model for girls! And because nothing in the 80s could ever be one thing, She-Ra here came equipped with an alter ego (Adora) and a long lost twin brother! (He-Man/Prince Adam) Oh the tangled webs we weaved to make a storyline in the 80s. (Also in the shop: Catra and Castaspella.)

Vintage Sea Wees Flora Tropigal Mermaid

I have some very vivid memories of playing with my Sea Wee family (They came with a child and also a pet, all mermaids/meranimals.) Mine had blue hair and came with a floating sponge you could shove the dolls into so they could all float around together in bathtub land.  Let me tell you from experience, there is nothing more mesmerizing than watching a Sea Wee's hair underwater.  Trust me on that.

Vintage Alf Plush Doll

Ah, Gordon Shumway. Eater of cats, singer of songs. I loved this show, and like the rest of you, couldn't exactly say why. Because, puppets? Aliens? Gentle family comedy? Hard to pinpoint exactly. But this might do the trick.

Vintage Fairgrove Drinking Straws

When I was a youngling I was obsessed with drinking straws. The fancier the better. I begged for them every single grocery shopping trip, which I'm sure my mother really appreciated. I've always had an unhealthy love of plastic. And when you put it into a fun shape and tell me I can sip a favorite beverage from it, well, that just about seals the deal. The packaging on this set is just the tops. It would have had me pitching a fit in Tops, for sure.

Vintage Knickerbocker Sesame Street Ernie and Bert Dolls

Knickerbocker makes some lovely dolls. Their toys are top notch. The moment I realized that Ernie and Bert sounded exactly like Kermit and Fozzie was a real eye opener, in my life. It cemented my love of all things Henson in a very real way. And the thought that you could grow up and have an artistic career! You could actually get paid to play with puppets! Very big stuff.

Vintage Spuds MacKenzie Plush

Remember in the 80s when they marketed adult products, like beer and cigarettes directly to children by means of adorable cartoon and life like characters? Spuds MacKenzie is the "original party animal" and he loved to wear clothes, and drink beers, and throw confetti and shit.  He was also a she.  On account of we can't have a boy dog's genitals hanging about in advertisements. Because that would be wrong. Never mind marketing beer to kids, that's totally normal and fine.  Just overlook that bit and focus on the genitals.  Because we protestants love to focus on the genitals.  By not focusing on them.  Because we're tricky. And like beer.

Until next time, you Little Kiddles, happy hunting!