Another Fun Adventure

This morning, my good junkin' buddy Auntie from Kitschy Vintage and I set out on another fun adventure! We went to 4 antique shops located in Coldwater and Allen, Michigan. It was about an hour and a half drive, so we had lots of time for blabbing and catching up. Since it's only been a couple of weeks since out last adventure, it may seem strange for me to say "catch up", but it's true, we did catch up! We used to work together so we saw each other every day, now we only see each other every couple weeks, and a lot happens in those couple of weeks!!

It was -16.8 when I woke up this morning-actual temperature! My dad sent me a picture text of his thermometer at his house in the U.P. and their actual temperature was -31!! My car was nice and toasty, so the only time we noticed the temperature was when we got out of the car at each stop, and in the first shop that seemed like the heat wasn't working.

Our first stop was in Coldwater, at a new-to-us antique shop called Coldwater Antique Mall. It looks small from the outside, but we were pleasantly surprised when we got inside and it was much bigger than it looked. I'm glad we added this shop into our route-it's definitely a keeper!! We both got some great deals, and considering it is only about 10 minutes past all of the shops we visit every year in Allen, I think it's safe to assume that it has become a regular on our route.

The next stop was Hog Creek Antiques. We had even better luck at Hog Creek! When I brought a few things to the counter for them to hold for me while I continued to shop, the clerk asked my name, and every time I made a pass by the counter area, she said something to me and used my name. I didn't know whether to be impressed that she remembered, or creeped out that she kept using my name. She was actually very nice, and very friendly...I guess I'm just not used to having strangers call me by my name.

The next stop was The Allen Antiques Barn. We decided to shop the upper level first, and it was half dark! Only half of the lights were on. We found a bank of light switches and tried them, but they didn't work. Once we were on the main level, Auntie mentioned to the cashier about the lights, and she ran up and turned them all on. She didn't realize half weren't on. It made shopping a challenge. I only found a couple of hatpins, but it was still a fun adventure!

Just a stone's throw away, was Capitol Antiques. As we were walking in, we both were naming off things that we each had bought there on our last visit-hoping for good finds once again. Auntie found a couple of things, but nothing for me. It's still a must stop on our list even though I didn't find anything this time.

The last stop was another great place. We both had lots of fun wandering around and finding fun things to look at and buy. I felt kind of bad for the clerk. She had to write out one hand-written receipt for each dealer, and then add them all up. It was very time-consuming for her, and it made for a traffic jam at the check-out counter. I guess I've just become used to shopping at stores that have computers.

All-in-all, it was a super fun day! By the time we were in our last lap at the last place, we both were feeling the effects of junk-overload!! It was nice to sit for a while too! We're already talking about, and looking forward to our next adventure. The guy at the first stop loaded me up with all kinds of brochures and maps for future antiquing adventures.

Here are some pics from our adventure.

 This was our route...unfortunately, we never found the second place.

 Brrr!!! Pretty, but oh-so COLD!!!

Coldwater Antique Mall-it's a keeper!!

 I just LOVE cabinets!

LOTS of things to see and a fun place to shop! If you are ever in Coldwater, plan to make a stop at Coldwater Antiques!!

Two more corner cupboards...would it look weird to have every corner in my house filled with a corner cupboard??   ;)

 I bought several things from this booth at Hog Creek-can you guess which ones??

 Do you remember this lamp from our visit last year? Elvis is still in the house!

 They also sell crafts!

This was upstairs at the Allen Antiques Barn. What a clever idea!!! It really wasn't all that expensive either!

 LOVE this table!!!

 I've never seen this pattern before---have you??

 My grandma would have LOVED this lamp!!! She loved owls and she was a big hoarder collector.

Found one, but $125 for the pair is waaaay out of my price range!!

 LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!

 Not sure if they are cute, or if they are creepy!!

 Capitol Antiques-FIESTA!!!

 Last stop of the day!

Vintage Valentine Cards

 A gift for Mr.

 Snowflake Garland--all in GREAT shape. All from Hog Creek, but different booths.

 From Coldwater Antiques.

JAJ Pyrex found at Hog Creek

 Found at Allen Antique Mall-last stop of the day.

 Found at Hog Creek

 Pyrex 443 Found at Allen Antique Mall

 Fired-on canister-found at Hog Creek.

Red refrigerator dish found at Coldwater Antiques

 Lots of reading material, and ideas for future adventures!!

 Hatpins found at The Allen Antique Barn

 Hazel Atlas bowls found at Hog Creek

 Running out of room!! Once the weather warms  up, I'll spend some time in the sun room rearranging things a bit!

I couldn't remember if I had the yellow one already or if it was the red one. I almost didn't buy it because I wasn't 100% sure. I'm glad I decided to go for it!! The price was great-so that helped me in my decision making!

Did you notice the tablecloth underneath everything? Auntie got it at the Ingham County Fairgrounds Indoor Garage Sale and she's letting me buy it from her--because as she said on her blog. I don't have any tablecloths-LOL!

I wish we lived closer so that we could make that trip more than once a year!! It was fun, and a great way to spend a very cold day!

Hope you are all staying warm! Happy weekend, and Happy Hunting!!!

BRRRRRRRR!

When I got up this morning it was -16 degrees--actual temperature!!! The weather guy said -31 with the windchill. It was very sparse in church this morning, at least for the first service. We've spent the day staying warm and inside.

We made a couple of loafs of rye bread in the breadmakers. Yes, I have an "s" on the that. Mr. got really into bread making a few years ago and I picked up a second breadmaker in the single-digits (dirt cheap) and whenever he makes bread, we usually have two going at the same time.

Somehow, I ended up doing most of the measuring and dumping this time-even though I was in the midst of making my own delicious masterpieces. He put the bread makers on the floor in the dining room, because last time, one flipped off the counter when it was kneading the dough. It survived, but he didn't want to take that chance again.

Our little girl was scared out of her mind of the breadmakers. She didn't know what to think at first, but once they got going (and they were loud!), she was trying to squeeze herself between my leg and the couch!

While that was baking, I spent some time flipping through some online auctions. I threw out a couple of minimum bids on a couple of things-we'll see if it amounts to anything. I think it was mostly out of boredom, and not that I really need/want the things I bid on.

I also tried a new recipe. I LOVE recipes from Taste of Home! I have only had one recipe in the past ten or so years from them that I didn't like, and that was my own personal preference. It had Worcestershire sauce (something I can't stand) in it. I was talked into making it from a friend, who convinced me I'd never taste it...I did...it was awful...never doing that again!

Today I made the dough of this recipe . I had a couple of cans of pie filling in the pantry, so I skipped the homemade apple pie filling. I used blueberry. They are sooo good! The crust is light and flaky, and the cream cheese gives it just a little kick of flavor-YUM!!

My mixer gave up the ghost while I was mixing the dough together. It wasn't really the dough that did it in, it was creaming the butter and cream cheese that did it. It got really hot, really fast, and a puff of smoke came out of the motor compartment and that was it. It's amazing how one little puff of smoke could smell so bad, for so long! If it was warmer outside, I'd have had a couple of windows open.

The first few pies didn't look as nice as the last, I was trying to cram too much filling into the tiny little pies. After a while though, I got the hang of it and they turned our pretty nice looking. My guys ate them right out of the oven on top of a giant bowl of vanilla ice cream. I waited a few minutes and ate mine by itself when it was still a little warm.

If you like to try new recipes, and have some time to make this, do it! You won't regret it. Your family will love it!! I only made up one of the two disks (half of the recipe) that I chilled in the fridge. The other one is waiting for a couple of days and will become little cherry pies.

The bread came out steamy and delicious smelling, the pies were flaky and delicious...and it was a great day to stay inside! It's made it up to 3 degrees, so while I really felt like getting out and hunting for treasures, the bitter cold kept me inside.

I tried out my printer with edible ink and rice paper on Thursday and made some fun vintage Valentine cookies. I took some to Bible study that night, and everyone loved them. My family won't eat them. They think it's weird to eat the paper (even though I've explained it's edible rice paper), the other thing I've heard is "it's creepy to eat them with faces".

In my mind, they were going to be so much cuter than how they turned out. I was expecting more vivid colors, but even on the photo setting it just didn't get very bright. I've already begun searching for vintage St. Patrick's images, and vintage Easter images for more vintage baking adventures. This time, I'll have to make some without faces!

Hope you are staying warm!!!

 These were the first batch on Thursday...I didn't have any icing to go around the edges, and tried a little tube of gel-it looked more like blood than icing.

This was the second batch. My guys found the creepy girl and thought it would be funny to have her on a cookie.

 My cute little Valentine's date. Mr had a volleyball game.

 This was the second pan.

Still too much filling-they split when the baked,

They don't look very appetizing, but they were awesome!!

Two loaves of rye.

Now it's time to make some dinner, and get things straightened around for work tomorrow. I hope you're staying warm and safe!!

Have a great week!!!

Another Week Flew By!

Sometimes I think we are just too busy. It's usually when I blink twice and its Friday again. Our weeks in the winter are really jam-packed. So much so, that by Thursday morning, I am worn out! Then Friday (my day off) comes, and I'm all rested and back to normal-even though Fridays are full of grocery shopping, laundry and errands now, more than hunting for treasures. Just getting out of  the house for a little bit without an agenda or schedule is so refreshing!

Today I went to the Ingham County Fairgrounds for their Indoor Winter Garage Sale with my junkin' buddy Auntie from Kitschy Vintage. We had a fun time catching up on life and hunting for treasures. By the time we left, it was pretty packed with shoppers. We both got some great deals.

We also visited all the antique shops in Mason before we headed home.

This past week, I had a few things come in the mail. I finally spent my Christmas money. I also got two treasure boxes from my cousin's mother-in-law. They were filled with some glassware, that I'll probably either sell in my spring garage sale or pass on to friends. Last Friday at my cousin's son's hockey game, her MIL was telling me about some of her collections. WOW! I wish I would have seen some of them before she started down-sizing! She still has a HUGE collection of Aunt Jemima stuff that sounds incredible!

Throw in 3 nights of volleyball with these pictures, and you'll know what my week was like!


This was a purchase last Friday...I still LOVE it, and love looking at it! My mom just bought some and she's planning on melting it in her kiln to make it into a spoon rest. I get the first one!

At Fraser Hockeyland...getting ready to watch my cousin's sons play hockey for Rochester College

 They WON!!! They took back the jug from O.U.! Fun night, and great game!!!

While cleaning out my dresser, I came across some recipes my grandpa sent me for venison...I find myself thinking about him a lot lately, and missing our chats on the phone while I drove to my volleyball games on Wednesday nights.

 I got a package in the mail this week. It was the most interesting package I've ever received in the mail. It was a Christmas gift bag...wine bottle size...one strip of packing tape to close the top-with openings on each side of the tape. I'm surprised the contents actually made it to me. It would have been very easy for someone to slit the little bit of tape and take what was inside.

The back of the bag.

The contents, a Las Vegas tablecloth. There's a big stain, but it looks like I'll be able to get it out-once the weather warms up and the sun gets a little warmer.

Camera phones never show the details like your eye sees them! This was covered in frost and sparkled like diamonds in the sun.

Sunrise. We got about 12" of snow last Sunday, and our little dead-end dirt road got plowed by 8am on Monday! That NEVER happens!! Usually it is several hours later or even a couple of days later before we get plowed out. I was looking forward to s "snow day" of sorts from work because I couldn't get out. I ended up being only a half an hour late.

Rice paper sheets...hoping to print vintage Valentine designs to put on cookies and cakes. The new printer arrived yesterday, just waiting for the edible ink cartridges!

Treasure Box #1...

Treasure Box #2

The contents of both boxes...minus some really cool sushi plates that got snatched up already by my oldest.

Finally arrived and is at least out of the box...Now for a project!!

Just waiting on my edible ink cartridges-looking forward to some fun baking projects!!

This is the last quilt for me...I promise...I hope...I mean it...I think....I've asked Auntie to hold me to it!! I couldn't walk away, it's my favorite pattern, and it's complete, and, and, and...I've got to stop! :)

I bought some tablecloths too...because I don't have very many-LOL! I've got a serious linen addiction!! I am in a Facebook group called "I need a 12 step program for my Fiestaware addiction", Maybe I should start a group called, "I need a 12 step program for my vintage linen (Pyrex, Fiesta, kitchenware, Valentines, jars, bottles, and any other thing that catches my eye) addiction"

I really needed another bowl...and another jar...ugh-I need help! But it's so much fun, and I don't really spend a lot-it's cheap entertainment! I also got three vintage buttons, I'm hoping to use them in a project that I have in mind.

Here's my wish list for 2015. All the things I'll be hunting for while I'm at Flea Markets, Garage Sales, Estate Sales and Antique Shops. I'm hoping to find things mostly at Estate and Garage Sales, and not so much Stores or online.

Notice the red section. It means DO NOT BUY!!! I should probably put the vintage tablecloths in red too...

We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow. It got to 45 today and a lot melted from last week's storm. Hope you're staying warm and dry!! Happy Weekend!! I'm heading over to see what my blog friends have been doing this week.