While I shake the dust out of my house, and shake the stuffing out of my children if they don't help me, you can look at this collector's home.
Marlow Harris sent it over from Seattle. Scroll down to see the home of the man she calls the "King of Collectors."
I may be the "Princess of Quite a Lot," but this guy is out of control.
OK, you can laugh at me if you want to, but I picked up something yesterday at the Coeur d'Alene Goodwill that I've been searching for. Remember those tacky fake log sets that use a yellow lightbulb and Christmas tinsel to simulate a glowing, crackling, fire? Well that's what I found.
The vintage sets have gotten popular lately and prices have gotten a little high for my taste. I've seen them go for as high as $50! I only paid around $10
The set I bought isn't very old. And, for me, that's a plus. I didn't want to have to re-wire it.
My older children were aghast, but my 8-year-old loved it. (Mentally, I may have more in common with your average 8-year-old than other age groups)
So now, if I ever get my little garden shed built, or I get mad enough to move out to the backyard and live in a tent, I'll have the ambiance of a little fire. As long as they don't take my extension cord.
The rain was falling in Spokane last Saturday, but The Farm Chicks managed to stay dry most of the day.
As my daughter and I drove from our home north of Spokane, down to the little town Fairfield for the sale, I wondered if the combination of bad weather and the high price of gas would keep buyers away. I don't think it did. The place was packed.
I got there around 1p.m. just in time to hear my favorite bluegrass band, Prairie Flyer . I love those guys.
It was fun to prowl through the booths and talk to so many friends and readers.
I picked up a vintage sampler from Penny Simonson (more wise words for the "Wall of Wisdom" ) and made my big purchase of the day - an old camp desk painted in two shades of green and showing its age - from the girls at MaryJane's Farm .
My daughter found an old woven cotton ship's blanket she couldn't live without. We had to apologize to another shopper who thought we had decided not to buy it. The other woman wasn't happy, and I immediately offered to let her have the blanket, but she backed down. My daughter's eyes were huge. I hope she takes good care of that thing. I risked my life ( but never my dignity) to get it for her.
Before we left the sale we scarffed down a hamburger and a piece of homemade cherry pie topped with a scoop of Mary Lou's" vanilla ice cream.
It was a nice day in spite of the gloomy weather. I came home with a full tummy and empty pockets, and a notebook full of ideas for Treasure Hunting columns.
Dear Cheryl-Anne: I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading your column. I find that I can live vicariously through your writings. I don't have the time to go to yard sales, nor do I take the time to collect the things you do; but I do relish reading your descriptions of your framed embroidery, old sewing basket, and especially the column about puttering. Please keep up the good work. -- Vicki Shumaker, Spokane
Response: Thanks for the kind words, Vicki. I love writing about my adventures and the things that mean so much to me, and it's nice to know that my stories resonate with a reader. As for puttering... I believe it is a universal pleasure. You don't have to be a collector to enjoy it.
Question: Dear Cheryl-Anne,
I've enjoyed your online writing, and now I have a question for you. I have heard that there is a "Museum of Oddities" somewhere in Spokane. I recall that it might be housed in an auto-repair or auto sales shop. Have you heard of this and, if so, do you know the name and contact info for this place? We're planning a trip over the mountains next month.
THANKS!
Marlow C. Harris, Seattle
Answer: Hi Marlow,
I have to admit you had me scared for a minute. I thought you might have heard about my house ...
Carr's One-of-a-Kind Museum is located in North Spokane at 5525 N. Freya. They are open Saturday and Sunday 1-4, and the message says to arrive before 4 p.m.
If you don't get your fill of oddities at Carr's, I can set up an appointment to give you a tour of my garage. I'm the curator.
If this rain keeps up I'm going to have to wear my wellies to The Farm Chicks Show this weekend.
But like the postman, a little soaking rain won't keep me from making my appointed rounds.
There are going to be at least 20 dealers with loads of lovely junk saved especially for this sale, plus a heapin' helpin' of bluegrass music topped off by some mighty good eats. Yum!
See you in Fairfield.
You don't have to have a garage sale to find a new home for your old junk.
If you have something that you don't need anymore, or you're looking for something, check out SpokaneFreecycle .
The Freecycle.org homepage lists 196 members in Spokane and more than 1500 in Seattle.
I wish I had known about the free wood burning stove. We have a new shop going up and it would be nice to keep it all warm and toasty in the winter.
I'm on a roll! Here's another site that suggests having a garage sale to finance your romantic getaway. Wonder what I could get for four kids? (As found, no guarantees. None work.) Of course, if I sold them I wouldn't need the getaway...
I leave no stone unturned when surfing for good ideas for you treasure hunters. It says right here that going to garage sales is good for your sex life. One of the other suggestions was playing Chutes and Ladders with your signifigant other. I guess it depends on your activity level.
In today's Treasure Hunting column, I write about the quiet pleasure to be found "puttering" around the house. One of my favorite references is "Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy," by Sarah Ban Breathnach . The book has been around since the mid-1990s, but I still thumb through my copy now and then.
In "Simple Abundance" Ban Breathnach captures the essence of nesting. Home is where we focus our energy and recharge our batteries.
I like the way she writes about her love of poking through dusty antique shops and flea markets, even when she can't afford to buy anything. (I suspect that after the success of the book, and her subsequent books, she doesn't have that problem anymore.)
Any antique lover will tell you that time spent strolling through a shop or flea market is restorative. You don't always have to bring something home to enjoy treasure hunting.
Ban Breathnach tells us to celebrate the things we love, whether they are valuable antiques, or small mementos. They are the true centerpieces of our homes. Far more important than a $2000 sofa or custom-made Dupioni silk draperies.
I've been working to find a use, or at least a place, for the things I didn't want to sell at the flea market. My current project is making a large serving tray out of the old mahogany tabletop I dug out of a shed at an estate sale. (You can see it in the photo I posted on Feb. 24.)
Here's a site that lets you post a photo of your "trash to treasure" project. Some of them are a bit too frilly for my taste, but I admire the hard work.
I've been trying to take a piece of vintage fabric and make it look even older. The 1960s linen daybed cover was a little too avacado green and harvest gold for me so I washed it in hot water and then again in Rit Color Remover. I repeated the process to take away even more of the color.
It's outside now so the sun (if it ever comes out and stays out) can bleach it even lighter. I wish I had thought to take a "before" photo so you could see the difference
Well, the first thing I want to say about my Saturday at the flea market is that it’s a fine kettle of fish when a friend calls you up and asks you to share a booth at the sale, and you stay up way too late getting your stuff ready to sell. And then the rain wakes you up at 3 a.m. and you can’t get back to sleep, but you still get up at 6 a.m. And then when that same friend calls you at 7 a.m. to say there’s no way she is going to stand outside in the rain just to sell a lot of old junk, you’ve already got your stuff loaded up so you have to go on to the sale without any help. Well, like I said, that’s just a fine kettle of fish.
Especially when that friend shows up at 10 a.m. after you’ve already gotten everything set up (and you’ve had a whole thermos of coffee in spite of the fact that there wasn’t anyone to watch the booth so you could take a bathroom break) and she’s carrying a big cardboard box full of cake mixes (cake mixes!) and says that’s the only thing she had time to gather up all week.
And then she tells you that she doesn’t need those cake mixes because she doesn’t eat sugar anymore and that’s why she’s lost 25 pounds in the last two months. And then to make matters worse she promptly sells the box of cake mixes to the very next person who walks into the booth!
Well, that’s all I’m going to say about it. I’m not going to mention the fact that I worked at the flea market when I should have been working on stories that had a Monday morning deadline. (I will say that the only deadline my friend knows anything about is getting her roots touched- up every three weeks.)
On the positive side, I sold almost everything I took with me, and came home with only one little box of my own junk. Plus, I didn’t buy anything from any of the other dealers.
Oh, and did I mention I had a truckload of fun?
Somebody help me!
I let my friend Denise talk me into taking a booth at her church's annual Spring flea market tomorrow morning.
She's moving out of state and wanted to lighten the load by selling to the hordes of bargain hunters at the Covenant UMC sale.
They have two very successful markets each year and usually rent all the spaces with a long waiting list of hopefuls. Naturally, I look forward to the sale because I like to shop. Now, I'm going to be broiling in the sun, hawking my wares.
I've gotten into the spirit of the thing though, and I've gathered up a truckload of really good junk to sell (or trade!)
The flea market is located on the corner of North Gleneden Drive, just off Highway 395, and starts about 9 a.m.
I'm inviting everyone I know to stop by. What I really want is someone to watch my booth for me so I can go shop!
Many Baby Boomers learned to read with the Scott, Foresman and Co. "Basic Readers" from the 1960s. I remember them fondly. I recently picked up a copy of the 1964 "More Fun With Our Friends" edition to show my children the stories I read as a first-grader. I got it for under a dollar.
In yesterday's "Home Planet" column, I wrote about colliding with my principal in a stairwell when I was in fourth grade. In describing my principal's reaction, I wanted to say that, "He staggered, clutching his 'Sally, Dick and Jane.' My editor wouldn't let me.
But, that's exactly what happened. He was carrying a reader when I plowed into him.
When I wrote in last week's Treasure Hunting column that I thought the shabby chic "craze" was fading a bit in other parts of the country, I got a letter from Sandy Bechthold, in Coeur d'Alene . Sandy owns the "Shabby Chic Shoppe" in Cd'A and she was troubled when a customer told her I said the look is out of style.
In today's column I responded to Sandy's points and added a few more of my own.
I love the true shabby chic ideal. I love things that show their age and look like they have a story to tell, and I believe in giving old things a new life by re-inventing them. I included a photo of my dining room, with it's re-purposed table and tablecloths made into valances, with the column today.
Sandy is right. Shabby chic is a lifestyle. My point is that it is a lifestyle that has nothing to do with a lot of the awful stuff you see listed under "shabby chic" on eBay.
My grandmother used to say, "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." In other words, the shabby chic philosophy is about taking good old things and giving them a second, or even third, chance. It isn't about hiding old junk (and I mean that in a bad way) under a coat of paint.
Thanks for taking the time to write, Sandy. (I've posted Sandy's letter below.)
Hi Cheryl-Anne -- I own the Shabby to Chic Shoppe at the Lake in downtown Coeur d’Alene and a customer/friend said today that there was an article in The Spokesman-Review (I haven’t seen it yet since I haven’t had time to read the paper today) to the effect that shabby chic is out of style in most parts of the country except here in the Northwest.
I can’t wait to read it myself but I do want to say that shabby chic isn’t a “style” …. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a palette and/or background to ANY given style in vogue. It isn’t all white and roses ALL the time…..it works with retro, traditional, lodge, tuscany etc etc etc. What it IS is comfortable, easy, stylish, airy, affordable, colorful (or not); basically, anything we want it to be.
I wish you would come in and see for yourself, if you haven’t already. I would be honored to offer you our hospitality and have you give me your input on this "lifestyle."
Thanks and I hope to hear from you. -- Sandy
Over at SpoVegas , Doug Hughes posted a virtual "Garage Sale" sign for the annual Browne's Addition yard sale this Saturday. Thanks, Doug.
The Inland Empire Gardeners annual Garden Expo at the Spokane Community College is also happening on Saturday from 9-5.
You don't have to be a die-hard gardener to have a good time at the expo. Nancy and Sally from Forget-Me-Not in Coeur d'Alene called to tell me that they will be among the more than 200 dealers and vendors. They've stocked their booth with a funky assortment of garden "Objects d' Art."
Here's a link to a forum for people who want to talk about the best way to decorate their gardens with junk. Need information on how to build a satellite dish gazebo ? Check it out.
Question: We are downsizing and none of the kids want any of the things we have ended up with due to the deaths of our parents and grandparents.
I have quite a lot of the ruby carnival glass objects that we used to buy for my mother who loved the stuff back in the '60s. It is mostly the straight ruby, before they started adding the amber shading to save on the cost of using gold to make the ruby color. I even have a lamp!
One mother-in-law had a set of Limoges pot de crème with a tray.
I have a fabric wall hanging in the forbidden stitch from China, done about the 1600s or 1700s with silver and gold threads in it. It has been a nightmare to find anyone short of Butterfields to price it! A local shop said things like "museum quality."
Can you tell me which shops in town might be the ones to handle the red glass and odds and ends that we want to sell?
We really will not have enough space for our own favorites when we move, and I can't find any of the younger generation in my own family who wants this kind of stuff. Can you help? -- Nancy Parker
Answer: You have an interesting problem. I think the first thing you should do is contact a licensed appraiser. They are listed in the phone book. You might even want to contact the staff of the Museum of Arts and Culture with your questions. They might be able to put you in contact with the right people.
Many of the major auction houses, like Butterfields and Christies, will accept email queries and photographs. It may help you to check online auctions like eBay or GoAntiques to see if there are items like yours for sale.
Any reputable dealer should do their homework to determine the value of your things so that no one gets cheated. However, a dealer will only pay the wholesale price because they will still have to make a profit on the resale. Selling to a private collector is the only way to get the full price.
An auction, advertised to collectors, is often the best way to sell valuable items.
Question: I have an egg-shaped music box I think is porcelain. The top is painted and it has Japanese writing on the bottom and a small "stamp" that looks like a bird or a bee. I know it was brought back from Japan while my great-grandfather was in the service, but that is all I really know about it. Someone told me I better have it appraised. So I am looking for someone who maybe specializes in that sort of stuff. Or even just someone that can tell me what it is. -- Spring Dennis
Answer: Your best bet would be to follow your friend's advice and get an expert opinion. I don't know a lot about porcelain, and unfortunately I don't have anything that shows the mark you describe. Your music box sounds like a beautiful family treasure. Good luck.
When I wrote about my alter ego in last Thursday's Home Planet column, I talked about the effect that Pink Martini's music has on me. In my music drenched daydream, I was elegantly attired in a little black dress.
There is something about a basic black dress that is hard to resist. My favorite is the one I call my "movie star" dress. I picked it up a couple of years ago at a thrift store in Palm Springs, California. I spent hours combing through the racks looking at labels and trying on lots of gorgeous dresses from the 1940s through the 60s before I found the one that I fell in love with.
My dress was custom tailored for someone (I'd like to think it was someone on the Hollywood "A List" ) in the 1950s and cost me a whopping $14.
Re: Your column about the Guernsey item purchased at the auction. For clarification: they are really a cow and bull, not two cows. The shape of the bull's head is much squarer and larger than the cow's and he is wearing a nose ring. Jeanne Coe
Well, is my face red! Thanks for setting me straight, Jeanne. I posted a close-up of the pair so everyone can see that you're correct. You won't mind if I don't mention this to my children, will you? I don't get a lot of respect as it is, and they will never let me live this down. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm on my way outside to take a good long look at those ducklings I brought home from the feed store. I'm worried I might have gotten turkeys by mistake!
Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a free-lance writer and has been writing for The Spokesman-Review for three years. She writes occasional Tributes, a weekly Home Planet column, the weekly Treasure Hunting column, and stories for the In Life and Voice sections. Cheryl-Anne is a regular commentator on Spokane Public Radio, has owned a vintage clothing store, and operated an antiques business for more than a decade. She grew up in a family of collectors and dealers, so has spent her whole life around antiques and collectibles. 
