What would you do? little pearl buttons

I’m in a bit of a quandary at the moment about these little guys…

Click on me! and see my beauty!

Me too!

Me three!

Seven unusual pearl buttons I found thrifting one day.  They were in a large bag of jewelry I saw at our local Goodwill by the pound store.  Luckily I was able to sift through it and make a nice little pile of goodies to which I paid only 26 cents…so all of these guys were less than a nickel!    I’ve had them for about 8 months and during that time they just sat neglected in a drawer never seeing the light of day. I’m in no way shape or form a jeweler, but they look to be excellent quality….real pearls with real gold mounts….and with the mounts that they have I can only assume they are buttons, vintage because who makes buttons like these anymore! 

 Now what do I do with them?  First off I wouldn’t use them as buttons since I fear they would be damaged (no washing machine for these!); I could have them made into jewelry, a ring or maybe a pendant, but truthfully pearls aren’t my style.  I’m more into large chunky statement pieces, or bright and colorful enameled stuff.  The only other option is to sell them.  I took them to a local jewelry and his opinion was the same as mine…real real real, but of course I would need to have them appraised before I listed them anywhere to be certain of their value (if any).  Of course if they aren’t that valuable I’m out the cost of an appraisal…so I ask readers….What would you do?  Keep them?  Or take a chance and have them appraised?


Ciao

Becca

PS: Has anyone seen these before??

Contest and Giveaway!!!

I have always been in love with vintage accessories.  You name it and I have quite a bit of it, from earrings to hats to belts.  I even have a few piece of vintage clothing that I know I could never wear in a thousand years but can’t seem to get rid of.  But the time has come to start passing on some of these gems, after all it isn’t good vintage karma to keep it all to myself.  So I have started a new Etsy store call That Touch of Vintage.

I decided to host this contest/giveaway as sort of a promotion, but really just for fun!  

One of the things I am super bad about is earrings; they are fun and funky and super easy to store….then before you know it you have well....as many as I do….or more!   

So here is the contest part:

Below is a photo of all my earrings and you need to guess how many there are, including the ones on the stands; this is sort of like the old how many jelly beans are in the jar contests.  

 
We are doing this Bob Barker style so the closest WITHOUT going over will win this prize:

 A clip earring holder, Kyes Moire Tray, a pair of glove, and a pair of earrings!


Additional Detail:  
Feel free to pass this post on along to any friends!
I will announce the winner a week from now. So stay tuned.
One guess per person
If for some reason two people give the same correct guess, then the prize goes to the first person.



That's it!  Happy guessing!



Cheers,


Becca

Thrift Share Monday: Sweden..check... Finland..check... Denmark..check

This past weekend we were in Tampa for another beer thing, so I was very excited to be able to thrift in another city, which is one thing I love!  Now while I do have my normal haunts here in Jax, it is always nice to do some thrifting outside the box.

 I could barely contain my excitement when we rolled up to the first place! As soon as I saw it was an AmVet thrift store I started chanting “Yes yes yes!” and kicking my feet (My favorite place in Jax is an AmVet store too). When I walked into the front door my spirits sank….it was 85% clothes.  Boo Hiss.  So I made a beeline straight for the house wares (like I normally do) and started perusing the aisles.  Unfortunately there didn’t look to be anything good, in fact everything seemed rather junky and dirty.  Damn.

 I finished looking and started to leave when I saw that I missed one aisle across the room.  The first thing I saw were these…an entire bag of iittala ultima glasses….and yes they were just like this all tossed into a bag with nothing to protect them.  

  I stood there with my hands on the bag while Mr. Honey went and got me a cart, and then I VERY slowly lifted them up and put them in the cart.  I wheeled them up and paid for them…$6.60.  SWEET!  I didn’t even take them out of the cart, since I wanted to move them as little as possible; the lady had to lean over the counter to see the price tag.  Once I got my change and receipt I grabbed a few of the local free newspapers from the stand outside and systematically went through the bag wrapping each piece individually and checking for damage.  I was totally FLOORED that in the whole bag there wasn’t one broken or damaged piece.  There ended up being 30 glasses in total which is roughly 22 cents apiece.

Iittala Ultima glasses

This is the best find so far this year I think, but I didn't do too bad earlier in the week when I found these items...

Orrefors "Celeste" candleholder

Dansk Kobenstyle 2Qt pot

Matching piece... Iittala Ultima serving bowl

I hope your weekend was as good or better than mine!

Also I just wanted to let you guys know that I will be posting my first contest/giveaway tomorrow so stay tuned to participate!

Cheers

Becca


Linking up with Her Library Adventures and  Apron Thrift Girl

The Big "E" Eye Candy

What does a random Tuesday need but a little eye candy.... a few unmarked Hanova piece anyone?

Enjoy!

 

A cabinet makeover!

My brother just recently introduced me to an alternative way of having metal finished, which is far superior to paint in my opinion, and that is powder coating.  Now if you don’t know what powder coating is….and I didn’t…here is the process in a snapshot.  The metal item is sandblasted to remove any old paint and/or rust, and then it is sprayed with an electrostatic dry powder; from there it is “baked” at a high temperature which allows the powder to flow and form a “skin” around the metal.  What is great about the process is the finished product has a super glossy finish which is tougher than conventional paint.

My first items up for powder coating is this pair of vintage film strip storage cabinets I got for the low low price of FREE.

I emptied them, pulled out the grid inserts and dropped them off at the powder coating place.  And month and a half later....I got these:  

Now I know what your thinking...a month and a half that is FOREVER...at least it felt that way to me, but the guy I used has large contracts with the city so the small stuff isn't top priority, plus they had to order the color I wanted since they didn't have any on hand.  So at only 40 bucks each to have finished...they were well worth the wait.  Here are some close ups....check out the sheen....

Oh so glossy finish...

Now I can label to my hearts content!

These beauties will now be used for some much needed jewelry storage!  I can truly use about three more of these....I'm keeping my eye out. 

Even the insides are coated!

So if you have something metal you want redone...I would check with your local guy.

What is up next?  Well lets see how this ottoman base turns out.  Stay tuned!

Cheers!


Becca

Digsmed Spice Wheel : Repurposed

Have you ever loved a mid century item but couldn't use it for its original purpose?  Well that is where I was with the striking Digsmed Spice wheels.  They are a gorgeous combination of design and function, but I could never sell them to Mr. Honey to hold our spices.  But when I found one on the big "E" for a mere $45 I couldn't pass it up!  Then came the task of figuring out how to use it.  After some thought, it came to me.  I can use it to hold my buttons!

 

So what do you think?  It acts as storage and art!
Now I just need two or three more....because I have a lot more buttons.  I can see it in my head, a large wall with multiple sized wheels full of different colored buttons.  Almost like a large kaleidoscope!

I HEART Hanova

About a year ago I stumbled across a gorgeous line of vintage enamelware by a company called Hanova (Hanova of Pasadena) and it was truly love at first sight.  My addiction …I mean collection started with this covered dish…isn’t it lovely in all it’s teal glory!

Well once I had one piece I needed a few more...

  
and a few more....

Then...well...a few more...

 Now of course I need to know all about the company so I searched all over the internet and found…..NOTHING.  Darn it.  No info to be had…..that was until last month when I contacted the stepson of one of the original owners, through an eBay auction of all things!  This gentleman is awesome.  He gave me a nice history of the company and mailed me some color copies of original brochures, all of which I get to share with you.  I hope you enjoy it!(I stalked my mailman for a week looking for these brochures, he has to think I’m nuts)

A Little about Hanova...

Hanova was started in 1962 in Hollywood, CA by Erwin Prust and Bob Hill.  At the start, both gentlemen were working regular jobs and experimenting on the side using a small furnace to perfect the enamel texturing technique on steel.  While this technique was commonly used on copper, they were the first to create this same effect on steel.   

 After the company moved to Pasadena, CA in late 1962, both Erwin and Bob started working full time at Hanova;  Bob would design pieces while Erwin dealt with the porcelain enamel end of the business as that was his background.  It was then that Erwin finally perfected the textured enamel on steel aesthetic which became one of their most prolific product lines. 

 It was a lengthily process to achieve this textured finish which required three coats of enamel, each fired independently at around 1400 degrees.  The first coat was a base coat given to the steel after it was cleaned and etched.  The next coat was a coat of olive colored enamel, which had an ingredient that would cause the final coat to texture and show the olive color.  The final coat would be the primary color of the piece. In the mid 60’s there were 10 colors; rust, mustard and green were the most popular with yellow and black the least popular.  What made the textured line of products so interesting was that each piece was different as the texturing was random and appeared in the oven. 

In the beginning the first items manufactured were non textured desk items, such as pen holders in plain black enamel but soon the company started making cookware, ashtrays and other decorative household items.  All items were made using porcelain enamel which is very versatile because it is easily cleaned and can take extreme temperatures.  You can take a casserole out of the freezer and put it in the oven without damage. 

I will take one of these starter kits!

While Hanova did distribute all throughout the country, they did tend to sell more on the west coast; a good bit was even sold right out the factory’s front garage door.  This was never a large operation, they usually only had about 2-3 employees in manufacturing and a handful of sales reps that would go to design shows/showrooms and rep the items.

 Around 1967, the company moved again to Fair Oaks also in Pasadena.  It was about this time that Bob Hill lost interest and sold his share of the company to Erwin. When Bob left, Erwin brought in Charles Chaney to help design a new line of casseroles and other items.  A new line of products without texturing was developed and called Avonah (Hanova spelled backward) which did not sell very well. 

Charles then developed a line with stylized birds which were quite popular. 

The bird casseroles

Another item designed at this time was their sculpture-like candle holders, which were made from the steel left over from other products.  You can see in some designs that a casserole knob or a drink coaster would be used for a base. They would be bent and spot welded in various configurations.

In the early 70's Erwin developed an animal sculpture line with owls, snails and hippos.  Later he made a line of imaginary animals from outer space, these did not sell well

 In 1975, Erwin retired and sold the company to a man who moved it to Ashland, OR and never really got it off the ground.  To this day a lot of pieces are unattributed as Hanova since paper tags were used in the early years.