Reconstructing the Website

I have spent the day reconstructing the website.  Well, except for the time I took a short nap.  Hey, it's Sunday!  This is such a long and tedious process.  I just can't seem to get to the point that I'm satisfied with it. Can't decide if I should keep some pages, get rid of them?  Dividing my store into categories which each have their own page (that is what is taking the longest).  I have also added albums.  I want the end result to be an easy to navigate site that is welcoming and interesting.

I've even thought about deleting the website altogether and just using my blog or my Facebook page.  What are your thoughts?

I would love to hear suggestions from you.  What you would you like to see in a website that is about and sells antiques, vintage, etc.?

Still Around...or Back Rather

                                             

I know this is a Christmas picture but since I missed Christmas and New Year's on my blogs I'm sort of still in holiday mode. And I love Christmas and try to drag it out as long as I can!!  This is one of the bows I made for one of our trees.  Everything you see was purchased at the Dollar Tree! :D 

It's been a long few months.  With sickness (strep throat, pneumonia, stomach bugs, migraines, broken bones-my family likes to keep it interesting), vacation then the holidays and traveling for the holidays.  Whew!  We were only home three days over the holiday break.  Long enough to unpack from our trip to Orlando, do laundry, celebrate Christmas at our house, repack and hit the road again to visit my in-laws in Cincinnati.  It was a fantastic Christmas though!  We got to enjoy 80 degree, sunny weather at Disney World with the kids and then the kids got to play in 12+ inches of snow and go sledding the next week in Cincinnati.  It was a blast! 

But now it's time to get back to business!  Time to really dig into my inventory and start listing, listing, listing! So over the next week or so hopefully you will start to see the store growing.  I have already made a few minor changes to the website Annies Eclectic Finds, mostly cosmetic but some changes in the policies you might want to check out.  Also, be sure to notice that when you hover over the link for the store page on the site you will see additional links appear to your right with other categories.  It is hard to see and I'm working on how to fix that.  I'm not sure there is a way to change that.  If not then I will make each category it's on page instead of a sub-page to the store.

I can't wait to have more inventory added to the store for you to see!  I'm also excited to show you some things I brought home from Cincinnati.  My mother-in-law had been keeping a few things stored away for my husband for quite a few years and decided to send the home with us this time.  We brought home a set of beautiful fine china his grandmother had left to him as well has some blue mason jars, antique salt & pepper shakers, glasses, Mikasa goblets and crystal candle holders.  For our vintage collection we know have my husbands AM/FM Pioneer Radio, still in working condition!  It is a gorgeous piece.  He says sell it...I'm still debating.  (You know I want to keep everything!)  I think it would look awesome in our house since I still have my floor model AM/FM, 8 track, 45 player (also in working condition).  Pictures of all to follow soon!

Until next time...happy finding!!

Check out Annie's Eclectic Finds

Be sure to check out the items at :

You'll find a variety of merchandise from purses to vintage dishes at the moment.  You will soon find items such as a vintage wedding dress, an extra large cast iron kettle/cauldron with stand (in great condition) and this item can be considered for local/private sale as it is so large, just contact me if you are interested in it.  I will be posting pictures very soon.  I also have a great collection of vintage camping dishes and cookware....or do you love the Pillsbury Doughboy?  Keep an eye out for an awesome collection of Anchor Ovenware Pillsbury Dough Boy Mixing Bowls...and much much more!  Way too much to list.  Just check back often, you never know what is going pop up!

Ok, I just couldn't help myself.  I went outside and took some pictures so you can get a sneak peak at what is coming up.....

(and I had a little fun with editing the wedding dress, I added some effects..  when I do the actual listing there will be no effects.  you will see the dress exactly as is)

Until next time...Happy Finding!!!

Clearing out closets and new furniture

I've been busy trying to thin out my purse collection as I like to call it, again.  These are just a few, lots more where these came from and lots more styles and brands too.

Despite listing items that are a bit out of the ordinary for AEF I have still been on the hunt.  Shortly before we moved I had started redoing the master bedroom.  Of course when I found out we were moving I put that on hold.  By that time though I had already gotten a new bed (that looks antique), a victorian dresser, one with a marble top, swivel mirror and fruit pulls and new bedding.  I still needed nightstands.  Anybody that knows me knows that a brand new matching pair of nightstands from a department store or furniture store is just not going to do for me.  Now that we are moved and finally settled in it's time to start back on the bedroom...and on the hunt for nightstands.  A few weeks ago I thought I had found the perfect nightstand (singular).  I found it at Goodwill for $5.  It was from the early 70's, solid wood and in excellent condition.  The only thing I didn't like was the finish.  Not a problem!  (I really wish I had taken a before picture)  I sanded it down and put a couple coats of black paint on it, distressed it a bit, put a coat of antiquing paint on it and it was perfect! Of course I still had to find another one for Jon's side of the bed but that wouldn't be a problem...I knew I'd eventually run across something I liked.  Here is the finished product:

 

   And then I did run across something else that I liked...even more than I like this piece.  And to make it even better!  There are two of them, yep, two pieces.  I know, I usually don't go for matching pieces but these two are gorgeous.  I'm pretty sure at one point in time they were actually one piece...I think it was actually a dresser that someone took apart and now it is two pieces that I can use as nightstands.  You are now going to have a before picture because I haven't had time do anything at all to these and I'm not sure when I will.  I haven't even decided what I'm going to do to them.

And now this lovely piece is going to have to find a new home.  That's in my home of course.  I'm still pretty fond of it so it's staying here.  I'm thinking it will be a good piece in my office or it might still work it my bedroom.  I do have an idea where it could go.  We'll just have to see.



I bet you want to see pictures of the latest find....

I am absolutely in love with these!!! And they are going to look so good beside my bed and with my dresser.  I still can't believe I found these.

And speaking of great finds....the real reason I got on here tonight was to tell you about the awesome estate sale I went to today!  I made the two hour drive into North Carolina because I had heard this was going to be an incredible sale and oh boy was it!  Unfortunately I showed up a bit late in the game so a lot of things had been picked over and picked through, but I still walked away with some awesome finds.  I can't wait to get some pictures tomorrow and share everything with you.

For now...good night and happy finding!!

Busy few days

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I've neglected the blog a bit the last few days. I've been quite busy though.  There are the obvious things...mom stuff, you know, everything that goes along with having two kids (6 yrs and 13 yrs old).  The age difference makes for fun times!
As promised my husband took me with him on a "dig".  I'm thinking he probably regrets taking me, lol.  He probably would have only came home with a few things....I on the other hand made sure we came home with an entire truck load. Literally.  The entire bed of our full-size pick-up truck was full.  We found tons of glass bottles of all kinds, different varieties of mason jars, perfume bottles and even some porcelain.  We came across several pieces of Homer Laughlin but unfortunately they were all broken.  My husbands favorite find was an hood ornament for a 1950's Chevy Belair.  I think my favorite find was the top part to an old stove that still had the clock attached.  I plan to do some restoring and repurposing.  When I get finished it's going to be an awesome home decor item.  Perfect for the kitchen!  We have tons more to go through, lots more digging to do.  Can't wait to get back out there!  (I do plan to post pictures of our finds from that day.  I want to get them all cleaned up and sorted first. That's going to have to wait a few days though.)

I also paid a visit to one of my favorite antique malls.  My son tagged along.  We ended up spending nearly 3 hours there.  I was surprised how much my son loved looking at all the antiques.  He found several great things that we ended up bringing home.  He spotted a great book that ended up being part of a rare collection that only a few were printed.  He also bought several vintage watches.  He's always loved watches and was intrigued with all the vintage watches they had.  He's decided to start collecting.
I am loving that my kids are getting interested in antiques and vintage.  It's becoming a family affair!

If you'd like to see some pictures of previous finds that I just never had a chance to post here (a few I did I think) check out my photostream on flickr, (anniebananie76).  http://www.flickr.com/photos/anniebananie76
I think that link will work.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous week!  Happy finding!

Antique Glass Bottles

Does anyone else love glass bottles as much as I do?  I've always loved collecting them, especially the smaller ones.  Colored glass...even better!  Check out the goodies my awesome husband just brought home for me. (There are a few really, really old Coke bottles in there too)  Tons more where these came from....he's taking me with him next time he goes digging!  I'm so excited!


(Btw just in case you're wondering, we do have permission to dig ;-) and we  actually have some of these same and other old glass bottles on our property as well. As a matter of fact, I just found a 1912 ALL HEALING SPRINGS WATER CO.  1 gallon water jug just the other day )


Can't wait until he takes me out to dig up some more and see what we find!


Happy finding!

A Little History Behind my Lil Whiskey Jug

A few days ago I posted a picture of a jug that I came across while on one of my many trips to my favorite stores and markets.  This is the original picture I posted:

I have since done some research and taken some better pictures: 

What an interesting find I have!  Turns out this is from pre-Prohibition period, sometime between 1866 and 1920.  It is from the Hayner Distilling Co. (it changed variations of the name several times over the years until Prohibition stopped production) which eventually became a nationally recognized mail order whiskey business.
This particular jug is the smaller approximately 8 1/2 inch size and I believe this is one of the rarer, harder ones to find.  Or at least that is what I have read in my brief research.  
How lucky was I to find one in such fantastic condition?!
If anyone is interested I do have it listed on eBay. I know, I should probably keep such an awesome find! But as I said in the original post, I collect glass liquor bottles and I've decided to keep so many of my other finds...I think my hubby is ready to put a limit on my "finding"!  


I would love to hear about your interesting or unique finds too!  Feel free to share!
Happy "Finding"!!

Haviland 105pc Set Sold

I wanted to let you all know that my Haviland collection did sell :(  I know I should be so excited...I know my husband is pretty happy about it.  Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to make a little money, we have bills to pay after all and kids to fed and keep in baseball and gymnastics and feed some more...and some more...and did I mention the amount of food they eat? Yeah, definitely need the money.  I really had grown attached to the set but truth be known I don't have the room for a set that large!

After I had listed the set I made a trip to Barnes & Noble and bought some great books on antiques.  I found this set and the actual value...I was blown away!  I just can't imagine paying that much for a set of china.  Can you see it? $2700!  It's not the exact pattern but all of the patterns were priced in that range.  And the settings they were showing were actually smaller than mine and had fewer extra pieces.  I'm thinking maybe I should have taken mine to an actual auction or found a different venue to sell mine!  Lesson learned!

Monday's Finds

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a fabulous week!  I have been so busy this week with school activities for the kids (there have been lots with this being the end of the school year), girl scouts, appointments...and of course in between I hit every thrift store, goodwill, antique store and consignment store I can find!  I absolutely love it!  I have found some awesome stuff.  I have some pictures of my finds from a few days ago which I will post today.  I still need to take pictures of the last couple of days finds (and even unpack some, one box is even still in my truck! lol).  At this point my finds have completey taken over the living room and the dining room.  Once I unpack the rest they will be expanding into my office.  I'm going to have to spend the next few days doing nothing but listing so I can hopefully clear out some space.  I think my family would appreciate having the house back.
Here are some close ups of some of the things I found on I think Monday.  I'm sorry some of the pictures are a bit blurry.  I use my cellphone just because it is so much easier and quicker to get the pictures uploaded.  I use the photobucket app so all the pictures automatically upload to my computer and into an album.  I love it!  Unfortunately the camera on my phone is crap...I've had it replaced once because it stopped working altogether and the new one hasn't worked right ever since and rarely focuses properly. Enough about my cell camera! Let's see some finds!!!

I love vintage cookware.  I'm not sure how well it will sell though.  The cookware with the veggies were the cookware I remember from when I was probably 4 or 5 years old.  I might end up using them as display pieces if I see that there is not a market for them. (Should have researched first, I usually always do, oh well)

Of course I bought dishes....

I just thought this was an interesting and beautiful plate.  The back of the plate tells a whole story about the woman in the painting.  This was the 2nd plate of a series of 12 limited edition plates, Women of the Century, made by French artist Francois Ganeau, celebrating a century of women's fashion from 1865-1965.

This is one picture that I am so disappointed in. It just doesn't do justice to the colors in these plates.  This is a beautiful set.  The pictures I took for my listing turned out much better.  I'll link to those as soon as I have them up (if I list these, shhhh, I'm thinking of keeping them).

Love this one, thought it was so cute because it's so small...

I collect liquor bottles, maybe I should add this whiskey jug to my collection :-D  I don't think it would blend in very well.
Really wish I had gotten a better picture of all the Gail Pittman pieces I found.

A collection of milk glass for your enjoyment:

And for the grand finale:

Did I mention I only paid $2.00 for the type writer?  I love a bargain!!


I hope you have enjoyed...I will post more as soon as I possibly can.  It's crazy busy this time of year.  The kids will be out of school as of next week and I'm thinking I might actually have more time to devote to this.  Maybe.

Goodnight to all my antique, vintage or just anything unusual or unique lovers!

Another long day and late night...

I know I promised to give more history on the R. Hall red transfer I posted about last night but it's been another one of those days. I've spent all day editing photos and doing research.  I managed to get a few more listings up and made my first sale since I've been back :D  That was kind of exciting.  But now it's late and I'm literally falling asleep at the computer (as I have every night for the last week).  So I'm going to leave you with a few pictures and another promise to enlighten you on not only the history behind R. Hall but also a few other of my great finds...I can't wait to show you!  Can't wait to take more pictures tomorrow! Anyway, here are a few more finds from last week. The first is a pitcher made by Lucille that I have fallen in love with. It is an ivory and soft pink and the pictures truly do not do this beautiful piece justice! I've decided this is another that I will not be selling, this is going in my hutch before I go to bed tonight!

Another great find from last week was two boxes of Sheffield Bone White China and Wade Fine Porcelain China from my favorite thrift store.  All the pieces were in excellent condition.  A couple saucers and plates had a small chip but other than that they practically looked brand new.

 I'll share one more before I go to bed...my husband actually found something very similar when he was in California but I told him not to buy because I thought they were asking way too much...the very next day I found this at my favorite thrift store! I'm pretty sure it's the same dish my husband found only this one was much cheaper. I was a bit surprised because he found some really good deals on antiques while he was in California. I'm still waiting on a couple of the boxes to arrive that he shipped to me from there after shopping for me!


I apologize if there are a gazillion spelling and grammar errors.  I told you I was falling asleep at the computer...I've fallen asleep three times just trying to proof read this!
Goodnight!!! Hope everyone has had a fantastic day and rests well!

Just one more...

Ok, it's 1:30 AM and I'm exhausted. I was going to go to bed but I have to show you one more find before I go.  I think this is probably my favorite of the week.  But only because my absolute favorite thing ever is red transfer or red toile.  (Oh, and not to mention that I only paid $4.00 for it!)  I am definitely not selling this piece.  My daughter fell in love with it as soon as she saw it...so I told her that when she was all grown up she could have the plate.  I promise...more on the history of this plate tomorrow when I'm not so tired.  Goodnight!

This blog is "under construction" so-to-speak.  I've decided to start selling on eBay again after a quite lengthy break away from it.  I have accumulated quite the inventory of antique and vintage collectibles (literally in a matter of days) so there really is no other choice.  Not sure what came over me, I have been collecting antique dishes and vintage items for years now but all it took was one amazing find (by my husband surprisingly!) and I was ready to open my own store!  Since that just isn't possible at the moment, eBay was the next best thing.  I plan to share all of my fantastic finds here and I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do!
Pictured above and below is the fantastic find I was speaking of.  It is an 105 piece set of Theodore Haviland China.  It is absolutely gorgeous!!  I do have it listed on eBay but the longer it sits on my dining room table the more I fall in love with it!  This is going to be the hardest part about getting back into buying and reselling...I never want to resell what I find!