Visit the Man Cave!

Looking for something to do New Year's Day? Come and visit the Waukesha Antique Malls on Bank Street in Downtown Waukesha. Its our spectacular Dealer Dicker Event! Dealers will be on premise, ready to make a deal!! Come and see my newly decorated "Man Cave" and "Wall of Mirrors!" Its sure to be a great start to 2011...and still plenty of time to get home to cheer the Wisconsin Badgers to a Victory!!

Ephemera

Ephemera

Wikipedia describes "Ephemera as transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. Some collectible ephemera are advertising trade cards, airsickness bags, bookmarks, catalogues, greeting cards, letters, pamphlets, postcards, posters, prospectuses, stock certificates, tickets and zines."

Ephemera is a popular collectible and can often encompass many collectible markets. Maybe you collect holiday items...thus holiday postcards would fall into that category. Or you have a large collection of kerosene or oil lamps...an old advertising pamphlet may be a great addition to your collection. Those who restore antique or vintage cars, are always looking for the product or repair manuals for important information on their vehicles.

Pictured is an example of early ephemera and it dates back to the early 1900's. It is filled with great advertising as well as some tough brain teasers! Can you answer these??

1. What is another name for Christmas?

2. Who wrote Snowbound?

3. What is the name of the little lame boy in Dicken's "Christmas Carol"? (OK, that's an easy one!)

4 What is the chief ingredient of Angel Cake?

Check back soon for the answers to these teasers! Also, check out my ebay listings, for more examples of ephemera I have up for auction! Current ebay listings for Cherirtoys

Antique Christmas

Looking for some great ideas for Christmas Decorating or shopping for the special someone who loves antiques? Come out to an Antique Mall...we are all decorated for the Holidays! Festive music and maybe a sale or two should help get you into that Christmas Spirit! Featured on this post are some of my Holiday Displays! Santa has to show his face of course, but you can find vintage postcards and ornaments too! Check out the Lake Country Antiques Website for more details and directions to the shop in Oconomowoc! Their 12 Days of Christmas Sale starts today!
http://www.foxantiquemalls.com/

1950's Milwaukee Braves

Remember the Milwaukee Braves? Hank Aaron, Eddie Matthews, Warren Spahn...the old Milwaukee County Stadium and the Braves went all the way in the 1957 World Series! I have a great grouping of Braves Yearbooks currently listed on ebay...if you want to relive a great piece of sporting history...check it out!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290493223154&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Pictured here are the backs of the yearbooks...love how the Miller ads changed through the years!! Can you match the years to the ads? Choices...1956, 57, 58, 1960 & 61.

Fox Lake Country Antiques

This past weekend, I moved into a new antique mall location! I'm now selling in 4 locations! Raindrops didn't dampen our efforts...the space looks great! Located in downtown Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, Fox Lake Country Antiques is a large and spacious mall, housing close to 100 dealers! You can find our more details on their website @ http://www.foxantiquemalls.com/ Photos show my dealer space...code #827, so if you in the area, stop out and browse...you may find that great gift for someone in your family!!

I also sell on ebay!

In addition to the malls that I sell in...I also list items on ebay! Click on the EBAY Link to see my current listings! Here are some photos of current items up for auction!

Sold pieces!

These pieces were finished for the Elkhorn Flea Market and have all gone to new homes! Before photos shown when available. Pictured here to give you an idea of the wonderful items we have for sale year round!

Sweet Kitchen Work Table

Another successful outcome! This great little work table would be great in a kitchen, screen porch bedroom or even a bathroom. Has a functional drawer and terrific distressed mustard paint color! It began in an unfinished state, mustard paint was applied and then lightly sanded off in places...a cover coat of brown stain was applied, followed by a coat of varnish to protect it. A technique perfected by my husband...and is quite effective in giving the piece an old world look! Available for sale in Fox Lake Country Antiques in Downtown Oconomowoc, priced at $125.00.

Projects: Before and after

This project was to bring an old office typewriter stand back to life! The metal and wood stand took a beating in its past life, but has been given a new coat of paint and is ready to re-enter the work force! Perfect for small spaces, I could see it as a computer table, TV stand, Bedside table or???. Its wheels lock in place for stability. Its metal legs have been spray painted a industrial gray and the wood top and nice contrasting black. Will be available for sale for $45.00 at the Antiques on Second Street Mall located on 2nd and Washington in Milwaukee.

More Before and After Photos

The progress on making room in the garage continues...September was a busy month and the weather has been cooperating in October. Many pieces of furniture have been repurposed and are ready to go to a new home...This wonderful Mother Hubbard Cupboard came to us with lots of age and paint coats. Its top color was a dirty white; it was missing some hardware and was a bit wobbly. Handyman Steve tightened up loose joints and added a new finish, done in several treatments. It will be available for sale at my new space in the Fox Lake Country Antique Mall, priced at $425.00. Contact me for more details!

Successful Weekend!!

Well the final Elkhorn Flea Market is done...and thanks to all the customers that have visited booth #1318 this year! I appreciate your business and will be back in the the same spot again next year! Thanks also to my crew this weekend...husband Steve, the love of my life and his parents (Dennis and Grace) who came down from Wausau this weekend to help. Couldn't have done it without you!! I have posted some photos of my booth and some of the items I had for sale. Check back later this week for some before and after photos of the furniture we displayed...some of it will be available for sale in one of my antique locations. Also keep an eye out for details on my new mall location....I will be taking a space out in Oconomowoc at Fox Lake Country Antiques
http://www.foxantiquemalls.com/ Have a great week!

Family Heirlooms Antique Mall

I didn't make much progress on the garage project this week as I was working at one of the antique malls that I sell in! Its name is Family Heirlooms Antique Mall in downtown Waukesha...see website link...http://waukeshaantiquemall.com . I have included some photos of my space...Dealer #827 is my code. So next time you are in Downtown Waukesha...come look me up! Reminder...Downtown Waukesha is full of fun things to do...Saturday Farmer's Market, through October, Art Crawls, Great food and drink and Friday Night Live...featuring 7 stages of live music will conclude next week. The shops around downtown are usually open til 9 on those special event Fridays! Check out happenings in Downtown Waukesha with this link...http://www.waukeshanow.com/. Enjoy the mall photos and please email me if you have any questions at : treasraz@aol.com Thanks for checking out my blog!!

My Garage Week 1 Projects

I confess...I don't do all of this on my own! My husband, Steve is my handy man, carpenter and the brawn of this operation! Ok...he wants his car in the garage this winter too! This week, we are working on the pictured projects...a sweet kitchen or pantry work table, just got a new coat of mustard paint, an industrial typewriter stand will be cleaned and repainted and the small primitive cupboard still needs a fresh coat of varnish to help preserve its wonderful blue paint. The items pictured are being what I call re-purposed, or in other words..."repaired, repainted or restored to make an item usable again" My own definition! You might ask, "Aren't these items antiques and shouldn't you leave them in their original state?" Well, sometimes, items are just in too bad of shape to leave alone, and rather than throwing them away, we have saved them and brought them back to life!!