Two years ago Sweet Salvage debuted in Phoenix!

And it was an instant hit!  My BF Gail and I have attended every one of the events!

We didn't plan to wear black and white tops.  It just happened!

We ran into plenty of friends!  Maureen and Nina!

Tricia Samsal of Vintage Bliss.

I remember this fab bedroom!  I bought some of those curtains hanging in the background!

Loved the girly stuff!

 French, aqua and shabby white cabinet! 

Plenty to see everywhere!  Up, down under, behind, in the middle.  You have to look everywhere!

 Cupboards stuffed with wonderfullness!!

 Everyday things everywhere but in such cool displays!

 Plenty of French influence and shabby chic!  It was wonderful!

As I remember, it was hot!  Mr. Sweet Jim was handing out iced water bottles.  There were wonders and treasures to behold in every nook and cranny.  As you can see, I didn't take many pictures.  Too busy looking around and enjoying all the eye candy!  Nowadays I take tons of pics and post them on my Facebook page as well as blogging about my favorite ones and what I found.

Gail and I are planning to go again this coming Thursday to celebrate the second year of success for Sweet Salvage on 7th!  Thanks to Kim Rawlins, Katie Cryer and the entire Sweet Team (past and present) who have made each event memorable and filled with wonders and great finds!

Home Sweet Home at Sweet Salvage, Part I

Yesterday was another fabulous opening day for the month of December's Sweet Salvage!  The theme was Home Sweet Home.  Wonderful displays, a bit of bling for the New Year coming in a couple of weeks, and lots of goodies to make your home your special place.

Have to first tell you that I met up again with my friend, Dawn, of Bohemian Valhalla.  I introduced myself to her a couple of months ago and now we love seeing each other each month right here at Sweet Salvage!  Be sure to visit Dawn's blog for more pictures!

Now, come along with me for a look inside Sweet Salvage on 7th.  Here we go:

This display case was beautiful!  So love the chandelier in the middle section.

Here's a close up of the middle section in the cabinet above.  Sparkly, pretty!!

Silver and pearls!  Love it!

Candles that look like scrumptious desserts, cloches full of bottles, a bit of elegant fur!

Whispery bracelets and pins in a silver bowl full of lavender.

Plenty of rings of bling!  So sparkly and pretty!

Lovely frames, perfume bottles, champagne flutes, and a vintage camera.

Simple, yet elegant displays of books, thread and a silver bowl.

Pretty champagne flutes, clear "ice" cubes, chalkboard, and . . . . . Gift Certificates???  Wow!  Should have told my son about that.  Didn't know!

I would love to have this display cabinet!  Isn't it beautiful??  A close up of a display in here in tomorrow's blog post.  I'm not done!

Industrial carts full of goodies that are industrial chic and shabby chic.

What a nice display for a garden or a patio here in Arizona.  Lovely!

This red wall just sets off all these wonderful industrial pieces and the signs.  I do love that "Time to Drink Champagne" sign!  Sorry I didn't buy that one!  It's great!

Clocks and film wheels, industrial cabinet and lamp, rusty stuff!

Vintage pictures, railroad cars pic, old fan, wire drawers, numbers, old crates!

Cigar boxes, hourglass, books, signs, can't recall what the measuring instrument is called, sorry!

Pretty canvas of flowers!

What a pretty display for an entryway or corner of a den or gathering room!  Love that fern!

I have more pictures to post on tomorrow's blog!  Please come back and check out the rest of my pics.

Merchant Square 3-Day Sale begins today!

Just a glimpse inside the mall to temp you into coming in and looking around!

When you enter the mall, this is the lovely display you see on your left!  Always love silver and white this time of year!!

Here's a bit of silver and white in my corner!  Booth C-6!  I'll be there most days of the sale and if you see me there, please say hi!!

Redid some displays in my booth.

Here are some pics of the new displays and items I put in my booth at Merchant Square today.  Those of you who live locally and do scrapbooking might like to know I am putting my rubber stamp collection out for sale.  A few at a time, but I hope to sell most of it at great prices for you!  Check it out!

I love this shabby white ladder, little green potting table and the shabby frame.

Love music pages rolled and contained in this big glass container.  Great way to display the music.

Plenty of pretty things:  tags, decorated book, rhinestone bling, vintage handmade picture of a dancing lady.

Pearls and . . 

more pearls!!

Plenty of vintage sewing notions, vintage sewing box, old tiny sewing machine that is an antique, pin cushions, etc.!

A bowl full of rubber stamps.  All in very good condition and many unused!  At screamin' deal prices!

I love this old picture.  It is hand tinted and hand painted.  I have never seen one done so well, let alone tinted.  Beautiful piece!!

A lovely lace dress that is in beautiful condition.  Label says Scott McClintock -- I can always pick out clothes designed by the McClintock's!!

If you live in the area, please stop by Merchant Square and check out my booth, C-6, and all of the many other wonderful booths in there.  You can even have lunch at Pittsburgh Willie's!  He has a restaurant in there now that has the best hot dogs as well as an expanded menu.  Plenty of tables and there will be outdoor seating when the weather finally cools off!!  Come for a visit!

Out of town up in the High Country

My BFF Gail invited me up to Payson to stay in their RV for the weekend (beginning last Thursday).  Needless to say, we shopped til we dropped!!  And we did drop on the couch Friday afternoon to catch a nap before dinner!!  It is a little cooler up there and it is a higher altitude.  And it is forest!!  Just refreshing!!

First great find I want to share with you:

I can't resist a good old tinted photo.  This one is of the Sonoran Desert and I couldn't leave it behind.  Especially since the frame is very old.  Price:  $2.00!!  (((smiles)))

Here is the grouping of old tinted photos on the wall of my great room.  I tried a straight-on shot, but there was a big reflection in the large photo of Yosemite.  The tiny photo at the top right is a signed Wallace Nutting.  He was a pioneer in tinting photographs.

Next great find from Chrisy's Cottage in Payson.  Her husband takes photos of the dress forms in her shop and then alters them.  (You should see the dressed forms she has in her shop!  Would knock your socks off!!  Wish I had taken pics!)  I fell in love with this one!  So me!  Petticoats, dress forms, corsets and crowns!!  All the stuff I look for to put in my booth at Merchant Square.  I really don't have much of it at home, however.

Here is where the petticoat picture is going to hang for the time being in my bedroom.  That is the only place in my house that is "girlie".  I play with shabby chic in my booth and that is enough!!  I love it, but not so much in my house.

More tomorrow!!  Found some great things!!!

Shabby chic dress

This pink formal was a recent buy. It is a bit shabby right now. But a trip to the dry cleaners and a few stitches to reattached some of the decorations and this dress would be pretty. It certainly reminds me of the dresses I see in the Rachael Ashwell shabby chic books. It originally came from a bridal shop. The owner was having an estate sale and getting rid of lots of gowns and dresses from her shop -- the shop she owned in the 1960's!! These are vintage! Wait til you see some of the others I found. They remind me of dresses worn by some of the women in the James Bond movies. More to come!

This dress is currently for sale at Merchant Square. It is under $15 with the sale this weekend. Good buy!

Flea market finds on Saturday

Here are a few of the wonderful things I found this weekend at Merchant Square's flea market. My friend, Kim, of Sweet Sage Vintage had a booth there and I picked up a lot of yummy things from her. The wicker basket/tray with a cute oval mirror, a shabby frame, the little lamp bottom with the dried roses, and the old shabby lamp base. Wonderful things! Thanks, Kim!

I think the old silver pedestal bowl and treat tray are wonderful! I plan to fill the top bowl with glass knobs and a glass handle to sell. I think I may have some more glass knobs around somewhere. The search goes on!

The shabby, plain white frame with glass, floral plate and the glass cloche (which fit the old lamp base perfectly!!) are from my stash. I am cleaning out! Been out in the garage all morning sorting, cleaning, and tossing out. Feels good! AND, it is actually cool and wonderful out in the garage these days!

This little doll or baby dress was another find. And the shoes are a perfect addition to this outfit! I have had the small wire dress form for some time. Perfect little vignette! This little dress reminds me of the ones JoAnna Pierotti uses in her Moss Hill Studio Workshops. I have signed up for the little dresses workshop and have already learned a lot of new techniques!

I loved these large storage boxes!! Great colors and very romantic. BUT, one was missing a bow. Hmm! Back home to the stash and you can see the new box cover below! Flowers were found in Kim's booth.

I also picked up a lot of vintage jewelry and other items that fit the shabby chic theme of my booth. I will be working in my booth later this week to redo it and fluff it up after the sale of last weekend -- in fact, the sale runs through today. It is time for a "rework" of that booth. All of the items seen here will be in my booth by next week after I have had a chance to move furniture around and redo it.

Finds of the weekend

I love this canister set!! White with pink roses!! It is shabby! Several of the lids have chipped edges. But you can turn the lids to the back and the chips are not visible from the front. I found this summer frock (is there any other name for this dress??) at a flea market. It is made by Gunne Sax for Jessica McClintock. It is a buttery ecru (is there such a thing?) and soft, soft, soft! Wish I could wear it, but it is a size 9. Haven't been in a nine since I was. . . . 9!

Here is the long view. The picture hat is just about the same color.

Please check out my Flickr page to see 15+ other photos I took of my booth yesterday. I spent quite a while redoing some of the items I have for sale.

I want to share some pics of my backyard with you. Here is the beautiful bougainvilla at the side of my patio. We've had a mild winter (no real heavy frosts or a good freeze) and now that it is a bit warmer things are blooming!Here is the acacia tree. Beautiful yellow blossoms, fairly nice fragrance. But . . . .Here is the result of the blossoms dropping off the tree. Let a slight breeze blow and it gets worse.
The blossoms are like tiny puff balls and they stick together in piles. I should go out there to sweep them up. But, did you see how many are left on the tree?? Sweeping might be a futile attempt to clean up!Lastly, here is my poor saguaro. There are a couple of flickers who are pecking holes in it. I am not happy about this, but there isn't much I can do. Scaring them off is useless -- they just come back. Some people tell me it won't hurt the cactus, but I am not convinced. I wish the flickers would go away. That saguaro was an expensive cactus!