A Very Lucky Sock Monkey!

We were thrilled to see a fun article about Picking Sisters in the Savannah Morning News last week.
Better still, Pauline, Jeri's first sock monkey was mentioned. Here she is enjoying her 15 minutes of fame!

Thanks so much to Polly Stramm and here's a link to the article.

The Picking Sisters are back on the highway!

We headed south to Florida for picking along the A1A highway sale last weekend and checked out lots of estate sales, community sales and garage sales along the coast. We brought back lots of treasures and we are busy adding them to our etsy shop. Even a paint by number, which are getting harder and harder to find.

 

Jeri never gets tired of finding cool signs on thrift shops. Here's a new favorite.

 

 

We stopped at one of those corny stores that sell Florida oranges and souvenirs. The owner

must have a great sense of humor. Poor Mickey...

 

 

Taking Picking Treasures Home
plus Combined etsy shops!

We went on a highway sale yesterday close to home. The Peaches to Beaches sale starts about an hour and a half from Savannah, so up and out in the cold and dark! Jeri would like to share her favorite pick of the for herself and share a few of the treats she uses to decorate her own home sweet home.

SUPER NEWS! The picking sisters are closing one etsy shop and expanding another one. Everything on etsy.com/shop/mysistersbarn is half price! We will be loading tons of new vintage items in the next week or so at etsy.com/shop/pickingsisters. We'll also reduce the items on the pickingsisters shop as we add oodles of new things to the shop.

This is a neon letter I rescued from the outside of our family business. It's fitting that since my grandfather started the business in the 1930's that his Smith Corona typewriter

shares space on my desk.

 My mother would be pleased that I found a way to use her antique brass

planter. There's never a lack of magazines about vintage treasures to fill it.

I'm not sure, but I think these sock monkeys tell jokes when I'm not home. They look

 especially cheerful. Maybe it's the grand rhinestone "Brides Maid" pin the

gal (Hattie) in the middle is wearing.

I bought this oil painting for my $1.00 and under art collection. It was

 marked $1.99 at Goodwill, but it was 75% off.

Now - since it isn't framed, how to hang it?

SOLUTION? Use an old easel!

My house was built in 1943 so it has one of those phone shelves in the hallway.

Since I don't have a landline, this Fisher Price lives there waiting to be added to etsy!

 

I never cease to be delighted with the everyday packaging from the

first half of the the last century. This tin looks great

next to my 1930's Smith Corona.

We were never sure why this flag holder was made the way it was, but it looks great

over the fireplace.

And now my favorite pick of the day for my house - a souvenir from Atlantic City, NJ.

It originally came with an egg timer

so you won't talk over 3 minutes. Maybe to save on Long Distance?

P. S. Here's a sign along the highway yesterday that warmed the

heart (ha!) of my vegetarian heart.

Windy Day

      We  made an early trip up the road to Statesboro, GA for the Highway 67 Fall sale. Hurricane Sandy off the east coast made for a dark, cold and windy morning. The weather may have been gray, but the picking was great.

See a few of the treasures we picked!

The picking sister was taken with this red phone. I think now she

 feels like she can pick it up and talk to the President.

I am not much of a cook these days (may I defrost something for you?), but

am always attracted to child-sized kitchen toys. We scored twice today.

Tiny cake anyone?

If you are a picker, you have seen a lot of simply ugly lamps. Beauty must be in

the eye of the purple and mid-century modern-loving beholder. Laura loved

these lamps.

We spent quite a while poring through boxes of a family's

momentos - report cards, photos, college papers, awards and

 gifts from a large Ohio family over the last 100 years. Sorting

through the stash was like reading a detailed history of this family.

We finally made a purchase - each  of us got a beautiful spelling

report card filled with gold stars.

This is the largest dresser set we have ever seen. Can't wait to research it for the

etsy site, www.etsy.com/shop/pickingsisters.

Visit our online shop to see more of the vinatge goodies we have recently added!



It's Picking Time Again!

     We have our picking mojo back with a trip to South Carolina and one to North Carolina this month. Great vintage treasures, lovely scenery in the Smoky Mountains and as always fun photos, giggles and lots of cookies. You know it's picking season when you score 5 paint by numbers AND a sock monkey.

     The latest monkey is named Elmer and he wanted to see the scenery so we propped him up to see out of his window. He is now enjoying his new family at Jeri's house.

Our travels took us to Seabrook and Beaufort, SC, Flat Rock and Asheville, NC and a Salvation Army warehouse sale right here in Savannah. Laura found this funky award for the Friendly Letter Writing Contest.

and a great weather vane for her yard.

Because my alter ago is a cowgirl, I couldn't pass up this metal bunkhouse. I added a

cowgirl and Woody and a horse (of course).

     For the woman who longs for a more genteel time when vanities were part of the bedroom, here are a few treasures we found. See below a Christian Dior wig box, a refillable Avon powder puff wand that holds dusting powder, pastel shoe tress and a box of shoe mitts.

     The barn is filling up again with new finds and we have some items in our etsy shop that we are ready to mark down. We're celebrating a great summer of sales at mysistersbarn that we are opening a SECOND ETSY SHOP. The current shop will be all items on sale and the new

shop will feature the most recent finds. We hope to have it set up by next week

and will create a post when it's open!

In the meantime...here are a few of the cuties you will see for sale in the new shop!

Some days I think I live on this street!

Hopeful Gardening Around the Barn

Is there a more optimistic thing to do than planting a garden from seed? If the birds don't carry away the seeds, the dog will dig up the plants. Too much or too little water. Too much or too little sun. Soil too tired. Too many weeds or bugs or mysterious plant diseases. Even so, this is my hopeful garden and every morning there is some happy surprise waiting. New growth or a bloom or a seedling just peeking up out of the dirt. My hope has already been rewarded.

This lovely profusion of sight and smell is thanks to my neighbor.

His honeysuckle and confederate jasmine (below)

sneak over the fence every year.

Confederate jasmine has a sweet, citrusy smell that doesn't overwhelm.

Here's an updated photo of my $1.00 birdcage trellis.

These are part of the four oclock's I planted from seed. I hope to post another photo of them soon climbing up a trellis. We used to pick four o'clocks in the lane behind our house and string the flowers to make "lei's". If you put them in the freezer they would last longer.

This hydrangea bush is a miracle of nature. The stunning blooms look as if the flowers were misted with blue watercolor paint. It totally dies back in the winter and by April it's green and full and blooming.

This shade from my pecan tree will be greatly appreciated very soon. Sitting under it makes it possible to stay in the yard outside without being drenched in sweat - and it isn't

even summer yet.

These are my hope garden beds as in, I hope they'll grow! The plate border

was an idea from the Salvage Sisters' shop outside of Jacksonville, FL. The above

bed is all morning glories.

These are my giant black-eyed Susan's from seed. I promise to send more

photos along as these plants climb the fence.

You got to love the lily. It is hardy, totally idiot-proof and requires no care.

A very independent plant indeed!