Seller's Regret

I mean, WICKED BAD Seller's Regret.  Like, CHRONIC.  I bought this sign from my Picker buddy Z today.  From the get-go there was a small thought of keeping it niggling at the back of my brain and I didn't even have enough light bulbs for it to show it off in full-blown glory but it was SO COOL I just had to post it on the website and our Facebook page for all the world to see.  Not that I thought much would come of it, I mean it was like, the middle of Thursday and all; but apparently that's what the whole world is spending their time doing in the middle of the workday, parked on salvagechicantiques.com and Facebook instead of actually working.  I had figured I would have plenty of time for my slight interest in this sign to morph into full-blown obsession and probable adoption before anyone would discover it and want to fork over $195 for it.  But seriously no sooner did I post it than the comments and emails started flying and EVERYBODY wanted this sign.  Sigh... SOLD!  Next time, I'll know better.  Oh, who am I kidding, this happens like once a week.

To Flock or Not To Flock?

That is the Question! One I asked myself several times as I whipped up a "Woodland Wonderland" wreath this afternoon.

I just wanted to kiss it with a little fake snow but unfortunately I forgot that flocking comes raging out of the can like Barbasol shaving cream on Red Bull; I think "Not To Flock" was definitely the answer. Luckily that stuff takes forever to dry and I managed to remove most of it with a feather duster. But now, I don't know... to me it just looks kind of "Flocked Up."

It's Always Darkest Just Before Dawn

Actually, I think it's even darker when you decide to turn your shop's 1950's kitchen into a 1970's kitchen... only you forget to take the 1950's stuff out before you bring the 1970's stuff in.  HOLY. SH*T.  It's almost 2:00; think I can fix this by 5PM?

To Auction, To Auction,

To buy a Fat Pig...

Came home with these drawers as well, Jiggety Jig!

When these came up for bid the Auctioneer looked at me & Claudia and exclaimed "These look very SALVAGE CHIC!"; which is his way of saying "These look like SH*T that only YOU TWO will like." Then he apologized that he didn't have the actual cabinet that the drawers belonged in and I was like are you kidding me?!? Then other people would be bidding on them!!  He opened the bid and my card went up in a flash then I held my breath while they were "Going Once, Going Twice... SOLD! To Claudia's Friend!!"  Whew, I was nervous there for a minute.  $15 each, Get 'Em while they last!

Earning My Stripes

Since I haven't exactly been Blogging much lately or, ummm, AT ALL... I'm sure everyone's wondering what the heck I've been up to all summer. With the advent of shows like American Pickers and Pawn Stars, we've had an onslaught of folks coming out of the woodwork with items of interest to sell. Now I should clarify that these are most often only items of interest to the person actually SELLING them. You guys know that I am not interested in the least bit in most things traditionally considered appropriate to sell to an Antique Shop but of course not everyone knows this; so as you can imagine there are a lot of pissed-off people who schlep in their grandmother's Limoges China or Tiffany Lampshade only to have Claudia or I accidentally blurt out "THAT'S HORRIBLE!" Sorry, we kiss a lot of frogs out in the parking lot so-to-speak and sometimes we just can't contain our Inner Antique Critiquer.

So anyway, back to items of interest, or NOT... Last week this group of young kids came in with a bottle they had dug up somewhere and asked if I could give them any information about it. I reflexively started doing my bottle spiel, "I don't know a lot about bottles but I do know a guy that does, let me give you his number, oh crap do I have him filed under B for Bottle or G for Guy?!?" then I thought wait a minute, these kids don't want to be calling some random guy let me look at the bottle first.


Oh. Well. I did know something about this bottle. And I wanted to joke that unless it came with 5 friends and they were really cold, I wasn't interested. But these kids were so cute they really thought they had a relic here so I put on my best Professional Shopkeeper hat and told them it was actually a fairly common bottle around these parts and probably worth more to them as a memory of where they found it than to someone who collects bottles; I went on to say since it had a UPC code on it it really couldn't be that old. This was met with somewhat blank stares so I clarified that it could possibly be from as early the 1980's.


That seemed to really impress them and they trotted off with their new prized possession, or so I thought. Later I found they had actually left it behind - and it actually looks well-merchandised here, doesn't it? I felt bad though, when I realized I should've told him that it was totally worth a nickel at the redemption center up the street.

With All Due Respect...

"And I don't mean to sound flippant..." said the guy as he leaned in real close at the counter; (OH BOY, this oughta be good!) "But how can you call something vintage that says Made in Japan?"

"Um... Well... With all due respect... and I don't mean to sound flippant..." I leaned right back at him; "But I'm pretty sure Japan has been around for quite a long time."

I'm not saying everything we sell is old, but the item he was pointing at WAS. And in fact, a HUGE amount of antiques and vintage collectibles were made in Japan. Now, if he were pointing at something with a sticker that said Made In China, I could see his point. I'll be the first to admit if I think an item is of recent manufacture; but if I like the look of it and think you would too, in the store it goes. Perhaps the Antiques & Uniques sign on the window needs a new footer, "New-tiques"?

Things I Never Thought I'd Hear at Work

"This is going in Giovanni Ribisi's Kitchen." Wait a minute... WHAT?!? I gotta start paying closer attention to people.
Turns out the kind woman who purchased a retro kitchen cabinet over the phone the other day works for Thunder Buddies, the Production Company that is currently in town filming the new Mark Wahlberg movie "Ted." Now, normally I would probably not be running out to see a movie about a grown man whose best friend is his childhood teddy bear... but for a chance to see one of my Salvage Chic babies on the Big Screen? I'm SO GOING. I can't wait to point at that cabinet and scream "I knew it when..."