Christmas in July Sale ~ Ornaments, Garlands, Trees

Yes, that is a picture of Santa...and yes, it is summer. But what better time to combine two of my favorite things...Christmas and the Fourth of July! To celebrate, I'm having a Christmas in July sale, for one whole week, July 14 - 20!

We'll be getting out the boxed up Christmas items we normally unpack in October to begin selling in our antique booth. Now for the first time ever, they'll be available for sale in JULY in the online store, Bella Rosa Antiques.

You'll find vintage ornmaments in all shapes and sizes, garlands, mini trees, mercury glass, decorations, apothecary jars filled with goodies and figurines. There might even be a few new things in the mix that I have picked up since last year as well. Fun, fun stuff!

If you'd like to be notified of the sale, click here to go to our mailing list. This is the best way to make sure you won't miss it.

Vintage Finds ~ French Book n Postcards ~ Eiffel Tower History

Today I'm taking care of my latest orders, which I love to do. I package each item up very carefully, wrap them in pretty papers with ribbons, and find a special "thank you" gift to put inside each outgoing package. Almost like it is someone'e birthday or Christmas! Oh the thrill!

There is another joy to this business, too. The thrill of the hunt is always fun. Recently I found a few more vintage "treasures" for the website. I hope you find them as interesting as I did!

Thank you, this has sold!

This vintage book titled "Complete French Course" caught my eye. With a copyright date of 1898 I thought it was perfect to list in the antique book category, here.

Then I also came across vintage postcards. I love these. The colorful pictures, graphics, and sayings capture a moment in time...and even better are the handwritten messages found on the back. These two rose postcards are copyrighted 1912 by Heymann. I have an ephemera category for paper items.

Thank you, these two have sold!

Ahhhhh...a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower. Did you know the tower was built for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution. Seven hundred proposals were submitted in a design competition and a man named Gustave Eiffel had a design that was unanimously chosen. Of course, it is beautiful! Surprisingly, many protested it's construction. But it was made...and it took 300 steel workers in two years to build. It was the world's tallest building until 1930. It was almost torn down in 1909 but was saved due to it's antenna needed for telegraphing messages. There are 1652 steps to the top. I have actually been there (but not to the top) and it is magnificent! Ooh la la! Now onto more vintage finds...

And now switching gears, another item which I do not believe is vintage, was too perfect to pass up. Perfect because it is the neatest looking storage / trinket box in a petite little size. It looks like a vintage oriental trunk. Sits so nicely on a stack of books for a nice display or vignette. Or simply stash jewelry in it! This will be listed in the Home Decor category, here.



And as always, you may find new items in the "Just Listed" category by clicking here.

LuRay Pastels ~ Lovely Display Dishes

As promised in my last post which you can find by clicking HERE, I am again writing about LuRay dinnerware. In the previous post, I showed one of my kitchen cabinets but here I thought you might like to see some of my more "specialty" pieces. And these are not easy to come by. Prices in my collection have ranged from believe it or not, $0.10 to a whopping $189.00! (Price of my first mixing bowl... call me crazy!)





Some of my favorites are the serving pieces. There are the usual... creamers, sugars, pitchers, and teapots. Now here is the unusual...I have even found a pitcher that I've never seen in a book before. The surf green pitcher, sitting next to the two green s&p shakers, almost looks like a syrup or a small milk pitcher with it's curved spout. I found it in a tiny little out of the way antique shop in Maine. I think the owner asked fifty cents for it. I was thrilled! I couldn't get my two quarters out fast enough. Although it is not marked LuRay and is not of the typical Empire or Laurel shape .... I think it is a great "Go Along."

The Windsor Blue Juice Pitcher above was acquired after many years of collecting. This one was admittedly, an ebay purchase. They are hard to find! In the background you will see a few of the Persian Cream pieces. One is a small juice tumbler. I have four of these and they are very very rare and hard to find. I bought all four at one of my visits in the mid-nineties to Atlantique City. Yes, I will search high and low for my beloved dinnerware. Half of the fun is the search.

Here are two of my grill (or compartment) plates. I have four of these as well in each of the main pastel colors. With them in the picture are two of the 36's bowls. I have four of each of these as well. My very first piece of LuRay EVER was a surf green 36's bowl. It was sitting in a dusty back room of an antique shop at the beach. I think I paid 6.00 for it back in 1992. I absolutely LOVE the 36's bowls. They are perfect for mixing sauces, a little bit of ice cream, oatmeal, you name it. I hardly use them now because of the height of the shelf they are on. This may be a good thing so I don't break them! The everyday pieces I actually use...like berry bowls and bread and luncheon plates. And for birthdays the cake plates are a must. So fun!

Now here is a cutesy way of displaying the teacups. I do not use these, mainly because I don't drink tea! But, I couldn't resist the display stand.

And what LuRay collection wouldn't be complete without a store sign? This is a commemorative piece and not actual vintage memorabilia. I wish it were. Maybe one day I will come across one. But for now, this is a great addition to my collection.

This week, I've just recently acquired some pieces to sell in the Bella Rosa store. Click here to see what I've added!

Please feel free to email me or leave a comment about your LuRay collection, or if you have any questions. I always love to hear from fellow collectors.

Have a very Bella day!

Venetian Lace School - Italian Works of Art

One of the things that makes Italy such a wonderful place to visit is all of the artwork. While you may be thinking Michelangelo or DaVinci....I'm writing today about a different type of art.



During my first trip to Italy, I visited a lace making school in Venice. The Il Merletto Lace School, to be exact. Of course, I was impressed with the details created by the unique needles. And how interesting it was to see the "tools" used in the process.... mostly the round needlelace pillow as seen being used in the photo below.

Photo courtesy of the Burano Lace website:

http://lace.lacefairy.com/International/Burano.html

I think I was impressed because this is not your ordinary crocheting or knitting. These women were MAKING LACE. I suppose I always thought it was done on a machine. But not here. All done by hand. I have a few pieces of this lace I brought back with me from my trip... available here in our website, Bella Rosa Antiques.