When One Door Closes

 

Isn't the old saying true?

When one door closes, another opens?

 

 

This is the old barn where I have had

my antique booth for many, many years.

 

 

 

How many times I have walked through

this set of doors with my arms filled

with vintage goodies to sell.

 

 

 

We moved out yesterday.

 

 

 

 
 

It was bittersweet.

There were so many memories there.

I began while I was still working in local television.
Learning about antiques, having fun meeting collectors.

 

It is an experience you just can't get online.

 

 

Fourteen years of my life passed while I

bought and sold all kinds of vintage things.

 

 

 

We even had our wedding reception on the grounds of this antique mall.

The property is beautiful outside. There were weeping willows,

flowers, beautiful statuary.


( I will show pictures from our wedding in a 
10 year anniversary post coming up in May!)

 

 

Our time here is over, for now. For us, anyway.

The property has been sold. The new owner, ironically,

is turning it into a wedding/bridal/party event place.

Great idea! We even used it for the same reason.

 

They say it will stay an antique mall while the rest

of the property hosts weddings, bridal showers, parties, etc.,

 but only time will tell if it remains.

 

For me, after closing this door, I need

to figure out which door to open next.

Do I expand my online sales?

Get a full time job and keep

Bella Rosa as a hobby?

 

While I am waiting, my first task is to find

a place for all of the stuff we packed away!

 

Some of it is going straight

to my online shop

Stay tuned...

 

 

Linking to Pink Saturday

All Dolled Up And Searching for a Home

I've never really been a big doll person.

I've sold dolls.

I've played with dolls... but mostly Barbies.

And overall, I don't tend to buy them when looking for inventory.

But these vintage dolls are starting to grow on me.

(The hubs sees value in them and buys them!)

 

And now I'm curious to know more...

 

The doll on the left is no longer a mystery.

 

With the help of VintageDollCollector on Facebook, I now have a company name! What a great help... and for free!

 

She is a Ballerina from Valentine.  She is possibly a Valentina Ballerina. The marking 20BALHH on the back of her neck and torso really helped zone in on the brand.

 

Sadly, she too, needs some help. A little doll hospital and she will be good as, well, vintage! (Lovingly used as we like to say.)

 

 

The other doll, that is wearing the fur wrap (it feels real by the way) is still a guess.

 

She looks a bit Madame Alexander-ish. No marking on the back.

 

Pretty dress and earrings. A pretty doll face, too.

 

I've got some reference books and I'll be searching.

 

Until then, have a great weekend!

 

Linking with Pink Saturday.

 

An Egg Hunt Party, Easter Sunday, and A Few Things I Didn't Know About Potato Chips

Easter weekend brought a flurry (or should I say furry) of

activity here at the Bella household.

 

First, "Gramma at the beach" arrived.

(Bebe's other Grandmother is known as

"Grandma with the cows!")

 

Then we had an egg hunt party.

 

 

 

 

Delicious food was laid out.

 

 

This large, pink, iced cookie was the sleeper hit of the party.

(Besides all of the candy and treat filled eggs!)

I had found a pink lemonade cookie mix at our

local grocery store a few months back. I decided for

a quick treat to lay out the dough on a round pizza pan, bake it, then ice it all at once to save time. We used a pizza cutter
 right before the party for bite sized pieces.

 

Let me tell you... it was irresistible!

 

 

While the Dad's were outside hiding the eggs,

the kids were inside decorating their goodie bags.

Now I do not have any photos yet of the actual

hunt because my computer is not letting me retrieve

photos off of the camera card again without

formatting it, which will wipe out all of the photos.

 

I don't know why this keeps happening.

 

Frustration!

 

I'm going to put out feelers to see if any of the

other Mom's snapped photos too.

 

 

So next we have Easter Sunday.

 

The Easter Bunny arrived.

Bebe's Dad likes to hide the basket somewhere in the

house so Bebe has to find it. We did not do this as a

tradition in our house when I was a kid.

Did anyone else do this?

 

It took Bebe a long time to find her basket.

I had to assist as the basket was hidden in the

coat closet... behind the coats.

Poor kid! How was she ever going to find it?

 

Once it was found, she was ALL smiles.

 

I included a copy of the book (for kids)

Heaven Is For Real, in her basket. 

 

Then I rushed off to church for an early choir practice
before the service. It was an AMAZING service.
 I never realized before what a difference it
can be to sing as a testimony to God's love.
How blessed we are  to be able to worship and
have the freedom to do so in this country.

Then we had Easter dinner here at our house.

And a full house it was!

We had three families for
a total of about 11 people.

 

 
Then, once Monday came around, since Gramma was still in town,
we decided to take a short road trip to see the HERR'S potato chip factory tour.

It is actually the SNACK Factory but we enjoyed the free potato chips you receive....actually still hot off the assembly line. A first! I've never had a hot potato chip before. They also give you two snack sized bags each as you leave.

We also learned some neat tidbits. Like, did you ever wonder why some of the potato chips have a green mark on them? It is due to the potatoes growing too close to the surface of the ground and they receive a "sunburn" which looks green after it is cooked!

The brown color that can be found on chips is from a sweeter spot in the potato which caramelized during the cooking process.

Bet you didn't know that before!

Herr's snacks are distributed all up and down the east coast and a little bit farther in to the Midwest... but they do not have a big enough facility to produce enough snacks for the whole United States. You should have seen the mountain of boxes waiting to be shipped.

And now I am back to the normal week...tired but very happy to have had a busy and fun weekend.

I'll be back with some vintage goodies to share!

Enjoy the day!

Using Vintage for Your Easter Celebration

Here's what's "springing" up for Easter

at Bella Rosa Antiques!

 

 

 

Set out toothpicks for your dinner guests

in this very spring like holder.

 

 

Send these colorful antique postcards to family

and friends or have them grace the front

of a new card you created yourself!

 

These little chickies are soooooo cute.

A must have for your Easter table!

 

Beautiful muted colors and soft pastels...

What I love about vintage postcards like these!

Scan them into your computer to make

a banner or other decoration!

 

I like to put them in Easter baskets.

 

 

And what is spring without a hungry

little bunny like Peter Rabbit?

 

 

The artwork is amazing in this book.

Ruth E Newton's signature is on

each and every printed illustration.

 

Great to frame for a child's room or baby's

vintage themed nursery.

 

 

And speaking of signatures... this antique Easter

postcard was done by the artist, John Winsch,

a favorite among collectors.

 

 

While we are promoting antique postcards, we cannot

let the chickens go without a mention!

Who is up for an Egg Hunt this weekend?

 

Thank you for stopping by to check out

our vintage Easter goodies .... like the ones

shown here or you may check out the

rest in the holiday category, by clicking here...

available now on Bella Rosa Antiques!

 

If you are interested, contact me and mention

that you saw my vintage Easter post

and I will give you 25 percent off

from now until Easter.

 

Have a blessed week!

 

 

The History Behind Half Dolls and Their Lower Half, the Pin Cushion

 

 

 

This week my favorite out of the

new arrivals has to be this

antique half doll pin cushion.

 

 

Pretty and feminine,

perfectly worn and shabby.

But, what's the deal with

these half dolls? Where did

they come from? How did they

get their start? 

 

I did a little research and found out

from a page on eHow:

 

History:

 

Porcelain half dolls reached the height of their popularity between 1900 and 1930. The majority of these dolls were made in Germany, with some being produced in Italy, England, France, America and Japan. The earliest half dolls were similar in appearance to 18th-century Meissen dolls with finely sculpted limbs and features. These early half dolls were expensive and considered an extravagant possession. In the 1920s, the dolls became more modern in appearance, displaying bobs and flapper attire. These later models did not possess the same quality of design, being mass produced and poorly glazed.

 

Uses:

 

Half dolls were employed in a wide variety of uses in early 20th-century households. Most commonly, the dolls functioned as pincushions, whisk brooms, bottle stoppers, lamp shades and powder puffs, with the aforementioned objects attached in lieu of legs or a skirt. Other half dolls sported wide, flowing skirts that could cover teapots, toiletries or other objects. Because half dolls were often sculpted without clothing, they also served as useful models for young ladies learning to sew.

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_6728380_information-porcelain-half-dolls.html#ixzz2yc4VmAjt

 

I love reading about vintage things...

where they were used...

and why.

 

Enjoy the weekend!

 

Linking with Pink Saturday

New Arrivals: A Little Bit of France, A Whole Lot of Vintage Fun

Look what I found for you this week!

Click here to jump to my JUST LISTED page.

 

Goodies like:

Vintage Bottles in Aqua Colored Glass

Antique Half Doll Pin Cushion

Josef Originals Figurine

Souvenirs from Paris & DC

Antique 1 Cent Postcards... For 1 Cent!

Vintage Sewing Notions

and more!

 

and there's more vintage fun here:

 

A little bit of France, a Whole Lot of Fun!

Antique photo albums, with photos

Antique silk ribbon

La Belle France Coffee Table Book

Royal Wedding Postcard (Day they were married)

Chatelaine Mechanical Pencil

 

Stop by, here, even if you just window shop!

 

Enjoy your day, your weekend!

 

 

Look What We Stumbled Upon! (And a Sneak Peek at My Latest Finds)

Yesterday we made a very last minute decision to take a "one tank trip" to see my Father. He is heading back to New England where he lives and it is not easy for me to get away to visit him up there, so we all got in the car and headed to Southern New Jersey for the day.

Southern New Jersey, which is hardly ever mentioned, unless someone is talking about Cape May, Atlantic City, or other shore points, holds a few little gems.

We found a charming little village along the Maurice River...

It was once inhabited by sea captains and their families in the 1800's.

Lots of picturesque Victorian homes with plenty of gingerbread trim.


Look at this purple beauty against the vivid blue sky. It was a really pretty
spring day ... and we were enjoying the sun.

And when we turned a corner, we bumped into this sweet little shop:

This is where we met the shop's owner. 

She was so kind and offered great buys.

Obviously by the name of her shop, the building used to be a stable

for horses... wouldn't it be great to see just a glimpse of how

this little area looked back in the day?'

 

And I found some treasures in her inventory...

 

Below is a sneak peek shot at what I will

be listing this week.

 

I found the chocolate pot, the mother and child figurine,
the pink pin cushion doll, and the Noritake mayo

there during our quick visit.

 

 

My favorite is the pink pin cushion.

But the figurine and the chocolate pot are close seconds!

The little angel is for an August birthday which

is my month... too adorable!

And who can resist those Josef Originals like the little

blue sweetie on the right?

 

There is much, much more in store,

won't you come back for a visit?

 

 

I'll be listing my new finds later on this week...

 

Enjoy your day and happy Monday!

 

Jillian

Using Vintage to Decorate for a Luncheon

Music, dance, the arts, a success!

 

I was so happy with how the tables turned out

for a luncheon held at Bebe's school yesterday.

 

The staff had asked me to help and I was

eager to dig in to my vintage stash.

 

 

Now I must make a disclaimer here. Not everything turned out

to be vintage. Like the big metal and rust film camera.

 

This piece had actually been from my church's display

that I shared with you a couple of weeks ago.

 

This reproduction camera was a big hit and

someone at the luncheon actually wanted to buy it!

(Believe it or not, our Pastor found it at Marshall's)

 

Here are the centerpieces. Each table had a different theme.

 

Obviously here I am choosing the art of dance.

My Mother had given me the ballerina

statue many years ago... it was fun being

able to use it here for Bebe's school.

The small ballet shoe is from the

 "Just the Right Shoe" series.

I only collect the pink ones.

 

 

 

I focused on art and sculpture here even though

the boy statue is made of wood. (Available in my shop)

The framed print I think I will list next week as well.

 

Here I focused on story telling, authors, etc. All four of these books are by Dickens, which was perfect because the school musical this year is Oliver Twist and the students performed several scenes for the luncheon yesterday.
Really neat!

 

Can't forget the vintage pen!

 

Here I found a couple of great pieces to download from

the Graphics Fairy and I did an overlay with my printer.

 

And here I have a couple of antique poetry

books and a camera, highlighting photography.

 

 

 

 

Here is a wide shot of the room, before the chairs and

other art pieces (created by the students) were added.

 

And of course I had to grace the food table with something...

Prints from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC

 

 

 

 Impressionism, a favorite.

 

Well, there you have it! The luncheon turned

out to be a success...we were invited to join them.

The food was delicious, the students were amazing, they

all loved the décor, and Bebe had a great time too.

 

Thanks so much for sharing in with me

on my creative endeavors!

 

Linking with the Pink Saturday.

 

When it Rains, It Pours

Just popping in with an update on my week... in one word, busy.

In two words: Very Busy!

When it rains, it pours.

It is just one of those weeks where I have project after project and not enough time.

This week I am decorating for a luncheon, packing and shipping orders, sending out birthday gifts, scrapbooking, cleaning up my office (this will be last, I'm sure,) choir practice, taking care of Bebe, both of our dance classes, AND last, but not least, taking photos and researching some new ephemera we acquired.

It also just so happens that we bought some very old aqua glass bottles. Thinking I could somehow, find the time to combine the ephemera with the glass bottles.

But that would tip the scale of my sanity for the week, so I guess I will just focus on what is on my plate currently.

Since the theme of the luncheon is based on music and the arts, I decided to try the Graphics Fairy website to create framed sheet music and other designs. Lots of creative ideas I found!

Like this neat vintage sheet music fan:

Perfect! Let's just hope I can create one just like it or at least close to it. 

I'll be back with photos of my luncheon décor and I'd also like to share what we found this past weekend.

Stay tuned!

 

Enjoy your day.

Jillian