Funny little owl ornaments, tiny sheep & snowflakes & long-john snowmen for little feather trees.
Placemats from Kriss Lecoq. Featuring the words "be merry" or "sit. eat", these are a great addition to your table with machine washable, casual style.
Other things for a Christmas time table that people are buying in sets of 6: candles, candleholders, candle rings (which double as napkin rings) and sweet little stockings that are nice size to tuck silverware and napkin into for a festive look.
Snowflakes and birds of many types have been flying out by the half dozen!
But by far, the most popular items to get 6 of are the CHOCOLATE-filled peppermint candy canes. YUMmmm...
Have a delicious week!
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Some of my favorite ornaments at FOUND are ones that are handmade, right here in Michigan. Deanne Nieburger, aka Deets, is an Ann Arbor artist who makes wonderful little ornaments incorporating recycled vacuum tubes (once used in TVs, radios, speakers and electronics of all sorts). Above is a robot. Below are her new style penguin ornament and a snowman ornament. Each tiny sculpted face has its own personality! She brought in dozens last week - some with old Christmas light bulbs instead of the electronics tube.
I love the quirky expressions. And the adorable little scarves that Deanne makes for each of them.
The Au Gres Sheep Factory, located in Au Gres, Michigan, provides us with fabulous felted wool ornaments each year. They mainly produce wool and roving for weavers and knitters, but we're really glad they take time out to make these wooly white polar bears!
We carry wooly little Au Gres lambs and sheep year round. For Christmas, we ordered red wool cardinals and these fox ornaments.
The Au Gres animals are $18.50 each. The ornaments by Deets are $16 each. If you're looking for extra special ornaments, handmade in Michigan, these 2 makers are our top picks.
In addition to these, we stock dozens of styles of imported ornaments and a nice collection of vintage ornaments at prices from $3 to $10 each.
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Things in your garage can be transformed into holiday decorations with very little effort (or money). For this project, we started with a rusty shovel, cleaned it up a bit clear Briwax - then made a simple bow using inexpensive burlap ribbon and a cute Santa ribbon we carry at FOUND. Some berries are wired behind the bow to give it a bit more interest. What do you have in your garage that could become a holiday decoration?
Comment on this post for your chance to win a roll of the Santa ribbon!
Note: you won't see your comment immediately. I needed to put in controls ie those crazy words that are hard to decipher as a roadblock to the nasty little trolls that roam the web. I love it when real people comment though and will push the approve button when I go online to check.
Regards,
Mary
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It was a busy week as we scurried to get things ready for the weekend festivities. Thanks to everybody who stopped in for some early shopping. Below are a few photos. More later.
Winner! We're pleased to announce that Kathy Rockwood's name was drawn this afternoon from almost 200 who registered this weekend for our in-store raffle. She will receive a $50 gift card and an Au Gres polar bear.
We found wonderful snowpeople this year.
We decided to keep our snowflakes cool in the Coke cooler so they don't melt.
The back shelf is piled with vintage ornaments.
Love these felt snowmen!
We found a nice style reproduction feather tree - and lots of little ornaments to put on them.
It's getting late - I'll post more photos later - just wanted to give you a quick look....
G'nite
Mary
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Have you picked up your pumpkins and mums at the Farmer's Market yet? A bright grouping on the front porch is a quick way to spruce up the entry for Fall. Here's a sampling of the Autumn colors you'll find at FOUND this weekend:
Pumpkin and Crisp Apple soy candles from Green Daffodil. Various shades of orange and yellow candles - and black for Halloween. Autumn candle rings, potpouri and rolled candles with hand applied leaf shapes.
Burlap Boutique added some Halloween trim to some of their recycled coffee bags!
Lori from StoriesDivinations brought in a few Halloween and Fall themed note cards. Even the backs of these cards are special. Send to a special friend or even frame these little gems.
Button bracelets for Halloween 0r between...
Sweet little treat cones.
This vintage Fiesta Chop Plate would be great any time of year! Orange used to be a seasonal color, but this year I'm seeing it everywhere. (My neice had orange roses in her wedding bouquet during the summer - they were stunning.)
Enjoy the brilliant colors of the leaves as nature puts on its annual show!
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Love the variety that can be found in old school yearbooks, like this script on the cover of a Michigan State Yearbook (yes, it IS Michigan State, not U of M, with that wolverine cover)
Here's a WW II era high school yearbook with great type and photos
Love the letter M on these milk bottle tops! mmmmmmm....
We have some pretty complete vintage sign making kits at the shop right now.
I especially like the old school sets that include letters, words and pictures. Teachers and students could make flashcards or even compose entire stories using these rubber stamps. It's pretty unusual to find ones that still have most of the pieces.
Right now, we have 2 versions of the Classroom Printer. There's a lot you could write with all those letters and words!
Interesting typography is all around, no?
We have an antique displayshelf for Sunshine Biscuits. Note the drop shadow on this logo.
I googled "typography" and got lost in the results....if you love typography, here's a link for a site called I Love Typography.
Regards,
Mary
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Since it's back to school time, chalkboard paint seemed like a good thing to use to spruce things up at the shop this week. I used blackboard paint on top of this vintage wood table/desk. It was an easy application. I buy the Rust-o-leum brand. Before actually writing on it with chalk, the paint needs to settle for 3 or more days, then be "conditioned". To do this, use the side of a white piece of chalk to completely cover the surface with chalk, let sit for awhile, then wipe off with a dry cloth or blackboard eraser. Repeat the next day, completely covering with chalk and erasing. Then it will finally be ready to write on with chalk. After that you can use a damp cloth to wipe it off occassionally. If you don't condition the painted surface, it will keep the "memory" of every mark you put on it.
I also picked up a green can of chalkboard paint and put it on a display wall. When it's ready to be "chalked up" the color will be toned down a bit. I think I'll like it better with the white added.
We already had several big display panels conditioned with blackboard paint. My blackboard handwriting can't compare to my grade school teachers, but using chalk is fun. While it can be a bit messy with chalk dust, I love the idea of having permission to draw or write on walls and furniture. What kid wouldn't love a craft table with a chalkboard top?
Here's what we hung from the "chalkboards" in the back of the shop:
These are GIGANTIC early 1900's school anatomy teaching aids. This skeleton guy is definately taller than I am!
Here's his BIG FOOT:
You probably recognize these Max Brodel illustrations, as they are the standards that have been used in biology and medical textbooks for years. We have six from the set, but only had room to hang two of them. I love the detail of these American Froshe Anatomical Charts - this set was produced by the A. J. Nystrom Company specifically for use in classrooms. They came from an auction at a high school that was being torn down. I bought them from a woman who went to that auction - wish I had been there!
Regards,
Mary
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