I Love Candlesticks, I Really, Really Do

I love candle sticks, all kinds, shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. I have a small collection which is an assortment of vintage, handmade, reproduction, glass, metal, thrift store treasure, and funky. I love them all.

This is my newest favorite. I bought it from a thrift store last week with the idea of selling it, but I've decided I want it.

Here are two I purchased when I was into all things Shabby Chic. I never have gotten around to painting them and I need to do that.

These were a gift when I worked in a crafts mall. They look heavy, but are light weight and have a rough texture on the outside. Actually they look like they were in a fire....I loved them from the moment I saw them. Not old, just funky and fun.

The candlestick with the green base is vintage and one of my favorites, while the Shabby Chic looking one is a reproduction.

This odd assortment is from my last thrift shop trip.  I'm not sure what metal the large one is, but it's a cheapy reproduction. I just thought it looked great with the group.  The other four are glass and nothing special, just add a nice touch.

As you can see, I'm a not "purist" in my collecting, but then I'm not a purist in any of my collections.  I love a nice eclectic mix. Besides, a nice eclectic mix is affordable and much more interesting than a "perfect" collection. 

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a very special day.

Pepper



Jadite

No, I don't collect Jadite but I do love it, so I thought we'd take a look at it today.

Here is what Wikipedia has on the subject:  Fire King - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   Just look at the pretty photos! 

And some items found for sale.  This one is awesome!  (click on photos to see listings)

You won't see this one everyday:

Beautiful batter bowl:  

And if you collect dollhouse minis, here's one for you!  

Do you collect Jadite?  Do you love to look at it like I do?

RWS

Squishing Across America!

Yep, I've squished across America and I'm proud of it!

 

Whether you call them squished, pressed or elongated coins, they are fun to collect.  Something to do with your kids or grand kids that is fairly inexpensive, shows places you have been and easy to store.

 

You want to start with the books to store the coins:  PennyCollector.com - The official website for elongated pennies, penny books and penny machines Here are a few of mine:

         

You can collect by themes, if you prefer.  I like Pez and pigs so I make sure I get those whenever I can.

       

And Burma Shave plus Route 66:

You can use machine locators to find machines nearby you or where you are going to visit:  PennyCollector.com - The official website for elongated pennies, penny books and penny machines or you can even shop online:  The World's Largest Elongated Coin Store! Elongated Coins from Around the globe. plus eBay is a huge source for them.

 

You never know what you might find. 

I was lucky enough to find one from the 1939 World's Fair. 

    And it's not limited to pennies.  Nightmare Before Christmas set pressed on quarters.   

 Another favorite of mine are holiday coins.  Whatever theme you want, I'm sure you can find something to collect in these coins!  And if you want, you can even own a machine of your own! 

Press-A-Penny

RWS

Button Collecting

Black Glass Button with Luster

Many years ago, I was into collecting buttons so much that I'd collect any type.  I was a member of the National Button Society and still own all my bulletins!  I can't part with them, they are a wealth of information!  

  National Button Society Home

I had decided to cut back on my collections and the buttons went to other homes.  Well, I couldn't stay away too long.  I started collecting again but now I'm more selective.

When trying to decide what to write about in this post, it became very apparent I could go on forever and take up pages of this blog.  In order to cut back, I'm going to show some links and at the end of this post, you can open a slide show to see just a few buttons from my collection.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!

Flea markets, antique shops and online are all great places to look for buttons.  I still sit for hours and scour eBay for Bakelite, realistics (aka goofies), buffed celluloids and glass buttons.

And now, some useful links:

Button Identification and CleaningOGosh Buttons and BeadsAntique Button CollectorsButton, Button OnieButton, Button, Who's Got the Button?Button SamplerI Want Buttons - Winning TraysButton BugButton CountryCC's Vintage Buttons
And now onto the show!

This slideshow design created with Smilebox

Pez Collecting!

 

Yep, I'm a Pezhead!  Have been for a long time now.  I'm not sure "normal" people realize how big Pez collecting is! 

 

There's conventions all across the U.S. and around the World.  Three days of nutty stuff for Pez collectors.  Room hopping, where dealers open their rooms for sales to anyone that wanders in, Bingo on Friday night for some super awesome prizes and seminars throughout the day for information and then on Saturday, the main ballroom is opened up for the public for more sales and is usually followed by an auction to raise money for a charity.  There's a lot more going on depending on which convention you attend!

 

For the history of Pez, click on this link to be taken directly to the Pez web site:  http://www.pez.com/index.php

 

It all started in the United States with dispensers like these:

This is just a very small sample of them, there's hundreds of variations!  They were headless and used to discourage smoking, eat Pez "mints" instead type of thing!

 

When character heads were introduced, they were packaged in clear cellophane bags like these:

Somewhat boring, huh?  Packaging has evolved into a huge collectible in itself.  One of my favorite type of packaging is called a Halo card.  These are striped cards with a white cloud around the word PEZ on the package.  Here's just a few of my halo card collection:

Some more of my favorite packaging are the boxes that came out of Europe.

 Box cars that have two different characters in them and they look like they are sitting inside a car.

 

Holiday boxes where you can see the dispensers through windows in the boxes.    

 

These next dispensers are known as Cocoa Marsh dispensers because they were premiums from Cocoa Marsh and Cocoa Marsh is printed on the stems.  These are special to me because they are one of those times that collectors live for!  I found these at a flea market and paid $2.50 each, they are valued around $100 each!  I was lucky to find them!

Here's just a few of my favorite dispensers in my collection.

Doctor and nurse

psychedelic eye

The ringmaster

Some people take the stems from real dispensers and make them into what is known as custom or fantasy dispensers.  A friend of mine sent me this one that he made:

It's special!  It even lights up.

 

Pez makes all kinds of items!  These are known as Pez accessories.  Two of my favorites:

Vintage lunch box

Peter Pez cookie jar  

I could seriously go on for pages and pages!  Instead, I'll include some links and let you decide if you want to continue on or not.  My own Pez collection is shown here:  www.ThePezt.zoomshare.com   It's not my entire collection, but there's over 1300 Pez photos!  It shows my custom license plate, ThePezt.

 

My friend, Rob's web site, he's huge into collecting!  http://www.pezcandydispenser.com/  He helps with one of the larger conventions which is held in Long Beach, CA. and is one of the top collectors in the United States.

 

There's so much involved in Pez collecting, like footed or non-footed dispensers, learning about the patent numbers, variations and so much more.  If you are interested in starting a collection, I suggest you do a lot of online research, attend a convention or two and join the Pezhead mailing list!

Bet the next time you see these dispensers in the grocery store, you'll think of me!

 

ThePezt