This is it...

A fine blog post for a lovely Christmas day! I bought this hand made toy box shaped like a red caboose last weekend. I actually bought 10 tons of stuff last weekend, and it's all stuffed in my car. That's what I do when I don't sell things on the weekend. I buy things. I don't always get the chance to photograph the things and talk them up between buying them and selling them. Ohhh, most of what I bought last week is on ebay. AMAZING stuff on ebay. Please look. This hand made 1950s toy box will be available at the Garage on Saturday and Sunday 12/26 and 12/27 (maybe), for $175. I think it's rad. That's why.

Snowball Fight!

These will have to do until we have snow balls that we can throw. They're really better for just looking at though. I saved up a collection of Kosta Snowballs. If you're into Swedish glass, bear with me a moment while get everyone else caught up. Kosta is a Swedish glass company. Edward Hald and Vicke Lindstrand are some of the more important designers that worked for them. Historically, there was Kosta, and Boda, and they got married sometime in the late 60s. My Swedish Glass book says that the snow balls were designed by Ann Warff in 1973. But the book is by Leslie Pina, the self-proclaimed expert at everything, so all claims are to be regarded with suspicion. I have the boxes for most of my snowballs, and the boxes all say "Kosta Boda." But most Swedish glass companies made something like this at some point. They got really into that glass-qua-ice-and-snow thing. In short, the snowballs are awesome, attractive, well-made and artsy. Don't get the wrong idea here.... They're ubiquitous. Not hard to find. Not irreplaceable. But high quality, and worth each and every 18 dollars that I'm asking for them ( the big one is $25.) It's like this with Scandiavian housewares: each piece has a well thought out design, is well-manufactured from high quality materials, lasts forever and is ridiculously attractive. The Nords were just so good at this kind of thing, that they produced LOTS of their best designs. So even though it's hand-made, artisan quality stuff, it's not always rare and incredibly valuable. But it will be.... as soon as I stop finding this stuff in thrift shops.

Dumbo Indoor Pop Up Market Opens!!!!!

Maybe next time I'll work on neat, organized text and photo placement. Can I just say??? I'm excited about the opening of the indoor pop-up market for a number of reasons. It's where I fell in love with Dumbo. It was my initiation into the Brooklyn Flea. And I DON'T NEED TO CHECK THE WEATHER EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK! There is significantly less anxiety in my life now. So, we have a photo of my completely ransacked Christmas Ornament display from last week. I sold the bird, and disappointed a blog-reader. So, if you see something you like on my blog, email back and I'll hold it for you. I check my email constantly, even when I'm traveling. Not to worry, friends, I restocked the Christmas Ornaments, as shown in the photo. Why do I still have the lucite swag lamp? That's been out for two weekends. $200. It's the best one of these ever. It will look great in your mid-century modern home, or in front of a bunch of African statues. I added tons of new $8 cufflinks, and $4 tie bars and money clips. Although I claimed in my last post to be "better than an owl necklace," the owl necklace girls have been good to me, so I'm bringing more. I'm taking out my collection of gilded Florentine imports. These are usually from the 50's. The same Italian companies produced tables, commodes, shelves, mirrors, trays, jewelry boxes and wall hangings. Some of it can be pretty valuable. The pieces shown here top out at $30. I know what you're thinking; they looks so great on my couch, why am I even trying to sell them. I have other merchandise to trip on all over my living room, so don't worry about me, friends. The rare form Old Hickory Adirondack chair is up on eBay. I used to be able to sell chairs on eBay, especially desirable items like this. We'll see. Most of my eBay items this week are consigned. The consignor makes me start everything at $9.99, which means everything is underpriced. Checking out the eBays is highly recommended. Ok, 11-6 Saturday AND Sunday at 81 Front St. in Dumbo. I can't wait!

Me encanta la plata mexicana!

Last Sunday in the Garage, one darling Southern dealer bought me out of Mexican Silver. She bought the Fish Necklace, the Nestor Metales Casados pin, the onyx cuff bracelet, the multistone bracelet shown here. I gave her the pair of Metales Casados (mixed metals) cat pins that were tiny, and no one would buy because one was missing a whisker. I also sold the post modern bracelet with Dichroic glass shown here, to a fancy and decisive shopper. Rita bought the Carved Ivory dancer pendant. It fits in with her amazing, over the top, extremely expensive and rare jewelry thing that she does. The point is, Manhattan shoppers buy fancy, rare, quality stuff. What I'm trying to say, Brooklyn, is that I'm better than an owl necklace. You just need to see that. Also, that Margot bracelet, I've been talking about... $298.99 on eBay! Oh, the joys of clicking refresh! For your sake, because you deserve to be rewarded for actually reading my blog, I've posted a photo of the bracelet, including the marks. I've also included a photo of the later "T Marks" found on Mexican silver. There's lots and lots of Mexican silver, and the prices really vary. The T Marks started in the 80s. Jewelry signed like that is usually high quality. I buy it if I like the design, and I sell it by weight. I try to get $1.50 per gram, almost triple the scrap price. I'll settle for a dollar a gram, especially if you're buying a lot. Older Mexican silver is a whole different ballgame, as evidenced by Margot. Most of it is just cool, has cooler looking signatures, and is well made. Some is pedigree. You can pay more for anything marked with "heiroglyphics."