Having a Weekend Sale & Past Life Archeologist

So as I have said in past blogs I love finding out the history of the antique and vintage items and have always loved Antiques Roadshow, American Pickers, Pawn Stars, Cash in the Attic...but started watching this Chasing Mummies show with the head guy in Egypt Dr. Hawas. Probably just spelled his name incorrectly. Well, it made my think that my love of finding vintage and antique home decor and shifting through estate, garage and thrift stores was sort of like archeology. Sifting through the sand or earth looking for what was important to civilizations across the world is sort of like my hunt for treasures. And learning the history of an item or finding out about the people who created or collected the pieces was very similar to archeology....maybe in a past life I was an archeologist!

Trying to clear the shelves to make way for new items so I am having a sale in my Bonanzle booths this weekend, 30% off everything. So please check them out. Also, as I just stated, I opened another booth on Bonanzle for items that are not vintage/antique or collectables...mostly baby kids clothes and toys, some home goods and baby items, and then some men and womens clothing and accessories. I really wanted to keep Jenn's Jewels strictly vintage/antiques and collectibles in home decor. So please take a look and see what you can find...I price everything below what others may charge so with an additional 30% it makes it a great deal. Plus I always try to combine shipping! Jenn's Jewels and Jenn's Closet use the coupon code JULY30.

Have a great weekend,

Jenn

TGIF Sale

Sale today at my booth on Bonanzle, 20% Noon to 3 PST! Check it out and stop by and say hello!!!!

www.bonanzle.com/booths/jjhannum

Design & Dime

Hello all! Been busy with our new puppy Zoe, trying to get her to "go" outside instead of on my carpet. All I can say is thank goodness for SpotShot! I spent most of yesterday either trying to Zoe to go outside and posting new items Bonanzle. I think I got about 6 or 7 items listed and have a lot more to go. I probably spend to much time researching the items but I have to say I really enjoy it and I want to make sure that I provide as much info and history on an item as possible. While I am trying to keep my booth on Bonanzle focused on vintage/antique decor and table setting items like the silver trays, flatware, collectables, plate and such I did list 2 new kids items from Pottery Barn and Bombay Kids. Lately on eBay which I tend to use for my kids items, even though I have been doing auctions starting at .99 I have not been much action and many of my auction either have no bids or they sell for just .99. Disappointing to say the least.

Now to more exciting things! My home is decorated and furnished in a more traditional Tuscan/Old World style so with a lot of the furnishings and cabinets being dark I like to use crystal and glass to lighten things up. To be honest I love "blingy" looking things...things that catch your eye and sparkle. My master bath is not huge and is sort of a galley style with one wall being double sinks with a built-in vanity on one side of the bathroom and on the other side is the toilet room, a large bathtub with a large block glass window above it and then a built-in shower. With the dark cabinets and the tile we used and then the granite on the countertops which is a beige with black and brown in it, I knew that for towels and drapes I wanted to pick out the chocolate brown from the granite and cabinets. So to lighten up the smaller area and really reflect the sunlight to pours in from the block glass and reflects in the mirrors across from the window over the sinks and vanity I really wanted to use glass accessories. To save money and because I could not find at the time pure glass accessories that didn't have chrome or silver on them(my fixtures are oil rubbed bronze) I ended using glass/crystal bowls, covered candy dishes, tall glass jars that I picked up from Ross and TJ Maxx. Most ran about $5 to $12 and I use them to hold my cotton balls, q-tips, and my facial cosmetics on the vanities. Then on my tub deck which is pretty large I used a tall glass apothrocary jar that I got for maybe $10 and filled it with bath salts that I got there as well and then a pedestal bowl that I had gotten as a gift and filled it with sponges and bath oils. I also filled another bowl(another gift) with different tan and ivory soaps that I had gotten from hotel stays. Can you say free? I also got a tall glass candle stand that I put a large embossed candle on...probably spent another $10 total on that. I love it, they sparkle in the sun, provide more room to store items that traditional bathroom accessories and were probably half the price then those you find at bath stores. I'll have to take a picture to show you, looks really nice and expensive and spent very little money. I see pictures of bathroom in those home magazines using jars filled with bath salts, sponges, soaps and you know that they probably got the jars at some expensive home store. Have you seen what Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware charge? I did the same for a lot less. I bet if I did it again I could spend even less! Little did I know that a lot of thrift stores carry tons of vases, bowls and jars for as little as a dollar or two. They even have really nice heavy glass and crystal items for less then Ross or TJ Maxx. I have seen beautiful crystal decanters that would be wonderful to fill with bath salts and display in your bathroom for very little money.

Wow, I feel the need to go to Goodwill! Has anyone else bought glass or crystal items cheap and used them in your bathroom as display or useful items? Let me know!

Summertime

Hello! I had my first sale today on Bonanzle! So excited and wonderful buyer! Such an easy transaction and I hope the buyer loves the Lenox Butler's Gourmet 5 piece place settings! Such a lovely pattern. So far haven't had time to go to any estate sales or such...but I did make it to Bath and Body Works for their Yellow sale where many items are 50-75% off. Well, I spent way too much money but this is the time where I stock up on the wall flower refills...I love the Eucalyptus Spearmint aromatherapy ones. However, I took the extra time to find online an additional discount coupon to save more money which is always helpful.

eBay is offering free listing fees for any auction for the week so I have listing some personal items for sale in addition to some Buy it Now items that I am listing for my children's school which is a non-profit school. They are accessory items from our Spring fundraising event. Please check them out as 100% of sale goes to the school to fund current and future student financial add as well as fund items that are not covered by tuition.

Thank you so much for checking out my blog and please check out my items for sale on Bonanzle under Jenn's Jewels and eBay user name jjhannum.

Summer...it's hot.

Sorry I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks. Well, the kids are finally out of school but have had them in summer camp the past two weeks ending tomorrow. Saturday it will be 3 weeks that they have been out of school, but we only had the week out of school off and spent the last two weeks in summer camp at their regular school. Next summer I think we have to have an extra week off...I think both the kids and I need just some extra time off between regular school and summer camp because it is at the same location and their regular school and about the same time.

Ready to decompress again and sleep in...I keep having to wake my daughter up to get them ready for camp and she is totally like me and loves her sleep. Tomorrow is the last day until August that I have them signed up, so I think the kids are ready for some TV, Computer and sleeping time. Mommy sure is!

So other then the Goodwill trip with my Mom into the Fountain Hills Goodwill that I blogged about I haven't had any chance to check out estate, garage or thrift store trips. But I know I really want to add some red/pink English transfer plates to our kithchen table area.

I have been cleaning and organizing the kids playroom/closet area! Fun, fun but if they were there half the items that I threw out would have been saved. So at least I was able to get ride of some trash and tiny little b-day favors and mcdonalds junk.

Hopefully, next week I have a wonderful neighbor babysitter who is young and trying to earn some money during the summer. I can use her to watch the kids during Friday so I can hit some sales.

Right now I'm with out my MacBook so I cannot list of feeBay or Bonanzle...but at least I still have access to emails and websites. Miss you baby, come back to Mommy soon! So unfortunately I have lots of items to list but need my baby to post photos and info so it is all in one place. I promise to list more treasures soon. Right now I do have items for my kid's school Tesseract which is a non-profit school here in Phoenix listed on eBay. Please bid, it all goes to current and future students scholarships and financial aid.

Thank you,

Jenn

Mom,a Follower and a New Dog

So last week was my first blog ever and I have to admit I spent the rest of the week seeing if I have a "follower." I know, I know that seems a little conceited but I do read a have a blog that I have followed for a few years and I have no clue how many people follow the blog. The only place I advertised is on the forums of Bonanzle...one of the web sites I sell on and I am happy to say I now have one follower...AntiquesRGreat who is also a fellow seller on Bonanzle. Thank you so much! A fellow antique/vintage lover who sells wonderful items as well as gives great advice on all that is internet commerce and vintage whose booth I have checked out many times. The best thing is she has a 20's themed/flapper girl as her profile photo...which is my favorite era and in fact I just helped co-chair my kids school's spring fundraised which was a 20's themed/casino/Gatsby era fest called Putting on the Ritz here in Phoenix. If you would like, please check out some fabulous 20's fashion of the night at a magazine here in Phoenix: http://www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/photo-gallery.html?func=detail&id=27318#joomimg . Kismit

My mom has had to listen to me for the past year about how I am interested in salvaging the past and going to Goodwill and Estate/garage sales and she know that for the past few months that I have been very into finding "Treasures" and selling them or/add incorporating them into my home. We have been so busy lately this past school year that even though my parents live no more then 20 miles away I have been so busy with fulfilling school obligations that I have had little time to spend lots of time with family and friends other then the occasional Book Club or holiday. So finally summer is here and I have more time to spend with the kids and family. So this weekend, with the first week of summer under our belts, we went over to my Mom and Dad's to have dinner and my Mom suggested that we check out her city's Goodwill. How could I refuse? So we went and didn't find too much but did find a set of six knives and box of Harrod's of UK fame Placemats....can't wait to list.

We also got a dog, a French Bull Dog that we named Zoe, that we will have to train so I am sure I will be plenty busy this summer but hope to spend time not only listing new Jenn's Jewels but relaxing and spending some wonderful time with my family. Thank you! I really won't to spend some time talking about decorating ideas and my fabulous finds.

Why Blog?

Because everyone cool is doing it? No. Because my life is super exciting and interesting? No, which is why I do not twitter.My twitter would look like this: Update: I am folding laundry Update: I am at Target buying Diet Cokes and kids birthday gift. So why am I doing this blog? I am horrible at updating my Facebook page and responding to emails as most people who know me would tell ya. Couple of reasons...one being I actually love to read and write and many years ago I use to write poetry and my major in college was English so I might as get some use out of this higher education my parents paid for goodness knows I didn't use it too much after college as my background is mostly sales in the computer and software industry. Another reason was I started selling some of my fantastic finds that I call Jenn's Jewels on eBay and Bonanzle and while eBay sort of has a built-in following with lots of potential buyers Bonanzle is newer and they recommend promoting your online store called a booth by blogging, twittering, on Facebook, emailing friends and such. I haven't had a sale yet on Bonanzle but I have only been on there a month and need to add a lot more items to my booth. May I mention quickly that the people on Bonanzle are super friendly and helpful...sort of like how eBay was from reading the message boards. Mostly I wanted to share my love of decorating and thrifty shopping with hopefully some other people. Even if no one reads this post at least it feels good expressing myself and sharing my excitement for my hobbies.

Maybe I should start with how my passion for thrifty shopping and decorating got started. I guess I would have to say my Mom, because she always loved a good sale and passed on to me her excitement and enthusiasm when she got a good deal on an item. I love it when I get something at a great price whether it is clothes, shoes or something for my home. I love looking at clearance aisles/racks, I love shopping at TJ Maxx, Ross, Nordstrom's Last Chance and Nordstrom's Rack, Homegoods, Tuesday Morning and any store that is having a great sale. I love getting a high-end items like a great pair of Seven for all Mankind jeans or Waterford crystal at 50% off or more. It gives me a rush! Why pay retail? Why waste the money when I am sure I can find it cheaper at another store or online? It is challenge and I love that challenge. I also love high-end items like Louis Vuitton, 1000 thread count sheets, Prada and will pay retail for a special occasion or if I absolutely can't live without it....but I'd rather find it at a discount. Usually though if it is not on sale I do not buy it because I know that it eventually will be on sale, or a clearance rack or end up on eBay or Overstock. I've always loved doing my own decorating in my homes and finding that special piece or painting an accent wall and I am forever reading decorating magazines. Now for me finding the value in vintage. That probably started when my son was first born and I was at home watching tv while taking care of him. I was either watching HGTV or BBC America and this fantastic shows Cash in the Attic or this other show, can't remember the name, where they challenge people to find what they think is a great item at a flea market, boot sale(that's UK speak for garage sale, or estate sale and then turn around and sell it an auction for most profit. I thought wow, wouldn't it be wonderful to do that and make some money but never really had time when my kids were little to do it. I would see on these BBC shows these wonderful ceramic figures, beautiful china, tarnished but extraordinary silver pieces that were maybe stored away or in the attic maybe passed down through the family but not used or displayed and then they would find out the value and sell them. Sometimes, after some thought, the owner couldn't part with the items. I feel the same way about some items that we inherited from my grandparents....beautiful but old china, a vintage wine decanter and glasses many of which I do display and use proudly. They have meaning and history and to use or display them makes me feel good. All these wonderful pieces of history, patterns of china that are no longer made, silver trays, fine porcelain that is no longer made or not made as well as it use to be. It fascinates me that that some of these items go unused, unloved and out to trash or to Goodwill or other thrift shops. Thank goodness...so I can purchase them. New things are great but sometimes something old just brings an extra something, an undeniable quality to your home that just cannot be reproduced.

So I guess that is were my hobbies come together: shopping, decorating, antique vintage items, love of history/researching and the art of finding a good deal. I just wanted a place to share my fantastic finds some for personal use and some for sale, decorating ideas and just life in general. I feel very blessed to have a great husband who supports my passion and gives me the time to now indulge in the hobbies I love. I'm sorry this is so long, but thank you for reading.