Barbies, Old Paint and Worth

I'm not sure when I started liking old things. I can remember going to my great-grandmother's house when I was only 10 or so. She had one of those reverse painted pictures on her wall that had the moon in it and it looked kind of irridescent. I thought it was the neated thing I had ever seen. I have thought of that painting often and wish I knew where it ended up. I hope it didn't go to a yard sale or even worse, the trash bin!

Now I have this love for things that have been loved by others. The chair with the varnish rubbed off the wooden arms. The bowl that has mixed cake after pie after biscuit after pudding.

Tables with battle scars from the work born by them with five or six colors of paint showing through.

The value of the item is not shown by the pristine nature of it, but the marks made by loving use and faithful service. My daughter always got one of the Christmas Barbies every Christmas for many years. Someone would always tell her to leave it in the box and not bother it's clothes because it would be worth more. I have a feeling that her Barbies felt worth much more than any Barbie in a box. They got new hairstyles and different clothes and went on vacations. They were stars of a new story every day and went swimming in the bathtub. They wore vintage Barbie clothes and clothes my daughter made. When I look at them now, I don't see old Barbies that are missing shoes and buttons and have messed hair. I see the smiling face of a little

girl with strawberry curls and think of the fun she had dreaming up what they would do next.

Ring Around the Rosary

I've always had a fascination with rosaries. They are so striking in their

design. When one is worn and has obviously been used I am always drawn to think of the things that might have been prayed; prayers answered and unanswered. I don't really know how a rosary is used in prayer, but I can imagine how I would use one. I think each bead might represent a praise, a loved one, blessing, or hope. I think the cross would remind me of sacrifice and love. These are things we can all pause to

think about in a busy, time-frayed life. And while I do not wear a rosary or use one when I pray, I still see them as emblems of devotion and piety.

I have this beautiful wooden bead rosary in the WoolgathererShop now.

Fly Like An Eagle...

I came across these interesting buttons at an estate sale.

They appear to be from a military uniform as there are

varying sizes. With the crown and the eagle, plus the

word London stamped on the back, it suggests that they

are from an British Air Force uniform. They are

fairly worn, but I would like to know the era they came

from. I will continue my searching and in the mean time

they will show up in my shop.

Deja-Stuffies

I just listed the cutest pattern for Stuffies at theWoolgatherer. It is a Simplicity pattern from

1968and has a great pattern for a little fish. These truely have some the most personality

of any patterns I have seen. They also show how your choice of fabric and texture can make

such a difference in your finished project.

If A Blog Is On the Internet and No One Reads It....

Is it just the same as talking to yourself. It occured to me that I could say anything I wanted
to on this blog, because no one is listening. I could say I was on the Antiques Roadshow
and had the most unique and valuable thing they had ever seen. I could say I took it to
Sothebys and sold it for a Brazilian dollars. I could say I bought an island and am living
there right now with my toes in the water and a tall glass of cherry Lemonade in my hand. But
alas, I am only sitting here in front of a computer screen typing to myself and hoping that
someone will find my ramblings and be interested in what I have to say.

Orange you going to drink your coffee?

Here is my latest find! A beautiful orange "polyperk". Actually this one is made by

Waring not Regal, but it is almost the same. Granted, it doesn't have

the coffeebasket in it, but the great matching insulated cups more than make

up for that. This is a true slice of the sixties or possible the early seventies.

It is great just as it it for a cup of tea or hot chocolate. Orange you glad

I found it?

Dog or Cat? What do you think?

At a recent estate sale I found this neat little pin. It is set in sterling silver, but appears

to have a gold wash over it. The head is a blue moonstone and

the body a yellow moonstone. The ears appear to be garnets.

The tail is a yellow stone as are the legs. The collar and feet

are clear rhinestones. A very unusual piece.

Moonstones are not a hard stone and should not be stored with

other gemstones. They are mined in Sri-Lanka and India.

In ancient times they were thought to be frozen moonlight.

They are said to be fertility symbols and have healing properties.

So what do you think, is it a dog or cat?

Listed in our shop 7/3/09.

In Case You Were Wondering...

There is no "Woolgatherer" exactly, only a few of us who are searching for or
thinking about the next neat "find". If you have ever watched "Lovejoy", the
British dramedy, you will know what I mean when I say that we all sort of
consider ourselves "divvies". The word "Divvie" seems to come from the root
word deviner and Lovejoy is an antiques dealer(played by Ian McShane)

who is a "divvie", meaning that
he has an supernatural intuition about things and can always spot the real
treasure from the fakes. Whether we are "divvies" or not remains to be seen.
But we are enjoying gathering our "treasures" and want to share them with you.





When we are not searching for treasure, we are cooking up ways to make
interesting and useful things. We are by trade, a carpenter artist, an artist
craftsman, and a crafty postal worker. Our interests include period antiques,
mid-century modern and vintage items of all kinds.


So you never know what will show up here next.

First Post! Yippee!

Hi everyone! This is the first of hopefully many many fun and exciting posts. We at The Woolgatherer want to share all of our cool finds and fun adventures with you all.

For today we're just going to show you a couple of our recent finds, soon to be posted in our shop. We hope you like them!