What's New at Dancing Bumblebee Cottage?

Oh so many good things are headed to the shop! We are going to fill up that 130 square feet to the gills!   I was going to head in today, so this weekend I spent digging around and getting things ready and priced like crazy.  Last night my husband, in his underwear may I add (HAHA!), filled up my little Buick with all sorts of goodies.  Then he texted me today saying he actually has the day off tomorrow, so we'll just do everything in one day instead of spreading the filling up over 3 days, which was originally planned.  This is good for me to have help! So we'll have two vehicles full.

Many new things that haven't been seen at the West Bottoms are ready to go like these items:

This sign is from our own collection.  I have enjoyed it so much, but it's time to let it go and put it back into the world for others to enjoy!

I'm nuts over this box!  It was discovered deep in a barn in Cole Camp, Missouri.  The metal against the red letting just sends this right over the edge of awesomeness!

Yes, this is a church board!  Yes, it's THAT cool!  Remember this auction I blogged about in Maud, Missouri?  Here's the link:  Maud, Missouri Church Auction

It has taken me 2 years to bring this to the general public.  I've enjoyed it in our studio, but it's time again, to pass it along.  If I have room, I'll bring in the acolyte lighter, but that may have to wait.

This old Moore receipt holder is big and heavy!  It still has some extra receipts, as well.  Look in the upper left hand corner, the phone numbers have 3 digits!  I'm adding a little chick for display!  :)

I am bringing in a plethora of quilts dating back to the late 1800's to the 1950's.  Stay tuned, the next blog will include a story about one of the quilt tops.

This is just a small smattering of what you'll see when you visit us at Big Creek Antique Mall in Greenwood, Missouri.  I'm bringing in my good camera tomorrow, so I'll pass along pictures.

We are also putting a few items on sale.  I'll let you know all about the sale items on Facebook, so check us out and "like" us for current updates.  You can find us here:  Dancing Bumblebee on Facebook

Going to get back to work and just maybe I'll get a few Etsy listings up.  :)

The Cottage Has Expanded!

Yesterday we moved into our expanded space at Big Creek Antique Mall in Greenwood, Missouri.  This will be a 3-part moving excursion.  Yesterday we brought in 2 large farm gates that were purchased at a Missouri farm auction earlier this year (pre back issue!  :(  ).  Here's a picture I took of one of the gates shortly before loading in the truck:

We also brought in much of what was in our booth in the West Bottoms as well as a few more pictures from other auction excursions.  Big Creek was super busy yesterday so I hastily shot a few cell phone pictures before I left.

I wanted to show you this corner that I think turned out sweet.  We'll be adding in more pictures on the wall and everything isn't finished,  but don't you love all the old chippy paint goodness?

On top of the white table is a vintage multi 4-use bread pan.  These old bread pans are great for baking multiple loaves of bread at one time but they are also great for display.  I placed 3 vintage hand-painted floral plates in the pan as well as a 1940's farm auction bill.  Isn't that an adorable display?

I'm heading back in Monday to bring in the primitive chicken coop shelves and several antique hand-sewn quilts that I have collected over the past year from various country auctions.  Wednesday we will bring in additional vintage framed pictures to hang on the wall and then we should be set for awhile.

Wednesday I will bring in my good camera to get better pictures to share.

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My issue with my sciatica nerve impingement is preventing me from going to an auction this weekend which is just as well.  I will be posting some lovely goodness on Etsy!  Yay!  So check our Etsy shop out this weekend!

See Our New Look!

Have you visited our Facebook page lately?  Don't know about our page, here's the link:  Dancing Bumblebee Cottage is on Facebook!

"Liking" our page will give you updates of both our booth at Big Creek Antique Mall in Greenwood, Missouri and our Etsy shop.  There will also postings about the auctions I attend the overall fun of hunting down the best vintage goodness to bring to you, our wonderful customers and friends!  And keep checking back because I'll periodically list coupon codes for our Etsy shop.

If you click on the link in the sidebar to our Etsy page, you'll notice that we've changed our logo.  Thank to runningwithfoxes on Etsy, we have a cohesive online look between Facebook and Etsy.  She was wonderful to work with and if you ever need logos, banners or website graphics, please visit:  runningwithfoxes

Don't you love this?

We ordered business cards from Vista Print which matches well with our online presence:

This is the front of the card:

And the back:

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Two nights ago, we officially moved out of Pete N Repeat Repurposed in the West Bottoms.  It was really bittersweet.  I so love the owners, Brent and Chris, and my fellow vendors.  The building is so incredibly cool as is the entire West Bottoms.  But the sweetness comes when I no longer have the drive downtown which includes racing on the 6-8 lane highway and finding parking close by and unloading into the large building, taking an elevator to the 4th floor and loading my booth.  Because of my new diagnosis of spinal stenosis and sciatica, it was just time to move at a slower pace.

Since our garage is filled with treasures, I will slowly be working on our expanded space at the antique mall as well as occasionally posting things on Etsy that have piled up.  Ahhh, the life of an antique dealer is one that chaos reigns and the love of vintage abounds. . .

Now what auction will I attend this weekend?  Hmmmm . . .

Dancing Bumblebee Cottage Is Now In Big Creek Antique Mall

Well, here we are almost at the end of April. Life sure moves along at a quick pace!  Today (Saturday) is the last day we will be down at Pete N Repeat Repurposed in the West Bottoms.  We are moving out Tuesday.  While it was a fun run, things just didn't work out for me for various reasons.  It's a wonderful shop with even more wonderful fellow vendors, so I wish them all the best of luck going forward.

Back in the late 1980's, my mother and I shopped the antique shops in Greenwood, Missouri.  Over the many years, I still go back and enjoy every minute.  So it made sense to move our business over to Greenwood.  We have located to Big Creek Antique Mall at 509 West Main Street.  Big Creek is a fairly new shop opened just under a year.  We are located in the back corner and as of May 1 will inhabit 130 square feet.

The shop is open 7 days a week, so you'll be able to browse at your convenience versus the First Friday weekend and every Saturday that was available at the West Bottoms.

Here are a few pictures to whet your appetite.  We are just beginning to set up our cozy cottage, so this is definitely a work in progress!

My auction hopping has been temporarily put on hold.  A week ago I spent 4 days in the hospital and found out I have lumbar spinal stenosis.  While this is a somewhat common ailment to the older generation, I don't quite yet fall into that category.  I am on a plethora of medications to help it feel better and I hope to avoid surgery, but this has slowed me down.  Luckily I have enough stock to get me through for a little while, but with the auction season ramping up, I'm hoping that I will be able to jump in with both feet soon.  And when I do, I'll be blogging about the auctions right here.

So check back often!

Dancing Bumblebee Cottage's March Booth in the West Bottoms, Kansas City, Missouri

Back to blogging!  I have missed writing on my blog but, as you can well imagine, I've been busy.  Aren't we all?  Dancing Bumblebee Cottage moved to a much larger space at Pete N Repeat Repurposed in the West Bottoms, Kansas City.  I decided the other booth was much too small to play, so we chose a western exposure area where the booth is bathed in natural light every single day.  It's a true delight.

This post is picture-heavy, but well worth it. As I mentioned earlier, PNRR is open during First Friday weekends and every Saturday.  For March, I wanted to decorate in green, primarily for St. Patrick's Day.  Here's the booth:

First Friday Weekend is going on now through Sunday, so stop in.  We are located on the 4th floor of the Central Bag building.  Have fun shopping!

Using Vintage Kitchenware

I have to admit on a larger scale, the KitchenAid Stand Mixer is the way to go.  Set it and forget it.  But on small projects, I enjoy grabbing our vintage Sears Hand Mixer out of the utensil drawer and turning the handle around and around to mix whatever it is I'm mixing.  This piece was probably produced in either the 1950's or the 1960's. Of course the wood-handled utensils are much older, but I like this one because it has a finger grip that comes in quite handy.

"Sears" is embossed on both sides of the handle, as well.

It's just one of those things that helps connect me to a generation or two before.  This is kin to hand-washing dishes.  My grandmother moved into a condo that finally had a dishwasher but does she use it?  No.  She prefers the way she's always done dishes and that's by hand.  She feels she can get them done faster and put away far ahead of the time it would take to load the dishes in a dishwasher and run it through a cycle.

When we go down to the lake cottage, I have to hand wash the dishes because we don't have a dishwasher.  A few years ago when we remodeled the kitchen, my husband wondered if I'd like to have a dishwasher installed and I said no because really, I enjoy doing it the old-fashioned way.  But that's pretty much just down there.  At home I like the modern conveniences for the most part except for this hand mixer.  This has sure gotten a lot mileage lately!

Do you have a vintage item in your kitchen you choose to use over something current?

If you noticed the pie plate, I have two and they will be going into the antique shop for March's First Friday. Message me if you'd like first dibs on them!

The Priscilla Proving Plant

Last Fall, as part of a box lot I purchased at an auction, I found this Presto canning jar lid and glass insert.

Right before I listed this on Etsy, I honed in on the Priscilla Proving Plant embossed logo.

In all my years, I don't believe I've ever seen one like this.  Or perhaps I had and just didn't realize it at the time. Nevertheless, this Priscilla Proving Plant peaked my interest and I started to research it on the internet.  Isn't technology a wonderful thing because before long, I dug up a bit of information.  There's honestly not much about the Priscilla Proving Plant per se, but enough to draw together a bit of a conclusion.

It appears that the Priscilla Proving Plant was a springboard off the Modern Priscilla Magazine that was published between 1887-1930.  From Magazineart.org, I learned that Modern Priscilla began at Lynn, Massachusetts as a sixteen-page quarto devoted to fancy work, dress patterns, china painting and needlework in general at fifty cents a year.  In 1894 it was moved to Boston and eventually it was enlarged in scope to cover many other aspects of women's home life.  It absorbed Everyday Housekeeping in March 1912 and Home Needlework Magazine in May 1917.  The last issue was July 1930 after which it apparently merged into Needlecraft.

I imagine that the proving plant then merged with Good Housekeeping Institute because even today there is the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval and you'll notice that the Good Housekeeping Institute is also embossed on the lid.  But before that time, the Priscilla Proving Plant advertised in trade magazines.  Here are a couple of examples I found:

The Modern Priscilla magazine published cookbooks and other books as well.  Here is an excerpt about choosing home furnishings:

Now if you come across an old Presto jar lid and see the Priscilla Proving Plant logo, you'll know you have a time-tested and approved piece of history in your hands.

If you have additional information, I'd love your comments and I can add them to this blog entry.  :)