Use It or Lose It

I can't tell you how many times I say that phrase over in my head.  When I'm the youngest one in my yoga class and I see these women bending and stretching with no issues, I think, hey, "use it or lose it".  And now more than ever I have been feeling that way when I am liquidating an estate.

vintage purse

I recently worked on a home that was filled with happy, laughing people.  And as I worked through box after box of memory, box after box of travel souvenirs I thought, "Wow!  they used this stuff!".  And they made memories with it.  And then I would open a box of completely sealed birthday party decorations bought 1/2 price or Thanksgiving tablecloths never opened but bought on clearance and I thought "uh-oh".

So, while it's easy to judge, I went home and looked at my garage.  I knew I had bins that hadn't been opened in at least 3 years because "I'm waiting to use them".  I opened those bins and if I couldn't find a home for it, whether on my walls, in my closet or at a friend's house, out it went to my local thrift store.

About 15 years ago my husband traveled to Australia for a over a month.  he came back with some amazing things.  Out of everything, the thing I thought his strangest purchase were these souvenir tea towels,  Cute, yes, but he never wanted to use them.  Finally after helping me with my sales, he agreed to the "Use It or Lose It" theory.  I am happy to tell you, that since last month, our tiki masks adorn our backyard wall, his tea towels grace our kitchen, not as decoration, but as a useful towel. 

The purse above that I purchased because, SOMEBODY HAD TO!, is now available on our ETSY shop.  Yup!  You read that right!   We opened an ETSY shop this month.  It's small, but the items are special and we will add to it each week. 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SilverLiningLasVegas?ref=hdr_shop_menu

But please do me a favor, before you start looking at all of the cool stuff on ETSY, take a look around your home and open a cabinet and look at what you aren't using now, but has potential.  Take it out of your cabinet and use it this week, in some shape or form.  Start using your stuff and see what joy it can bring, before you buy something else.

My date with Mr. Las Vegas!

Having lived in Las Vegas for almost (lucky) 13 years now I felt it was my duty to get to know Mr. Newton.  Actually, I feel it's my duty as an American to experience places like Graceland (check!), the now defunct Elvis-O-Rama museum and Liberace museum (check to both!).  These people are our national treasures and I am proud I live in a place like Las Vegas that has that and then sprinkles a little more glitter on top.

Casa de Shenandoah

My tour started in the theatre with a brief history on Wayne.  To be fair, I must admit I'm not exactly a fan.  I respect him as a person and definitely the time he spends with our military, but I really went for the kitsch value.  Let's face it, the only reference Generation X has of Mr. Newton is that great lip-sync scene in Ferris Bueller's Day off.  Am I right?

After the film, we boarded a bus and headed over to Casa de Shenandoah.  If you're a Vegas local you've driven past it and wondered, what exactly is in there.  I'll tell you...land.  And kind of small houses.  And lots and lots of horses.  Beautiful Arabian horses which is what Wayne breeds.

The Artesian Wells

The front door, on the left is a secret phone to use in case Mr. Newton was kidnapped in the 70's

I was dying, DYING to see what was behind those doors.  As an estate liquidator you must know the excitement I get every time I'm invited into a home.  I can't wait to start learning things about the person and seeing what tokens they collected over the years.

The main living room

1 of 2 grand staircases in the foyer.  But only 3 bedrooms upstairs.  Keepin' it real yo!

The office...Sh*t gets real here

My favorite of all!  His collection of Margaret Keene paintings

Send in the clowns...

A Renoir hangs in the Dining Room...perfect for enjoying a bucket of chicken.

A couple of Wayne's Arabians

A few of Wayne's cars

Did you Wayne incorporates his Native American heritage into his costumes?

Wayne loving being a clown

And finally, the thing that sold me on Wayne...He's friends with Nipsy Russell!  I love Nipsy Russell!

Thriftscore

This past month I've felt that I was in a virtual time capsule.  And this past month I've also felt really old.  As I've walked through my Las Vegas thriftstores and came across things from my childhood or gasp, my 80's teen years.  While seeing such items send chills and tingles through me (the good kind), I can't help but wonder what it is that draws me to certain items.  Sometimes I see things that I spied in a friend's older sister's room.  And other times, it's a piece of jewelry that I imagined a model wearing while she hung out with Duran Duran on The Wild Boys tour.

Kenneth Jay Lane choker

Be that as it may, below are some January thriftstore finds that I fell in love with and brought home, and others I left for another to get that tingling sensation of a good thiftscore!

The 70's umbrella stand I desperately wanted to own

Thriftscore

Welcome to the first #Thriftscore post!  It wasn't until a friend visited me in Las Vegas from New York that I truly understood the treasure & thrill of thrifting.  Sure I always heard about people's cool finds, but I never really understood.  Growing up in New York, every place is always so crowded and the shopping abound, that the idea of thrifting, or even having to thrift out of necessity didn't make sense to me.  Sure I'd hit a Goodwill or Salvation Army now and then, and yes even Housing Works.  But truth is, it was still expensive!  So unless I had the time to kill and the desire, I usually skipped it.  Aside from one lucky afternoon at a Salvation Army on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn when I found a 4-piece mid-century modern bedroom set in 2000 for only $200 (delivery was an extra $25), thrifting in a large city made no sense whatsoever to me.

Fast forward to 2007, a friend came to visit and her only desire was to hit up the thriftstores in Las Vegas.  Wanting to set a good impression, I took her to cool, hip antique shops in Vegas.  Vegas being new, antique means 1950's.  While there was a lot of eye-candy, my friend explained she wanted the real, nitty gritty thrift stores.  So on we went to Savers, Goodwill and a few others.

What a different world!  Here I spotted things I wouldn't have dreamed of in New York!  I cannot even begin tell you about all of the treasures I have found over the years.  But starting today, I will make a monthly post of all of the treasures I find going forward.  I'll share some strategies too over time, and I'll give locations too, because I'm that kind of gal.  I share!

Though dream-like, you are seeing that photo right!  It's a Marlo Thomas sewing pattern!!!  And next to it is a vintage black patent clutch with a killer McQueen-esque closure.  Take a peek at the close-ups below:

isn't that amazing?!

Welcome to Marlo's Corner...

My holiday strategy for shopping estate sales

So long ago before I started my own estate sale & liquidation business I trolled other people's sales myself.  In the beginning I wandered aimlessly wondering what I could buy.  As you have probably experienced yourself, I ended up with a bunch of stuff I didn't need.  As time went on, I learned to make little wishlists to keep myself on track.  If I needed a patio set, I headed to the yard, if I needed kitchen utensils or party platters, I headed to the kitchen, etc... But the one area I always stopped by and I still do is the holiday section!

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am a sucker for kitsch!  The kitschier the better.  I should mention that I lean toward hoarder tendencies and can easily get derailed.  So I devised a punchlist to keep myself in check.  And I highly recommend you do too!

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First, I limited myself to 1950's and 1960's kitschy holiday decorations.  Yes, that meant Easter, Halloween, Christmas and even Thanksgiving.  But for this post I'm just going to focus on Christmas.  (Tis the season!)

• must be vintage-looking (can be authentic or a really good replica) as long as it makes me smile
• depending on price, if there is damage can I repair it with glitter?  (this is a legitimate mode of repair for me)
• reindeer, santas, elves- that's it!  I'm not a big snowman kinda gal.  So if there were reindeers, santas or elves AND had vintage appeal, I was considering giving them a new home.  This really helped me limit the amount of decorations I had to store and they look so great displayed in clusters!
• Christmas villages.  Yes, I know they can be hokey, but you know what?  I love them!  I love looking at these tiny villages all lit up.  But the real truth is they are like dollhouses to me.  But how to make them more "Silver Lining"?  I decided that if they were of the same scale, and the price was right, I would scoop them up and re-paint them using glitter!  Most of the time, the houses were poorly painted anyway and since I was paying lower prices for them, I would decide on a "palette of tonal glitters" and go to town with my glue and glitter.

I realize you may not think of estate sales for holiday decorations, but trust me, it's one of the most amazing sections of them.  You can snag some great items at great prices.  And some really unique decorations.

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