Haunted Pumpkin

Happy Halloween !  This is a project I made from a foam pumpkin, some paperclay, paint, and a few other odds and ends a couple of years ago.  The pumpkin and lights were purchased at 50% off after Halloween.

Do you dare trick or treat at this scary house ?

Lots of jack-o'-lanterns line the yard and the porch is decorated for Halloween.  I made the stone porch out of paper clay and painted it to look old.

I painted the windows and shutters with crackle finish to add to the effect.  Still contemplating what kind of plants to put in the window boxes.  Maybe some sort of man eating plant or something from Harry Potter?

The jack-o'-lanterns are from Lemax.  I hid the transformer under the floor. The table inside is just an upside down plastic cup that I covered with some Halloween fabric.  The cany corn floor lamp is also from Lemax.  The parlor stove is a plastic kit by Chrysnbon that I put together back in the 1980s.  I am still contemplating how to make a cool chimney for it on the outside of the pumpkin.

The scary skeleton is sitting lounging on a Victorian chaise lounge, waiting to hand out goodies to anyone who dares come trick or treating.  I used a piece of scrap book paper to cover the floor.  The floor is a piece of foam core that I cut to fit.

I created a niche under the stairs for the display.  Did you notice the Halloween candy decorations hanging from the lights?

Brass Bed

The other day I found a really great miniature brass bed at an estate sale.  

It is the perfect scale for 1"= 1'-0" and appears to be homemade.  I will probably put it with the items that I am collecting for my Victorian house.

I have to let you in on a little secret.  I don't just go to these estate sales for the miniatures - I love to see the architecture!  The house was located in an older neighborhood in Tulsa called Mapleridge and was built in 1924.

The sun room had these really great built in cabinets.

The house also had they wonderful arch-top doors.

The stair banister was a mixture of wood and iron.

 I loved the front door and its surround.  

The whole front of the house had more metalwork and lots of Italianate detailing.

Another element I liked was the pattern in the stucco along the top.

Tootsie Toy

I found this ad for sale online.  

To see my Tootsie Toy collection click HERE

Recent Acquisitions

I picked up a few new items here and there: some metal fence panels, some pewter milk cans and a small porcelain basket.

The basket matches some other items that I have been using to fill this Tynietoy corner cabinet with.  Some of these items were original to the Crescent Moon cottage when I first won it at auction.  It can be seen by clicking HERE and dates from the early 1900's.

My Tynietoy collection can be seen by clicking HERE

I found these metal fence panels at an estate sale for 25 cents each.  They are Christmas ornaments.  I think they will work nicely as fence painted black and placed in between stone or brick columns.

I came across two of these pewter miniature milk cans at a local antique mall.  They were in a booth that sold salt and pepper shakers, but I don't think that is what they are. Maybe Christmas ornaments? but they weigh a ton!  Land O Lakes is an American diary company. I think they will look nice somewhere in my Cozy Cabin project.  
Progress on it can be seen by clicking on the Cabin link on the right.

Incense Burner Mystery

This story is unfolding like a Hardy Boys/Nancy drew Mystery!

I came across this miniature incense burner at a local estate sale the other day.  I was intrigued, and I thought it looked like something at about 1" scale from a far away place. My mind raced as to which house or scene it might fit in.  I forked over $10 for it.

I asked the lady at the register if she knew anything about the piece.  She stated that it was silver, and had makers marks and that that stand had the logo from the company that the previous owner worked.  I asked if she happened to know the company.  She said yes, it was on several items around the house. The company was called Facet and manufactured filters.

Since I was on my lunch break, I had to wait until I got home to do some research.  I found out that Facet was now called PECOfacet because of a merger.  On the PECOfacet website, they have the history of the company including opening offices in Europe in 1982.

The base of the stand was also engraved with "Mayo 1982"  Mayo is big name in Tulsa, it was a family who made their fortune during the oil boom of the 1920's - 1930's.  One of the families legacy's is the Mayo Hotel built in 1925 which still occupies a prominent place in the Tulsa skyline.  I assume this was marking some event at the Mayo Hotel ?

I have to admit, I know very little about silver makers marks, but sure enough, there are some on the base of the object as well as the stand.  One of the marks is a star and the other kind of looks like a three-pronged bird footprint.
So as I was browsing the Internet, looking for clues, I came across an exact match to my item, although this one was nice and shiny.

 These pictures came from an auction site and stated that the item was from the late 1800's.  It made me wonder if the base was new and object antique ?

I posted the pictures to a silver makers marks website and got some responses that the star indicates that it was made in Spain.

Then I came across this item:

Slight differences to the stand and the chain seems more detailed on this piece.

This one was labeled: Silver Miniature Censer Incense Burner, Spain, Ca 1920. $300
It has the same makers marks as mine.

So I have put my profiling skills to work and come to the conclusion that the object I purchased is from Spain, and must have been some kind of award to an employee back in 1982 to mark the opening of the companies European expansion. The base may be new, the burner may be old.

Now I have to figure out how to polish mine so that it will shine like the ones on the auction websites.