I hope everyone who celebrates had a Merry Christmas! Now that the holiday's past, we've got discounts of 20-50% off all Christmas items.

A phone call yesterday reminded me that I was remiss in not posting my holiday hours here. That post got unfortunately lost in the Christmas rush. So for future reference, I’ve edited my basic information post to include a list of days we’re closed or close early.

In the ongoing saga of "Emily is not a photographer," I got a new camera for Christmas. I've gone from a 7 year old 4 megapixel behemoth (relatively speaking) to a slim little 16 megapixel with all sorts of interesting bells and whistles. So far, I’m quite pleased. Lovely color, easy to use, good performance in low light, gorgeous screen. Of course, that means I’ve been playing with my new toy incessantly for the past few days, trying out all the new features.

Clearly I need to practice some more if I’m going to be trying to take panoramic pictures.

You can see more of my test shots on these Etsy listings:

• Teal Ironstone Transferware Plate
• Antique Dentist’s Tools
• Hubley Cement Mixer Truck
• Vintage French Tourist Guides & Maps
• Assortment of Vintage Clock Parts
• "Lose Weight" Gag Gift

I’ve also spiffed up the entryway a bit for New Year’s celebrations.

Here we’ve got a whole bunch of vintage noise makers (also available on Etsy), an old silverplate ice bucket, a pair of Avon champagne flutes, a Reed & Barton silverplate bowl with red enamel inside, a silverplate butler’s tray, and a silverplate cocktail shaker (also available on Etsy).

...And Now

And here are the pictures from the Anniversary Sale & Open House, after the jump. Readers with slow connections, beware, there are a lot of pictures here!

Now: Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

A "Then and Now" of Sorts

I've finally uploaded my pictures from the Anniversary Open House to the computer! Yeah, I'm running a bit late with that. Oops. But going through my folder of store pictures, I realized I still had a whole bunch of pictures from the Grand Opening last year which were never cleaned up or posted, so I figured I'd do them now for a little contrast. There's quite a few pictures between last year and this year, so I'll break it up into two posts. Firstly, the Grand Opening.


Two things to note:
- This isn't all the pictures. Quite a few were, shall we say...not so post-able. See my tag "photos are difficult".
- Wow, we have managed to fit in a lot more stuff over the year. Really. Wow.


So, after the jump, Then: Saturday, December 4th, 2010

Etsy Sale!

Okay, here we go! The promised Etsy Anniversary Sale coupon code:

Code: ANNIVERSARY
Discount: 15% off everything
Active: Now through Sunday, 12/4

Just put the code in at checkout, and Etsy will apply the discount automatically.

Here's the link to my shop again: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WillowTreeAntiques

Clearly I must be in a blogging mood this month, because this will be November's 6th post, as opposed to my usual 2 posts a month. Maybe I am getting better at this thing!

So we have the start of some Christmas display pictures, finally.

First, here's some from Debbie. A distressed green shelf, white dishes, bottle brush trees, and some cheery fun vintage Christmas ornaments. Some of these old ornaments are so neat - pinks and greens and glitter and shiny stripes. Love them!

Again from Debbie, some more traditional Christmas colors. A neat shabby old green dresser with a New England red shelf on the wall over it, with all sorts of other red, green, and white bits and bobs all over.

Unforunately, the picture doesn't really do this one justice; it's so pretty in person! First, a great old cedar chest on legs...the house call we got it from was frankly a little terrifying, I thought the attic floor might fall through and send us falling. But the cedar chest came down fine, and now it's here full of all sorts of things - on the right, this lovely 19th Century table, perfect as a side table or nightstand. On that, we've got a silverplate bowl with an acorn motif (a little out of season, perhaps, but still pretty). On the left, more silverplate nestled in a lit garland with poinsettias.

Now for some non-holiday stuff. I really love how this corner of the room came out. Here we've got a bookcase and vanity table painted the same gorgeous teal-y blue. On top of the bookcase sits a little old dresser, either doll-sized or a salesman's sample. Next to that is this cute glove holder - three clips shaped like pairs of gloves hold little white child's gloves.

Let's play a game! Here we've got a jar full of miniature billiard balls, more jars of game pieces, Bingo from the 1930s (on Etsy), and Elgo Plastics' American Skyline building set (on Etsy). On the second shelf, we have a vintage baby dish, some old baby clothes, and a set of child's toy china (on Etsy). On the floor, we've got a Radio Flyer bicycle with Teddy, a wagon, a teddy bear print, and in the corner there, an antique plank seat child's rocking chair.

And here's the vanity table, bench, and mirror. On the vanity, we've got a clear glass vanity box, two lipstick holders, a 1920s powder puff wand, an atomiser bottle, and a neat shabby half-doll lamp (on Etsy).





I've also got some holiday stuff up on Etsy now, like clip-on Christmas tree candleholders, a box of vintage candles, and some great old child's ice skates. And then there are these guys. I'm not sure if they're supposed to be some kind of odd fish, Christmas whales, or tomatoes with tails.

Happy Small Business Saturday! If you haven't already, please do try to get out to a local business or two and help support your local economy!

Another big push to get the winter and Christmas things out today. It's still not photograph-worthy unforunately, but we've got lights and things up, so that's an improvement. One thing you never actually realize as a customer - you walk into a store and one day, it's suddenly covered in Christmas stuff like magic, but wow, yeah, it doesn't really appear all at once.

The main point to this post is to give a big thank you to Melodye Whatley, who came and gave us a lovely show with her bowed psaltery this afternoon.

It really is a beautiful instrument, and makes quite a lot of sound for such a little thing! If you'd to know more about the bowed psaltery and Melodye's work, check out the pdf version of her pamphlet here.

Also, a quick reminder, 1st Anniversary Sale next Saturday and Sunday! I'll be posting the Etsy coupon code at the end of the week, so keep an eye out for that here and on Twitter.

Return of the dodgy photos

One of these days, I will completely figure out how my camera works, I'll get a tripod, and I'll be patient enought to wait around all day for the light to not be so glaringly bright. Today is not that day.

We've become the drop-leaf table store. This is the fourth one we have in the store right now. So if you're looking for a drop-leaf, we've got 'em. Really. Four of them. This particular one is a (likely) cherry gate-leg made by Statton Furniture. It also has two additional leaves (which bring the table to nearly 7' long) and those protector felt pads to keep it in good shape (not pictured). I couldn't track down an age for it, but it's still a gorgeous piece.

And just in this French & Heald Company 5-drawer maple dresser. It's really quite lovely in person, with intricate handles and dovetailed drawers. Another piece I can't properly date, though. There is a date stamp on the inside of one of the drawers, but it's terribly smudged.

I think it might say 18*3, but I can't be certain. The antiques business would be so much easier if every company ever had clearly marked and dated their items!

And lastly for the pictures, the display on one of the other drop-leaf tables. This one resides in the entryway, featuring a cubby box full of all sorts of things on the right and two American Tradition ironstone King Tom platters on the left. (You can see them better on Etsy here and here.)

And now really last - I've joined the Hebron Shop Local program that's started this month. Pick up your rewards card here or any other participating business, have it checked off at five different businesses, and turn it into the Town Hall for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate good at any participating business. Look for the orange cow sticker in the window of participating shops!

Anniversary Sale & Open House 12/3 & 12/4

5 weeks, 3 days until Christmas! We've been slowly starting to pull out bits and pieces of the Christmas stuff for a while. I'm trying not to rush things and overwhelm the whole store (and myself) by putting out all the Christmas items at once. But they have to come in sooner rather than later!

Of course, whenever we do this much rearranging and such, I make a giant mess, like so:

I've got to get it all cleaned and picture-worthy up fast, because for the store's first anniversary, we'll be doing a sale and open house kind of thing! So if there's anything you've been dying to have, the first weekend of December, 15-20% off regularly priced items over $10, 20% off many items under $10, and an additional 10% off items already marked down. I'll also be running an Etsy coupon that weekend, to be announced later. So!

Willow Tree Antiques
Open House &
1st Anniversary Sale
Saturday, December 3rd &
Sunday, December 4th
10:00 - 5:00

Come, have some snacks, work on crossing a few items off that Christmas list, and celebrate our anniversary with us!

Now on Twitter!

No exciting pictures today, I'm afraid. All the news that's fit to print isn't so fit to photograph. :)

The main point of this post is to point the way to my new Twitter account: @WillowTreeAntqs. Unfortunately usernames can only be 15 characters and "WillowTreeAntiques" would've been 18, so we get a weird abbreviation there. Still, it works. Follow me for updates on new items both in the store and on Etsy, and whatever else strikes my fancy. @WillowTreeAntqs

Also new - new business cards! Which are just like the old ones, mostly. Except these have improved LARGE FONT for easier reading and a pretty full-color back with my email and URLs for the blog and Etsy. Now to use up the last chunk of the previous batch...

Here we go again...

Power outages! Panic in the streets! Pandemonium! Didn’t we just do this a couple months ago? Around six inches of snow here, so not quite that bad. The store got power back late Sunday afternoon, which is really good. I was worried for our namesake the willow, but it’s still standing, thank goodness.

Our pear tree at home wasn’t nearly so lucky, unfortunately. But we didn’t lose power there at all, so I suppose we dodged a bullet with that one.

But if this is a preview of what this winter’s going to be like, then the birds have the right idea – migrate south!



Some minor changes to the blog layout today as well. A couple new things in the sidebar, a couple things moved around. I've also stuck my Etsy banner at the top here just to give it a bit more color. I need to find something a little less glaringly white, I think.

So now we're into the real stretch of fall, with cooler temperatures and turning leaves...unless you're here, then the leaves are just falling right off the trees without the pretty colors:

You can't tell from the photo, but one whole side of the tree is pretty much bare. The poor thing's really kind of sad.

Lots of new things in lately. First off, here's our new entryway display. I love these shutters - got several from an old house in Lebanon. The owner told us they were original to the house, which was built in the 1820s. The paint's newer but still very cool. Some neat things on the table, including these little leaf-shaped salt dish things. Such a great color.

From the same house call as the shutters, a really neat old tool box with a great curve to the front.

And old blue paint inside!

And we have a heavy-as-all-heck crock. I could move this thing, oh, about five feet at a time. Better than the #12 we had a few months ago - that one I couldn't pick up at all!

Also a great #6 with the handles in tact.

Lastly, Debbie's brought us some glass in these great seasonal oranges. My picture doesn't do the color justice - they're really quite neat in person.

Long time, no post

Between cloudy weather, battery mishaps (did you know they make batteries that you can't use in digital cameras? Now I do!), etsy, and new displays, I've been getting behind here. Oops. Recently new to Etsy three neat old architectural pieces. The first one there is huge - almost four feet long! Also eight vintage tin noise makers. Frankly, taking pictures of those wasn't exactly fun; I felt like the clowns were staring at me the entire time. They'd be good if you want to scare small children.

As for new displays, the Hitchcock set from the previous post has sold and been replace with a lovely 1940s drop-leaf table.

The light in this room is wonderful, but boy does it reflect in pictures! Around the table are a pair of black ladder back chairs and a set of four chairs probably from around the 1940s. I love the combo of the coppery colors and off-white bowls on that shelf.

Here we have a 1920s solid mahogany drop-front desk. It's got some really nice detailing on the legs, an urn pattern. To the left is a 1950s three-drawer chest. Great size for a nightstand, and it has a really neat tan and brown leafy lining in the drawers. And yes, we've got a touch of Halloween here with black cats and an old sugar bowl that looks like a caldron.

Just in, a vintage round pine-topped table. On it we have a vintage shelf decorated with a Red Wing Bob White casserole and plate and a variety of Country Fair/Country Fare/whatever we're calling it today pieces. I love how the two patterns look together.

To the right of the table, an upcycled vintage mirror frame has been turned into a huge chalkboard. I like putting seasonal quotes on it, and inflicting my attempt at art on my customers. ;-) The chalkboard reads, "For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad," quote by Edwin Teale.

Happy Fall!

Well, not officially, not for a bit yet. But schools are back in session, so it definitely counts. We've been busily working on getting more Fall colors in, and trying not to make a grand mess while doing so. Things are a work in progress, as always. But I snapped a few pictures for Craigslist earlier and figured I'd throw them up here as well.

A Hitchcock dining set, just recently in. Includes a table with two leaves and six chairs. This thing is big - just over 7 feet long with the leaves in. It's set with Johnson Brothers Indian Tree pattern plates, some clear Depression glass dessert cups, vintage embroidered hand towels in place of napkins, and a set of Supreme silverplate silverware.

The main piece of this display is a cabinet handmade by a carpenter from East Hampton. I got it from his daughter, who said he'd made it somewhere around 1900 - 1910. It looks to us like he'd put it together from pieces of other things - the front is flame mahogany, the shelves are walnut, and the top is another kind of wood entirely. To the left of that is this great old stand. In person, it's this neat green-gray color.

Debbie brought us this vintage hutch refinished in a neat shabby white. 'Tis the season for apple picking!

And the fireplace. That old barn beam mantle is still one of my favorite parts of the building. :) On the right, we have a wing chair, not old, but in great shape and really comfy. The hearth is full of crocks, a pair of old andirons, and a copper and brass fire extinguisher (which I think still has some of the liquid inside...). We've done the mantle in leafy reds and ambers along with these pretty muted teal-blues. And in the never-ending saga of me and photography, of course I took about twelve pictures of the mirror that ended up with the emergency exit sign reflected in them. ;-)

Rain, rain, go away, don't come back anytime soon please. Really.

Post-Irene and things have returned to normal for those of us who were lucky. I was without power at home for a little more than 5 days, but the store thankfully had power, phone, and internet all back by last Tuesday morning. The basement did apparently flood with about a foot of water, but I had nothing down there and as the basement's shared between units, I didn't have to take care of the clean up. So in the end, the only damage was a broken storm window and some branches lost from the willow.

Still, I'd rather not do that again, okay? Thanks for your cooperation, Mother Nature.

Blurry Photos & Back to School

Blogging would work much better if I started posting regularly, wouldn't it? So let's see how it goes.

I've been busy lately trying out Etsy. Opened the shop at the end of June and already sold a few things. It's much, much more time intensive than it looks, though. Mostly, it's the pictures. Because you get things set up and snap dozens of photos, and you think you're done, but then you upload them and they've all come out like this:

Ooops. Went through two batches of pictures like that before I realized I'd had the camera set for distance photos instead of close-ups. But I've gotten the hang of it since then, thankfully. So here's some of what I've got up on Etsy now, with more to come soon.






I've also been working on a back to school display for the entryway over the last few days, and I've finally called it done.

What was I saying about getting the hang of photos? ;-) (The camera was on close up instead of distance that time!) Actual decent photos now:

Featuring a vintage school desk and chair and a large standing classroom abacus, among other things.

A close up of the desk.

One of my favorite parts is the shoe-tying toy with the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. Though I'm not sure it was wise to give kids a big chunky wood toy good for hitting each other with. ;-)

I'm starting to get more interested in old books. Here are three Bobbsy Twins hardcovers, and a 1920s copy of Tales from Shakespeare, along with some vintage flash cards.

A cute little push-cart full of blocks.

The window, with vintage Strawberry Shortcake lunch box, some wooden apples for teacher, and some science-y equipment.

I love this old labratory box, likely for a microscope.

On the left, a copy of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe puzzle, and a little chalkboard. To the right, a handmade hanging chalkboard.

Let's start with the basics, shall we?

Frequently asked questions including our hours, location, and more, after the jump -