Merry Christmas!

I know Christmas is over, but Merry Christmas anyway!!!  And happy 2013!!! It's been a while since I've posted anything, but we've been very busy here at Down Home, and it just didn't seem to happen. I hope you all had wonderful holiday moments, with lots of time spent with family and friends.  I know I sound like a Hallmark Christmas movie, but I love the spirit of Christmas! I love the true meaning of Christmas and that's what gives me true joy in my heart. But, I love all the festivities of Christmas too!  I love Christmas cookies, Christmas cheer, Christmas music, and Christmas decorations!  I absolutely love decorating for Christmas!  I tear down all my Thanksgiving and Fall stuff at home as soon as the last person leaves on Thanksgiving night. Then,  I spend the whole weekend decorating!  I put on my Christmas music and by Sunday, it's Christmas at the Arbenz Home!

Welcome!

A 19th century sled with it's original red paint and straw stuffed upholstery!

My red transfer ware collection and the Santa photos of my grand kids. 

All except two pictures have at least one child crying!

I had fun finding different sizes of these tindeco Santa tins!

               
 

I collect little stray sheep!

One of my favorite Christmas collections is my "Creepy Santa" collection, as my children call it.

Ok, it's creepy, but I love them!

I  love collecting vintage ornaments,

 especially small feather tree ornaments and early glass bead garlands.

Of course, my vintage grape ornaments are on a little tree on our wine rack!

I've collected elephants since I was a kid!

A wooden bowl full of antique Christmas books and sleigh bells!

I love collecting editions of my favorite Christmas story, "The Night Before Christmas."

These gold angels were my Mom's, and they remind me of my three daughters. 

A set of paper mache Canadian Geese decoys!

Love this early rocking horse!

I think American Country antiques look their best at Christmas time!

I collect early hog scraper candlesticks!

Some of my early lanterns!

This cupboard has old wooden buckets, as well as bird nests from my back yard!

A perfect place for a little tree full of vintage bird ornaments!

This tree in my dining room is full of vintage ornaments, some from my childhood.

Aren't these hand carved "coots" fun!

I love candles and Christmas lights, and usually those are the only lights on in my home at Christmas time - nothing cozier than the warm glow of Christmas!!!

My cat, Liberty!

We had a wonderful time with our family and friends and 

I'm always a bit sad to see it all end for another year.  

We wish you all a wonderful 2013 and guess what?... it's only 344 days till Christmas!  I can't wait!!!!  Blessings to you and yours.

xo, Peggy

Adirondack Antique Show

I've heard about Madison~Bouckville Antique Week forever. In fact, my mother in law went there when we first opened Down Home and sent some boxes of fun smalls to us!  I've wanted to go ever since so we finally made it happen! We flew into Syracuse, picked up our rental truck and drove to Madison~Bouckville to check out the lay of the land!  I was excited to start shopping! We evidently got there before most of the dealers - lots of tents set up but not much to shop from yet. So we checked out the local antique stores and found a few treasures! 

One of the shop owners told us about a show in the Adirondacks at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake!  Sounded good to us so we were off to the Adirondacks bright and early the next morning!  Oh my gosh!!! What a beautiful drive!!!  Lakes, streams, green!!!!!   

 We get to the Museum and we are not disappointed!  We shop from the 50 or so vendors set up around the grounds of the museum!  It was fun to see so many adirondack antiques in one place!

My favorite purchase was a wonderful 19th century adirondack twig rocking chair with remnants of old mustard paint!  I was trying not to hyperventilate over it!  We found a few more treasures - a child's chair, some snow shoes, and a few more smalls! 

Then we wait a few minutes for the museum buildings to open!  So we walk around the grounds and see all these beautiful buildings and surroundings!

The museum is beautiful and I always love learning something new!  We go through all the buildings and see early adirondack style furniture and boats! 

 

And the fun is not over!  When we leave the show, there are tailgate vendors set up on the street outside the Museum!  We found all sorts of treasures out there!!! 

                                  We load up and head back to Madison~Bouckville!



Don and I in the big adirondack chair in front of the museum!



xo, Peggy

Meet the Dealers at Down Home ~ Anita Mooney

Another one of great Down Home dealers is Anita Mooney.  She has been with Down Home for over 8 years,  and is a favorite of many of our customers.  Meet Anita!

Q.  How long have you been a dealer?
A.  Approximately 38 years.

Q.  How did you get started in the antique business?
A.  We started collecting and selling Americn Oak.

Q.  What do you specialize in?
A.  Early American Antiques from 1780 to 1890.

Q.  What is your favorite collection?
A. The furniture I have acquired dating c. 1780 - 1840.

Q.  What is your favorite piece?
A.  A pair of stepdown windors with original salmon paint and black stenciling.

Q.  What do you like best abour being a dealer?
A.  The discovery of a new item and then learning about it.

Q.  What do you like best about being a dealer at Down Home?
A.  Being around others with a similar interest.

Anita and her husband, Jim can be spotted shopping for antiques on most weekends and they travel up north frequently to find those special one of kind pieces that Anita is known for.  We appreciate her knowledge and she is an expert and cleaning and repairing antiques.  Thank you Anita!  Please stop by space #32 and see Anita's great display of early antiques!

xo ~ Peggy

Checkin' Out the LA Gift Show!

I have not been to the LA Gift Show in several years.  We usually shop in fields and garages, and dig around piles of old stuff!  Afterall, we are an anitique store and we love old stuff!  But, I like to add a little bit of atmosphere for the holidays and we carry a couple lines of candles and things that compliment old stuff.  So Tess and I went last week.  Tess was excited because she had never been before and I was excited to take her!  It's always fun to be in LA!  So we got to the LA Mart and before we even parked we saw the famous giant chair outside! 

We headed toward the door to get registered and we saw this beautiful succulent wall!  Quite striking, don't you agree??? 

Then we started shopping! There was some beautiful displays in the Mart and we had fun looking and getting inspired.  But, seriously, it was pretty difficult to find anything with a "Down Home" quality to it.  We did order some holiday items from a couple of different lines and we definitely found inspiration.  I love looking at the displays and finding a new way to merchandise antiques!

The amazing thing to us was how many companies used antiques in their merchandising and displays!  We saw several old harvest tables, lots of galvanized pieces, vintage dress forms, and other fun props! I mostly wanted to buy everything that wasn't for sale!  For any of you designers and decorators who are looking for authentic props,come to Down Home!

When our work at the Mart was done, we hopped on the shuttle and went to the Convention Center!  Lots of fun things, but nothing for us.  I was amazed that it had a cash and carry section but mostly clothing, scarves, and jewelry!  That was definitely not going on the last time I went to the Gift Show!  The thing I liked the most was our California sun coming through the beautiful architecture of the Convention center! 

 

Mostly, I love hanging out with my fun girl, Tess!!!  Can't wait for our orders to come, but next time, I'm heading to the gift shows in the midwest or on the east coast!!! We love LA, but it's just a bit too sparkly for us Down Home Country girls!

xo, Peggy