On a snowy afternoon, what’s a fun thing to do? Hmmm…maybe go to a Christmas party in an antique market of course!
You also need music …
And some nibbles….
And add some friends and #shoplocal !
We did this at Frazer Antique Market and it was magical. Most importantly besides friends coming together at Christmastime? Supporting a local business and vintage/antiques and crafts people.
It’s not about the influencers who want a ridiculous photo for their Instagram and Snapchat, this is about supporting our local businesses.
And no, I was not compensated for this post OR this event. We paid to host it.
This was our Christmas present to friends and loving what’s local.
Also many, many thanks to the acoustic duo The Dunns for the festive music to add to the atmosphere. You can hear them locally at places like VK Brewing and Myrtos as well as other local spots and places like Cape May in warmer weather months. And they are occasionally available for private events!
Image found online from a long ago auction somewhere. This is a red German kugel. I think it’s marvelous!
Everyone who knows me, knows I love Christmas. Some of my favorite antique ornaments are kugels. That started when I was given a modestly sized golden kugel that had been the prized ornament of my maternal great grandfather’s mother. They were Germans who settled in Pennsylvania. This ornament came with my great grandfather’s mother’s family from Germany.
A true antique kugel is a heavy glass Christmas ornament, made in Germany from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. They are typically round or oval, made of thick glass with a brass cap. The glass is often colored deeply in shades like deep red, cobalt blue, or silver. At first they were made only in Germany, primarily made in Lauscha, Germany, a small mountain village known for its glassblowing in the German Thuringia Forest .
Then, in at the end of the 19th century (as in the last decade approximately), the center of kugel manufacturing actually shifted to Nancy, France. The decorations that came out of this region were a bit lighter in weight than their German predecessors and boasted new shades, such as tangerine, and many shades of blue. (Hence the French blue kugel of it all.)
What is known as kugels are the ancestors of the later Christmas glass ornaments. Kugel is the German word for sphere or ball. In Germany kugels are usually called Biedermeierkugeln what refers to their time of origin, namely the Biedermeier period (about 1830). At that time German glassmakers started a tradition which lasted almost until to the beginning of World War I.
One way to identify kugels is by their enormous thickness of glass. This may go from one up to five millimeters, that is from 1/25″ to 1/5″. Before the invention of the Bunsen burner it was technically not possible to produce a thin-walled glass. Therefore kugels are rather heavyweight (a problem for Christmas trees with thin branches). Coloration is not done, as in later times, by painting the glass surface, but by coloring the melted batch in advance. Inside silvering of the kugels produced a brilliant gloss; this was done with lead in the early days, afterwards with a solution of silver nitrate. Unlike later glass ornaments kugels do not have the short pike left from the blowing process. It was cut off. What remained was a small hole. This was covered with a brass cap which was fastened to the ornament by a skillfully twisted wire.
One is inclined to believe that all kugels have got the shape of a ball as their name suggests. But there are, though more seldom, other shapes, too: grapes, eggs, pears, drop, turnips, and bells. In addition the surface has not to be even: items with a ribbed surface are the most sought-after. The color palette is confined to a tight dozen variations: silver, green in different shadows, golden (frequent), light blue, blue, cobalt blue (more rare), rose, rubin, copper (rare), orange, violet (very rare). Tiny kugels have a diameter of about one inch, while the upper limit is more or less open ended: There exist items with a perimeter of more than three feet (best suited for the decoration of the large garden fir tree).
Another image from some long ago auction somewhere in this country – I think this was from a New York auction.
Originally kugels came to the US either via Germans visiting family or immigrating here. They were from the old English tradition of “witches balls”, can’t remember if I mentioned that before? Then F.W. Woolworth, yes the five and dime store of our childhoods, started importing them in the 1880s.
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, whose birthplace was located within 50 miles of Thuringia, helped to spread the popularity of tree decorating when he and his wife, Queen Victoria, were depicted trimming the royal family Christmas tree (most likely with German-made ornaments) in an engraving published by the Illustrated London News.
Laura Smith, Vice Chair of the Towamencin Board of Supervisors in Montgomery County, PA is a rather unfortunate woman who thinks making the Nazi salute on TikTok is funny.
Well now she is an internet star ⭐️
Only her TikTok account laurasmith6036 has seemingly disappeared?
Gosh was it something she said?
Do the Jewish members of the Montgomery County Republican Party approve of this behavior? Do the rest of the Towamencin Board of Supervisors find her behavior acceptable?
Here’s how you can ask them:
I think Laura Smith should take her pathetic nasty ass off of that board and resign, don’t you? I doubt she will but it’s a nice thought.
I don’t understand why anyone with a brain would think that it’s okay to give a mock Nazi salute. I just don’t.
This is not OK.
The media is starting to wake up to this new TikTok star…
What I don’t understand about people like Laura Smith is her candidate of choice was duly elected President of the United States. Why isn’t she happy? Why does she do something so horrible?
She’s now just another elected official who has betrayed the public trust. She is also obviously lacking a moral compass. Hell she should run for Congress and go sit next to Marjorie Taylor Greene.
I have been writing about Melangell Antiques since they opened. They are located at 1133 Pottstown Pike, West Chester, PA 19380 in West Goshen Township.
This business is in an old estate hunting lodge. A rather famous one to local history buffs. Also known as “Wrangley Lodge”, in an amazing century-plus old Arts and Crafts style designed by Charles Barton Keen as part of the original Greystone Estate. This is special to me because one of my very close friends and honorary other mothers is his granddaughter.
And those who know me know I love a good adaptive reuse, and some of my favorite antique stores have been in restored old houses! (You know like another favorite business down in Chadds Ford, Brandywine View Antiques.)
Anyway, I stopped in this past weekend because I knew that the store had some strands of vintage mercury glass garland, which I use on my trees.
Once again, when I walked in the door, I marveled at the sheer beauty of the place. And it’s not just what the business owner sells, it’s the restoration. This place really has been transformed. It’s a beautiful serene space. The building glows inside and out. No not literally, it’s just a feeling you get when you go inside and it’s lovely.
And what I also realized this weekend is they’ve never been honored or commended publicly by West Goshen Township or any of those supervisors there for what they have done. This is an adaptive reuse business that works in a historic asset.
I guess West Goshen doesn’t do historic preservation awards? Do they even celebrate local small businesses or are they only about Target and Chick Fil A? I mean, I like both stores, but they need to celebrate their small businesses too.
I also decided to research the name. Melangell is Welsh and was the name of a Saint. That I already knew, but the rest of the history was fascinating. 
The name Melangell has its origins deeply rooted in Welsh culture and language. In Welsh, mel translates to dear, while angell relates to angel. Combining these elements, the name Melangell signifies DearAngel. This name has a rich and intriguing history, closely tied to the story of Saint Melangell herself.
Saint Melangell was the patron saint of hares and rabbits. She was a Welsh hermit and abbess. She possibly lived in the 7th or 8th century, although the precise dates are uncertain. According to her hagiography, she was originally an Irish princess who fled an arranged marriage and became a consecrated virgin in the wilderness of the Kingdom of Powys.
According to legend, she was known for her devotion to nature and for providing sanctuary to a hunted hare (rabbit) , thus earning her saintly status. As time passed, the name Melangell became associated with this valiant, compassionate figure, and it found its place in Welsh folklore and traditions. The Shrine Church of Pennant Melangell is reported to be one of the most beautiful little churches in the UK.
Anyway, this store is filled with wonderful treasures if you’re looking for a gift or something for your home or something for the holidays. Art, antiques, and fun. The place is just simply beautiful and I think we can all use a little more beauty in our lives and they definitely have Christmas magic.
It was a magical holiday extravaganza at Life’s Patina at Willowbrook Farm and I look forward to the magic at Life’s Patina Merchantile and Cafe in Historic Yellow Springs Village!
I do not know how Meg and her team do it but every year it’s a new magical experience and Meg always sprinkles some of the magic towards a nonprofit charity partner every sale. This is truly a love what’s local 🎄❤️
Life’s Patina at Willowbrook Farm has one more day of their 3 day event which is tomorrow, Sunday November 24th from 10 AM to 4 PM. 1750 N Valley Rd, Malvern, PA.
Life’s Patina Merchantile and Cate is located at 1657 Art School Rd, Chester Springs, PA. AKA the Jenny Lind House. They are open the following winter hours: Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: 8am to 4pm and Saturday & Sunday: 9am to 3pm
Today I got to see photographs that I never knew existed. We had read letters my late father in law had sent home during World War II, but we never saw the photos, because like most veterans, he never really spoke about it. He came home in one piece, he put this away and went to college on the GI Bill and started his life.
My father was too young to have been a World War II vet. He was just a little boy when World War II was being fought. I had friends whose fathers were World War II veterans, but looking through these photos was like looking through a History Channel program on World War II.
When you look at the photos, and I never knew really before this, that my late father in law liked to take photos as much as I do.
So this was his world, then. I found it very moving. And it really makes you think about what these boys (because they were boys and they were often teenagers) did and how many never came home.
This prompted me to think about the world we live in today and the things you see people protesting about and how they even behave on social media, and they don’t even realize that these were some of the young men who fought for them to maintain those rights to do so.
This was a part of time that my late father-in-law put away, so I couldn’t ask him how many of these friends of his came home from his unit or battalion, or whatever you want to call it, because I saw these photos for the first time posthumously. This is something my late friend Anna would have found fascinating, because her late father was also a World War II vet.
This gives us all a sober reminder of what people fought for around the world then, so so many others including politicians could act like idiots today.
I guess this is what we call perspective. This is yet another reason to me why this upcoming election is so important. We also can’t let down the memories of these people who fought and bled through the entirety of the history of our country so we could be free and live free.
We can’t really tell the stories of all of these unknown young men staring out at the harsh reality of a world war as teenagers in the 1940s, but we can damn well respect their memory by making sure we vote. And if that means some of you have to secretly scurry into a voting booth and vote for a Democrat for president because you know as a Republican, your choice is repugnant, just get to it. Vote in memory of these young men captured in a moment in time, vote for your sons and daughters today.
After all, this is why we vote, and why it’s so important. We vote to ensure that the horrible atrocities of the past don’t come forward again into the present and future.
This weekend is, at long last, the spring barn sale at Life’s Patina in Malvern!
SPRING BARN SALE DATES: Friday, April 26th: 10am to 7pm Saturday, April 27th: 10am to 5pm Sunday, April 28th: 10am to 4pm
I previewed it yesterday, and it was amazing!
1750 N. Valley Road, Malvern, PA
Remember that this is literally a barn sale, so wear appropriate footwear because you will be crossing a field to get to the barn.
Part of the proceeds from this springs sale goes to one of my favorite local nonprofits Surrey Services.
Also, if you want to make a Chester county day of it, Life’s Patina has their Café and Mercantile in historic Yellow Springs Village. And starting Saturday, the Yellow Springs Art Show opens.
So what does that mean? It means you can start at Life’s Patina barn sale and then go to Yellow springs Village and taking the art show starting Saturday and have lunch in the café or coffee! The café, located in the historic Jenny Lind house is located at 1657 Art School Rd., Chester Springs PA. And the Mercantile is also full of amazing things for your home.
Lampshades. Yes, lampshades. A very important detail in my opinion, just like choosing the right lamp.
Above is one of my favorite lamps. My husband can actually take it or leave it but I love it. I actually bought it for $30 without the shade, but newly rewired at the very first clover market ever a bunch of years ago and it was rewired.
Idealite, Inc., electric lamp base. Clear. Blown pattern incorporates stars, swags and tassels. Embossed under the base: “PAT. NO. 95524.” Possibly made by L. E. Smith Glass Company.
No, I don’t think my lamp is particularly valuable, I just like it and I think it’s cool that I was able to rewire it because I think it’s better looking than a lot of lamps I see today. Like many other details in a home, sometimes a rewired and modernized lamp is awesome.
I have actually used three or four different shades on this one lamp. I had not been thrilled with the one I had on the lamp most recently . It was almost right but not quite. Maybe it’s a woman thing and it’s kind of like not exactly having the right pair of shoes to go with an outfit or purse. It just has to be right.
So I was looking at a Facebook memory of a lampshade with pine cones and chickadees I bought from a woman in Maine who makes the most wonderful lampshades. Her name is Barbara Gail Lewis. Her business is found on Etsy and is called Barbara Gail’s Lamps.
Barbara is really an artist. And this lamp shade is so fun. I hunted for years a few years ago to find someone that made these pierced and cut and hand colored shades. I think it’s a real art form, and there used to be this lovely lady up in Adamstown, PA at Black Angus Antiques back in the day who made them, but I think she’s long since retired and the last time I went up there no one did lampshades like this.
To an extent, these handcrafted shades are an anachronism to modern designers. And they’re not in general “fashion” for home design and that’s fine. I don’t need to be trendy I just know what I like. And I have liked these lampshades since I was a kid because my mother has some, some of my friends’ mothers had them and grandparents had them. It’s kind of like a handmade patchwork quilt and to me it gives a sense of home.
So when I first bought the shade with the pine cones and the chickadees, I bought the wrong size. Because if you don’t learn how to measure properly for a lampshade, you’re screwed. From another business I buy lampshades from, Lamps Plus, here is a little video explaining how to measure for a new lampshade:
Anyway, I bought this lampshade originally for an old stoneware jug my mother had made into a lamp years ago. But the first lampshade I bought I didn’t measure correctly, and I needed a slightly larger one. So I hung onto the smaller shade and I’m glad I did because all of a sudden today I realized it would be perfect on this clear glass lamp.
I love these pierced and hand cut lamp shades. Sometimes they are just cut and other times they are multi dimensional and also hand colored like the ones that I have that are the chickadees and the pinecones. During the day when your lamp is off, it just looks like a pierced and cut lampshade. Here is another one I have for a converted oil lamp, another favorite lamp style of mine:
So I really do like converted oil lamps lamps. But I only convert lamps that have cracked collars or can’t be used as an oil lamp. I remember when Martha Stewart had converting oil lamps on her early TV series and in her magazine . Literally season 2 of the original series in 1995. It made finding antique oil lamps a very expensive proposition when they had been very reasonable in price. And then everywhere you turned, you had people turning usable oil lamps into electric lamps badly.
It was one of the Martha crazes back then I didn’t really like. As a matter of fact, it made me dislike her series and magazine, because half of the things I liked, she liked as well, and then she made a cost prohibitive for the rest of us. Yes, I know it’s the whole literal theory of supply and demand. Martha Stewart has always been good at supply and demand, and actually a lot of what many of us find sentimental.
So for years, I couldn’t either find oil lamps I wanted to use with liquid paraffin in them, or that were slightly damaged to convert to a regular lamp. You see I don’t believe in converting the ones that work in their original capacity to electricity. But everything is cyclical even in home decor, and now you can find some really great lamps and still get the shades made.
The lamp above is a great example. Over 12 years I found that brass lamp at the East Goshen Yard Sale when you used to go to peoples driveways and not to the township building or the park. It was from a farm on Hershey’s Mill Road set up off the road where I think it’s slated for some kind of residential development at this point, sadly. Or it was presented as such a couple of years ago. I wrote about the house:
Now I paid $12 for the lamp. The brass was In wonderful condition but it was unusable as an oil lamp due to a crack in the collar and a little one at the bottom. So it would make a perfect table lamp. I took it to Home Lighting of Frazer. They did a great job wiring the lamp, but they were super slow and really expensive. Because I spent so much on the wiring I had to hunt to find a reasonably priced vintage shade because I didn’t think a new shade would work for this lamp. I found one on eBay and it was hard sided and it’s historical buildings I believe of Williamsburg, Virginia.
Vintage lampshades can be the bomb. Usually they are, like lots of things, better made. I find them all over locally. Dishfunctional, Surrey Consignment Shop, St. David’s Fair, Frazer Antiques, Clover Market, estate sales and even Goodwill. Also eBay and Etsy. And sometimes even the Smithfield Barn.
Apparently according to the New York Times if you have bookshelves with books in them, you have “Bookshelf Weath” – it’s some TikTok interior design craze, apparently. I don’t really TikTok and books? We love books here. They aren’t in our lives merely for interior design cuteness.
When it comes to aesthetic trends, social media loves a catchy name.
Cottagecore. Dark academia. Eclectic grandpa.
Now there’s a new entry to the canon: bookshelf wealth.
On TikTok and other digital platforms, there has lately been much ado about people who own a great number of books and — this is critical — have managed to stage them in a pleasing manner.
If you’ve ever seen a Nancy Meyers movie, the look might ring a bell. Warm and welcoming. Polished, but not stuffy. A bronze lamp here. A vintage vase there (with fresh-cut flowers, of course). Perhaps there is a cozy seating area near the floor-to-ceiling display, with an overstuffed couch topped with tasteful throw pillows.
Kailee Blalock, an interior designer in San Diego, posted a video to TikTok last month that sought to define bookshelf wealth and school viewers in achieving the aesthetic in their own homes.
We have “bookshelf wealth” because we come from families of readers, and we are readers. Our books are here not because they look cute, but because they mean something. I don’t know how you can have a house without bookshelves or books, truthfully. I guess there are that many people that don’t read books anymore they just have them for decoration?
And I have had people come into our home and look at the bookshelves and ask if we’ve read the books, which to me is the weirdest question ever, because why would you have a book if you weren’t going to read it?
And please ignore the tiny pixies on the shelves. They are going away today. 🤣
Now a pro tip: those rolling racks that you use for underneath dorm room beds that aren’t up on risers for storage are great locations for extra books. In my case it’s where my extra gardening and cookbooks go.
But I digress….
I’m telling you this “trend” totally cracks me up because it was like that book trend a few years ago that also showed up somewhere on social media of people carving /cutting books, and like making sculptures out of the pages which to me was like so sacrilegious because again, I love books.
And I love fairs like the Saint David’s Church Fair every October because you can get some amazing books in the second hand book tent! And that fair probably has the best used book selection you will see at any flea market setting.
They used to have books at Harriton Fair in Bryn Mawr, but the current Executive Director in her eternal wisdom of behaving like an idiot, got rid of them at the fair starting in 2023 I think. Ironically, because I volunteered for that fair for so many years, I know for a fact that was one of the biggest moneymakers.
Also, most libraries will have used book sales at some point in the year. Two of my favorites, historically have been when the Tredyffrin library and Ludington library in Bryn Mawr put out the used books for sale sign.
For buying used books in general, it’s always fun to go into a used bookstore, there used to be one years ago at Bryn Mawr College called The Owl that was fabulous. And here in Chester County we have Baldwin’s Book Barn, and if you’ve never been, it’s an adventure and it’s awesome. You can also find a great selection of vintage and used books at garage sales and secondhand shops even Goodwill. And online through ThriftBooks and Abe’s Books etc.
Yes, can you tell I love books? But I have them because I read them or I read them or they mean something. They’re not just decorations on a shelf.
She’s almost ready for prime time. The Jenny Lind in Historic Yellow Springs has been reborn. And she is magnificent.
The Jenny Lind is now the Life’s Patina Merchantile & Cafe located at 1657 Art School Road in Chester Springs, PA. Meg Veno has outdone herself.
The Jenny Lind is restored and transformed. It’s one of the most beautiful adaptive reuses I have seen in years. My other favorite as you all probably know is Loch Aerie mansion in Frazer. And I think it’s marvelous to have both of these lovely places in Chester County!
This was such an amazing experience yesterday that I am still super happy about it the next day!
The attention to detail is something you don’t see every day, and it makes this all the more special. This is quite literally everything you want to see in a restoration and an adaptive reuse, and I sure hope that Historic Yellow Springs Village and West Pikeland Township have deep appreciation of the fact that Meg Veno stuck with this, and is now bringing everyone this gem to enjoy.
This has been a very long and winding road because this was a very intense restoration. And Meg and her team are perfectionists. This is one of those places that you walk into and just stop and marvel. No corners have been cut. The materials and the skill of the craftsman who put the Jenny Lind back together are undeniable.
This is an amazing restoration, and I hope someone gives them an award like Chester County for example. Chester County should be counting their lucky stars that there are people out there that still want to do restorations instead of demolitions. I will go further and challenge every township official in the region and developers who want to tear down historic things and build plastic mushroom housing developments and apartment buildings to go visit this place once it’s open full-time and see the possibilities of just doing the right thing.
You walk in and you feel at home. The beauty of the place envelops you softly and then you get to the café. The chef of the café has an incredibly deft hand with pastry and everything she touches. I have not met her. I look forward to meeting her because the food is terrific. My husband said the mushroom soup was one of the top three best he’s ever had. Because we were there for brunch I had this little bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a biscuit which was so light and flaky, it melted in your mouth. there are also these salads that are off the hook good and don’t get me started on the actual pastries and sweets. Wonderful tea and coffee. The café is a place where you don’t want to rush. You want to savor your meal and linger.
And then you wander into the Mercantile. The Mercantile is full of all sorts of wonderful things, old and new. The best thing it’s not only the way it looks, but the fact that everything for sale has been chosen with care and it flows together. You don’t walk into this store and wonder why something is there, you walk into the Mercantile and wonder how you can use that in your own home.
One of the other best things about this restoration is it fits. When it was the Yellow Springs Inn, the food was great but the gorgeous interior of this building was hidden by too much Victorian everything. And I am saying that as someone who did really enjoy that restaurant at one time. But this metamorphosis is so remarkable and beautiful and just stunning. This restoration has made me love this building even more. And this restoration will show everyone the possibilities of what you can do with the gorgeous old buildings that are scattered throughout Chester County that need love.
It was a few years ago now that I was at one of Meg Veno’s barn sales at Life’s Patina in Malvern and she said she was looking for another project. I was standing there with my friend and I turned to her and I asked if she had ever thought of Yellow Springs Village because the Jenny Lind house was at that time in foreclosure. And now look at the Jenny Lind. I believe the Merchantile and Café will be open soon for visitors full time, but if you’re going near the village, I hope you at least drive past until she is open full-time to see what a beautiful restoration it is.
This whole project is not only a testament to historic preservation, it is a testament to loving what you do. And above all else, you know why this place will be a success? Because it has a heart.
Brava, Meg Veno, brava.
I also want to note because I think it’s important, that those of us who attended yesterday paid for our meals, we were not given anything in exchange for our thoughts on the soft opening. I would like to say we are the right kind of “influencers” as we are the kind who are actual customers and will returngladly with friends and family.
