Tole Mountain

Box o' Mandolin Strings

They say don't go up on Wolverton Mountain....  Argh, those commercials!  Everytime I hear the word "mountain" that silly song comes to my mind.  But maybe now that I've had the chance to get to know the shop Tole Mountain, she'll come to mind instead.  With over 300 vintage items to browse through, you should spend a little time getting to know her yourself!

How many finds have you had that you just couldn’t bear to part with?

None. Even though I find wonderful & unique items every single week at estate sales & flea markets, everything has it's price. When I find a fabulous item I only see one thing... GREEN! As in money - ca-ching! ha!

Why do you only ship to the US?

I hate turning down buyers who are out of the U.S. because all Etsy buyers are always so friendly and courteous. But shipping costs seem to fluctuate so much depending upon where you're shipping an item and sometimes the shipping can end up actually costing more than the item! And until you actually box it up and take it to the post office you never know for sure what the exact cost will be. If it's an outrageous amount then you've wasted time boxing it up and taking it to the post office and then the customer doesn't want it. So unfortunately I have found it easier to just not ship out of the U.S.

Do you have a specific place that you store your 300+ vintage items or are they just placed throughout the home as decoration until they sell?



One Most Awesome Honey Dipper



I have a lot of my items on shelves in my attic. Actually it's a good thing I started on Etsy because it made me clean my attic! Now I don't have junk in my attic, I have rows of wonderful items that will make me money! But of course there are always those items that I really think are special and I keep them for decoration until they sell. And then I have an excuse to go shopping again!!

Why the name "Tole Mountain"?

Years ago I used to tole paint. I sold to a variety of places such as Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Cincinnati Nature Center, Bob Evans General Stores and a variety of local shops. I was also featured in some country magazines like The Country Almanac. Now besides rescuing vintage items the only painting I do is on bird houses which I LOVE doing. I try to incorporate unique vintage items found at sales into them.

What was the coolest thing you ever found at an estate-sale?

I would say the coolest and most unusual find was a giant authentic steer's skull. And it sold to a lady in Texas! She was thrilled with it.

(I just happen to have a couple of photos of a cow skull in my digital download section.  Go figure....)

What are the things you enjoy outside of estate-sale shopping?

Besides going to sales I love reading Christian romance novels, gardening and making my fabulous bird houses.

Any thing else that you would like to add?

I have a very special little dog that came from a rescue shelter. She means the world to me and makes every day so much fun. Shelter and Rescue dogs bring so much joy into people's lives. They give back so much more than they take. I wish everyone would go out and adopt one!

Well, these aren't dogs, but it is a collection of some very vintage kitchenwares:  lemon press, tea spoon that holds your tea bag, a corn cutter, a cookbook from the '30s, and one of her salt and pepper shaker sets.  All of these wonderful items and more can be found in her shop.

The only place I can be found on the internet is www.tolemountain.etsy.com. I'm probably the only person left on the planet that doesn't facebook, tweet or blog!!

Attic Rat / Cedar Junction

From Cedar Junction

I have always been an avid reader. As a child, brand new worlds would be opened as the child in the story inevitably found her way to the attic. Who can forget that most awesome of childhood movies, "The Neverending Story"? Especially the part when he opens the window in the school attic and yells out a name, although it was deliberately obscured. I longed for an adventure in an attic! Any attic. But neither my school nor my house had a movie-style attic. My adventure was only complete through my imagination.

If you have an attic or just like vintage lovelies, Teresa Yates has two Etsy shops of vintage items. AtticRat is dedicated to stand-alone vintage finds, while CedarJunction is dedicated to vintage collage, assemblage, and mixed media. She is currently restocking her stores, after her recent gallivant across Germany.

Even though I had an attic, there was nothing up there but insulation. Did you have a grandmother’s attic that you grew up treasure-hunting in?

No, but it was very fun to explore at my great aunt's house. She had lots of interesting items all around her house in Oklahoma.

You had your shop closed for a bit while you went on vacation. Personally, I would have a hard time putting my shop into vacation mode, but I’ve only had my Etsy shop open for a few months. You’ve been at this for over 5 years. Have you had any negative experiences with vacationing your shop?

   

Mini Harmonica at Cedar Junction

I put my shop on vacation so that I don't have any negative experiences! I would really hate to keep my customers waiting for their orders if I am unavailable to ship them. I know that when I order something, I want to receive it right away.

Why did you choose Germany as your vacation spot?

My husband was sent on a project for 3 months and I was blessed to be able to spend a month there with him. While there, we also visited France and Belgium and celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. Germany was beautiful and I would go back in a heartbeat. It was very hard to leave.

Does your husband use his scroll saw for creating "for sale" pieces or is it strictly hobby-use-only at this point?

I sell his crosses in my shop when he has extra ones. He is usually behind on his orders from friends and family because his work is so popular.

Your second Etsy shop, or should I say your first, has been opened since 2006. You’ve been through lots of changes within Etsy. Can you pinpoint a specific change that you feel was the most beneficial?

I've been with Etsy since it was still its the beta version. One change that I really like is the ability to see a customers order history. It's nice to see the ones that shop with me again and again.

Anything else that you would like to add?

I am always on the lookout for interesting and unusual items. It sure is lots of fun!

Such a busy lady (and a pretty one, too)! Notice that she has a blog for EACH shop.  I seem to be attracted to fellow dog lovers and fellow Texans.  I think she's got a cat, though.

FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cedar-Junction/91192725800
Blog: atticrat.blogspot.com/ and cedarjunctionstudio.blogspot.com/
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/AtticRat
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/CedarJunction