Memorial weekend vintage finds

I flew from Maryland to Indiana for my great-nephew's open house Saturday. He graduated from Center Grove High School near Greenwood and will study geology at Indiana University. He's also an incredible artist (new pics to come).
While in Indiana I hit some of my favorite antiques shops: AlleyCats in Leesburg, a great new antique mall; and a few shops in the well-known antique town of Pierceton, IN. I had seen two vintage Barbie cases (actually for Ken and Skipper) back in September 2010, and they were still there! The owner even gave them to me for half price, and they were already cheap!
Given my latest fascination with embroidery, I was on the lookout for vintage linens, and boy, did I score! Sets of gorgeous pillowcases, towels and doilies and baby dresses, all with amazing examples of detailed needlework. My plan is/was to embroider some more on some of them, but don't know if I want to spoil them. And I think I will frame the nine panel daisy doily.
You can see my other goodies-- a vintage art deco purse, small china doll, paint tins and a very smooth, much-used eyewash cup or egg cup. It just feels neat. I keep meaning to make an altered paint tin much like Connie Govea Stuart showed in Somerset Studio May/June 2009. And I'd like to make a big book of vintage textiles samples and lace bits like Sandra Evertson's Album d' Enchantillon featured in Somerset Life summer 2008. It's just a huge, gorgeous, rich, French-y book/album.
My travels took me through my hometown of Anderson, for a cemetery visit, and a much cheerier stop at the landmark, Gene's Root Beer (....or is it Gene's Hot Dogs?) Ack. Either way, it was a staple of my childhood. It was a big deal for girls to be able to be carhops at age 14. Saturday's carhops were about 30 years past that. But the good news was the food had not changed!
Today, Memorial Day, is the first day I've seen sunshine since I've been here. And now it is about 90-F of course. I've seen or driven through hail, sideways rain, thunderstorms, tornado watches and warnings; my planes were delayed or forced to circle, flights cancelled, bags lost/delayed. You know, the usual travel stuff.

Look at all this good STUFF!

So much mail, so little time! Let me try to describe the who, what, when, where, why and how of all this fabulousness, from the top down.

The torso extraordinaire is from Tristan Robin Blakeman in the Marie Antoinette Mail Art group Dress Form Swap. The artist trading cards are from the same group, the Little Marie Cuties swap. I blogged about my submissions here.

The Fasteeth is a treasure from Etsy which I am saving, along with the sprinkler head, Jello mold, insulator, flower frog, knobs and more, for something special. I'll know it when I make it.

The doilies, the miscellaneous below the doilies and the tins all came from my IRL art friend Constanza who is paring down her altered art supplies on Etsy also, having moved into a smaller place. Check out her wonderful offerings of supplies and also finished artwork, like the "Under the Elm Tree" piece in the bottom photo.

In the next to last photo are some treasures I found at Green Oak Antiques, in Rochester, IN. Less than an hour from my home and 31 years in existence, and I had never been there. What's wrong with this scenario?