Quirky Confident Poodles

While doing some thrifting in Denver I happened across these guys:

I was laughing so much they had to come home with me! The boy poodle is my favorite with his confident hello and pink fur.

At first I thought they were homemade but upon further inspection we discovered what I can only assume is the remains of a May's Department store tag on the back.

So now I really want to go back in time and see how these were displayed at the fancy department store and I'm also curious about the buyer. Husband: "So honey, what did you find at May's today?" Wife: "Oh, I found these hilarious poodles AND they were on clearance!" Well, that is what MY conversation would have sounded like.
I am now inspired to do some kitschy felt art. I just need the time, oh, and real windows in my room too would help inspire me!

Misspent Toilet Money

If you can consider spending a considerable amount of time digging in the back of closets a vacation then I have returned from vacation!
We did get to do some sight seeing stuff though it was cold and rainy/snowy most of the time.

I did go to Denver with a goal in mind to scrounge the salvage stores to find an antique toilet. I did get to one next to an antique shop which had no toilets older than 1985. My next mistake was to go into the antique shop as I "accidentally" spent the money I had set aside for said antique toilet. 

Oops! But it's cat approved! 

I took a fancy to these chairs a few years ago. Everyone knows I am no stranger to antique stores, thrift stores, garage sales etc. around here and I have been looking for one of these chairs for probably 2+ years. I have never even seen an overpriced knock-off. Did any of these ever get to Nebraska?? 

The day before we had gone into a retro furniture store and they had a Plycraft one for $325 with dirty, ugly 90's, tweedy pink and white upholstery and another knock-off done in new black upholstery with no price tag. So this day I was excited to see this one still with its original upholstery at a price I could consider without being afraid to actually use the chair. It is, of course, a knock-off. I am not sure who made it as there is only a small corner of the label intact. I am sure I will never see a real Eames one, much less at a price I want to spend so this one makes me happy. I know it's currently the trendy thing to own but I like it and it is comfortable.

As for the record stand. I can't take my grandparent's awesome pink bathroom with my grandpa's custom cabinets but I did manage to get a piece from his TV salvage era. This was their console television which could be conveniently hidden behind the roller doors. The television went out so he tossed out the TV (or used the parts), built some drawers, an insert and it became their record and photo album cabinet. I haven't decided if it will house my records or it might get a shelf insert and become our entertainment cabinet. The hot pink is staying either way!

What is a Dolly Gram??

I wasn't expecting to find any new "treasures" this weekend as my mom and I were planning on attending a doll auction where, apart from maybe a troll or 2, the items don't really fit my taste. They did have a box with a few trolls but I had all of them and they went for over $60 soo that is a little out of my allotted troll doll budget. But wait, what on earth are these guys!?

 They are marked Dolly-Gram by Western Union on their rear ends.

I will have to guess they are from the mid-late 1960's and were a gimmick by Western Union to try and regain some interest into the dying art of a Telegram. 

The one on the left is a paper mache bank.

Obviously these guys caught my eye and they were tossed into a box with several other boxes near the end of the auction so I was crossing my fingers all day no one else was itching to buy them. 

Surprise? No other interest whatsoever in them so they came home with me!!

We also managed to squeeze in a fun estate sale which had a basement packed FULL of various holiday decorations. It was mostly cutesy stuff from the past 10 years but I managed to find some festive Halloween and Christmas things. I also found this neat World's Fair book from 1893 for $2 and a 1933 World's Fair plate for $1.

Super cute mini Tupperware which came with the auction lot

Darn it Cara! Is that another piece of Pyrex!? Yes, but it was only .50 and look how lovely it looks on my orange counter! 

I thought it was $1 but it turns out everything was 1/2 price the second day of the sale. The metal stand is too big but I think it will fit my snowflake casserole. 

And I couldn't go the weekend without adding to my troll family. This guy, er, gal is ceramic with very poorly painted eyes for some nice character?

"New" Porch Door

On to the previous week's project.This was the front screen door which was the first thing to greet a visitor or what people could see when they walked or drove past. It opens into the screened in porch where the real front door is but as you can see from the photos it is crooked, dented and shiny aluminum.This is from inside the porch. I swear I had outdoor views but I don't know where they went and I'm too lazy to take another one right now.

 

 

 This is my "new" $30 door from the salvage store.  

I am looking forward to not having snow blow through the bottom, being able to lock it, not having the bottom panel snapping back and forth in the wind and the list could go on but I'll stop now. 

The door basically was the correct size. A little short, as seen by the new boards on the top and it was about 1/4" too wide so a little shaving was necessary.

Spontaneous Kitchen Knobs

Oops! I just realized I never posted this after writing it up nor did I post the week before project. So first, the other day I spontaneously decided I needed to change out the cabinet knobs in the kitchen since they are one by one falling off despite my careful gluing a year ago.I thought since I was someday going to rip out the circa 1970 homemade cabinets I could live with the knobs but I was wrong.

I do still like the little knobs as they all have a different design

They just were not suited for kitchen cabinets. I'll hoard them in the basement for perhaps another project someday.

The internet is fantastic as I can sit at home and decide what I want and who has it. I wanted something retro-ish and cheap.

I thought about going crazy colonial bicentennial 70's with some wrought iron handles like these:

But I would have had to add another hole and the drawers already have a hole in the center etc. so my 1/2 hour project would have turned into a 3 evening project. Wait, these are only .86? Maybe I should have gone 70's. I can also picture these on some 50's knotty pine.

I "upgraded" to a slightly more expensive knob. One I thought Mark might also approve of since he was at work and I wasn't able to consult him. Though I know I would get a shoulder shrug and a "whatever" along with his likely "as long as you don't ask my opinion or make me sit there while you decide."

They don't photograph well but below are the ones I chose.

 

 It is nice to have knobs on all of the cabinets once again and all for a little under $24! Now if only I could decide what/how to paint them.

How I Spent $2

OK, maybe this haul did cost more than $2 but not for me! The first sale we hit was an estate sale. We knew things would be cheap because someone asked the price of the lawn chairs and she said $1 for both so my mom and I started one of our infamous piles by the cash table. When all was said and done my mom had 2 + boxes for her antique selling and I had a box of painting supplies, a set of nicely framed paint by numbers, this "lovely" avocado chair and a few other odds and ends. My mom asked how much and the lady said, mm, well, is $10 too much?? Obviously not, plus I guess my mom felt she got her moneys worth and just handed over a $10 bill for all of our things.

This is what my $2 went towards at another sale.I'm trying really hard not to start collecting Pyrex because I know my cupboards will be full of it in less than a year. I'm limiting myself to turquoise because those are harder to find and that is why these are now sitting on my counter...Darn It! The ribbed crystal one was .25, the red was .50 and the yellow was $1.25 so I couldn't pass them up.

Knotty Pine in Bathroom: Almost gone!

If I had known the faux-subway-tile stamped walls were in this good of shape I might have considered trying to restore them or at the very least taken off the odd paneling a year ago and enjoyed them for a while. They do have just enough cracking to be a pain to fix. My plan is to cover them with bead board so they will still be there if someone in the future wants to take on the task.

The paneling was over 1/2" thick so my bathroom will be a couple inches bigger with all of this gone. 

The opposite side of the weird, badly painted paneling is actually normal width, kind of pretty, knotty pine. Can enough be salvaged to do something with? I'll have to wait and see. 

 I'm guessing this paneling was previous owners answer to bead board?

Oh yeah. Instead of notching the paneling, they notched 1/2" out behind the window sills and bottom board on the medicine cabinet. Because that was easier???

The bathroom is progressing slowly but surely. It's almost comfortable enough in the basement to use the shower so the tub might be removed next weekend to get a start on the floor? I'm crossing my fingers anyways!