One of these days...

One of these days I will help my mom with a garage sale and I will not bring home more/bigger things than I brought. I will blame Frankie this year because my garage sale boxes are stored at the back of my garage which is currently filled with his ever growing assortment of furniture for his house. I brought 3 boxes and got rid of probably 2 but what did I acquire?

At first I was doing good and had only snitched this squirrel and a bear planter which were in my mom's stash and some Tupperware from the neighbor. All have a practical use. Well, maybe not the squirrel.

When I got in trouble was when my mom's friend decided she was just going to throw her leftovers in the free box near the end of the day.

I had been successfully avoiding the purchase of her Melmac but I couldn't resist it any longer as soon as it was free. And a dishwashered piece of Pyrex. Still not too bad I guess but...

The worst thing I took, which is currently hiding in my "studio" area because I am even too embarrassed to let Mark see it -

A very beat up wagon wheel light fixture missing the shades. It is fortunately small and not a monster full sized one (I'm hoping I would have restrained myself if that was the case). Since it looks like it has been laying out in the yard, my current plan is to paint it red? or aqua? and hang it in my future laundry room.

I guess it could have been worse. Last year I brought home a chair.

Broken Sofa

The other night Mark and I were sitting on the couch when all of a sudden we heard a crack and then we were 6" lower. Yes, we broke the couch I salvaged from my grandparent's house.Come on! I know I've been drinking too much Coke lately but I didn't think I was substantial enough to break a piece of furniture!

I'm not sure how much more Mark can take before he takes me to Nebraska Furniture Mart and forces me to pick out a new couch. It was one thing to need new upholstery but the no leg thing kind of makes it an awkward seat.

I don't have a clue how to fix the leg. I'm hoping my dad does. A lot of glue and clamps?? Maybe a metal reinforcement through the center?? I'm thinking a pile of bricks underneath might be a classy solution. Even if it does get fixed Mark will never trust sitting on it again. But then maybe I can reupholster it without fear of it getting dirty within the week. Hmm...

Anthromorphic Weekend Finds

Once again I inadvertently had a theme going with my garage sale finds last weekend. First off I found this salt and pepper set which made me laugh.

It always makes me wonder what someone's thought process was while designing some of these crazy things. Really, who sat down and said "happy fruit artists wearing dresses will be an excellent theme for a salt and pepper set!"

I'm also always looking for odd 70's/80's hot pads I can use without guilt since I know they will get stained and dirty so I picked up this one up.

Yep, more smiling produce.

P.S. One advantage of having a husband who doesn't enjoy the world garage sales is he volunteers to stay home with the baby and tells me to have fun and get out of the house for a while. Score!

Free Changing Table/Dresser Makeover

The before shot of my inherited? saved from the dumpster? changing table/chest. It sat in my grandparent's basement forever, always with the guest sheets and misc. linens inside. My dad doesn't even remember where it came from as he said it was always sitting at their old house too. We were hoping someone else saw potential in it but $10 at the estate sale didn't sell it and none of us could stand to leave it in the house for the house flipper so my parents took it. It then ended up in my garage as I had mentioned maybe I could use it as a changing table. It was antiqued in the 70's and obviously needed fresh paint.

The handles are the best part because instead of going out and buying a set, my grandpa made them. They have a funky art deco look and after the chippy layers of paint were removed a smooth black paint remained. I wanted to somehow give them a Bakelite feel and already had picked up the orange paint at free paint day at our salvage store so the black paint was perfect.

 Well, it helped give them an aged/toned down look anyways, otherwise they would be bright "Jungle Orange". The white paint also came from free paint day and I lined the drawers with paper from the baby shower (everyone makes fun of me for my meticulous package opening but ha! it paid off)

 so the total cost of this project? $0! I guess I did pay .50 for the 4 baskets to help organize the drawers if that counts? and we may have also used up a couple chunks of sand paper.

Welcome Lucca!

My blog has been sparse lately due to our new family member!

Lucca was born on August 8th and I can't believe it has already been 3 weeks! Mark was home the first week and a half then my mom has been here. Since everyone has gone back to work/home I should have more free time? It's true, my mom was good at helping with the mundane chores but we also just found ourselves sitting around chatting most of the day so I didn't get to work on my list of ever growing projects which is my usual entertainment. Now that I can inhale toxic fumes once again I'm looking forward to some furniture projects I have accumulated and whatever else I can fit in between feeding and entertaining a new baby. I have to get her started early on the garage sales and painting so she can help and join in on my adventures!

Keeping it Small

The garage sales have been sparse around here probably mainly due to the constant 100+ degree weather. With Frankie still waiting for papers to go through on his "short" sale house purchase, we are definitely on overload here so I've been trying to limit myself to small and/or practical (ha) items. This weekend I did buy a chest of drawers (what did I just say about small??) but otherwise I have only found a few random odds and ends.

 

a Lucite perfume with a carved out flower in the middle. 

and a tacky souvenir compact. Both of which will look cute on my vintage guest room dresser...whenever I get that room set up!

Yesterday my mom bought a bag of minis and for some reason?? had no interest in keeping this little guy.

Why yes, it is a teeny deer super glued to a wood base with a hand typed label and to top it off it is also a pin! Just looking at this, I would want to date it maybe from the 1970's but upon further inspection:

1990?? I don't know why I am shocked. Thinking back, the typewriter was still being used in our home at this time and I'm pretty sure I have seen these deer still available at Hobby Lobby.

Just to let Jean know, wherever she may be, I will be enjoying her deer pin and perhaps I may even find an occasion to wear it. It looks like a good conversation piece to me!

Me? Choosing to install Carpet?

I really like wood floors, especially old wood floors so I'm not really into the whole wall to wall carpet thing but I am making an exception for the nursery. I obviously shouldn't be staining things at the moment not to mention the time constraint. The floors are soft pine so no easy drum sanding. Plus this room is above the only somewhat enclosed front porch so any added insulation is a bonus.

These are the floors which will be waiting for me if I ever "need" a project in the future and/when the carpet gets too gross for me.

The last time I picked out carpeting I was 6 and the carpet was pink so I had no clue what went into the process. I pondered over samples for a week, picked out one for the room, a cheaper coordinating one for the closet and went back to the carpet store. I asked if they had any remnants thinking I could find an even cheaper piece for the closet and the salesman responded by saying they would have someone come out and measure so I would know what size of remnant I should find. OK, sounds good. Mark and I went back after the measuring guy came and the salesman told us the size/sizes of remnants we would need. We both continued to stare blankly at him before he realized we did not know where their remnant collection was. He chuckled a little and led us back to the warehouse where we discovered the place was lined with 1000's of remnants. Whoa, OK, I was expecting 20 of odd sizes/colors. We found a remnant which fit both the closet AND bedroom almost exactly AND it was the right color. I definitely wasted my time wandering around the showroom floor feeling up carpet samples but now I know.

 

Cammie says "thanks guys for the carpet in my room, I really love it!"