Weekend Thrifting

The last few weeks have been busy as my brother got married and we celebrated fall by trick or treating with our kids and going to the local pumpkin patch. I live out in the country so not the most convenient place to go to garage/estate sales or flea markets often. So I usually do my digging at church rummage sales (which seem to be more popular around here than the previous two) and our local Goodwill.

I found this box of miscellaneous Christmas stuff at a church sale, love that there are so many bright colors!

The vintage metal icicles were in a bag by themselves so I grabbed them too. There were no prices and it was donation only so I grabbed a bag of home baked cookies and gave them $5.00.

My second stop was at Goodwill and I found these two ladies for 49 cents each. I brought them home and turns out they are bells.

I also bought these ornaments in a Shiny Brite box. Only some of them were actually Shiny Brite but for 99 cents, I couldn't leave them behind.

I am so excited because we are getting new furniture for Christmas this year and I just got to order it from joybird.com. I am getting the Hughes sofa and loveseat in Lucky Turquoise fabric!! So all of the retro accessories I have will finally look good when I get retro looking furniture. Now I am on the search for 2 matching end tables. I am thinking 2-step style, if I can find something in a medium/dark stain... we shall see.

Country Living Fair- What I Found

The top thing on my list to find at the Country Living Fair this year was a chalkboard and my aunt spotted one almost right away! I am so happy that I was able to bring it home especially with only a $15 price tag! I told the ladies at the booth I bought it from that it was the only thing I was looking for and they were pretty happy for me. 

It literally fits perfectly in the spot I wanted to hang one! I love that I was able to get one with graphics on it too. The little train has animals and ABC's on it. 

 Isn't it so cute!? I don't have a lot of  purple in my house but.......

.....it is a two sided board and the other side is black! 

It had a screw on each side so it must have previously had a stand so that it could be flipped. 

I added some hardware at the top so that I could hang it and that way I can also flip it to either side. I think it looks great. I got it so that I could write bible verses on it that I want my son to learn. Also to add holiday sayings on as it will be one of the first things people see when they walk in our house. 

I also picked up another blue seltzer bottle to go with my collection, I now have 4, two with tops and two without. This one was only $15 too.

I picked up a $10 grab bag that has all sorts of vintage goodies in it. ribbon, ric rac, wrapping paper, appliques, cards, etc. 

I grabbed this one because of this cute little cat, I don't know what I am putting her on yet but she will be used!!

Lastly, we stopped at a thrift store on the way home and I grabbed this vintage tree skirt kit. It has snowmen and santas on it and it will be something to finish probably for next Christmas.

It was a great weekend with fun finds. I am already planning out next year because my country chic sis-in-law will be with us and she has never been there before. She is going to love everything!! 

I am linking up to melissasantiques.blogspot.com, 

stop over to see more awesome vintage and thrifty finds!

Weekend Thrifting

I started the long weekend off with an estate sale and a few other garage sales. I didn't get to the estate sale until 3pm but still managed to pick out some fun items, all a dollar or less.

As soon as I saw this cute mint camera, I knew it was meant to be mine. I mean who would have left this at the sale for 50 cents all day without snagging it up?? So cute, and I think I collect cameras now because my mom just brought me a few old ones of her and my dads...

The vintage pie/dessert carrier was in pristine condition and even came with the original insulated carrying bag. 

I found all three of these at the same garage sale all for 50 cents each. The Christmas tree holder still had all the contents in the box and looks as though it has never been used. The garland had me a bit stumped. I don't know it if is actually Christmas garland or Chinese or Japanese festive garland? You can see the tag below has some foreign symbols on it. But there are about 10 strands in each box that also look as though they have never been used or out of the box even.

I got this retro little highchair that actually matched some chairs I had picked up the weekend before. It was in the basement of the estate sale for 50 cents too and just took a little extra fine steel wool to polish it right up!

There were 3 yellow molded plastic chairs I got at a church rummage sale for a dollar a piece that are currently being used in my dining room as extra seating for when the family comes over. 

And I couldn't believe these got left a whole day at the same rummage sale! I didn't go until the second day and these were a dollar each, my son thought they were awesome giant candles!! They will get cleaned up and wait until Christmas to go outside in front of the house. 

It happened to be a great few weekends for sales here. Our county fair is coming up this weekend so I doubt there will be much action for other sales coming up. I will be enjoying french fries and our hometown sugared doughnuts at the fair this weekend!!

Also linking up over at  Melissa's Antiques.
Go and visit for more thrifting, DIY and decorating blog posts!

Summer Thrifting

I am not able to go to many yard sales with my kids being so young (3.5 years old and 1.5 years old). But I have been lucky enough to hit a few up when my husband kindly took a day off work. My mom and sister-in-law had a really fun day together. The town we went to has a yard sale weekend every year and it is the biggest one in the community. I came home with these two adorable cat planters, I had seem one in a magazine recently but decided it would probably be impossible to find. But the same sale had 2 for 50 cents each! I need to find 2 little cacti to put in them as their tails.

I liked this tablecloth for $2.00, it had turquoise in it so it will match my stuff.

I don't normally buy glasswear but the starburst glass was pretty cool, I wish I could find a whole set of these at a reasonable price. I liked the Florida shot glass because it reminds me of the times we used to go down to Florida and visit my grandparents. It was always so sunny and happy there. The Myrtle Beach shot glass had pirates on it so I couldn't say no!

I also came home that day with a red vintage thermos with wildlife animals on it, will be fun to put out at Christmas time.

 Some other goodies I have picked up the last month, I found this retro magazine holder for a whopping 25 cents this past Saturday. I spray painted its worn frame a matte black and I plan on adding round wooden knobs to the 4 legs painted different colors. Probably turquoise, orange, white and pink. 

Cute little soap holder for 25 cents, I can put something in it.

Also came home with some ornaments, all for a dollar I believe and a cool lamp, now to find a shade for it. The shoe box has a bunch of vintage cake decorating stuff in it. One lady was selling a whole stack of her friends music sheets for 25 cents a piece, so I picked up a few that looked cool. 

I put this one in a frame and set it on my mantle for the 4th of July. 

I am hoping I can get to some more this summer, maybe I will take the kids with me....

Paint By Number Thrift

Last week I stopped by Goodwill and hiding behind some not so interesting artwork was this picture. I think it's a beautiful piece of art with the colors. My son asked me who it was when I brought it home and I told him it was Jesus and the little children. Now he keeps asking me, "Is that me and Jesus?" which just makes me smile.

 The frame has a few chips and dents in it so I am probably going to paint it, maybe an aqua or tan that blends well with the picture.

 It will go along side my last supper picture in the stairwell leading to my basement. I am going to do a post about my paint by number picture collection this week so you can see all of them!

Go thrifting, you might find something you like!

Thrift Store: Owl Lamp Makeover

A few weeks ago I made a stop at my local Goodwill. I don't get there often and its pretty picked over most of the time. The store had moved into a smaller space a few years ago and doesn't have much room to look around. I am always bumping elbows with other customers, annoying. On this particular day I did nab one item that 2 people tried to steal away from me before I even got to the register! It was an old, ugly, retro owl lamp, everything I love!! My kids have both grown up in our owl inspired nursery and I just have a love for them.

In all her original glory, (yes......her, you can't have an owl lamp with this much personality and not give it a name, Elsie) she would have looked great in a completely retro den but I wanted it to fit into my eclectic retro/modern craft room.  I have about 3 styles going on in most of the rooms of my home so it isn't hard to find or make an object and add it to any space. But even this called for a touch of paint and new shade of some sort!

So I gathered my ideas:

1. Modern look of a retro piece = owl needed to be painted

2. I wanted some bold colors but maybe not the whole thing = new fabric shade

3. I wanted to make sure that if somewhere down the road I wanted to move her to a new room, I could       easily add a new shade and she would fit in = neutral base color

So I began by cutting the off white disposable plastic tablecloth thingy that was tied with gold pipe cleaners. I set that aside and spray painted her glossy white. While she was drying, I gathered up my long, skinny scrap fabric piece and began tying them between each of the vertical wires. This part took the longest, like way, WAY longer than I originally thought. But in the end, it was all worth it!!

In the end I added a new The Original Vintage Style Bulb from Lowes. I thought it would look great peeking through the fabric.