Good Morning!
On my many to-do lists this summer I had a rusty, old metal cart like Sister's that needed to be sanded and repainted. I bought it at an Estate sale right when school got out for $1, and although I knew it would be a lot of work, I figured I could swallow that price much easier than the $225 price tag at my local antique mall. I got to sanding 2 days ago and realized that the rust had just pitted the surface a little too much and if I sanded it much more it would wear right through. So I decided to just spray paint it and hope for the best. Now this sits in my dinning room and gets some of my Pyrex out of the way, which makes the husband happy (and secretly me too, I have so much more room!) It isn't perfect, but it will do until I find one in better shape. I chose the color "green apple" and was pleasantly surprised that it matched my green 024 perfectly! Sorry, Bobcat Marley was feeling a little jealous this morning and jumped in the first photo :)
I've also been trying to incorporate my Pyrex into my house a little better, so maybe it doesn't look like I have such a problem. I picked up the Zodiac without a lid at an antique mall in Snohomish, Washington on our girls trip. I felt guilty because I paid more than I usually do, but I had never seen it anywhere and just couldn't resist! Of course, we saw a dishwasher damaged one that same day at a Value Village; I swear the Pyrex Gods just want to tease me sometimes! I decided to put it on one of my end tables in the living room that houses some of my favorite vintage books.
I also painted this shelf a few weeks ago and decided to incorporate my vintage and antique books in with a little Butterprint and other bird themed glassware.
And last, but not least, the top of my fridge is a little out of control. Please note the beautiful Mod Kitchen up on the very top. It is another splurge of mine that I am so happy I made!
Next on the redecorating and refurbishing horizon? I have a retro Cosco step stool to recover and spruce up and a cedar chest that needs some love.
Until next time!
~Sister Hanna
I couldn't think of a better name for this post so I thought I would just sum up my general feeling about vintage in those three little words. Works well, huh?
This summer, I have been fortunate enough to hit some pretty amazing estate sales. For the most part, the sales where I have found the best stuff are like stepping into a time warp. I don't normally find just one or two older pieces here and there but an entire household full of vintage love. I guess that is what a true estate sale is all about. I know that pretty soon the sale season is going to get quieter and I will have to find another outlet for my lust for any and all vintage (ugh, Goodwill?) But for now I am just going to bask in the glory and reap the benefits of the estate sale season.
Here is what I have found lately
I have decided that I am going to start collecting vintage flamingos. I found this one at a little flea market set up at our local grange. I think it is a bud vase. I also got this (Wildendur?) tablecloth there for 50 cents. It was a mess but trust me when I say that Oxy Clean is the BEST thing ever invented to bring vintage tablecloths back to their original glory.
Miss Maddy and I found these at a small sale not too long ago. The suitcase was actually sitting on top of the table and for a dollar I couldn't pass it up. When I asked if the table was also for sale, the lady said she didn't have it for sale but would gladly give it to me for a dollar. Just what I needed. Another piece of patio furniture but it would have haunted me had I left it behind. Yes, I'm sick. I know.
I found this rug the same morning. I have been wanting to change out the throw rug in my living room to something lighter that I wouldn't have to vacuum as often (me, lazy? No. I just HATE vacuuming). Ignore the lines on the rug. I took the picture before it dried from being shampooed.
More amazing vintage linens. How cute is that Christmas apron? For those of you with photographic memories, you may recall that the tablecloth in the middle was used in my 4th of July decorations.
And what post titled "I Love Vintage" would be complete without my ultimate vintage love, Pyrex? I found this set of individual au gratin casseroles at the antique mall that has my favorite booth. Passing these up would have given me serious nightmares. Again, I have issues. I know.
I hope that everyone had some awesome luck this last weekend finding treasures. I will be checking in with your blogs to see what you have all been up to.
I'm also going to be linking up over at Flea Market Finds and Apron Thrift Girl.
Until next time....
Erica
Hi everyone!
This morning, I left the house earlier than I ever had for a sale (6:30 am). It was advertised as an estate sale and the list of items posted made me all jittery. It started at 8:00 and I wanted to get there at least an hour early to get my name on the list.
The house had a large porch on the front of it that was stocked with all things vintage. There was a man on the porch and I walked up to him and asked if there was a sign up sheet. He said he wasn't running the sale, just waiting for it to start. He was checking out everything on the porch like the sale was already opened. Then, a little old lady opened the front door and said that the sale didn't start until 8:00. He got very argumentative with her and told her that she shouldn't have everything set up on the porch if she wasn't ready to sell it. She nicely told him that the sale was only on the porch. He proceeded to tell her that her sale wasn't a real estate sale. He just went on and on. I smiled politely at her and told her I would wait until 8:00 am. She had no sign up sheet so I just went back to my car. The jerk finally took off after telling her she didn't have anything he wanted to buy anyway. Well then why all the huffing and puffing?
At around 7:30, everyone started to show up so I got out of my car and stood in front of the house. In front of about 25 people, the nice little old lady came out and told everyone that I got to come up on the porch first since I was so polite earlier. At precisely 7:55, she crooked her little finger at me and whispered "Come on up, Sweetie". She didn't have to say it twice!
I went straight for the yellow Lustro Ware that I had been eyeballing since I got there. The advantage to the sale being set up so out in the open was that I could see what I wanted to go after. The disadvantage was having everybody else see it too!
I also picked up this pink Ice-O-Matic ice crusher. It's the perfect color, don't you think?
Going to estate sales, I have met my fair share of dealers and 99.9% of them are super nice. It's really too bad that a small percentage of them have to be so rude. My politeness got me to the front of the line and led me to some awesome treasures. Is it too late to teach an old dog new tricks?
Be sure to head over to Pink Saturday where Beverly is celebrating her birthday with her favorite colors yellow & pink! I'll be linking up over there.
Have a great weekend!
Erica
Pretty snappy title, huh? Much more mysterious than "Part 2".
A few weeks ago, I came across an ad for an estate sale given by a company that I had never heard of. We had other plans so I hadn't planned on going but after dropping Alex off at the high school to catch a bus to an out of town tournament, I found myself headed in the direction of the sale. It started at 7:00 and I got there at 7:15. There were only a few other shoppers there. Guess it was too early for some folks.
The house looked like it was straight out of the 40's. There was nothing in it that wasn't at least 50+ years old. Check out what I got
I am having no issues at all finding vintage gift tags and wrapping paper. Now the question is, do I actually use them or preserve them in their original packaging?
These are the cutest old greeting cards. All unused too!
A tray for my collection and an old copy of "A Field Guide to Western Birds".
A huge old tin, a trader stamp holder, and the cutest little lamb. She is missing her lid but she is the perfect holder for cotton swabs in my bathroom.
I love this McCoy planter. It is pink on the inside so how could I not? I also couldn't leave Bambi behind, even with the broken leg.
Some Swanky Swigs and the coolest set of shakers.
Some Melmac (of course), two kissing shakers for my kissing shaker collection and another Fire King Jadeite swirl bowl. This makes 3!
Some more "Mardi Gras" beads. Just kidding. I know that these are mercury glass.
And a stack of chenille bedspreads along with an awesome pink coverlet. Every one of these blankets are oversized so they will fit my king size bed even though they are most likely for a double. They are also all in MINT condition with no stains or holes.
And what vintage estate sale would be complete without some vintage table cloths?
The prices on all of these items were the best that I have ever come across at an estate sale given by an estate sale company. The only downside is that the people working the sale were not helpful at all. They just sat behind the table waiting to take money. They refused to store any larger items for me while I shopped and begrudgingly gave me a box (which they wouldn't let me keep!) to use. There was a bright yellow sign taped to the cash table that said that if a check was being used ID WAS REQUIRED! So it was pretty funny to me when I went to write a check for my loot, I tried to hand the guy my drivers license and he literally looked me up and down and said that he didn't need to see my ID. Guess I was looking pretty decent that day:-)
All in all, I got some amazing items at great prices so I will definitely go to their sales again. Next time I will just make sure to bring another bag and Miss Maddy to help me out.
Linking up with Sophie for Flea Market Finds!
Have a great week!
Erica
Good Morning! It may be raining, I may not feel like a million bucks, but it all doesn't matter because I get to see my Sister today! Before I leave, I wanted to share a little peek at what I've been up to. My house has felt like a jumbled mess with no rhyme or reason lately so I've been trying to organize, consolidate, and get to some type of theme. It is still a work in progress, but I did manage to finally fix up a chair that I bought when Sister came to visit in Astoria a few months back. I got the chair for $5 and the embroidered fabric I used on the cushion I bought at Goodwill for 99 cents in the fall. I'm happy I finally found something to do with it!
Sorry for the terrible pictures, it was really hard to show the detail on the chair. It you can't tell there are 2 deer, 2 birds, and a squirrel frolicking in a meadow. So sweet, and it includes 3 of my 4 favorite animals doing what I do best.
I can't wait to share about Sister, Rachel, and my adventures in Bellingham! Stay tuned!
~Sister Hanna
This morning I was doing a little file clean up on my laptop and came across a photo file that somehow got moved to a section other than "Pictures" on my laptop. In it, I found several photos of items from an estate sale and from my trip to Astoria to visit sister over Memorial Day weekend that I never got to share with you. So here you go folks, Part 1 of the Forgotten File.
I love old paperback cookbooks. I have a vintage breadbox full of them. It's fun to collect something that you can generally find for less than a dollar. If you notice the pink one, it says "Heritage Receipts" and not "Recipes". I'm pretty sure that is a typo which makes somehow makes me love it more. Sister decided I needed this pink flamingo Made in Japan figurine she found at Goodwill. I think it is a little flower holder because it has four holes in the back. They had it in the toiletry section. I'm think they thought it was a toothbrush holder. More Gurley candles for my ever growing collection and a Fire King teacup round out this photo.
More vintage glassware, a Horizon Blue 441, and a lid Sister bought for a quarter and sent home with me. Does anyone know anything about the blue flamingo glass? I would love to get my hands on some more.
Miss Maddy collects old Golden Books so I picked these up for her at an antique mall in Astoria. I got the mercury glass garland at a roadside sale. The guy running the sale said "Oh, you got yourself some Mardi Gras beads". I think he just wanted me to flash him.
I got the Redman picnic basket from a lady for $5. She told me that she paid a whole lot more for it and seemed kind of sad to see it go. The red, white, and blue picnic basket almost caused serious bodily injury. You can read about that story here, if you haven't already.
I got this awesome stained glass window pane
And the McCoy planter from a sale called "A Pickers Paradise". We got there on half price day and these were the only two vintage items left. I got them each for 5 bucks. I got the little anthropomorphic bluebird planter from an antique store. Sister calls the lady who owns the store "her competition". She says she sees her at all the sales and at Goodwill grabbing everything that she thinks is old. The lamp was from another roadside sale where the lady was selling local artwork and handmade jewelery. It looked really out of place sitting there. She was the nicest lady and even gave me a MCM magazine rack for free! She said she loved the lamp but was having the hardest time finding a shade for it.
I guess she didn't check Target. I found the perfect shade for it last week. I love it!
Sister, my BFF Rachel, and I are off to Bellingham, WA for our annual Summer girls trip for some antiquing and wine tasting. We decided to go a little more mellow this year. I'm pretty sure we are all still recovering from our Vegas trip last Summer. I hope to have lots of things to show you all when I get back.
Stay tuned for The Forgotten File-Part 2.
Have a great Sunday!
Erica
Hi Everyone!
So yesterday, I headed out early with Miss Maddy in tow to a couple of Thursday sales. The first one was grossly overpriced ($20 for a broken Pepsi crate? Really?) and the second one was NOT an estate sale as advertised but a "we are moving and here is the junk we don't want to haul with us" sale. Total waste of my time.
But the early morning hunt was not a total loss. On the way home, we came across a little yard sale behind the city pool in a neighborhood I didn't even know existed. This little sale made my whole not getting to sleep in morning worth it
Gotta love Melmac (and I do). $3 for the whole box. Not too shabby, huh?
Also, you should head over to The Pyrex Collective 2 to find out about my Pink Gooseberry score. Amazing. Just saying.
I'm also gonna try to link up to Pink Saturday over at How Sweet The Sound. I'm pretty new to this whole linking business so cross your fingers that it works!
Have a great weekend!
Erica
If you checked out my Pinterest Newbie post yesterday, I promised that I would show you what I got my husband, Brian, to make for me last weekend.
It all started with what I like to call a "drive by". You know what I mean. You slowly drive in front of a sale and do a quick scan to see if anything good pops out. Miss Maddy declared there was nothing but "junk". What did I spot?
Old windows! 3 to be exact and for $1 apiece. Sorry about the awful set up of this picture. I was off somewhere else working on another project so I had to leave it up to Maddy and her dad to document this.
So the first thing I did when I got home was log onto Pinterest, of course! It didn't take me too long to find exactly what I was looking for. You see, I have had the same old tired wreath and candle sconces above my headboard for FOREVER. My bedroom definitely needed a little freshening up.
I figured this would do the trick and looked pretty easy too
So since this would be going above my headboard, I figured I didn't need the chalkboard or bulletin board. Plus, the window I planned on using for this project just needed to be cleaned up. I didn't want to paint the perfectly rustic, worn wood.
After a quick trip down to our shop, my husband was able to find the perfect piece of wood to use for the shelf. He even took it upon himself to head to the home improvement store to find some vintage-y looking brackets.
And here it is
He told me it was the easiest project I've ever given him. The hardest part was hanging it. He even brought home extra wood in case I wanted him to make another.
What a guy. I think I'll keep him.
I'm off to a couple of Thursday estate sales this morning. Keep your fingers crossed that I'm not up at the crack of dawn for nothing.
Until next time....
Erica
Don't be alarmed, it's just Sister Hanna here. You would think that with the summer off I would have all the time in the world to thrift and blog. I thought wrong. I've been playing major catch up on all the things I neglect during the school year, but decided to do a little Goodwill run today before my actual run. Well, I'm happy I did because I came across a set of 6 of these glasses:
It is hard to tell in the picture, but they have a gold rim and they are unmarked. I swear I've seen them on a blog before; does anyone know the maker of these guys? I love them, especially sitting on my hanging crate in the kitchen.
I've been working on a few furniture and painting projects, so I hope to share those soon. Until then, happy thrifting!
Sister Hanna
I have finally joined Pinterest. After hearing my best friend go on and on about it while sending me ton's of pictures of things she has found on it, I decided to give it a try.
Bad idea.
Very bad.
I am obsessed.
As I have mentioned before, I am not crafty or a DIY'er. But with Pinterest, I find myself more willing to give things a try. I found this awesome cake right around the 4th of July and thought "I can do that!"
Now one thing I can do is bake so I wasn't worried about how the cake would turn out. I was a little more concerned about the banner.
So Maddy and I headed to Michael's to find the necessary supplies. You see, since I am a crafter newbie, I didn't even have glue. You may as well have stuck me in an auto supply store. I was lost.
But after about 45 minutes, I had everything I needed for my banner attempt. Never did I realize just how expensive crafting supplies can be. I will definitely be keeping an eye out at the sales from here on out.
So without further ado, here is my first attempt at craftiness
Okay, so it's my second attempt. See that cute little cake stand? I made that too! So the cake looks a little messy but you can still see it is supposed to be an American Flag. What do you all think of my banner? Not too bad, huh?
Oh Pinterest, where have you been all my life? Tomorrow I will share with you all what I got the husband to make for me last weekend.
Also, I am linking up with Sue for Rednesday over at It's A Very Cherry World!
Until then.....
Erica
Today's lesson in garage sale-ing 101 is
Never leave without checking the Free Box. It's amazing what some people will put in it.
I'm linking up over at Apron Thrift Girl
Have a great week!
Erica
I am not even going to begin to begin to complain about the heat. Where I live, it has been a steady 85-90 degrees every day which I am sure would be a welcome reprieve to all of you in the country who are experiencing the horrific 100+ degree heat wave. So sit back in your (hopefully) air conditioned home and enjoy some of my recent finds.
Some old books and cookie cutters for Maddie's collections.
I have been wanting this cookbook for quite a while. I have almost bought it off of Etsy but just never did. I finally found a copy at a garage sale for 50 cents.
I will almost never pass up vintage tins and breadboxes. They are the perfect storage options.
I found all of this from another random middle of the week sale. There is an old water jug, vintage Samsonite train case (in PERFECT condition), a Hazel Atlas syrup dispenser, the cherry thing which I will talk about more in a minute, a vintage wastebasket, and two old Pepsi bottles. Not shown is the grass seed spreader I bought for my husband. I got it all (including the spreader) for $8!
So I bought this for the obviously cute graphics. I just don't know what it is. I asked the man running the sale and he told me his wife had it hanging in the laundry room for years but that was all he could tell me. There
are no manufacturer markings on it. The clear lid lifts open and the back is
completely vented like it is shown on the top. It's approximately 10" tall and
meant to hang on the wall. It is made of heavy duty plastic like Lustro-Ware. Anybody have any ideas as to what this is?
I bought this set at an antique mall the last time I visited Sister. I saw it when I first walked in and ended up going back for it before we left. There were two other customers who told me that if they had seen it, they would have bought it. I guess I was lucky to have gone back for it.
I also picked up this tablecloth while visiting Sister. I got it at a dealers garage sale which to me is just an antique store in a drive way. So obviously I paid a little more than I normally would but I loved it too much to leave it behind.
I already posted this over at The Pyrex Collective 2 but I wanted to share it again just in case you missed it. I finally got the 441 to complete my Balloons Chip & Dip Set. I was tired of trying to find one in person so I bought it off of eBay. This is the second one I bought. The first one arrived shattered in a million pieces. Lucky for me, I got my money back for that one!
And of course I'm going to link up with Sue for Rednesday! Maybe someone over there will know what my cherry holder thingie is for.
Hope everybody is enjoying their Summer despite the crazy heat!
Erica
