Thrifted Goodies

It's been a while since I shared some second-hand treasures.   I am an equal-opportunity thrifter - estate sales, yard  sales thrift stores - I shop them all.

First up, some art supplies.  I love finding these bargains.  

Blank cards, doilies, metal word tags, storage boxes, and graph paper - great stuff.

This custom  map puzzle was the find of the day.  Look at those fantastic little map bits!

I've already used this stamp cube several times - great for backgrounds.

I have no idea what I'll use this for but for 99 cents why would I leave it behind?

I found this sweet little bench at a yard sale.  Added bonus- the seat lifts for storage!   I'll be refinishing this  - stay tuned!

I'm always on the look out for things for Siobhan - love these embroidered linen pants.  Dug around and found a cute top that matches.

Finding nice tops for little girls is a challenge, so I was happy to snag this one.

What would a retail event be without shoes?   These are really yellow, not the lime green they appear to be.  Yes, I do buy thrifted shoes, but remember, we draw the line here:

Austin ! (And a DIY fireplace surround upgrade)

 

 

 

Whoo-eee !  Austin, Texas isn't the fastest growing city in the county for nothing!  Just big enough, careful planning to save lots of space for outdoor fun, great river front,  fantastic  restaurants, bookstores and fun, funky vibe with just enough urban sophistication. It's the  first time I've seen so many boats (non-power only - it is, after all, "the people's republic of Austin"!) on a river that runs right through a city and there were  people paddle boarding on the river.  Plus there are swan boats and Duck Boat tours a la Boston.

 

 

And a statue of Willie:

 

 

 

Lunch at  one of Sandra Bullock's Austin restaurants:

 

And everything really is bigger in Texas - check out this chi-chi outlet mall in San Marcos.  Gucci, Tory Birch, Prada, Restoration Hardware - this is one F.A.N.C.Y. outlet!

 

 



 

 



 Enough play, though - we had some serious work to do first. Stacks of boxes everywhere and each one filled with a mountain of paper. 

 

 

There was outside work, too  Austin Daughter turned into Junior Woodsman, wielding loppers and clearing brush:

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't this a lovely spot for morning coffee?   We did sweep up all the debris, just not before I took this picture.

 

The previous house owners liked color, LOTS of color.  Austin Daughter likes any color, as long as it's white, so clearly there was work to do.  She had the walls and kitchen cabinets painted before we landed and the house looks so bright and airy.  But, there was this pesky fireplace surround.  She thought it looked like an explosion at the Fiestware plant.  SIL hated it - not surprised - all that chaos must set his math-genius brain searching for a pattern.  I kept trying to find the theme, or see the magic picture if only I could stare at it long enough.  Clearly it had to go.  We talked about options- chipping it out, covering it up and then I suggested my solution to nearly everything - paint the dang thing!  Brave Austin Daughter agreed.

 

We sanded it down to remove some of the shiny-shiny and then painted on 2 thick coats of oil-based paint (windows and doors open to let the bad smell and bad color juju out).

 

It took lots of paint and some serious dabbing into each little space between the tiles. 

 

 

We're pretty happy with the results.

 

 Before:

 

After:

 

 There is a better fitting screen coming!

 



I told you she likes white.  The kitchen cabinets got a coat of white (too much wood , too much brown before) and the bar light shades swirled with blobs of vivid color got switched out for some plain white ones.  So much nicer! And behold, the fireplace that is still a focal point, just  not a seizure-inducing one.

I'll be going back in July as Yaya to our first grandson.  I did try hiding in the agave plant, but decided The Captain had been home alone long enough.

 



(Please excuse the weird fonts, colors and sizes as I TRY to redo my blog template.  Clearly it's a work-in-progress.  Some changes work, some get lost!)

Enabler Alert - Do You Know About "Pick Your Plum?



Love getting great stuff for cheap?  You need to check out Pick Your Plum. They send out an email deal for crafty, baking and home deco stuff  every Monday-Friday.  Caution - she who hesitates is lost here - stuff moves really quickly and is only available for the day or sooner if it all sells out early.  Flat rate shipping charges are reasonable - so far the most I've paid is $2.95.

Yesterday I got these great Christmas Washi tapes for $1.95 a roll!



Here's how the company tells their mission:
"Have you ever glued your fingers together trying to put a project together? Stayed up all night just to finish that last project before your kids wake up? Gussied up your home just so the neighbors could gawk over your detail? Borrowed an idea from the store knowing you can make one too?

We have. We know. Join us.
Get it before your neighbor does:

• We have limited supplies on some of the most swank supplies. We have agents out in the field who find killer deals on high quality products.
• We delicately slap prime-o pricing on crafting, clothing, baking supplies, home decor and other fabulous finds. Stellar pricing. Cool.
• We sell it 'til it's gone or 'til time is up.
• You leave feeling like you just won Martha in a crafting contest.
• The supplies arrive in 7-8 shipping days and you've just picked your 'plum'! Doesn't it feel good?

Sign up for Instant Alerts so you always know 'The Deal'. Don't blame us if you overdose. We only sell products we would use ourselves. We enjoy quality."

Sadly I am not on their payroll, just doing my part to keep the deals coming.  Enjoy!

Really, Pottery Barn?

First let me say that I love Pottery Barn - all the furniture, all the chi-chi decorating accents and all the lovely linens. Then came these little stacks of old books - aren't they sweet? Now to the crazy part - each stack of 4 books costs $30.00. What?? For a stack of books with the covers riped off and tied with a piece of twine?? So that means that the bowl of books above costs over $200.00, not counting the lovely wooden trough. Here's my version. I looked in our bookcases and found four books that would be headed to the donation pile. I looked for ones with deckle edges or colored pages to add interest. I used a box cutter to get the covers off without tearing the pages.

So here's to you Pottery Barn. I love that you have wonderfully creative designers and that occasionally I can make my own version of your (sometimes) wildly overpriced doo-dads.

Estate Sale Find of the Week

I found this beauty for $5.00 hidden in a box at an estate sale last week. It was very sad, but I loved the shape, the swirls and the little feet. I think it took nearly $5.00 worth of silver polish and lots of serious buffing to rescue this tray.

Isn't this lovely? Now The Captain will be delivering my Sunday morning latte in style.

I just love these little feet - all swirly and shiny.

A word about "Estate Sales". I've learned that anyone can call anything an estate sale. Technically, it's the sale of a lifetime of collecting beautiful furniture, art, linens and china and is often conducted by an outside company. Those are the very best. In practice, many people call hauling out all their J.U.N.K. onto the front lawn an "estate sale". Trust me, used Tupperware and assorted Heineken memorabilia are not "estate" items!

These are Some Fancy Pumpkins!

Aren't these just lovely? The stems are real gourd stems, sewn into these soft velvet pumpkins. You can find them here , also in two other luscious colors. I just discovered this site and love, love, love everything on it!

And, how about these fun embellished pumpkins by Jenny Doh:

She has instructions on her blog - a little paint, some stamping, glue on some paper and embellishments and the little orange pumpkin goes all glam. I may try this on some of those fake pumpkins from Michael's - the kind that won't go all squishy on all this fun art work.

And something sweet from Dean and Deluca:

I just love me some Dean and Deluca!! Whenever we to to New York, D&D is always on my agenda.

"Autumn - the year's last loveliest smile" - fall appreciation continues.

Thrift Store Finds of the Week

Brocante (flea market) in Paris.

Second hand shopping is so much fun. I've been shopping at second hand stores - thrift/consignment/yard sales for years. I love hunting for treasures, wondering about the story behind some of the items I see, and snagging a good bargain in the process. Second -hand shopping is retail therapy with a bonus - it's good for the environment- all that stuff we accumulate gets passed on instead of ending up in a land fill somewhere.

My strategies for thrift store and yard sale shopping are pretty simple:

• Always keep a list of things you're looking for.
  



• Never assume that you'll find what you're looking for on the day you want it.
  But if you do find something you love, buy it as it most surely will be gone when you go back to get it. (I'm still in mourning over a leather -topped table I waffled over and lost).



• Look at the whole store, even if you're really just hoping to find some plates. That's how you find a treasure you didn't know you needed.
  


• Think "what else could I use this for " ?
  


• When looking at clothes, I see people going hangar-by-hangar - yikes, what a waste of time. I walk slowly down the aisle, looking only at fabric - if it looks like great fabric, I check it out. Otherwise, keep walking.


• Look over your selections carefully - for men's shirts, always check the cuffs for wear. Nothing worse than getting your treasure home and finding the real reason it was at the thrift store!
  


• Do a sweep of your favorite stores every week.
  


• Hit the yard sales in the swankiest neighborhoods.

Here are my "Finds of the Week":

A rug for The Captain's library.

How fantastic is this - NWT Chicos jeans and a Coldwater Creek embellished white shirt for under $20.00. Turns out white shirts are a trend for 2010 !
A shell planter. I have plans for this -stay tuned!

Holmes, Booth and Haydens silver nut picks from the late 1800s that will have a new life as lobster picks.

And, these fun espresso cups with with silver holders and saucers.

I don't usually find this much stuff in one week, but there was this amazing estate sale......

Silver Lining

Look at the treasure I found at the thrift store today! I love the thrill of the hunt at thrift stores - you just never know what you'll find. Today I found this box of sterling silverware for $2.99. The pricing at our local Goodwill is a mystery - some tacky tchotchkes are way over priced (more than any sane person would pay for them brand new!), and then this great collection priced less than the cost of a latte. There are over fifty pieces in here, some I knew had spooned their last soup many years ago. Tarnish-ware more accurately describes what was in the box. I hoped to get a few good pieces out of the collection.

When I come across a find like this, I wonder about the previous owner. The silverware was in an old, fabric covered silverware box, held together with masking tape. Did someone have it packed away, waiting for a special occasion ? Did she have to leave her home and go to live where staff served the meals? I hope she didn't save this silverware for a special occasion and instead used some ugly, practical tableware while waiting for the right time to pull out the good stuff.

I have a collection of mismatched silver from various thrift stores that I use every day. I like that it's not, as my Boston daughter would say, "all matchy-matchy." I also like that it came to me well used, so I'm not worried about being extra careful with it and certainly don't save it for special occasions. I do, and I know this is heresy, put it in the dishwasher. Even Annie's Organic Mac and Cheese becomes an elegant meal when served with old silverware. It reminds me of the Thoreau quote: "To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts".

Wow - this cleaned up well! A couple of rounds with silver polish and I now have forty-seven pieces of fantastic silver !! Knives don't seem to hold up as well as other pieces- maybe they get used as kitchen tools (who me, use a knife as a screwdriver?) or the maybe the blade portion is made of an alloy, but only 2 of the knives made the cut. The butter knives are in much better shape - maybe because they were only slicing through soft butter, once or twice a decade!

This spoon is a beauty - lots of fancy scroll work on both the handle and the bowl. Got my toes in the picture - Jenny Doh of Crescendoh often says that red is a powerful color and you should use it sparingly, so I can pretend I was adding in the splash of red for this photo.

To the previous owner of these carefully saved pieces, I'll love using them every day.