E-A-T

After my last post a number of folks wanted to know why I didn't buy anything at the Rose Bowl Flea Market.  Rest assured, friends, I did not leave empty handed; I just thought I'd wait a bit to reveal my purchases.

Admittedly, most of the things I bought were small items to use in different craft projects.  (Case in point: the $1 upholstery samples that I framed here.)  Today's offering is no exception.

As you might remember, the flea market was filled with old signs.  (Seen here and here.)  There were also lots of booths selling individual letters.  One seller told me that he got them from a demo company that dismantled old buildings.  (I was sure I had taken pictures but I can't seem to find them so maybe not.)  Since I had just finished doing my own letter project, I wasn't planning to purchase any more but then these little fellows caught my eye:

Aren't they pretty?  They're about six inches tall and made out of some sort wood (or perhaps really sturdy cardboard) that's been covered with a thin layer of something mettalic (ish).

They were only a fifty cents apiece so I decided to grab three for my kitchen.

A few days later I bought some of these "ceramic block" magnets at Lowe's.  There were lots of magnets to choose from.  I picked these because they're skinny and I thought they would fit well on the back of the letters.

 So I got home, flipped them over...

...and discovered that, yes indeed, the magnets fit perfectly on the back.  (I attached them with hot glue.)

And here they are in their new home on the side of my fridge.  (The front is not magnetic which can be both a blessing and a curse.)

My husband suggested that after dinner we rearrange them like this...

To which I suggested that we move to England.  (So we could arrange them like this...)

Yeah.. it's a laugh a minute around here...  ;)

A Stroll Through the Rose Bowl Flea Market

A week ago today I was happily strolling through the massive Rose Bowl Flea Market.

(A dream come true for a thrift store loving gal like myself.)

On Thursday I revealed my first purchase and the resulting project.

Today I'd like to take you on a tour of some other things that caught my eye.

(I love a post where the pictures do most of the talking.)



I'm always attracted to vintage dishes and this gorgeous collection of Fiestaware certainly drew me in:

The same vendor also had a huge collection of vintage Fire King mugs.  I always keep my  eyes out for those in the thrift store since some sell for a pretty penny.

How great is this CatherineHolm lotus bowl?  I love that it was displayed on a funky mid century modern table.

This display of vintage glassware was to die for.  I think I might have spotted some Georges Briard pieces which is always fun for me since my sister spent several years designing for him.


File this next shot under regrets.  I was in *love* with these vintage carboys.  (As was my sister-in-law.)  I reallly wanted one and even had the money in my hand but I just couldn't justify $125 for a bottle.  (Well, I probably could have, but the thought of my husband's face if I brought home a $125 bottle--an empty $125 bottle!--was more than I could bear.)


The same vendor had these lovelies... also $125 a pop.  (And how great is the cabinet behind them?)


These guys were more my speed, ranging from about $2-$5 apiece...


These were also fun...


And these old windows caught my eye.  They seemed like the kind of thing that Karianne at Thistlewood Farms would buy and use in her gorgeous old farmhouse.  (In my California tract house?  Not so much...)

People love vintage suitcases and I saw them at numerous booths.  I'm pretty sure my Nonni (grandmother) had the round one on the bottom.  She called it a "valise."

I almost bought the black box with the "36" on it...

Vintage wooden crates were everywhere.  Don't you just love the colors on those top two?

...I meant to go back for this swiss cheese box but forgot.

I can't remember what this basket was originally used for.  It was huge and would look great on a table filled with fruit.  

Can't remember what these were but they sure were cool...

I loved this basket full of glass doorknobs.  I could see displaying a similar collection on a shelf or table.

I thought this collection was...unusual...

...until I spotted this.  (I guess baskets full of hands are all the rage at the flea market.)

How excited was I to spot Beyonce the Giant Metal Chicken hanging out with all of her giant metal friends?

Speaking of animals, I thought this was beautiful in a Georgia O'Keefe kind of way (though I don't exactly want it in my house).

I absolutely LOVED this vintage hardware display.  I could see using it as a huge jewelry box.  (It was sold.)

Same thing with this rotating metal display.  I was picturing it for shoes.  My sister-in-law breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that it had been sold.  I don't think she wanted me putting it in her SUV ;)

Wouldn't this flat file be a great place to store your kids' old artwork?

And I could see using this as a potting bench.  (If I were actually a person who "pots" and not a person who kills...)

And if I weren't a plant killer, I would totally embrace the idea of a card-catalog-as-planter.  (Especially since I just picked up my own card catalog...) 

Vintage signs and letters were everywhere.  This one was huuuuge.  (I'm wondering if it was from this place.)

I kept looking for signs that would be relevant to me but none jumped out.

I had to include this picture.  Who in their right mind would want one of these?!?!

And since I couldn't end on that note, I thought I'd end the tour here.  I was especially curious about the conversation with B.F. Skinner.  Hopefully someone with an old film projector bought it and will enlighten us all.    

Speaking of film reels, I saw a number of these (it was (practically) LA, after all).  It would be fun to hang a few on the wall of a media room.  (If I had a media room.)

So that's the Flea Market highlight reel.  I purposely omitted the items that I bought.  You'll see those in a future post.   Happy Sunday, everyone!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.thecottagemarket.com/2012/10/junkin-joe-vintage-thrifty-finds.html
http://blog.capscreations.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/
http://a-living-space.blogspot.com/
http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/2012/10/nifty-thrifty-tuesday-no137.html
http://www.serendipityandspice.com/2012/11/october-wrap-up-linky-party-pinfest.html?showComment=1351786241074#c8746791158872039716

Marrying my Obsessions

So by now we all know that I have a thing for succulents.

(Wait, you didn't know?  See here and here for confirmation of said obsession.)

Another little obsession of mine is milk glass.  (Discussed here and here.)  In fact, I have an entire shelf in my garage dedicated to thrifted milk glass:

So when I found this a couple of months ago on Pinterest, I was pretty stoked.  (Original source here.)

For those of you who didn't click on those links--and you should really click on the links, people--I'm talking about succulents planted in milk glass!  How great is that?

So yesterday while the kiddos were in school I took a little trip to Home Depot and picked up these:

At $1.99 apiece for the little ones and $2.49 for the bigger one they were a bargain.   The milk glass was also inexpensive, I think these three cost about $6.00 total at Goodwill.

Toss in a little cactus soil, insert the plants and, voila!  Instant centerpieces...

...perfect for a wedding, or in this case, a marriage of two obsessions!

Sharing:

http://girlinthegarage.net/2013/09/throwback-thursday-1/

Thrifting

Last week I was driving by the Salvation Army when it occurred to me, "Why am I driving by the Salvation Army?  Why am I not stopping the car and going in for a little peek?"  After all, my thrift-store-averse daughters were back in school.  Why wouldn't I go?

Well I'm glad I followed that instinct because, guess what?  It was half-price day.  (I couldn't afford not to shop ;)

The first thing I spotted was worth a picture... but not worth the $695 (!) price tag.  (Of course it was half-price day, but a $347.50 accordion is still an accordion.  And I don't need an accordion.)

 

And in case you were wondering, I did check ebay to find out what one might sell for.  I couldn't find this exact brand so it's anyone's guess if this price was a good one.  I will say that people list old accordions for lots of money on ebay.  However, if you check the completed listings you will find that the overwhelming majority of them go unsold.  So, yeah.  I left it behind.  

Also left behind?  This side table.  

I can't remember the price but it wasn't much--especially at 50% off.  I was imagining it either refinished or painted.  The truth is that I just don't have a place for it, though, so I had to walk away.

But I didn't leave empty handed.  Oh nosiree.

What did I come home with?

For starters I got a giant punch bowl.  It needs a good cleaning as do the 12 glasses and ladle that came with it.  I have been on the hunt for a big punchbowl ever since I encountered this at a bridal shower:

Although I already have a perfectly serviceable punch bowl, I've been obsessed with finding one large enough to accommodate a bundt cake shaped ice cube.  (Because bundt cake shaped ice cubes are awesome!)   Mission accomplished.  I probably wouldn't have bought it at its original price of $20, but for $10 I was all over it.  Pictures will follow in a later post, I'm sure.

The purchase I am most giddy about is this set of card catalog file drawers (Price: $4.50 total):

At first I wasn't sure what they were.  Then I opened them up.  As a librarian's daughter, I recognized them right away.

Oh the potential!

They had clearly already been repurposed by the previous owners for use in a workshop or garage.  I suspect the paint job isn't original either as all the ones I see on the internet are painted black, grey or a sort of industrial green.

I am envisioning them spray painted a crisp white (or possibly aqua) with shiny chrome hardware.

But here is where I must make a confession.  And this isn't easy for me to put out there.  I might get my blogger's license revoked for this one.  Heck, I may never be allowed on Pinterest again.

But here goes:

I am an awful spray painter.

Whew!  It feels good to get that off my chest.  Does anyone know of a support group?  Or at the very least can one of you awesome spray painters give a sister some tips?  I used to think it was my lack of patience that was the problem.  Then I tried a few more projects.  I used thin even coats and waited between them.  I sanded things and prepped them.    I did everything I was supposed to do.  But it didn't matter.   My paint-jobs always end up bubbly and... just bad.

So if any of you awesome spray painters have some advice I'd love to hear it.

Better yet, you could just come over and do it for me.

I'll serve punch :)

Laundry Room Art

As some of you may remember, my recent trip to the thrift store was full of fabulous and interesting finds.  You might also remember that I brought very few of them home.  In fact, the only item that did come home was neither fabulous nor interesting: a bag of vintage wooden pants hangers.  

As promised, I will now show you what I did with them. 

But before I do that, I need to show you my laundry room:

Well one side of my laundry room.  (The machines are on the opposite wall.)  As you can see, it's not terribly exciting.  In fact, some might even call it a little bit depressing.  (For starters, I have to do the laundry in there...)  And while a major laundry room overhaul is definitely on my list of things to do, I won't be getting to it anytime soon.  

But that doesn't mean I can't pretty it up a little in the interim, right?

Here's how I used the thrift store hangers to do just that.  

First I gathered my materials, starting with the hangers:

And some cardstock:

(I chose a package of assorted cardstock in neutral colors.  I'm sure I'll be able to use the rest of it for other projects.)

And some Command Hooks:

(You can read more about my love of Command products here.) 

Once I had those, I spent a little time trolling the internet looking for cute laundry room art to print out on my card stock.  I happened across this site which had two printables that I loved.  I really wanted a third piece but couldn't find one that I liked.  Then I had an idea: I did a search on "clothespins" and clicked on images.  That brought me to this site.

Once I had selected my images, I printed them out on the card stock and inserted them in the hangers:

I hung them here, using the Command Hooks:



As you can see, the new pictures inspired me to gussy things up a teensy bit.

And for those of you keen-eyed readers who want to know more about these...

...I am going to direct you here or here or here.  Because, frankly, while mine are fine for holding bits and pieces in the laundry room, they didn't actually turn out that great.

But the pictures did :)

(Dontcha think?)