Tea Cart Redo

Several years ago I bought a yellow cart at an estate sale (half off on Saturday so $7.)  I wasn't sure what to do with it so I stuck it on our deck and put flowers on it.  The weather took its toll on it so I stuck it in our garage where my family used it for their various projects.  From weather induced rust to spilled paint to extreme dirt, it was in pretty sad shape.

   Over this last year, I have collected some odds and ends that I have neither display room or storage room for.  It occurred to me that this cart might have a second life in it.

  After taking it apart, I set about getting rid of the rust.  Did you know you can get rid of rust by wetting aluminum foil with water and scrubbing?  I kid you not, it works like a charm.

   After a little bit of elbow grease, the legs were good as new.  Then I sanded the trays to remove the spilled paint and rust the best that I could.  Next came a coat of primer.

    I just grabbed a can of spray primer I found in the garage.  It was sans lid, but for some reason, I assumed it was white.  I was a bit dismayed to see black when I started spraying.  However, it was a good move as the primer coated everything very well and smoothed things out.

  Then it was multiple coats of red gloss spray paint.  I took the extra time to lightly sand between coats.  I usually skip this step because I am in such a big hurry.  This time, I made myself slow down.  It makes a huge difference in the final finish.  After three coats, I put it back together an started the fun step of decorating.

   The cookie cutters came from two different places.  The red ones were from that crazy garage sale where I paid $5 for a box of random things.  (You can read about that here.)  The vintage metal ones came from this junk store Thrift Chick and I love to stop in and pick.  I paid 50 cents for 6 old metal cutters.  I recently saw the same ones for $4 each!  The cow creamer is not vintage.  I got it at Tuesday Morning.  I couldn't resist because it is just so kitschy.  

I have recently gotten interested in vintage textiles.  They are pretty pricey.  These tablecloths are just things I have picked up on those half off Saturday estate sales when the real antiques have been picked the day before.  On the plus side, I haven't paid over a couple of dollars for any of them.  The yellow cracker tin is really cool.   The lid has a glass knob filled with crystals.  It was designed to keep your snacks crispy and dry.  The lid is heated in the oven until the knob turns bright blue.  It keeps everything nice and dry until it turns pink which means it is time for the oven again.  Pretty nifty huh?

  I love how it turned out.  My husband is thrilled to get all these things off the counter where they have been for way too many months.  There is just something about a vintage to cart to show off your vintage finds.

Patty

Summer Decor

After our snowpocalypse this past winter, I kind of thought we would never see summer.  With extended days and make-up days, we just now finished school.  I finally got tired of looking at Easter eggs and bunnies and decided to haul out the summer stuff.  This is our front hallway.

It is my homage to playtime of yesteryear.  My grandkids call it heaven.   They love playing with the toys.

We have pried the croquet balls out of toddler fingers countless times and I am sure my son and daughter-in-law wish I would choose a different theme. 

  I own three old picnic baskets.  I don't know why...I think they remind me of all the picnics we took when I was little.  We used to picnic all the time....people just don't do picnics any more.

 The dominos and Parade magazine came from a garage sale,  The marbles are actually from the Dollar Store and the pool balls were left over when we got rid of our pool table.

Thrift Chick found the pick-up sticks at an estate sale.  Aren't they fun?  She has their vintage container on display in her apartment....I just stole the sticks. 

I love old wooden Scrabble tiles and pick them up at thrift stores whenever I can find them.  I have about three games sets right now.  The "Let's Play" looks cute doesn't it?  However, my children can't seem to leave it alone...I am always coming home to find strange new messages there.


Patty

Party, Party, Party! Part 2

If you are a regular reader, you know I had two baby showers the last week of school.  The second party was for our school psychologist.  Since she did not know the gender yet, she had not yet picked a nursery theme.  We decided to go with a bird theme with a vintage flair.  Okay, I confess, I have been dying to use some of my vintage pottery...but the theme really did fit her....I promise.

This teacher's lounge is quite a bit older and a bit more in rough shape.  We needed to cover a lot of tables cheaply so we did end up using plastic...not my favorite, but I have to be realistic.  We also did repeat the waffle and yogurt bar idea because it was a nice change from our usual breakfast casseroles. (Plus, I am a terrible caterer and had waffles  and yogurt coming out of my ears....who eats just one waffle???)

 All the dishes and vases are thrifted or from estate sales.  The yellow batter bowls are actually from that same 60% off sale at Michael's from the first party.  I am telling you, we made off that day with a huge pile of loot.

 I paid $1.50 for the green vase at a recent estate sale.  (We go on Saturdays when things are marked half off.)  I am really falling for pottery that has a thirties and forties feel.  From the muted colors to the awesome unique shapes, there is just something nostalgic about how they look.

 This sugar and creamer as well as the bowls and plates from above came from a lot of Vernonware California Pottery I picked up at an estate sale a couple of years ago.  It was an impulse buy.  I paid $50 for ten dinner plates, ten dessert plates, five cups and saucers, the sugar bowl and creamer, salt and pepper shakers and some assorted cereal bowls.  They are in pastel colors in the muted vintage tint I love.  I love all the little details.  I have been looking for other pieces and just don't find them.  There are a few online, but they are pretty pricey...turns out I got a great deal.

Besides the nesting birds, we made centerpieces out of cupcakes.  My daughter-in-law is a talented cook and she made me a beautiful bouquet of cupcake roses for Mother's Day.  I asked her to make some more a little smaller.  She did a great job, don't you think?

For this shower, we showered her with books....fitting for a school!  We also created a book for her.  Each teacher completed gave her advice on what to teach your child before kindergarten.  My favorite was "Before kindergarten, be sure to teach your child that the cookie found on the playground should not be eaten, no matter how good it looks."

I must say, the teachers ate more at this shower than the other one....but I still have three boxes of waffles in my freezer and four large containers of yogurt in my refrigerator.  Anyone have a great recipe for toaster waffles and yogurt?

Patty

Pyrexmania

It all started with these

 and these

 They came from my mother.  She's had them for as long as I can remember.  The yellow one held our Sunday night popcorn.  When she was downsizing, I took them home with me.  Thrift Chick has already called dibs for when I downsize.  Since she has bugged me day and night to give them to her, I started keeping my eye out and picking up vintage looking pieces at thrift stores, garage sales and estate sales.  Soon Thrift Chick joined me and it evolved to this

and this

 We never pay more than a few dollars for any piece and we have one rule of thumb.  The piece must be usable.  If you do any research, you will find that there are tons of vintage pyrex patterns out there.  I love coming across the odd piece here and there.  Together we have amassed quite a collection.  For me I love seeing things that were used by generations before me.  I love seeing how the patterns and colors changed and evolved with the decades.  

What makes pyrex so fun to collect is that is just so useful.  As you can see we use it everyday!

Patty

City Wide Garage Sales -The Great White Sale

Call me Ishmael.  You know when you are out thrifting whether it is at an estate sale, a thrift store, flea market or garage sale and you have the deep hope that you are going to find the sale of all sales? You know the kind I mean.  The kind you read about in magazines like FleaMarket Style (where they never print the prices...I always suspect they pay a lot more than I would ever pay.)  You know the kind where someone is cleaning out their attic and just wants to get rid of stuff.  Well, we hit one during the city wide garage sales.

After trolling through countless sales with baby clothes, afghans and a thousand candlesticks and bad eighties decor, we drove by this driveway that had one table and lines of boxes up and down the cement.  It didn't look promising, but my daughter-in-law said we should stop.  At first we saw a few things and then my daughter-in-law started digging through the boxes and oh my...things got real fun.

The homeowner didn't have very many prices on things and when I inquired about a lamp, he said the words every hardcore thrifter longs to hear.  "Just make a pile and we will work something out.  I made a pile and he charged me a whopping $5.  That's right.  Five whole dollars for this pile of fun.

 As per my last post, my son took the pictures...a little more artistically than I would have.

 I would have paid $10 for the lamp.  My husband isn't too sure about it, but my daughter-in-law and Thrift Chick both said, "I can see you spraying that some fun color....they got that right.

 These are Pyrex tear drop measuring batter bowls.  I usually don't buy clear pyrex.  However, my daughter-in-law unearthed them in a box and we both thought they would be quite useful.  Turns out they are also quite vintage and single pieces of them go for $15-$20 on Ebay.  I saw a few full sets for the $40-$50 range.  I just like how much use I am going to get out of them.

 The enamel pot was filthy.  It is amazing what a magic eraser can do.  I have a growing collection of enamelware.  However, I have never paid more than $1 to $2 per item.  I actually saw some enamelware at some other sales for $15 fa piece.  Some day I will do a post about how I started getting enamelware when I didn't actually like it!

 Okay the Pyrex gravy boat and saucer is not all that vintage because it has microwave instructions on the bottom.  I just liked the look of it.  I actually collect the red translucent vintage cookie cutters and put them on my white Christmas tree (see it here)  My mom used cookie cutters like these so I threw them in my pile.  I am sure I will find a use for them.  The flocked vintage Santa was a piece I threw in at the last minute.  I couldn't think of how I would use him, but he reminded me of my grandmother's decorations.  Thrift Chick said "He's cool in a real creepy sort of way."

There was also this vintage small casserole dish in the browns and harvest gold of eras gone by.  I forgot to have my son take a picture of it, but you can kind of spy it in the top picture.

If you divide up the $5 total by pieces, each item cost me less than $1.  Now that is a "Great White Sale" for ya!

Patty

City Wide Garage Sale

I am not a fan of blog posts where people post their recent thrifting finds.  After all, it is not like it is going to inspire me....more like make me wish I lived in an entirely different state.  However, I had such a great haul at our city side garage sale days that I feel the need to share.  Outside of Thrift Chick, no one else in our family really gets it.

This year Thrift Chick had an out of state funeral to attend so she missed out, but my daughter-in-law stepped in.  My lovely daughter-in-law had never been to a flea market until she started dating my son.  She is a fast learner!  She was a great companion.  She was on the hunt for preschool clothes and kid games.  However, she is also is very knowledgeable about kitchen items and has a great eye.

This lovely plastic pitcher set cost me a whole quarter.  I bought them for Thrift Chick's apartment.  She has this whole vintage vibe going and was in need of some display items.

 I have this thing for old thermoses.  I think it is because I carried my lunch to school every day with a lunch box and thermos.  It was the highlight of school shopping to pick out a new lunch box.  These were $2 and have also found a home in Thrift Chick's apartment...but they will be back home soon.

Whenever I see pyrex in vintage colors I pick them up.  I will post about our growing collection of pyrex.  However, we have two rules.  One is we use the pyrex.  If it is not usable, I don't want it.  The second is we refuse to shell out big bucks or antique store prices.  These two were just $2 each.

About a year ago, Thrift Chick picked up four Apollo 13 glasses at a Salvo.  She thought they were kitchy and fun.  She paid 50 cents a glass.  Turns out that many people sell them on Ebay for around $3 a glass.  I came across some also for 50 cents a glass.  They also had Apollo 12 glasses so I picked up some of those as well.

Lately I have had a thing for old textiles.  I don't know why.  Thrift Chick uses vintage 50's era ones in her kitchen.  I mostly have them stored away.  I think I like them because I know someone long ago sat down and hand stitched them....that kind of effort is worth more than $1 but that is what I paid for the two towels (which also came with a bunch of handkerchiefs to add to Thrift Chick's collection) and $1 for the tablecloth.

I also picked up these old skis for $8.  My family laughed, but they will be a part of the Christmas decor.  However, if we have another winter like this last one, they just might be how I get out of my driveway!

I also picked up other miscellaneous things like a toy box and new toys for the grandchildren as well as a dog cage.  You know the everyday things you need, but gasp at the retail prices...that is what garage sales are really for!

Stay tuned for one more post on the city wide garage sales.  I hit one sale that deserves its own post!

Patty

Disclaimer:  My son took these photos for me.  He has a real artistic eye and takes some amazing photos....so that is why some of these are less about getting a good look at the haul and more about the cool angle.  However, since they don't have the bad lighting and fuzziness I tend to end up with, I will take them.

Grain Sack Pillows

I have always loved the look of vintage grain sack pillows.  The simplicity and clean lines are what I have love.  Every time I see this picture on The Lettered Cottage, I covet the pillows.

The Lettered Cottage

The burlap pillow came from Pottery Barn.  I couldn't find it anymore, but one very similar was on sale for $30.  That just makes me gasp....I think $10 for a pillow is pricey. (I know...cheap, disgustedly cheap)  I decided to make my own.  It took two tried, but I am pretty pleased with my final product.   

But let me start at the beginning with try number one.  First I hunted and hunted for burlap.  I found it everywhere, but it was rough with a very open weave.  I just didn't see it making a great pillow.  However, I forged ahead.  I cut out my pillow, taped off some lines and painted some red stripes.  After sewing and adding buttons, I had a pretty good imitation....but like I predicted....

 ...it was rough...

 ...it snagged easily...

...and was generally just too rustic for my tastes.

I thought I would look up vintage grain sack textiles and maybe invest in one or two to make a pillow, but holy cow are they expensive.  Nope, I could not do that when I knew my family was going to toss it around and my dog was going to sleep on it.  So back to the DIY drawing board.  This time I decided to use some leftover canvas drop cloth I had.  (Drop cloth is super inexpensive and you get tons.)  This time I decided to go at a different way.

After cutting out my material.  I cut strips of freezer paper in the widths I wanted.  (Tape was too thick and trying to thin the width by cutting it was impossible.)  I ironed the freezer paper onto the material.  (Did you know that freezer paper can be ironed onto material for a stencil?  It is awesome.)

I then used a red Sharpie to fill in the lines.  It went very fast.  I also learned not to stop but to work quickly to avoid stoppage marks.

 I peeled off the freezer paper and I had my imitation grain sack material.

I sewed it, stuffed and added some buttons.  I love how they came out.  I love the crispness of the strip and the clean look they have.  My family also loves how they feel.

Altogether I paid less than $5 for two pillows.  The drop cloth cost about $10 for about 12 feet of great material so material for these pillows was really just pennies.  I buy pillows for around -$1-$2 at thrift stores for the stuffing and pillow forms.  The buttons came from my stash.  I probably paid the most for the Sharpie marker ($3)   I have no idea if the Sharpie will fade if I wash it, but in all reality I will probably tire of the pillow before I need to wash it!

Patty