Would You Have Bought This?

A couple weeks ago I stopped by the little antique store here in town and came home with this beauty.  You totally would have bought it too right?  I mean its gorgeous, who wouldn't want it?

Ok, maybe I brought it home because it had yellow (one of my favorite colors, especially to decorate with!) and the store owner gave me a good deal.  Know what it is?  Its an old car hop tray from sonic.  The car hops would bring your food to you and this tray would hang on the car door while you ate.  Pretty cool huh?

I cleaned it up with lots of scrubbing, soap and hot water and now it found a home on top of my suitcase stack in the living room next to my favorite reading chair.  The tray is perfect for setting down a book, cup of coffee or pen and notebook.  I am so glad I didn't dismiss it as ugly and dirty.  I think its a gem!

A Very Yellow TV Stand

Until recently our living room was a bit underwhelming.  We had a sofa set that we bought to fit in our previous place, that didn't really match our house style.  Our tv was set on top of an ikea bookshelf and looked very cluttered.  I was originally looking for a large dresser on craigslist, but found this cutie for $60.  I wasn't sure if it would stay wood or be painted so for a while it just sat there the same as when we bought it.  I finally decided the dresser was meant to be yellow (and this is what started the whole entire yellow escapade).  So off to Home Depot I went and returned with a gallon of yellow paint.  Now a gallon is a heck of a lot of paint when you are just painting one dresser... A quart would have given me leftovers!  Once I painted the dresser, since I had extra paint and might as well use it, I painted the front door, the knitting room door, the pantry door, stool legs, dog food chairs and I still have a ton left!   But back to the dresser- I sanded it using Hubby's mouse sander, then rubbed candle wax where I wanted to distress it (the candle wax helps the paint NOT to stick in certain places).  I gave it quite a few coats of yellow, waited for it to dry and distressed it.  I covered the whole dresser in a wood coating to help it shine.  I love having a bright and fun entertainment stand now.  All our accessories are tucked away in the drawers and cabinet.  It looks so much cleaner now!  I am still trying to figure out what else I can paint yellow...

The original piece

In between coats

The stand before... pretty cluttered looking

Yet Another Painted Dresser

Last week I showed you Hubby's dresser re-do. This week I would like to share my dresser. I bought my dresser off craigslist for $50. Both of the dressers are in the same bedroom so I wanted the style to match without being matchy-matchy. I kept the same idea of white, wood and green accents. This dresser was a bit more of a challenge because even after sanding it down quite a bit, the original stain kept showing through. I eventually made my own chalk paint by using 1 cup paint to 1/2 cup baking soda. So easy! It is definitely a more rough paint but it uses less coats and after two coats the original red stain stopped coming through. I stained the top in the same stain as Hubby's dresser and proceeded to paint a flower on the front. This dresser seems more girlie than Hubbys striped dresser. I am done painting dressers for a while. I have a gorgeous oak dresser in the other bedroom, but am not going to touch it. After having dressers in the middle of the living room while I was working on them, its super nice to have the floor space back. I am working on making the bedroom more retreat like. The painted dressers help tremendously!

Amazing Luck at Goodwill

I am a Goodwill-a-holic! Hubby and I both are. Typically when we go to town, we will pop into Goodwill once a week. We usually have specific items we are looking for, but we also have a general list of things we want/need. I have been wanting an antique sewing machine for a while. What I really want is a working treadle machine but those cost a pretty penny so it will have to wait. Can you imagine my delight when I uncovered this treasure? It is electric and not a treadle (I might be able to turn it into one later) and I not sure if it works. It can be used by hand and everything appears to work smoothly (just haven't plugged it in yet). I was even more please that it was only $20! Hubby said "you have to get that!" as he shares my love of antiques. Just as I would be super excited if he found an antique rifle that we could afford. Right now the machine is sitting on my desk waiting for its permanent home and to see if it works. Ill let you know when I try it out. Regardless, it looks pretty awesome!

A New Frugal Bathmat

On Pinterest I fell in love with a quilted bathmat.  I thought about buying new fabric to make my own, but decided against it.  In my quilt chest I have a collection of antique quilts, including this crib sized quilt.  I am guessing its from the 70s based on the patterns.  I have never really had a place to put it, since its so small.  And the binding/backing was super ugly.   Keeping with the re purposing mindset, I decided to make the bathmat from this quilt.  I measured and cut the quilt (it was super hard to cut an antique quilt!) and removed the backing, taking care not to cut into the squares I was saving.  I love the vintage-y-ness of the quilt and tried to leave it as in tact as possible.  I even left the blue yarn tufts that connected all the layers.  I then sewed the quilt to a white towel and bound the edges.  When all is said and done, it looks like a small quilt on one side with a towel on the other.  I love it!  It was super frugal too since I already had the quilt and towel.  I did have to buy a heavy duty sewing needle because I kept breaking the regular ones.  Considering how I used a coupon it only cost me two bucks (for a whole pack of needles).  I am in love with my new mat and might make a matching one for the sink.  Especially since it only cost a couple bucks to make!  

Antiques Can Be Useful and Beautiful

There is a quote I love from William Morris- "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful".  I think this is a great motto for decorating.  We have antiques all over the house.  Some are simply for looks but the best pieces are both beautiful and useful!  Since we don't turn on the ac unless its absolutely necessary, we have fans in most of the rooms.  Some are ceiling fans, some are oscillating and some are antique.  Next to the computer is this old fan that works wonderfully.  It beats a white plastic fan hands down!

Repurposing and Decorating

We got rid of our king size bed (the frame was cracked and kept falling and the mattress was old and bumpy) but I couldnt bear to throw away the perfectly good wood slats from the frame.  For a while they sat in the closet until an idea popped into my head.

  Our hallway has been pretty non-exciting as many hallways are.  The light fixture was loose and didnt work.  Sometimes you could slam your fist on the wall and the light would come on for a few seconds.  haha.  I thought I could use the bed slats nailed to the wall as a board and batten style hallway.  One day while hubby was at work I measured and nailed the slats to the wall.  We bought a couple pieces of trim from Home Depot for a railing and Hubby cut them to the correct lengths.  I painted from the railing down a fresh coat of white, and grey above.  One sunny day Hubby fixed the light (we had to wait for sun so he could see what he was doing after we turned off the breaker).  I still have to repaint the french doors white but the hallway is looking soo much better!  We had some old window panes in the basement so I added hooks and hung them.
 

For the entire project we only had to buy the couple pieces of trim for the railing.  We already had the paint, and the slats were free obviously!  I still have another set of the slats which I need to find something to turn them into.  What do you think about our hallway mini makeover?

More Vintage-y Goodness

Is anyone starting to notice a theme here? While putting away my toaster and stand covers, I found this dresser scarf. I love its simplicity. I think dresser scarves are a thing of the past and I am not sure why. I love them! I have multiple "scarves", in fact I might have more scarves than dressers at the moment. This is one of my favorites!

A Tribute to My Dutch Roots

Yesterday I showed you my toaster cover.  Today I bring you my mixer cover.  There is something very nostalgic about kitchen appliance covers.  I can't get enough of them!  My dad's side of the family is Dutch.  I found this cute mixer cover in Iowa at an antique store during one of our reunions.  I love the colors, the windmill and the tulips.  It is a perfect tribute to my heritage and I love seeing it on my counter!

(Please ignore the stains, apparently after sitting in storage I really need to clean it!)

Hot Toast Makes the... Butter Fly!

Check out this cutie I scored at the local flea market!  I love digging through vintage linens and came across this gal.  It took me a minute to "get it".  I was trying to figure out why there was a butterfly on a toaster cover.  I have never been good at those mad gab games, and this just proves it. Finally figuring it out, I decided that I would pay up to $5 for it.  I always make a deal in my head before asking the price.  That way I can immediately say yes or no.  When the person selling it said I could take it home for a dollar, I quickly handed over my money and left before they could change their mind.  A dollar?  Ill take it!  There was a similar style stand mixer cover but I already have one that I love, and a girl doesn't need two stand mixer covers when she only has one mixer.  What do you think?  Worth a dollar? (Every time I write the word dollar the famous Honey Boo Boo "every dolla makes me holla" plays in my head....)

A Vintage Christmas

 As I have been helping my mom decorate my childhood home, I longed for my own decorations. 

 I found my box of Christmas decorations, and started unpacking. 

 Lets just say that my tastes differ from my moms (and not in a bad way)

 All of my ornaments and decorations are antique, vintage treasures.

 Love.

 I bought a live tree and put it on display on my windowseat.

 Added in vintage Shiny Brite ornaments and light reflectors.

I love my tree.  Although this year I don't have a house to decorate, at least my corner of the world is decorated in my style.

new old treasures

Today was an inside day. One of the coldest weekends on record. When I left for work the truck's temperature gauge measured 11. I thought it would adjust as the truck warmed up. It adjusted down. To 10 degrees. Yikes! After work, hubby and I worked lots on the kitchen! Hubby cut brick down to the random sizes we needed. I glued them in place and he started morter-ing the inbetweens. We took a break to watch a few episodes of The Office, our current netflix phase. Back to the kitchen, to install lighting in the cabinets, just waiting on the glass shelves now. All thats left in the kitchen is to finish morter-ing (which will take a while) and put everything back. The end is in sight.

Today was also a great day for antiques. One of the antique stores I love in Frederick, had a gorgeous lime green quilt for sale. It is super old, good condition, but out of our price range. Every time I think of quilts, I now picture this one. I was sad that we couldnt afford it, when I remembered that I had Christmas money put away in the safe. Out came the money (thanks Tom and Joyce) and home came the quilt. Hooray! It is now draped across the chair in my knitting room until it finds a permanent home. Speaking of antiques, I inherited a few pieces of transferware. Love! Some of the plates date back to 1848. I love anything old with a story. As I sit under my lime green quilt, I like to picture the people who have shared the quilt before me. As I look at my new blue plates, I like to think of who has enjoyed them. 1848 is a long time ago. More than a few generations. Both the china and the quilt must have been loved or they would not be here today. I too will continue in the tradition of loving and caring for them. Its not just "stuff", this is history! Now I have to figure out how to display the china on the wall (higher than little hands can reach). What do you think about my "mock display"?

The Prodigal Cat returns, some antique finds, and a duck tractor

Last night our cat Mittens returned after running away over a month ago. He showed up on the doorstep, and although skinny and scared, he seems well. Now he is back at home with Buttons and running the house. Welcome home Mittens!

Hubby and I drove down to Ellicott City to pick up a chicken tractor. A simple "A" frame coop with a built in run. Man, how we love craigslist! On our way through Ellicott's Main Street, we saw multiple antique stores. Never one to pass up an antique store (and one open on a Sunday to boot!), we parked the truck and went shopping. Hubby found an awesome milk crate, complete with 24 bottles. I am picturing fresh cut flowers in the spring. He also found an old garrison flag, to be hung on the living room wall downstairs. I was delighted to find different sized flower frogs. Check out just some of our finds...

Ill post pictures of the new tractor tomorrow when the sun is shining. We are hoping to get everone settled before it snows this week.