A New Project!

For over a year now, I've been wanting to try a project that I first read about on a blog called "My Repurposed Life". I've picked up a few headboards and foot boards here and there over the past year, and ended up giving one away to someone who needed one for their daughter, one is out in the barn (not sure that it's the right type for this project) and another one that I just picked up today at a local consignment shop.

The first one was free, the second was $4, and the last one was 75% off so it was $10. It was a little higher than I would have liked to have spent (I'm sure you've figured out by now how cheap I am!), but it was one of those things that kept popping up in my head. You see, I actually saw it yesterday on a quick trip to the local consignment shop. I saw that it was 75% off, but thought it was still too high. I kept thinking about it all night and then this morning  I talked Kevin into going with me to take a look at it.

Since he's going to be doing the woodworking part, he needed to make the decision. We bought it and brought it home, and now he's out in the barn working his magic. He's been dying for a fun project for a while now. If it turns out, how I hope it will turn out, we will put it in the booth and see what happens. Hopefully we will have a chance to make and sell a bunch of them!

Here's a before shot...

Where Are All The Good Sales??

They certainly aren't in southeastern Michigan this weekend! There was one sale that looked kind of promising, but they posted a notice today that it has been postponed until April 29th. It looks like we'll be staying home this weekend-unless something spectacular pops up between now and 7am Friday morning.

Less than a week ago, it was 53 degrees...today it was...

Less than a week ago, gas was $3.19 a gallon...today it was $3.47!! Ouch!

Less than a week ago we didn't have any snow...today we have 9"!!

Where am I going with all of this? No where, except to say..how quickly things change!

That's why I'm hoping this dry spell of crummy estate sales and no garage sales changes as quickly as the weather and gas prices in Michigan!!

My Heart Belongs to Michigan!

My essay was posted on the Pure Michigan blog today!! How fun! I found out about it by accident, a friend on Facebook, asked me if I wrote it-of course I had to hop over there and check it out!

They changed a little bit of it from my original essay, and added in things I wrote about last week when they contacted me. It's fun to see the comments on their facebook page and their blog. So far everyone has been very kind! :-)

Junque Magnet-Adventures in Yard Sales...

Here is a fun little blog that always brings a smile to my face! Check it out-Junque Magnet is having a 100th post giveaway! While you're there, take some time and read through the older posts. I bet you'll quickly become a follower!

Here's a Challenge for You...

Since St. Patrick's Day is coming up, and it's the middle of winter...and snowing again...and we're all dying for the thrift score of the century...I thought it would be fun to have a show us your green posting challenge!

Just take pictures of anything that you collect that is green and post them on your blog!

I don't have a whole lot of green (compared to purple), but it was fun hunting through my cupboards, shelves and china cabinets to take these pictures!

So, have some fun and show us your green!!!

What a difference a few days can make!

Remember on Thursday I posted a picture of my car thermometer at 53 degrees?  Look at what it looks like today!

We're supposed to get 3-5" of snow with 2-4" of ice on top of it all. I have to keep telling myself...it is Michigan, and it is February! Who knows, maybe next week we'll be back in the 40's.

Hope you're keeping warm today!

It Helps to Pay Attention to Details...

Today was a fun day of thrifting! It started in the next town over with an estate sale that looked really frog-ish, but turned out to be a prince! Then on to a moving sale a few miles from that, Auntie went with us for the first two sales, then needed to get home. So I talked Kevin into riding with me to check out the "2011 Sale of the Year!" 

It definitely wasn't anywhere close to the sale of the year! I got there a little over an hour after it opened and there was a line of about 20 people waiting outside. Kevin was interested in some guns he saw and in some compasses and a pocket watch. I was looking for vintage bargains. When he saw the line, he decided to wait in the car!

It moved pretty fast, and I had a nice, friendly young guy to talk to in line. He had a vintage orange-ish leather blazer type jacket on. We both commented that the 20 or so people who came out of the house while we were waiting-all came out empty handed! One lady came out to her Range Rover with 4 old shotguns, but the rest of the people came out shaking their heads, and empty handed.

Once we got in, the house was set up like a museum with tables full of display cases in a giant "U" in the living room with stuff that was waaaayyyyy overpriced. It made it almost impossible to get past to the kitchen (my favorite part of all the sales). I had to squeeze past the people looking in the cases-and ended up getting too close for my comfort to one guy and his wife-ewww!

No luck in the kitchen. Everything was really high, and nothing was vintage. The basement was where all the good stuff was! I found the leather jacket guy down there digging through tons of old records, and found some vintage goodies, but when I looked at the prices-I laughed to myself and thought what a waste of a drive!

I did find one thing, and when I took it up to the cashier for a price, I said no thanks and went to put it back, and she came back with a price that was half of what she first said...so I bought it-but that's all I ended up with.

Since it was such a nice day and we were having a nice time catching up and talking without any of the usual interruptions (boys, work, tv, computer, and just life in general), Kevin agreed to ride a little further to another estate sale that said "60+ years". Auntie and I had joked about it earlier, because I always get sucked in to wanting to go to all the sales that have a year listed in it for how long of a collection it was.

It was about 20 minutes further away from the sale of the year. We got there and there weren't any signs out, but there was a lot of stuff out in the driveway staged for  the sale and an older guy and young boy in the garage.

We got out of the car and he seemed really nice...but the bad news is...the sale doesn't start til tomorrow!!! He asked where we came from, what newspaper we found the sale in and told us we were the second person to stop today. He said, "While you're here, you might as well look around, since you drove so far." He actually lives not very far from my house in the same town! He was going to take me into the house to look at the dishes, but his sister freaked out and said no way! So we turned around and thanked him and left.

As I was pulling out of the driveway, I kept hoping he would come running out, waving his arms saying we could go in after all...but that didn't happen. When we drove down the road a ways, I pulled out the ad I had printed from the newspaper's classified section and found out I read it so fast, I didn't see that it starts TOMORROW-duh!!! I should have paid better attention!!

Oh well! Kevin and I had a nice long conversation, we got to enjoy the 50 degree weather, blue skies and gorgeous sunshine and each others company! It was fun having him with me today.

Here are my bargains and treasures from today's adventure...

 Fiesta...I thought since I don't really care for the white color that this would easily find its way into the booth...it looks really nice with my other colors...I might have to keep it! The chartreuse cream and sugar set is my third...so that can for sure make it into the booth-maybe for St. Patrick's day!

 I just love juice carafes and milk bottles! I hope other people do as well! The spice jars are from the 1930's and they still have nasty spices inside!

 A Robinson Ransbottom bowl and a tiny mason jar with zinc lid.

 Yup! It's Pyrex!!!! "Nuf said!

 Anchor Hocking Savannah-LOVE this pattern!!! This came from a local thrift store.

 I've been bidding on Ebay and keeping my eyes open for the plum Fiesta medium vase for yeeeaaarrrssss! I finally found it this week, and won it at a fantastic price-the little bud vase came with it.

 I found these volleyball shoes on Ebay too-they also arrived this week. I paid for them on the 14th and they were here on the 16th after work!

 This is what I got at the "sale of the year"--I know, not very exciting-huh?

 This is what Kevin got at the first estate sale...a BOA Tri level. A Three sided level with a case.

He actually spent more at the first estate sale than I did!!!

Whew!!!

Dad got back the pathology report yesterday...all CLEAR!!! YAY!!!! They got all of the cancer! They caught it early and were able to remove it all-it didn't spread! So no chemo or radiation-whew!

A Balmy 53 Degrees...

Yesterday was an incredible day for February in Michigan! It got up to 53 degrees on my car thermometer! It felt down right balmy,  and I loved every minute of it!

It was still 47 degrees when I went to work this morning, and it's about 50 right now...but...since this is Michigan...and it IS February...it will soon come to an end...sigh. Just a teaser for the warmer spring days to come.

The estate sale offerings for tomorrow look pretty bleak. There are a few around, but most of them look like new stuff and not the vintage goodies I usually look for. One sale looks the most interesting, but it still only looks - eh not so great. It's only in the next town over (about a 15 minute drive), so no big deal to turn around and go home if it ends up being a frog.

They have a lot of tools, and Kevin's thinking of tagging along since he's off work tomorrow too-maybe we can turn it into a date and go out to lunch on the way home!

How about you? How do the sales look in your area for tomorrow? Are you going out to some of them?

I'm hoping to find an auction soon. I visited a new local auction house a couple of weeks ago, and was excited that it was so close, but once I got there, I was disappointed at the severe lack of items to auction off! There were a lot of people in a tiny space, and literally only 6 six foot tables of stuff-and they weren't loaded-they were really sparse. It could have all probably fit on 3 1/2 tables. I did register for a bidder number, but ended up walking out before it started.

I guess I'm not looking in the right places-they have to be out there somewhere!

Great Finds on a Quick Trip to a Local Thrift!

On my way home from work the other day, I stopped at a local thrift store. I'm glad I stopped! I found some great things!

 A Hall covered casserole...I can't find any information about this...any ideas?

 These aren't Pyrex they are just marked with Ovenware-made in USA...any ideas on these?

A couple of cute, springy egg cups. I think I'll blow out a couple of green eggs from Eric's chickens to put in them!

A few Aunt Jemima syrup bottles-going to try them in the booth.

 An enamel pan-in really good shape!

I think I'm addicted to refrigerator dishes! I just can't pass them up! My list of things I can't pass up seems to be getting longer and longer!

Do you remember the Pure Michigan essay contest I entered last fall?

I had forgotten all about the contest since my entry wasn't one of the finalists or winners, I just assumed that was the end of it. Today, I got an email from someone from the contest. Read what she had to say...
    

Hi, Kim,
 
     We loved the essay you entered in our Michigan 
Moments contest. As promised, some of these will 
be used on the Pure Michigan blog, and yours was 
chosen. Could you provide a few more details? |
Are you planning another trip to the UP this 
summer? If not, where are you going? 
Is there anything else you’d like to share? 

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
 
     Thanks! Holly

Maybe my essay will show up on their blog some day! I emailed 
her and told her of my plans for my vacation this summer-a
roadtrip with my mom...here...you can read what I wrote...

Hi Holly!

How exciting! Thanks for picking me to be on the Pure Michigan blog!!

I do plan to spend a couple of weeks in the UP this summer. My parents moved to the UP when they
retired about 9 years ago, so we spend a lot of time on Brevort Lake and visiting them. Last summer,
my mom and I took a little trip to the west to check out some antique shops and we had so much fun,
that we are planning another trip for this summer! This year’s trip will be a lot longer than just one day.
We are hoping to travel to Marquette, Ishpeming, Eagle Harbor, Ontonagan and Ironwood. I think it will
be fun to revisit the places of my childhood summer vacations!

When I was a child, our summer vacations were spent mostly in Michigan’s upper peninsula, and to this
day, there isn’t another place I’d rather spend my vacations. One summer, we traveled all along Lake
Superior –so this summer’s trip will not only be an antiquing trip with mom, but hopefully a trip down
memory lane!

I’ve been keeping track of all of the antique shops that I’ve visited in Michigan on a large laminated
Michigan map.  I have a lot of shops marked that I still plan to visit-mostly on the west side of the
state-so I’ll  have lots of opportunities for fun adventures in Michigan for the next couple of summers.

Here's how I've been keeping track of all of the antique shops 

I've visited and still want to visit. The cities or towns circled in 

red are places that I've visited, and the others circled in green 

or purple are places I still want to get to someday!