Birthday Pranks...

Wednesday was my birthday, and my co-workers got me good! It was a very mild retaliation for all of the years of confetti, streamers and balloons that I bombard their offices with-but it was still fun to walk into my office and see this...only took 5 rolls!

Then I got this card from Eric...

Nice dinner out with two of my guys and an awesome freckled lemonade!

Ann Arbor Thrifting Adventure...

Since I have to work tomorrow, I ended up with today off. Mr BHTS had today off too. Our first thought was to go see a movie...but the only one I wanted to see didn't start until after 1:00-half the day is over just waiting for the movie to start!

Then I decided to see what kind of thrift/antique stores I could find for us to visit in Ann Arbor. My  Sister-in-law tells me about a little antique shop that she loves to visit every time I see her (about once a year). I've looked for it when I've been in the area, but never found it. She sent me a flyer from their store yesterday, so I thought we'd check it out.

Our first stop was the Ann Arbor Thrift Store. I've driven by it many times, but never had the time to stop. It is very tiny, and I'd say 95% of what is inside is clothes. It has a few household items, but not many, and none of them were vintage. It was good to stop, because now I know that I am not missing anything.

 The next stop was the ReUse Center on S. Industrial.This was a huge place with all kinds of things from lumber to dishes, books, exercise equipment, furniture and household repair type things. 

Just down the street was the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift. I visited this store last year and found some fun vintage treasures. This time, it seemed pretty bare.

The next stop was Antelope Antiques on Liberty. Parking was an adventure all in itself! We found an underground parking structure that seemed pretty new. It was kind of disconcerting knowing we were three levels under ground when we finally found a parking spot!

 Antelope Antiques is in the lower level. The awning is across the front of the building, but you have to go downstairs to get in. My brother-in-law must really like this shop to go down those stairs with his bad back!

 It is a very tiny little hole in the wall antique shop. Two older gentlemen were sitting behind the counter visiting while we were there. The prices were way higher than I'm used to finding things for, so we made a quick perusal and left.

We stopped at the Salvation Army-it was packed! I went in solo and came out with a couple of cool retro pillow cases-sorry-forgot to take a picture!


The next stop was Treasuremart! I love Treasuremart-you never know what you will find. It's a new store every time you visit. It too was packed with shoppers. We had to park a couple of blocks away and walk in the 10 degree winter wonderland.

Just a block away is Zingermann's Deli. I've see it for years. I've heard about it for years. I've seen long lines out the door for years in the summer, and I've always wanted to stop-so today we did! They've added on to the building and it looks like they've bought adjacent buildings, so there is tons of room.

We ordered a chicken club sandwich. It was on homemade bread and very tasty! It was also very pricey-$11.50 each, but then you did get a giant pickle with it. The beverages are not your run of the mill Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew. They had artisan sodas that were very fun and refreshing. I got vanilla cream-just like cream soda-YUM!

The dining area that we sat in had old school chairs at the tables, in all kinds of colors as well as thick wooden planks along the wall.

The bacon on the sandwich was probably the best bacon I've ever had, you could really taste the smoky flavor. This was a small sandwich-I couldn't imagine the large!!! Each slice of bread was at least an inch thick. I reverted back to my childhood and peeled the crust off...I'm not a crust person, although I like crusty french bread.

After that, a quick trip to Costco for gas and some groceries, now we are home sitting in our sun room, enjoying the peace and quiet of an empty house. It's so quiet, I am fighting keeping my eyes open-maybe a nice little nap would be a good way to end my adventurous day!

Fun With Mod Podge and Spray Paint

I have been wanting a locking cabinet in my booth for almost the entire time I've had my booth. I have been too cheap to put any money out for one though. I found a great one this summer, but passed on it thinking it was too high, and when I decided to go back and get it, it was gone.

Late last summer, I found a white kitchen cabinet at a garage sale (it was actually 2, a really skinny one and a regular sized one). The guy just wanted them gone-he sold both of them to me for $6. After I got them home, I didn't think they were what I wanted, so they sat in the garage--until this week.

Mr. BHTS took the John Deere tin sign off the door, and cut out the middle section and we went to Lowe's and got a piece of glass cut to fit. I also bought some hardware to use for locking it and a lock. Then came the hard part...should I just leave it white? Should I paint it? What about Mod Podge-ing some vintage material all over it?

I ended up painting it a light pink color (I think it looks vintage-y), and I found some scrapbook paper at Michael's and Mod Podged it on the door and the shelves. I love the fact that not one other dealer in the mall will have a cabinet like this in their booth! I love to be different!

It is the perfect size for all but one of my head vases.and a couple other small treasures that I don't worry so much about being stolen-I worry more about them being broken. I can always take out a shelf to make room for taller stuff once a few heads sell.

I think it will go really well with the aqua and white shelves that are already in my booth, and hopefully it will add a little punch so people walking by will want to go into the booth to see what the cabinet is all about and what's inside of it!

How are your January sales going so far? Mine are really slow!! I hope it picks up, I may not make my rent if it doesn't!!! I hear it is slow throughout the whole mall, so it's not just me, but it is still discouraging! I hope your January sales are leaps and bounds better than mine are!!

Here is what the cabinet looked like when it came home (the bottom cabinet):

It is really, really heavy, and I think it is a homemade cabinet with a store bought door. It is reinforced with two by fours on the inside! I couldn't have even bought the materials for the price I paid for it.



Here we go, getting started:

 Before shot of the door with the center cut out for the glass.

 Scrapbook paper from Michael's 59 cents a sheet-used 7 sheets.

 Glass cut to size at Lowe's.

A shot without the door. Some of the girls have issues, and I bought them really cheap, so I'm not expecting big bucks for them, but I've had a lot of things end up broken, so I'll lock them up.


Here is the finished product:

We took in a farm fresh chippy white enamel table and cupboard today too!

Slow Down and Actually Read the Description!!!

Last week, I was shopping online for some vintage Fiesta, and I got outbid on everything (nothing new there). Then I got an email that said I had a second chance! I glanced at the picture, didn't look at the listing and clicked YES, I want it. I was so excited, because I thought I had been bidding on a green relish tray center.

It turns out, I was actually bidding on a green Kitchen Kraft stacking bowl! I already have a green, Kitchen Kraft stacking bowl-doh! Why didn't I catch that when I placed my bid? It turns out, I was bidding on a relish tray insert at the same time, and somehow I ended up bidding on the staking bowl too.

It is in pretty much mint condition, but now I need to sell it! I definitely will be going much slower when I bid on something from now on!! I did get a couple of vintage Fiesta mixing bowls last week as well, I got 4 but only needed 1---sigh---more to sell...or should I start the hunt to finish the set??

Do you know anything about buttons?

I found a tin of buttons that was given to me over a year ago. It got stashed away on a shelf in the spare bedroom, waiting for a day when I had some time to look through them. Today ended up being that day. It started off being a clean and organize the room day, but I got sidetracked when I found the tin of buttons and started looking through them.

Do you ever do that? Start off doing one thing, or having one plan in mind, and then mid-way through you get sidetracked and end up doing something totally unexpected? Or am I the only one? Sometimes I realize I am starting to get off track and can stop and get back on task, but not always-today is a good example of that!

I don't know a thing about buttons. Do you?  Are these just buttons to throw in a jar and sell the whole jar for one price, or are they worth sorting out and trying to sell them in small groupings?

 

These aren't buttons, but I got a chuckle out of reading the package...rust resistant...

 Open the package, and they're mostly rusted!

This was in the tin of buttons

Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated!

A New Look with Old Stuff--All Set for January

Last Sunday was Dealer Day. It was also snowpocalypse or snowmageddon, so we didn't make it to the mall to change out my booth. Normally, that wouldn't be much of a problem, but this time around, the booth had a bunch of Christmas stuff still in it. It was 50 degrees out and our road turned to a sheet of ice, but I was able to get to the main road (which is paved).

I rearranged the main floor space, turned the table sideways, folded up the ironing board, and took out all of the Christmas-except for the gift tags. I've been selling them quite regularly, even after Christmas, so I thought I'd leave them in for another month and see what happens. Worst case, they won't sell and I'll bring them home on the next Dealer Day. Best case, they sell.

I didn't bring a single new thing to put in the booth this time around-a first ever for me for a major overhaul day! I stacked things high on the table and vacuumed my way out. I also added some new lettering on the wall...what do you think? You can see it from the front door!! I love it!! I think it makes it more inviting. It is the name of my Etsy shop-the one that has nothing in it yet-LOL!

The next time I go, I plan to swap out the top shelves and all of the shelving units. It will also be Valentine's month, so the main display theme will be red, pink and white.

We stopped at a local Chinese restaurant for lunch. They have a lunch special for only $5. You get either soup, egg roll, or crab rangoon, a main entree, and choice of white or fried rice all for $5. It was really good-cheaper than the drive through somewhere. Then we stopped at Lowe's to get a piece of glass cut for a cabinet door. Do you remember the single, white kitchen cabinet I got last summer for $5? It had a John Deere sign on the front...Well, Mr. BHTS finally got around to cutting the center of the door out for me and we got a piece of glass cut to fit.

I bought some pink spray paint to paint it, but after we got home, I am thinking of Mod Podging some vintage-looking scrapbook paper scraps all over it. What do you think? I think the Mod Podge look is something totally different from anything anyone else in the mall might have in their booth. Maybe I'll paint the inside light pink...or should I leave it white?


Here is what it looked like when I left today:

My boys got be a Cricut mini for Christmas, and I've had a lot of fun playing around with it! I made all of the letters that I put on the wall with it.

First Estate Sale of 2014

I saw some pictures on Wednesday of a sale that was starting yesterday, that looked like it was going to have some fun treasures. I couldn't go Thursday morning because I had to work. I thought about going after work, because I got off early, but by the time I was done with work, I was done for the day-I just wanted to get home and chill.

I decided to make the trip this morning. It was 40 miles away, and I mapped out 4 thrift stores, a consignment shop and an antique mall to hit on the way home. That way I don't feel so bad about spending the gas to go to a sale that is so far away.

The house was way out in the middle of nowhere. I was surprised at how clear the roads were with all the snow we've gotten, and how far from a main road this sale was.

Since it was the second day, everything was 25% off, and there really wasn't many people shopping-all the better for me! I couldn't find any bags when I was leaving the house this morning. It has been so long since I've been to an estate sale, My stash of big treasure bags has disappeared! Luckily, since it was the second day, there wasn't a mob of people, and I was able to leisurely shop and add things to my hold pile at the check-out.

It was a fun day! I got lots of fun things. Here is what came home with me today:

 The mirror I plan to paint bright turquoise or hot pink. The hand towel reminded me of a chenille bedspread. Two honey whip jars that are pretty filthy-hope they come clean. Two rolls of vintage Christmas wrapping paper never opened. Three Corning Crown turquoise band plates, Two clear dinner plates, a syrup pitcher, a vintage Christmas tin, a fired on mini pitcher, a large old medicine bottle, a 70's daisy canister, a glass bundt pan for jello, a Moroccan amethyst bowl, a lid for a fired-on loaf pan (75 cents!), some tiny Mason jars, a green enamel pot, a restaurant ware bowl, some bubble bowls, and two Fiesta grill/divided plates.

 Pretty faded, but will be a great dish towel.

 These work great for hanging things in the booth.

Another fix for my vintage bottle fascination. 

I got the Fiesta grill plates at Fratz Consignment in Fenton. I just happened to stop in on the very day that they were at their lowest price! I got both of them for less than one on Ebay, and I didn't have to pay shipping.

The  mail is finally coming again. Yesterday was the first day that we've had mail delivery since last Saturday-before all the snow. Today it got up to 37 degrees-almost balmy, considering what we've been having. We're supposed to get a lot of rain tomorrow. I hope not! I am thinking of going to another estate sale, and I hate standing in the rain!!!

This came in the mail yesterday:

I wonder why they bothered to throw in the corks-they aren't even the same size and they aren't original to the shakers...the shakers are pretty dirty, but once they've soaked in some hot soapy water, they should be just fine.

This was a nifty thing I found online. I thought I ordered one...I got 6. Six packages like this with six in a package. It is a spice rack of sorts. It sticks to the inside of your cupboard and you hang your spice bottles from it, making it easier to see your spices, and making more room in your cabinets. What in the world am I going to do with 36 strips??? Each one holds 4 spice jars. I have a lot of spices, but not quite that many!

The lighting is really bad in this shot-it isn't faded, it is really gorgeous!!

Here are some things I saw while I was out and about today:

 This was HUGE, and so awesome!

 I saw this place as I was driving by. I turned around, found a parking spot, and walked up to the door and there was furniture in front of it and the door was locked! There was a neon sign in the window that said OPEN, but no way to get in! 

 This was so much fun to walk up on! 

See how out in the middle of nowhere the estate sale was?? Aren't the roads in great shape?!?

How was your Friday??