A New Find

Once in a while I stumble upon a good find. Usually I am one second late and look longingly as someone walks off with a great find at either a yard sale, consignment store or retail store. But this time I found something I really like and it was a good price.

Kim at One Woman's Cottage Life has an inspiration piece that is a large canvas by artist Kim Parker. I always loved it mainly because I love color. At Home Goods last week I found this Kim Parker framed giclee print in the clearance aisle. It was only $19.95 so I grabbed it. I think it was in the clearance aisle because it has something on the frame but it came off when I cleaned it up when I got home.

The title is "Lush Garden" and it is a signed and number print.
I've been looking around on line and I think I did good on price. But that doesn't much matter because I just love the colors and it looks great in my family room. By the way, there was a woman following me around in Home Goods the whole time I was there. I think she was waiting for me to put this down. For once I was there in time and not a second late as usual. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket this week!

Crock Covers

It's amazing how collections start. When we tore down our old garage last spring to build the new one, we had to clean out everything from the old one. I found it cathartic to get rid of alot of junk and to find some old treasures I had forgotten about. I seem to have collected several crock covers so I decided to display them in my basket that is always on my front porch.
The one on the left I bought at a yard sale a while back, the one in the front is the cover to a bean pot that I bought in Maine that I use to plant geraniums in, and the one on the right came from my Mom's house. I even had another one on display in my summer kitchen.
And now wherever I go I see lids. My daughter and I were on an antiquing outing a few weeks ago and I found these ones for $5.
And here's the fourth one of that set hanging out in my bathroom on my green shelf that is always changing.
And since we're on a Halloween theme here, Baby C wishes you all a Happy Halloween!

I Wish I Could Paint, But Since I Can't...

I have always wanted to know how to paint and one of these years I'll get around to taking some lessons. Until then I find myself drawn to amateur paintings when I see them at thrift shops or yard sales and I have found a few this past year I love.

This first little painting I found at a consignment store near my daughter's house and since it was a scene of Cape Ann in Massachusetts, right near where I grew up, I fell in love with it. I have had it on my big giant mantle in my new family. Please ignore the glimpses of plywood you may get as we have not tiled the front yet.

I have had it resting with my daisy painting I got a while ago, along with a basket and a tray my MIL gave me.

And even though it was 96 degress yesterday, it is in the 60's today so it got me thinking about autumn and I decided to change the mantle today. I picked up these two paintings over the summer and stashed them away until now. I just love the colors in them. Soon enough we will have the same colors all around us outside here in NH.

I think it makes a pretty mantle for fall. I love having that big flat surface to decorate!

We're Getting There

Finally we are getting along with the family room addition and since I have had a number of questions about it by e-mail I thought I would answer them here. The room is 22 x 26 and has a cathedral ceiling which I am not sure how high it is but it is not super tall. There is a two car garage underneath. The french doors got installed this week so this is how we enter the room from our kitchen and living room. The carpenters are almost done and then we are doing the rest of the finish work to save money starting with a bamboo floor. We already had a painting marathon so it's nice to have that out of the way.
Looking back once you are in the room you can spy my kitchen.
And what is that in the left hand corner of the first picture? I have been looking forever for a sideboard and I found one in an antique store in NH that I fell in love with.
We also did a bunch of antiquing when we were in Maine and here are a couple of my finds. We bought 6 of these matching chairs which are so similar to the ones I already have. They still have a label on the bottom that shows that they were made in NH in the early 1900's. And I love the lines of the plant stand that I found.

Then one last find is this little child's table that I found at a local thrift shop this week. Perfect for my grandson as he gets older. I already have children's chairs to go with it. I also finally found a coffee table for the new family room at the same thrift shop but couldn't fit it into my Beetle so I have to go back this weekend with something bigger! Maybe I should get a truck-or maybe not-I'd come home with way too much!

Yard Sale Score!

I rarely ever score a big find at a yard sale so I frequently have blog envy when I read about all your finds at yard sales and thrift shops. But this past Saturday I did find a great quilt at a yard sale for $10! It is a Dresden Plate quilt in wonderful 30's fabrics. I have had another Dresden Plate quilt for many years in my daughter's room in more pastel colors but I love the bright colors in this one.

It has a cute scalloped border. It doesn't have a backing or any batting in it but it is finished on the edges with bias tape so I assume it was meant to be used as it is. I thought at first it was made by machine but on closer examination I found it was put together by hand except for the binding.

And Penny the cat has already checked it out and we now have another quilt with cat hair on it!

Now You See It, Now You Don't

Now you see it,

Now you don't!

As you can see our construction project has started. We are having a two car garage built with a family room above. That white door you see is the door to the kitchen which will become double french doors opening to a staircase that will go up 6 steps to a big open family room. All the rooms in my house are small so I am excited to have a large room where everyone can gather. My husband is anxious to not have to scrape ice and frost ever again in the morning.

I am looking forward to filling the room with furniture and accessories, none of them new! I have already found a large dining table, a craftsman style desk that someone cut down that I plan on using to put a tv on, and a side table. I know I can furnish and decorate with thrifty finds and I am challenging myself to do that. Now if only the cats would stop scratching at that kitchen door to go into the garage that isn't there anymore!

A New Find

I haven't had much time to look for any treasures in my usual haunts lately, between my grandson being born and our garage being torn down, but I did manage to stop in one store that is near my work and I found this.

I found this wicker basket/bowl, I'm not quite sure what to call it. I had the quilt in case you were wondering. I've had that beauty for years. I don't seem to be as lucky as some of my blogger friends who find quilts for next to nothing. But back to the basket-I love it's turquoise color, which is a color that is growing on me lately, and it's perfect chipped paint in all the right places. Not sure what I'll put in it but I'm sure it will rotate with the seasons. Any suggestions would always be welcome. You are all so much more creative than me which is why I am stealing ideas from you all just about every day!

There's Nothing Better Than Free

I love to poke around in antique shops and thrift shops. I have found most of the furniture in my home that way. But once in a while you get lucky and get something free as I did with this little cabinet. It came from work and was about to be thrown out so I took it home. Not sure where I'll put it or what I'll use it for but what the heck-it was $0!

I haven't had much time to thrift lately because of so many things going on in my family so this was, as they say, a happy accident that I acquired it. I can't decide whether to paint it or leave it as is. I also have had, for many years, an old door that is the same old honey colored wood that I have always wanted to make some kind of console table out of. May be it's time to do that and display them together.

Sorry for all the bright spots from the flash but it is so dark and dreary here still from rain, rain and more rain that I had to use the flash. And despite what the song says, the sun does not seem to be coming out tomorrow or any other day here in NH.

Old Suitcases

I'm still sick but I so enjoyed Kim's post about her train case that I thought I would post about one of the ones I have.This little case is in the nursery now and I'm sure I'll be staging lots of little treasures in it. But for now in it is a Yo-Yo doll my grandmother made for me when I was a little girl. The arms, legs and body is made up of fabric yo-yo's that are strung together. I absolutely treasure this doll. Crafts made of yo-yo's seem to be everywhere on the internet but I have one from long, long ago. I just won't tell you how long!

My grandmother was from Canada and spoke very little English so communication with her was hard for us kids but the one language we understood was her love of sewing. She made lots of crafts and quilts so I am lucky to still have these treasures. The little daisy oil painting is an amateur painting I picked up at a consignment shop a couple of weeks ago. I just think it is a happy cheerful painting and it reminds me that Spring is coming even though it was below zero this morning! They say it will be in the 40's tomorrow so time to break out the shorts! Wait a minute-I better not do that since I'm still sick. Have a great weekend.

The Green Obsession Continues, Part 2

I wrote here, here, and here of my love of green lately. I don't know what it is but my eye just seems to find it in the thrift and consignment stores I haunt. At first it was because we were having so much warm weather here and we were still green in January but that is definitely not the case now. Maybe I'm just craving Spring! At my favorite consignment store today I found this lovely bowl.
I like it and I think it looks good for now next to my lamp full of sea glass that I have collected at our Maine Cottage over the years. And that makes me think of Summer! I'm done with Winter-time to move on.

Pink and Brown Wonderfulness

I took part in the Pink and Brown Swap this month and my awesome swap partner was Joolz. Since stupid me didn't take a picture of what I sent you can see it here. Anyhoo, my package arrived today and I love it. It included a brown and white dot mug, brown and white dot ribbon, a great pink towel, a striped skirt (it almost fits-it will fit by spring since I am losing weight), pink and brown yarn, wonderful note cards with the great pink and brown ribbon-love it, cat treats-Oscar and Penny say thankyou, a tin of buttons-they look vintage and I love buttons-I especially like green buttons, and fingerless gloves which are just beautifully knitted and I will treasure. Now let me tell you why I love these gloves. I work in a building that was built in the 1800's so heat on these below zero days we have here in NH is spotty at best. So in my office it sometimes gets really cold as it has this week. It's a pain but I love my job and I have an awesome office. I wear a wool shawl at work on those days but I was thinking, as my hands ached from the cold this week, how nice it would be to have fingerless gloves to type with so I vowed to try and find some. And then the wonderful Julie must have read my mind so thank you Julie.
Now why is she sniffing the gloves when there are cat treats?

A Woman's Work is Never Done!

I bought this little needlework today and it is appropriately titled "A Woman's Work is Never Done"!! It is now in my laundry room. Although I have less laundry these days with just my husband and myself at home it reminds me of the days when the laundry seemed endless. We have woods bordering our property and my son and his friends were always out there building forts and getting muddy. Our house is the last house on a dead end street so there always seemed to be a hurd of boys and girls here playing and getting very dirty since it was such a safe place to play. There was many a street hockey game in front of our house and in the summer the boys invented a game called "home run derby" that they played with wiffle balls and bats. And a fair number of my neighbors windows got broken over the years too. Remarkably, they still talk to me! I like to think my son and daughter and their friends had happy memories of their childhood here and hopefully my grandkids will too. Now back to the laundry.

A New Thrift Find for the Sewing Room

I found the little mason jar lamp recently filled with old thread on wooden spools and old button cards. Remember when all thread came on wooden spools-I do-wait a minute, I'm dating myself here! Anyways, I just loved it and took it home with me from my favorite consignment store. The thread colors are all bright colors and the button cards still have prices on them. The one showing has a price of 10 cents. It is sitting on my cupboard in my sewing room next to the cross stitch that my sister gave me for Christmas. Just try to ignore the ugly wallpaper in the background that has been in this room since we bought the house 23 years ago. One of these days I'll change it.

The Green Obsession Continues!

I don't know what it is about green right now but I see it everywhere. I was out today looking for a treasure for the Pink and Brown Swap and I found the small plate. I already had the green bowl which came from my MIL's house which I acquired about a year ago when she was moving out of her home that she had lived in for 53 years. Anyways, I love the bowl-the holiday M & M's looked great in this over Christmas so I am sure I'll find a way to use the little plate next Christmas or at Easter. I really need to find a new color to obsess about.

I am Loving Green in January!

Since I bought those green buttons I seem to see green everywhere! I stopped in a thrift shop this morning while out running some errands and found this great green platter for $6. I just love the color and simple style and can picture so many things on it. I seriously think I am obsessed with green lately because it is so green outside in NH right now. Usually by now we are buried in feet of snow but it is in the mid 60's today and raining! Unheard of here. I glanced out a window this morning and noticed that the forsythia bushes seem to be budding out. They think it's Spring. I know we'll be hit with freezing cold and snow soon but for now I am loving the green in January!

First Thrifty Find of the New Year

I made a trip to my favorite consignment store and the jar of buttons is what I found. I don't need this many green buttons but they were so cute all together in this little canning jar. I love red but my next favorite color I have liberally sprinkled throughout my home is green. Must be why I love Christmas too!

Speaking of Christmas, all the decorations, except the tree, are put away. I can't seem to get myself to take the tree down. I love looking at the ornaments and love having it lit up when I am in my family room. My Mom used to leave our tree up until the 12th day of Christmas, January 6th, so that's what I think I'll do too. Hopefully the motivation to take it down will be here by then!

Just One Last Thrifty Find

My daughter has expressed an interest in doing some more sewing but since she doesn't live here anymore and doesn't have access to all the sewing supplies, she asked for some sewing things for Christmas. So I've been gathering them but wanted to put them in something besides a basket or a box. This is what I found at our local consignment shop this morning and I think it is perfect. I have one that is similar that I bought at a yard sale 20 years ago full of buttons and it has come in handy. So Merry Christmas Doodles!

Used Stuff

I would much rather buy used furniture than new. I can count on my two hands how many times I have been in a furniture store. We did get a brand new bedroom set 31+ years ago when we got married and have bought a couple of couches that way but for the most part all of our "stuff" has been given to us or purchased used at consignment, thrift, or antique stores or at yard sales. The best freebie was a desk my uncle gave us many years ago. The desk was in his chicken coop and it was on the way to the dump but asked us first if we wanted it. Hubby picked up one side of it and based on it's weight he declared it "real wood" and said we'd take it. Now you couldn't actually tell what kind of wood it was because of thick black varnish and "deposits" from the chickens. But once stripped we saw beautiful oak grain and have loved this desk ever since.

I did recently buy an oil painting in a consignment store for $18. I wasn't looking for a painting but there it was and I was drawn to it. It now hangs in my bathroom of all places. I was back at that store yesterday buying a Jelly Cabinet which I plan on using in my sewing room makeover. Those pictures will hopefully be coming soon. In the meantime here's my bathroom masterpiece.

Bye for now-Chris