Yard Sale Find Of The Year!

My mom called me Friday morning and said that there were a whole mess of rummage sales happening that day in her town. I mean ALL DAY, too. With a new baby only 7 weeks or so away, we seriously need to get ready. With this being baby #5, I've learned that there is no better way than to be frugal about the baby stage. Plus, we just never know what else there is find at a yard sale, right?? Perfect! Any excuse will do!

Anyway, Grandma had hit a few sales that morning and by the time I arrived, we were ready for the bunches that started at noon. When we had finished with all of those noon sales, the 2:00 pm sales were almost ready. We tore into the drive thru for some burgers and were on our way again. We found tons of good stuff-even The Find Of The Year as far as my oldest daughter is concerned.





This little wire stand will be used to hold our herb pots on the deck by the back door. The hubby will have to paint it for me but I still haven't decided on a color.




This shelf will also be getting a paint job by hubby. Yeah, I have no idea where this one will end up hanging.



This is one for the kitchen wall-eventually- after it gets a paint job, too. My poor hubby has so much painting in his near future! There are several pieces of furniture we'll be using for the new baby in need of paint embellishment. I hope to be having a nice little reveal here on the blog for those items. Stay tuned!



I think one will hang on my front door after I find some flowers to put in it. Who doesn't love a garden gate??




This white iron bed is what my daughter considers The Find Of The Year. We found this leaned up against a garage where not one person was paying any attention to it. Almost as an after thought we asked about it and the woman said she only wanted $5 bucks for it! SOLD! We had a grand time tying this onto the top of the minivan with an old jump rope the seller found in her garage.

I can't wait for the sales this weekend. It's my birthday PLUS CITY WIDE GARAGE SALES! WooHoo!!

By the way, this post is linking up to Rhoda's Thrifty Treasures @ Southern Hospitality!

What the neighbors know about us...

They know we line dry when the weather is decent.
They know we have an affinity for vintage tablecloths.
They know we have a bunch of vintage aprons.
They know we have crazily patterned sheets.
They know my bathroom rugs are white.
They know our cat is insane.





They know we have recently acquired a wiener dog.
They know we're obsessive poop picker uppers.
They know we've been enjoying our rhubarb patch this week.
They know we love our compost bin.
They know we love to use our b.b.q. grill



They know we go for walks with the kids, dog and the little red wagon.
They know the 6 year old and the dog are usually hauled home in the wagon.
They know we're apt to go for a walk even when it's dark outside.
They know our dog is an expert snake hunter.
They know our 6 year old often crashes his bike in the driveway.

All he wants is...

a mustache!

A couple of weeks ago my 6 year old located a gumball machine full of stick on facial hair. I wish I'd had a video camera so I could have recorded his absolute amazement and glee at the good fortune of such a find. It was just too funny! Poor little guy has often checked the mirror for signs that his beard may be beginning to grow in. After all, it has to happen eventually if you wish hard enough, right??

With some assistance from his sister his new 'stache was properly affixed and he proudly strutted around the Wal-mart. He was clearly pleased by the many compliments of older gentlemen who gave him props for such a fab 'stache. For now the mustache has been tucked away in a treasure box and hidden from sight.

Has it been 14 years already??

Hard to believe that my youngest daughter has been on earth for 14 years. This is a pic of the cake her sister made for her today. It's an egg/dairy free coco cake with Unbutter cream frosting. The colored sugar was hand colored by the birthday girl 2 days ago. I hope Lockley can tell that she is loved so much!

Vintage Score # 32 or Crazy Mixer Lady

Once upon a time, several months back I saw a vintage Kitchen Aid bowl made of glass in it's original box for $35 at a flea market. I've lusted after the glass bowl mixers ever since! I wasn't going to be happy with a Sunbeam or Hamilton Beach model, no, I needed a REAL Kitchen Aid.

Things went along that way for a bit until one day a few weeks ago. I spotted this baby on a shelf at one of my fav thrifty stops in town and nearly screamed and hopped up and down. I managed to control myself and snatched it up and got outta there before they decided that the $15 price tag was too little to charge.

I seem to have evolved into "Crazy Mixer Lady" as I now own 3 Kitchen Aid stand mixers. But hey, come on, that one I picked up at the yard sale this summer was only $5 and needs a little TLC and maybe $25 worth of parts. Plus, they are all from different eras. One really old, one kinda old and a brand new one. Can you blame me, really? Once I get my shelves in place they will all have their own places to be displayed and we'll live happily ever after...until I find another one! HA!

As I look adoringly at my mixers I am considering breaking out the spray paint. These 2 white mixers could be jazzed up with some vintage-esque paint jobs. My kitchen is blue so a few varying blue colors might be fun, right? I mean, it's not like I plan to sell these treasures or anything so why shouldn't I have some fun with'em?

As Advertised In Life Magazine

I just had to share one of my vintage finds from today. This is a Christmas tree star in it's original box. The original price is marked $1.39 in grease pencil. How cool is this?? My favorite part is the little piece of text that lets you know that this star was advertised in LIFE magazine. I'm assuming that this is an item from the 50's when everyone read Life on a regular basis. I can't wait to get it on the tree and plugged in!

Aiming For Holiday Cheer

Be Cheerful! It's what I keep telling myself these days. I need reminding that I do have much to be grateful for, even if it seems otherwise.

It's hard to be cheerful when I don't feel very well. I didn't even really cheer up for Halloween, which is my FAV holiday. Anyway, I have been diagnosed with a disease which I've suspected for quite a long time. Being a mom, I take care of everyone else and put myself last and now I learn that I shouldn't have done that.

The only thing to do now is follow the treatment and get on with taking care of myself. I was about to say "better care" but that would imply that I'd been taking some measure of care for myself when I hadn't been doing anything of the sort. I'm not a whiner/complainer and I don't want to sound like one now. I just wanted to give people a reason why I seem to be green around the gills. It's because I AM green around the gills. And exhausted. I'm still debating on whether or not to blog about this thing regularly.


Moving on...

See that pic up there at the top?? Yeah, I knew you did.

I found that green felt table runner with the Santa Clause applique at the thrift store today. (It's very long, which seemed unusual to me.) My girls are into all things retro these days and instantly loved it when I brought it home. I had originally believed it was a tree skirt, but a table runner is cool, too. The tree with the lights and ribbon was also a thrifty find today. Not too bad for $3, is it?

I also dragged home a set of lighted ceramic cherub ornaments and some shabby pink glass ball ornaments. We plan to make a wreath with the glass balls and we're not sure yet what we'll do with the cherubs. Maybe we'll mix them with some garland greenery?? See?? I'm making an effort to be cheerful!

Now, I need to run and do my Thanksgiving shopping. I'm out of everything in this house and it shows. My list is a mile long so I better get going! Catch ya all later!