Bounty Huntress

Still Alive

2011-12-04T20:31:00.000-06:00

I'm still here. I might come back now that our crazy schedule is starting to slow down.

Or I might not. The truth is that I've been cheating on Blogger with Pinterest.

Please come find me because I'd love to have some more thrift-minded pinners to follow!

I have it bad, y'all. I'm starting to think of all of my years up until 2011 as "B.P." = "Before Pinterest".

PS- This is one of the baby ducks we bought last week to play "farm".

They sure grow fast! We re-homed them today to friends with a mini-farm.

Bowl Me Over

2011-10-05T13:36:00.001-05:00

A friend recently passed over a box o' junk she had been collecting for yard art inspiration but then decided to put her house on the market.

There were bowling trophies inside!! I deconstructed and painted the lady parts green so they'd blend in and be a surprise when someone actually noticed what they were.

They are in my front yard in the "hellstrip" along the side of the street.

And for a good laugh, I must include this huge part of my childhood. I can't think of bowling and not think of this:

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

2011-10-03T20:11:00.000-05:00

So I'm home from Round Top, TX. I have an opinion about my experience that I will reserve for another post. First, I have to get down to bidness!

The first place we stopped (of many!) was Marburger Farm. I was giddy with expectation. Loopy, actually. That usually leads to naughty behavior and this time was no exception.

We'd been walking around for almost two hours seeing all kinds of high end beautiful junk. And then I laid my eyes upon this bad boy. Not the boy, although he's nice looking too. Eyes down....the banana.

Now just what would be the first words out of your mouth when eyeing such a large piece of bouncy fruit?

Really? That's lame. Come on now, you're drunk with junk visions dancing in your head. What would you REALLY say?

You know what I said?

With great enthusiasm, I politely asked, "Can I please straddle your banana?" Without any signs of horrified reaction, he actually said "yes" but gave some warning or other about resins.

Then I started having second thoughts. What if I broke his precious banana? How embarrassing that would be! Now it's a few days later and I regret not riding his banana. I mean, how often does one get a chance to giddy up on an 8 foot nanner?

This fabulous artist is Dakota Pratt. He creates sculptures and covers them with flattened bottle caps. You can read more about him here.

I've also had the chance to flip through his Facebook page and see that this is not his first banana! No siree, Bob! He's encouraged others to ride his bananas before.

And here I was thinking I owed him an apology for being all "inappropiate".

And I'm Off!

2011-09-26T07:30:00.007-05:00

To Round Top, Texas, that is. In search of rusty gold. Texas antiquin'.

via www.roundtop-marburger.com

I've got my trusty vintage cart, a wad of cash from re-selling, a list of stuff-to-look-for and most importantly, a friend to scour the booths with me!

My packing list:

cart
camera
small containers with padding to protect small items
water bottle with carabiner clip
good walking shoes, hat & sunscreen
snacks in a small cooler
wine :)
cash in small bills

This is my first time there. I hope I'm not forgetting something important!

We leave Wednesday morning. Expect a few "Live from Marburger" posts!!

Wicker Which Color?

2011-09-25T12:38:00.000-05:00

Back in the spring, I was helping out a homeschooling friend who had been in a car accident and broken her hip. The kids and I would stop by once a week and take her dog (and her kid) for a walk in their neighborhood. A couple doors down, I once spied one of the neighbors asleep on her front porch. I gasped with envy and delight. She was lounging on a wicker daybed with mounds of gorgeous pillows and linens. What a perfect place to fall asleep with a good book! I wanted one of those places for my family so I set about looking on CraigsList randomly throughout the summer.

I finally found something promising and it was only a couple of miles away. I hate travelling far for anything off of CL. The seller was awesome! She could totally be my new thrifting friend. We dished about which nearby thrift stores were our favorites. I love meeting people like that.

It's actually two chairs that are pushed together. It has springs underneath the cushions like a regular bed so it's VERY comfortable. Those are just two standard size pillows on the back that are encased in plastic covers underneath the quilted pillow shams I picked up at Ross. I need to go back and get some fluffier pillows. SO FLUFFY!

And oh, does it need paint! I did a little investigating and decided to go with Krylon's Outdoor Spaces line. I'm thinking green...I like Moss and Mr. BH likes Satin Fern. Maybe he's right on this one...Want to help me decide?

Moss

Satin Fern

Confessions of a Bounty Huntress

2011-09-23T09:44:00.000-05:00

*I yelled "Go ask Jesus to teach you some manners!" at a guy in Goodwill this summer. And everyone in the store stared at me. True story. But first, he yelled at me that he was going to ask Jesus to pray for me. And before that he shoved his cart so far up my butt and expected me to just move out of his way without first uninserting the cart from my butt and I just stood there because I had no where to move TO.

*I cringe when I go through my photos and see ALL reselling/blog shots but practically none of my children.

*I tried acupuncture for the first time ever this week. And I liked it. A lot.

*I will be 39 next week and not at all embarrassed to admit I have reached the age where arch support for my feet is equally exciting as a roll in the hay.

via www.Dansko.com

Creepy-ass Dolls

2011-09-15T19:58:00.000-05:00

My friend, Timary over at TimaryArt, just sent me a picture of this book she saw at Barnes & Noble.

That one there on the right induces a whole body twitchin' shudder! Hoo hoo haa haa!

From Amazon: "This fun and kooky little book sheds light on the otherwise unknown lives of these creepy little playmates. Creepy-Ass Dolls reveals the inner yearnings, desires, and lifelong goals of dolls. Remember, there's a reason they were kept in a toy box. This book offers a glimpse into the secret life of dolls with a yearbook approach, not only based around portrait photos, but also what the dolls are "most likely" to do; personal mottos and quotes; clubs and activities; favorite memories; and even faculty and staff."

Creepy-ass can be compelling, no?

You can get your copy here, right after I get mine!!

Cathrineholm

2011-09-11T08:34:00.000-05:00

I totally scored in the I-can't-believe-I-found-it kind of way.
Not once.

But twice.

I found these vintage Cathrineholm enamelware casserole dishes at a thrift store but still paid quite a bit for each. (My husband, who had never before laid his eyes upon such sexy Scandinavian beauties, said "You paid how much?!?!")

I was going to keep them. I was going to just sell one. I should just sell both. Gaaah!

I think I'll list them on eBay and see if they sell. Otherwise, they're all mine!

Yard Sale Counterfeit Scammers- Beware!

2011-09-10T15:53:00.000-05:00

I had a somewhat impromptu yard sale this weekend, when earlier this week I realized that the rest of our Saturday mornings for the next couple of months are already booked. There was a pile of stuff amassed in the garage over the summer and I was quite eager to be free of it.

The driveway was soon bustling then all of a sudden a guy comes up to ask me how much a tiki mug was. I replied "$1" and he handed me a $20 bill. As soon as he handed it to me, I thought it "felt" different. I paused. Then he asked me a question...something stupid about what people use tiki mugs for...while I was trying to count out his $19 in change. I paused two more times wondering if it was real money or not. I doubted myself mainly becuase I knew the Federal Reserve made changes to how bills look in recent years....really who can keep up?....unless they have a Facebook page. Ha!

As soon as the guy left, I turned to my husband to tell him that I thought the money was counterfeit. Pretty soon, I held it next to another twenty and saw that this one was a wee bit shorter, missing a hologram and the embedded text ribbon along the side. I could also see that the images weren't quite as clearly and distinctly printed as the good stuff.

I scanned both the counterfeit bill and a real bill. See if you can tell the difference.

Grrrrr. I'm so hoppin' mad that I didn't listen to and act on my intuition. That was one "$19 + a tiki mug" lesson that I hope will make me double think doubting myself again.

Upon later reflection, I realized the guy didn't spend any time lingering around. He just picked up something cheap and marched up to me in the midst of all the chaos. When he saw me pause as I felt the money, he asked me a stupid question to deflect my attention.

This is really a brilliant scam to use these at yard sales. Sellers beware!

Moving Forward

2011-08-21T10:20:00.000-05:00

I've been trying especially hard this last week to clean out my hoarded corner of thrifty finds. I put some extra effort into getting them listed on Etsy (and eBay) since I'm surely going to need some spending money at Marburger!

Vintage Tin Woodsman Pewter Measuring Spoons

Vintage Morton Salt Collectible Mugs

Vintage Divided Lazy Susan Tray - Made in Japan

Vintage J Marttiini Fillet Knife & Board

Vintage Conch Shell Lamp

Toad Cache Pot

Pink Pony Cache Pot

Vintage Minnesota Souvenir Plate

Tom Clark Gnome "Chick"

Korean War Bomber Squad Naked Lady Mug

It feels good to be "back".

Mother Nature and her 2 month long menopausal hot flash can kiss my arse.

Dusting Off My Summer Doldrums

2011-08-14T21:29:00.001-05:00

It's been hot. The kind of day-after-day hot where you wake up all pissed off. So I have had nothing to say that wasn't an expletive of some sort.

I need a summer home somewhere that maxes out at about 93 degrees F.

With a scowl like Billy Idol, I still managed to do some thrifting. My favorite find was this old collapsible cart for $5.

I hadn't yet gotten it back to my van when another yardsaler accused me of getting it to go to Canton. He said it's hard not to get run over by one of these when you're there.

I actually have plans next month to attend Marburger Farm as it's much closer.

The cart needed a liner so I googled lots of pictures on how people trick them out. Amazing! Some of you go all out. I'm not much of a sewer so I ordered two army laundry bags from eBay for $3 each. I still have to attach them in some way. Maybe some grommets will do the job.

Woo hoo! I get excited just thinking about that trip. Mr. BH is even taking off work to be with the kids for a few days while I traipse off in search of treasure hunting, merriment, and margaritas.

Also, I found more chairs. I can't say no to a cool chair under $10.

$6 for what once was Property of Brazoria County

$3 vintage fiberglass chair

And how about this lovely young lady?
She's modeling an awesome $8 vintage find from an estate sale.
It pays to go thrifting with mom.

When Heads Roll

2011-07-12T21:40:00.001-05:00

I posted on Facebook a couple weeks ago that I found this head rolling around on the street (on my way to Goodwill no less!)

He'd had a bit of a rough go-- obviously. I thought for sure he could be of use to someone....even if as yard art.

Now, personally, he would creep me out. Those mangled baby heads up there on my header AMUSE me to no end but you won't find them in my yard. Those beady eyes give me the willies.

After I cleaned this guy up a bit, I stuck him in my laundry room ~~to get him out of my house~~ until I could figure out my next move (on his behalf).

Then last night I snuck away to a completely different Goodwill while my daughter was in her fencing class. While paying for my items, I glanced towards the "displays" behind the cash register. I then made a proposition with the cool tattooed girl that works there. (must really learn her name)

I stopped back by today for a little matchmakin'.

Somebody get me a job with eHarmony!

Don't they make a nice couple?

PS- They already shacked up together on a high shelf at GW.

Those mannequin heads move fast!

Thrift Report

2011-07-11T14:07:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's damn hot.
A good thrifter can't let the heat beat her down. She has to rise up and go forth! Here are a few treasures I've unearthed lately.

Vintage Painted Watering Can

What a beaut. I almost left her behind as she was a bit pricy. And full of spiderwebs.

Vintage Dansko Lidded Enamelware Pot - $5.

Quilt found at a family-run estate sale. $10. Brought it home and found a $195 price tag still on it.

Vintage Bjorn Wiinblad plaque. Swoon! 59 cents.

This will make a cute vase and also appealed to my chemistry geek husband's sense of style.

Mushroom mugs! Three cheers for mushroom mugs! 59 cents each.

Linking up to Thrift Share Monday over at Apron Thrift Girl. Come have a look-see.

Burnin' Wood

2011-06-26T00:38:00.000-05:00

Recently I found this handmade shadow box for $3. There's a piece of paper inside that says it was made from Bird's Eye Maple flooring taken from the basketball court at SMU's Moody Coliseum. (SMU is a private university up in Dallas, TX.)

I got the bright idea to stalk a beloved and particular whimsical furniture website for design inspiration. I would tell you which one but apparently I may have broken some copyright laws...so to be on the safe side...mum's the word.

I drew the designs on the box with a pencil and then traced them with a woodburner tool.

Then I colored in the details with cheap-o Crayola watercolors and applied a beeswax-based sealer.

It was a super obsessive kind of project that I had to finish in time to whisk my daughters off to their Scottish Country Dance Midsummer Ball.

And for your viewing pleasure.....aren't they handsome?

I think kilts make mens' calves look sexy.

This chicken will cut you!

2011-06-23T23:24:00.000-05:00

My morning find:

A Vintage Japanese Cock. For only $4.50. Gotta have it.

I used to have a really awesome wooden Canadian cock but I eventually gave him to my sister-in-law. I get to visit every now and then but it's just not the same.

So after reading this story, I remembered how much I liked....dare I say it?

It rained and then....

2011-06-22T09:47:00.000-05:00

I read THIS.

I'll be smiling and laughing all week.

And making jokes about chickens for months.

Google Translator

2011-06-20T16:16:00.002-05:00

I'm way too hot to talk about thrifting these days. Somebody send some rain this way, please!

However, I'm way too excited to not pop in and share my latest discovery-

Google Translator!

You can add it as a widget to your blog and then readers can pick one of roughly 40 languages to translate your entire blog for them.

This is part of my last post in Thai:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ตา Caramba!

บางครั้งผมได้รับข้อผิดพลาดขึ้นด้านหลังของฉันไปทำอะไรอย่างหุนหันพลันแล่นเจ้าเล่ห์ผมดำน้ำที่เหมาะสมในการมีศูนย์การวางแผนการโจมตี

อะไรดีไม่น้อยมาของมัน

เวลานี้ผมวิปปิ้งออก เครื่องหมาย Prismacolor และนั่งลงที่โต๊ะที่มี Great ป้าของฉัน Betty

โปรดจำไว้ว่าเธอ?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How fabulous!

I just chuckle thinking about how "bug up my rear" translates in other languages.

Eye Caramba!

2011-06-09T00:02:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I get a bug up my rear to impulsively do something crafty. I dive right in with zero plan of attack.

Rarely does anything good come of it.

This time I whipped out the Prismacolor markers and sat down at the table with my Great Aunt Betty.

Remember her?

I was quite pleased with myself until the very end when I decided to add the finishing touch.

Step aside Bette Davis.

Meet Betty Faye Bakker.

For the record, the real Aunt Betty NEVER wore that much mascara.

Otis sure doesn't mind though.

Petite Pyrex

2011-06-06T10:33:00.000-05:00

I'm still brewing Kombucha tea.

I recently bottled my second batch so I was thrilled to have these extra bottles that my husband brought home from the office (environmental consulting). They were extras left over from an old job and were in the "get rid of" pile.

Still new in the box!

Aren't they cute in that science lab kind of way?

There's a New Man in Town

2011-06-05T11:26:00.003-05:00

Meet Otis.

We caught each other's eye at Goodwill and I started putting my moves on him. I checked him out from the backside.

Mmm, mmm, mmm. Just $3.99.

Looked good to me.

I smiled at him. He showed me those bright red lips.

He reminded me of all the awesome brightly hued folk art we saw at The House of Blues when we went to Disney World in December. Apparently, HOB collectively has the world's largest collection of original folk art.

And shall I even bother to mention that he's needlepoint! I've already admitted my weakness there.

He's chillin' out in the craft room. Every time I walk by, I give him a Joey-from-'Friends' head nod.......

"How you doin'?"

He never replies.

I guess he's of one of those strong silent type.

****Linking up to Apron Thrift Girls' Thrift Share Monday. Come on over.

My Flower Flop

2011-05-29T09:43:00.001-05:00

Before the drippy lampshade, I was all glitter-giddy.

I took this $1 vintage yellow rose painting

and went all Elvis on it.

Martha helped me out.

It's quite possible someone may have purchased this set at Christmas time and then gave it to her husband to wrap and put under the tree.

I used Martha's glittering glue most of the time.

It's fine tip was awesome for all the small detailed parts. For the larger areas, I just used Elmer's.

It took me about 2 days to complete. I would do one section for about 3-5 minutes and then leave it to dry. Every now and then, I would stop for a few minutes to do a little more.

It didn't quite turn out as I'd envisioned.

Lessons learned:

1. Martha's glittering glue is nice and thick which covered the original paint colors. Elmer's is much thinner and provides no opaque coverage. You can see that bad 70's brown coming through the white glittered areas.

2. The white glitter in the background didn't provide much of a contrast from the flowers. It hurts my eyes to look at it from just about every angle.

3. I'm so glad I did this with a small painting!

Graffiti Chair

2011-05-27T12:59:00.000-05:00

I think these chairs just ooze parental love.

via ohdeedoh.com

They make the term "child-friendly" seem kind of snobby.

I had this project on my "to do one day" list.

The vintage rolling stools I got for the craft room were driving me bat shit crazy, for lack of a better phrase. They never stayed where they were supposed to stay.

I banished them to the garage and in turn pulled out this chair that I bought two months ago at Goodwill for $5 because I very well couldn't leave it behind for that price.

I also had lots of white cotton duck fabric on hand because it works well for embroidery work. I stapled it on and got out some Prismacolor markers, which are like Sharpies on steroids.

The kids had at it. I couldn't resist adding a thing or two myself.

Dripping with Desire

2011-05-26T16:20:00.001-05:00

It all started this morning with this Holton Rower video.

Which then made me think of Morris Louis.

I went scurrying about putting away dishes while pretending not to notice the mounds of laundry. I stepped out into the garage where I noticed this $2 silk lampshade I found at a garage sale recently.

At the time, I am not sure why I bought it. I do remember thinking it would be fun to transform it in some creative way.

And here I was- all jacked up with the desire to drip beautiful rainbow colors on something...anything!

I dug out our water soluble block printing inks.

I put big globs of ink into several glasses.

Then added some water to each and stirred vigorously.

We then used our reusable straws (similar to these) to drip ink down the sides of the shade. The whole family contributed, even Mr. BH who stopped in on his lunch hour, albeit under duress. It wouldn't be a "family piece" without him. :)

Voila!

Happy Blog-erversary to Me

2011-05-24T14:08:00.000-05:00

Today marks the one year blog-erversary for Bounty Huntress! My celebration consists of a small smirk of appreciation that I've kept up with it for this long and deeper gratitude for meeting all of you!

Back to the basics...

Over the weekend I procured a small dresser to use for craft supplies storage. I didn't want anything too nice as it's inevitable that glue, paint, or ink will spill out into the drawers sooner or later.

I found it on Craig's List for $40. It was quite 90's hideous with the pink gingham pattern on the drawers and watermelon knobs.

On the way home from picking it up, I remembered I had a spray can of chalkboard paint I hoarded from Michael's last summer on clearance. This solves the challenge of keeping the drawers labeled for an ever changing supply of inventory.

I lazily Frog-taped around the pink gingham sections and let 'er rip!

Then I remembered I had marked these as Etsy favorites. Knob-a-licious!! The seller, ScrapYardGirl, was real nice and set up an order for the odd number I needed. Can't wait until they get here!

Whoa there....What the???

2011-05-18T21:56:00.000-05:00

I promised I'd share the madness. And share, I will.

So yesterday, I shared this picture showing off my newly spray painted mirror. (And for those who wanted to know the color, it's Krylon Satin in Oxford Blue.)

See that little basket on the shelf? It's a Postal Pandora's Box disguised as a vintage sewing basket. Wait for it....

I had lovely Anthropologie-esque visions in my head where many of our favorite family photos are casually tacked around the mirror. But who am I kidding? All of our family photos are trapped inside this beast of a dust collecting machine we can't seem to stay away from.

Oh, but ....our postcard collection from around the world is just sitting here in this basket. Perhaps I can achieve the same effect with them instead. (See, now you're inside my head.)

And with only a slight hesitation before proceeding (since I had just repainted that wall), I proved that I have a problem with boundaries. I couldn't stop at just a few.

Yes. I sure did.

For now, I'm telling myself that I like it. I'm telling myself it's a reflection of who we are as a family. I'm embracing my new love for wabi-sabi.

"Wabi-sabi is the quintessential Japanese aesthetic. It is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional... "

And I'm leaning most heavily on that word, "unconventional".

Boy Howdy!

2011-05-17T10:55:00.000-05:00

There's a wee bit of vintage slang to start your day. :) My grandfather used to say "Boy Howdy!" whenever he was really excited about something.

The object of my Boy-Howdiness:

A vintage Pyrex double boiler for a mere $2.50! Even my kids thought it was awesome.

Deserving equal excitement is this old metal wall-mountable First Aid cabinet. $6!! I've been yearning for one of these babies for years! Years, I tell you!
It was a piece of rusty gold I plucked from a garage sale in my neighborhood. I brought it home and wiped it down then applied a coat of clear acrylic sealer (stuff I just had in my garage) to make it shine.

I knew Mr. BH was pleased since he added "More First Aid supplies" to the grocery list so we could stock it up. My 9 year old daughter recently became First Aid & CPR certified so she's basically in charge of all the family emergencies from here on out.

I love that it has shelves.

I also found this mirrored brass tray for $3 at Goodwill. For fun, I taped it off and spray painted it blue.

I've been inhaling more than my share of fumes lately...also tagged this old mirror I found back at the beginning of the year.

I guess all the fumes went to my head- I'll show you what I did with that wall tomorrow. Madness ahead, I assure you!

Vintage Barkcloth

2011-05-14T11:21:00.001-05:00

Weekend Honey-Do List:

Hanging these vintage barkcloth curtains in my oldest and purple-obsessed daughter's room!

I bought these at an estate sale a couple months ago. I paid $5 total for all four panels. Total score!

I'm not much of a floral person but on vintage barkcloth, it's delicious.

Wings of Love

2011-05-10T10:32:00.000-05:00

Just a fun quickie project to share....

I found this red wooden heart at Goodwill (.99 cents) but it was too "country" for my taste. So I sketched out some wings on drawing paper...

Then I cut them out and hot-glued them on the back of the heart giving the wings support with some wooden craft sticks.

Then I hung it above my thrifted ($1.99) framed pen & ink drawing of downtown Austin. I love it! It's rather cartoonish.

Teapot Garden Art

2011-05-03T10:53:00.000-05:00

I'm still on the Yard Art kick...
How awesome is this?

via The Tea Master

Thrift Share Monday

2011-05-02T19:32:00.000-05:00

Popping in for Thrift Share Monday...we've been very busy the past 4 days, including an unexpected last visit from my brother's family before they pack up for Mississippi in a couple weeks. We met up with them at his wife's 93 year old grandmother's house. It took a lot of self-control to keep my cool. Vintage Pyrex! Loads of collectibles and, I suspect, a vintage Eames recliner. It would have just been rude for me to turn that baby over to examine it's back end. :)

However, I do have a few other Etsy-bound finds to reveal since the computer managed to eat up the pics of the stuff I found to keep.

Tomato Pitcher

Vintage Disney Tiki Glass

Pink Aluminum Cake Carrier- needs a little love!

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up to Selena's TSM. Come check out her fabulous boots she scored this past weekend!

Austin Art Yards Tour- Part 4

2011-04-26T13:04:00.003-05:00

Yup. There's more.

That's all folks!

Austin Art Yards Tour- Part 3

2011-04-24T18:00:00.002-05:00

See Part 2 here.
Continued for your viewing pleasure...you can click on the pics to make them larger.

Austin Art Yards Tour- Part 2

2011-04-23T13:04:00.000-05:00

See Part 1 here.

More Art Yards Inspiration.....you can click to see them larger.

Austin Art Yards Tour- Part 1

2011-04-22T00:06:00.002-05:00

This past Sunday, we had a fabulous family day out on the town. We hit up multiple stops on the Austin Art Yards Tour and had a blast admiring the creativity in each yard! I hope you can get some ideas for what to do with that junk you picked up but don't know what to do with yet. I got ideas for junk I want to bring home!

The Cathedral of Junk

Words of Wisdom

2011-04-14T22:02:00.000-05:00

Searching for Balance

2011-04-12T12:09:00.001-05:00

You know where I've been? Searching for Balance. She's a bit hard to find these days.

I thought she might be at a nearby estate sale last Friday. She wasn't there. But I did find this lovely lady:

At $3.50, she's about 1/10th of the price of one I had been swooning for over on Etsy. Paper Mache Matryoshka, 1960s-ish. She has a hole for hanging. I wonder what she was originally made to hold. Pencils?

I also found these old apple crates. I almost passed them by but remembered we now have an abundantly producing apple tree. I guess that makes me an apple person. Sure, let's go with that.

They are sitting on top of the IKEA Expedit shelf I bought last week after selling a few of our other thrifted bookshelves that weren't quite cutting the mustard. This baby is deep and holds WAY more books! That's one thing I LOVE about thrifted furniture - you can generally sell the pieces for as much as you paid for them (or more!) so it's like you used them for free. It is super heavy so I wanted to paint the wall behind it before we put it up. It's now some version of Taupe that I quickly decided wouldn't clash with the new tile floor as much as the Morning Sunshine Yellow does. I suck at picking paint. It's an emotional choice for me. I have so many of those and they often change. :)

The apple crates do have lovely labels on the ends. The other one is green. If I ever find the perfect brackets, I'll mount them on the wall as shelves.

Oh look, more apple crap.

It's just so bright and cheery. Plus, I had already passed it up at Goodwill the week before. I finally gave up the "Should I?" battle and brought it home. Old needlework can tug at my heartstrings a bit.

This 1970s "How to Be a Mean Mother" sucked me in! LOOK at the graphics, the font, the colors! LOVE! But the premise behind the "how to" really isn't me as a mother....I'll eventually put it on Etsy after my vintage graphics love affair fades a bit.

I also have a love affair with old metal boxes. Could not pass up this sexy orange one for $1:

This old glass tea jar also had me at "Hello". It'll be great for brewing Kombucha.

Also managed to get a few spray-painted projects started this past week. Finished this one:

I picked up a bunch of old frames from The Bins many months ago. So while perusing the aisles at Michael's, I discovered they sold cork boards sized to fit inside frames. I brought this 11X14 one home knowing it would fit in one of those old frames.

So you can see why I still have not found Balance, I'm too busy searching for good thrift. Perhaps if she were sitting on a shelf for $3, I could bring her home.

Thrifty? Yes.

2011-04-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

My nine year old daughter has taken to cobbling "shoes" for my seven year old son.

And I have taken to growing my first SCOBY {Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast} in an effort to reduce the amount I'm spending on buying Kombucha tea. My favorite is Buddha's Brew which is made here locally. But at $3.50 a bottle for something I want to drink every day. I decided to try being my own brewmaster.

I googled and found some tips over at Organize Happy. The 2.5 gallon glass jar came from Goodwill a while back. The SCOBY has to grow for three weeks before it's ready to brew the first batch of tea. Two more weeks to go. Keeping my fingers crossed I don't screw this up!

A Perfectly Kept House is the Sign of A Misspent Life

2011-03-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

That's my new motto.

Actually, this weekend I finally - for the first time EVER - wandered into the Anthropologie store that opened here in Austin quite some time ago. I have received their catalogs in the mail but I could never really understand the what the big deal was all about. People, I am ready to join your Anthropologie love fest! Not ready to pay the prices, but I'm happy to pay them all of my appreciation. :)

While there, I picked up a copy of Emily Chalmers' Modern Vintage Style.

I had to have it but checked to see how much cheaper it was on Amazon. Waaay...is the answer.

While researching on Amazon, I found this little gem by Mary Randolph Carter:

"How to live creatively with collections, clutter, work, kids, pets, art, etc... and stop worrying about everything being perfectly in its place." Yes, I'll pay for that kind of advice!

I even went to Barnes & Noble first to peruse through their full-priced copy to make sure I wanted to order it online. I saw just enough to make me REALLY want it but left before I ruined the first real read. Thanks to Amazon Prime, it will be here in two days.

Can't. Wait.

Leprechaun Visit

2011-03-17T13:02:00.000-05:00

I didn't get much sleep last night. There was a small red-haired lad causing a ruckus on the other side of the house.

Beistle Leprechaun that I dug out of The Bins for free. I added the green beer to this photo in Picnik. :)

Every year on St. Patty's Eve, he stops by to leave a few items in the "Lucky Buckets". Leprechauns are partial to things that are shiny, you know.

He put chairs on tables, dyed our milk green, and left a shiny trail on the floor.

It also appears he drank too much of that green beer.

love at first sight

2011-03-15T19:08:00.001-05:00

Never knew I had a thing for Danish Vikings until this afternoon at St. Vinny's.

BH Rants

2011-03-15T01:11:00.001-05:00

My pet peeve:

People who sell vintage just like they found it. What's the deal with people not cleaning or dusting something before they sell it? At least put some effort into that profit.

**Add-on:
And I specifically mean stuff that's EASY to clean.
Vintage fabrics, I understand. That's tricky, just let the buyer know beforehand.

Dolls, A Kerfuffle, & A Limping Dog

2011-03-13T18:55:00.002-05:00

I didn't feel like venturing out too far this weekend so I stayed close to home, only hitting a few yard sales and one estate sale. It appears there was a theme to my thrifting!

I came across a yard sale at a neighbor's house where I remembered scoring a vintage metal globe for $1. She was selling her mom's things this time. (I was too chicken to ask whether her mom was still alive or not.) I did learn that her mom used to work in the Physics Department at The University of Texas and when the professors would go overseas, they would bring her back little trinkets.

These nesting dolls each have 6 little sisters inside them.

The kokeshi doll is my fourth. All three wooden dolls above were only 50 cents each. Sweet!

She also had these paper parasols from World Market for the same price.

I hung them from the craft room ceiling. I was inspired by a picture I took with my iPhone last May at a local sushi restaurant.

Not long after, I decided to hit up an estate sale around the corner from my house. It started on Friday and I even thought about popping over first thing in the morning before our day long committment. I didn't make it and I'm sooo glad. It turns out there was a bit of a kerfuffle that first hour on Friday. I know this because people were posting "responses" on CraigsList in the garage sale section about what went down. Something about a sewing machine, a crazy lady screaming and making a scene, and items being stolen. All in the first HOUR! Things were much more tame on Saturday.

The lady that lived there was a bit of a doll maker. She had all kinds of crocheted amigurumi-looking dolls but these three cloth ones were my favorites.

They'll be going in my Etsy shop.

The amusing part of all this is that I don't consider myself a "doll person".

Folk Art thrills me though.

I also picked up this vintage green file box there for $3. It now stores all my reselling invoices, receipts, etc. Love that color!

It's officially "Spring Break" here in Austin. SXSW and Rodeo Austin have also started. You know what that means to us homeschoolers? Too many peeps in our way. It's time to actually stay home!

But that's okay because we have a limping dog to tend to. Not sure what happened to our sweet Marley but I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's not a torn ligament as our vet thinks it may be. That would call for another surgery. She just had one last month to remove an eyelid tumor. We'll find out in a few days. I wish we could put her on our PPO!

(That green sign behind her is the stolen sign of a street my grandfather named after me, "Angela Drive". Not quite sure where to put it so under the bed it goes.)

Hope you are all enjoying lovely weather in your part of the world this week!

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday. Come on over!

Completely Random

2011-03-10T00:44:00.000-06:00

The kids and I headed down to the Central Library today and decided to stop at The Blanton to check out "A Knitted Wonderland". It's just delightfully delicious!

Our new pet did not get to come with us.

I think that's his butt.

He's a Rhinoceros Beetle larva that appeared at our house within 10 minutes of a phone call from a friend. After they left, we researched and discovered that Rhino Beetles can stay in their larval stage for several years! Thanks, "friend"!

B is for Beetle. That reminds me of my fancy tape. Has anyone else discovered the fancy tape at Michael's in the dollar section?

I used to have some with red and green polka dots. Now I have some with the initial 'B" (for Bounty Huntress) and another roll with numbers. They're fun to use on my Etsy packages!

I consider it an act of kindness to send Good Mail. (Great book.)

How Bazaar

2011-03-07T10:53:00.000-06:00

After two weeks of blissfully gorgeous weather, it seemed Spring had sprung early and yard sale season was off to a decent start. Then Saturday morning the weather took a sharp turn towards windy and chilly with a hint of rain! But that kind of weather isn't always a negative especially if it makes one more selective while rushing to beat the down pour.

A few of my favorite finds from a well-stocked church bazaar:

$1.50

Another lady attending this sale told me she had one as a little girl. It's a doll case. I didn't even know until I got home that it still had the key inside. Love!

I was pleased to find this vintage metal globe! This is my third so now I officially have a collection.

I also picked up this vintage chippy display shelf. You should have seen me hobbling across the parking lot carrying all of this plus a box of dishes and Bionicles while rushing against the sounds of a fast approaching storm. Not my finest moment. It was a darn good Quasimoto impression though.

Then around the corner I picked up these frisbee golf discs. There were exactly five so a perfect number for our family. There are several frisbee golf courses here in Austin and we have yet to try out any of them. Couldn't pass these up for under $1 total! But....ahem....one of them needs some "repair" work to make it family friendly.

And on that note... I'll just wish you all a fabulous week!

Linking up to Selena's Thrift Share Monday. Come on over and see what we've all found this past weekend.

Finally have a Facebook Page!

2011-03-06T21:57:00.000-06:00

Our schedule has slowed down for now. Time to get stuff listed in the Etsy shop, plan my Saturday morning saling sprees, and come up with a few clever things to ~~blab~~ blog about each week.

I did get a lot put in the shop over the weekend and took many more pics for items I still need to list. And my first Saturday morning in months was all planned out! It didn't matter though because my third stop was a church bazaar that was crazy insane. So much stuff that I went TWICE within 1 hour! I had to stop to warm up my frozen fingers, grab a hot cocoa, and avoid the downpour that subsequently RUINED tables and tables of books, framed pictures, and a heap load of other stuff. So sad. :(

Found this enamelware turtle trivet at the church bazaar

I also finally figured out I could have a Bounty Huntress Fan Page linked through my regular personal Facebook account. Pop on over if you want. I'd love to check out yours too, if you have one.

Be back tomorrow with my thrift report.

Popping in for a Quickie

2011-02-23T01:36:00.000-06:00

No rest for the thrift-wicked, my friends! I feel like that crazy rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Go, go, go!

This is a busy week but I wanted to pop in with a quick thrift report.

I found these awesome vintage rolling chairs for use at the craft table from Goodwill for $5 each. I can mark them off my 2011 Thrift Wish List now. They'll be easy to recover some time down the road.

Found this cool 2'X3' painting from another Goodwill for $4. It was done in 1978 by a local lady named Elberta Burba. Is that a fun name to repeat over and over again?!

I also snagged this awesome pull down map from Craig's List for only $20. It has two maps, one of the world and one of the US.

I saw this at an estate sale on half-price day. My grandmother had a similar one that she purchased for big bucks at a state fair. It has the 5 different cylindrical blade types and you turn the handle for shredding veggies, cheese, etc. With those funky radial suction cup feet, it's almost atomic-looking.

Hope you guys are all doing and scoring well!

Handmade Valentine Exchange

2011-02-14T00:58:00.002-06:00

I participated in Laura's Handmade Valentine Exchange. The rules said we had to use stuff we already owned or stuff that was thrifted. I'm going to show you what I sent off to the five lucky recipients. In my last minute rush to get them mailed by the send date, I broke out the vintage childrens' book graphics and the Martha Stewart glitter. I went for vintage cheesy-ness.

I won't lie. It was weird getting lovey-dovey with people I've never met. In true Crafty Angela fashion, I cut out the pictures and glued them on without first thinking of something to write inside.

These were easy.

This one kicked my butt. Whoever got this one was probably all "WTF?".

I took cheesy-ness to the extreme with this one. That's what happens when you wait until the last minute to get crafty. Farm animals become sexy.

Lots of fun! Thank you, Laura!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Menu Planning for Zombies

2011-02-11T09:05:00.001-06:00

Like many people (see pics below), I've fallen into the rut of cooking nearly the same thing every week. With so many other "decisions to be made" 24/7, we have morphed into grocery store zombies, mindlessly throwing the same old stuff in the cart every week..

Inspired by this old metal filing box I found months ago, I formulated a plan and quickly spray painted the box so I could get it into action.

It came with 12 dividers for every month of the year and another 31 for each day of the current month. I then bought enough 4" X 6" notecards so that the days numbered 1-31 would each have three cards filed behind it. One each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I also put some extra notecards under specific months for seasonal, birthday, and holiday meal ideas.

I brainstormed roughly 31 (some were repeated) general ideas each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. By general, I mean stuff like "shrimp and rice" or "soup and salad". And below each general idea, I listed a few suggestions like:

Shrimp & Rice- jambalaya; shrimp with Thai lime rice; shrimp fried rice; shrimp curry

Soup & Salad- lentil soup w/ spinach salad; black bean soup w/ taco salad; minestrone w/caesar salad

Then I filed all the general ideas under the days of the month. So on Sundays, when it comes time to grocery shop, the meal planning is already done.

I just have to pick one of the suggestions and figure out what I need to buy.

Boo yah!

At the beginning of every month, I can plug in the special meals for holidays and such. And at anytime we want to give a meal idea the boot, it's as easy as putting in a new notecard.

Of course, I say all this and haven't even used it yet! I'll put it into action starting Sunday and report back at the end of the next week or two. It might take me a while to get into it. I've never had a "system" before.

Do you have one?

Bench Re-Do

2011-02-10T09:58:00.000-06:00

I came across this bench at Goodwill for $20 (it was $50 just the day before) and knew I needed it for this awkward "corner" where our kitchen table goes.

The bench had a few chunks of wood missing on the legs so I sloppily filled those in with wood putty and did some minor sanding to help the primer adhere. This thing is covered in dents and I didn't see the point of making just a few parts look new again. I wanted to finish this project in a timely manner more than I wanted it to be perfect.

Is that a flaw? I'm OK with it, whatever it is.

I then slapped on a few coats of semi-gloss white and called it good. I thought about distressing it but then it got colder and I wanted to park in the garage. Priorities!

This will do for now.

I love what a little paint can do. Don't you?

Lunch is Served

2011-02-09T12:35:00.003-06:00

It's cold. It's hot. It's cold again. Brrr. Hot lentil soup for lunch makes it all better.

I had to stop and admire my thrifted plates and soup bowls.

The soup bowls came from Goodwill and are marked "JAPAN" on the bottom. Love them. The "Golden Meadow" ironstone plates are by Sheffield. I got a whole box of pieces last summer at an estate sale for $5. I've seen the plates online selling for $9 each.

The Dansk "Torun" spoons are from our wedding registry 14 years ago. I fell in love with the Torun ~~(butter knife~~ I'm getting senile...I mean the) fork the night my husband proposed. We had dinner at this small restaurant in Dallas where everything was freshly cooked. They didn't even have freezers (only an ice maker). An empty canopy bedframe sat in the middle of the floor with a table set up in it. Every single chair, plate, spoon, knife, and fork was different. The place oozed charm. I had the most awesome ~~butter knife~~ fork in my hand and I could not stop marvelling at how it felt to hold it. I had to have some of my very own! I miraculously spotted some when we later went to register and we somehow fooled a bunch of people ~~we barely knew~~ our parents knew to purchase the whole set for us. Lucky us.

I have just publicly admitted how much I love my silverware. Does that make me shallow?

Monday Thrift Report

2011-02-07T14:24:00.000-06:00

My only fun find of the weekend! A (partially) enamel covered cast iron pan. It's unmarked, has a teak handle, and only has enamel on the bottom. Otherwise, it's identical to several Copco skillets designed by Michael Lax I've seen online.

Here are a few tips I found about cast iron in my Google search:

How to Identify Cast Iron Cookware Marks

Tips for Collecting Griswold

How to Clean a Cast Iron Skillet

How to Clean Rusty Cast Iron

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday. Come check out what everyone has found!

Are your ears burning?

2011-02-01T20:48:00.000-06:00

Did you know you can sign up on Google Alerts to find out when other blogs mention yours?
You can use it for pretty much anything you want to keep tabs on really.

Pretty handy, eh?

New Blog Header? Picnik in the Park

2011-02-01T01:50:00.000-06:00

Um, hello?

Why am I only now discovering Picnik? Seriously.

Want a new blog header? Easy as apple pie on Picnik!!

And for FREE. To upgrade to premium service for access to extra bells and whistles is only $25 per year.

It's so much fun I have been sitting here Picnik-ing for 3 hours. It's now 2AM and I am forcing myself to go to bed.

A Furniture Seller's Guide

2011-01-30T19:57:00.002-06:00

Click to see it larger...

Found this here

You see the humor, yes? :)

Aunt Betty, Is that you?

2011-01-29T16:08:00.003-06:00

Imagine strolling into Goodwill to find large boxes full of 1970s-80s photography, someone's life work. You casually thumb through a few and...... BAM! There's your Great Aunt Betty staring right at you.

Aunt Betty is the hippest relative I have ever known. She was the youngest of her siblings (my grandfather was the oldest) and she always knew what was up! The raunchy note she wrote to me years ago in my 21st birthday card made my jaw drop, but simultaneously made me feel all grown up. I totally inherited my dirty sense of humor from her (which I have been pretty good about editing out of this blog!)

If this isn't my Great Aunt Betty, then I seriously think she had a twin older sister she never knew about. My Aunt Betty is around 70 years old now so if I do the math with the 1978 date on the back, that would put her at 37 in this photo. I'm pretty sure this foxy lady is much older than 37....unless she was a serious sun worshipper...the kind that laid out daily using mayonnaise as a tanning oil. (People used to do that in the deep south!)

I had to bring her home and post her on my (second) cousin's Facebook page. I'm still waiting to hear the verdict. (It's not her...but I totally see her everytime I look at it. It's not going anywhere!)

Suitcase Re-Do

2011-01-27T15:25:00.001-06:00

My girls are participating in Destination Imagination this year and I've been toting around a thrifted vintage suitcase full of supplies for their practice Instant Challenges (part of the competition). I grew tired of constantly opening it on the wrong side and having half the items fall out- so I made a plan to remedy the situation!

I was inspired by the gorgeous upcycled train cases at Etsy's Remixed Vintage.
Check out Judy hard at work:

Armed with scrapbook paper, Modge Podge, and the girls' DI team name, "Peace Out", I quickly drew a large peace sign using a compass and ruler. Then I cut it out with an X-acto knife and slapped it on with a few ~~sloppy~~ layers of Modge Podge. Presto Chango!!

Now I always know to open the suitcase with the peace sign on top.

Catching Up...

2011-01-26T18:01:00.002-06:00

The hubster turned the big 4-0 yesterday. His mom kid-sat while we had some wonderful Indian cuisine at The Clay Pit and saw 'No Strings Attached' with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher (pretty funny!).

The we came home to eat the most awesomest and moistest gluten-free chocolate cake baked by our 9 year old.

Over the past week, I managed to score a few points for awesome thrift.

Now in Etsy Shop: MCM Wooden Serving Tray

Vintage Lefton Pixie Shamrock Mug $1

Wagner Ware Glass Lid - Highly in search of by all those people who are crazy about Wagner Ware Cast Iron Pans! They have numbers on the edge to identify their size.

Vintage 1980s LIGHT UP Globe- It's gorgeous at night! $5 at GW.

A RedMan Picnic basket to sit on top of the Hawkeye basket I found last summer. Checkout my $8 side table with two layers of gorgeous storage!!

Now in Etsy Shop: Vintage Aluminum Cake Stand

Also, I drew names for my clutter giveaway last week. I emailed everyone who won. Thanks so much for playing!

Linking up to Linda's Junkin' Finds Friday! Come play along!!

Ella's Charity: Water

2011-01-23T14:16:00.001-06:00

My niece, Ella, has given up her 8th birthday this year in order to raise money and awareness for Charity: Water.
She's asking her family, friends, and anyone else with a kind heart to donate at least $8 in honor of her birthday. Her goal is to raise $5000 and she has plans (with my 9 yr old) to have a bake sale to help reach that amount.
Her fundraising page is HERE.
If you make it over there to donate, please tell her Bounty Huntress sent you. She'll be super excited and very appreciative!

Image Selling: What are the How-Tos? And where do I find them?

2011-01-19T18:47:00.001-06:00

I found a neat old book published in 1912 meant for interior designers. It has many lovely illustrations of period furniture from "the Days of Ancient Egypt to the Present Time".

I know many people scan old images and sell them online but I have no idea how to do this.

I have a scanner but am clueless about what the best programs to use to do this are. I am also not quite sure what the laws are or where to find them. I've heard all is fair game for anything published before a certain date. But that date seems to change depending on the source.

Does anyone else do this? Would you mind sending a few pointers my way? Or if you could point me in the direction to find accurate information, that would be great. Many thanks!

PIF on Etsy

2011-01-18T13:09:00.000-06:00

There are many sellers on Etsy who offer items for only 20 cents (the listing cost) plus the cost of shipping.

You can find these items by searching under "PIF". In return, you "pay it forward" and list something for free or do an act of kindness for a stranger.

I'm listing my first PIF today, this snail planter I found at a flea market last summer.

In the spirit of decluttering, I only want to keep my favorite of the two I found. The bigger one used to freak me out but now he gets my freak on. He wooed me and I fell for his charms.

The little guy is listed here. Go see what kind of great Etsy deals you can find and then Pay It Forward!

By the way, my other clutter give-a-way is still happening here. Noone has claimed the books yet. Bueller? Bueller? I'll pick the lucky "winners" on Friday.

Happy Birthday, Ben! (and ramblings about my couch)

2011-01-17T17:43:00.001-06:00

It's not every morning I receive a text that says to go look on my porch. Imagine my surprise when I open the door to find this lovely sight next to a "Happy Birthday" bag of gluten free peanutbutter chocolate chip cookies:

Ben on my $2 chippy chair

Delighted, indeed! But confused....It's not my birthday. As it turns out, a dear and very clever friend thrifted this pitcher back on November and has been saving it until today to deliver it to me. Thanks, C!

Today would have been Benjamin Franklin's 305th birthday! I am nutty about Ben but had not memorized his birthday. I started swooning over him, not in my boring memorize-the-dates high school history class, but when my oldest daughter was 6 yrs old and had an interest in early US history. We had so much fun reading real history books, watching movies, and making colonial crafts! I would have had no problem swooning over Ben's charm and wit back in the day. I could have easily overlooked his gout. :)

As far as my weekend thrift report, I am pleased to announce that I can cross off a few things from my 2011 Thrift Wish List!

I found this gaudy mirror at Goodwill for $4.99. It's marked "Made Italy" on the back. Now I just have to pick a crazy color to paint it.

I also found some wool rugs...not thrifted but got some great deals.

This one came from Ikea. They were having the "eat in our restaurant and then deduct that amount from your total due" sale.

This one came from World Market. It was on sale for 30% off and we used money that my in-laws had given us for Christmas. We ended up only $82 out of pocket for a 6ft X 9ft wool rug. Not bad. (Pardon the little Wii-playing boy feet.)

So imagine my thrill when I come across these nearly brand spankin' new feather-down pillows from Crate and Barrel at Goodwill for $3.99 each that go so well with the rug. The covers zip off and are machine washable ( a must for me since "sanitized by Goodwill" gives me the heebie jeebies to think about what that means chemical-wise).

The leather sectional was also thrifted off Craig's List last Spring for $500. I had never wanted a leather couch as they didn't sound warm and inviting to me at all.

In fact, right before baby #1 came home, we had purchased a very nice sofa from a very nice furniture store. We had it Scotch-guarded and all that. I was looking forward to spending lots of warm snuggly time with my baby on that nice and cozy couch. And over the next five years, I did spend LOTS of time on that couch. Nursing in the day. In the middle of the night. With tired, cranky babies. With sick babies. In a comatose state from baby care exhaustion.

No one warned me that diapers do not contain all of the "hazardous waste" that often results from various viruses. Or that little babies can puke with amazing force for long distances. (Any newly expecting moms out there? Take warning! Don't bother with a new couch.)

The new ones we bought to replace it were also obliterated after 5 years with 3 kids and dogs. How I longed for a couch that was easily cleaned and didn't readily absorb dirty dog smell and attract dog hair.

I love our thrifted leather sectional! It's not the most modern style I would prefer, but it meets all of my other criteria for easy living these days.

What have you thrifted that makes your life easier?

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday. Come join the fun!

Clutter: From My House to Yours

2011-01-14T21:36:00.000-06:00

In my mission to reduce the thrift induced clutter around here, I promised a give-a-way.

If you want my clutter, let me know. That simple.

If there are multiple clutterbugs, I'll pick someone next week.

I have 4 items on the chopping block:

1.) Vintage Nevco Mushroom Cutting Board

I love mushrooms but I find these kind of freaky. Faces on mushrooms might be more than I can take. I found it at The Bins and brought it home ONLY because it says "Made in Yugoslavia" on the back. Well, I had never thrifted anything from Yugoslavia before and I wanted to add this to my World Traveler by Thrift page. Done! Now who LOVES creepy-faced fungi and wants this for FREE? Someone's selling one on Etsy right now for $20.

2.) Next up we have a small lot of flawed embroidered linens that are best used as cutters. They could be used to make a real cute bunting!

3.) A lot of three vintage paperback children's books. Adorable graphics, I promise!

4.) Vintage (obviously) children's records. Caveat: I do not own a record player so I have not checked them to see what kind of condition they are in Two of them are just records, the other 5 have read-a-long illustrated books included. I'd like to send these all to one person.

Thanks for playing! Hope you all have a nice and toasty weekend!

Thrifted Craft Room

2011-01-10T13:01:00.000-06:00

There's this room in the middle of our house (est. 1976) that's kind of useless. About half of the floor space needs to be clear for travelling to the kitchen and travelling to the living room, which ends up being a 'Y' shaped travel path. There's also an oddly placed fireplace and very little room for furniture.

I have been struggling with the purpose for this room since we bought this house. I have also wrestled with wanting to have a nicely decorated house but with homeschooling, it makes more sense to make every square foot practically designed. This means STORAGE. Lots of book storage, hoarded homeschooling suppplies storage, craft storage, library materials storage. Everything needs to be functional, flexible, practical, and budget-friendly. Several tables to start (and then leave out) projects are vital. You really don't want to be having multiple meals around mounds of clay, paint, wood scraps, etc.

A few months ago I decided that middle room would become devoted to craft use and homeschooling supply storage. I started by having an old dilapidated closet turned into a built-in bookshelf. This now holds all of our homeschooling-ish books arranged by subjects. I'd say 98% of the items on this shelf were all thrifted.

Then we got in new tile floors that runs through the entire front of the house. I can't tell you how happy these make me!

After we cleared the construction dust, we cleared the garage of some storage cabinets we got on Craig's List a couple months ago. I *wanted* to paint them but reality set in of how much I had to do right before Christmas. So maybe one day...

I still have a lot of organizing to do in the cabinets but yesterday I scored these old Steelmaster drawers for $5 at Goodwill! The top wasn't painted the same color so I just placed some oil cloth on top with mounting squares and called it a day. They fit in the middle cabinet and now perfectly hold paper ephemera, stencils, and paper cutting tools.

The fireplace (which is darn near useless here in Central Texas) is something I try not to look at it. When we first bought the house, the previous owners had covered up that limestone in plaster and had glued on some white molding. Crazy, weird, and pretty ugly. The Hubster cheerfully chipped off all the plaster last summer but we discovered the mortar is in pretty bad shape and the hearth is missing! With all the other stuff that needs done around here, this fireplace isn't high on priority so I repurposed it for game storage and art display. I'm still looking for a low round table for nearby game playing. That leather Barcalounger also came from Craig's List for $75.

On the other side of the room, I set up a craft table I found on Craig's List for $50. It's a beautiful trestle table that will be refinished in the warmer months. The two task lamps I found at Goodwill for $6 each and all the storage containers were thrifted as well. Yesterday, I snagged that Pier 1 shelf from Goodwill for only $16. It holds all of our craft books and the blue sewing box ($2 garage sale find) holds the glue guns and glue sticks. I still need to find some stools on casters that will work double duty between the craft table and the game table I haven't found yet.

It feels nice to finally be having it all put together so that we can use this room for purposes other than just walking through it to get to somewhere else. It feels even better that it was easy on the pocket book!

I'm linking up to Thrift Share Monday over at Apron Thrift Girl. Come join the fun!

You Get My Thrift?

2011-01-06T21:54:00.000-06:00

I'm making headway. I'm starting to tackle the big scary corner of hoarded Etsy-bound thrift!

I wanted to share a few of my favorite things I stashed away MONTHS ago with nary a mention.
(Who else uses words when typing they never use while talking??! I never say "nary").

First, I found these beautiful vintage bird pedestal mugs (by Fred Roberts Co) at Goodwill. I only found five and that greatly disturbed me. I KNEW there had to be a 6th so I went back the next day and there it was "perched" on the top shelf just waiting for me. They were covered in years of dust from never being used. So sad.

Then there's this gorgeous mid-century chip and dip set. (Only $1 and it came with 5 vintage bamboo forks.) Behold, the swanky beauty!

And speaking of swank....Check. This. Out.

I don't know why I didn't take it out of the package to show you. I guess I needed a model.
I may keep this myself. It's perfectly designed for blogging, don't you think? Need a straw though. :)

And lastly, a little find I dug up last week. Six Ben Seibel plates! I've reading about Ben Seibel for months over at Apron Thrift Girl but have never knowingly laid my eyes upon any until now. Thank you Selena! They are lovely!

Always fun to share. Looking forward to catching up with all of you!

I'm linking up to A La Carte's Junkin Finds Friday. Come on over!

Thrift Wish List 2011

2010-12-31T15:49:00.002-06:00

Van, over at Thrift Core, has inspired me to make a Thrift Wish List for the new year.
Perhaps I will even write it out and mail it to "The Thrift Gods".

Drum roll, please....

My Top 10 Thrift Wish List Items for 2011 are......(in no particular order)

10. A large credenza or cabinet to store all of my "to be listed on Etsy or eBay" items.

9. An L-shaped desk with drawers. Currently, our desk has no storage.

8. A round coffee table to put in the "homeschooling/craft/game" room.

7. I would prefer to thrift some nice wool rugs that I love so I don't have to shell out the big bucks.

6. A few chairs or a bench to put around the craft table so we can stop dragging in the kitchen table chairs.

5. More vintage paper garlands...I've started a new collection!

4.More fun storage containers for the craft storage cabinets.

3. Some large planters- 4 to be exact.

2. More European folk art- delicious!

1. Some really gaudy ornate frames that I can spray paint a bright fun color.

and of course LOTS of the awesomely UNEXPECTED that makes this gig SO MUCH FUN!

What are you jonesing for this year?

Vintage Storage

2010-12-30T14:20:00.004-06:00

In the midst of my New Year's decluttering episode, I stopped to Google "vintage storage".

Be still my beating heart! I just had to share.

Found this GORGEOUS (as Tamarah would say), not to mention GENIUS, dollhouse setup over at Country Living that got me all excited:

The fun doesn't stop there. Look at THIS that I found over here:

I just LOVE that tall tiered tin thing!

Thought you'd enjoy that. Now back to cleaning and organizing...

Garage Sale America by Bruce Littlefield

2010-12-29T22:28:00.000-06:00

Behold! Look what I spied with my little eye on the clearance rack at Half Price Books.

Although published in 2007, I had never heard of this book so it's quite a little treasure in my thrifty eyes. (Especially to the tune of $2.40!)
I've only just barely peeked at the pages but I can tell it's chock full of thrift porn!

Has anyone else read it? You likey?
Must go make a cup of tea and curl up on the couch with this book now!

Mission: Reduce Thrift Induced Clutter

2010-12-27T12:52:00.000-06:00

It feels terribly satisfying to say that I am glad Christmas is over. We had way too much going on this month and Christmas became yet another item to check off of my to-do list.

Note to self: Don't let that happen again next year.

I plan on spending the next week decluttering and reorganizing. Woo hoo! Nothing like a fresh start to a new year. The thrift induced amount of clutter is way out of hand.

I started by hanging up a small collection of paintings (and one small piece of embroidery) in our bedroom.

It feels good to have those out of the spaces they only occupied because I didn't quite know what to do with them yet.

This year I plan to have a designated "waiting space" for projects. I can't take them scattered about the house anymore. I'd love an office but that will probably have to wait until a kid leaves the nest.

I'll be having a few giveaways also because after I have rescued things from the thrift, sometimes it's hard to give them back. I'd rather pass them on to someone who would enjoy them. So stay tuned!

Something Fishy

2010-12-19T17:15:00.000-06:00

I found this super cute covered fish bowl about a year ago. Nothing came up when I googled it then but I've always been curious as to why it was a covered fish bowl. Seemed a little odd.

Today I found a bag of orange flavored mints to put in it and decided to give the googling a go again.

Mystery solved! It's actually a vintage Treasure Craft cookie jar so the lid makes perfect sense.

(Via eBay)

Me-YOW! It must be from the 1980s.

And oh look, they made a Kermie one too.

(Via Worthpoint)

And Pinnochio, too.

(Via eBay)

Do you use a cookie jar in your house? I don't see the point as cookies never have to sit around waiting to get eaten here. :)

Seen at Goodwill

2010-12-14T07:25:00.004-06:00

My brain went straight from seeing this in Goodwill to singing this new version of a commercial that's been stuck in my head for far too long.

♫ I can bring home the baby Jesus...ba dum da dum dum..... ♫

♪ Fry it up up in a pan......ba dum da dum dum ♪

Does anyone else ever do this while strolling the aisles?

Treasure Trackin'

2010-12-13T17:39:00.000-06:00

I stopped by the Austin Antique Mall the other day hoping to score something cool to give as a Christmas present.

I almost left without anything but the last few booths I perused proved worth while.

First, I laid my eyes on this vintage "made in Japan" Santa *pitcher*!! I have been collecting the mugs for months but have never, ever seen a pitcher. Even at 30% off, this was a most definite splurge but I went for it since I had funds in my Paypal account, consoling myself that I only spent pocket change on all the mugs in my collection. $27 after the discount. Technically not a gift but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

We haven't even started decorating for Christmas this year. Currently half of the house is completely empty, only bare floors and walls. Echooooooo. The furniture, etc. is all thrown in the garage until our new floors are finished being installed. So yeah...Christmas will have to wait. On the plus side, since I didn't drag this all out before Thanksgiving, I won't be so eager to take it all down as soon as the gifts are all unwrapped.

I also spotted this vintage NHL hockey game priced at only $35. As soon as I saw the two teams represented were the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs (Why isn't it "Leaves"??), it was a no brainer. I was pretty sure my dual-citizen husband would love it.

I was right so it was an early Christmas present for him since it was too big to hide. The kids have been having a blast with the puck they made from aluminum foil.

Only 10 shopping days left and I've only just begun.

Reminds me of that old Jeff Goldblum movie, "The Fly". We watched a translated version in a college German class once and I was forever left with the image of the little fly squealing, "Hilfst mir! Hilfst mir!"

That's how I feel right now. Oh, the pressure.

Got My Fix

2010-12-13T09:29:00.000-06:00

As soon as I awoke last Friday morning in my own bed for the first time in two weeks, I began plotting.
I decided I would be the one to go pick up the dogs from the kennel. And I would go alone and leave an extra ninety minutes earlier. I desperately needed a thrift fix.

I was lucky enough to spot these vintage "made in Japan" tiered serving plates for $2.99 at Goodwill. That was just the kind of hit I was looking for. It had been too long!!

(Although, I was able to hit three thrift stores on our journey- one each in Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana- I found almost nothing which made my withdrawal symptoms much, much worse. Poor me.)

I did bring home this owl cup to use for craft supply storage. Cute and only 99 cents.

This is a vintage desk organizer. It spins and is covered in cork so it will be fun to display photos or other small collectibles. 50 cents.

Feeling much better now, thanks.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been finding over at Thrift Share Monday.
Come join the fun!

Road Trip Side Trips

2010-12-12T11:42:00.000-06:00

On our trip to Walt Disney World and back, we fit in a couple of impromptu side trips. On the way there, we stopped to tour the USS Alabama Battleship.

The six year old could not contain his excitement. This was the ultimate fulfillment of his active imaginary world complete with the sound effects of battle. :)

The Hubster totally got into it as well.

On the way home, we barely made it down the road before we passed a pick-your-own citrus grove.....only 15 minutes before I told my husband, "It's sacrilegious to leave Florida without stopping at a fruit stand." It was meant to be. I fell more in love with that place with each passing moment.

How could I not? The Showcase of Citrus is family owned and ORGANIC. They have tons of stuff to do besides picking fruit. Visitors can also play on the playground, feed chickens, go fishing, take a swamp buggy eco-tour, have a picnic and stroll through the country store sampling all kinds of deliciousness.

Personally, they had me at "you-pick organic". But the jars of raw honey and the pot full of hot boiled peanuts clenched the deal for me- total childhood comfort food regression.

I indulged in the largest jar of their saw palmetto honey. My grandfather used to be a beekeeper and it was fascinating every summer to watch him calm the bees with smoke and remove the honeycomb. He'd then break it into large chunks and let the liquid gold drain over cheesecloth covered buckets. I can still close my eyes and get all weak-kneed over the smell of raw honey.

We eventually loaded up the car with the jar of honey, a huge bag of red navel oranges, some chocolate chip banana bread, some honey sticks, and a big honkin' cup of boiled peanuts for the driver.

We did pass on one thing though.....

Home Sweet Home

2010-12-10T14:41:00.000-06:00

There's nothing like seeing one of these signs after driving over 2700 miles and being gone for 14 days.

YEE HAW, people!

I. am. HOME.

We drove to Florida and spent 3 days hanging out with my mom before spending a week at Disney. I have overdosed on all things Disney-related and I'm good for at least another 6-10 years.

We had three beautiful days when we first arrived but the day we started at the parks, the cold front came in. Brrrrrrr. We all got sick but we powered through with cold medicine and even took a day off in the middle for some rest.

We finally made it home late last night. When the 6 year old awoke, he excitedly said "Mom, I have, like, a hundred things to tell you! Number one: Walt Disney World isn't my favorite place. Home is!"

Me too, little guy. Me too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T07:21:00.001-06:00

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your weekend is overflowing with joy, love, and contentment.

The BH family will soon be off on another adventure...

(hint, hint)

Y'all take care now.

A Clever Title Eludes Me Today

2010-11-22T23:44:00.000-06:00

My husband spotted these cool glass pitchers at Goodwill the other day. $1.99 each.

They are made in Italy which means they are frag-eee-lay. You've seen "A Christmas Story", right?
Here's a short clip that will fill you in on that joke, if not.

I also recently pulled this vintage wooden tray table with folding legs out of The Bins. It had a watermark but I removed that by putting a towel over the mark and then running a hot iron over it. Presto chango! It's probably from the 1940s.

In other news, I have been up to my ears in sawdust and dirt lately. We recently had a shallow closet turned into a built-in bookcase and we're getting ready to have new floors installed in half the house (insert happy dance) so we've been pulling up the carpet ourselves to save a few bucks. O.M.G. Have you SEEN what is under your carpet?! Egads!

Our house was built in 1976 and before I yanked them out, this main living area closet had bi-fold louvered doors and the original shelves that were in disrepair. Not so groovy.

I had been saving most of the money I earned on Etsy and eBay these past few months and decided to use it on this closet. I hired a guy to to turn it into a built-in bookshelf. It's 7 feet tall and the shelves are 16.5" deep. Waaaay better.

When he left, it looked like this.

I have been busy painting it myself for the past week or so. (I'm cheap like that.) Alllllmost done. One more coat should do it.

Can't wait to fill it up! Got any projects you are trying to power through before the holidays? Wishing you many productive work days ahead!

Also, linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday. Come on over!

Woot!

2010-11-20T00:43:00.000-06:00

My vintage Lefton Skier Boy just made it to Etsy's front page. Exciting!

How did I know? I signed up here to be notified. The Vutrac app is also mighty nifty. Check it out if you have an Etsy store.

This just in.

2010-11-16T23:26:00.001-06:00

Just got "invited" to the estate sale of "Richard from Texas". This feels weird...a wacked intersection of sorts. Maybe I can make it by because it sounds like he was a wonderful guy who had great taste...and then I'll have to go back and finish that book. I got stuck in India and never made my way through the rest of it.

*************************************************

THE ESTATE OF RICHARD VOGT

"RICHARD FROM TEXAS" in the book EAT, PRAY, LOVE

Nov. 20 an Nov. 21

at Richard's East side home:

FULL CONTENTS OF HOME AND GARAGE

It's not often that an East Austin home remodeler is a guest on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," but Richard Vogt had a special relationship with the book-touting talk queen and her audience. Known to millions as "Richard From Texas," the wise Bubba of Elizabeth Gilbert's best-seller "Eat Pray Love," Vogt provided colorful homespun wisdom ("you gotta stop wearing a wishbone where your backbone should be") to Gilbert's spirituality-seeking memoir.

Vogt died suddenly Thursday. "He had just returned from a trip to India and passed away in his sleep," friend Kimberley Stroup said. He was 62. Stroup said Vogt had long-term heart problems.

A film version of "Eat Pray Love," with Julia Roberts as Gilbert and Richard Jenkins (Nathaniel Fisher on "Six Feet Under") as Vogt, is in production.

Read more of Michael Corcoran's column on Richard here: www.statesman.com/.../man-added-texas-color-to-best-selling-eat-324032.html

We are proud to be handling the estate of Richard "Dick" Vogt. He did many things in life including solar panel salesman, a home remodeler, operated a Birkenstock store. He was a believer in nutrition and natural remedies, an outdoors and camping dude, a fly fisherman, a meticulous man and dapper rake, a spiritual journeyman, disciple and master. Immortalized in a best selling book, Richard was always, a lover of the finer things in life.

SPECTACULAR SHOP/GARAGE FULL :

Hand and power tools, Camping, Earthquake gas powered post hole driller w. 10" & 6.5" bit, Sears clamp on inductive timing light, Medallion engine analyzer, 1000 watt Brushless Generator gas pull start, 2 new Rain Barrels, Fly fishing poles, Nishiki 7 speed mountain bike Manitoba Project, NordikTrak Fitcycle SR-E, Reddy Heater 55 (55,000 BTU), Generac Residential pressure washer 2300 psi w/. two wands, Kenmore dehumidifier 50 pints, Portable Air Tank, TOOLS OLD AND NEW, a meticulous garage with more and more of what you might expect to find in a dream garage ALL IN EXCELLENT CONDITION

APPLIANCES:

electric Splendide comb-o-matic 6000 white washer & dryer (often used aboard boats) , electric Maytag Performa washer

IN HOME:

Rustic Pine bookshelves and entertainment unit, colorful rugs, ornate Victorian floor lamp, Pine blanket chest with metal straps, Rustic pine desk comprised of filing cabinets and beveled glass, Antique Dresser, Assorted Tables and Lamps, 6' Elfa covered wardrobe storage, adjustable oak piano stool with claw and ball feet, General Household and Kitchen items, Depression Glass, Cobalt glass, Collector Plates, Carnival Glass, Cut glass, Linens, towels, luggage, frames, pictures, small appliances,

ELECTRONICS:

Panasonic 5 disc DVD changer CV50, Sony Receiver STR-DE345, Go Video combo VHS-DVD player, Bose speakers 210's, numerous shortwave radios, solar and battery powered radios, Polk dx 3055 component series, Kicker separates, RCA television.

Also a vintage porch glider, antique architectural elements, smalls, jewelry, a collection of primitive fishing lures, many mementos and more.

EX-LIBRIS RICHARD VOGT

Antique and collectable books, CDs, DVDs, Cassettes: Hundreds of books: home improvement and remodeling, green building and energy, alternative nutrition and health, natural remedies, survival, gardening, private press. Texe Marr, Robert Gaylon Ross, Irwin Schiff, David Icke, L. LaRouche.

Images, writings and recordings of Siddha Yoga and Spiritual Masters: Muktananda, Chidvilasananda, Mahayatra, Nityananda, ISHA, etc.

Finally Tons of Beautiful Designer Men's XL Clothing and hats, makers like Land's End, L.L. Bean, Neiman's (Italy) , Zegna, Turnbury, Columbia, Pendleton, Marzotto, Burberry, Jhane Barnes, Armani, Barry Bricken, Pusser's, Waist sizes: 36 - 38, Shirts: XXL - XLT. Leather Shoes and western boots: size 11 to 12D Justin, Florshiem, Coast, Cole Hahn, etc. Also from another consignment S and M designer clothing including Versace and Armani

All Sales Final ~ Cash ONLY

SAT: 9am - 4pm SUN: 10am - 4 pm (1/2 Price Day)

The house is small and entry will be limited.

"Terribly sad news. My dear friend Richard from Texas has passed away. He had been a heart patient for years, and it finally caught up with him. He passed away quietly, at home, with a smile on his face. There was no sign of struggle or pain. (I can just hear him saying, "Don't make a big production out of it, Groceries.") As everyone who read 'Eat, Pray, Love' knew, Richard was one of a kind. He was a guardian to my life at a moment when I needed a great deal of care, and I know that his delightful and sometimes twisted words of wisdom have touched the lives of countless others, as well. One last teaching from the master: I once asked Richard if he was afraid of death. He said, "The only thing I know for sure about death is that it seems to take most people by surprise." But I don't think death took Richard by surprise, nor did he fear it. I think he saw death coming, walked right up to it and shook its hand. I think he made friends with it. That was his way. I hope I someday have the grace to do the same. I loved this man with all my heart, and I will never forget him."

-LIZ GILBERT (AUTHOR OF "EAT, PRAY, LOVE")

Please join us. We hope to see you there.

-Joe, Millie and the A.E.S. staff.

Ain't she a real beaut?

2010-11-15T11:23:00.000-06:00

I stumbled across this lovely lady on Saturday morning. I was sold when I saw her shiny black keys and the name "Underwood".

At only $9, she's a real steal! My hubby beat me to the research (He's a genealogy geek...) and found The Typewriter Database where he discovered she's a Portable Universal and dates to 1940.

With the exception of the disintegrated rubber feet, she's in pretty good condition. Now I'm off to research where to get vintage typewriter ribbon...

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl this week for Thrift Share Monday. Come join the fun!

Framing Flowers & Fornication

2010-11-11T12:38:00.000-06:00

(I do so love alliteration...)

I'm tired and moving real slow today. Hubby and I were up way too late Californicating last night. Heh, heh, couldn't resist that one. Finally on Season 3 with Rick Springfield. Love Netflix!

However, I did manage to finish yet another small project this morning.

This $2 vintage embroidery kit from 1977 came from a thrift store several months ago. I completed it early last month in 3 days and found the perfect 25 cent iron frame for it at a garage sale over the summer.

Voila!

I'm on a roll now.

Wanted: Rainbow Connection

2010-11-10T20:31:00.000-06:00

Quiet, well-mannered frog free to good home. New owner to fill out adoption application. Must have blonde hair and snout nose to be approved.

Project RunAway?

2010-11-10T09:17:00.000-06:00

So I've been trying to stay afloat in a sea of not-enough-time-on-my-hands/too much thrift-induced clutter. You know how it's just too tempting to not pick up all the fabulous "projects" and then you bring them home and stick them whereever until you "get to it". With our crazy Fall homeschooling semester sucking up my me-time and the many fruits of my spectacular summer thrifting scattered about, it just got UGLY over here. I may have had a mini bout of extremus overwhelmed-itis.

I have even missed out on saling the past two weekends due to other committments. Thankfully, the thrift stores are keeping me from gnawing off my foot, as Erin says.

And now that I have actually had a few moments to finish something, it feels good. So good that I can't wait to pick what duty I will forsake next just so I can finish another project. Life's all about priorities, right?

It was good I picked an easy one to finish. Baby steps.

I have these three cigar boxes I picked up for under $1 each. I sprayed them all with a coat of semi-gloss polyurethane. Then I used double-sided tape to line the inside bottoms with oilcloth for easy cleaning. They also needed pulls for opening so I made some out of thrifted ric-rac with hot glue and covered the unattractive glue gobs with a black circle of felt.

They currently reside in the bathroom holding cosmetics and such. I like storage that costs about $2.50 and offers a little graphic punch to boot.

Now back to my project hoarding problem. Do you have a system for all the thrifty projects you bring in each week? Or do you sometimes fantasize about backing up a dumptruck to your house to just make it all go away?

Manly Men: Auction Hunters

2010-11-08T13:11:00.000-06:00

Many moons ago, the local Austin Statesman ran a fascinating article about auctions at unclaimed storage units where people bid on these abandoned units without really knowing what's inside them. I was completely intrigued and wanted to know more just as any hardcore thrifter would be.

So of course, I'm super excited to watch the new show, Auction Hunters, which is all about this unique version of treasure hunting. Make sure you watch the sneak peek. Total thrift-adrenaline rush!

It's based on these guys. Meet Allen and Ton.

Meet "Ton" and Allen | SpikeTV | SPIKE.com

Want to know a little more?

What is Auction Hunting? | SpikeTV | SPIKE.com

The show starts tomorrow night on Spike (which my husband calls "The Manly Man" station.)

That's Tuesday at 10pm/9 CST with back-to-back episodes. There are 8 episodes in this series so make sure you catch them all. I will!

Not Free Pot...But Still Cool.

2010-11-01T18:14:00.000-05:00

What's cooler than free pot?

Well, free canvas art, of course!

The Canvas People has a mission to get one of these in every home.

Click HERE for the limited offer. Not sure how long this will last folks!

I hastily sent in this:

If you look close enough, you can see dog poop. Real nice...

FREE POT on my curb

2010-10-31T12:35:00.000-05:00

Finally, I have given up my dream of having a lush container garden on my front porch.
I kept a few favorites and put the rest of the pots on the curb just so I could make this sign:

That's a smokin' deal. Don't you agree? :)

Weekend Report

2010-10-26T22:28:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I found some vintage Christmas trays. 25 cents each. I've shoved them in a garage cabinet along with all the other vintage Christmas items I've found this past year. In a month, I can bring it all out and it'll be like...Christmas, since I have very little memory of what I have stashed away.

I also found some vintage Hallmark owl stationary. Cute. $1.

And a bag with yards of notions for only 50 cents.

I plucked this painting off the shelf at Goodwill for $1.99. Just something about it I liked. It's signed "G.L. Woodall" on the front and "Jerry Woodall 1938" on the back.

I painted the frame. I hope Jerry doesn't mind.

Painted the frames on these PBNs I bought for $1 each a few weeks ago also. Here's their before.

And while I'm at it, here's the extent of how far I've gotten with my Love Shrine project.

I have a huge stash of stuff to list on Etsy calling my name behind me. I'd rather paint something. Next up, a wooden lamp.

What are you procrastinating these days?

Gourd Detoured

2010-10-26T09:49:00.002-05:00

My whole life I have strongly disliked cooked squash. It didn't matter what kind: acorn, butternut, spaghetti, zucchini, yellow, etc. They all smelled bad and had slimy texture. I could dry heave just thinking about the smell.

I could do with the occasional piece of pumpkin pie around the holidays, of course.

When I was dating and engaged to my husband, his mom would often cook some kind of squash when we ate at their house. I sucked it up, not wanting to be rude, and always took a small portion to put on my plate. I then took the smallest bite ever so I could give a fake smile, lie and say how good it was. After we tied the knot, I gleefully announced, "Now that we're married, I am not eating your mom's squash anymore." One of the best days of my life. ;)

Over the years she wore me down a bit. That Thanksgiving acorn squash dish she makes started to actually taste and smell good. And perhaps reading the HEAB food blog for the past year or two has helped expose me to different ways to eat squash also.

Whatever it was, it finally happened. Last week I started insanely craving squash. I went to the store and bought two organic baking pumpkins, an acorn squash, and a butternut squash. I started with the pumpkins. I cut them open, took out the seeds and pulp, and roasted them in the oven. Then I peeled the cooked "meat" from the skin and pureed it. That yielded probably 5-6 cups of pumpkin puree.

Then the wild pumpkin rumpus began!

I started with Pumpkin Smoothies for the kids. They literally slurped them down in 30 seconds or less.

Then I moved on to Pumpkin Chili. I loosely followed this recipe. Yum.

My hub whipped out some Pumpkin Seeds.

And I whipped up some Crustless Pumpkin Tortes. Another loosely followed recipe here. (I'm trying hard to stay Gluten Free. If you have Hashimoto's like me, read this. Apparently his book is changing people's lives!)

The kids DEVOURED these for breakfast yesterday!

And this morning I was excited to make some Pumpkin Cheese Grits. Gina, over at The Cannary Family, made them a couple of weeks ago. My, they were very tasty! Thanks Gina!!

I've run out of pumpkin puree and I still have Pumpkin Oatmeal and Pumpkin French Toast to try.

First, I need to cook the acorn squash and the butternut squash. What's your favorite recipes to use these in?

Etsy Treasure: Woolicious

2010-10-22T07:45:00.000-05:00

Oh, how I love bits and bobs from nature and beautifully dyed felted wool.
I stumbled upon Meli and her Etsy shop the other day. She has blended these together so beautifully!

Pictures are better than words in this instance.

7 Rainbow Natural Seed Pods

12 Christmas Natural Seed Pods

6 Natural Acorns with Mushroom Pattern Felted Wool

Fall Shades- 8 Natural Acorns with Felted Wool

30 Wool Felted Seed Pods

I think the mushroom patterned acorns might be my favorite. What about yours?

Have Yurt? Will Travel.

2010-10-20T07:55:00.004-05:00

We took a little road trip last weekend. It was ALL totally planned so we could sleep in a yurt!

We love to go camping at Texas State Parks but I go by the rule that I absolutely will not haul and set up all that gear for less than 2 nights in the wilderness. It's just not worth the effort since two seconds after it's all set up, it's time to start taking it all down again.

A year or two ago, I read that Abilene State Park had installed a few yurts alongside their screened shelters. They sleep up to 5 for $40 a night and have electricity, a microwave, a small fridge, and a fan. Perfect for a one night get-away! All we had to lug were our sleeping bags and pillows.

Our plans were to bunk at the yurt and explore the historical sites in the vicinity. They were a little de-railed when a fever-inducing hacking cough virus starting invading the kids' health on Friday morning and Mr. BH did not make it back in time from his business trip to join us.

It was already paid for so we left without him on Saturday morning anyway. It took about 4 hours to get there, a little more if you can't ignore all the yard sales and junk shops. Holy cow, I think some people have permanent year-round yard sales in that region!

After a short detour through Coleman, Texas for some Owl Burgers & Shakes (Highly Recommended!), we were good to go.

Upon arrival, we checked in to get our key for Yurt #2 (of 3 total). (This yurt came from Colorado Yurt Company, if you happen to get a hankering for one of your very own.)

We threw all our stuff in and went off to explore before darkness set in. Our first stop was The Grace Museum.

This piece was totally captivating. Each piece of wood played a different musical note when you held your palm to it. One piece had a chipmunk laugh, one a human voice, one sounded like a spring, etc.
Our next stop should have been Frontier Texas but kid #2 starting getting rather ornery. Apparently that's how she handles a 102 degree fever and an alien-seal barking cough. So to ease my mind, we stopped by a clinic to make sure it wasn't pneumonia, strep or the flu. That's the last thing I needed to deal with alone in the middle of the woods. Apparently, all she needed was Tylenol.

By this time, some BBQ was needed to regain their strength.

Then, we went to see Secretariat at the movie theater and soon after crashed in the yurt.

For breakfast the next morning, we rolled into the closest place we could find, Lola's.

Lola means business. Check out her rules.

We walked in to be stared at by a group of older gentlemen decked out in their overalls and caps and chatting over cups of coffee. They directed me to the kitchen where we wandered up to Lola talking on the phone and cooking egg burritos. ~~Much~~ Later she brought out our burritos and also insisted we try her Navajo Indian Fry Bread drizzled with honey ~~which she charged us for, of course.~~

Divine. That's all I can say. How do you say that in Navajo?

With our bellies full, we headed off to the Abilene Zoo, the only touristy place open early on Sunday mornings. We fed the giraffes.

We had intended to then go check out Buffalo Gap Historic Village but the road homeward was right across from the zoo and Mr. BH had to leave again the next morning to go back to where he was last week. So we headed back to Austin with full intention to come back again with Mr. BH when everyone's healthy to explore all that we missed this time around.

I just love a road trip. Especially somewhere new. I'm like Erin. If my sense of adventure isn't fulfilled on a regular basis, I start to gnaw off body parts. You saw what happened to my thumb.

More Doll House Pics & A Swap

2010-10-19T15:24:00.000-05:00

Ana requested more photos of the tin litho dollhouse I recently acquired. For you, Ana. :)

We also had a thoughtful package arrive several days ago from the wonderfully talented Beverley.

Some postcards to add to our collection, some soap and a candle along with a beautiful poem she wrote.

Some bunting she no doubt made herself. She's quite the seamstress!

A fabulous souvenir tea towel!

A sewing magazine, a note card, a pin, a book about her hometwon, and a gorgeous tea cup (that had a rough trip.)

Thank you, Beverley!!

More Cush for Your Tush and Room for Your Bounty

2010-10-18T13:56:00.000-05:00

My sister-in-law suggested I need one of these utterly awesome Madsen bikes to trek the neighborhood collecting yard sale finds. I do believe she's right. Brilliant!

Click on the pic to see how you could win one too!

Nate is Great

2010-10-14T01:37:00.000-05:00

Who else has been tuning into The Nate Berkus Show this past month? LOVE him! I recently discovered I used to watch his mom, Nancy Golden, on HGTV for years! Who knew?!?!

Yesterday's show had a pretty cool bit on auctions. You can read all about that here.

I just spent some time snooping around on http://www.thenateshow.com/ and disovered they are looking for "The Best Thrift Store Shopper Around".

Sign me up, please.

You know you want to send Nate pictures of your best scores! He wants you to do that too!

Personally, I think he should have all of us hardcore thrifters on one show. Who's coming with me?

Homeschoolers are Suckers

2010-10-13T10:57:00.000-05:00

I can thank Rebecca for my new eye-in-training when it comes to looking for books to resell. She talked me out of buying a scanner and for that, I'm thankful. (The pressure of living up to that purchase!)

I went to a sale last weekend where the lady's mother-in-law had a catering business. On the second day of the sale, there were still tons of cookbooks and several scanners had already been through them by the time I got there. I kept Rebecca's advice in my head as I perused through them. Many were older and didn't even have UPC codes to scan which is why they were most likely left behind. I have always been a big book buyer for personal use, but never for resell. I wasn't sure what to look for so I decided to stick with what I know for sure.

Homeschoolers are suckers.

For a good book. They can cheap out in all kinds of areas to stretch the budget, but they don't mind throwing around clouds of cash on good reads. Books (duh...) are investments into their children's lives. If something in a book can get their kid super excited about a topic for 5 weeks or even just for 5 hours, that purchase was totally worth it. They do this over and over again for each kid until they are out of the nest. If you are a bookseller, you should totally tap that market. ;)

So what did I think when my eyes landed on these?

World Recipes & Food Lore from the years 1390-1899

Texas History Recipes from 1830-1900

I thought....(and I thought this before I even opened them up)....How freakin' cool! Historic recipes! I can totally weasel some cash out of some homeschooler's pocket for these bad boys.
Once I opened them up and remembered that we homeschool also, I became the sucker.

These books are totally awesome! They are full of stories, old wives' tales, and old cures for ailments in addition to the recipes.

Chant with me now...SUCK-ER.....SUCK-ER.....SUCK-ER.

I do love a good book. Don't you?

Fab Finds

2010-10-11T10:37:00.001-05:00

I was super excited to find some more German smokers at an estate sale this past weekend. It all started with one my husband's grandmother gave us a couple years ago. Then earlier this year I found two at The Bins and later bought another on eBay with a Paypal coupon. So seeing as how I have acquired those four for nearly free, I can't make myself shell out big bucks for any new additions. I saw three at an estate sale marked $8 each. It was half-off day so I grabbed them all along with two boxes of the incense cones that go inside them. The guy was so nice! He gave me the incense cones for free and the smokers for $3 each. Two of them are almost identical, so I'll sell one to cover the costs of the other two, making them free as well. Gotta love that!

At Goodwill, I found two more small wooden delights from another far away land. My first ever Japanese Kokeshi dolls! $2 each.

At another Goodwill store (I have three that I make regular rounds to.), I spotted this cool mid century dresser for $25. I stared hard and long trying to figure out where I could put it and what I would use it for. It's now quite useful as a kitchen linens/party supplies/misc organizer! Still needs to be re-stained or painted though. When I paid for it, I didn't know it came with a huge mirror that attached to it. If I can't find anywhere to hang the mirror, I can sell that on Craig's List and recoup the cost of the dresser. Woo hoo!

(Please ignore the missing baseboards...finally have some one coming out this week for a flooring estimate so that should be remedied soon enough...and then I can stop cropping my pictures to hide the flooring hideousness from you guys.)

And back in August I saw this 1940/50s tin dollhouse on consignment at a local doll shop. I have been obsessing about it ever since! I recently decided it would look great on top of our TV armoire so I called to see if it was still there. An hour later, I was walking out the shop with it.

Oh, that tin lithography gets me every time! I can't quite figure out who made it. Marx made a lot of tin dollhouses that look similar but this has an "f" on the chimney. Not sure what that means. If you know, I would love to hear from you.

Linking up with Apron Thrift Girl this week. Come on over!