Vintage Pillbox Hat

Vintage Pillbox Hat 

from SuzAnna's Antiques

I have a love for vintage and vintage-inspired, if you couldn't already tell!  So, I'm always excited to make a trip to SuzAnna's Antiques to browse all their wonderful treasures.  I literally want to buy the entire store.  But for now, my budget only allows for vintage hats!  My recent purchase, a navy blue, straw pillbox hat with a pearl and rhinestone brooch on the top.  So simple, yet so cute!      

Here's me with my new hat and my navy Ruby Rox retro dress

And Ashleigh took this picture of me with my hat as I was on my way to the farmer's market.  Got lots of compliments on the hat and dress from the other market patrons and vendors!

Mary Ellen

Before & After - Trash to Treasure Dresser

Introducing NADIA!

So named for my latest cooking show obsession Nadia G's B------ Kitchen

Nadia G

Image

BEFORE

Much to my husband's delight, I finally finished this trash to treasure dresser project and cleared up some needed space underneath our garage!  Before it was just a your average three drawer wooden dresser.

AFTER

But this ordinary dresser was transformed with a coat (several actually!) of eye-poppin', high gloss cherry RED!

I also replaced the original hardware with these cute black drawer pulls from Michael's (found on clearance!).

Since we're not currently in need of a dresser, I listed it on Craigslist to see if there would be any interest.  After a "just looking" visit and several emails expressing interest but with no follow up, we finally found Nadia a new home!  I love color, so I think it just took a little time to find another kindred spirit that appreciated bold colors too.  Though for my next project, I will probably go with something more neutral.

Dave and I have painted numerous pieces of furniture for our home.  But, it's been only recently that I've given thought to turning this hobby into a viable income generating stream.  It would certainly be nice to earn a little extra for savings without having to take on more work outside of the home.  And since any income would be extra, there wouldn't be much pressure or risk of turning something I love to do into to something I hate!

To refine my painting skills, I've been reading the informative ebook offered at Altar'd - Paint Your Furniture.  I can't wait to apply what I've learned to my next project! 

       

Mary Ellen

Disclosure

My New {Old} Hat! Vintage Straw Hat with Veil

Please excuse the fuzziness of some of the photos.  My photographer is only 9!  This is the vintage blue straw hat with veil I bought a few weeks ago at SuzAnna's Antiques.  I LOVE my "new" vintage hat and can't wait to add more!  Hats, gloves and accessories seem to be an affordable way to add a little vintage to one's wardrobe.

Side view of the hat and veil

The bow on the back of the hat

I love putting on my hat and gloves and going out to do my grocery shopping or running errands with Dave and the children.  I've received a lot of compliments about the hat, particularly from older gentlemen.  Most men enjoy seeing a woman dressed in a feminine manner.  But for the older gentlemen, there seems to be a bit of nostalgia in seeing the hat, gloves and pearls.  A reminder of sweeter days gone by!

Mary Ellen

Weekend Yard Sale Find - Vintage Fairbanks Scale

Last Saturday morning, Dave and the boys got up early and went out together on a yard sale adventure!  At a local church yard sale, Dave picked up this old Fairbanks doctors scale for $10.   

Despite its age, the sliders still work. 

The Fairbanks stamp on the foot pad.

While at the yard sale, the boys found some treasures of their own!  Clayton & Reed used their allowances to buy these Army helmets for $1 each.  Here's Clay in his camo.

And Reedy in his Captain America costume with helmet!  My cute little soldier boys!

Have A Great Weekend Y'all!

Mary Ellen

Weekend Vintage Finds - SuzAnna's Antiques

Over the weekend, Dave and I took a little excursion - sans kids - to visit SuzAnna's Antiques at The Vintage Village on Durant Road in Raleigh.  SuzAnna's is a shabby chic, vintage lover's dream!  So many beautiful treasures!  If I had the money, I would have bought the entire store LOL!  But this time, I came away with just two small vintage items.  A blue, straw hat with bow and veil and a pair of white day gloves.  Hats and gloves are on my list of vintage items I want to collect.  I can't wait to go back to see what other goodies I can find.  I spotted a vintage scale I would love to have in my kitchen.  Next time, it's coming home with me!

Mary Ellen   

Just My Type - Vintage Smith Corona Typewriter!

On his most recent yard sale adventure, my sweet husband came back bearing gifts for me.  He found something I've always wanted - a vintage typewriter!  He found this vintage (I'm thinking 1950s) Smith Corona typewriter with carrying case over the weekend.  The lady even gave him a few boxes of typing paper.  Although, I'm not sure one could even find a replacement ribbon (remember those?!) these days!  I have the typewriter displayed on a small table in our living room, since that's where our roll top desk is also located.  I would love, love to find another vintage typewriter for my office at work!

In addition to the typewriter, he also found this old, wooden trunk already painted  my favorite color!  I plan on cleaning it up a bit, maybe distressing it a little more.  I'm envisioning some French type image (like this) transferred or painted on the top with hardware added to the front.  The trunk is currently in our foyer, as I'm attempting to brighten the space with colorful pieces.  The foyer walls are painted a Merlot color, which I loved at the time we painted it - and still do.  But, there's so little light coming into the foyer, the space just looks too dark.  Like a cave.  And not very welcoming!  I want to go neutral with the wall color and bring in more colorful accents.  At least that's the plan in my head!

What have you found at yard sales recently?

Mary Ellen

Thrifty Find - Two Tone Charlotte Russe Heels

 

Shoes - Charlotte Russe - Goodwill

My latest retro Goodwill find - these cute black & white two-tone Charlotte Russe heels!  I've been looking for shoes just like this for quite some time.  So, I was overjoyed to finally find a pair during one of my thrifty outings

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Stepping out in my yellow sundress and new (to me!) shoes!

Mary Ellen

PTO Day - "Paint" Time Off

Last Friday, I took some time off from work to take care of a few homecaring tasks.  The weather was gorgeous and the kids were in early from school.  It was the perfect day for an afternoon away from the office!

Having the afternoon off gave me the opportunity to do some spray painting.  I had intended to start on these projects weeks ago, but never found time on the weekends.  For my garden, I spray painted a wooden trellis in a soft french lilac color.  The trellis was a Craigslist freebie!  I think lavender and green are a beautiful color combination.  In my head, I'm envisioning pea and cucumber vines wrapping themselves around the trellis in my garden this year.

I also started priming this trash to treasure find.  It's a small stand with a cut out for storing electrical components.  Would work well as a small TV stand or writing desk.  I'm thinking about doing some sort of design on top in gray.  I have a Martha Stewart stencil I'd like to try out and this would be a good practice piece!

Since Dave's office is closer, he's usually home before me.  But Friday, I was able to treat him by having the house in order, dinner cooking and plate of warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies ready for him as he walked into the door!

Mary Ellen

His & Hers Goodwill Finds

A recent Goodwill find - a kimono style robe in my favorite shade of blue!  The robe has vibrant retro images of ladies at leisure, enjoying drinks.
 

A close up of the ladies!

On the same Goodwill outing, Dave found some loungewear for himself.  A burgundy colored pajama set with images of cocktail drinks and party go-ers.  Kiss Kiss thinks Daddy is quite snuggly in his new pajamas!

 Found anything good at your Goodwill or thrift store lately?

Mary Ellen

Garden Art Using Recycled Lamps

Recycled garden art by Mary Jo Stephenson

During our morning at the NC State Fair, we took in the beautiful garden exhibits.  One colorful display that caught my eye was by local artist Mary Jo Stephenson.  She used recycled lamps to create garden art.  I thought it was not only beautiful but wonderfully creative!  Old lamps and chandeliers are easily found at thrift stores and yard sales.  This would be a great way to give them new life! 

Colorful tree with hanging lamps

Teapots & lamps

This garden display had an outdoor shower.  But my eye was immediately drawn to the green vanity in the corner.  The top portion had both mirror panes and plants.  This would be a great way to incorporate a  trash to treasure dresser into an outside space! 

Mary Ellen

Thrift Store Dresser - TV Media Stand

From thrift store dresser to TV stand

This is a story of love - a thrifty kind of love between a man and his wife.  And a pretty cool robin's egg blue TV stand!  One Saturday afternoon, Dave and I were browsing a local thrift store with the kids.  We both spotted this solid, wood dresser with nice details on the drawers.  The dresser was in pretty good shape, just a few scratches and missing some drawer pulls.  It was priced at $25.  I liked it, but thought there was no way Dave would agree to paying for a dresser when we've come across so many in the past on the curbside.

A few days go by and while talking with Dave, we discover that we're both still thinking about the dresser LOL!  So the next day, while I was at work, Dave and Reedy go back to the thrift store.  The dresser is still there and Dave haggles the price down to $20.  Since Dave had Reed with him (my Momma was out of town), he couldn't take the back seats out of the van.  So he had to strap the dresser to the top of the van and drive back across town with it on the roof.   

Drawer details

I came home to find the dresser under our garage, with Dave already busy priming it!  Since it would be the focal point of the family room, I chose one of my favorite blue-gray/robin's egg blue paint colors (Valspar Atlantic Gray).  Once Dave finished painting the dresser, I added black glaze to bring out the details on the drawer fronts.

I love it!  And think fondly of my husband's sweet gesture every time I look at it :)

Mary Ellen     

Dressing Kids for Less - Nearly New Consignment Sale

My haul from the Nearly New Consignment Sale

Our clothing budget is a whopping $25 a month.  Keeping three growing kids clothed on said budget takes some prudent and savvy shopping!  While I buy most of my clothes at the Goodwill, I've found clearance racks, yard sales and consignments sales to be a better buy for kids clothing.  At those places, I can typically find childrens clothing in better condition and for less money than at Goodwill.  

Girls clothing for Ashleigh

For the past few years, I managed to find some great buys at a local church yard sale.  Sadly, the church decided to no longer hold the seasonal sales.  So I've been on the look out for new sales.  Recently, I received a flyer in the mail for a consignment sale being held at a church near our house.  I wasn't able to make it out for the first day of the sale because of work.  So, I anxiously awaited for the last day of the sale, when most items were 50 - 75% off!   

Boys clothing for Clayton & Reed

Even on the last day, I was still able to find some great name brand items for $1 - $1.50 a piece.  In total, I bought 20 items and paid $20.28 for everything.  Not too shabby!

Where do you find the best deals on kids clothing?

Mary Ellen 

Sugar Sack Pillow Case

This vintage U and I Sugar sack was in a box among some old fabric Dave picked up after responding to a Craigslist free posting.  Going through the box of fabric, I was drawn to this cloth sack.  But was unsure what to do with it for the longest.  Initially I thought about framing it for the kitchen.  I ended up doing something much easier!  I took a small throw pillow we had lying around the house and stuffed it in the sack.  I didn't even bother with sewing the open end of the sack closed.  Easy!  

Mary Ellen

The NC Zoo, Broken Tail Lights & My First Visit to Hobby Lobby!

Clayton with his sleepy mask - he loves it!

On the 4th, we headed out early towards Asheboro for a visit to the North Carolina Zoo.

On the way, Dave noticed one of our tail lights was flapping in the wind.  Since we didn't have extra duct tape in the van, we stopped at the nearest gas station.  They didn't carry duct tape, but one of the girls behind the counter was kind enough to let us borrow her own personal roll.  It was camo!  More on the tail light below!

With the tail light fixed, we made our way to the zoo and arrived just as the gates opened.  We started in the North American section of the zoo and made our way to see the animals.  Like this cougar, who seemed a bit depressed.  Poor kitty!

"Choot em' Lizbeth, choot em!"

Swamp People reference :)

Playful seals

Lazy polar bear

Watching the seals chase one another

The Boys. 

We get asked a lot if they are twins.  Twins in trouble making, yes.  Actual twins, no!

A stop at the garden-themed playground

I have a picture from 4 years ago of a 4 year-old Ashleigh, 2 year-old Clayton and me pregnant with Reed in this very squash!

Playing

And more playing!

Even though we arrived at the zoo fairly early in the morning, it was already quite warm.  The misting stations along the trail were a welcome sight!

The power generated by peddling, turned this colorful windmill.

With all the walking, I was so relieved to see this sign!

Ashleigh viewing bison

The geyser

We didn't see lions or tigers, but we did see bears!

Entering the desert

These turtles were munching on a pretty delicious looking salad!  Mixed greens, chopped apples, carrots, mango - not sure about the white stuff.  Maybe it was feta!

The cutest part of the desert were these baby ocelots born in April.  One of the babes came right up to the glass and did what babies do best - poop!

Gigantic beehive

Ashleigh riding a gigantic bee

A gorilla in deep thought

Elephants

Giraffes

After we walked around the African exhibits, we hopped on the zoo tram and headed back towards the entrance.

We saw a number of thrift stores on the way to the zoo, so we decided to stop by a few before leaving town.  The only one open on the holiday was Goodwill.  Surprisingly, the Goodwill in Asheboro has higher prices than the Goodwill in Raleigh.  After thrift store browsing we grabbed lunch at the Golden Corral next door where we had two of the sweetest, most attentive servers ever! 

As we're driving out of Asheboro, we pass by a Hobby Lobby.  Of course I scream with delight!  I've seen the awesome stuff from Hobby Lobby on other blogs, but have never visited one.  We don't have them in Raleigh for some strange reason.  Dave drops me off to take a quick look inside while he and the kids wait  in the car.  Oh, it was everything I had imagined!  It was like a Michael's, Home Goods and Jo-Ann's rolled into one - but better!  Seriously, I loved everything in the store.  I walked aisle after aisle taking it all in.  I found a cute French sign for the bathroom that was on sale.  I left the store feeling in awe and arrived at the car to find a crabby looking Dave.  According to Dave, I was in the store for an hour!  I'm not sure it was really an hour, but he says it was.  If it was really an hour, wouldn't they have come inside looking for me?  What if I had fainted or something! 

The tail light continued...Later in the day after we were home, Dave made a quick run to the store for some paint brushes.  As he was coming out of the store, he saw a bunch of kids (teenagers) standing behind the van.  When they saw him walking towards the van, they ran off.  When Dave got to the van, he found the broken tail light cover missing, camo duct tape and all.  What is going on with the youth of today?!?  Who takes a broken tail light cover?!?  Really!  

Anywho, that was our 4th.  Hope yours was enjoyable!  

Mary Ellen