Vintage Yard Sale Find - General Electric World Wide Travel Iron

With my Momma still on the mend, I've taken over the laundry duties.  As you can imagine with a family of six, laundry is quite the undertaking!  I didn't realize how spoiled I was to have someone taking care of the laundry for me :)

We've also missed having crisply ironed dress shirts, dresses and slacks.  My Momma really is an expert when it comes to ironing!  I don't have anywhere near the amount of ironing skills or experience, but I've taken up this homecaring task as well.  To help me along, my sweet husband bought me this cute vintage iron at a yard sale.  It's a General Electric World Wide Travel Iron, that works as a spray, steam or dry iron.  It came with the original box, manual and all the extras including adapters should I find myself ironing abroad! I was a little apprehensive at first, due to its age.  But, it works perfectly - a great starter iron :)  



It's funny, when I was a teenager, I would unfold the jeans my Momma had carefully ironed and creased to make them look, well not so neat.  Now, the rough dried look doesn't seem so appealing!

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

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

Clayton's Habitat Project

Clayton with his frog habitat project

(Reed stuck his hand and froggy into the picture LOL!)

We've got our first project of the new school year out of the way!  Clayton had to prepare a habitat project and present it to his class.  He chose frogs after observing a small toad swimming in the backyard sandbox after a heavy rain.  And ever the thrifty spender, Clayton found the frogs we used in the project while out with Daddy at yard sales!

Have a good weekend!

Mary Ellen  

Nature As Art

A trash to treasure nightstand, yard sale picture frame and one of my Momma's old candlestick holders used to showcase a bit of nature the boys found in the backyard.

Using natural elements is an inexpensive way to bring simple beauty and interest into your home. 

Mary Ellen

This Bud's For You

Has this ever happened to you?  So you're out yard saling on a Saturday morning and you pull up to a house to find the seller is someone from your past!  That happened to Dave this weekend while we were out making the yard sale rounds.  We pulled up to the house and there was this big, burly gentleman in the driveway.  When he turned around, it was none other than Dave's old high school football coach!  Dave and the coach reminisced about high school days and caught up.  The coach and his wife were in the process of moving to a new house closer to his current school.  Hence the yard sale.  He told us to look around and if there was anything we wanted, we could have it.  My sights honed in on this old wooden Anheuser Busch beer crate.  The coach's wife wasn't sure if he would part with it since it had been with him since his college days.  But he gladly sent it on to a new home.  The crate is now sitting in front of our fireplace with a basket of conch shells and a pot of rosemary from our container garden.  I'm sure quite different from the coach's old college days! 

Mary Ellen

Linked at Southern Hospitality - Today's Thrifty Treasures

Summertime Blues

With the change of the season, I wanted to "cool down" our family room by moving away from the red and black colors in the room.  While browsing a new to us thrift store in town, we found a set of beautiful blue paisley throw pillows.  And because they were yellow tag items, they were 75% off!  We walked away with two gorgeous pillows in great condition for only $3! 

Also while out, we stopped at one of our favorite Goodwill locations in town.  And right there in the household section were two blue rose throw pillows that seemed made to go with the paisley pillows we picked up earlier.  The rose pillows from Goodwill were $1.29 each.   

To bring in more blue, I placed this Pier 1 bird plate on the side table next to the sofa.  I found this plate (along with a matching red one) at a yard sale a few weeks back for $2. 

Mary Ellen

These thrifty finds are linked at Southern Hospitality - Today's Thrifty Treasures.

Yard Sales - Where Has the Love Gone?

Last year - Black & White Toile plates - $10



Last Summer, was the Summer of Yard Sales for me.  I had never been into yard sales before until one morning, Dave and I decided to drive around and look for a few before we went to the farmer's market.  I was hooked!  Awesome treasures and fabulous finds for less than Goodwill prices!  Plus those early morning yard sale adventures became our couple time.  We would leave the kids sleeping at home with my Mom, drive around to the sales, head to the farmer's market then enjoy a small breakfast together at one of the restaurants near the market.  When yard sale season ended last year, I could not wait to start again this year.  BUT...something happened.

Last year - Vietri Bowl - $2



The kick-off to my yard sale season this year was going to be a Spring church yard sale Dave and I have always attended.  I have pretty much done all the kids' clothes shopping there for the last few years.  Name brand clothes in excellent condition for .50 to $1 a piece.  But the church decided to no longer hold the sales.  So my launch into yard sale 2011 never happened.  In addition, I found I really enjoyed getting my grocery shopping done earlier on Saturday mornings instead of later in the afternoon.  Early morning shopping at Trader Joe's is a completely different experience than late afternoon shopping at Trader Joe's LOL!  So there you have it.  I've only gone to one yard sale this year.  And that was last weekend.  And only because it was in our neighborhood and I was passing by on my way to the farmer's market. 

Last year - Urn & baskets - FREE

 But Dave is still feeling the love.  And he has a new partner in crime. 

Clayton, yard sale shopper-in-training

Yes, our 6yo son Clayton!  Despite his young age, Clayton is a lover of thrift.  He thoroughly enjoys finding "scores" with Daddy.  And has learned he can stretch his allowance much further buying toys at yard sales.  I can totally see Clayton decorating his college dorm room with yard sale and dumpster finds - just like his Daddy did.  And if Clayton attends college locally, I can totally see Dave driving over to help him, with head lamp and dumpster claw in hand! 



Last year - Oneida tea set - $5

As for me, I told Dave I'd like to do "yard sale -lite" this year.  Maybe visit a few estate sales on Sundays.  I'm hoping to find a few vintage items - a typewriter, pair of white gloves, hats and linens.     

This year Dave picked up this 25 bottle wine rack with cabinet for $15. 

My only yard sale buys of the year - 2 Pier One bird plates and an antique leather baby/doll boot for $6

How has your yard sale season gone so far?

Mary Ellen

I'm linking up with the Nester!

Bye, Bye 70s! Painted Paneling

BEFORE

Our house was built in the 1970s.  Among its original features are yellow shag carpeting in the study, harvest gold tile in the master bath and the dark wood paneling pictured above in the living room.  When we first saw this house, we feel in love with the layout instantly.  Which is why the paneling didn't scare us away!  We figured we would replace it with drywall once we settled in.  But life got busy - having babies and raising babies.  And the financial aspect of replacing the paneling seemed so overwhelming.

From a decorating standpoint, the room never really came together.  I hesitated to put anything on the walls, because of the paneling.  I had a vision for the room but struggled to bring it to life.  Our thoughts then turned to painting the paneling.  But the 12 foot ceiling in this room was intimidating!  We had a local painter come out to give us an estimate.  His price for painting the room fit nicely within our budget.  And now we have a beautiful new room, that looks just as I had always imagined it would!

AFTER

I chose Sherwin Williams Comfort Gray (SW 6205) for the paneling, Sherwin Williams Dover White (SW 6385) for the trim, shelves and stair railing and the drywall above the paneling was color matched to a Valspar paint color (a beige color).

I commented to Dave not only does the room look better, it makes our "trashy" furnishing look better as well!  And when I say trashy, I mean basically everything in this room was either given to us, bought at a yard sale or was a curbside treasure!

The painters also made repairs to the exterior and the gave our saltbox a fresh coat of red paint.  The exterior color is Sherwin Williams Fireweed (SW 6328).  Which I've come to learn is the consumer version of the paint color used for the Golden Gate Bridge.

We're so in love with this room now!  It looks like an entirely different room.  What a great way to start Spring, with a completely refreshed space!

Sharing this before and after with:

Remodelaholic - Remodelaholic's Anonymous

Wearing My Pearls Today

Retro Brown Polka Dot Dress with tulle (Goodwill)

Anne Klein 3 inch open toe heels (Goodwill)

Turquoise sweater - borrowed from Ashleigh's closet! (Church yard sale)

Visit

Life of a Suburban Princess

Goodwill - 1950s Inspired Charlotte Russe Dress

Charlotte Russe dress - $2.79 Goodwill

Happy Monday y'all!  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  This morning I'm sharing my latest Goodwill find - this 1950s inspired Charlotte Russe dress.  I've developed an interest in 1950s fashions as of late.  So I had to pick up this dress!  It is a peachy/melon colored check fabric with striped belted waist.

A close up of the sweetheart neckline with puffy cap sleeves.  A strand of faux pearls to complete the 50s look!

Dave and I haven't done much yard saling lately.  I think the season is slowing down here as everyone gets ready to send the kids back to school.  A couple yard sale buys worth sharing:     

Dark blue Gadzooks corduroy jacket - $2

And these pretty decorative pieces.  Dave thinks they have absolutely no purpose at all.  But lying around looking pretty is purpose enough for me!  I paid $1 a piece for my shiny baubles :)

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm sharing these thrifty finds with:

Debbiedoos Garage Salen Party

Southern Hospitality - Today's Thrifty Treasures

Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Weekend Yard Sale Finds

Good morning!  Time to share my yard sale finds from the weekend

Bought 3 pieces of Southern Living Gallery dinnerware and the small shelf with hooks above for $2.50 from a charity yard sale.

A large clam shell from an estate sale - $2. 

The clam shell is currently occupying the space on the mint green stand where my framed star fish was.  The star fish apparently disappeared and no one seems to know where it went.  According to Ashleigh and Clayton, it was last seen being hurled through the air by Reed...hmmm...

Cherub plaque - $1.  This will probably be used in an outdoors/garden project.

Two storage bins - $1 each

And this pink blazer for $2.

Next weekend, Dave and I will be taking a break from yard sales.  We are finally replacing our broken dishwasher and will be impatiently waiting around for our new Bosch dishwasher to be delivered and installed!  It will probably take up our entire day, but after a year of being without a dishwasher, it is worth it!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm sharing these yard sale finds with:

Southern Hospitality - Today's Thrifty Treasures

Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday