Smokin' in the Boy's Room

Where do you spend your lunch hours?  Walking in the park?

Shopping at the mall?  Maybe meet a friend for lunch?

Me?  I like to hang out at the local tavern. 

It's my new favorite place to be.

Yesterday there was an estate sale in the small nearby town where I work.

Of course, it started at 8:00 and I was working so I couldn't

get there 'till noon.  Actually, we were running behind schedule and

I didn't get there until 12:30.  Hurry up people!!!

When I got to the sale, I headed to the upstairs apartment

where I didn't find anything worthwhile.  Then the dealer told me

all of the old cupboards and stuff I would be interested in

were in the basement.  Did I mention the sale was held

in a century old tavern that recently sold?

So, I hightailed downstairs only to find that

not 5 minutes earlier a couple (opening a new antique shop)

 bought every last cupboard, bench, table........very sad face.

Still, I had to torture myself by looking over all the wonderful old pieces

they bought.  BUT, tucked between two boxes of junk

 and filled with more junk was this.....

Did I mention this was the basement of an old tavern?

 As you can see, wood liquor crates were used in its construction.

The owner's daughter was helping at the sale and she told me

this cubby was used to display cigars in the tavern.

This piece is very heavy and solidly built.  And best of all it's

mine, mine, mine!!! My new saying after spending a week with a 1 year old.

I  finally have my very own vintage cubby! 

In my state of euphoria, I floated back upstairs and found this vintage alarm clock.

Looks like this little guy had a 10:45 appointment.

A timely bargain for $1.00.

I also crawled into a low-ceilinged storage area and found these old screens.

The small screen was $1.00 and the larger one was a little more spendy at $3.00.   :@

The wood is quite pretty and I plan to use them to frame stained glass windows......

when I get around to making them.  

So, there you have it.  My smokin' hot deals.

Google Images

Meet me at the bar at noon. 

 The cigars are on me.

Vickie

Linked to:
The Farmhouse Porch Cowgirl Up
Knick of Time

A Stitch in Time

Most of the estate sales I've attended have vintage linens for sale

at bargain bin prices.  I think I paid a dollar or two for these embroidered

linens that embellish pillows I sewed for the grandbabies.

This pillow was made from an embroidered guest towel.

The center of this pillow was a vintage birth announcement that was never completed.

At recent estate sales, I've been looking for vintage redwork

pillowcases in good condition.  Having no luck at all, I searched online

and found reproduction patterns at Lace Tales Embroidery.

Here's the pattern I ordered.  I even have my choice of English or German lettering.

I also found some lace edging I hope to incorporate into the pillowcases.

This pattern is also available from Lace Tales.  Wouldn't a pillow with one design on the front

and one on the back make a sweet baby gift?

Redwork embroidery is done with the stem stitch which I've never

done before, so I picked up this reference book at Joann Fabrics to practice

before I tackle the pillowcases.

It comes with a DVD to download traceable patterns or can be used for

programmable machine embroidery.  Obviously, I chose the hand embroidery method.

Here are the two towels I've completed so far.

The one on the left is for me and the mini towel on the right

is for Finley's play kitchen her parents are working on.

You can see traces of the blue fabric marker that comes off

by blotting with cold water.

The redwork book is filled with adorable patterns like these.....

but this is the one that Finley loved best....

I think you can see why.  :@

I have two days off, so I may even get my mending done.

Or not.

The sun just came out, the snow is almost gone and it's forecast to be

in the 60's today. 

I'm going outside to play!

Have a great day!

Vickie

Join the parties at:
The Farmhouse Porch Cowgirl Up
Knick of Time Tuesday
The Cottage Market Pillowpalooza
Common Ground Vintage Inspiration Friday
Vintage Farmhouse Creative Things Thursday

Moving Up

Excuse me, ma'am, you want us to put it

where?

The theme for this week's Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors is

repurposed furniture, and here's my entry.

It started out as your basic mass produced buffet from, I don't know, the 40's?  It was passed around our family until it landed in the basement of our previous house where it held art supplies and games.  About 10 years ago, I painted it white and added bin pulls to match our kitchen hardware.

Purchased from Van Dyke's Restorers.

We then moved the buffet upstairs to our walk-in pantry to house canned goods, kitchen linens, and small kitchen appliances.  I removed a 70's faux wood shelving system from the wall above it and replaced the shelving with this top from an old kitchen cupboard.

When I bought this cupboard, it was already stripped of its original finish

and missing its glass door inserts and hardware.

                         

 I made leaded glass panels with textured glass to hide the contents of the cupboard

 and added a new latch, also from Van Dyke's.

When we moved to our current home, there wasn't a spot for this piece on the main floor,

 but I really didn't want to get rid of it.  So when the movers asked where to put it,

 I told them to bring it upstairs to the master bedroom. 

Most of my clocks fit on this shelf.

Forgotten treasures fill the small drawers.

There's room for 2 lamps on top......

and plenty of storage space for clothes and extra bedding.

There's even a place of honor way up high for you-know-who.

So there you have it.  My dining room buffet and kitchen cupboard

repurposed to the master bedroom.

Thanks for stopping by,

Vickie

Get great ideas at:

The Farmhouse Porch Cowgirl Up

Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesdays

Common Ground Vintage Inspiration Friday

Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday

Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special

The Vintage Farmhouse Creative Things Thursday

*Do you remember the snow day I was hoping for this winter?

I got my wish today.

Spring in northern Minnesota.  Gotta love it!

Curb My Enthusiasm

Ha HA!  Caught your attention didn't I?!  Yup, all you junkers are thinking I've found myself a truck full of freebies.  Not only do I not have a truck, I've yet to come across free curbside treasures in my neck of the woods.  The truck shown on the left was actually borrowed from Google Images.  I'd prefer a more vintage ride myself.  (The aqua piece on top of the pile does look rather promising.)

I'm amazed by all the good stuff my fellow bloggers find in their neighborhoods.

For instance, look what Miss Bliss (Bliss Ranch) found on a country road near her house....

Junk, you say?  Au contraire.....

For a pocket full of change, she turned it into this!

And then there's Rose (Confessions of a Curbshopaholic).  Multitasker that she is, she was driving to work, talking on the phone, doing her nails, grooming her dogs, and planning her next outdoor project when she spotted these.....

A whole boatload, or should I say vanload of old doors!  What, you ask, does she do with this stuff?

Oh, yes.  She is a skilled carpenter and creates furniture for friends.  Did I mention that we've become best friends?  Mmm, hmmm.  I think we made a deal.  50 sock monkeys for a bench like this. :@

So, I've been wondering.  Is there good junk like they've found laying around in my neighborhood?  Am I just not looking hard enough?  Now that it's light in the morning when I'm on my way to work, I've made it my mission to  pay  more  attention  to what's on the side of the road. 

 It hasn't even been one week and I've hit pay dirt!!!!

I wasn't really paying attention, just changing radio stations in my car when I spied this from my peripheral vision. Get ready!  Here it comes.....

Do you see them?  Hiding in plain sight behind the dumpster?

Sorry gals, I found them first!  A twofer!!!!

Not just one, but two er....vintage? sofas.  Here I was worrying all day at work that they'd be gone by the time I got home.  Not only were they still there, they were joined by their mattress cousin.  A threefer?

Fa*bu*lous!!!

I'm quite taken with this floral pattern.  I've still got 8 boxes of blue canning jars in the garage that will bring out the turquoise flowers in this sofa.  Toss in a few burlap pillows.  A wood pallet coffee table. 

 Yes, lovely indeed.

This pattern really doesn't do a thing for me.  I've seen tutorials for painted upholstery.  Maybe a slipcover.  Or tear all the upholstery and stuffing off and create a piece of outdoor furniture.  If anybody has a pet snake, I might even find him a breakfast mouse in the stuffing. 

Of course I wouldn't touch these if somebody paid me don't have the room in our house for these retro shabby couches, but I'm sure there's a place for them, other than the local dump.

Maybe it's time to turn our garage (formerly a floral shop) into a spot for occasional sales.

What would I call it.   Hmmmm.......

Occasional sales by

The Stinky Sister.

Thanks for joining Friday Morning Coffee Talk.

Stinky Vickie

Window Shopping

I planned to spend Saturday antiquing in Buffalo, MN with our daughter Julie, but due to a medical emergency, she wasn't able to go with me.  Everything turned out fine, but I shopped alone while my chauffeur waited patiently in the car.

Saturday was cold and rainy, so it wasn't much fun walking from shop to shop.  I certainly didn't spend much time looking at the outdoor displays.  As we were leaving Buffalo, the sun finally came out for a few minutes, so I asked my driver to stop at an architectural antique shop that we've driven past many times on previous trips.  It looks small from the outside, but is actually quite large and filled with tons of fantastic, but expensive stuff!  Door number 20 above wasn't even priced.

This is how I window shop.  I get ideas from antique stained glass windows for creating my own.  I've got some old window frames stashed away that I'd like to fit with custom stained glass and there were plenty of examples to look at here.  These are English windows that the owners purchase on their yearly buying trips to England.

They have windows, doors, sidelights.....you name it, they've got it.

Entire walls of wood panels.

Fireplaces galore!

They even had a few rustic pieces.  This was quite large and only $55.

A fancier version for around $400.  Much too heavy to carry on top of the Matrix.

How about this stuffed riding toy?

Would this chair make potty training easier?  I think so.

This was a fun place to browse, but a little out of my league.  In the end I did find one clearance priced item.

It needs a little work..........

but for $4.00 it will be the perfect apron for a little baker!

So, that's how I window shop.

Thanks for stopping by!

Vickie

See more ideas at:

The Farmhouse Porch Cowgirl Up