Vintage Thingie Thursday: Very Old Cat

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday. If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a really good time each and every week!!!
If you are new to this party, please take the time to read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies on display that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

This little kitty was in a bag of vintage figurines I found at Goodwill one day. I am the first to admit, I really am not a cat person but this was really a sweet cat. It has no markings on it, but you can tell it is very old. 

It must have had a mishap once long ago because you can see on the back by its tail where it was repaired! No worries...it looks cute on the shelf with all the puppies!!

Halloween is right around the corner, and this just might make it with some of the Halloween decor! I had not ever seen a cat like this? What about you? Have you seen any type of cat similar?

Happy Vintage Thingie Thursday!!

Vintage Thingie Thursday: Half Price Day at Goodwill!

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday. If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a really good time each and every week!!!
If you are new to this party, please take the time to read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies on display that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

Today was the monthly sale day at our local Goodwill Store. Everything is half price. I usually try and avoid days like this because of all the people. But today I stopped by and was glad I did.

I found this little dish sitting on a shelf, it was pretty dirty, but I picked it up anyway. I could not really read the mark on the back as the sticker was covering it up. I knew it was vintage and it has a sort of appeal  that I love in vintage dishes, so I put it in my basket.

The price was marked .50 cents...so half price was only .25 cents.....could not leave it!!! I thought the little flower had a chip but turns out, it was made like that.

Here is the other side of the flower. I think this is really a neat piece and it cleaned up just super!!

VINTAGE MARKED ZANESVILLE USA PAT PENDING

OHIO POTTERY CO. (O.P.CO.)

Happy Vintage Thingie Thursday!!!! I hope you have a wonderful week!!

Vintage Thingie Thursday : Vintage Kitchen Decor

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday. If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a "dog-gone" good time each and every week!!!
If you are new to this party, please take the time to read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies being showed that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

This past weekend, I did some organization and rearranging in my kitchen. Surrounding myself with things I love both from my past and new found items from today. This is a bean pot that belonged to my grandmother. For as long as I remember, she had this pot. I remember at one time, she made red beans in this pot on the stove, but in later years, she had it in her kitchen and did not cook with it. At one point, I think she had a plant even planted inside this pot. It originally had two handles, one on each side, but today only one remains. It certainly holds a lot of memories for me. I wish I knew where she got this pot originally, but I don't. I am estimating this to be at least 40 years old or older.

I decided to bring this pot inside and use it to hold all my kitchen stencils. I originally wrote about receiving this here from my cousin. I love it sitting on my counter.....nothing like a little red and white galvanized goodness to look at each day.

I stacked two of my cake plates and decided I'd enjoy looking at some of my smaller goodies displayed on the bottom one. Most of these treasures are Goodwill or estate sale finds. That little lemon is a tea bag holder and I found that one at Goodwill for 50 cents.....I think it is so 1950's. The amber glass bowl is also a estate sale find and I know I did not pay more than a couple of dollars for it. It really gives a fall feel for me.

That is about it for this week....hope you are all having a great week and looking forward to the wonderful fall weather this weekend. Have a great time either relaxing or spending time with family. See ya' next week with more vintage goodies!

From Goodwill to Good Deal - End Table Transformation

In April of this year, I found this end table at our local Goodwill. It was sturdy and I could see potential for this to be turned into something better. The price was right too...a real bargain at $5.00. So I brought it home and stored it in the garage.

When my daughter made the decision to move to Austin, I knew she was going to need furniture, so I remembered this end table and knew it was going to have a new home. This is the picture of it after I started sanding on it...I FORGOT to take a before photo as I was excited to get to work on it. The top is wood and in our hast to sand all the old finish off the top, well we sanded a bit too much......more on that later.

Once the piece was sanded and wiped free of the dust, I primed this with two coats of primer.

Then 3 coats of paint. On this project, I used spray paint and it worked just fine. Now remember I told you we sanded a bit too much on the top, well...I thought once we painted it the imperfections would go away. That was not the case and I could not stand how the top looked. I almost decided to trash this project due to the way the top of the table looked, but I was having a hard time with that.

How did I fix this problem? Well, I will tell you. I sent my daughter to the scrap book store and she selected 4 sheets of scrapbook paper for the top. I had some Mod Podge Hard Coat that works well on furniture and we used that. We adhered the paper to the top of the table and gave it 4 or 5 coats of Mod Podge. Let me tell you, this stuff dries hard and works great on furniture, you just have to buy the right product for the project youa re working on.

Here is the details of the paper. This turned out perfectly and hid all the imperfections that we caused when over sanding the top. And I might add, this was a cheap fix for the problem too. I think the paper cost under $1.50 and I already had the Mod Podge. In using the Mod Podge Hard Coat that is for furniture, it dries hard and will hold up well for the table.

And here is the table in my daughters apartment. Notice the top, it almost looks like a slate tile top but it is not. I love how this turned out and I have to say, not bad for about $7.00. The other supplies I already had on hand so this indeed was a thrifty project that turned out great....except for the little mishap we had, but with a little imagination, that was a easy fix.

A Recap Of A Busy Week....

To recap this week, I decided to do a post about what has been going on around here so when things do slow down, I'll be able to look back and remember what fun I have been having this summer......while I sip sweet tea and catch up on a movie or two.

Somewhere in the midst of everything there has been lots of packing....and boxing things up....not my treasures mind you, my daughters.....and guess what??? The son's stuff will be transferred into boxes next......

I won't mention how I feel about any of that......it is really best that I don't.

I totally scored with this FREE bar stool from Craigslist........wait till you see what it looks like now......

Score again....this $5.00 end table from Goodwill......wait till you see what it looks like now.......

 

This was the slam dunk for sure.....$45.00 from Goodwill. Had the mirror too, but the re-do did not involve the mirror. WAIT till you see what this looks like now...........

I may or may not have inadvertently inhaled way too many of these fumes along the way this week......remember, always use in well ventilated areas......cans should warn that in 100 plus degree temperatures in the back yard with no breeze is really not a well ventilated area.....just sayin'

This Van Gogh print was another Goodwill find. It had a great wooden gold frame, (old lady gold) and it soon met with a can of spray paint and sealer. Beautiful print in a much more updated frame for only $8.00. I wonder what Van Gogh would have thought about covering up the (old lady gold) frame with black paint....at least it fits more in the decor of a super urban chic girl.

In the midst of all the goings on, I may or may not have had to trail behind the smallest members of our household when they took it upon themselves to break open the dog food sacks and help themselves. Notice Sophie licking her lips....ahem......and no, they were not hungry....they are very well fed. Sophie would eat until she popped....literally.

She even had the nerve to try and haul away the evidence..........

This sweet girl had no part of those shenanigans....she ran as fast as her little legs could go to warn me of the naughtiness going on in the back yard......and if you believe that one....well, you will also believe all these projects were completed without a little mishap along the way.......next week.....I'll show you the results and the process of each of these transformations.

Have a great weekend....we will be headed southbound I35 to Austin on Saturday......our second job kicks in...."Mom and Pop Moving Company" you know the ones with the slogan....."we haul and carry heavy stuff for free"  and in case you are wondering....we need good strong help, apply in the comments section!

Take Me Back Tuesday: Behaving Badly Confession

It is no secret if you read my blog on a regular basis that I have for many years had a love for being thrifty and thrifty shopping. Now, along with that wonderful hobby of mine, many a story often follows from the outings.

It is a running joke between my husband and my son that he fully expects to get a call one day that I have had a free ride to the local jail due to inappropriate behavior on my part in the stores. My behavior at times may very well have been inappropriate but in my honest opinion....it was warranted.

NOTE: You may not want to read any further if you are afraid of being crushed at the fact that I am not always as sweet as I seem.... ahem.....I am going to show you my not so nice at times side today, but if you have the faith to check back tomorrow, you will see there was a reason for the confession of bad behavior today.

Without fail on several occasions, there seems to always be someone who follows me in these thrift stores as I shop and just seems to wait for me to put whatever treasure I have in my buggy back on the shelf. Always. Once, I had a milk glass punch bowl and cups in my buggy and for the longest time, I did not notice a lady who stalked me throughout the whole store. Finally, she asked me if I was going to purchase the set or what??? I looked at her and said yes I was and asked her what exactly she meant by the or what??? She informed me I had wasted a good part of the last hour of her time because she was waiting in the store for me to put the punch bowl set back on the shelf because she wanted it. Seriously, the "or what" made me so mad that day....I was at fault for taking up her time....this has happened so many times, that I really did not let this work me up too much that day...but there have been many times before.....

Once about 6 years ago, I was at half price day at Goodwill....and I was going through the racks of t-shirts to find some I could sell on ebay, which at that time was a pretty profitable business for me. I had a buggy full of stuff this one day, and the store was packed. I kid you not, there was a lady behind me and every time I put a shirt in my buggy and turned back to the rack, she took the shirts out of my buggy and put them in hers. When I caught her, I called her out on it rather quickly....and proceeded to take my shirts out of her buggy.... which you can imagine caused a small ruckus. About the time this was going on, one of the managers came rushing towards us like the store was on fire. He started waving his hands in the air saying, "Ladies...please..Ladies...there are plenty of things here for everyone...please....please....." I guess the poor guy thought there was going to be a knock down drag out right there on the store floor over some used t-shirts and he was a nervous wreck....that only fueled my anger that we had upset him....no that the lady who upset me, upset him....get the picture???? The sad thing was, I did not know her story, maybe she needed the clothes, maybe she just liked what I chose, maybe I should not have been so upset with her. But upset I was.......the nerve of that lady was all I could say to myself.

I could tell you stories all day that are very similar to these. It happens all the time, someone will grab what ever I have in my buggy and question me about it or just seem to almost want to take it from me right then and there. I know that should not upset me, but I don't really like it when this happens and it is all the time. Maybe if this happened only once in a while I would not get my hackles up so, but like I said, it is more that just once in a while that this occurs.

I like to shop in peace, I like the thrill of the find and I like it uninterrupted. Likewise, I have always given other shoppers the same respect. I have lots of times walked into a store and knew right away I was just a few minutes too late....someone had some really grand treasures already in their buggy and I missed out. My heart would sink a little for the fact I missed a great item, but that was it. Likewise, I would never think to ask them if they were going to put them back on the shelf because quiet frankly, my thinking is they would have never picked them up in the first place if they did not want them. So, I just forget it and go on. I don't stalk. I don't stare. I don't try to take what is in their buggy. I am not saying that I might consider doing any of these things, but I know how that type of thing drives me crazy so out of respect for fellow shoppers, I do not do it.

These are a couple of extreme happenings in a long line of crazy occurrences though out the years. On a lighter note, there have been some very wonderful conversations started up over an item at a thrift store or Goodwill with someone who just wants to talk, not take. Those conversations are usually very informative on an item, or a conversation will often be about a memory of something similar that was special. And although conversations like these have always been enjoyed, I can sadly admit today, before my friends here on my blog,  I have never once even considered giving up what was in my buggy. Not once. Shameful, I know.

This Take Me Back Tuesday, is really a two part post. The follow up will be up tomorrow. I am sure you are wondering why I would share this not so nice side of myself today. Actually, I am thinking it not a good idea to hit publish after all. I mean, it is crazy to tell your friends you have been so selfish at times that it caused a scene in a store that upset the workers. That when you had every opportunity to do a random act of kindness, you chose not to do it. That deep down you have felt guilty over your actions but push that guilt aside. I have been all of these things and more. It took a single moment in time this last week to bring all of the nasty attitudes to the surface once again and the lesson was so simple, it was shameful. And in case you are wondering, it did not involve that phone call to my husband.

Yes, I really enjoy my treasure hunting....but at the same time, I know I would have enjoyed offering a random act of kindness to many of these individuals who only saw my not so nice side. Shameful. Next...you will see just how shameful it has been compared to a random act of kindness from a stranger with a much kinder heart than mine......I hope you come back for the rest of the story. If you followed this to the end, well, thank you for stopping by for this Take Me Back Tuesday. You may have noticed that there are no pictures, because frankly, I could not even think of any to go with this post......and that is a first for me.

Finished For Friday: Repurposed Wall Art - Cheap!

I am linking in with Lit and Laundry for a Finished for Friday post. I actually have a small project I completed this week and thought I'd link in today and show what I have been up to.

This past week, I decided to pop into our local Goodwill to see what they might have. I was actually looking for a bar stool, but instead of finding that, I found a little package of two prints from Ikea and they cost me .65 cents. They were new, never opened. I found them on the Ikea website for $4.00 for the set, of course when I went back to link them to this post, I could not find them.


Now, I needed frames. At a different Goodwill, I found two children prints and they were very similar to this one, and they were perfectly square frames....just what I needed. That day, it was half price day at Goodwill, so I paid $2.55 for BOTH of the framed prints. Ikea had the perfect frames for this project, but the price was over my budget. Click Here to see what I was wanting in a frame for these prints.

These are my finished for Friday prints. And may I add, a very thrifty project at that. The prints had white mattes originally. I took left over flat black spray paint from another project and painted the mattes black. Once re-framed, no one would ever know they were once another color.

Prints: .65 cents - brand new
Frames: $2.55 - for both frames
Black spray paint: free

Total for 2 framed prints measuring 26 X 26 : $3.21

The greatest money saving tip when you are looking to update or change a look inside your home is look at other peoples cast-offs, and see if you can figure out a way to re-purpose them into something to fits your needs. All it takes is a little creativity and a little time and you can make something fantastic for very little money. I love how these turned out and I know they will look wonderful in my daughters apartment. Have a great weekend.....and don't be afraid to step into your local Goodwill or thrift store....I swear, there are treasures there waiting to be discovered.

Finished For Friday: A Stash Reorganization

I have a confession to make today. When my kids were in Elementary school, they had to be at school by 8:20am and picked up at 3:00pm. I can not tell you how many times I would drop them off at school, rush to Sherman Williams for either paint, wallpaper or both, then rush home to begin a project on one of my childrens rooms. I am not kidding when I say by the time I picked them up from school...I'd have whatever project I decided to do, done and it would be like magic in their eyes, a whole room transformation in a course of a school day.

Now with that in mind, would someone explain to me why a simple task of cleaning out a closet, reorganizing and putting away everything again and changing simple things in a sewing room should take 2 1/2 days to complete. I am scratching my head at that one....I don't get it. I guess back then, we did not have computers to suck up a lot of time....I am going to blame it on the computer..... not age!

This week, I want to show you my fabric stash that has been pulled out of all sorts of bins, stacked and folded on the side shelves of the closet. Now, I can at least see what I have. ~I did not paint these shelves bright pink and lime green....well, I did paint them, but years ago....that was my daughters choice, not mine and well, as time is of the essence, I have not repainted them.

I even gathered up all my vintage sheets I have been purchasing, and stored them in one place.

Just look at all this vintage goodness....I hope to get around to making a couple of vintage sheet quilts soon. I am looking for some vintage sheets with a more brown, green, or orange coloring in stripes or anything other than florals. My son, is like me, and likes to sleep under covers even in the summer. Problem is, he is so hot natured, and is always burning up. I think a light weight quilt made from a more manly vintage sheets would be perfect.....I know I want one for myself....in pink florals!

You can even see the bolts of backing fabrics and upholstery fabrics on top.....by the look of all this, you'd think all I ever did these days was sew...and it is quiet the opposite...I can hardly find time! Maybe I need to stay out of the quilt shops.......just sayin'

I purchased this great storage unit, it holds lots of goodies! Do you see those red boxes??? I found two of these, brand new for $3.99 at goodwill. They are stemware storage units, but I had another idea.

These are perfect for storing craft supplies and vintage lace and trims. Remember, when thrifting, think outside of the box and come up with new storage solutions for the things you find. As in this case, perfect-o!

Here is my scrap bin, finally with all the scraps gathered up and in one place. Before they were in several bins and they were all over the place.

Top shelf holds my buttons, thread and other goodies!!!

And on the far right, I have bins of vintage hankies, linens, tablecloths and quilts. Some are cutters to be used in projects, while others are just stored in this space.

I am so glad I have something to share for finished for Friday over at Lit and Laundry! In case you are wondering why there are no before pictures, well lets just say....you would not have wanted to see them....Trust me!!!!

Believe me, for a time this week, I did not think I'd even see the hallway as I was so covered up with stuff, much less finish to have a blog post up. Man I wish I knew what sped things up about 16 years ago....I needed a HUGE dose of whatever that might have been!!

The Reasons Amaze Me Sometimes

I have an Aunt who always says, "the weirdest things always seem to happen to me". Honestly, she is always right....I don't know why that is, but it is true. Some of the most bizarre things do happen to me.

I debated on whether to share this with my online friends, but there is a message in this tale, so I wanted to share it with you. I mean after all, we really don't have any real secrets do we??

Last week, I told you about the bridal shower for my friends daughter, and I know you are by now tired of this tale. However, this is really amazing. I explained that I had found these sorta vintage bird candle holders at Goodwill right before the shower and I felt they would go well with the decor and add a bit of whimsy to the space, so I purchased them.

When I checked out, the lady who was running the register asked me what I was going to do with these birds. I told her they were for a shower and we continued to talk. I may have mentioned before that the people at the Goodwill I frequent know me and most of the women know I have a online blog. The manager has my blog address and I know she reads it because she always says I take the best pictures of my Goodwill finds. I know you are wondering where this is going.....


....Friday, I got an email from someone who read my blog.......I was speechless....I was angry......I was SO GLAD that I like to talk a lot...I was shocked.........here is a portion of the email.

........I know you do not know me, and I know you may not even believe me. I left the Goodwill store by my house yesterday looking for something that was important to me. I asked several employees if they had seen any white and pink doves come thru the donation drop off. One lady said she remembered them, and said she knew who purchased them, she said she had not seen you in several days. The manager gave me your blog address and said maybe there was contact information on your site.

My mother made me 6 white and pink doves for my wedding because I was the sixth child. Her initials are on the bottom of the doves (JB) I am certain that the doves you have on your page are the doves my mother made for me. They were really important to me, and my soon to be ex husband wanted to hurt me and took some of my most prized possessions to Goodwill. My mother made these for me for my wedding and she passed away 5 months later. Would you check to see if the initials are on the bottom of these doves and if they are the ones I had, can I please buy them back from you at what ever you want for them.

I felt like a brick had hit my chest when I saw these on your page. I am not a weirdo, I just am trying to get some of my things back, and hope these are mine and you don't mind giving them up.........

I have told you before, I don't believe in coincidences, things happen for a reason.

There was a reason I purchased those birds when I almost left them sitting there.

There is a reason I talk too much and tell too much to total strangers about my online habit...my blog.

There is a reason I was there that day shopping and someone asked what I was going to do with them.

There is a reason the lady was able to find me, because these without a doubt are her doves.

There is a reason that her soon to be ex husband did not succeed in losing her things that her mother made for her. ~Can you imagine?

There was a reason....I may not know it, but someone important does.

Honestly, those birds had grown on me, and if I am being honest here, I really thought I'd use them again sometime, that however was before I received that email. I will say this, she has her doves back and all it cost her was the gas to drive to her local Goodwill to pick them up from me. She only had to wait a couple of days for me to be able to make it back out to the store. And my Aunt can once again say the strangest things happen to me and that makes me smile.

That is the reason my heart sings today.....good things do happen to people sometimes and when you unexpectedly get to be a small part of that, well....it just is over the top greatness!!!