weekend finds

This past weekend was one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. Since I no longer have a little one at home that wants the latest toy, I don't do Black Friday. (I am not kidding.)  I cannot take the crowd, or the pushing, or the rudeness, and I really don't like to get up super early just to buy a $3 toaster.  (Now I will get up early for a flea market or a garage sale- I like the unexpected.) I spent my weekend with Mr. Brilliant tagging along. (He has learned not to second guess my purchases, but he still makes comments, which I allow only because I conveniently leave my purse in the truck when he tags along.) Here are some of my weekend finds.

A great apothecary jar, small mirror (wall of mirrors picture coming soon), mirror tray, small lamp ($1 :)) vintage fox fur collar. Please don't ask why I bought this (Mr. Brilliant was shaking his head.)

Actually it is a great Mexican dress. We are having a Christmas around the world program at school and a friend needed a costume.  I am assuming that some drunk American tourist just couldn't resist. (Hmm, I hadn't been drinking and I still bought it.) I don't think it has ever been worn. (Because she sobered up.) Speaking of drinking, many of you know I have been on the look out for bottles for my bottle tree and I have found some!! Now if the lady that I bought these from would just drink a little more, I could complete my tree!! (I swear I DID NOT drink all of those bottles of wine, but I do lurve the blue.)  It is going to look great in my cottage house yard. I bought the tree in Canton and wagged it about a mile to the truck.

I hope you all had a great weekend and a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Peace my friends!

vintage fever

Well my "real" job has put a slight cramp in my blogging the last two weeks, but hey we gotta eat around here.  If you have been reading my blog you know how much I lurve junk treasures.  Lately  I have been gravitating toward vintage fabrics and fashion. (Who knows why?) The following finds are from my  recent escapades.  Not sure what I am going to do with these but I was originally thinking finally opening an Etsy store. However, the hoarder within is saying, "mmm those will look good on you!" and the evil mini me that is on my left shoulder is shouting, "yeah, keep'em, keep'em!"  Who knows? I will let you be the judge.  This jacket is fab and from the late 50s early 60s faux Persian lamb.  It was one of those finds that you see from across the store, know that the people selling it don't have a clue, and break your neck trying to look calm as you swiftly make your way to the rack.  Now my excitement did fade slightly as I realized it was not real Persian lamb, but it is a fab faux. (Not a member of PETA here, sorry folks, I EAT meat and wear fur!) Great price and in excellent condition. 

Now my next find were these super cool cowboy boots.  Very retro. (Mr. Brilliant just shakes his head.) I bought these from one of my new buddies. (I am now a regular at his junk hut.) He always tells me what he pays for stuff and then says but I will let you have it for so and so.  Yep I fall for it everytime!!! My retro chair and chippy table came from him. (see previous post gone a junking finds)  I am so sure I am his favorite customer!! I am going by there this weekend wearing these:



These boots were made for junkin'!!!

A few more vintage finds to share.  I am lurvin' this retro billfold. Red vinyl with  floral tapestry. I couldn't resist at 1.49.  Almost Christmas-ee.  Hmmm, holiday accessory for a tacky Christmas...maybe?

I am not one to buy quilts because they are usually waaaay too expensive or in terrible shape. Again I was in the right place at the right time.  This does have a few problem areas but I like the colors, design, hand pieced and overall a nice old quilt.

I will again be on the hunt.  Who knows what this week will bring. Let me know what you think!! Peace my friends!! Happy Junking!

It's the little things

I found this very cute little piece of artwork at Canton.  The lady that painted it had some really nice large paintings and I really would have liked to have bought something bigger.  I just couldn't figure out were I was going to put it in my house. (I don't know why I let that stop me, it never has before!!)  Anyway this little block of wood caught my eye and at $5 was a sweet little deal. 

It is painted with fabric glued inside the heart/peace sign.  When I was paying for my purchase I noticed this was written on the back, Phillipians 4:6-7. Now I will shamefuly admit I did not know this verse by heart, so I wasn't sure but I figured it had something to do with peace (hence the sign on the front).  A few days later when I was unpacking all of my goodies I pulled this out and grabbed my bible.  Now I could make you go look it up yourself but I'm not,

Philippians 4:6-7 (New International Version)

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
 

I do not make my problems public but God knows my heart and He knew how to get my attention with a sweet little sign...... even in a field of junk.  
Peace be with you  my friends!

My BFF Barbie

This post has a little to do about my recent road trip and a lot to do with one of my craziest besties, big R. I am not referring to her as big because of her size but because of her personality and her heart. Big R is my "saling" partner. (garage saling)  Lately because of my work on the cottage our therapy sessions as we like to call it have been few and far between.  However, we still manage to report our great finds to each other. Well while I was in Canton I saw this vintage Barbie and Midge (Barbie's BFF) case. 

 Big R has one of the most amazing vintage Barbie collections I have ever seen.  I wasn't sure if she had this case and even if she did, sometimes she likes to have duplicates. (Can a girl ever have enough of something about which she is really passionate???) The booth was not even open yet and I stood there eyeing the case.  Then I saw a man in the next booth and inquired if he knew who had the booth.  He told me it was his, I asked about the price and you know what happened next...SOLD.  The perfect Christmas gift for the perfect friend.  Here we are dressed up as Barbie and Midge last year at her Barbie club Christmas party. 

 I am not a member but still had a blast.  She did not know I was dressing up and she was totally shocked, which made it even better.  Yes she will read this and she knows what she is getting for Christmas, but does it really matter when you have a friend who makes you feel joy all year long?  We have Christmas every time we are together.  I lurve her because she makes me laugh. I lurve her because I can spend $1 or $100 on her and she is always happy, it doesn't matter if it is something I found in a yardsale, Goodwill, flea market, or in my closet.  I lurve her because she is who she is and nothing will ever change her. Yes I have a few other BFFs, but no others quite like my junkin soul sista, Big R.

 (and amazingly she did NOT have this case!!)

drab to fab

I have a few more road trip posts, but I am going to have to wait until the weather clears a little to share some of my other finds.  Soooo, today I am going to show you a little project that I finally got finished a few months ago.  This is an old wardrobe/dresser that was at my aunt and uncle's home. (a garage sale find)  My uncle decided he was tired of all the junk and started (hold your breath here)burning a lot of stuff.  By the time my aunt got to him he had already burned two of the drawers. There it sat in her storage minus 2 drawers and when I saw it I instantly thought it would be a great display piece for my junk treasure store.  Mr. Brilliant fixed the part where the two drawers were so that I could put my little TV/DVD combo in there.  Sounded like a good idea, but when I went to put the TV in the space wasn't big enough.  Anywho..after a couple of cans of black spray paint and some fabric, here is the result. I also guess you can see it ended up at my shabby chic cottage. There is no closet in this room , so it turned out to be functional as well. 

I painted these other pieces black also.  The headboard came with the house and the side table was a $7 flea find.  Funky artwork came from various places and the lamp was a $3 garage sale find, I painted the shade. I am not finished with this room but here is what it looked like before......

Yep it is the same room. BTW I am NEVER going to paint a room red again.(Sh!! don't tell Mr. Brilliant because I just HAD to HAVE this color.)  This was the paint from u-know where.  UGH.  It did turn out nice, but was probably a little too dark for this room that only has this door leading to the deck.  (no windows)  I still lurve it. Enjoy the pics.  Peace my friends! Linking up to a great party where people are sharing decorating ideas for  boys bedrooms. Check it out:

Also, linking up to junk to jewel transformations at

Road Trip part 2

Okay I thought this shirt was hilarious!! The lady graciously let me take a picture minus her head. (Hmm, maybe her husband REALLY did think she was at a church retreat!)  The back said Thank God for Canton.

I wanted to share a few more pics with you and then in the next few weeks I will be showing you what I did with some of my finds.  The old game board was a great find at $8, saw a similar one for $60.  It didn't take me long to find a nice place to hang this....instant funky art.

The water skis you see were a request from someone.  I am on a mission to find her several pair.  She is going to make Adirondack chairs out of them.  I had many comments as we were wheeling through the flea market.  My poor mother in law could barely see over the cart!! She was just following the sound of my voice and would point at me and say, "It's all hers!"  We had a lot of fun and I feel very blessed to have a super great MIL with whom I can share fun times. She is even a great scout!  She spotted these super cool mirrors under some linens where I was purchasing this cute pillow made from an old embroidery piece.  It looks great on the bed in my guest room at the cottage.  The mirrors are really heavy and used to be part of a dresser.  They will go somewhere soon, not sure yet, still thinking.

I will be sharing more later this week.  I 'd love to read your comments, let me know you stopped by. 

Peace my friends!

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