Happy Halloween!

I hope you guys are safe out there. Not sure how many readers I have from the northeast but I'm praying for everyone up there. The damage is so devastating to see - I'm watching the fires in New Jersey right now. So, so sad.

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Happy Halloween! I like Halloween but I LOVE fall. There's nothing better than the sun shining brightly with a brisk chill in the air. Fall is the BEST. I'm actually really sad that today is the last day of October!

I didn't dress up for Halloween this year (will I ever be able to top last year? Probably not!) because I assisted a wedding planner on Saturday, when most of the parties were. Tonight, we're going to hang out with family to be with Ollie on his first Halloween. :)

I wanted to get the most out of October that I could and I think we did a pretty good job. We went to Oktoberfest and to the farmer's market to get a pumpkin and mums, we went to the Smoky Mountains, I went to Glendale, and we had some friends over to carve pumpkins, watch football, and eat chili this weekend.

I carved a little pumpkin along with my friends Emily and her new fiance Spencer! (Congrats! Still so over-the-moon excited for you guys)! Emily and Spencer are both really artistic and their pumpkins reflect that! I was cold and impatient and my pumpkin reflects THAT. :)

First: Emily and Spencer's:


They both totally free-handed those. Impressive, huh???

Our porch is not the best - ignore the fact that it is too small and needs to be re-painted.... but here is my happy little fall scene along with my dinky little jack-o-lantern. :)

I tried to make a scary pumpkin but the eyes looked more flirty than frightening, so I decided to just carve a cute girl pumpkin!

The wooden box on the porch holds my hens & chicks! My mom made the planter for me and planted hens and chicks that came from my great-aunt's house. The plants originated in my great-grandmother's garden in Louisville but when her daughter moved to Michigan, she took some with her and over the decades, they grew and grew. My cousin Marybeth dug some up for us so we could use them in our wedding last year, which meant the world to me.

When my great-aunt passed away last fall, her family made sure to dig up the hens and chicks before selling her house. They passed them out to the rest of the family. I love having them and I'm constantly scared something is going to happen to them. They survived Michigan winters (Marybeth had to wait for the SNOW to melt in March so she could dig them up!) so I'm praying they survive our mild winters.

I love them! They make me so happy and make me feel connected to my dear Michigan family.

Wherever you are, I hope you have a safe and happy Halloween.

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New Rug for Us!

First - I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with those affected by Sandy. I hope everyone is taking precautions to be safe! 


Second - I loved reading everyone's comments yesterday about travel thrifting! I need to go back and answer them! :) 


I have been going through a burst of feeling inspired to decorate! Maybe it's because this is the first month I've had a full paycheck since June, but I feel more willing to spend just a little bit on decorating items.

When I bought the house 6+ years ago, I picked up a bland rug at Wal-mart for about $60. It has been through a lot in the past 6 years and I've really been wanting something new. I had scoured RugsUSA.com to find something I liked and I found it: the Sierra Paddle Rug in gray.

RugsUSA offers free shipping and they're usually running a 35% off coupon code. The 5x8 rug was originally $299 and with 35% off it was going to be right around $200. To me, that still felt like a lot to spend but I had been working some odd jobs and selling random things and felt like I had the "mad money" to "splurge" on a rug.

I visited the site to peruse some more and noticed they were running a SIXTY percent off sale:

Needless to say, I scooped up the rug right away for only $119 - a savings of $181!

I am so excited for it to arrive! I think it will really help our living room* look more pulled together!

This is definitely not a sponsored post - I just wanted to pass on the 60% savings in case anyone else was in search of a rug! The sale goes through tomorrow.

* See "scenes" from our living room here and see a little bit more of our living room (the couch/wall above the couch here).

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Thrift Report: Not-As-Extreme Thrifting

Last October, I went back to Louisville and shopped for an entire weekend and scored BIG - I shared my finds in my "extreme thrifting" post last year.

This year, I only had a few hours to shop so I made the most of it and I am pretty happy with my finds!

Paint-by-numbers have found a place in my heart, but they have been hard to come by for me. I rarely find them! I loved this one of the ballerinas. You know I can't resist a travel bag! 

I have been wanting to learn how to draw/doodle better, so I picked up this cute "Build A Doodle" book for $1. My mom found the lampshades for me months ago and I finally got to bring them home. 

I hope scales are still popular because I bought another one! I love crewel-work and I'm hoping someone will fall in love with these little mushrooms! Most of my finds were just a tiny bit outside of my natural aesthetic but I felt a lot of pressure to find, find, find because I drove 3 hours and wanted to come home with a full car. The horse planter and the chalk owl and the mushrooms are all a bit outside of my go-to aesthetic but I think they'll fit in with my booth, in the long run.

I loved this owl's pretty eyes. :) I bought another little scale because I had a similar one in my booth and it sold last year. Here's hoping this one sells as well!

I love old magazine racks and thought this one was cool. There are dealers named The Blue Spruce that are in a few "peddler's malls" that I go to. I always like to buy from them - they normally have really great deals on mid-century stuff. 

I do NOT need another suitcase but the price was right and I'm doing an in-person fair soon (more on that later!) and thought a hard suitcase would be good for a display of some sort.

Loved this Christmas apron and Christmas angel! We have a generic star for our tree so I was thinking about keeping this angel for home! 

The picnic basket I had in my booth for over a year FINALLY sold and this one was a good price, so I picked it up. It might have been a mistake since it took the other one soooo long to sell, but I have hope that it will sell in the spring.

Last time I bought one of these "state plates" from The Blue Spruce, it sold in a heartbeat. Are they worth something? That's the problem with me... I don't really take the time to research prices. I just feel an intuition on prices and go with it. It was also a Tennessee plate, so maybe a tourist* picked it up or maybe someone was feeling pride in their home state. Let's hope New Jersey sells quickly too. :)

*If you sell in a booth, do you find that you get a lot of tourists? Maybe it's because Nashville is such a tourist destination, but I feel like most of the people I meet while I'm stocking my booth are visiting Nashville and shopping. Thrifting/antique-mall shopping is my favorite thing to do when I travel, so I totally understand, but I just wondered if this was a common thing. Let me know! :)

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Two of my favorite things

I went home to KY over the weekend to see my mom at Glendale and to shop for my booth!

I'll do a "thrift report" post eventually but here are two of my favorite things I picked up.

This teal molded chair:

And this beautiful crewel piece with a framed mirror in the middle!

It's become harder and harder lately to decide what to sell and what to keep!!

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Halloween Cards From Rifle Paper Co

I am enamored with everything Rifle Paper Co. does. I checked out their website this week and discovered the cutest Halloween cards! If you're a fan of stationery, be sure to check these out (and everything else they do!).









So cute! I'm not in the habit of sending out cards for Halloween, but I'm tempted after seeing these!

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The Best Brown Leather Vintage Purses Under $20 on Etsy

When Fall strikes, I always get the itch to find a new brown leather purse. Maybe I'll treat myself to one of these - the 18 best brown leather vintage purses under $20 on Etsy! Just click the image to visit the listing!

Happy shopping!

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Private Estate Sale Finds

I mentioned Monday that Brodie let me shop a house he is closing out. (He'll be opening it to the public this weekend - stay tuned for more information on that!)

Here's what I found minus a few larger items that I haven't pulled out of the garage to clean up yet!

This white scale is in the best shape I've seen a scale in! The former owner of the house was a hair stylist, so there were a few wigs and wig holders at the sale. I loved this mannequin head's make up!

I try not to pass up 45/record holders even though I haven't really sold one yet! They're just so cool and funtional... I'm just waiting for the right buyer. :) This cake stand looks like fancy cut crystal, but it was plastic. Perfect for klutzes like me. :)

I like checking out estate fridges for fun magnets and this apple didn't disappoint! I picked up a cast iron skillet for me and Andy - just days before I had told him that I felt like the mark of at true southern lady was having and using cast iron. Because I'm actually a little scared of the work it takes to keep it up and make sure it stays in good shape, I felt that secondhand cast iron was a great choice for me right now. Low investment, low risk!

I love love love this miniature green stapler. I reluctantly put it in my booth but I might have to go rescue it. It's so cute and tiny. The red box is just a fun case, not sure what it was originally used for. This flowered bag was full of knitting materials but you could use it for anything! I really really like it and might have to go rescue IT as well. :)



Cute mustard-y mugs with a faint pattern on them, a Grand Ole Opry House fan (so cool!) and a wire basket. There was such a variety of items at this house and I'm so happy that her items will live on and make other people happy too.

I also picked up a few envelopes of old Opry tickets from the 70s and 80s. We're trying to figure out what to do with them and we need to research and see if there's a comprehensive list of the Opry schedule. (The tickets don't have the artist names on them.) They are so well-designed and each night's ticket is a different color! They're so fun. I will have to do a post on them when we figure out who they are for!

Linking up to: Apron Thrift Girl

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How To Clean Grime Off Your Vintage Treasures

Last week, I had the opportunity to shop a private estate sale. The house was already set up estate-style and it was night which meant the lighting was pretty bad in certain rooms without overhead light. I was immediately drawn to this pink lamp but had no idea how grimy it was until I got it home and checked it out Saturday morning!

Even if I had seen the lamp in full light, a little dirt, grime, and/or rust doesn't get in the way of me taking home a new treasure. You can easily clean up most vintage wares with a few tools.

As I was cleaning up all my loot from the sale, I alternated between using soapy water and a product called Krud Kutter.

 

Krud Kutter is pretty incredible - I first discovered it when my mom broke it out to completely remove rust from my Heywood Wakefield desk. (Oh by the way, I don't know if it's actually Heywood Wakefield - does anyone know by looking at it?) 

It worked miraculously to remove rust and dirt from the desk and I knew it would be perfect for cleaning up this lamp!

I carefully sprayed Krud Kutter on the lamp then wiped with a paper towel. It works practically immediately - it really is amazing!

 

That's a lot of decades of dirt, y'all!!

This isn't a sponsored post or anything - I just wanted to share how to clean vintage items easily! This is the best way I've found without a doubt.

Next step: rewiring this lamp! I haven't decided whether or not I'll sell it or keep it. I think it would look pretty cute in my little attic craft room!

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Notes from the past

Our friend Brodie is closing out a house and invited me and a few friends over to shop.

We were all super charmed by the notes that were on TONS of items. I'm not sure why she labeled everything, but I loved reading the notes.

The photos are terrible due to lighting, but here were some of my favorites. I discovered the below one when I picked up the Santa plate and discovered the paper behind it:













Fascinating, don't you think?? We loved finding them all over the house!

Can't wait to show you all the things I picked up from this estate! I love giving items a second life by saving them from the dump!

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Thrift Report: October Finally!

FINALLY! Here are my recent finds from Bowling Green and also our Smoky Mountain trip!


In Bowling Green, I got most of the above things! A cuuuuuuute doe figurine and a cute little horse guy. And the most amazing punch bowl ever with 12 cute cups - for only $12! Buy of the century!! The box of buttons came from a friend of a former coworker who has been selling off the entire contents of his neighbor's house. They are beautiful - especially the teal ones!


I also picked up this clock that matches the one I got in Brown County. I love it so much, I will probably keep one of them!


Sometimes we stop at an outlet mall on the way to the mountains -- and we are always the youngest people there! It's pretty run down but this time, there was a thrift store! I was pleased to see that! I bought this light fixture for only $5 and if you look in the top right photo, you can see that a guy named Ralph tested it in late September and it works! When I checked out, I asked, "Can we trust Ralph??" and the cashier said yes. I love that they labeled that it had been tested - I had never seen that before in a thrift store!

I'm going to hold onto it for our next house. I'm beginning to hoard light fixtures for the future.


Here's a story... we were driving to our cabin and I saw a two story white building on the side of the road, not near anything else, with a sign that said "Yard Sale." I became pretty obsessed with what I started to call "the yard sale store" and we stopped by there one morning. It turns out that a newlywed couple is opening a motorcycle shop there but first needed to clear out 5 storage units between them. Their cleaning out resulted in having a temporary yard sale at their shop.

They had a ton of quilt tops and I mentioned that it was my goal to make a quilt within the next year. He alerted me that they had a huge bag of quilt pieces for sale - and I was giddy!! The thing that turns me off from starting a quilt is the cutting... and now I have a giant bag of pre-cut pieces!! I'm so thrilled!!

Some of the pieces are really strange shapes though -- any expert quilters out there that might be able to help me figure them out??

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