Garage Sale Finds

A few weeks ago, on a whim, I convinced Bruno to drive by a garage sale on a Saturday morning. I also love it when I can see lots of pieces of furniture, because you never know, right? I came across 2 end tables, with a $5 sticker on each! I wasn't crazy about the stain on them, but they were solid wood and in pretty darn good condition. 

So we bought them. After looking at them for a couple days, I decided I wanted to paint them white and distress them a bit. Enlisting the help of Bruno's Tia Josette, who has transformed nearly all the furniture in her house with this technique, we both painted 3 coats of white and distressed the edges within a few hours! 

Before

After

After, but before we bought some cute teal lamps and put some picture frames and other decor on the tables. I also plan on sewing some light gray slipcovers for the couches.... anyone want to offer some tips on that monstrous task?

The following week was my birthday, and one of the top things on my list of what-I-want-to-do-on-my-birthday, was garage sale-ing. First stop, we snagged a sturdy, solid wood, book shelf thing for only $15! We went to a few other sales, but this was by far our best find for the day. I already knew I wanted to paint this an aqua color and distress it, because I never had the guts to before, but I found a couple good tips online, so we took the plunge and spent several hours in the afternoon and after the kids went to bed, painting and sanding.

Before

After.

(Not sure exactly what to fill those shelves with yet)

Today, we only had an hour, but I got smart and went on craigslist beforehand and found an estate sale, close by, worth checking out. And boy was I right. Tons of antiques! I'm kinda obsessed with antiques. I love the patina of old, valuable stuff. Sometimes, it's not even that valuable, but I still love it. Like old books, old toys, old photographs, old dishes... you get the idea. When I was in high school, my grandpa died and left tons of antiques that were shipped down to our house. I collected a few of my favorite items and displayed them in my room. I had some antique hats of my grandma's from the 20s and 30s on the walls, a small armoire, several books, and other items displayed around the room. I LOVE the smell and feel of old books. It's weird, I know.

So anyways, back to this morning. I couldn't spent hours perusing through everything. Long story short, here were some of my favorite finds.

Hand-made lace runner (they seriously don't make this stuff anymore!)

The Joy of Cooking (circa 1967), and My Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book (printed 1935 and personalized)

Look how amazing this cookbook is!

Almost every page had hand-written notes and recipes, and cut-outs from magazines the she tried and loved!

I love her! I wish I knew her!

I also found this old-fashioned cooler ($5)! It's like a mini wooden barrel. I want to make it into a little stool. Paint (that aqua color), distress, add a little fabric cushion to the top.

I saw this and loved it right away, but it took me awhile to convince myself to buy it. It was $25 which was more than I wanted to spend. But I kept going back to look at it. And it is sturdy! I even left for a few hours and came back and it still was unsold. I needed it. :) 

Look how amazing that seat is! I'm going to paint it! Not sure if I should do it white like the end tables, or maybe a different color? or maybe keep it the brown color and just get a new cushion? Suggestions? 

(Can you tell I'm pretty excited about my finds? I'm using waaaay too many exclamation points about everything) 

I posted this on facebook, but shoot, this post is related, so I'm going to include it here. I made a Rosewood Wreath out of old pages of a book! Found a tutorial online and spent my free-time for a few days making these little rosettes. 

I love how it turned out, but I don't love that it took about 80 rosettes and lots of hot glue. Ugh. But it's pretty! And I finally bought a hook for our door (inside) tonight, and it is hanging there now.