When I go shopping, I never know what I’m going to look for or what I’m going to find.  There are certain things I always gravitate towards, but I go with an open mind and I am often surprised at what I come home with.  These are some of the qualities that catch my eye… Pieces that were utilized in daily life.  I love elevating something that was functional to something that’s all about looks. I love things like fans, scales, clocks, linens, kitchen utensils…things that are humble. Things that are multi-functional.  Baskets, boxes, totes and platters can be used in so many practical ways and they look great, too. Things that were special.  I love christening gowns, not only for their detail and delicate beauty, but because they were worn on a very important day in a baby’s life.   I also look for trophies, letters, and other sentimental items and

…maybe not in the traditional sense, but I felt a little like one.  I just bought nine antique doors (several with hardware), an antique table with turned legs and casters, a stack of molding, and a few cabinet doors for $24.50.  Does that count as robbery? (I call it robbery when the movie theatre charges me $15.00 for a coke and popcorn.)  Here’s the thing.  These doors were trash to this guy, so we were both happy with the deal.  This tall, skinny pair of doors have a perfectly chippy light gray paint and they look great flanking my piano in the living room.  They set me back $1.00 for the pair.  I still need to clean them up and put a coat of poly on, but I couldn’t resist sitting them in their new home. We weren’t even sure if we could fit it all into one truck load.  See

I couldn’t resist checking out a Goodwill while I was in Florida.  The lure of never knowing what I am going to find was just too great.  What if a sweet old lady dropped off a stash of ironstone?  Or someone dropped off some cool farm junk?  Or I found something I’ve wanted for a while?  Well, yesterday, that happened.  Before I share that with you, I’ll show off a couple of my other buys.  I saw this petit cardboard globe on the shelf and thought it was cool but I set it back in it’s place.  Then, I noticed something.  This globe was not marked in English.  It was German (I grew up in Germany, so I recognized it immediately.)  Upon closer inspection I noticed Russia was the USSR…this globe was not only German, it was vintage.  At $1.99, it went in the cart. My second find was this pretty glass lamp.  One

First of all, I am pretty giddy today.  I woke up this morning, looked at one of my favorite blogs, Centsational Girl and guess what was there.  A post about me.  This is not a surprise to me, but it was still very exciting to see it there.   Kate has an awesome blog and impeccable taste.  Her posts are a daily read for me.  Thanks so much for the feature, Kate!  It’s truly an honor. I shared some of my flea market finds in my last post and I wanted to share a few more things that I’ve picked up on my trip.  Can you believe I bought these at Anthropologie?  It may not be a revelation to any of you ladies who live near a decent mall, but Anthropologie carries antiques in addition to all of the other cool stuff it sells.  I had never been in their store before and I

Whenever I take my three year old son with me to yard sales or thrift stores, I tell him that we are looking for “treasures.”  It’s gotten to the point where he will point out yard sales to me as we’re driving around on a Saturday morning, because he knows a cool toy might be there.  So, I pulled my mom, dad, and two boys out to go treasure hunting today at an Antique/Flea Market in Mt. Dora, FL.  (Thanks for the recommendation, Sherry!) I found a boat-load of Bakelite flatware for $20.  I love this stuff and was so excited to find spoons!  I have tons of knives and forks, but no spoons.  This stuff is in mint condition.  I purchased the forks and knives from one vendor for $8.00 (reduced from $12) and bought the spoons from another dealer for $12.00.  She originally quoted $22.00 for the eight

Well, I am in sunny (and unbearably hot and humid) Orlando, Florida to visit my parents with my two boys.  I made sure to snap a lot of photos of my house and some projects before I left, so I would have plenty to share with you this week.  First of all, a quick note.  The winner of the Acorn Apron dress form pillow is Susan L. from It’s the things that make you go mmmmm.  Congrats! I couldn’t help but make some purchases when I was at Lucketts and I showed most of them to you already.  Some of them I am selling and others I bought with my birthday money to use in my own home.  The wire commercial bread basket I purchased for $10 is now sitting under my ironstone tureen and platter that I found in my grandparent’s attic.  It just adds a little bit of texture and

I loved reading the comments about my antlers.  You guys should never feel bad about not liking something and saying so.  I love the freedom and honesty you all shared, so thanks.  Some made me laugh, some made me think, some were encouraging…  It was quite a mixed bag.  So, here’s the funny thing about the antlers.  I don’t hunt and never have in my life.  I don’t have any desire to.  I hate deer meat and really don’t even like steak very much.  There was a time when I was a vegetarian and, on top of all of that, I made my grandfather take a deer head down from his den wall, because it gave me nightmares when I was a girl.  With all of that in mind, isn’t it funny that I have no problem hanging them on my wall?  It’s purely a home decor thing for me.  So, I’m

I hit the junk jackpot yesterday.  There was a yard sale at my local fire hall and this guy was selling a bunch of old things from his parent’s barn.  Nothing was priced, which was a little frustrating for me, because I knew the instant I showed interest in something the unmarked price would double.  So, I asked how much a chicken feeder was.  “Aw…two bucks.”  I tried my hardest to keep my poker face.  “Mmm…ok.  How about these pails?”  “Oh…a dollar each?”  “Ah.  Ok.  How about that pulley over there?”  “Five dollars.”  “And the orchard ladders?”  “One dollar per rung.”   “I’ll take the chicken feeder, the pails, the pulley and a ladder!” This ladder is so cool and had only 6 rungs, which means it was $6.00.  I know.  It felt a little bit like robbery.  I am going to give it a good scrubbing, a lite sand and a coat