Welcome to my blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I believe that everyone can have a beautiful home without spending a fortune! One of my favorite things to do is find creative ways to re-purpose things I already have on hand, or have picked up at yard sales and thrift stores. Join me as I share with you some of my favorite ideas for crafting and decorating, as well as travel adventures, and fun things that I pick up on my treasure hunts! Much of my work is influenced by my love all things French, nature, and of course shabby chic! I have gotten so many creative ideas from you very talented bloggers out there, and I hope that I can be an inspiration to you as well!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Camping & garage sale fun

Hello ladies,
If you read my post a few days ago, I mentioned that we were going camping up north for a few days, and had planned our trip in conjunction with the local towns city wide garage sales.  Ok, I know that I can't be alone in planning a trip around garage sales!  Tell me you have done the same!!  Anyway, I could hardly wait to get back to post all of my goodies, and share them on Debbie Doos Garage Salen Partay!  I had been anxiously awaiting this trip for months.  I know, I am easy to entertain!  My plan was to find a bunch of treasures taht I could renovate for my etsy shop, and I was thrilled with what I found!

The weather looked like it wasn't going to cooperate with us yesterday, as there were thunderstorms in the forecast.  Friday night we woke up (snug & dry in our motor home!) to pouring rain and lightening & thunder!  So I was saying my prayers & keeping my fingers crossed that it wouldn't be a wash out Saturday!  We lucked out!  While it was gloomy and looked like it would rain at any moment, it thankfully held out. We had a great time peddling our bikes around town & picking up my new treasures, that we stashed in the back of the little cart my hubby pulled behind his bike.

Anyway, keep in mind that I am going to paint just about everything you are about to see here (so hopefully none of you will think "Gee, she really has terrible taste!!)  :)  Sorry some of the pictures are dark, but it looked like it was going to rain this morning when I snapped these photos, so the lighting wasn't that great!


 I found a cute brand new Debbie Mumm Christmas potholder for 50 cents.  The other stuff here probably doesn't look that great now, but wait til you see what a bit of paint and Mod Podge can do!  On the left is a wooden letter organizer for just $1.75.  It's kind of hard to see the wooden tray, but with the addition of some paint & decoupage & little wooden ball feet, you won't recognize her.  Also a cute little birdhouse (that is in dire need of a pain job!) for my garden.  Just 25 cents!


It was hard to get a good picture of this, but for only $2 I got a ton of gorgeous gold trim and gold vintage looking cord for my crafting!  I was so excited!

I found this pretty vintage looking (but new) picture frame for just a buck.  I think it will look great Heirloom White.  The funny thing is, my mom had given me a frame almost exactly like this a few years ago, that she had picked up at a sale.  Well, I never got around to doing anything with it, so I took it to Goodwill awhile back, then wished that I'd kept it!!



Ok, these wooden candlesticks were one of my favorite finds, for $5.  These are much bigger and chunkier than they appear in the photo. The largest one is over 14" tall, and they are really heavy!  Plan on painting them either Heirloom White (I know, big surprise!), or maybe the aqua color I have grown to love.
 Ok, you have my permission to laugh at these wooden owl plaques!  While I know that some sweet person was probably so proud of their painting talents, these little owls are going bye, bye!  I think I may turn them into small chalkboards.  Not sure, but I couldn't pass them up for only 25 cents each!

Neat wine themed coasters for $1

This is one of my favorite finds of the day!  I got a large "W", which our last name begins with, for only 25 cents!  I plan on painting it a bright color (not sure what yet), and hanging by our front door.  Love it!

I am planning on shabbying these babies up with Heirloom White, and a bit of Ralph Lauren antiquing glaze.  They will look totally different when I am thru with them, I promise!
 I was really excited when I found this little wooden organizer.  I wish the color showed up better, but I took these photos when it was pretty gloomy out.  Anyway it is bright orange, and it's not staying that way!  No offense to all you orange people out there, but I am probably going to paint this an antiquiy aqua, and add cute little wooden ball feet and a new knob on the little drawer.

And for only 2 bucks, I got this cute vintage wire milk bottle caddy! The woman I bought it from said it came from a dairy in Northern Michigan.  I couldn't resist!

Well, that's it for this weekend! Now I need to get busy redoing all of this stuff!
And I can't wait to see what you all have found at sales, too!
Don't forget to check out Debbie Doos Garage Salen Partay, that I am linking up with!

13 comments:

Sue said...

ooooh... love that milk caddy and the wooden organizer!! You can do so much with both of them. And yes, get rid of that orange color! LOL
I know what you mean about donating something to GW and regretting it later. I could kick myself for taking boxes and boxes of decorating stuff last summer. I can only imagine what all that stuff sold for....
Thanks for stopping over from Debbie's party! :-) Sue

Karen said...

Oh my! Looks like you have a lot of work/fun ahead with the items you brought home from your trip! Great deals. Can't wait to see their new looks.

Christine said...

You hit the jackpot! Can't wait to see the renovations...

Debbiedoos said...

WOW....score, you must have been like a kid in a candy shop on these deals. Let me start with the owl...laugh no way, they are so hootin hot now, i wish I could find something like that. Love the red shelf too, and the vintage looking NEW frame is so pretty. I bet you can find a cool color to spray those candle sticks...I know that would be something I would do!~ Thanks so much for joining in...so many good finds this week! Glad your trip was fun, and a success!~

Anita @ GoingALittleCoastal said...

Oh I have been on the look out for one of those milk caddies! What a great score! I love the vintage frame too.

Pam said...

A little vacay, time away and still time to play. You did really well on finding treasures. It will be fun to see them all gussied up. Pam @ Sallygoodin

Kim said...

Hey Donna! Sounds like a great camping trip. I love the furball in the back of the cart - was that a yard sale find too?? LOL! I love those coasters and the wooden organizer as well as the vintage frame! I'm sure they will all go fast on your store.
For the record, I would TOTALLY plan a trip around yard sales!
xoxo,
Kim

Unknown said...

You found some great things! I don't know what I like the best, but those chunky candlesticks are really cool!

Nancy

Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces said...

Wow~ lots of great finds! My favorite is the milk bottle carrier! Can't wait to see how you use some of your finds!

Christine said...

Hi Donna! Thanks for the nice comment on my post. Gotta love those comments-lol! I appreciate it...

Charlotte said...

Great finds and great ideas! You lucked out with the milk caddy!

Holly Lefevre said...

You have some great stuff there! I would have snatched those things up too! Oh I hope I get to garage sale it this weekend.

Christine said...

Hi Donna, glad you liked my little box! I do love Mod Podge. I have been pretty lucky concerning wrinkles. The paper I used for this last project was pretty heavy so it smoothed out okay. I have the most wrinkle trouble with tissue paper. I have never tried spraying the paper first..hmmm..Thanks again!

ps I love that wooden organizer!!