Flea Market Finds

Hidden Treasures & Consignment Shop Finds

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Did you know that cursive writing is becoming a lost art?

It’s true. I even asked my son’s principal about it.

Troubled by this news I sat the boys down to discuss it — to reason with them. With every fiber of my being I shared why they needed to continue writing in cursive.  How they must not be a part of its demise. I did my best to convince them that without their perseverance… cursive would surely die.

I pleaded.

They told me I was being dramatic then gently sat me down in a chair, touched my shoulder and said…

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Vintage Vanity Stool Makeover {And A Love Story!}

 

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Do you remember my dear friend, Mr. Gene?

I mentioned him here in this post.

He was a sweet fella who wore debonair hats and plaid jackets every single day. I never saw him in a pair of blue jeans.

Not even once.

He was classy and sophisticated but in a simple kind of way. He loved horses and his country and served in World War II.

 

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I’ll never forget the smile on his face when I asked him how he met his wife Ms. Jean (spelled with a J).

While strolling around an outdoor ice skating rink one evening they collided.

Smack dab in the middle of hundreds of other skaters whizzing by they fell… literally.

And he was smitten.

Just like a scene from an old black and white movie.

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Before & After: Vintage Copper Boiler

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While camping with my family over the summer I bought this old copper boiler from an antiques store. It was sitting outside in a corner of the shop’s front porch covered in cobwebs and rusty grime.  With a little elbow grease I could see flowers displayed in the tub or maybe I would use it as a novelty storage bin I thought.  Since it was left out to rust and the price tag was reasonable, I purchased it with hopes of gussying it up and giving it a new life.

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Some of My Favorite Thrifty Finds

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I love the thrill of a good thrifted find. Some of my favorites have been picked up during a quick drop into Goodwill or a garage sale while running errands. It’s fun to change out accessories on tabletops and shelves when the mood strikes, so I’m always on the lookout for unique and inexpensive things I can rotate in a vignette.  And it’s amazing how a $2 bauble can make a room feel like new… much easier than rearranging furniture.  Cheaper than a maid, too!  (Not that I have one, or that there’s anything wrong with having one.) I’ve been inspired to clean our whole house just by plopping down a used tiny statuette in the middle of the coffee table.

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Glammed Up Vintage Salt & Pepper Shakers

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On our recent family vacation to upper Michigan we stayed with my husband’s parents near Tawas, Michigan. It’s a popular, small boating and fishing town on Lake Huron. Many visitors camp right on the lake, rent cabins or own small vacation homes there.  Lake Huron is very cold until almost August when the hot summer days have finally warmed it up.  The frigid water doesn’t seem to keep the kids from swimming in it or the men from fishing either.  And so while they’re having fun playing, the women take time to shop and flock to the boutiques and art festivals.

My mother-in-law and I enjoy the antique stores and flea-markets.  We spent three afternoons browsing in them and sharing our old finds. Many of the treasures had us reminiscing about her mother or my grandmother who owned a lot of the same stuff back in the day. And we marveled at how expensive that stuff has become.  We had a lot of fun “saling” together that’s for sure!

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One find on my wish-list was a set of potbelly vintage salt and pepper shakers that I could spiff up and paint similar to a set I had seen in HGTV Magazine. We couldn’t find the potbelly-style, but my mother-in-law spied this set, and for 2 bucks I snatched them up.

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At the camp I gave them a good scrub down with an S.O.S pad until their old silver selves shined and gleamed again.

 

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When I got them home I painted the bottoms and rims with two coats of teal and pearl nail polishes swirled together.  The polish took really nicely to the silver and hardened to a smooth coating.

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So that is my fun little DIY. A set of old antique tarnished salt and pepper shakers all glammed up. Special reminders of our family time up at the lake this summer.

Lisa

Before & After Painted Vintage Side Tables

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A little elbow grease goes a long way on vintage side tables given to me by my dear friend Gene from his estate sale last summer. I’m guessing they’re from the 1950s/60s based on what he shared with me over the years about his traditional home decor.  Mr. Gene, as my sons affectionately called him, also gifted me with two picnic bench seats I added seating to and shared more about in this post here and here.

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Lara Spencer’s New Book “Flea Market Fabulous” Debuts

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Book Review Update:  This is a gorgeous book with big, bold, colorfully detailed photos on every page. Lara doesn’t disappoint readers with varying tastes either.  Not only does she showcase many design styles in her stunning real-life rooms, but she gives readers plenty of captions, tips, and fixes we can use right now. Throughout the pages she has sprinkled helpful advice from professional designers who weigh-in on how they create beautiful homes, too. Lara also shares her design dilemmas for each project and then walks readers through her process for solving them. And her mood boards are amazing and fun to see! And just like she did in her first book, she tells readers what she paid for her flea-market finds then shows us the reveal on how she used them in each stunning room. Lara has written another fantastic book that readers will refer to again and again! It’s perfect for anyone who loves to decorate, but especially inspiring for those of us who love to  do it on a budget and with our fabulous flea-market finds! Love it! Continue reading →

Fantastic Flea Market Find — Writing Desk Chair

 

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Once a week I hope to share a flea-market find with you.  The hunt through flea-markets, rummage and garage sales, thrift stores and consignment shops is so much fun! Do you relish a really good thrift find, too?

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I enjoy decorating by mixing older with newer pieces together, and it’s hard to beat the prices of most second-hand furniture.

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The chair was at a church rummage sale I stumbled upon one morning while driving down an old dirt road. Of course I snapped it up. Actually, I think I flopped down on it to claim it before anyone else did. Not that there was a line-up or anything. It figured I didn’t have a dime on me either, so I asked this sweet lady to hold it until I returned from the bank. I think I scribbled my name in large letters on a piece of paper and asked her to tape it to the top.

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It’s not an antique, but it caught my eye. The olive green, velvet upholstery shows some wear, and that doesn’t bother me. The backrest curves forward with contrasting crewel and trim. I like stuff with a history, even if I’ll never know what that story is.

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The back legs curve and give it charm.

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It’s being used at small writing desk in a corner of our living room where the bills get paid, mail sorted and messages written sometimes. I thought about painting the legs off-white like I’ve seen designers do in DIY magazines to make old furniture look more modern, but changed my mind.

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The green has worked well in the living room until this past winter when I decided to change the wall color from cream to light gray.  One Friday night the mood struck and I whipped up a linen slipcover to go over it. (That’s what happens when it’s too cold to go anywhere.)

I plan to share with you how I made the slipcover right over the chair when my sewing machine was down.  Sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do to get the job done! Hope to post about that soon.

How about you…. have you found a great second-hand chair that you just had to have?

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Before & After: Well-Worn Bench to Versatile Extra Seating

This past week I received the sad news that a special and dear friend of mine passed away.

My sons affectionately called him Mr. Gene.

I worked with him for over 18 years before he “re-retired” last summer at the vibrant age of 92 to move closer to his daughter.

Before leaving Mr. Gene gave me a few items to keep in remembrance of him — an old, tattered picnic bench set among them. Both benches were worn and rickety… their smudged paint and banged up slats signs of the workhorses they had become for my friend.

And I loved every scar...

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When I brought them home my husband asked me what in the world I was going to do with them.

I had no idea.

We didn’t need the extra seating on our patio and the weather would just add further damage.

So I hosed them down, spiders and all, tightened the screws and brought them inside.

I chose not to paint them and added a cushioned seat to both.

And this is how it went…

Supplies:  2″ thick foam cushion, cotton batting, pre-washed fabric, staple gun and staples, nailhead strips, hammer, scissors, fabric marker or pencil, tape measure.

Directions:

Securing cushion with batting

1. Fold the long piece of cushion foam in half, mark it and cut it into two pieces, putting one of the cushions to the side for the second bench. Turn the bench upside and lay it on one cushion, trace around the seat with marker and cut away extra foam.

2. Lay batting on the floor, then the cushion, and the bench upside down on top of both, allowing enough batting on all four sides for stapling over the seat. Mark and cut the batting.

3. Pull the batting up over cushion and underside edge of bench. Staple once in the center on each side and smooth out wrinkles along the way. Finish by stapling all around to secure.

Adding upholstery fabric

4. Trace and cut upholstery fabric same as step 2. Allow all four sides of the bench an extra 1-1/2 inches for stapling. (I used extra corduroy fabric from my storage.)

5. At one end, staple the fabric over both the cushion and the wood seat, being careful to keep the pattern or lines straight.  Fold edges under as you staple to avoid future fraying. Turn bench over, smooth it out, pull tight and staple once in the center at the other end, then repeat next two sides. Finish by stapling around the rest of the underside to secure.

6. Carefully fold corner fabric back onto the bench ends like shown in the photo below.

7. Add nailhead strips around the bottom edge with hammer for a finished look. (Joann Fabrics had the strips, Hobby Lobby did not. The strips are much easier to keep in a straight line.)

 

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When we have guests, the dining chairs can be moved closer together and the bench pulled in closer to allow for more seating.

 

 

The matching bench is at the foot of our master bed.

It’s been great for keeping a blanket off the floor, as a place to sit and get dressed, and as a springboard for our dog!

 

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Both benches work well in our home… sweet reminders of a loyal and faithful friend.

“Loyal friends love through difficult times.” Proverbs 17:17

“Faithful friends are a rare treasure.” Proverbs 18:24

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