Love finding unique stores

On a drive in the country on the weekend we happened across an old Ma and Pa store that sells a little bit of everything. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I walked into the store. But because I had hubby with me I could not explore as much as I wanted too, his time frame for shopping is about 10 minutes then he is running for the door. I can usually send him out for a smoke and that gives me another 10 minutes of exploring but then he is back in the door giving me that lets go look. I am definetly coming back to this store without him soon and doing much more exploring. I did manage to haul away a few items with just a little bit of eye rolling on his part, I wish he would share my passion for junk, but he likes things that are clean and painted or stained and can not see beyond that. I look at pieces of junk and see many uses and what they can be with a little bit of love and some ingenuity. I bought some deer antlers, now let me stress I am not a fan of hunting at all, but I did not kill this deer and I like the look of the antlers and I believe that the deer that belonged to these antlers lead a long and fulfilling life and died of old age. (thats my story and I am sticking to it)
I saw a few more items that I will have to go back and get without hubby, he probably curses the fact that we own a truck lol. But he should feel happy about the fact that I leave alot of items behind because I know whatever I buy has to be hauled back to Ontario eventually or sold before we go back. so on that note I do leave alot of treasures I would love to have behind.
On this trip we stopped a cute little diner and the waitress mentioned that there is a lady in the area that sells all kinds of skulls and antlers and she makes gorgeous chandeliers out of them, so a trip to see her is definetly warranted.
I want my antlers to look unique so I am going to try the gold leafing on the skull part and might look for an interesting frame to mount the antlers. This way they will resemble art and not a dead animal on my wall, hey I said it was my story remember.

Adding alot of white to my bedroom has made the room look bigger and very bright and cheery

Today the snow was melting and it felt like spring, so I did some spring cleaning and decided to brighten up the bedroom. I got a great deal on a white cotton hand embroidered duvet cover, and I found some material at the same store that I turned into bedroom curtains. It's amazing how big the room looks now and how bright and cheery the room looks, just by using a little bit of white in the room. Don't tell hubby but now I am looking at other rooms and thinking that maybe they need some brightening too.
I have been working on my blue toy box and hope to have it finished soon, still don't know what I will use it for but will probably figure that out when I am done. I decided to try the crackle look and age it a bit. I read online that you can do the crackling by using white glue. So I am giving it a shot, you paint one coat or prime your project, then coat it with glue and let it dry for an hour, when the glue is dry a bit but still tacky you paint your colour over top and let it dry. The thicker the glue the larger the cracking and it recommends that you use different thickness to make it look more original. They suggest Elmers glue but any white glue will work.It's time consuming but if you work on a section at a time it is not so bad, and the look is amazing when your done. Doing a larger piece of furniture might be more time consuming, but I priced Crackle and this is definetly the cheaper way to go.
Being on the spring kick I saw a sad looking bird house at the second hand store and brought it home and gave it a paint job, and now I have a cute little semi for my feathered friends to nest and have their lil babies.
And now I am off to bake for my hubby for Valentines Day.

If you buy mason jars just to display them cuz you love mason jars read my blog

I love buying mason jars especially if they are a tinted colour and unique. I don't plan on using them, well maybe someday who knows. I display them and rearrange them from time to time and when I find new ones I get excited and add them to my little mason jar family. Yesterday I saw a picture in a magazine of a mason jar hand soap with a pump. The next day I searched the second hand store for a cheap soap pump with a metal pump, came home and made my own. Now I have a mason jar in my bathroom, and now that I have seen how easy that was to do, I have lots of ideas now for mason jars, mason jar pendant lights, mason jar chandeliers, mason jar lamps.
Well now the hunt begins for more mason jars, I'm going too need more shelves.

Finding interesting unique things that others have passed up or missed is so exciting

Although my plan for my home is to decorate it with a country look, with a combination of antiques and unique finds that fit the same look. Sometimes I find things and they are so unique and at such a great price I have to bring them home. Yes shopping in the second hand stores is an addiction, on the days that I am not there I almost feel a loss for the bargains I am missing out on. Today I came home with another mirror, I probably have more mirrors than most people, but it was a bevelled mirror in a gorgeous frame for $10.00, who could resist.
Because my hubby goes along with all of impulse purchases and projects all over the house and garage I also look for things he might like. Today I found a decanter and 4 glasses still in its original box, it was on the bottom shelf and kind of out of sight. When I lifted the box up I realized that it was quite heavy which made me curious to look at if more closely. The box was nothing fancy but after close examination I discovered that this decanter set was originally sold on Fifth Avenue in New York and that the decanter was made in Poland and is lead crystal. I bought it for hubby who likes to have a scotch once in a while and he loves it. What he also loves about it is, that I searched on the internet and found that this decanter and glass set is worth $350.00 dollars or more, and I bought it for $5.00.  I am not sure how it came to be in the second hand store, but obviously everyone thought it wasn't worth anything, which is lucky for us. I am still searching for that one unique find, a Picaso maybe or that item that will help hubby be able to retire and the funding for my store of treasures.......one can dream you know.
I leave so many things behind because I do not have the room for them. I wish I had a store where I could sell some of these items or bring things home and restore them and sell them. I may start some small projects and sell them online for now and maybe down the road open up a shop.
In the meantime I am eagerly waiting for the warmer weather so I can take some of my projects outside and start stripping them. I have so many projects on the go right now, but I like it that way, if I get frustrated I can walk away, go work on something else and then go back to it.
Speaking of which time to get back to work.