Saturday, March 31, 2012

oops missed Thrifty thursday

I apologize for not posting my unique finds on Thursday, hubby is off for two weeks and he throws off my schedule. I have been trying to recruit him to help me with yard work, yes there is still lots of yard work. I finally got the landlord to trim a bunch of trees and bushes that were taking over the yard. I have been raking and cleaning up this yard for over a month, it sure is a heck of a lot of work. But enough whining about how hard I have been working on the yard,but now that the majority of the yard work is done now,  hopefully I can get back to my projects.
In the meantime here are my vintage finds for this week, enjoy


I found this cute little parrot and Tucan and fell in love with them, for now they are inside the house in one of my house plants. They are a beautiful copper and I adore them, and I may find a place to put them outside.

Aren't they cute, the copper is different colours and glistens in the sun like a shiny penny.



This shelf was only 2 dollars and I think it will look great in the livingroom once I paint it white and maybe destress it a bit.



This oil painting was for sale at a thrift shop in town and it makes me think of the east coast, I can not believe that I got this beautful painting for ten bucks, I may change the frame, but the colours in at are all of the colours that I want in my home, so I was pretty excited to find it.


I found this old vintage lamp at the salvation army, it was 3 dollars, I could not resist its charm and i think it will look great in Brians man cave. Along with a few other things i have accumulated in the nautical theme.


I found these old ship lanterns about a year ago, someone had added electrical wiring to them and now they are very unique.I don't think I will ever see anything like them anywhere. When I cleaned them up you could tell they had been used on a ship, the salt damage was evident inside the lamps, which made me love them even more.


I picked this little ships wheel clock up a few months ago and I think all of these things together will look great in his man cave (when he gets one of course) and if he choses to not use them, well I guess I will be making a nautical spare room.

I hope you have enjoyed all of my unique finds and I hope to have some finished projects to show you soon.

Happy picking, its yard sale time woohoo


Tobey

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Well people it is my first Thrifty Thursday

I promised to post all of my unique finds on Thursdays and here they are, every other day of the week I will posting about upcycling of mirrors and pictures to chalkboards or furniture upcycling. But Thursdays will be all about the neat things I find while shopping, at flea markets, yard sales thrift stores, online, you name it if its for sale and its a great item at a great price I will be there.
I should mention that yard sale time is here and alot of spring shows are coming up. I missed out on one that is for home based business and I guess I would qualify for that wouldn't I. So I am on the list for the next venue and am quite excited to be part of it. Ok back to my unique finds...


I found this little gem in the back of a thrift store it had a bunch of stuff on it, I love this table and the design along the edges


These items I found a few different places, just hidden away on shelves, they date from 1963 to 1969. I plan to keep them and put them away and eventually pass them on to my children. I was 6 years old when Kennedy was assasinated and 12 when they walked on the moon


 I got so excited to redo this sign I forgot to take a before picture, but caught myself after the first coat of paint, this is what the sign looked like when I bought it for a buck,  can you say score


I saw this little painted sign and fell in love with it, but since I do not have a spoiled rotten cat, I have a very spoiled bulldog I decided to buy the sign and change it,  the back ground colour does not match exactly (I tried) but I still love it and have it hanging on the wall.


This cute little table and chairs just needs a new look. I think I will keep it for future grandchildren, you might think thats silly but at 6 dollars I could not leave it behind. I just need to update it, might make the top a chalkboard, the chairs have a heavy thick varnish so not sure if I want to deal with all the sanding down of those to paint it but we'll see......FUTURE PROJECT




Don't you just love the colour of these vintage license plates, pink and robins egg blue, how come ontario doesn't have neat colours like that

 This wrought iron and stainless steel scale works great as a candle holder, the candles have sea shells in them and I picked them up for 50 cents each and the scale was 2 dollars



I love my lamps and whenever I see one I have to grab it, the little beauty in the front with the blue bottom was just sitting on a shelf at the salvation army waiting for me to come take it home $1.75 people, do you believe that, I love love love Salvation Army


This little cutie is not old but it looks old doesn't it, I am sucker for roses, my Mom and Grandma loved them too, I remember my Grandmothers back yard had rose bushes the whole perimeter of the yard all along the fence, it was gorgeous, just like my grandma


Well those are my finds for this week, I hope you enjoyed my first Thrifty Thursday, I love finding unique things either for my home or to resell. All of these items I am keeping for now, I love surrounding myself with unique finds, if you see something that is unique and it is reasonably priced, buy it, you will kick yourself if you don't.

Like I have said my house is decorated with things that I love and things that make me happy. I may not have a particular design happening in my home. But it is my design, things accumulated and chosen because they make me happy, make me smile, bring back a happy memory and I love to look at them and find a place for them. Isn't that the kind of decorating we should all do, fill our home with things we love and things that make us smile.

Happy picking and happy treasure hunting

hugs


Tobey


Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Spring woohoo





Has it really been 8 days since my last post? where did that time go? Well the weather has been really nice and i have been doing alot of yard, and more yard work . Having a nice big property comes with its costs, if I am not raking leaves I am cleaning out flowerbeds and the vegetable garden and entertaining a very demanding dog that thinks I am around solely to entertain her.
But while all of this is going on I have managed to finish 4 chalkboards and am almost finished a few more. I have picked up a few more frames and mirrors and am excited to see them become chalkboards.





I have decided to dedicate one day a week to display my vintage finds. Thursday will be that day, I am calling it Thrifty Thursdays and will tell you amd show you all about the unique things I find. Today I saw a gorgeous 9 drawer dresser that I know would make a great two sink vanity, but I had to pass it up. I promised hubby that I wouldn't bring any large pieces of furniture home until I clear out the garage a bit,  sigh . I saw another blog the other day where the woman had a hoarder yard sale, I laughed so hard when I was reading her blog, it sounded so much like me and Brian. I will find it again and link it to this post, so you can read it. When I saw how many chairs she had accumulated and sold at the this sale i didn't feel so bad about the 8 I have hanging around. I will have to show Brian the blog so he will know that I could be worse than I am hehe.


Vintage Revival by Mandi  (CHECK OUT MANDI'S BLOG)
HUMONGO hoard sale this Saturday! (October 8) According to my husband I am a freakin hoarder, and he is mad at me. Which means that I have to get rid of a ton of my treasures to save my marriage. Starts at 8 on the dot. No early birds, I will call the cops. Just kidding I wont. But really don’t come early. This is a DIYers paradise! Need a dining room chair or 21? Good cause we have those! See you there! Also I like cookies if you want to bring me some.
There are only a few days until the Hoard sale on Saturday!! Are you EXCITED!?!? I am selling tons of amazing crap! 8 o'clock is when it opens. Only awesome people are invited.
The first annual Vintage Revivals Hoard Sale is tomorrow Saturday oct 8. The ribbon cutting ceremony starts at 8 am exactly. 99% of the sale is furniture and home decor!! Follow the pink signs and balloons. It's going to be AMAZING!! This is like the Black Friday of yard sales people.


I love this girl can you imagine if her and I lived closer to each other and we were friends lol , our poor husbands lol
I keep reminding my hubby that hoarders do not sell anything and since I sell on a regular basis I am not a hoarder, hey its my story and so far he is buying it. I buy and resell alot of items without doing anything to them so I don't really post everything on here. This week a few items went to new homes, a lounging chair, dresser, chest, dog bed and two mirrors.I sell items at reasonable prices so that it is still a good deal for the purchasers. Even the products I give new life and a new look too are still at a good price. I am not in this to get rich, I love upcycling and keeping busy, learning new things and having fun. I meet some wonderful talented and creative people in my travels and learn new things everyday.Yes it is a rush to find something new, and it is very empowering to give new life to an item that might have been thrown away. There is a great satisfaction in the completion of a project that you have done yourself. And I love finding a place for these items in my home or sending it off to a new home with a satisfied happy customer.

I truly love what I do.

take care and happy picking and upcycling


Tobey





Monday, March 12, 2012

Oh How Romantic

I wanted to post the updates of my bedroom as soon as it was finished. Its not a big change but a nice change. As you know we rent the house we live in while hubbys company is working in Kamloops. The landlord had blinds on all of the windows, and I hate them but can not remove them. So I am trying my best to work with them and still have the look I want. I am also trying to not spend alot of money because we don't know how long we will live here. The bedroom is very small and can not accomodate a headboard and the curtains can't hang down to the floor because the baseboard heater is there. yes lots of fun So working with that I had put white sheer curtains over the blinds, but it still looked too blah.


 This is what the bedroom looked like when we first moved in, dark curtains and colourful quilt and cheap ikea lamps, was willing to live with it like this when we thought we would only be here for a few months.Can you say yuk ............................... yes Maggie thinks it is her bed
               Then after being here a while longer I decided to brighten up the room more to my taste.



So then came the idea of using the half shelf that came with the white mirror I have on the wall. I glued some sheers to the inside of the shelf and draped them over the window. If you try this let the glue dry over night, don't try to staple or tape the sheers to the shelf, trust me it does not work. The tape won't hold and these shelves are hard plastic and staples won't penetrate the hard plastic. Yes they were my first tries and after flying staples and sheers that kept sliding out of the tape, I tried the glue, much easier and more productive.

So after some coaxing to get hubby to help me hang the shelf (ok nagging) the shelf and curtains are up. I paid 2.00 dollars for the mirror and shelf, and 2.00 dollars for the sheers, both bought at thrift stores here in Kamloops. So for a very low price I get more of a romantice look in my not so blah anymore bedroom.



Half shelf with sheer curtains
Mirror that goes with shelf and picture frames turned into chalkboards


Well now the bedroom has a little more of a romantic look, too bad I can't give hubby a romantic makeover lol

Happy Monday

take care
Tobey Beyond The Picket Fence

Sunday, March 11, 2012

And on the 7th day she rested

It's been a busy week and yesterday I decided to take a day off from painting and working on projects. I also took some time off from yard work, and decided to go do some shopping. I wanted to check out the antique show that was going on in town. I saw alot of nice things there, but I am so used to finding bargains that some of the prices at an antique show are scarey. I did buy one thing that I could not resist and it was in my price range. I have always wanted a vintage street sign and when I saw this porcelain one I could not resist. When I saw it, it made me feel all tingly lol

I just have it on a shelf for now, it is quite heavy,but will put it on a wall when we move back to Ontario. Isn't it cute, going to have to find out where Tingley street was in BC.  I love embroidered table cloths and pillow cases, so when I saw this embroidered pillow cover for a few dollars I had to scoop it up. I had a pillow at home that fit it perfectly, isn't it adorable.



I also stopped at Salvation Army and found this beautiful picture, at first I just wanted the frame but now I am in love with the roses. picked this cutie up for 4 bucks. looks great in the diningroom where the look is more formal, with the black hutch and black and walnut table.

I was browsing kijiji yesterday, and remember I said I wasn't going to buy any more furniture, because the house is full. Well........ I saw an ad for an antique dresser for a great price and I could not resist,  I jumped on that one pretty quick, and would love to post a pic, but hubby still has it in the back of the truck. I guess I should be happy that he at least went with me to get it after working a 12 hour day, poor boy, the things I make him do. Will post a pic when it makes into the house, now where will I put it lol
update: dresser never made it into the house, sold it right out of the truck, thanks Gille, Brian will be so glad he doesn't have to carry it into the house.

I finished two of my chalkboard projects for me and am still working on the ones I will be selling. I think these chalkboards will be fun and hopefully they will sell this summer at the flea market. If they don't I am going to have a heck of alot of chalkboards.

Here are the two that are finished


Before

                                                                           After



Before

                                                                              After

Love this chalkboard it fits in nicely with the white colour scheme I am trying to achieve. And now Brian can leave me little love messages on the chalkboard, ya right lol


I thought I took a before pic of this mirror, but can't find it, it was a goldie brass colour. I thought because it had so many adorable little roses on it, that it deserved to be pink. Not my colour but will look adorable in a little girls bedroom.


Finished chalkboard, I think it turned out great, have painted a couple more and will have them on here in a few days.
More projects to come, have a great day


Tobey

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Chalkboards made from mirrors


Today was a gorgeous day and Maggie and I were outside all day, as I type this post she is sound asleep beside me snoring like a freight train. I raked leaves leaves and more leaves, having acreage and trees is nice but not in the fall and spring when you have to clean up all the leaves.

Had to share this pic of Maggie, I put up and filled some of the bird feeders today and hope we can attract some of our birdie friends back again this year. here is Maggie awaiting her little bird friends, she loves to watch them,she never barks or chases them, She really is a gentle soul. The stand up ashtray was a big hit with the birds last year so I decided to put it back out this year.



When I was outside I also worked on a few chalkboards. I bought 3 mirrors where the frames can stay just as they are, and all I had to do was make the mirrors into a chalkboard. I am thinking I may pick up some magnetic spray paint and make a few of the chalkboards magnetic as well.


            Aren't these frames cute, I bought them at a liquidation store that is closing and got a great deal on all 3 frames, They kind of have that shabby chic look to them already, so I will leave the frames as they are and just add the chalkboard.

Mirrors with one coat of chalkboard paint, the oval one is for another mirror which is in the process of being painted, will show that one when its finished. Remember my white mirror in my bedroom that had a half shelf that came with it, that I could not put up because of where the mirror is. Well I got an idea from a friend, hang the half mirror up by the ceiling and have sheered curtains attached to it and draped down behind the bed. I have the shelf painted and have found some sheers I think will work, just need to get hubby to help me. Will post a pic when I have it up and completed, thats a few pics I owe you guys, don't worry I won't forget.
I also had an idea for two frames that I have on my bedroom wall that go with my mirror. They have old cardboard pictures in them and I thought why not make them into chalkboards too and draw our initials on them. I will post pics of them when they are finished too.
This is what they look like now, and here is the mirror that I have them with



will show these cute little chalkboards when they are all finished.
here is the shelf that I am going to add the sheers too, so you know what half shelf I am talking about. finished pics and shelf and sheers in a day or two,



This is what the shelf looked like before the paint job. I love these mirrors and shelves and am always on the lookout for one. If Desi is reading this, yes I am still looking for one for you my dear lol.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Vintage Finds

Yesterday was a sad day, a close friend of mine Scott-t died and my friend Sandi's dog Rocky died, so I did not do much yesterday. I was sad and went for a drive in the country and mourned. Losing people at a young age is hard to deal with.You think you will see them again and then they are gone, its heart breaking. The loss of a pet is very painful and I feel Sandi's pain, losing Maggie is going to break my heart, she is like my child, my best friend and my shrink all in one.
Today a friend here in Kamloops invited me to an estate sale today to cheer me up. Did I also mention that I fell on the ice yesterday and hurt my tailbone and my left wrist, more reason not to work on stuff at home and to go shopping.
The estate sale was about half an hour from Kamloops, apparently the father inlaw had died and he was a bit of a picker too. His son in law has been slowly cleaning out the house and garag. He will probably have more stuff, but some of the stuff he had was gorgeous and reasonably priced.
I scored a desk that matches my white vanity, an old license plate, cute chair and storm window. He says he has lots more so we will definetly go back. If I had my store out here or if I was living here permantly I would have bought alot more than I did because his prices were incredible. But the more I buy the more I have to move back to Ontario and hubby is already stressing over what I have accumulated in the year we have been here. poor boy lol
I love this desk and will probably leave it just the way it is for now. It is very similar to the white vanity that I bought last year and I hope I will have a bedroom big enough in Ontario to house both of them



This is the vanity that I scored last year, I have it stored in sunroom for now because the bedroom here is too small for it, I think the desk and the vanity will look great together.




This chair is oh so cute, underneath the paint is a pressback design, but I think it looks adorable with the layers paint over it and will leave it like this for now.

I cleaned out the basement the other day and have everything packed and ready as soon as the outside flea markets start here in the spring. So that makes hubby happy that some stuff is going, he keeps calling me a hoarder, but I have explained, that if I sell stuff I am not a hoarder.lol Hey thats my story... But between you and me I have filled almost every nook and cranny in this house and the garage. I can not resist a bargain, including the stuff I bought today. Which was paid for with the money I received from selling a mirror yesterday.
I sold my black mirror because I fell in love with one I had bought from a friend and it looks great where the black mirror was, and the buyer loved the mirror she bought from me, so we both win.

black mirror that I sold

new mirror to replace the black mirror the pics do not do it justice is really is a gorgeous frame and colour