Flea Market Finds

Have you all figured out yet that I love flea markets and that I have a bit of an addiction to junk!

Seeing as the next flea market is coming soon (this coming Sunday) I thought I better get the awesome junk on my blog that I found at the last flea market!

Not to mention The Big Heap flea market will be in Tucson for the first time!

(normally in the Phoenix area)

April 11 and 12 at Old Tucson

I can hardly wait!

I found a whole box full of wooden hangers, just exactly what I was looking for because I needed more for my closet remake. I started digging thru them and then thought "what the heck, take them all!" My friend Corinne gave me such a sweet deal on them.

I picked up several vintage doll clothes at one vendor all half price. I've already packed some away to take back but I plan to frame this one for my sewing room as soon as I find a frame, all hand made and such a pretty velvet.

Then there was a couple that just came back from France. They lived there several years and had free shipping back to the states of all their belongings, they came to the flea market with a trailer full of stuff to sell.

I think half the flea market was at their space. They just let people unpack the boxes for them. I didn't dive in, just watched...too much mayhem!

I saw a woman had this butter churn but she decided NOT to buy it. It was 15 bucks and I have wanted one for 30 years so I grabbed it.

It is French for sure.

I scooped up on this Paul deLongpre picture

They had a ton of broken clock parts and I grabbed a few things including several clock faces that I already have displayed in my sewing room.

A load of silver plate for projects.

 And this oval picture frame.

I also bought 4 duvet covers from her. They are vintage French fabric and just lovely.

But they are in our storage trailer set aside for me to bring back to MN, it's pushing 90 degrees and I wasn't in the mood to walk down the steep hill to get them, next time I will and post them. I haven't decided if I want to keep them or sell them in my Etsy shop.

The crystals were a steal from another vendor. I took them all and he gave me a fantastic price. There are 86 crystals! That ought to keep me happy for a while!

I have a hard time passing up vintage sewing, crochet and old Christmas boxes along with a simple little Melmac bowl. I found some vintage silk thread spools in the sewing box that I love to collect.

And lastly a small wagon wheel, not terribly old but still cool since I'm adding a touch of western feel to the house.

And my orchid. I purchased this last winter here in bloom, brought it back to MN and then back here this winter. As soon as it got back here it started to shoot out a flower stem. I've never been able to get one to bloom! It must like the sunny days here.

I did a lot of painting the last several days. All I seem to do is work and of course go to flea markets. I try to take time to blog but by the evening all I want to do is sit on the couch and watch TV! I'm pooped! When I get back to MN I'll take a month off to rest up.

But the house feels more like our house now. It's comfy and homey feeling and I'll try to take some pictures of finished areas before I go.

I wish I had a smart phone for The Big Heap...toying with the idea of lugging my big camera around.

I have no idea what to expect but it looks like lots of junk for sale and lots of things remade into something else. It should be interesting and lots of ideas.

Thanks for stopping and hopefully I'll have some pictures of The Big Heap!

Linking to:

Vintage Inspiration Party #183

(Thanks Linda!)

Still at it.....paint, paint and more paint!

Well, here I am about a month later. Still painting and working on this house.

I have accomplished a lot but yet at times I feel like there is no end to it.

I have most of the outside painted and more than half of the inside.

I still have to power wash the back porch wall and at least prime it before I go. I have to also at least paint the kitchen ceiling and the walls above the cabinets.

Too many rooms to work on, not enough time and doing it all myself (while Mr. Wild is back in MN). Thank goodness I like to paint!

I decided to take pictures of my tiny sewing room which is not finished but there are 2 areas that are 'getting there'. 

Warning...lots of pictures ahead....

I did get the crystals on my chandelier and I made a burlap cover for the chain. Not 100% satisfied though. Still wondering if I would like it better painted a nice creamy white and maybe the dark burlap was the wrong choice...any ideas out there? 

I do not want to paint it a color, either I'll leave it this way or cream and wipe a little stain on it to soak into the crevices.

What do you think? I need help.

I love how this cast iron hanger turned out with the vintage laces.

And of course my second cushion spring makes me happy to look at.

I'm very pleased with the top of the chest of drawers.

I found the very old store sign at the flea market here but forgot to include it in that post.

So this is one corner of the room more or less finished but I do have something that will go to the left of the big cubby after I spray paint it and I need to do something with that old display sign.

Now onto the closet.

I took off the cheap sliding doors...well I ripped them out...they were so stubborn and I don't care if they never go back in. Removing them made the room feel so much larger.

I placed my old chest of drawers inside and replaced the cheap shelf that was sagging above the clothes hangers with solid wood and made it a few inches deeper to accommodate more stuff.

The color scheme of turquoise, brown and cream was purely an accident and I LOVE it!

The chest belonged to my Grandpa and it was cheaply made back then, probably in  the 50's. In the very late 60's I "antiqued" it. Back when the craze was to give it a coat of paint, let it dry, then paint on a brown glaze and drag a rag or wax paper or a paint brush through the brown glaze, then using a toothbrush with the brown glaze on it...splatter spots all over it...not very pretty at all!

Several years ago I painted it a solid greenish turquoise. Dull and boring. I now wanted it to be a creamy white and I thought it might be pretty distressed so that the turquoise came through, did that and loved the look plus some of the old cream and brown colors came through.

I then began placing aqua/turquoise things I had on hand around and on it and with a little dark brown wood tones I decided I liked the combination.

I love the old hangers I've been picking up here at the flea market...especially the Disneyland Hotel Anaheim, CA is so fun. And what a perfect way to hang my fabrics and see what I have at a glance.

I painted and sanded a few round cardboard boxes and added my friend Stephanie's crochet trim to the shelf front.

On the right side I hung the vintage apron, perfect colors, then some vintage pom pom trim and a few crochet garments and a vintage dress. Behind that are my tracings for making rug hooking patterns for my business. Now they are easily accessible but still hidden behind pretty things.

The rest of the room is still in need of some tweaking and may not get done this time. Soon it will be time to start packing to drive back to Minnesota...if it ever quits snowing there.

The view out my sewing room window looking over the valley and at part of the Rincon Range.

Almost the same view off the front porch, a little more to the right. The desert is in full bloom and just beautiful. I almost swerve off the road looking at wildflowers while driving! We had so much rain this winter.

A red Cardinal and a 'black' Cardinal. The black cardinal is called a Phainopepla and does not sing like a red Cardinal but what fun to catch them both on a branch at the same time. We also have silver Cardinals called Pyrrhuloxia that do sing just like a red Cardinal but have less red on them.

And my 3 dollar roses from the grocery store yesterday. I bought 3 bunches!

After they are spent I'll hang them to dry.

I keep plugging along. It is fun but I do wish I could get more accomplished before I have to leave.

I did plant a winter garden this year and it's flourishing, lots of lettuce and spinach, the peas should bloom soon and I may have a couple of tomatoes in a week. The forecast for the weekend is 90 and 91, a little warm for this time of year so I hope it doesn't last too long.

I wish I had more time to visit my fellow bloggers, I know I'm missing all kinds of cool things and I thought I would be able to get to them but it's just not happening.

I feel the pressure to get as much done as I can before I start packing and closing up the house.

The winter went too fast!!! (I would never say that if I was still in Minnesota though!)

When I get back to MN I will take a much needed break and then get back to my blogging friends!

Thanks for sticking with me!

Linking to:

Knick of Time 

My Salvaged Treasures

Beyond the Picket Fence

for Vintage Inspiration Party

Flea Market Junking Finds....getting caught up with my crazy finds!!!

Starting with my most favorite find in a long time...Redwork quilt blocks! 15 of them and 1 more that is half finished.

I LOVE these and what a steal I got on them!

This is the initials of the woman that embroidered these along with the date!

So cool!

The same woman had all of these beautiful lace pieces.

The 2 satin pieces with lace trimming are sleeves probably for a childs dress?

And a good sized box full of vintage fabric pieces and large enough to actually use.

Seeing as I've been a quilter for more years than I want to say...this is going to be fun. I already have an idea which quilt pattern I'm going to use this fabric in.

I never, never pass up a box of old buttons!

The large frame was a steal and the smaller frames are cast iron, the big one from the January flea market and the 2 small from the February flea...the following stuff is from February.

 I found MY mirror! "THE" mirror I have been looking for!

Sorry for the poor picture but it's not hanging on the wall yet...obviously...

It's 48" wide, etched and has just enough silver loss to make it even better.

A woman was there from the state of Virginia, she comes for the big gem show each year, loads up her van with antiques to sell and then loads up her van with her jewelry supplies to take back to Virginia.  I found most everything at her booth. I was so thrilled after shopping with her I didn't really care if I found anything else!

Love the little green child's chair and the ponies!

The metal cabinet I walked away from but then decided I would regret it if I didn't get it.

Those drawers are going to come in handy for keeping things organized (not from the Virginia vendor)

 But this came from Virginia and I love this thing for some odd reason...I have no idea what it's original use was....it's heavy cast iron and has the most beautiful turquoise chippy color.

This is sitting on the chest of drawers I redid in my sewing room that is a work in progress which I hope to post sometime yet this winter.

I grabbed a few old photos for another cushion spring I'm playing with...still needs some work but I got a kick out of these. The one with the old car was taken in New Mexico Christmas 1931, that's my favorite.

Thanks for taking the time to look.

I'm still trying to get caught up with all this work so I can do something fun. Flea market one day a month is fun but I need more than 1 fun day per month. Still painting the house, ran out of paint but plan to finish it up this week. Yeah!!!!

I am dying to look at your blogs and see what everyone has been doing! I know I'm missing out on a lot of really cool projects. Your blogs is where I get my inspiration from!

Stay warm!

Linking to:

Bella Rosa Antiques for Let's Talk Vintage

Thanks Jillian!

Valentine's Day 2015

Just thought I'd post my wool applique string of hearts I made several years ago. I dug them out of the drawer this morning, just in time! 

I used little bits of vintage lace and buttons and a piece of vintage lace to hang them from the braided cotton stringer.

(They were published in Create & Decorate magazine several years ago)

Happy Valentine's Day!

So much for the New Years resolution!

Okay, it's January 31st, about time I get back here. No I have not followed through with my one and only New Years resolution, I have not posted for an entire month nor have I visited any blogs...

No good excuse other than just too darn busy!

Mr. Wild was here and we were both working like mad people trying to get as much accomplished as possible while he was here. I tried to stay one step ahead of him in case something needed painting before he installed it...things like that.

Now I'm on my own to try to do as much as I can in the next 3 months.

He did hang my flea market chandelier in the master bedroom. I love it, more than I ever expected although I think there is something missing around the light bulbs, not sure what but if anyone has seen a similar chandelier and knows please tell me.

I'm definitely okay with it like this though.

Then we gutted the master bath, all but the tub/shower which look good as new.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my wood counter top!!! I also LOVE the large sink and single handled faucet!

New toilet but it's not necessary to show the whole thing (also replaced the toilet in the guest bath which also needs a new vanity, sink, faucet and flooring, next year)

We purchased Home Depot in stock kitchen cabinets back in MN. Mr. Wild modified them to fit a bathroom (kitchen cabinets are about 24" deep but bathroom vanities are about 21" deep)

We packed them up and hauled them here. He glued on the wood applique we found at Menard's and I painted the cabinets.

I sanded the wood top purchased from Menard's. Applied a golden pecan stain as I wanted the room to remain light and then applied 2 coats of Polycrylic, the water just beads up on the finish. It's working out beautifully!

To buy a finished vanity 72" wide was minimum of $1000 and to find one to fit just one sink was near impossible (cleaning one bathroom sink is more than enough for me and we don't need 2 sinks in the bathroom). Then to buy the least expensive laminate counter top would be about $300.

Our cabinets and wood counter top came to less than $400! A savings of $900 bucks I can use elsewhere!!!

And the best part is hidden! Mr. wild surprised me with an under sink water heater!!!

I have instant hot water at all times! (He was still working on it here).

The main water heater is about a mile from this bathroom so to get hot water I had to run the water for what felt like forever and such a waste!

This water heater is SO AWESOME!!!!!

Then the odd ball chandelier I bought...well I didn't know at the time that a European light fixture is totally different and I can't find bulbs to fit so we hung it above the toilet for now and I just set Christmas bulbs in the sockets until Mr. Wild can find time to rewire it (thank goodness he's an electrician!)

I still need to paint the chain to match...some day....

I like it where it is so I may just leave it there and not hook it up to power.

Cork tile floors...love this! You may wonder ...in a bathroom?

YES! We've had cork tile floors in out bathroom in MN for 15 years and they look as good as new.

When I was little my bedroom had cork tile floors and they were awesome!

My Grandma's house had a sun room with cork tile floors...they were around in the 50's.

This is part of the dining room....

Mr. Wild installed the $25 corner cabinet I found last spring at a garage sale in MN.

The seller said it came out of the house across the street which was built in 1939. It still had the shelves and the wood strips that were attached to the walls for the shelves to sit on.

Unfortunately my packed boxes of Vaseline glass are still sitting in the garage in MN. We forgot to bring them! But my plan is to fill the cabinet with green Vaseline glass and install blacklights so they glow.

I painted the ceilings and all walls before he started the cabinet, it's a nice warm light cream color but looks so gray here.

Then we brought in the buffet I rescued from being turned into a vanity...this one was just too pretty.

I picked that up in MN last spring along with the old green window.

You can see my medical cabinet, I took out the old bottles and did something different.

I think the deer head will be moved...still working on this room.

You may mot see my vision here but I fell for this tacky 70's light fixture (see the tassel!!!). It's fits the hallway just right along with the old iron window from a Mexican restaurant in Tucson.

Mr. Wild calls the light fixture a pine cone.

I have big plans for this hallway so this is just the beginning.

Another thing you may not all like but yes, I have a thing for animal skulls...sounds sort of gross put that way. I've always wanted a longhorn skull and I found one at a flea market in St. Paul for half the price they normally sell for along with a Mexican blanket purchased here at the Farmer's Market. Mr Wild hung these above the sofa in the living room.

We previously brought down my parents bedroom set, just the bed and chest of drawers but I didn't have the vanity here yet, now it's here and the whole set is in the guest bedroom. I still need to rip out ugly carpet in that room so this is all I'll show. I removed the carpet where this is sitting, painted part of the ceiling and part of the wall and floor so Mr. Wild could put the vanity all back together. It's an old mahogany set from about the 40's or late 30's my mom brought back to MN from California, now it's in AZ!

A chandelier for my sewing room that I bought to paint and then realized it had holes for crystals so I'm slowly acquiring crystals and will fill this full of them and skip painting it. I'll cover the chain with a fabric sleeve....I think....lots to do in this room yet.

As if I don't have enough rooms that still need tons of work, I decided to start in on my sewing room. Last weekend I ripped out that ugly carpet and painted the ceiling, walls and floor. This place is all particle board floors (except the new carpet in 2 rooms) so when we can we'll install plywood plank floors like the Bunkhouse in WY.

In no way ready for pictures...there's a lot to do here but I can now walk in that room without being grossed out.

Now it's bright and cheery and best of all it feels clean!

I think I'm working on about 6 rooms...all at once...insane!

So that is what I've been up to plus we started painting the outside of the house among a few other outdoor projects. In January...we were painting the house!!! We could never do that in Minnesota!!!

We painted the tall south side and I'll paint the long east and west sides. The tall north side can wait...no one can see it anyway.

Last but not least, I went out today to look...now I get to see what it looks like here when it rains in the summer monsoon season. This is an odd tropical "storm"as they call it here. It started raining Thursday night, all day yesterday, all night last night and I think it finally stopped late this morning.

No, I do not have to drive this way to get home but some people do live on the other side. You would not want to cross this as it was moving very fast.

You can see in the distance, very faintly on the mountain, little white squiggly lines, those are waterfalls. That mountain is also part of Saguaro National Park, just a mile from us.

Now...guess what! time to fix lunch and back to work!

Thanks for taking time to read this lengthy post!

Just for fun...linking to:

Green Willow Pond for What We Accomplished Wednesday