To Keep or to Sell?

This past Saturday, hubby and I had a boatload of projects on the docket. But the girls and I had plans first thing in the morning to join my parents for their monthly testing of the West River water. They volunteer with The Blackstone River Coalition, who's mission is to restore and protect water quality and wildlife habitat in the river corridors, and to advocate for sound land use in the Blackstone River watershed. The West River is a tributary of the Blackstone so its included.



My dad takes this work very seriously. :)

My parents have two testing sites where they gather water samples and compile data on their findings. Last year in school, my girls and I did a whole unit study on The Blackstone River Valley, including the importance of keeping our rivers clean. Every time we'd try to coordinate our schedules with my parents' testing dates for an educational field trip, it never worked out. Till now.

So after picking up litter...

...collecting water samples...

 

 

 ...observing, testing and compiling data,

...we headed home to get a move on projects.

But I've mentioned before that I have a really hard time driving by yard sales. And when you're driving around on a Saturday morning, you're bound to pass some.

Here's my loot from the three sales I just couldn't drive by. Okay, I confess, I made a few turns off the road home for one but its because I drove by the sign and that counts.

$1 each for a pair of fashion boots and a pair of L.L.Bean snow boots for my "baby" (who's turning 2 around the bend - where did that time go??).

Another Scrabble game for $0.50. I've had a little fun decorating with the tiles and trays in the past but I'm amassing a growing collection for a larger project that's swirling in my head. Can't wait.

That same sale had this brand new 14.5 oz Mistletoe Yankee Candle. When I asked how much, she said $0.50. Ummm...heck yeah! These go for $25 full-price new.

(OOps, that's way fuzzy.)

The next sale had this set of two light green-bordered, appliquéd placemats and matching napkins for $1. Exactly the type of thing that would look good with the vintage linens I'm collecting to create a shower curtain for the girls.  Scooped them right up.

Then the next yard sale I stopped at happened to have this set of two yellow-bordered, appliquéd hand towels...

...and a set of four pink-bordered matching placemats and napkins. They asked $6 for the lot, I offered $5, they accepted.

I still can't believe I found all of these coordinating items at two different sales. So psyched. Exactly the look I'm going for in their bathroom.

Oh, and at that same sale I found this bag of shower curtain hooks for $1. But the seller wasn't sure they were all there so she told me to just take them for FREE. Turns out they are one short.

The shower curtain hooks I want to replace in the girls' bathroom are stars in the same color metal, left behind by my M-I-L. Stars aren't my thing so I'm thinking I'll just replace 11 of the 12 stars with these balls and the last one will hopefully not be noticed tucked at the end. I don't know....we'll see.

The linens were my favorite score of the morning but the following is my most valuable score. The other day I was looking through my latest Country Living magazine and in the Collectors section it showed vintage 1950s microscopes in their original boxes currently valued at $50.

And didn't I stumble across this.

The price tag said $10. One of my top yard-sale tips is to act like you're hardly interested in something when you really want it. I tried my best to do that while she explained that it was her dad's and its pretty old. I asked if she'd take $5 and she accepted.

I'd love to use it as vintage décor for my schoolroom (a major work in very slow progress...sorta like all my projects). The bookend idea would actually come in quite handy on our schoolroom bookshelves. But hubby thinks I should sell it and make a profit. A quick look on eBay and all the current auctions for similar items have no bids. So do I keep it or try to sell it?

I come across (and pass up) stuff like this ALL THE TIME that I could potentially resell and make $ on. I definitely don't have the time for a retail shop (though I'd LOVE to - maybe in my empty nest days) and I don't think I even have time for an eBay store on the side either. I have friends I could consign with. Can my hobby turn a profit? We'll see where all this goes.

Craigslist Hutch

For a while I've been keeping my eyes open at yard sales and Sally's for a hutch with potential. Something in good enough shape for a makeover. And I challenged myself to find one under $75. I honestly don't shop Craigslist much. I use it for yard sale listings, but I rarely look for something specific. However, recently someone posted a hutch for sale in the yard sale listings.  I responded to the ad and went to see in person the hutch that looked promising in her picture. The girl said to just make an offer because she needed to empty her apartment in town to move across country. She accepted my $50 offer.

It's a miracle that we managed to get it up from her basement and into my van. She just had surgery and was fearful of splitting her incision. She called over a neighbor kid who was wider than he was tall and had light blue painted toenails. I pretty much carried all the weight and that's pretty scary. I haven't worked that hard or sweat that much since I don't know when. But where there's a will there's a way. It's now been sitting in my garage serving as my work bench until I can get to this project.

The top of the buffet has some stains and a few scratches and the hardware from one of the drawers is missing. I would keep the drawer handles if one wasn't missing, but now I need to get replacements. Other than that its in good condition, solid oak, and I like the general shape and style - especially the crown molding on top.

Though not on my wish list, it happens to have a light on the inside too. What it really needs is a good paint job to bring it new life. I plan to stick with the same dining room colors and curtains from the dining room our previous home:

So I'm actually considering painting the hutch green. I was drawn to this picture that I had ripped out of a recent Ballard Designs catalog before I ever even found the hutch.

Granted, it's not the right color for my dining room and this happens to be a desk, but it tempted me not to play it safe with a creamy white and to instead go with something bold and bright. I'm also aiming to paint it with a similar finish.

But first I need to finish my girls' room projects (school started and progress has slowed way down) and redo my kitchen table (not even half way done sanding) and then this is my next project. We spent the whole weekend here cleaning out our garage (so we can actually park both vehicles in it) so I didn't make progress on the girls' room or kitchen table. But I did manage to take off the hutch's hardware and doors and give it a decent cleaning so she's totally ready.

I leave you with three things:

1. If you've got experience painting that technique, please share your tips!

2. What's your best Craigslist find ever?

3. Anyone got vintage hardware laying around they want to give me?

A Pink AWANA Shelf

Here's a before and after where I forgot to take the before shot. Got all gung-ho on a project marathon and...oops!

Picture this shelf in off-white - the color it was when it hung in the girls' bedroom before we moved. Of course it was originally a yard sale find from God knows when.

All last year I kept thinking I could really use a shelf and hooks in the girls' new room to be designated for their AWANA stuff. A place to set their trophies and handbooks on. A place to hang their Book Awards, uniform vests, and bags from. Essentially, an AWANA central. (And for those who don't know, AWANA is a super-fun kids Bible club our church hosts on Wednesday evenings starting September 18. Registration is filling up fast!)

So I painted the white shelf the same custom mix pink I painted these framed silhouettes and this letter "K".  We're not ready to hang anything on the walls yet, so here's my oldest helping to model the shelf's potential once it is hung.

In the meantime I still need to figure out how to remove stubborn wallpaper glue from a border I took down over the summer so I can repaint the walls. Anyone got a tip for me? Hot water with dish soap did absolutely nothing.

A Few Sally's Finds

Once a week I can count on a couple hours of of "me" time but that includes my weekly grocery shopping. Wheeeee. My grandmother-in-law, aka "Gram" takes my girls at her house while I do my thing. Gram is the best for 1000 reasons and this is just one of them.

So once or twice a month I quickly pop into my local Salvation Army Thrift Store and do a little treasure hunting before I hit the market. Here are a few of my recent finds:

A Lucite letter "K," which so happens to be my oldest daughter's first initial. $.99 with a plan to paint it pink to match her room.

The card is for scale and I didn't clean off the price tag glue for the pic.

A $.99 dark green vase.

Again, card for scale.

Green vases, I will admit, are an addiction, hence this cabinet before we moved:

Truthfully, they do all get used, because I'm a firm believer that if you can't pick flowers, why grow them?

I picked up a brushed gold hanging mirror for $7.99. For now its hanging above the sink in the half-bath because I like this one better than the one that was left behind and this one still matches the brushed gold faucet.

So until I give that room a makeover, which isn't happening I the near future, the mirror is doing me a temporary favor on the cheap.

This next item I just adore. It's quirky and vintage and matches my girls' bedroom makeover. Isn't she cute?? $1.99

Love the green frame. (That's why I painted the girls' bed frames that color too.)

 

Finally, a cheesy little shelf. A faux wood and faux rod-iron plastic shelf. But for $0.99 I thought it had potential.

 

 

Nothing a coat of black spray paint all over can't fix. Plus, I think it might be the perfect perch for that now pink "K"!

 

 



And if that pink leopard print top looks familiar, its because we're one of those families that give homeschoolers a bad rap by hanging out in our pajamas all day every day, and these are her favorite pair.



How to Keep Calm & Carry On

 Several weeks ago I picked up this $2 vintage frame at a yard sale.

After giving a similar but larger frame a recent fun makeover as a bulletin board for my girls' room, I decided to stick with the same painting technique on this frame for their room as well. And yes, I let the girls help with painting coat #1 again.

But I had a different idea for what to put inside this smaller frame. Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you've probably seen these "Keep Calm & Carry On" quotes everywhere.

The variations run anywhere from "Keep Calm & Go Shopping" to "Keep Calm & Call Batman." Just the other day I saw a little gymnast wearing a "Keep Calm & Tumble On" shirt. These quotes, like chevron, are the kind of thing I've sworn up and down I will not bring into my home simply because its too trendy. And, well seriously - how does one keep calm and carry on? I'll tell you later.

But first, here I am admitting that, just like the chevron, I caved. ONLY because I happened to stumble across this "Be Still & Know That I Am God" wall decal here.

It's a quote from the Bible in Psalm 46:10. I was very close to buying the decal but decided I'd save the $18+ and just make my own instead.  So I did a Google Images search for "Be still and know..." and scrolled down until I found the same image here. I simply right clicked to copy the picture, saved it, and inserted it into a Word document. I printed it, cropped it, and secured it onto a large piece of black construction paper with double-sided tape tabs.

I needed to give it some support and make it stay in since the frame didn't come with any glass or backing. So I used the double-sided tape tabs to attach the construction paper onto a piece of cardboard and cut them to fit into the back of the frame. I also ended up using a little masking tape to hold it to the edges of the frame.

The frame also had nothing to hang it by, and its plastic, so I couldn't really nail anything into the back. So I decided to weave black ribbon through some of the holes in the scrollwork to make a hanger. I think the black ribbon I used was included in this yard sale ribbon lot I paid ten cents for last year but I recently found the piece on the floor in our house during our current moving-in process. How it got there, I don't know. "Why yes, there on the rug in front of me happens to be the black ribbon I need for my frame!" Seriously. Meant to be.

Here's the finished product:

 

Here are the coordinating projects. Both are the same color, just photographed in different lighting:

 

 

So to back up again, how does one keep calm and carry on?

Wine?

Yoga?

ONLY by being still and knowing that God is God. Only when you renew your mind with the truth of His word can you rest peacefully in the fact that He knows, ordains, and controls of all your circumstances and in His love and faithfulness toward you.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul says of God, "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."

In John 14:27, Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

In Isaiah 55:9, God says, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

The Psalmist says to God in chapter 108:4, "For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies."

Please, dwell on those truths. You can keep calm and carry on when you be still and know that He is God.


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Fancy Framed Bulletin Board

Earlier this year I picked up this frame at a yard sale.  I knew it was destined for glory.

I thought I might hang it in our school room but I changed my mind and decided to paint it to hang in my girls' bedroom. My oldest could use a corkboard to hang special pictures, Valentines, cards, mementos, etc. ;) She wanted an aqua blue to match their fabric, which turned out to be Benjamin Moore's "in the tropics." Both girls begged me to help paint. How could I say no?

At one point they were more focused on painting each other than the frame. Had to put a squash to that.

After they started slathering the paint thick on the top and bottom, I tried lightly brushing it on the sides and loved the dry-brush look of the blue over the brown.

(Anyone else have one of these pretty little 6-in-1 hammer/screwdrivers? I use mine all the time!)

Well it was too late to go with that dry-brush effect all over. I was sad. I had to make up for this error! So I let them continue to lay it on thick and I decided to just go back over and dry brush with black later. This is how it looked when I was done painting.

I'm psyched about the reverse effect. It really made the scrollwork pop. As I was finishing up with the black, I suddenly remembered a cork bulletin board about the size of this frame that I'd seen at Sally's a couple days before. I might not have slept that night wondering if it was still there and if it would fit.

So I zipped on over that evening 15 minutes before Sally's closed, hoping it was meant to be. And it was. $2.99 was worth taking a chance that it was the right size. And it (almost) was. To make it fit in the frame I just needed to remove its original frame and a couple of inches in the length. That was easy to do with a box cutter.

But that tan cork doesn't go with the color scheme in the room I decided to spray paint it black.

(I don't recommend spraying words before covering the rest.
You end up having to spray extra layers, including random lines and swirls, to cover it up.)

After a few layers of the black paint dried, I literally squeezed the perfectly fitting corkboard right into the back of the frame. I tapped in a few new nails around the edges to secure it in place Thanks to the original wire hanger that's still in tact, she's good to hang. Ta da!

Pay no attention to the bubble in the cork. We'll tack something right over that. Now to find some fun pushpins.

2 Lovely Ladies Get the Black Spraypaint Treatment

Last year I got these two matching prints at a yard sale for a quarter each. Yup. $0.25.

Wait, wait. Don't judge.

Yes, the yellow plastic frames are horrid. But I totally fell in love with the girls and their baskets and pots of flowers and the wicker stool and their embroidered and lace aprons and the checkered skirt and their blouses and their rosy cheeks. I want to be them. I knew from the moment I picked them up that I would somehow make these work in my house somewhere. Lucky for me my girls think these pictures are just adorable as well.

And well, well! Just look at that. Wouldn't you know it - they happen to coordinate oh so nicely with the fabric for my girls bedroom makeover!

 

 

Seriously, the color scheme is practically a complete match. Meant to be.

BUT...

...those frames. They are....um.... unique, that's for sure.

I opted for black spray paint since I'm trying to infuse a lot of black into the room to make their black rug work.

Final result:

Better, right? I can handle the frames now. Whatever it takes to get those lovely ladies on the wall.