Weekend Beauty and Some Rain

My sister Laurie's zinnia's that my mother and sister Cyndi planted for her in May. Laurie's husband Mike, brought her the seed packets from Japan. I love and adore zinnia's!

Zinnia's from my sister's home in Alaska

            Happy Sunday to you! Dwain and I are enjoying a relaxing day. We had major thunderstorms last night and discovered to our horror that our front living room window was leaking. We also discovered underneath the molding of the window frame, that the wall/drywall was soft and a bit mushy. We set out to dry it and this morning, seemed to be drying out pretty well. I'm sure at some point we will have to repair it and purchase a new window. Not gonna be cheap since our front window is about ten feet wide. Boo!

Where's the butter? Yum!

 Too cheer us up and to stop thinking about the leak, I got in my kitchen and started cooking up Dwain's favorite meal. Oven baked chicken, pork n beans and good ol' corn on the cob. Nothing like biting into a corn cob that is slathered in butter and lightly seasoned with salt. Something about corn makes me happy. I don't know if it's the long dark green leaves or the silky tassels but when I get a whiff of corn fresh off the farm, I want to skip and prance around like a little girl! I even like cleaning corn although nowadays, I use the microwave to loosen the leaves and silk. Works great!

Fleur- de- lis decor for a blank wall over my staircase

 I forgot to include this giant fleur-de-lis wall decor that I purchased at St. Joseph's when Piper and I went shopping last weekend. It is 30' tall and will find it's home on a wall that is over our staircase that leads to our laundry room. The only "work" I'm going to do to it, is apply guilder's paste in King Gold around the draped part in the middle. I feel it needs to have some 'pop' there. 

So my sister Cyndi, who lives in Texas, has been on a decorating binge. She is taking cues from Libby Langdon and has been acquiring pieces of furniture, trays and decor. She transforms them and has truly given her pieces a new lease on life. Above, she had sent me the photo of the end table which most of you I know can imagine the dark hideous wood that it was in it's former life. Cyndi decided to paint it a creamy white and highlighted the wooden inserts in gold paint. I think it looks rich and luxurious. Her sofa table was purchased from Varagesale for a few dollars. Well, due to her present love of trays, be they metal, wood or sterling silver, she now has ME addicted to finding trays to make over. They make the perfect vehicle for creating a lovely vignette.

Last month, Dwain and I stopped in a little town called Shevlin and we noticed a large yard sale was going on in front of a large warehouse. I immediately found this wooden tray. I liked that it was heavily carved but the wood was just too dark for me. The tile was perfect so I wasn't about to do anything to that. I didn't want to paint it white since I am currently loving an Old World decor style. I still have a shabby/cottage guest room and my kitchen is a kitschy vintage/cottage-y style but for the rest of my house, I totally removed everything shabby chic looking and really leaned towards dark rich and comforting colors.

I ended up using Rustoleum Metallic spray paint for the tray. I taped up the tiles in painters tape and happily sprayed away! I think it came out looking pretty nice.

While we were there, Dwain noticed a small wire trailer that was chock full of library books that had been discarded from the Shevlin Library. Wow! There had to have been over 150 books. They had a sign that said you could have the whole lot of books for $50.00. There were some great books with beautiful dust jackets and then I saw them.....vintage school primers. I bought six of them. The art inside of those books are just adorable. I love storybook art and I just couldn't pass them up. I have quite a collection of vintage school primers. I haven't photographed them but I will do that tomorrow and post them on Tuesday. I'll be sure to include photos from the inside of the book. 

I hope your weekend is ending on a pleasant note and that you are enjoying a restful evening with loved ones!

Be a thrifty treasure hunter and save the landfills.

Finding My Necessary Treasures

 As promised, here are my treasures from my Saturday thrift excursion to St. Joseph's. I always have a plan as to what I am needing as decor for my home. I have a very large home that I've only lived in for two and a half years and I need to fill it up with decor and furniture pieces. I have a little notebook where I jot down areas that need a wonderful piece of decor or a wall that needs a large painting or shelf. The first thing on my list was the top of our antique walnut book shelf. We needed something for the very top of it and when I saw these row houses, I knew they were coming home with me. I'm not even changing anything about them.

When I go to a thrift shop, the first thing I do is go to the jewelry section and search for gold bracelets. I have a large collection of beautiful vintage bracelets and I have always been lucky to find at least one that is unique and exquisite. This bangle had a lovely cable chain in the center and a cute dangling gold tag was suspended from a gold jump ring that said NATASHA. I see from a search that Natasha jewelry is sold at Nordstrom, Saks and other fine stores. I got it free along with the box of cards. What a deal! I had spent enough to able to look in their "Big Basket of Freebies" and got two free items. You just can't beat that!

The next item on my list was something for one of the walls in our dining room. We needed something large and I was really hoping to be able to find a shelf to house some of my vintage creamers. I went to the back of the store and found this on top of a dresser. It was only $7.00 and it is quite a large piece and very heavy. Are you laughing with me when you look at it? Yes, it is very 1990's country decor. Remember when everyone had hunter green and apple decor in their home? What a giggle! As you can imagine, it is getting a coat of white paint slapped on it. I will be using Annie Sloan Pure White and will shabby it up a bit. I've placed some items in the spaces for you to see. It is going to look beautiful on the wall. Yay, me!

I bought this sweet little duck at a Ross Store many years ago and I think it's just adorable, don't you? The tissue is so old and faded.

 My little lamb is special to me because I won it at an auction in San Antonio many years ago. It had a lot of bids on it but I was the winner. It is from the 1940's. I hope I never break it because I'd be really sad.

 Third on my list was something for a small portion of wall that is behind our staircase rail. I have a white oval mirror on there with a flying angel over it and it just need something else. So, I jotted down, "look for hanging wall candlestick holders." There were tons to choose from but I love things with a touch of whimsy and when I saw these lovely dangling apple candlestick holders, I threw them immediately into my basket. They were $1.50 apiece. Yep, hunter's green again! I had to laugh but of course they are getting a new fresh look. My sister Cyndi and I discussed various colors to use and after much deliberation, we decided on dry brushing Pure White Annie Sloan and then wiping some of it off. I will be using French guilders wax in King's Gold to give it some shine and make it look like a very elegant and vintage piece.

I couldn't resist grabbing this sweet pale yellow Baby Memories container that had beautiful envelopes, baby stickers and note cards to leave for your newborn. It is adorable and I love looking at the family tree card that was included inside. It was only $1.00!I am going to place it in our shabby chic guest room. I think it will look sweet on my dresser. I have lot's of cute things on it.

Lastly, we recently purchased an antique dining room table and I wanted a large milk glass bowl or vase for it but I just couldn't find the right size. I have a good collection of milk glass pieces thanks to my mother who loved to surprise me with tons of them when I lived in San Antonio Texas. Alas, I am now in Minnesota so I haven't purchased any milk glass since I've been up here. This lovely piece with the grapes and leaves motif was only $4.00. Now the problem is going to be finding something wonderful to put inside of it! I have a vintage crocheted doily tablecloth in pale blue and I think it will look very smart on top of it. So glad I found it!

I hope to have everything in place by Saturday. I'll be sure to snap some photos for you. It always gives me a sense of accomplishment when I am able to find the things that I need for my home. I believe in reusing the old and giving new life to it. I definitely love everything I purchase for making our house a home for the two of us.