Estate Sale, New England Style!

Recently, I flew to Boston to visit Andrea and Mark...

and of course, CAF, aka Caroline.

She's growing so quickly and I don't get to see her as often as I'd like.

She's very active and always exploring.

At the end of the day, she gets her bath and is ready for bed.

Her puppy, Bretten, skips the bath.

Directly to bed for her.

Anyways, I just had to share.

Now, the Estate Sale.

During the week I was there, a sign for an estate sale was posted on the telephone pole in front of their home.

It was at the old farmhouse behind their house. 

At one time, they owned all of the land around them.

Now there are houses and apartments that cover that land.

It started at 9am and I was the only one there!

Gorgeous old home and the family was so sweet!

I had $22 cash and this is what I walked away with.

Federal Style Convex Girandole Mirror

About 2 feet tall.

Wood.

Smaller one, thrown in for free.

You can see brush marks where the mirror finish was applied.

Amazing hand made table with the most delicate legs I've ever see.

And it survived in the barn for years.

Small alabaster or marble lamp.

Wood tray, about 2' wide.

Somewhere in the past there was an inlay in the center.

Andrea blacked it out with a sharpie and put their monogram in gold paint pen.

Here's the brass handles.

Finally, an oval side table with pretty tapered legs.

Can you believe I got all of these wonderful things for $22 !!

These are some of the things I had to leave behind with a heavy heart!

2 antique bear skins, if I had to guess I'd say one was a black bear and the other was a grizzly

antique beds and dressers

spinning wheels

6 antique small scaled windsor style chairs used daily in their kitchen

All these plus so much more.

And the really amazing part?

This was their second sale!

I'll remember this one for a very long time.

ann marie

Linking to...

Coastal Charm Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

$25 Guest Room Makeover!

I've got family coming into town and my Mother in Law will be staying with us.

And the guest room was looking sad and dingy.
Time for a facelift!

So, I had one day to do something about it.

Off to Lowes I went.

I bought a gallon of Olympic's One- a paint and primer combo.

$25

The existing color was quite a bit darker, but it took two quick coats and that was finished.

I also put a coat of paint on the baseboards and windows.

I shopped my home for the panels and whipped up a new Dust Ruffle with some Natural and Black Ticking I had on hand.

I need to dig up some shams or maybe a couple of vintage embroidered pillow cases,

 I know I have a stash of those hanging around too!

Not too bad for a day's work!

A big silver pitcher full of roses and I think mom will be very comfortable!

ann marie



Dog Door Days of Summer

This DIY project started with the adoption of this sweet little puppy.

Taylor's puppy.

Noble.

Or, Chernobyl, depending on how her day goes...

I work from home, and they live close by, so I volunteered to provide some doggy day care.

I, however, did not run this past my three "girls".

They were OK with it until Noble started to use their heads as a teething ring.

Rizzo and Wrigley are both around 8 years old and quickly put an end to all that nonsense.

Sophie, however, is a pushover.

She is probably the least dominate dog I know, which makes her such a sweetheart.

And a good teething ring.

By the time Noble went home each day, Sophie was a slobbered mess.

Noble also like to chew on sticks, big sticks that we have no idea how she gets them through the doggie door.

Then she would proceed to shred them all over the house.

Something had to be done.

We started with this kitchen door that led to Taylor's back yard.

A trip to Lowes and we were on our way.

They had this door on special last week for $128 , it usually sells for $188.

Doggy door for large doggy was around $75.

10% military discount on all that and we spent about $185.

It really was an easy project.

The new door fit into the old door's frame.

The template is included with the doggy door.

Drill a hole in each corner,

then cut on the lines with a jigsaw using a blade made to cut metal.

Our blade wasn't long enough to cut all the way through, so we had to do the same on the outside.

I think that actually made it easier.

A quick whack with a hammer was all that was needed at this point.

The door assembly is really easy too.

You mark where the screw will go through on all 4 corners, drill the hole and put it all together!

Now everyone's happy!

Well, almost everyone...

ann marie

Even in this Extreme Heat the Hunt Still Goes On!!

One of my favorite finds...ever.



They're Italian.

One's 10" tall and the other is 12" long.

Old brass.

Very tarnished, with a wonderful patina.

They were just lying in a corner and no one else saw them.

Then there was this lamp.

Industrial and vintage.

I can't get a decent picture because it has to be screwed to the table or wall.

It works and I think it might be a nice addition to my studio.
I found another lamp.
Definitely not industrial, but it was very vintage.

The lamp part was downright ugly, pink shade and all.

However, the Cockatoos are gorgeous and in perfect condition.

No chips or cracks, just some crazing which is to be expected.

I think one of the best deals I've gotten in a long time were in the "Free" pile of a local yard sale.

There was a cardboard box with a round piece of wood at the top.

This is a picture from the web, but my freebie is the same.

It's 5 or 6 feet long and the shells are probably 2-2 1/2" across.

It'll be finding its way to my Etsy Shop.

I also got 2 framed vintage Japanese prints on tiles.

They are just like this one being sold on Etsy!

They found a new home at Taylor's.

There's nothing like a good bargain to get your mind off the heat.

It was 110 degrees here yesterday and its 106 right now.

ann marie

Stencil Wall Transformation-TaDa!!

Remember my kitchen update project??

Well, we kind of did a trial run.

We Guinea Pigged it.

On Taylor's hallway wall.

Started out like this.

Yeah, I know, not too spectacular.

So we began experimenting in our own peculiar way.

Taylor wanted this wall to make a statement.

The first bit of color, our mantra...it's only paint!

I say we, but by this point my fingers are pretty much stuck together.

As I sit here typing this post, my fingers are sticking to the keys!

Anyway, Taylor has a puppy, Noble, who obviously wanted nothing to do with this whole project.

That was fine with me, the last thing I wanted was to pet a shedding dog with sticky hands!

We used regular wall paint and had a wee bit of seepage, Taylor thought it just looked more like an Ikat pattern and who was I to argue with that logic/rationalization.

This cottage is under 1000 square feet, so you have to get creative in how you use space.

This is Taylor's makeup table.

She uses a jewelry box that her Memere gave her years ago

to keep her makeup in.

So, the question is...

mirror, centered or off center???

In real time it took about two hours and we had some great mother/daughter time.

ann marie



Artwork Finds...

I found a couple of special pieces,

at least they are to me.

I'll get to enjoy them for awhile.

The first one is colorful and vintage.

They're all vintage.

Must bring back childhood memories or something.

This is hand painted on silk, I think it's signed and has stamps on it also. It's sandwiched between two pieces of glass in the frame.

The colors are so clear.

       Peonies and birds, it doesn't get much better than that.

 It puts a smile on my face.

I think the next one is a lithograph.

It's by George Hitchcock,

Girl with Flowers.

It also has old wavy, seeded glass.

It could be the original glass it was framed with.

I've hung her with my Grandmother's Madonna picture.

I think she likes it there.

And my last one is a tapestry.

It was done by the La France Art Company.

It so reminds me of the villages we visited when we were in Europe a few years ago.

And the detail of the stitching amazes me.

The frame has a faux tortoise shell finish and what seems to be a little gilding.

I love it.

I'll enjoy looking at it until it finds another home.

I can't keep everything, and I can't stand to think wonderful things may get trashed because others don't appreciate them.

So, some things will end up in my Etsy Shop.

Some things I'll keep, at least for awhile.

ann marie