Curb appeal detail: Brass griffin shield plaque

I'm less of a "front door seasonal wreath" person and more of a "brass griffin plaque" kinda girl.

Pretty, right? Pretty menacing. Griffins are protectors (or so says Wikipedia), thus this pair is perfect posted by the front door. Think they'll keep the hooligans away?

I found the brass plaque nearly three years ago at an antique mall for $8, and despite good intentions, it has taken me this long to hang it up.

I attached it to a wooden circle plaque from Jo-Ann that I painted black, and mounted it to the brick using a single screw hidden underneath the shield! It really shouldn't have taken so long. Down with procrastination!

It fits right in with the brass hardware on the door and doorbell plate on our Tudor-style cottage, don't cha think?

Antique mall finds: Vintage kitchen

I picked up a couple of vintage kitchen items on a recent adventure to the antique malls. I love this jadite green scale. It's in great condition with just the right amount of patina. 

It was $20, which is more than I would normally pay for a such an item, but it's so perfect. Plus similar scales go for more online, so I don't feel like I overpaid.

I also fell in love with this sculptural solid brass pitcher. Hello brassy goodness! It is seriously heavy; I should probably keep it on my nightstand in case of an intruder instead of in the kitchen.

See? Nearly five pounds!

See more antique & thrift finds >>

Pretty new things: Happy birthday to me!

My birthday was a few weeks ago, just two days before Etta was born. You may ask yourself, how does a nearly full-term pregnant lady celebrate when she can't have drink or sweets or comfort foods (stupid gestational diabetes)? Buy herself pretty things, of course.

The first, a brass lamp from the second wave of Nate Berkus' Target line. The shade is part of the collection too. I tried to pair it with a lighter colored shade, but none of the others at Target fit on the lamp! By design perhaps? 

I love the look of the dark shade, but black shades can steal so much of the light, and our living room is so dark without any overhead lights. Luckily, the inside of the shade is bright white, so it's kind of a non-issue.

My second self-purchased present was this old wire basket I found at an antique mall. Have no idea what it was used for. It was a bit dirty, like it had been in someone's basement or garage. 

Honestly, I am not quite sure why I had to have it other than I love it. I am practical to a fault and can talk myself out of most any purchase, so once in a while, it's nice to buy something purely for the heck of it. It's going to be bringing its vintage charm to my kitchen shortly.

The best Abraham Lincoln bottle opener ever

My brother came to me with a request: he wanted a wall-mounted bottle opener. He found the metal bottle opener itself and needed help making an attractive base for it.

I bought the shield-shaped plaque at Jo-Ann, but I wasn't sure what else to do with it. And then I remembered this iron Abraham Lincoln head I found a while back at an antique mall. It hadn't yet found a purpose, so it was time to give Abe a job.

But before I put it together, I texted my brother a mock-up photo and his response was "Ummmm.....I would love that!!!!" But really, who wouldn't love an Abe Lincoln bottle opener?

I painted the plaque a deep navy and the border with some metallic paint. I mixed silver and gold together to make a kind of dirty silver tone that would match the patina of the bottle opener.

After that, it was just a little bit of E-6000 adhesive to glue on the metal pieces. Two long screws will go into the holes in the bottle opener and into a wall stud for extra sturdiness. Now it's ready for some beer action!

Even more Goodwill Outlet finds

It's been two months since my last thrifting trip, but honestly, we've been so busy, I hardly noticed.

I finally made it back to the Goodwill Outlet for a whirlwind 45-minute trip with my brother in tow. I know 45 minutes in a thrift store doesn't exactly sound whirlwind, but this place is so big with so much to look at, it's pretty hard to get out of there in under an hour.

I got everything you see here for just $5.05! 

I've never met a house-shaped shelf I didn't like. And I might need to take a trip to frame-aholics anonymous. I just can't pass them up for so cheap! They will all find a use someday. I like having a stash to dip into.

The gold oval frame is probably my favorite find. It's wooden, so I may try to strip it at some point in the future. You know, when I can safely breathe stinky stuff again.

p.s. The next day, I stopped by a small church rummage sale. It turned out to be a bust, and the prices seemed crazy to me. Three bucks for a 5x7 picture frame? The cheapo Goodwill Outlet has warped my mental pricing structure.

Thrift store makeover: Nautical print

Wow, I totally did not intend to blow off last week, but a bad cold knocked me down for a few days. I hate that helpless feeling of having a thousand things to do and no energy to do them.

Anyhow, I'm back today to show you a small painting project. Let's get to it.

I found this nautical boat print at the Goodwill Outlet last month. I liked the print, but the orangey oak frame did not complement it at all. Nothing a little paint can't fix.

The frame is very sturdy (it hasn't pulled apart), but there were wide cracks in the corners. I filled them with a tiny bit of painter's caulk and let it dry.

A couple of coats of craft paint, and the oaky color was no more. Now you can actually see the print instead of the frame!

Another Goodwill find: Fixer-upper dollhouse

I found one more bargain at the Goodwill Outlet last week. A dollhouse! Honestly, I didn't really ever picture myself buying a dollhouse for Elise. They take up so much space! (The footprint of this one isn't too bad at around 15"x24".) But seeing it languishing in the bins at the Goodwill Outlet and knowing it was a quality piece, I felt compelled to rescue it. It's made of super sturdy classroom grade birch plywood and is nice and heavy.

It wouldn't fit in the cart, so my brother (who was along with us) carried it up to the register to ask if they could hold it until we were ready to check out. They wouldn't hold it, so he bought it on the spot and took it out to the car. I was out of earshot, so I didn't hear how much it cost. I figured it would be around $10 or so, but after he came back in, he told me it was only $2. TWO DOLLARS!

I'm pretty sure it's an older version of this one selling at Amazon for $139, so hooray for deals!

Of course, my fixer upper needs some cosmetic work. That Disney contact paper is pretty horrible. I actually peeled it up a bit in the store to see how easy it would come off, and I don't think it's going to be much trouble. There are also some marker scribbles and it's missing half of the floating stairs, but I can take care of all that.

Elise keeps asking to see her "doghouse," but girl's gotta have patience! There's a lot to do here!

Return to the Goodwill Outlet!

I haven't done one of these finds posts in a while, but it isn't because for lack of trying. I've been shopping, I just haven't bought much lately. I've probably been pickier and tighter with my wallet, but in truth, I just haven't found much worth spending any money on.

But we went to the by-the-pound Goodwill Outlet again and I found a few things. I got everything you see here for $6 total including tax!

There's one more thing I bought not pictured here, but it was such a bargain, it probably deserves its own post.

I'm always a sucker for frames (especially ovals, which are next to impossible to find new), and I have a future project in mind for the candlesticks. I am undecided on what to do with the long rustic wooden box, but it will find a purpose I'm sure.

This little footed Raffiaware dish will likely find a home near my sewing area.

And I thought these two small prints were too nice to leave in the bins. Of course, the oaky frames are doing nothing for them, but that will soon change.

See what I got the last time I visited the Goodwill Outlet >> 

Framing found object: Psychic ad postcard

Years ago, I was kind of obsessed with "finding things" (a la Found Magazine). Basically, I would pick up every random piece of paper on the ground, hoping it would be something funny or interesting. Mostly, what I found was completely ordinary and uninteresting.

So when this postcard appeared on the sidewalk in front of me while walking out of work one day, I felt like I had finally won the lottery. I stopped and looked around to see if someone might have dropped it, but it was apparent it had appeared out of nowhere. I like to think the wind blew it out of the walls of an old building being rehabbed across the street.

I'm not really into the psychic thing (though I did have my palm read once upon a time in New Orleans), but stylistically, this is right up my alley. I love how the $1 price is scratched out (on the left), the kooky layout and all the old school fonts. It's almost like someone put this card out just for me to find.

Recently, I ran across it again going through some papers, and I knew I had to give it a proper display. I grabbed a picture frame from last month's trip to the Goodwill Outlet and introduced the strawberry print to the recycle bin.

I was going to paint the frame black, but something about the wood tone coordinated with the aging paper of the postcard. I decided to leave it as is. The backing pattern is a piece of scrapbook paper, and I just sandwiched it all together. My favorite way to frame! No adhesive!

By the pound: Goodwill Outlet finds

Oh, Goodwill Outlet, where have you been all my life?

I have been meaning to get to the St. Louis Goodwill Outlet since it opened over a year ago, but it's not in an area I travel frequently, and frankly, I kept forgetting it exisited. But Dan's mom reminded me of it, and Elise and I made our first visit last week.

The whole time I was there, I just kept saying to myself, "This is crazy." The bins are packed full of stuff and junk and clothes and trash all in a big jumbled mess. There's broken glass and empty plastic bags. Things with lots of pieces are scattered everywhere. But if you look hard enough, you will uncover the gems! 

But the most unbelievable part? It's all sold by the pound: 39 cents a pound for glassware and books and 79 cents a pound for everything else! Crazytown.

My haul? Picture frames, a couple of framed mirrors, a self-healing cutting mat (didn't really need another one, but for less than $1, I had to rescue it), a metal box, a vintage trophy from 1946, a metal square ruler, and some things to paint on. For an idea of scale, that green cutting mat is 18" x 22".

And a vintage photograph of a ski team of some sort! A free bonus, since it's practically weightless.

Oh, and some things for Elise!

People, we found Toodles. Don't worry. Everything has been thoroughly disinfected.

Can't wait to see what we bring home next time!

Antique mall haul: Wood and brass

I had one of those epic treasure hunting Saturdays last weekend. It was mama's day off and since I hadn't been to any antique malls or thrift stores in nearly three months, I was due.

I did not attempt to theme my shopping, but it appears as though wood and brass are calling to me these days.

I finally pulled the trigger on a wooden printers tray ($10). I've always wanted one, but some are too large for my tastes or too expensive for my guilt. This one is smallish at 11" x 17". I love the handwritten numbers at the top. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it quite yet.

And then I found this wooden whale cutout ($6) whom I adore. No idea about how old it might be, though.

A troop of brass monkeys! For $5, how could I say no? They hang in a chain like the Barrel of Monkeys game. I don't know how to display them, though, so they might become fodder for an art project.

You may know, I have a weakness for e's, especially at $1.25 each. They look like wood, but are actually some sort of resin.

I also picked up some small brass pieces. A bell, a basket and a pair of tiny flower candle holders. I'm positive those candle holders will never actually see candles again. But I loved their shape and think I might save them for an art project of some sort.