The No-Brainer

At the Estate Sale I wanted this one...



Look at that patina ~ the color ~ the layers of old paint...



I knew someone will want it when I bring it to the flea to sell...



Mr. Anything Goes Here wanted this one... to put in the front yard ~ newish ~ red ~ almost perfect...



At $1 each... it was a no-brainer.. we both got what we wanted...



Don't you just love it when that happens????

Project 1: A Dresser Re-Dressed

"Tackle the easy ones first." This is project #1 of my "Lose the Piles" Project... click on Piles to see them.



This is the first step in attacking a huge pile of projects that need to be done before the snow flies here in Northern Illinois.



This little $6 dresser didn't need much... just to be freshened up with a new coat of paint...I am a "Navajo White" Girl.



Now it is repainted, sanded and waxed...ready to be find a new home. It is a cute little size, with a Frenchy shape.

Why did I take the SAFE white color choice? It is about appealing to the most customers. If it doesn't sell with a simple redo, I'd try something more flashy.




Just a personal pet peeve... repaints where the drawer sides are not painted...doesn't it look much more professional this way?

ONE down ~ 6,357 more projects to go...

A Jam Packed Estate Sale

I haven't taken you Estate Sale-ing with me for a couple weeks ~ so let's go to last week's biggest sale ~ and have a look around.

When I got there 2 hours before opening there were already at least 50 people waiting on the front lawn.



Seeing stuff all over the front porch, I had a pretty good idea that there was ALOT inside.



No, I didn't buy that iron urn on a pedestal by the front door ~ it was $90.




The elves were cute ~ but were plastic and broken. That tent has hundreds of molds to make ceramics in it!



There were also hundreds frames all over this house. All pretty uninteresting. I know some of you who love to make things with frames would have been in heaven.



And then the stuff really started........It was a ranch style house with probably 12 rooms full of stuff including the basement.






That is a tote full of doll hair!






This was a pretty "sunroom/greenhouse". I found 2 pieces of ironstone out here.



Over the years when I start out to a sale I often have no idea what it is going to be like....now sometimes with Estate Sales.Net and Craig's List I have seen pictures.







With this sale I had seen pictures ~ but the extent of the stuff was not fully captured!



I did find 3 nice metal urns buried in all this stuff and a few other small things.

Looking at peoples' stuff I try to figure out their STORY?

Were these people in the gift business?

Did they own a ceramics store?

Why did they have all of these faux flowers?

What is up with the wall of unused Christmas stuff?

What do you think? Would you have loved or....



hated this sale?

Hey, you turkeys!

See these wild turkeys drinking from the muddy puddle at the side of the road? They are not "wild" at all....



Their home is a large Estate on the shores of Lake Michigan! If you could see through those trees behind that lovely field behind them, you would see some of the most beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline in Northern Illinois. Here is more about their home, Crabtree Farms.

These turkeys have the lush life, and yet they continue to cross the road, in traffic, trying to hang out in a little strip of woods along a railroad track. But who ever said turkeys were smart, huh?

~ My Beach Memories ~

I love what The Inspired Room recently posted about reflecting on contentment. I am both inspired by my beach memories and content with the beach decor that I already have.....

I grew up in the Indiana Dunes at the southern-most tip of Lake Michigan... with sand between...



my toes...everyday of every barefooted summer...



My dad taught me to swim just as he had taught men to swim during WW2 in Hawaii on their way to the Pacific Front...



My beach friends lived in little beach shacks with sleeping porches full of musty beds and smelly wet dogs...



In the morning I had to do my chores...and then it was off on my bike everyday to the beach...picking up my friends along the way...



Then staying at the beach until the sun set over the water... always such a beautiful sight...




Taking our hard-earned dimes to the little stand for a snack of ice cream and pop..



Carrying home rocks and driftwood in our pockets...with old innner tubes over our sunburned shoulders...wet towel flapping in the breeze.



Our beach didn't even have a lifeguard.. yet we all survived...



Everyday swimming and splashing endlessly in the surf... riding it in and out.... in and out.

Progress: Worktable Revealed!

I know it may seem like a small step toward dealing with all the furniture piles in my garage....



but I haven't even seen my worktable since about April... much less been able to WORK on it....



NOW at least I have a place to work... and it is fun to look at, too. I missed it...

{The foot. What do you think it is? Answer at the end of the post.}



hiding behind all of that stuff in the next picture. Even that is better organized than last week. See all the bookshelves lined up back there waiting for their redos.



Here's a question to self: Why did I think I needed 30+ chairs to redo...??????? {Very, very hard to store and stack neatly.}

{Answer to "The Foot" question: The foot is someone's plaster art class project. It is big, very stylized, and has an Art Deco 1930's look.}

White Shell

I'm hooked on the beach...


A shell fragment tumbled by the sea.

An old dictionary ravaged by time.

Peace


Right in front of me, everyday.

If you are EASILY scared DON'T read this POST!

It started out good.... it was cheap or free.......... all very thrifty and vintage to boot.......NOW...........



this is my garage. Not a pretty picture. This is not a pretty post....



It is not about what I have redone. It is about what needs to be redone.



It is not about what I have fixed up. It is what I need to fix up...
there's money in those piles...I know it!



I have ALOT of work to do....{I see spider nests in there, don't you?}



And you can WATCH my progress.



It may be fun for you. For me, not so much...
.....this is the ugly underbelly of an antique dealer's life..

good intentions, not very good follow through...



But I am going to roll up my sleeves..... and get to work!



I like to work and paint outside and..... fall is coming to Northern Illinois...time is getting short...



Mr. Anything Goes Here wants at least ONE car in the garage over the winter. Boy, do I have my work cut out for me!

Ready?

After reading some of the comments, an additional confession: The garage was CLEANED OUT before last winter. This is only THIS year's accumulation! Makes it even more of a YIKES, doesn't it?



If your not a follower and want to see how my "Lose the Piles" Project goes, I invite you to become a Follower and watch my progress>>>>>>>>Sign up right over there>>>>>>>I will be taking a break soon after 300 Followers for another Thank You Giveaway>>>>>>>

I need a better name for this project...any suggestions?

Saturday Morning Question

Spotted this morning while out Estate Sale-ing:

Really cool planter...not so good mailbox placement.... Couldn't they used a level OR another wall? And what is with those empty plastic pots with the price tags still on the bottom?

Am I being TOO critical here?

What do you think?

Feathered Friends

This post is for the birds. { and the nests! and the eggs! }

No other words needed.