Salvation Army Desk - Before and After

A few months ago we bought a desk for only $39 at a Salvation Army store.   We have finally finished sanding and staining the desk.   The stain is Misson Oak by Minxax and we love how the darker finish makes the desk look more modern.

We added the porcelain knobs we bought at Brimfield!   We are debating keeping it (we really liked how it came out) or selling it.

Brimfield Antique Show 2012

I have been wanting to go to Brimfield the last few years (ever since I found out it existed),  unfortunately in past years we have always had prior commitments on the weeks it was held.   This year I was bound and determined to go.    We took off 2 days of work but was disappointed when I saw the forecast of torrential rain for Tuesday.    We decided to stay inside and work on our upstairs bathroom renovation (before and afters coming soon!) and go see the Avengers (which I actually really liked, except for when the 3-D effects made me a bit motion sick!).     I kept my fingers crossed that Wednesday it would clear up.   The next morning it was overcast but the percent chance of rain was down.   We headed off with extra clothes and umbrellas packed.

It worked out perfectly going during the week on a rainy day because it was probably far less packed then it would have been if it was a beautiful sunny day.    I was completely overwhelmed by how much amazing stuff was at the show.   It was probably a good thing since it stopped me from spending a ton of money.    I kept wanting to see more before I made any decisions,  what if there was something every more exciting at the next vendor?

We did manage to come away with a few things:

This really cool square glass jar lamp which we will be putting up over our sink in our kitchen

The metal buckets actually have a hook on the back so you can hang them over a fence post.  Can't wait to find some beautiful overhanging flowers to put in them.  

Porcelain drawer knobs for the desk we are refinishing.  We bought 2 of each color (green, blue and cream) since each drawer on the desk has 2 spots for the knobs.   The blue one is my favorite.  The best part was they were only $5 for all 6.  

A new dining room table!   We do love our current table and its only a few years old, the problem is its height.   It is a pub table and we have noticed how difficult the chairs are to get into for our older relatives.   Plus normal size chairs are too low so we can never have more than 6 people at the table at any given time (there is a hidden leaf so it gets much bigger than in the image below).  

We really loved the white distressed look of the new table and the detail on the base.  Plus it has 2 leaves instead of 1 so we should be able to fit 8 or more people easily.   Now we just need to find some chairs... a lot of chairs.  

1st Yard Sale Finds of the 2012 Season

Last weekend my husband and I were running some errands when we drove by a yard sale.  The vintage toy peddle cards caught his attention and we turned around to stop by.

The person had a lot of great vintage toys and smalls.   We didn't ended up buying one of the peddle cars but left with a couple of new treasures:

A sweet little brass bird paperweight was only $5 and my favorite find.   There are no marks on it so I'm not sure how old it is or where it may have come from.

Two cast iron train passenger cars were $10 each.  One has 402 and the other 403.   I have found similar ones on ebay but not sure who makes the train set yet.  

My husband loved this vintage wooden Great American Flying Machine ride on plane for $20.   

Another one of my husband's finds a cast iron golf coin bank for $20.  The man thought it might be a re-production but still from mid-century.   I'll have to do more research on this one.

Anyways pretty great finds for a yard sale we happened to stumble on.  

Lovely Lilacs

It is one of my favorite times of the year right now,  when the Lilacs are in bloom!   I absolutely love the smell of lilacs (still hunting for a lilac scented perfume!).   We have a few lilacs we have planted in our yard but they are still young and don't really produce any flowers yet.   Our neighbors, however, have huge lilac bushes whose branches reach over the fence into our yard.   Each spring I always go out and secretly clip a few of the flowers.   The neighbor actually mentioned to my husband that they want to cut the bushes down,  to which he said we would gladly take them.   Hopefully we can replant them in our yard so I can enjoy them even more.    One of their bushes even has the deep purple lilacs that you don't see as often!