S. Y. Wilson & Co.

Do you ever have a Saturday that starts with getting in your vehicle and proceeds to this conversation...

Hubby: Where do you want to go?

Me: Oh, I don't know. Where do you want to go?

That was this Saturday. Where we wound up was someplace wonderful, though.
I was kicking myself for not bringing the camera. If I had known we were going to visit this place I would have brought the video camera. I did manage to snap a few pictures with my phone, though.

Out of the blue, we finally wound up going here:

This little store began it's life in 1893 and has been run continuously since. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all original to the store. My daughter thought that was really cool. It went from a general store to what it finally is today, a gallery of antiques and historic items.

The second floor had a rope up so you could look but not enter. It contains tons of old stuff that I could have stared at all day, had our son not been acting Completely Horrible! The second floor had more antiques you could buy and antique caskets to gaze at!

Of course there are other sites around this little town that are adorable, especially the old houses. We enjoyed peeking in all the windows and doors this lovely lady had to offer on the ground level. We like to picture ourselves living there, even though it's just a daydream.

We did pick up some cool things today, including a comforter from Marshalls. I've had no luck finding a paisley comforter in the colors I wanted. After several trips that ended with us returning empty handed, I could tell my hubby was really anticipating a new comforter. To speed things up, I picked up this white one. I really love the crispness of a white comforter. If I ever decide on a print then I can always coat it in a duvet. :)

We picked up the spools at Wilson's for $1 each! We picked up the old bottle at Wilson's, too. My hubby thinks it's a perfume bottle. Can you believe it was only $2? We were happy to find that the pump on it still works. My hubby loved the salt and pepper shaker set. It's not an antique, but the caddy is easy to take back and forth to the table and the shakers that fit in it are cheaply replaced if the kids break them, unlike our last set of fancy S&P shakers.

Here's a website link if you are interested in more information on S. Y. Wilson & Co.
http://www.treasuresof.com/View.aspx?treasureId=6226

Happy, Happy weekend!

A new old table, farmhouse style

Last night, as usual, my hubby was surfing Craigslist.
He's been looking for a table that has a farmhouse style to it. He really likes the look of a farmhouse table and I'm okay with replacing ours. I love it's retro shape but It's legs are in need of a revamp and the side laminate is peeling. I could go on but let's just say it has some old age issues.

Notice the sides and legs aren't the focus of this picture?

So my hubby draws my attention to an ad for a table, 5 chairs, and small credenza priced @ $40 for all - no picture. The fact that I've been looking for a small cabinet to hold our daily homeschool items helped to persuade us to check this ad out.

Here's what we saw...

Okay, so that's a shot after it got to our house, but what do you think? A great buy?

It has nice lines and I really like farmhouse tables in the homes of others. I have to admit that it does push me a bit outside of my comfort zone. It's more country than I'm used to seeing in our home, except for when our relatives are over.

I can't promise that I won't toss the chairs for a more modern take or that the thought of metallic spray paint hasn't crossed my mind. I'm going to envision something a bit more "typical" for now, though.

Here's what I'm thinking...

I do my best thinking in the bathroom, lol. Okay, not really. I was just trying to get away from the kids.
alphabet chart on the wall you ask? It's for my 4 year old who does a ton of thinking and singing in the bathroom.

Getting back on the subject...
I wish I weren't such a neutral gal. I would love navy blue legs but probably only for a moment.
This table and cabinet are in need of a major refinish, even on the top. So besides white chairs and black table legs, I also see a weekend full of refinishing fun and a massive hunt for a missing or different chairs.

As an ode to tables everywhere, here is a collection of images for your viewing pleasure...




Of course there is always this option.

A fishy project & sneak peak at the denim bedroom fabric

It seemed as though the wind was actually speaking to me the other day.
Clunks and bumps... clunks and bumps.
I finally decided to brave the cold to see where the sound was coming from.
So where was the sound coming from?
Well, I had two white fish that were connected by a string through the mouths that I picked up at the antique gallery, though I doubt they are any kind of antique. They were hanging outside this summer and I just never brought them in. They must have been shivering their little scales off because they were making a ton of noise.
I brought them in and washed and dried them.

And then I had a marvelous idea!

Remember these?
Well, I had already hung two of the wood block trivets in the kitchen, across the opening from these.

What better to put on my empty wood trivets than my cute fish?
I took out my utility knife and cut the strings that were in the mouths of the fish. Then I grabbed my handy dandy tube of glue and here's what happened...


I wanted to take a picture of the span but my camera couldn't fit it all into the frame. It would have helped if it weren't a galley kitchen, with no room to back up.

I do love how I can see my catch of the day plaques and my toasty warm fish as I cook up chocolate gravy in the morning.

I really love them in our kitchen, much better than outside.

Now I have to show off my fabric find of the century...

Remember when I said:
"I'm thinking there might be some almost denim fabric in the room, too."
If not you can refer to this post.

I just found these today!

They are actually 3 tabbed curtains. One is short, one is long, and one is a short valance.

How much?
2.99 for the set @ Goodwill!

I'm saving the earth one piece of junk at a time!

The color is actually this color, below. The other pictures have them showing up strangely. Can you see how they look denim?
They feel like a very lightweight denim. I'm going to be hacking them up. ;)
You can see how nice they work with the PB pillowcases.

Okay, I'm off to bed.
Church in the morning and hopefully some Dunkin Donuts. ;)

Wish you were here!

Looks yummy, huh? The end to an almost perfect day, in my opinion. True, my van was acting crazy so we had to drive the truck. I'm sure we'll be looking at a nice bill from the mechanic but today we put all that out of our minds.

We tucked those icky thoughts away like winter clothes when the glorious days of summer hit.

Today, we lived for today!

Today we went to our favorite places... the antique gallery and Consignpointe, a consignment store here.


Both are full of lots of little treasures.

I think what I like best about them is how you can loose yourselves in time, like a time traveler - walking through the decades with every step.


Out of every old and beautiful treasure we saw...

we brought home this item...


No, it doesn't carry with it the dust from decades gone by but it's something that I've been wanting and, as always, it was a quite bargain.

Today was a nice day. Wish you were here!

Some decor additions

Red velvet cake with cream cheese icing, turkey, dressing, homemade rolls, and glazed carrots are all waiting to get made while I indulge my decorating addiction.

I haven't put all my new purchases in place but these two cast-offs have found spots to call home, for now anyway.

So, where did this pheasant go?

ta-da...

Okay, you don't get credit for that one. My picture cropping gave that one away. lol.

I've been loving the feathers and natural decor this Christmas so I think me finding her was meant to be.

She looks good from any angle.
That shutter is for holding Christmas cards and photos that we get in the mail this time of year. I have extras that we'll spice up for a "Fabulous Friday" gift. ;)

Now, what about the homeless fish?

He has now found a new home here...

I hung him about four inches lower than the door frames in the room. He brings some color to the large gray area above the television and adds height.

Side note ~ My demonic camera seems to wash out color and depth. It's got a flash that could kill a vampire 40 miles away. It turned the screen on the T.V. a creepy white so I blocked it out in black. The wall color is really a light gray and the white background of the two side photos contrast more than what is visible in the photo.

Check back soon for my cheap and easy countdown for Christmas decorating and stay tuned for our Friday gift idea!
(I'm super excited about it!!!)

Goodwill Hunting

Ah! Satisfaction

Don't you love a good find?
Don't you love a good deal even more?

I decided to run into the thrift store for a few minutes and found all this.

(There are actually three more of those wood square plaques sitting in the floor.)
I spent $30 on my entire haul.

Sometimes I wonder how I get so much into 1200 square feet.

My husband wonders how I find so much "treasure". Although, my idea of treasure doesn't always coincide with my husband's idea of treasure. Once I get the items fluffed and puffed he sees what I saw in them.

I'll get some pictures up on Tuesday or Wednesday so you can see where these things went.

Happy Hunting!

Always. On. A. Budget.

When I say budget, I don't mean the budget that I was on in days gone by. I mean the budget that a family with three kids and one income are on. The budget that a family has after that one income covers school costs and book costs of two of those children. I could further elaborate but I'll spare you the details. ;)

Anyway, with that in mind here are some of my finds and cheap items that I thought I would share...
This is a little painting I ran upon while looking for a lovely frame in a thrift store. At first my eye saw the frame but I was quickly taken by the painting itself. I loved the picture so much that I'm keeping it just as it is, I think. Commitment issues - that's me. Anyway, the picture doesn't look like what I had intended to go into our bedroom but I really like it there. Something about that ripe and delicious melon seems so sensual to me. It could be because I'm a huge foodie and even though I've never actually tried a cantaloupe, when I look at that painting I can practically feel it squish between my teeth as the juice oozes onto my lips. Nothing is sexier than that. And after all, isn't that what decor is about - making your space yours... to your likes and not someone else's. I paid a whopping $5 for this! (sarcasm intended here)


Here is the next item on my list. It's not much but the color and texture appealed to me. I love the shades of the sea, from dark blue to light greens. I'm so taken by any color of the sea. I think in my former life I could have happily been a pirate. This was a meager .49 at the thrift shop and it works perfect on my make-up table. I've been needing a pretty to hold my make-up brushes and I think this really fits the bill.

Okay, tonight I will leave you with one other thing. This cost me all of $3. After this I'm off to enjoy another peanut butter swirl brownie... MMMM!
This isn't the gorgeous galvanized cake stand that we've probably all seen floating around on the web but this is the best I could do without feeling too guilty about dropping anymore money on yet another pretty. I'm sure my hubby appreciates that, especially after my window shopping trip to the furniture store ended in a sales ticket for a new mattress and sofa. I also admit to buying an electric fireplace and chair, all this in the past three weeks. Oh, the guilt! But this $2 silver tone pedestal and $1 silver tone pizza pan -guilt free! I threw on some candles, pumpkins and a crow that I already had and I came up with, what I think is, a loverly $2 centerpiece for the table.

Happy Decorating!