Late Summer Yard Sale

Late summer yard sales are the best! 

We browse a little more slowly and enjoy the warm sunny day a little more, knowing the yard sales will end soon with the beginning of cold weather. 

This was the "parking lot" this morning at the yard sale around the corner on Harrison Blvd. North Enders are quintessential bike riders and yard salers.  

 

The find of our yard sale day was this typing table. I did a happy dance when my daughter spied it in the dusty garage of an estate sale covered by junk, and I was absolutely thrilled at the $5.00 price tag.

  Just last week I had pinned this amazing typing table transformation by Becky of Beyond the Picket Fence, thinking what a perfect budget friendly side table one would make for my daughter's new mid century modern home.

Source: Beyond the Picket Fence

Isn't it 

sweet?!

What are the chances we'd come across a vintage typing table so quickly? 

Yippee! 

Once it's painted, it will make a perfect versatile side table with its fold-up sides, a shelf below, and wheels (yes, wheels!) My daughter is still unpacking after her move, but stay tuned for an "after" photo in a future post. 

I wonder what color she'll choose...

Friday Finds

Each week I start out trying to keep to a theme with my Friday Finds, and each week the theme flies out the window as soon as I have to leave something great out that doesn't fit the theme. 

I also try to put my Friday Finds in some kind of logical order, but there is never a common thread that runs through them that allows for ordering. 

Because there's no theme! 

 I suppose that might drive some people nuts, but I'm such an eclectic kind of person, it doesn't bother me at all. In my mind, I have an idea for each and every one of my Friday Finds. In fact, I guess my Friday Finds are kind of like my own super sized Pinterest. For me, they're the very best of the best I find online each week.

   For instance, I would like to change my boldly colored living room into a calm and neutral one. I love the idea here of having a neutral canvas on which I can easily and inexpensively change accessories and colors for a new look when the mood strikes. I think that idea is conveyed perfectly in this Better Homes and Gardens room. I could happily copy almost everything in it. (Well, maybe not the guitar which I don't play and would trip over.)

Better Homes & Gardens

I have a 47 inch TV sitting on my husband's old desk in our family room. It's incredibly ugly, and if you really want to torture yourself, you can see it here.  On my to-do list (which stretches around the block) is buying a Craigslist dresser for $20 and painting it a fabulous color for a TV console and disguising it even more with something above. Courtney at A Diamond in the Stuff has done that beautifully here. I especially like the way the shelf brackets hang on each side of the TV, and the styling is wonderful.  

A Diamond in the Stuff

I don't really have a bunch of folding chairs that need painting, but I picked this Friday Find because I would LOVE all these colors together somewhere sometime in my lifetime. Sigh... And also because wouldn't these just be the greatest thing to have on hand for parties? That's what smart Kelly at The Moon and Me did. So festive!

The Moon and Me

I do happen to have a claw foot tub in my master bathroom. Oh, sure, you say. Why haven't we seen it? Because (I'm very embarrassed to admit) it's currently hunter green. Yes, gasp, you heard me correctly. This Friday Find is my claw foot tub. It just doesn't know it yet. Jennifer at Town and Country Living has written a tutorial that explains how to paint the straight lines on those tricky curves. See, I knew if I waited twenty years to paint it, someone would explain that.

Town and Country Living

My living room needs curtains and rods. I have 4 windows x 10 curtain rings for 2 curtains each = 80 curtain rings?!? (Is that fuzzy math?) Anyway, these rope curtain rings over at Southern Living are looking pretty cheap good. And, look, they're neutral! 

Southern Living

Tonya at Love of Family and House made this cute pencil vase for a teacher. I was once a teacher. Enough said. 
 

Love of Family and House

I love whimsy. I never truly grew up. I'm not immature; I'm young at heart. Therefore, I adore this table that the wildly talented and creative Becky from Beyond the Picket Fence made from a wagon. If you don't love this table, you just may be old at heart.

Beyond the Picket Fence

I have two daughters who may one day have children (no pressure, honey) who will be my grandchildren. Grandchildren whom I will spoil like crazy and who will have their own bedrooms at Grandma's house. So I know these vintage animal flash cards that Jenn at Rook No. 17  is offering in a free download will be used for something fun.

Rook No. 17

My daughter decoupaged scraps of colorful paper to the back of a clear plate once, so I know how easy it is, and it looks beautiful. This cake stand made using that technique by Karen at Shabby Sweet Cottage would make a terrific gift. Visit Karen for her tutorial.

Shabby Sweet Cottage

If you follow the very sweet Kristen over at Ella Claire, you know from her Autumn Sign, Chalkboard, and Ella's Birthday Card tutorials that this girl has a way with fonts, and she's sharing her favorites for free. Check your computer's help section for instructions about installing new fonts. It's super easy and they're so fun to have. Then visit Ella Claire for your faves. 

Ella Claire

If you hang around here awhile, you'll find I love funky garden art. Tuula at The Thrifty Rebel made this fun Vintage Coffee Pot Wind Chime. What an imagination! I have the shepherd's hook; now I just need the coffee pot. My thrift store shopping list is as long as my arm. (okay, okay, my leg. Sheesh!)

The Thrifty Rebel

This Ice Cream Brownie Bite needs no explanation for being here on my Friday Finds. I mean, ice cream. And brownies. Yum! Talitha at Love, Pomegranate House is the mastermind behind this little confectionery concoction.  

Love, Pomegranate House

So, those are some of my thought processes behind my eclectic Friday Finds. No theme, no order, just a lot of good ideas for a lot of different reasons.  

I hope you'll visit some of these great blogs for lots more wonderful ideas. If I've shared yours today or on previous Friday Finds, please help yourself to my button over on my sidebar if you'd like. 

I hope you're all enjoying the last weeks of summer 

and 

Happy Friday! 

Chicken Wire Plate Stand

 Don't ask me why, but I just love the look of chicken wire.  

When I saw some other bloggers making cloches and baskets out of chicken wire, I was inspired to try my hand at shaping it into something, too. When my eye fell on my old wrought iron plate stand one day, I thought, "ah hah, this could use a chicken wire update!" 


So...

I started with my standard black plate stand. 

 I used wire cutters and needle nose pliers to cut, shape, and reattach the chicken wire into three basket shapes, one for each tier. 

 After I had all the baskets shaped, I set them aside to prime and paint the plate stand.

I attached the baskets to the stand by twisting the chicken wire around each ring, then touched up the places where the paint was scuffed up with a paint brush. Using a dry brush, I lightly painted the chicken wire baskets, too.   

I printed out a vintage apple crate label I found online here, glued it to a wood coaster I painted white, and used some thin wire to hang it from the top of the plate stand. I can easily switch out the label or remove it completely when I want to use the stand for something else. 

    
 For now, it's sitting on the dining room table holding some green apples. 

I know I'll find all kinds of ways to use my chicken wire plate stand. Like pumpkins and straw for Halloween, Christmas balls and greenery for Christmas, and Easter eggs and grass for spring. 

I'll have chicken wire around all the time!

 Thanks for coming by today. 

I hope you have a wonderful first week of September!

Come party with me at:

Between Naps on the Porch
Faded Charm 
Elizabeth & Co. 
Savvy Southern Style
From My Front Porch to Yours
Stone Gable 
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Beyond the Picket Fence 
The 36th Avenue
French Country Cottage 
At the Picket Fence
Common Ground 
The Charm of Home  
Rooted in Thyme
Shabby Art Boutique  
My Repurposed Life
My Romantic Home
The Cottage Market
Tatertots and Jello 
Funky Junk Interiors 
Redoux  
aka design
Cherished Treasures
  Nifty Thrifty Things
DIY Show Off
Coastal Charm
Cozy Little House  
The Farmhouse Porch

Friday Finds

I'm in a vintage kind of Friday Finds mood today!  

Stacey at A Sort of Fairy Tale shared her sweet bedroom decorated mostly with finds from flea markets, thrift stores, antique shops, and discount stores.

A Sort of Fairytale

My new favorite blog stars are Remy and Doughboy from Crow's Feet Chic. I saw them first in Tracy's vintage vignettes, and then they exploded into stardom with Tracy's productions of The Great Escape and more recently Summer Fun. Both are must-see's for tickling your funny bone. (Make sure you click on the soundtracks in Tracy's sidebar for the best viewing experience.)

Remy and Doughboy at Crow's Feet Chic

Over at Salvage, Stephanie shares the inspiring before and after of her craft room organization. I especially like her magnet board from an old window frame. 

Salvage

Another great organizing project is this grocery store skirt hanger transformed into an inspiration board by Carola at Boxwood Cottage.

Boxwood Cottage

Visit Kevin {&} Amanda for the tutorial to make this Shabby Chic Dangly Earring Display and turn your pretty earrings into artwork. 

Kevin {&} Amanda

 Tif at The Ramblings of Dotie Angel made these cute storage jar lids using vintage decals. 

The Ramblings of Dotie Angel

When I saw these adorable framed vintage paper dolls by Carol of The Polka Dot Closet, I was reminded how much I loved playing with McCall's Magazine paper dolls when I was little (anyone else remember those?)

The Polka Dot Closet

Do my heirloom tomatoes count as vintage? I love sundried tomatoes and was thrilled to find out that I can oven dry my garden cherry tomatoes and pack them in olive oil or freeze them just like the ones from the store. More summer flavor all winter long thanks to Debbie's tutorial over at Dewdrop Gardens. 

Dewdrop Gardens

Thank you so much to everyone for all your super nice comments last week.

Happy Friday!