My Luck Has Turned!

I finally had some good luck thrifting! I've been hitting up the Goodwill thats close to my work an average of three times a week and this Friday was the first time I've bought something. Although in retrospect I should have bought that pair of Pottery Barn silver plated candlesticks a few weeks ago...... My big score was a small Pelican case for Will. In case you aren't familiar with Pelican, they make incredibly durable, water resistance cases for things such as camera equipment. They are also quite pricey. The case I got Will is perfect taking things like an ipod, cell phone etc. on his motorcycle adventures. It was $1.25 :)

For myself I bought this aqua teapot for $3.25. Its my favorite color and it sort of reminds me of fiesta ware. The houndstooth pot was something I picked up at a rummage sale this summer for 25 cents.

I found the bigger frame on Friday but the smaller was bought at yard sale this summer. I was so excited to find a match! I already have the perfect photos and mats for both frames. They will both get a nice coat of glossy black spray paint as soon as the weather cooperates.

Our Christmas tree! Its decorated with my favorite ornaments collected throughout the years and real pine cones. Someday I may go for a real tree again but for now I love my fake tree.....easy and cheap!

Bathtub Facelift

Yay for four day weekends! I had a great Thanksgiving and hope everyone else did too. It was so nice getting to have some time to relax and get some stuff done around the house. One project I'd been meaning to tackle since I moved in is re-caulking my bathtub. It's just not relaxing to take a nice hot bath with a grimy ring of mildew at eye level. No amount of scrubbing and cleaning products could get it clean so it was time to learn how to caulk! It's a super cheap and easy project and it makes your tub look so good! Here are some tips if you think you would like to try this project yourself....

Here is the before picture of my bathtub. It's actually kind of embarrassing but I swear this is how it looked when I moved in!

The first step is to get rid of the old caulking. Use a putty knife to gently scrape it off the grout, being careful not to scrape the tub or tile.

After all the old caulking is gone, spray the underlying grout with bleach and scrub with an old toothbrush. I gave it a second spray and let it sit overnight to make sure all the mildew was gone. When you are ready to caulk make sure all the bleach is gone and your surface is nice and dry.

The caulking I used is "Tub and Tile" from Ace Hardware. I think it was around $4. You can get it in several different shades and it is supposed to prevent mildew growth. Cut the tip off at a 45 degree angle and run a thin 'bead' where the tile meets the tub. You really don't need alot. Make sure to keep wiping the excess off the tip or it will start getting messy. When you are done run your finger lightly along the bead to flatten it out and take away the excess. Have a cup of warm water and dish soap handy to periodically dip your finger in and the caulking wont stick so much.

The end result!

I also started working on a quilted Christmas tree skirt inspired by this tutorial at Crazy Mom Quilts. It was so much fun picking out the holiday fabrics! There is a really cool fabric store in Morro Bay called The Cotton Ball where I can spend many hours (and many dollars). Hopefully this project will be done and under the X-mas tree before the end of the week!

Blog Guilt

I've been neglecting my blog! These last several weeks have been super busy for me but now things are starting to settle down. Hopefully I can finish up some projects and start posting regularly again! In the meantime, check out The Ebay Life to read the story of a guitar case I sold on ebay for $1200.........

Happy Halloween Weekend!

Lazy Sunday

Between traveling, a crazy week at work and coming down with a nasty cold, I haven't had any time for projects! The plan is to do some ebay listing this afternoon but...... we'll see how that goes.

Last weekend Will and I drove down to LA to meet two new members of the family: Will's new DR-Z 400 motorcycle and our 6 month old nephew who made the trip all the way from Serbia (with Mom and sister in tow, of course)!

This weekend I did a whole lot of nothing and it was wonderful! It's been a long time since I've had a weekend where I let myself totally relax and veg out on the couch all day. I even slept in!

While in relaxation mode I watched two really great documentaries: The Cove and Food, Inc. Before you start thinking too highly of me, I also watched 'When in Rome', and yes its as dumb as it sounds.

'The Cove' documents the capture and slaughter of thousands of dolphins every year by Japanese fishermen. It features Ric O'Barry, the head trainer for the TV show Flipper, who became a leading activist in freeing and protecting dolphins. It is sad and emotional but I am happy there are people like Ric O'Barry out there that are devoting themselves to those beautiful, intelligent animals. Check out their blog!

'Food, Inc.'...... wow. This should be required viewing for every American. Have you ever wondered where your food comes from and the processes involved? This film challenges you stop living in oblivion to the corporate and political control over our food sources and demand a healthier way of life for yourself and our planet. We've already started discussing making better use of our local farmers markets and trying to find a source for locally raised, organic meats.

A small local farm east of San Simeon.

Quickies

Just a quick post of some recent mini-projects. All three are yard sale/ flea market finds that I got for under $3. They were all originally bare wood that got a quick coat of paint for instant gratification.

It was really, really hard to paint this plain white! I wanted my jewelry to be the main focus but I may add some color to the sides later.

In other news.....Ebay did not treat me so well this week. The eggnog set didn't sell! Thats ok though because I am slowly working on setting up my Etsy store! I've read some great articles on what it takes to be successful on Etsy and Im excited to try a mix of handmade and vintage items. Hopefully it will be up in the next couple of weeks!

Who Wants Eggnog?

Yesterday was a beautiful day but we didn't have alot of luck with yard sales. We did go to a couple of interesting ones though. One was in our neighborhood and was what appeared to be the lifetime collection of an elderly couple. There were a lot of his old woodworking tools and her various sewing notions. The sale was big and had so many interesting things to look at. There were several photograph albums of trips to brazil from the 1940's, pharmacist diplomas from the late 1800's, hundreds of old road maps, and lots of treasures collected over the years. Judging from the sale, these people led an interesting life. I purchased a flower pot, some vintage ribbon and was given a cool cigar box with a sliding lid.

Conversely, we went to a sale that left me just feeling sad. It was my first true estate sale held by an outside company. You were allowed to walk around the sparse home of an elderly woman who had passed away. Everything was priced (high) but in its normal place, even the items on the bathroom counters. It was just cold and sterile feeling and I made me wonder where her family was. I didn't buy anything.

Yard sales were a bust, but my luck changed at the Goodwill......

This is a McKee eggnog set from the 1930's or 40's. I bought it for $13. I had no idea what it was when I bought it but I remembered reading this post on The Ebay Life about Fire King glass and thought it looked similar. I did a ton of research (I literally had dreams about pyrex and milk glass last night) and it turns out that, like Fire King, McKee is highly collectible. I am going to put this up on ebay today and Im excited to see how it does. There is alot of McKee on ebay but nothing quite like this set.

This was an innocent little plant that sprouted from some compost in a succulent pot. It has now taken over my garden and is attempting to conquer the neighbors backyard as well. I finally cut these today and have no idea what I am going to do with them. The heaviest weighs 12 lbs!

One Woman's Trash......

On Saturday, while Will and I were on our way to a yard sale in Morro Bay, I spotted this mirror in a pile of garbage on the curb! There was a man with a weed wacker working in the yard so I yelled at him to get his attention and asked if they were really throwing this away. He said that the house was being cleaned out and I was more than welcome to take it. I was really excited because Ive actually been needing a full length mirror for a long time. The amazing thing about this mirror is that the glass is in perfect condition, not a single nick or crack. All it needed was a little sprucing up. I painted it this morning (coincidentally the color is called 'Morro Bay') and glued some heavy, silver wrapping paper in the inset panels for some extra pop.

An Ebay update: last week we hit the jackpot when we scored 3 camera lens at a yard sale for $20 dollars. Today my auction went off and I sold two of the lenses for a combined $139! I also got $20 for a messenger bag that I bought for $5. Yard sales were slow this weekend and I mainly bought things for myself but I still have some cool things to put on ebay from last week including several sets of vintage souvenir coasters.

A beautiful Sunday in Los Osos

The Plan

Tomorrow I will be up at the crack of dawn in hopes of scoring a deal! I have some financial goals that I would like to meet before the end of the year and to help boost my monthly income Im going to re-launch my ebay career :). A couple of years ago I had some success selling on ebay (thats a post for another day) and I even made some money selling items for other people. Recently I have been encouraged by other bloggers who have been extremely successful in reselling items purchased at yard sales/thrift stores/estate sales etc. on ebay. The Ebay Life is a great blog with alot of awesome tips about selling on ebay. It has also opened my eyes to selling possibilities that I never realized. Who knew coffee cups were in demand!? Another one of my favorites is Apron Thrift Girl who sells her thrifted, vintage items on etsy as well as ebay.

A teapot I sold on ebay for someone. They bought it for $35 at a yard sale, I sold it for $500.

It's no secret that Im a craigslist addict and a flea market regular but Im hoping that I have better luck shopping yard sales. Craigslist can inconvenient unless the item is close by and a lot of flea market vendors are resellers themselves and charge high prices. Im a sporadic yard saler (sailor?) but Im eager to give it another try now that Im more informed and inspired. I think the greatest challenge for me is spending money on things I don't personally need and aren't necessarily my taste or size. However, no one has ever had to twist my arm to go shopping so I'll give it a shot!

New Chairs

I just picked up these chairs here in Los Osos for free! Thank you Craigslist. The cushions were extremely gross (they had thicker cushions for the back and seat) and immediately thrown away. I imagine these have been sitting in someone's "man cave" or garage for awhile. I don't love the oak wood grain or color BUT I do love the shape of these chairs. I plan on painting the wood and making new cushions with a cool graphic print. Designspongeonline.com has some awesome before and afters that have me inspired.

I've also been inspired to start making some different things to sell at local craft fairs around the holidays. So far I've made a bunch of 'coffee cuffs' and some christmas stockings. Next on the list are oven mitts and aprons. I'm trying to use fun, colorful, retro prints and stay away from the tackier side of crafting. It can be a fine line. It would be great to make some extra money around the holidays but either way it's fun.

... and if my craft business is a bust, I can always stick to gourd farming.

My Rule....

... never pay more than $20 for a piece of furniture! Unless it's something incredibly spectacular of course. I found this table at the flea market last Sunday (yes, the flea market is my second home). It was only $5.00!

I love the caning and the 'mid-century' design. When I got it home I discovered that it is a really high quality piece from Lane furniture. The serial number on the bottom tells me it was made in 1961. The caning on the bottom was in perfect condition and all it took to restore the top was some light sanding, a few coats of Tung oil and paste wax.

I am so happy how this turned out. It is a perfect piece to go in front of our love seat. I'm going to be on the look out for some vintage coasters to complete the look :)
Working on my new table got me inspired to finally finish my side table. The whole project was a good introduction to refinishing and I like how it turned out. It's hard to tell from the picture but it has an ebony stain that lets the wood's grain show through nicely. Now I just need to figure out where to put it!

Succulents, Flea Markets and Pod People

I love succulents and I'm acquiring quite a collection. I love the names of the different varieties.... Flapjack, String of Pearls, Brown Beans, Baby Toes, Hen and Chicks etc. My garden is slowly taking over the back patio so I have been on the lookout for a way to get them off the ground. I found this little rolling table at the flea market today for $3. I'm debating whether to leave it plain wood or paint it.

This enamel wear bucket is another great flea market find from this morning ($2). It will make a great planter and already has holes drilled in the bottom.

I think I had some extra special birthday luck at the flea market this morning because I got this (original) 'Blue Goose' orange crate label for $1! I love the color combination.

Last night we watched "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (Donald Sutherland version), and I'm starting to look at our 'gourd' plant in a whole new light.........

Fields of Gold

Harvest

From this....

To this........

To this!

Plus my new butterdish ($2 at Goodwill!)

Projects in the Works....

So far I have six squares done and I am still not sure what its going to turn into. On good days: a queen size quilt. On bad days: a series of pot holders :)

Table update: this is not paint...it's furniture stripper. I HATE furniture stripper. The stripper is now gone (thank god) and I am getting ready to stain.
We are being run out of the house by rocks! Every trip to the beach results in pockets (and sometimes bags) full of rocks. This is our first batch into the tumbler and they turned out beautiful. I'm hoping that with a few more supplies I can start turning our piles of rocks into beautiful pieces of jewelry!

Central Coast Summer

Welcome to the fickle summer weather of the central coast. We are enjoying the cool, foggy mornings watching the otters in Morro Bay while sipping Top Dog chai lattes. We are also taking advantage of any clear sunny day to explore our local beaches.