April Antiquing Adventures

I have a few antiquing finds I haven't yet shared with you, so here is a quick round-up of a few different goodies.

First is a lantern I found at this antique show that I think is really cute, but it was super rusty. I knew this would be an easy project, so purchased it for $8 and brought it home. I gave it a good scrub down, let it dry, and then sprayed some trusty black Rust-Oleum spray paint. Now I've got a cute lantern to put outside this summer on our patio that will match our new furniture.

Just this last weekend, I took a mini trip to the Port Orchard Antique Mall and found a few fun things (I don't know how you to to a place that size and NOT come away with goodies!). I found this big "full gallon" bottle for $10. I filled it with our stash of wine cork's and right now it's next to our fireplace.

Lastly, I found these candle holders, for $6 total. You can't beat that! I love the green-blue sea glass.

Have you guys found anything fun antiquing or thrifting lately? What are some of your Spring finds?

PSST - Want to see something fun and exciting for OurSoundHome?  Rust-Oleum is putting my project from yesterday (where I used Rust-Oleum spray paint) on their Facebook page! What a fun Friday treat. Check it out here: facebook.com/paintideas The funny thing is, I wrote this second post, where I also used some Rust-Oleum, before knowing I was going to be featured. 

I looked at the Facebook page, and it's a pretty cool site with lots of good project inspiration and challenges (and no, I was not paid or sponsored for these posts, I just love the product and want to share the tips with my readers!). Now, head on over there to check it out, it should be up sometime today!

Spring Patio Furniture Project

Remember the antique show I went to a few months ago? I went with my girlfriends Sarah and Liz, we had a great time, and I found a few fun goodies to bring home with me.

I found two garden chairs for $15 each, and they happened to have the wrought iron look I was going for on our patio. I thought they had good bones, and this would be a fun and relatively easy project.  I originally thought I would just recover them, but after I brought them home I realized the cushions were in pretty bad shape (moldy - gross).

I used up my black Rustoleum spray paint to give the chairs a fresh coat of paint. Then, I purchased some plywood at Home Depot and had them cut it down to size for my new chair cushions. I brought my wood pieces to my parents, and my dad helped me round off the corners (thanks, dad!).

Once I brought the wood back home, I gave the corners a good sanding, and then used some outdoor foam and fabric from Joanne's to recover.

I stapled my fabric around the edges of my board, which is now the bottom of the chair. I screwed the seat into place on the chair.

I love the result! The black wrought iron look is what we're going for on the patio, so it fits in great with a new bench ($40) I purchased at Costco. They had cushions at Costco for the bench, and just so happened to have a mustard yellow color that matches great with the chair cushions.

Overall the patio is coming together! The combination of some new (to us) furniture, pruning of our bushes last fall, and newly planted spring plants is really helping. We're keeping our eyes open for ideas on what we want to do for a table, but for now our wooden crates stood up on end work great as end tables for drinks when we're outside.

Looking forward to more time outside on the patio, enjoying our new furniture! Come on, sunshine!

Puget Sound Spring Events 2011

Hi friends!

There are a few events I am very excited about this Spring in the Puget Sound area, so I am passing these event dates along to anyone else who may be interested. There is nothing like an antique show, plant sale or farmers market to get my inspiration juices flowing for my home and garden!

Check out more information about each of these events by clicking on the links below:

• Kitsap Antique Show: April 2 - 3
• Bloedel Reserve Plant Sale & Open House: April 16 - 17
• First day of Bremerton Farmers Market: May 5
• Kitsap Master Gardeners Plant Sale: May 6-7
• Seattle Tilth Edible Plant Sale: May 7-8

Looking forward to seeing you there!

P.S. I just have to share this very random photo I saw today,  it's too cute and fun not to share! His name is Herman, and he is a German Giant breed of rabbit (big bunny!). Happy Wednesday!

 

Herman

Antique-O-Rama!!!

Ok, maybe Antique-O-Rama is just my nickname for this event. But, regardless, you should know if you live in the area, that Puyallup Fairgrounds will have America's Largest Antique & Collectible Show on Saturday and Sunday, cost is $6.

There will be 450 booths. WOW, that's a lot of antiquing, but... go big, or go home, right? I'll be there with a couple girlfriends.  Will you?

Sophie's Snazzy Dishes

Some of you have already met our kitty, Sophia. We like to keep things interesting, so we've snazzied up her kitty food and water dishes a few months ago.  Instead of being limited to the dishes from a pet store, we were inspired by the blog Young House Love and found our own dishes for little Sophia.

 First, I would recommend choosing a plate, or another rectangular dish to put your food and water bowls on. This allows any spills (by us, or Sophie) to get caught on the plate instead of going all over the floor. We got this one at World Market for just a few bucks in the sushi section:

Next, we picked out a smaller bowl for her food and a larger bowl for her water.  We got lucky and found these matching bowls at World Market as well:

Of course we need some additional bowls - just in case one of them is in the dishwasher or we want to change things up a bit. I found this one at an antique store, but you could very easily find something similar at Goodwill for just a couple buckaroos:

So there you  have it!  That's our little Sophia's designer dishes, for a small cost and lots of smiles. OK.... maybe Sophie doesn't care, and I'm the one smiling, but that's ok, too! Have you guys thought of any other creative ways to feed your kitties or pups? Do you have a self feeder to keep things easy, or something more special and fancy for your pet?

I don’t know about you guys, but I always love a great antiquing or thrifting trip, even if I don’t come home with a whole lot.  But, I’ve been very lucky recently, so I want to share with you some of my recent treasures! I already blogged about my trip where I found these great wine glasses and water goblets:

I think they are great because the glass is thick and sturdy, and I love the color {light brown – they look greenish in this photo because of the countertop}.  I had a total of 3 goblets and 5 wine glasses, but I lucked out on a trip to the Silverdale Goodwill recently and found another goblet and wine glass!  Can you believe that?!  I now have a set of 4 goblets and 6 wine glasses – Woot Woot!

On that same trip, I found this awesome lamp {$8, and new shade at Fred Meyer for $20}, which looks great with our newly painted wall and fireplace:

I also made another trip to the Perry Avenue Antique Mall, and found a few fun treasures.  In the photo below, I found the wooden spools for about $5 each that I’m using as candlestick holders and the metal tin that I am also using as a candle holder as well {I like the somewhat industrial look of these two items}:

Thrifting and antiquing has lots of great benefits!  Not only is it great to reuse items {recycle!} and give them new life, but it’s cost effective.  It can be intimidating decorating your first home, trying to find unique items you love at a good price, since we found we have a lot more space to furnish than we’ve had in the past.  But, I’ve found that I really enjoy the treasure hunt at an antique or thrift store more than I would a larger mall store, even if it takes a bit longer to find the right item.  It also makes my home feel more cozy and lived in using items that have some history!

I would say the only hard thing about thrifting is not being TOO inticed by a good deal.  For example, I have to always remind myself that it’s ok to walk out of the store without anything, because the last thing I want to do is bring home something useless and junky that I really won’t use or enjoy.

Do you have any favorite antique or thrift stores?  I’m curious about your favorite hot spots!

Oh, a thrifting we will go...

My good friend Sarah (who has an amazing blog with DIY home ideas and beautiful photography) went on a super fun day trip with me last weekend to the Port Orchard Antique Mall. It was the day after her birthday, so I felt lucky I could snag some extra time with one of my best girlfriends!

It's always fun to go shopping with someone who also isn't rushed, and most of all someone who is honest with you when you ask for their opinion. It's so easy for me when I'm antiquing or thrifting to get excited by a good deal, when really it's something I don't really want or need. Sarah is also good to bring along when it comes to furniture - because SHE BUILDS HER OWN! How amazing is that! She's a true DIY'er!

I actually was quite proud of myself, because I walked out of the antique store (after several HOURS looking around!) spending less than $25. This is what I got:

Cute pail & Wooden Crate - I was going to use the pail as my weed bucket when I walk around the garden, but Sarah suggested I use it for flowers on my front porch. See what a good friend I have? Also, there were some of these crates in the neighborhood of 20 bucks, which I knew was ridiculous. But, when I saw this one (which was actually more sturdy than the rest) for only $4, I knew it was mine!

Water Goblets - when moving we broke a few wine glasses, so I needed a few quick substitutes and thought these would do (even if they are a little big). I love the shape and color. I got three total (one was in use when I took this photo), for $1 each.

I also got a small french painting that I really like for $6. I just need to figure out where to put it!

So then a few days later I decided I should try out the antique mall on Perry Avenue - I felt like I was on a roll. Sure enough, I found some great deals!

I couldn't believe this - wine glasses in the same style as my water goblets I got in Port Orchard! I am a lucky gal. There were 5, and I bought them all for $1 each.

.

Here is a photo of each size from the two antiquing trips:

I also got another crate. I know... I didn't really need this one. I already had one for the main porch, I certainly didn't NEED another for our back porch. But this one says Kitsap Dairy Co. on it, and I just think it's cute. This one was $10.

So there you have it! I would say I had two pretty successful antique store trips. Not only that, it spruced up our porches with some fall decor.  Happy Halloween!