Recent Finds...

There really hasn't been too much thrifting recently because we are trying to save some dough for the trailer and other things. I did manage to find a few thing here and there...

I have been looking for another cabinet like this blonde one that I have my Tiki collection in. The picture in the link shows the beginning of my collection and now the Tikis are busting the seams of the cabinet. I wanted another one to flank the room and hold some of my Tikis and books. I found this one that is the exact same model but in a dark finish. It does have different knobs than the blonde cabinet and the glass is missing. I think I am going to paint it to match the blonde cabinet. The finish on this dark one isn't quite as nice as it looks in the picture. It won't look exactly like the blonde cabinet once painted but oh well. I may also get some glass cut to fit.

I picked up this Milton Bradley US map puzzle from 1961. I have been looking for one of these for a while. This will be used in a project for the Shasta trailer. I got the cabinet and the puzzle for 25 bucks at a estate sale.

I found these tapered legs at a thrift store for $1. Not a bad deal. I don't have any plans for them right now but you never know.

This isn't actually a recent find. I found this plant stand at a swap meet for a dollar. It needs a repaint that I just haven't got around to doing.

I found this circular plant stand a few days ago at a thrift store for $4.50. It too needs a repaint. None of the welds on either stand seem to be broken so I think both were a pretty good deal.

The Dumpster Desk...

While going to pick up a Craigslist bed for Calvin we spotted this desk parked next to a dumpster. We pulled this beast home. The desk is pretty heavy and quite large. It was a trick just getting it home. I had to take it apart just to get it into the house. The desk is pretty simple but does have some danish lines to it. I'm unsure who made it or when. The maker's tags are missing...

I really like the handles on it. Luckily I found the original keys in the drawer...

As you can see the top was very sun damaged, dry, and cracked...

I recently sanded the desk completly down then applied a tung oil finish. I also polished all of the brass hardware...

Sorry for the bad photos but the bedroom is kinda dark...

I think the tung oil really brought out the grain really well. I was surprised the top came out so nicely...

Overall, I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I think it will be a welcome work space in our home...

A couple of recent additions for the desk include this Moonbeam Clock I bought for Molly for our anniversary. They reproduce them but I really like this original with the dark face. The clock works well and the light still works during the alarm. It was a good buy and looks great on the desk...

Our friend Mrs. J had this small tin toy globe that she no longer wanted. I think we pinned it to the late 1930's. It has a few dents and a bit of rust but I can't complain. I love it...

So now we are on a bit of a mission to fill out the desk with vintage items. A desk lamp, a pen set, waste paper basket, and maybe a vintage in/out box will be great things to find to. Hell, the hunt is half the fun.

Recent Finds...

Vintage TV antenna. Sorry for the crummy picture. It isn't in too bad of shape. Not sure that I could actually get it to work. But it is a nice display item. Needs a bit of cleaning up. We were watching the 2nd season of Mad Men and there is one just like it on top of Harry Crane's TV. I paid 3 bucks or so for it at a flea market.

This ice crusher was something that I always wanted but never found a good one for a good price. This one is in pretty good condition and it was free. Another find from Mrs. J. There is a small amount of pitting in the chrome top but I can't complain.

The large red and white butter dish was a gift to Molly from her sister. We found the other container up north. I'm calling it a sugar bowl because we don't know what it is. It does have a handle on the back. Not really sure. The bottom of the "sugar bowl" has the Jiffy Ware logo stamp on it. I'm not quite sure that the butter dish is from the same company but it makes a nice set. Molly paid a few bucks for it so it wasn't a bad deal.

This ball pitcher was another gift from Mrs. J. She actually had two of these but we couldn't justify taking both. What the heck are we going to do with two? This one is in real nice shape. The other had a chip in the spout so this was the winner.

Recent Finds...

We did our annual trip up north and Mrs. J. was kind enough to send us home with a few freebies. Boy, do we love her...

Salt and pepper collection of various shapes and sizes...
Two sets of Ball Salt and Pepper Sets. Brand new and in the box. Far as I can tell these are probably from the 70's. Here are a couple links to Ball sets..

http://glassjunkie.coolfreepages.com/shakers.html

http://www.rubylane.com/shops/teesantiqueorchard/item/12864

I think this is considered a relish dish. Right? It is nice and heavy and has a great shape.

Quite a few matchbooks. All in real good condition. Some have never been used...

This one is my favorite. The match heads form the bearskin shakos of the marching soldiers printed on the matches.

More to come in another post.

Recent Finds...

We have had some pretty great finds lately. I won't go crazy and show them all at once so here are just two...

You can see from him sitting on a CD that this ceramic panther is pretty small. I'm sure that he is from Japan given the paint job. He was only 4 bucks.

Sorry...There is a bit of wash out from the flash but this is one of our wacky finds. A ceramic hanging wall planter. The wacky part is the bird being bright red and the back being chartreuse with the black splatter glaze. What a wierd color combo. There is a chip out of his tail but heck...he was only 50 cents at a garage sale. I'm not sure what we are going to do with him but I couldn't leave it there for 50 cents.

Salt and Pepper Day...

Just a couple of recent finds for today...

We found this first set at a garage sale. They are pretty slick. Push the white/black button and the salt/pepper comes out the bottom. Not bad for 4 bucks.

This next set are pretty crazy. They are also very big. Much bigger than our largest set from Fiesta. Not sure if they were ment for salt and pepper or some other spice. I'm 99% sure they are homemade. They have initials put into the bottom from whomever made them. They have a really wacky flecked and splatter glaze. The colors seem to fit with our few Franciscan Ware pieces. We found these in a little antique shop in Iowa.

"It's a Chip & Dip"...

Where is Pete Campbell when ya need him? He is the expert on vintage chip & dips. But Monica came to the rescue instead...

This is an Anchor Hocking "Happy Hour" Chip & Dip Set.

I saw that Monica from Black Olives had gotten her hands on this one. She found the box too. Good thing because now I know who made ours!

We had gotten our's a while ago from Molly's Aunt and Uncle for a house warming present. Thanks guys! Thanks to Monica too. Her find helped identify it.

Danish Mirror Shadow Box...

My wonderful wife Molly picked up this ultra cool shadow box for my birthday late last year. I really like the other kind of Mid Century shadow boxes that have all of the crazy shapes and gold marbleized mirrors. This one has much more of a sophisticated look to it. As you can see it is doing a good job of housing some of the overflow Tiki mugs and shakers. Not really much more to say about it. I love it and I love my wife!

Our Favorite Lamp...

This has to be one of the best lamps ever made. We found this at Tip Top Atomic Shop in Milwaukee. The price wasn't horrible so against our thrifty ways it came home with us. It is in real great shape. It could use some more polish again but it looks great to me. We have had it for awhile...I just was being lazy and didn't take pictures of it until now.

Garage Sale Captain's Chair...

We found this chair at a garage sale last weekend. Not a bad looking chair. I'm not sure who made it or even how old it is but it kinda has some danish lines to it. I'm going to sand it down and refinish it at some point. It really needs it. The chair cost me a whopping 5 bucks.

EDIT: Someone left a comment that this is a Paul McCobb Planner Group Occasional chair, circa 1950. Made from maple wood with a walnut stain.

Phone Table & "New" Phone...

We went around to a few garage sales yesterday and didn't find a whole lot. I won't show them all today... gotta save some for later when I am looking for something to share whith the readers.

The few things we did find were pretty good prices. I picked up this turquoise phone from 1962 for 3 bucks. It is a bit faded and has a couple cracks which arn't too major. The rotary mechanism seems to work fine. I'm not really sure what to do with the cords. It has some long cords which are not plugged in like a new phone. They are hardwired in. I could open it up and remove them. See, we don't have a landline anymore. We just use our cell phones. I was going to take it to my parents to see if it still worked or not. Who really cares. It was $3.00! I mostly find these in shops they are 30 bucks or more.

The "new" phone found a home on our phone table that we bought a few years ago. I really like this table. It has a hard fiberglass shade and the light works fine. The chair pad is in decent shape. The bottom of the seat was covered over in some horrible fabric. When I pulled off the fabric I was happy to find the original fabric which is a little faded (from a few butts sitting on it) but no rips. It also has a nice little plastic drawer under the table top. Mostly it gets used to house the stack of phone books they seem to enjoy sending us. I think I paid under 30 dollars for it so it was a good deal.

Our Bedroom...

Well, we are pretty much completed in the "master" bedroom so I thought I would share a few pictures. Or bedroom, being on the second level, is kind of a odd shape. The area that the bed sits in has sort of a low ceiling. It is kind of odd and took some getting used to. After bumping your head quite a few times you get the feel of it. It is quite large if you look at some of those bedrooms on shows like Small Space, Big Style. I does have sort a cosy feeling when your in bed. Anyways, lets have a look...
Our bed is the Tate Bed from Crate and Barrel. We fell in love with this bed when we first laid eyes on it. It really does have a Mid Century look to it. At $1300 for the bed alone it was pretty much well out of our price range at the time. Luckily, Molly spotted one on Craigslist for a awesome deal. Around $600 for the bed and a great mattress that was only a couple of months old. We couldn't have beat that price. Being a platform it really does work well in the space.

The Ikea MALM floating night stands are 2nd hand freebies for our friends Coni and Mike. Thanks guys!

I recently whipped up some lime green curtains that have a square pattern similar to our bedding. As simple as they can get.

The rug barely visible in the photo is the Milano Rug which you can see HERE. It is the perfect rug for the space. I love the pattern on it. I would say that it was one of the things we actually paid full price for but that would be a lie. Molly was able to use her employee discount when she worked for a rug store.
I also really loved a quilted bedding set they also sold at Crate and Barrel called their Plaza line. It was also way too much dough for us. Luckily Shopko (of all places) sold a very similar set last season for a fraction of the price. Same look for a hell of a lot cheaper. This season Target is selling a set like it.

This little vintage baby blue panther planter has a home on my nightstand.
This alarm clock was a great gift from Molly. I don't really use it as a alarm clock but it sure is neat. The area where the starburst is lights up when the alarm goes off.
We really needed some lighting in the little space. Luckily, our friend Mrs. J from up north had these vintage sconces that she no longer wanted. The lime green would work perfectly. With a quick re-wire they were ready to go. Unfortunately the lights didn't have any usable shades. I thought I would make my own shades because I couldn't find any cheap shades on the market that would work. While up North we spotted a HUGE fiberglass shade that had seen better days. Of course that ment we could cut it up with no bad feelings. I was large enough to make two shades for new sconces.

I went to the craft store and found some clip-on shades that were on sale. I tore off the crappy pleated material and prepped and painted the shade frames with flat black.

(If you do this, make sure you find a shade frame with vertical supports. It helps a bunch.)

I then cut and disassembled the large fiberglass shade to get it ready for chopping up. I made a paper template for the new shade frames which was kind of a pain. A drum shade style would have been easier to work with. Once I was happy with the template it was as simple as laying the template on the flattened fiberglass shade then tracing and cutting. I left enough extra material to make sure that it would cover the entire frame. It is better to have too much rather then too little. Joined the ends with a quick drying super glue and trimmed up the shade to match the top and bottom.

Next I punched holes for the lacing. I used my leather punch (which doesn't work worth a damn on leather but great for this project) to punch evenly spaced holes. Once the holes are set it is nothing more than lacing the shade with craft store lacing.

TA DA! Two shades for around $35. A similar reproduction shade from somewhere like Moon Shine would have been $48.00 for just one shade! I'm glad we did this instead. The lime green color sure does look neat.

I think they look really cool when they are lit up.

I'm pretty proud of our bedroom. Given how little we were able to spend on it to get the look we wanted. I like the fact that we have to be a little more picky and really find the good deals. It does force us to be a bit inventive when finding things that work. I hope to show a few other rooms when they finally get them "done".

Attic Finds...

Our friend Mrs. J was kind enough to let us take home some of the things in her attic that she no longer wanted...
She had quite a few of these nifty metal and ceramic ashtrays. I scuffed and repainted the metal stand with some flat black.

One of Molly's finds was this turqouise and blue ceramic covered dish.

Though it didn't photograph the best, these clip on shades are pretty neat. They are made of perforated metal. I sanded and repainted them. I also bought new clips and added a new finial (is it really a finial if it is used upside down?) Anyway... Lucky us, we came home with 3 of them.

More Recent Finds...

We have had some luck recently in our travels...

I found this huge green triangular ashtray in Milwaukee for $10.I also found thes cool George Petty pin up matchbooks.
We found these cool Kant Kling absorbent coasters up north. I'm not sure how old they are but the box looks kinda old. Not bad for $2.50.
Molly found this neat turqouise and white sugar bowl.
Another "up-north" find was this Danish style thermometer/barometer.
This old masked rider was gift from our friend, Mrs. J. It will be perfect for Calvin's room.