Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!

I found this galvanized beauty at a local thrift. The orange price tag was marked $12. It was my lucky day; all items with orange price tags were 25% off. You can do the math, I just knew it was cheap. It's big enough to take a bath in! I now have the perfect receptacle for cold Coronas and Root Beer on the 4th of July. I bet Martha would love to get her perfectly manicured hands on this...Back off girl, or someone's gonna get hurt!

The Bins

Have I told you about The Bins? It's the place where stuff goes after it hasn't sold in the Goodwill retail stores and before it goes to the dump. It's a sort of junk purgatory, if you will.

You literally paw through the goods which are in large blue bins; hence the name.

There are bins of books...I have found some fab vintage children's books here.

Furniture, electronics, sports equipment and "art". I normally don't visit this section. Anything bigger than a bread box shuts me right down.

Smalls...my personal favorite. I have found many treasures in these babies over the years.

Clothes (and bad 80's angel crafts) I used to look in here until I once found a pair of used men's briefs. Uhhh, no thanks!

Except for the big stuff, everything is sold by weight. It's set up so you can roll your shopping cart right onto a big scale on the floor by the checkout. Please don't tell Child Services Division, but I used to bring my daughter here when she was a baby. I must have ruined her; now when I junk, she refuses to even get out of the car.

Wild Mushrooms

Look what I found growing by the side of the house...Concrete mushrooms! Actually, I bought this toadstool trio at a garage sale for $1. There was no extra charge for the moss on top. I love where it sits in the garden, all shady and forest-y.

My other Charlie

Charlie works at one of my favorite junking spots in Portland. He always wears a burgundy cardigan a la Mr. Rogers. Every time I ask him how he is, he says dryly, "Can't complain yet." I am pretty sure he doesn't remember me from one visit to the next, but I don't care. It always makes me happy to see him behind the register. The shop is run by volunteers and Charlie is the only man out of a group of gaggling senior gals. I suspect he makes all their hearts go pitter patter.

P.S. I took this picture on the sly. I didn't want to ask him, I think he's bashful.

Charlie wants to run away to join the circus

...and train the lions, and be an acrobat, and sell the popcorn, and ride in the clown cars, and swallow fire, and....

I'm Revealing my Stash

My last post was about my glorious day of junking. I left you with the image of large bags full of who knows what? in the back of my car. I think that it's only fair to show you, dear reader, what was inside...

A painted floral lap tray, a minty green glass light cover, 2 shabby wood frames, a rooster tile, lovely rose & green French embroidery thread, a 1970's kitty earring holder (to be spray painted pink) a wooden shoe pimping Heineken beer, 4 vintage corn on the cob salt and pepper shakers, a sugar and creamer with pink flowers and gold edging (check out those handles!) and a classic, tragic British movie to watch this weeked at the beach when it's raining. And it will be raining. My favorite find looks like a brown pile at the bottom of the photo. STENCILS! VINTAGE! OH MY!

I love the letters X and Q. And dollar signs.

Finally, though I am not a clothes girl, I want you to know I got my entire Spring wardrobe, including 2 pairs of shoes, for $19.00.

Junk Therapy

Today I junked all day ~ from the time I dropped Charlie at school at 8:45 until the time I picked him up at 3:00. I wanted to go to a couple of my favorite thrifts that are out of town, so I figured I'd make a day of it. I haven't done that in years...It was spectacular! The junk gods were with me; I got great stuff, scored on parking, had a turkey burger with extra pickle and I even heard The Clash on the radio twice! I also ran into delightful Lisa from A Thing for Roses. We talked blogging, Farm Chicks, and other junking miscellany. This is how my van looked at the end of my journey:

Stuff for Etsy, stuff for my space at Vestiges, stuff for the kids....I even found something for Hazel, our dog!

The Scene of the Crime

Recently, Gail and I went to a sale in this house. There was so much stuff, it was overwhelming. Junk in the yard, on the porch, on the walls, and on tables crowded together in the dark, claustrophobic living room. There were boxes and boxes of stuff under the tables as well. I leaned over to open a box for a peek and the woman running the sale said..."Miss, nothing in those boxes is for sale yet." (Yet????) I said okay and made my way directly over to a spot where I thought I would be out of her line of sight. I was wrong. As I peeked in a box under the table again, she barked at me "I told you already that nothing under the tables is for sale!" By now I'm thinking that this woman is insane. She is actually trying to NOT SELL STUFF when she clearly has an interested buyer. I think Gail was worried the woman might call the cops. We paid for our goods, and as we walked out the door, Gail said, "We could go back in and I can distract her while you check out the stuff under the tables." Just then, a man on the porch (the cranky lady's husband?) says "I heard that!!!" It was time to get the hell outta there. We giggled all the way to the car.

Friday's Junk

Gail and I hit two dud estate sales on Friday morning. Just when we were about to throw in the towel, we saw a sale at a big ol' 4 story house that belonged to someone who clearly never threw anything away...Ahhh, heaven!

Here's the rundown: A vintage Dolly~Gram, an old stuffed lion made in Austria, vintage party stuff including Hallmark shamrock doilies, drinking straws, Christmas nut cups, a fab miniature mold set and an old box of ornament hangers.

2 vintage pitchers (pink inside!), an old photo of gorgeous gals, a hammered aluminium jug, a never used baby dresser set, a dotty clown and a lavender floral collar.

And vintage greeting cards. You know how I feel about vintage greeting cards!
The following 4 are FLOCKED! (Try saying that 4 times fast!)

SCORE!

And then a lightbulb went off over my head...

Need a light?
Sunlan is a shop on N. Mississippi in Portland. It's hard to read, but under the shop name it says "LIGHTBULB PLAYROOM". I love that.

This picture makes me think of a stage production. Including the orchestra.

Couldn't you just spend all day in here?

A Little Venice

My son's 2nd grade class recently read Gabriella's Song, a book about a little girl who lives in Venice. They loved it. For a special project, they just finished constructing a mini Venice in their classroom.

The blue construction paper represents the canals, blocks are the bridges, legos are the boats, and boxes of various sizes and shapes are the buildings. They made little Venetians too!

This is a palazzo with the laundry drying on a clothesline.

Here is the bow of a gondola with the local pizzeria in the background. See Mario flipping the dough?

This is Charlie's gondolier. I would ride in his boat any day of the week.

Look what I got!

Lulu and Lauri at 2chippys had a meme giveaway last week and yours truly got in right under the wire. Today, there was a package on the porch. (For me???) I ripped it open...

and found a junk necklace made by Lauri, wrapped in a sweet stripey box and a handwritten note. Those chippy gals have style and class!
Thank you so much!

My favorite charm is the old watch face.

Buffalo Soldjah

Hazel the Rastafarian after a day at the dog park.

Mare z dotes

I always thought the song went:
"Mare z dotes and doze e dotes and little lamsy divey"
Somewhere around my 40th birthday, I discovered it was actually:
"Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy"

Who knew?

Today we went to a used book sale and there was a bake sale too...

This was my favorite baked good. A little lamsy divey.

Today's Haul

I LOVE a church rummage. Today's spoils include: a dozen vintage party hats (polka dots!!!) a bamboo bird cage ~ not for use with an actual bird ~, an old Christmas tree stand, a sugar panorama egg with a frosting duck inside (story to follow in another post), a vintage plastic deer for my friend Magpie Ethel, two-tone big Shiny Brites in the original box, a flash card division deck, Bridge score sheets, and 2 of the tiniest Tupperware bowls in the universe. See them in the flash card box? They actually have "Tupperware" stamped on the teeny lids. I'm thinking they are favors that were given out at Tupperware parties...Does anybody know for sure?

AND....

3 vintage neckties, a gorgeous creamy yellow damask tablecloth in perfect condition, 2 sets of 4 hand embroidered napkins, a deck of cool alphabet cards, several leftover 1970's Current notecards. The previous owner used all the kitty ones and left the owls (owls!) for me. Thank you, whoever you are. Finally, a pink flower plate with a hole in the middle. It must have been part of a tidbit tray like this. I grab them whenever I see them and use them in my garden....

Like this:

Maybe I'll even take the price tag off the pink one!

Total expenditure: $10.85. Like I said, I LOVE a church rummage.

St. Patrick's Day...not just for drinking till you fall over!

While pawing my way through a stranger's basement recently, I found some really great vintage St. Patrick's Day paper goods...cards, Bridge tallies, wrapping paper. I know St. Patty's Day is not traditionally a greeting card holiday, but I have never made the mistake of letting logic rule my life. And I'm not about to start now. So I made greeting cards. I found the gold "coins" at Collage. I sell the cards at Vestiges.

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

You wanna piece of my junk???

Heard about a great Meme from Sue at Vintage Rescue Squad. Here's the lowdown:

The first 5 people who respond to this post will get something made by me...it will be my choice, but made especially for you. This offer does have some restrictions & limitations...

*What I create will be just for you. (For One Gal's Trash giveaway, I have something in mind. Your gift will have a vintage feel, and you get to choose the theme from the following: Paris, London, Little Girls or Birds)

*I make no guarantees that you will like it...but I hope you do!

*You will receive this item before the end of the year...or sooner.

*You will have no idea what the item will be, or when you will receive it.

The BIG catch is you have to repost this Meme and put together something to be sent out as 5 surprises of your own. These surprises can be anything....a piece of art, a photo. a poem...whatever you choose...

So girls, put on your thinking caps, send along this Meme and then comment back here to let me know you have passed it along to five other blogging babes.

The Most Beautiful Pig in the World

My husband signed up for a woodworking class at Portland Community College. I thought this was a very good idea, since he doesn't golf, fish or hunt. He needs a hobby. I asked him to make me a pig cutting board. I was thinking one like this. But he didn't know that. This is what he made me for my birthday.

I opened it and started to cry. Several years ago, he gave me a big diamond. This is better.

My Bunny was in a Bar Fight!

O.K. Not really. It was an industrial accident, but I knew the bar fight thing would get your attention. We had our roof replaced recently. During the removal, a piece of tar covered lumber landed directly on Peter's head. Down he went, off the rock garden and onto the driveway. The guys doing the roof work were kind enough to place him gently back on his perch ~ along with his ears. He also got a nasty scrape above his left eye. Now the bunny is sad. And deaf.

A Perfect Birthday...

I'm turning 49 today. There. I said it. I've heard from friends and family and have had a swell day, puttering and creating while listening to Lily Allen. Really loud. My family has spent the afternoon getting dinner organized and wrapping packages (!) while I have been working in my studio...

Making Easter friends like this:

Dinner will consist of red wine, red meat and chocolate cake. What could be better? The Versailles cake is made by Petite Provence bakery. It is the best thing in the whole wild world. Maybe I'll save the chocolate Eiffel Tower. Maybe not.