hey, look what i found + possibly a new metal bed

several days ago i ventured out to a few thrift stores in hopes of finding a bed for owen's room, and i came across this.  not everyone go green with envy at all once, okay?

this has to be the worst couch in america that it deserves a post.  i don't think my retinas have ever been blinded by upholstery until this weekend, and the glare from the pillows stopped me dead in my tracks.  i have never laughed so hard out loud in a thrift store before . . . until i saw a dirty little toddler climb up with shoes on and all.  then i thought, this is the BEST couch in america!

but what is probably the best part about this is the price tag.  $400.  i have repeatedly told people that my local salvation army is no joke, and most of the time is a waste of time due to the pricing.  the manager has to follow a general "guideline," but he gets to make the final decision.  and let me just say he.doesn't.budge.one.bit.  not that i am talking from experience or anything.

and what is probably the worst part about this is someone out there is going to buy that.

whoever donated the couch probably donated this bedroom set too because they were right next to each other and just screamed "same owner."  i forgot to check the price on these gems, but i'd probably guess a grand considering they probably looked like gold to the manager.

yes, i thought i was looking at support poles for the building's structure too, but actually, we are looking the bed posts.  :/

well, i didn't find a bed for owen at any of the thrift stores, but i did find one on Craiglist for $50 ($30 sale price +$20 I offered to pay to deliver to my home.)   i really liked the look of Schoolhouse Electric's Hamilton bed for owen's room, but at $1,250 for a twin size bed that was a little too steep for me.

$30 versus $1,250

Schoolhouse Electric

the rust needs to come off of course, which i have a nice tutorial for that, and it needs to be painted.  knowing me, i'll probably paint it white, black, or gray, but i think it might be fun to go with a little color.  it's just paint, and paint doesn't scare me.

Elle Decor

Emily Clark

Everyday Lovely

Apartment Therapy

Scout House

what color would you love to paint a bed??

xx nancy

other thrifting posts you might enjoy :
CA loot
Rose Bowl
Raleigh Flea
crazy SA

california loot

After gathering up all the items I purchased over the summer, I was amazed by two things.

1. That all of this actually squeezed into our Subaru Outback, along with our personal items.
2. That I didn't buy more stuff.

Most of these items were found at thrift stores.

First up, a poster from The Postal Service, which is rolled up behind the antlers.  We went to see them live in San Diego, and it was great!  We know this poster doesn't have our city on it, but that poster was orange.  I try to stay away from orange for my home, so I opted for this blue one instead.

Elk and deer antlers.  I didn't purchase these.  They were given to me from a family friend of Matt's who works for a national park in UT.  The elk ones look dingy, so I will see if there is a quick way to bleach them without having them sit out in the sun for months or years.  He gave me two broken deer antlers not knowing that I wanted to use these for home decor.  What would you do with broken antlers?  Luckily, there are some good antlers in there that I can use.

I'm slowly collecting brass animals.  It all started with the adorable whale that many people liked.  The pig came from the Rose Bowl Flea Market, and the eagle, giraffe, and snail came from a thrift shop.

Thrifted flower petal bowl.

IKEA bowls and mugs.  These will be used for organization in my sewing room.

Butterprint Pyrex.  I actually bought these at two different locations.  The small dishes came from a thrift store, and the two larger dishes came from an antique store.

Pyrex was ahead of its time for making this modern rooster and corn print in the 1950s.  Don't you think?

Matt and I had a really good time with this globe.  We played "Name What Year That Country Existed" game.  Using a country's border is a great way to date a globe or map if the date is missing.  We found out this globe was manufactured in 1950.  I found this at an antique store, and I got the lady to take less than what she was asking for.   I really love the colors, and I think that's what drew me in.  And it's a cute size.  All the globes I were finding at the Rose Bowl were plastic or in rainbow colors, so I thought this was a good find.

Okay, am I the only one in love with this thrifted basket???  I'm thinking of taking off the handle.

After doing a little research, we found out these jars were made in the 1800s.  Just check out those irregularities and air bubbles!  Honestly, I do not care if these are antique since I will be using them, but I was so happy to see they were selling for less than what I would pay in North Carolina.  I picked these up from a junk store on the side of a highway in Colorado.  The owner was really old, still had curlers in her hair, and openly swore about anything and everything while I was poking around.  The place was a dump with broken glass on the floor and with the tiniest aisles to walk through, but it was filled with some treasures.  Unfortunately at this point, I was not able to buy anything large.

This is the brass lamp I instagramed awhile back.  Not too shabby for $10 at a thrift store, huh?

So the story behind this sign is I was strolling around the Rose Bowl flea market.  I didn't realize how bright the sun was nor did I notice how bad my retinas were until I came home with the sign.  When buying it, I thought the colors were black.  Nope.  PURPLE.  Dude, I don't do purple in my home.  So this sign will go in my sewing room unless I can find a way to incorporate it into another room.

Doily stretcher found at a thrift store.  I thought this could make a cool peg board.

The yellow rug you see in some of the photos came from IKEA.  We needed a rug to cover the hardwood floors in the apartment.  Not pictured - These black and white pillows from IKEA.  I picked them up for my living room.

The large stack of fabrics were covered in this post.  I weighed it too, if you are curious in seeing that.  I'm pretty sure that stack increased my current stash by 200%.

So that's all the stuff we got while in CA.  Living there for the summer was really great.  The weather was nice the entire time, there was lots to do and see, and it was nice change of scenery for me.  We felt very blessed for the opportunity we had to live there.  Matt's internship with Qualcomm went really well.  It's so weird to think he is now an electrical engineer who's taking his education a little further by going to grad school.  I felt like the end was never in sight.  Ha!

Matt and Owen will be away for the whole weekend!!  This means I should have some time to sew and get things done around the house without a 3 year old needing my undivided attention 24/7.   That will be so nice.   :)

Have a great weekend!

Rose Bowl Flea Market

Wow.  This flea rocks.  Of course, there were some junky areas, but overall, I really wish I had a U-Haul to take back to North Carolina.  Raleigh, NC's flea market is pretty big too, but the Rose Bowl, which only happens once a month in Pasadena, CA, is at least 3 times the size of Raleigh's market.

I started out a little late getting there around 9:30 a.m.  There were lots of clothes, antiques, new items, home accessories, and of course, vintage items and collectibles.

I thought this art could be a fun DIY project.

I was drawn to this X for some reason.

I really, really wanted one of these signs, but they were so heavy and cost a little more than what I was willing to pay.

Old children's books turned into art.

For some reason I wanted this picture.  It was only $10 too, but I was afraid I was going to dislike it once I brought it home.

Lots of hardware.

Book page blocks.  I was going to buy a few these to go on a bookshelf, but I opted out.  I thought maybe the print was too small for guests to see, so it might come across as just a large black rectangle when looking at them across the room.

I should have taken a lot of up close photos of the items in this booth.  This was probably my favorite booth there.  Lots of fantastic vintage items.  I was particularly drawn to the Borden milk box and old metal canisters.

Um, how cool is that fan?

The funny thing about this post is I forgot to take photos of the things I bought.  I didn't buy much.  Okay, I only bought two items.  A sign that said "N St" and a small brass pig.  Yeah, I am shocked too.    I walked in there with the idea to spend some money on some items for our home back in NC but the nagging reality of having to make sure it fits in our car was in the back of my head the whole time.  So if you are ever in the Pasadena area during flea market time, go check it out!  But remember there is barely any shade, and this flea goes on and on and on.  There's lots to see!

Have a great weekend!  I am spending the weekend with Grandma from OR, and we are taking Owen to Sea World today.  Yippee!