Tuesday, March 3, 2009

yard sale treasure



i heart yard sales. seriously. i don't get to go enough, but i tell you, i get it honestly: my mom is the absolute QUEEN of yard sales. right now, she's stranded in L.A. because of snow (she went there for my great-uncle's funeral and now can't get back to the east coast because of the weather), and she told me that on saturday she kept passing yard sale signs and having to tell herself, "no, you cannot stop. you will have to rent a uhaul to bring back all the treasures you will find."

so thrifting really runs in my blood. my mom has even gotten the older kids turned on to finding treasures. once, a couple years ago when we were visiting, gillian got up super early (like 6?) and went treasure hunting with my parents. aedan was sad because he was sick. that was during his sick years, as we refer to them around here.

i digress. so back to saturday at my house. we were out, the day was gorgeous, and we kept passing yard sale signs. the first one we stopped at was filled with such cute clothes, just in gillian's size. so we found 2 skirts and a pair of ballet slippers for $1.50.

of course, then aedan was frustrated that we didn't find anything for him. he kept wanting an explanation as to why there weren't any boy things at that yard sale. and he wasn't accepting as an answer, "maybe she doesn't have a brother." after all, WHO in their right mind would NOT have a brother? or two? i mean, come ON.

we hit the first jackpot when we passed an elementary school having a school bazaar. i found an antique changing table (jenny lind style--i think that's what it's called) that i'm now using in my pantry (yes, i have a huge pantry) for art/craft supplies. and i found a j.crew dress for FIFTY CENTS. i am too lazy to put it on and take a picture to post here, but maybe soon. it's black, strapless, cotton, and fits perfectly. since when does that EVER happen? good grief. it's so awesome.

the second jackpot was on a street in the wealthy part of town. all up and down one particular street families were out selling their "junk." i love it when this happens, because you know, their junk is totally my treasure. so i found this armoire, and the woman said "you can have it for $10." now, was i looking for a cabinet? no. did i need a cabinet? well, it was $10. but you say, did you really need that cabinet? and i respond, IT WAS TEN DOLLARS. :)

(before i started painting)

i have been wanting to buy some blue paint for a while, after being inspired by a layout in domino magazine recently (you can see it here).  so i bought robin's egg blue and cool cobalt to give the armoire a layered look. i am also planning to use the cobalt on an art deco dresser we have in our bedroom. 



(after the first coat of robin's egg blue)

when i loaded everything into the piece, i found a vintage dress shirt i had bought for aedan a couple of years ago (but it was too small and he never got to wear it). it's the perfect size for rhys finally! hooray! i tried to take a picture of the label--it was actually made in hawaii. 


i love how this ended up turning out. i am never sure of myself, because i have trouble getting what's in my head to translate to a piece of furniture/clothing/etc. but i'm really proud!


2 comments:

Mrs. H. said...

Kristi - that is just wonderful! You did a super job! You're so hip and creative. :-) I would love to see all of your house one day!

Amelia Plum said...

I can't believe you only paid $10 for that, what a great find. And it looks like Rhys is quite happy with your spruced up treasure as well.