The Laundry Room - Done!

It's quite possible.....

The laundry room will never be this clean again, so take a good long look.

 Actually, I'm caught up on laundry.

Maybe it's because it's so much more enjoyable to be down here:

The doll house is over 80 years old.

The dresser, I painted red. I bought it a few weeks ago at Goodwill for $25.

I used vintage cookie cutters as drawer pulls.

A vintage scoop and strainer for the upper cabinets door pulls.

The cherry breadbox, I've had for a few years.  

I painted 'launderette' by hand.

I'll show a side by side before and after in a following post.

Also all the details and how they got that way.

I wanted to get the pics all out to you first, then explain it all later.

You like?

How's this little contraption to catch our laundry from the chute:

The wire basket is attached the the stool,

to avoid tipping over when laundry falls from above.

  

I'm loving this little piece.

I put it together from odds and ends.

Oh! The lights!

The electrical was totally redone to move the dryer and accommodate the lighting.

2 turquoise Ball jars and 3 Colanders. 60 watt bulbs. Super Fun.

I'll explain how we made them in the next post.

 There's a handy ladder  to hold hang-to-dry clothes.

And I painted and old metal locker to hold towels. Love that '2.'

 Linda picked up this glass washboard for me at a garage sale.

I found a little dress potholder at Oronoco.

The now-open stairs are handy for holding the laundry bins.

Whew. A big job.  If you need to see how far it's come,

 here are the before pics.

It's hard to believe it's the same place.

A few things have to be tweaked.

On the dresser - the top set of biscuit cutters looks like giant nipples.

(have to be replaced.. too 'Barbarella'...ewww..)

I'll give a run down on how the floor and ceiling were painted.

Both are pretty time consuming, but worth it.

Also, how we made the light fixtures.

During the mess, there was one major run to the laundry mat.

Clean underwear and 4 kids becomes a priority. 

Going commando was not an option.

xo jeanne.

(I just love the little red step stool.)

Quick Garage Sale Stop

On the way home from an appointment today......

My car could not resist the earth's gravitational pull. 

It steered itself toward a few garage sales.  By a miracle, it was my lucky day. 

 The going price for everything seemed to be .50 cents.  

The big enamelware chamber pot, $2. My new potting soil storage.

The clock, .50 cents. (Smile.)

The little tin measuring cup w/ lid, .25 cents. It is old. 

 (Great for mixing cinnamon and sugar or gravy and cornstarch.)

The white iron stone serving bowl hiding back there is old Homer Laughlin.

It was her mother's.

I thought the jar was usable at a quarter.

I saw potential in the 1975 wood pedestal thingy.  I plan to paint it aqua and shabby.

It will be pretty spiffy when I'm done. .50 cents.

I bought most of these things from a darling older lady.

She was selling the things she kept in her cabin.

She had piles of chenille. Piles.

She had made curtains from  chenille bedspreads.  It was all thick and luscious.

I wish I'd had my camera.

She was selling whole sets for $5.00.

I didn't need a whole set and my cash was dwindling.

I asked if I could have just one and she said; "Sure, how about 50 cents or a dollar?"

I love this woman.

I took it home and immediately hung it up in my bathroom.  Fabulous.

I'll probably go back tomorrow for more chenille.

The cement Mary was a garage sale gift from Linda

 - who had bought it for $1. last weekend.

While at the darling lady's house  -

I also grabbed some giant old glass mayonnaise jars for .10 cents each.

I'll paint their lids.  My pantry could use them for something.

I love a quick garage sale stop - dreamy.

Thursdays and Fridays are the garage sale days here.

Is this only a Minnesota thing? I know it doesn't work like this in California.

I also bought a bag full of Old Navy and Gap clothes for my 8 yr. old daughter.

Total: $11. It was crazy.

Take care of you.

xo jeanne.

Oronoco. The Haul. The Goods.

8 {eight} solid hours of walking.

Streets filled with antique dealers.

One stop back at the car to unload, re-sunscreen and grab fresh water.

There is rhyme and reason to our madness.

We had a list of things to keep an eye out for.

It's so we can come home with a stash like this:

To the untrained eye, we appear to be nonchalant.

But we are equipped with excellent junk taste and adept bargaining skills.

Linda can spot-and call- the perfect vintage item from ridiculously far away.

I can smell the located item I've been looking for in a 3 block radius.

It's a disease, "cheapvintage-itis."

Below, the Linda bought 3 clocks for $15.  I bought the one with the blue face for $8.

The scale was $5.  The enamel switch plate and rusty shovel were $1. each.

The old jar filled with letters was $4.

The baby shoe wooden forms - we bought the set for $18.

The German license plate - $10.

We both had our finds of the day.
I'd kept my eye out for a dress form all summer at shops and garage sales.
 The price was always out of reach. We'd seen others throughout the day for $195.
About half way through the day I spotted this tattered baby:

She was mouse eaten, very purple and wore a ragged scarf.
But I could see her body was good.
Her price tag said $49. I offered $40. The seller said, "Sure."
Sold! We named her Coco.  Coco from Oronoco.

Linda's happy find were the turquoise doors.
I'm going to say that they were more than $40, but less than $175.
She did bargain.  She really wanted them. She pleads insanity and my lips are sealed.

She also found the vintage lamp stand - a steal at $20.
We saw stands the rest of the day at $65.
It will be paired with the fab black wire basket as a shade.

The Queen Anne Cherries box, was actually bought
because it's filled with vintage letters, $4.

The old mirror and the blue mason jars were all $2. each. The pulley, $8.
The enamelware pot was $10 and will go in a certain some one's laundry room project....

At the end of the day we drove to a tiny town and found a tiny diner.
We drank iced teas and ate cheeseburgers. They were good!

The next day, we took these pics and decided it was
time to shed poor Coco of her tattered purple and her scarf.
I knew here bones were vintage yummy!

Sigh, that's all for Oronoco until next year....But wait! 
Coming up: Junk Bonanza in September. Whew.

Happy Wednesday.
xo jeanne.

Oronoco - A Big 'Oh Yes!'

Oronoco, Minnesota is a very small town. But - it's big on fabulous finds.

Once a  year, during  'Gold Rush Days' the town shuts down.  Antique dealers big and small move in for the weekend and line the streets.  Booths are literally in yards, driveways and open spaces.  Decorating co-captain Linda and I have gone a few years in a row and it has become one of the highlights of our summer.  This year, we were ready with my mini-van and the essentials -coffee,  bottled water, sunscreen, a handy dandy tape measure, protein bars, band aids (can't be bothered by pesky foot blisters) and the cart.

Most importantly, our lucky jewelry and cash!

Seriously, in every direction you look, the streets are lined with booths,  people and more booths.  It's fabulous and goes on forever.   There are streets, sections, little hills and thank goodness, port-a-potties!  The one thing to keep in mind: This is not a garage sale.

These are dealers. 

 Prices are high - as in $75 for a McCoy vase or $1700 for a vintage sign.

The first year we went, we had serious sticker shock. 

 We learned to bypass the expensive booths, and hunt down the deals. 

They are there, but you need to find them and be ready to bargain.

One of the reasons we go is because so many of the things - you just don't see twice.

Our first purchase and we knew when we saw them, we couldn't pass them up:

Wooden baby shoe forms.  $18.

 Linda and I bought them and each took one.

We came across a feisty dude with tables full of old clocks.

He seemed annoyed to actually have to sell something to us.

We couldn't stand him, but we loved his clocks.  At $5 & $8 a piece. Sold.

We kept running into fantastic old phones.

Most were also fantastically priced - $175.  yikes!

We posed, then we passed.

Vintage suitcases, fantastic metal chairs.

We weighed in on a lemonade and an ice cream malt.

Hey, a girl's gotta keep cool.

Linda recognized this fun dealer from other blogs - a tried and true junk lover.

He was a sport and an all around nice guy.

Sadly, we left this adorable sink and oven set behind.

 It was only $20 and I am basically kicking myself. Sheesh! What was I thinking?!

We thought we were pretty sneaky - parking our cart in the 'no parking' spot.

Well, not really - but by this time we were loopy.

There were sights as far as the eyes can see.......

Oronoco is about and hour and a half from the Twin Cities.

We got there at 9:30 am and left at 6:30 pm.

We walked and walked.  It was hot and dusty. 

We loved it.

Last but not least, if you know me at all... Well, you'd know that I had to take this pic:

Naughty!!  hardy har har.

Next post.. all our finds. They are oh so sweet and worth every single step. 

xo Jeanne

(it has taken me a day and a half to recover.)