Project Laundry List. (and just plain laundry.)

 Last Friday, I vowed to have a self induced:
'No makeup, ugly hair weekend full of cleaning and laundry.'
It was scary, or rather, I was scary.  But the clothes are clean.

However, since I have a problem with relaxation.... surprise!!
I also tackled the garden, pulling a few weeds and hacking down what was overgrown.

and ... I began to work and on projects that have been waiting their turn.

1. Metal typing chair and old wood desk. 
   I giggle when I think of the changes these will undergo.

2.  A cute little bedside table. 
     Dig those handles! 
     Charm will ooze from this when I'm done.
     Even primed, it's already better.

3.  I scooted on over to the scooter.

    The vinyl on the underside of the seat was ripped.

It had to go. With the vinyl off, the wooden seat disintegrated in my hands. One thin piece was left, enough to trace out a new one. Now - to paint it.

4.  Remember the glider redo? 
    It's been waiting patiently for a repair.
    I was able to beg wrangle down the Cabinet Maker to fix it.
    Now I will do what I really want to it.

Now, 

If i could just figure out a way to paint with one hand, 

fold clothes with the other...

then feed the kids, walk the dog, pet the cat... 

do the dishes, dust...

Onward.

xo jeanne.

Fab Finds in Oronoco 2012.

For those of you who are new to the blog, Oronoco is a small town in Minnesota. It's about an hour south of the Twin Cities.  One weekend in August each year, the town shuts down and antique dealer settle in for 3 days. It is called  "Gold Rush Days."
Antique and junk dealers literally line the streets. 
It's old stuff heaven.

Linda and I have gone for the past 4 years. 5?  Every year it's hot and crowded. Every year it' s worth it.  We've learned to breeze past the ultra-antique dealers who want $300 for a vase or $500 for a plain table.  We casually walk by these booths. "Good god, are they crazy?" We blather to ourselves.

This year the crowd was lighter and several booths/dealers had packed up early and gone home. Not waiting for cheap lets make a deal people Sunday shoppers like us.  Sigh. 
We trudged on undaunted.

Here is what Teen Sherpa (daughter) and I found.  I don't have pics of Linda's purchases. We had all reached total exhaustion by our usual picture taking point and there would have been serious injuries if we spent anymore time together. 
(We had done MacGrove the day before.) We had grown a bit wacko.

Yay! at the end of the day Linda spotted a phone for me.

 I bargained the seller down to $18. 

We'd seen phones ranging from $55 to $175 all day.  yikes.

The phone in my cinema living room - Linda had let me borrow.

Now that I have my own... she gets hers back. 

(hey, we're not phony.)

I bought 'smooch' for $5. 

It already has a home in the bedroom - pics up soon!

The vintage camera... $12. 

 I spotted what may be a 'pipe fitting thingy' in a pile of bits.

I thought it would be fabulous as a crown on my Mary garden statue.

.50 cents. Sold! - to the lady who likes to pick through bits.

Teen Sherpa found some pretty awesome bits and pieces too!

Linda and I beam with pride as she has joined us in our junk quest.

And she's good at it!

We crack ourselves up regularly.

xo jeanne.

We are not hoarders. I swear.

Yes, there was another citywide garage sale.
Of course Linda and I went.
We couldn't help ourselves. It's an annual thing.
The force of garage sale gravity compelled us.
Fortunately, this wacky gravity was good to us.

'tis true. I found (more) vintage suitcases. 

(can you ever have enough?!)

I paid $6 for the big one. $3 for the smaller one. True story.

 It's my summer of the suitcase.

And..... a few more things.

Really, I swear we're not hoarders.

We're just fabulous decorators on-the-cheap.

I'm changing out a few rooms in my house.

Linda's getting ready for her Fall Carriage House Sale.

(the citywide sale was in a suburb of St. Paul, MacGrove.)

xo jeanne.

Truly Vintage: Garage Sale Score.

With no neighborhood sales to be found,
We took our chances and headed into Minneapolis anyway.
Keeping a keen eye out for garage sale signs. (We like good signage.)
Teen and Mini Sherpa's were in tow. (daughters who've been taught the ropes.)
A good thing too, 'cause we need their arms to help us carry the haul -
                                                           'Cuz we Scored.

Oh, the film reels up there? Um... free.

Given to us by the most darling couple. 

Yes, free.

One of the most fun finds was the vintage party dress.

As we were loading it into our car, the owner came running up to  us. 

She wanted to say that she'd made the jacket when she was a girl.

 And, that the dress had seen many fun parties.

How cute is that?!

The same people who gave us the film reels had the most fantastic things.

They were clearing out their mother's home. They were so kind.

We found the small cabinet, scale, sifters and more.

We stumbled upon a "man sale."

It was a mish mash of manstuff. Piles. No order whatsoever.

But worth a look and a bit of digging.  Eureka!

We found the little meter up there, the wire.. and oh..

 The rolling wire laundry basket. 

I've been looking for one for a year.

They are untouchable. We haven' t seen anything under $69 - minimum. 

 Super hard to find even if you're lucky.

This one.... $2.  

Bam! Sold to the woman who tried to look calm and cool.

Then, more sifting, Linda came across 

This jar full of fabulously painted and rusty: 

tiny pulleys. (.50 cents - seriously.)

After nearly suffering exhaustion from shock and giddiness, we went home. 

We unloaded, took pictures.

And 'had refreshments.'

Fun!

xo jeanne.

The Dresser TV Cabinet. Before & After.

This is the dresser that inspired the living room redo.

It was on Craigslist for $25. With an attached mirror too.

I couldn't pass it up.

I sent the Cabinet Maker husband into Minneapolis to bring it home.

At first I planned to paint it and sell it.

But then, the TV stand vision came to life.

With a coat of spray primer, it was already looking fresher.

When it was creamy white and distressed, aqua drawers done -

It was better, but not quite right. My aqua was too bright.

Decorating Co-Captain Linda whipped out her stored perfect aqua shade,

Repainted them for me AND added Paris No. 23.

She's caught my lettering bug.

The dresser is the perfect width to fit the TV.

I made 'cinema' to match the width as well.

But you know the song.

"You're never fully 'dressed' without a smile."

xo jeanne.

A living room worth living in.

My 1950 house wasn't built with flat screen TV's in mind.
This has been a dilemma in my living room. 
I couldn't quite make our 42 inch screen look like it belonged.
With a $25 dresser - found on Craigslist, I solved the problem.
The vision fell into place and my paint brushes got busy.
I worked like a dog the past week.

I've painted. I've planned. I've rearranged.

I striped my living room walls.

I really wanted to stick a color pallet. 

Aqua, white, beige & a touch of black.

This is big for me. Usually I am less strict with myself.

You might notice some items picked up at garage sales over the past few months.

It's fun and a relief to give them a permanent home.

• I painted the big shelving unit that was formerly black. (my dark period.)
• I made the 'cinema' sign. 
• The Cabinet Maker and I striped the walls. (he measured and taped, I painted.)
• We hung the big vintage map. (not to worry, the subway sign moved to another wall.)

I'll show full before and after pics, but for now here's a look at the change:

It hasn't always been this drab, but it recently took a major dive.

But seriously,

 Can I gloat a little more about "Cinema."

Super Fabulous.

My TV dilemma is now a delightful cinema.

xo jeanne.

The Garage Sale Whisperers.

Decorating Co-Captain Linda compiled a most impressive garage sale list.
(It was complete with mapquest instructions from one sale to the next.) 
It was mind boggling. Much better than I could have ever done. 
She's the map lady. I'm the driver.


With directions, I can't be trusted. 
But, I'm adept at deciphering her hand movements as to which way to turn. 
It's like synchronized swimming for cheap people.
For this adventure, we traveled out of Minnesota and into Wisconsin.

We drove.  A Lot. 
We had the handy dandy mapquested routes.
We stopped at numerous McDonald's for $1.00 drinks.
We bought more Diet Coke and Iced Tea than we did actual garage sale finds. 
Damn. 
We did not not find our haul.


But we did have a laugh riot.  Deliriously happy with rolling cornfields.
Not to worry, we did find a few gems.

I bought some wood hangers for a quarter each.
We stopped at a flea market and found some perennial hens and chicks.  
(i've been looking for them all summer. mission accomplished.)
Linda found a box of reading flash cards that we quickly skewed with humor.

  How do we decode and decipher?

Who does what?!

 I can decipher her hand motions.  Linda can decode my strange language. 

Linda example:  

Her hands crazily fly through the air. 

Which could mean there is a fly in the car - or her hand's gone spastic.  

But I know it means: Turn Right Here. Now.

Jeanne example:  

I may say; "My eyeballs like that thingy over there."

Linda knows it means: 

"Quick, go give the lady $1.00 for that old clock before someone else gets it."

Or: "Good Lord, that dude is gorgeous."

See, it's a perfect system. 

Even in Wisconsin.

xo jeanne.