Three Mantels

It's been a little nutty the last couple of days but I wanted to get a mantel post up so I can join Donna over at Saturday Nite Special. But of course I am late as usual. I have three mantels. Sort of. The first one is that of my real fireplace. I just painted it out in white. How I would love to have painted all of the brick but for now I love the white mantel. The photograph is a self portrait done by my son for one of his projects while he was in college. I love having it front and center since he's back in Atlanta.

I was going to fluff it up a bit but by the time I got home the light was fading. I rushed to get some pictures.

My second mantel is my sort of mantel. It's made with some very old corbels and a shelf we put together. It's hanging in my eat in area of the kitchen. Those suckers are very heavy and have to be anchored into the wall. After we got them up we both realized that they were way too close together! I don't know what we did but it will be fixed when that rooms gets painted. Soon. I hope.

Try lugging two of these babies around an antique market. You will soon learn to bring a cart next time.

My third mantel is my faux fireplace. I didn't take any pictures today so I posted an old one. Sorry. It looks a little naked. For some reason I forgot about this one until I started typing. And it's right behind me! I found it at a different antique market. It was a horrid shade of pink and so I stripped as much of that off as I could and painted and glazed it.

So there you have it. You don't need a fireplace to have a mantel! You can just put one together with either a shelf or a surround and have fun decorating it. 

Linking up with:

Funky Junk Saturday Nite Special~Mantels

Dreaming of a Half Bath

How many plumbers does it take to put in a bathroom? I'll let you know. This is the 3rd or 4th one that has been out to give our little problem a look see. No, I'm not just showing off my wonderfully organized closet. The crazy thing about this house, we have no guest bath on the first floor. Nope. Only the bath in the master. So, people using the pool have to use my potty or go upstairs. Is this logical people? Who designs houses like this? Men that's who. They can just pee outside. When we bought the house we didn't think this would be such an issue. Adding this tiny half bath. Never again will I think that. Everything becomes an issue. Let me repeat that. Everything. becomes. an. issue.

The door on the left goes out to the pool. Yes, I get to look at the cool blue waters outside while I scrub the stains out of clothes. I'm standing in the door to the kitchen. The door on the right goes out to the garage. Can there be any more doors in such a small space?? The floor of the closet is lower. I have no idea why. So, that all has to be built up to be level with the laundry room. The back wall will be pushed out and we will steal space from the garage. It will still be small, about 5 x5.

All that stuff in the closet is going to have to find a home. This is my only space where I could put a cabinet to hold laundry supplies. Henry is like...huh? You're going to move my food? Look at the worry on his face.

The cabinet will need to be tall, skinny and shallow. All of the trim will be painted, the blinds are coming down and new paint on the walls too. The door to the bath will be a pocket door so we don't have yet another door swing in this small space. So, that is where we are. Waiting on word from the plumber to see how hard hooking up to the main drain will be. He dug a hole in my front yard this morning, so that's a start!

tag . . .

tag . . .
Originally uploaded by GcGirl60

These are Maureen from Cottage 960 legs. Pretty nice legs for a soon to be 50 yr old. Oh, sorry Maureen, did I say that out loud? She tagged me in one of her photos on Flickr. I'm new to Flickr so I don't have pictures up yet. It's been hard enough learning this blogging business so I thought I'd complicate things even more and add Flickr to my whirling mind.

Maureen has some terrific photos and you should really go take a look at her photo stream. It's quite impressive. She's also now part of a new blog called Mortal Muses. I would normally add links for you all but I'm writing this post from Flickr for the first time and well, you know, whirling mind and all. It's not happening. I'm sure there's a link on Maureen's flickr page.

Play the game of tag while you're at it and we can learn a little bit more about each other! My answers are on her page. I'm thinking it's just going to show Maureen's answers when I post this. Or not. Just click on the photo and go over and take a look at some great pictures and play along. Okay, fingers crossed this post works.

Cabinet or Coop and a Window

I have a couple more things to show off from the great sale I went to. I saw this little cabinet of sorts on day one of the sale. (Hubby call it a chicken coop when he saw it.) I went back to it at least three times. It was a little high and I knew there would be a discount the next day. Waiting is always a gamble. I had to ask myself if I would be upset if it wasn't there on day two. And... I would have been, so that is when I picked it up and hauled it to the hold table up front. You need to utilize the hold table. When you see something you want, even if you aren't sure, put it on the hold table. You can always put it back. But once someone else picks it up then you are out of luck. Lesson learned. 

I'm not really sure what it was originally. This little thing on the side is confusing to me. Maybe someone can help me out if they know. I know some of you are wrinkling up your nose at it and that's okay. It's something you either love of you don't.

It's made out of tongue and groove with just a piece of the tongue on top missing.  I bought it with the idea of using it in our future half bath to store towels and things in it. It has metal braces on the back to hang on the wall. For now, I'm not sure. It's a little small for a coffee table perhaps. But it may have to stay there for awhile.

The inside is all painted white. I had to give it a good cleaning, sanded lightly, vacuumed it out and then I waxed it.

The picture below is the top before any wax was applied. See how the wood looks a bit dry and lack luster? Have no fear.

I have had some questions about what I mean or what I use when I say waxing. This is what I use. It's Briwax. This one is clear but it does come in colors.  Now the board on the left I already waxed. The board on the right with the can on it is unwaxed. Can you see the difference? It's subtle. It cleans, seals and gives it a wonderful luster. Not a lot of shine. Just increases the warmth of the wood.

Here it is with both sides done. It dries quickly and then you go over it with a clean cloth and buff it out. It makes it feel wonderful to touch too.

I found a window frame at the sale also. I loved it's chippy white paint. One side is not chippy at all and the other side is. So, I can turn it around depending on the look I want.

 I thought it was pretty cool that it was a triangle. When I went to check out it was lying there on the floor with a sold sticker on it. I commented that I liked it and the workers started talking about how it had been sitting there since 8am and it was noonish. The lady left and never paid for it. So, they were going to put it back on the floor to be sold and he asked me if I wanted it. Another lesson learned. Don't utilize the hold table for too long. They won't hold it forever.

I had the frame hung up on the wall in the dining room. I was trying different things hanging in the openings. I liked the size of the white platter but I wasn't crazy about the veggies mixing with the starfish. And the starfish were bugging me. They were looking like they were being hung up to be tortured. So, I went to take them off, to try something else and the whole frame fell off the hook and down came the platter and broke into a gazillion pieces. The tortured starfish survived. And while I didn't like the platter on the wall I did like it and I'm bummed it broke. Oh well, they'll be other platters. I will update with what it looks like when I get it all together again.

Linking up to:

Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

Estate Sale Treasures

I had given you a sneak peak of the things I found at the estate sale. So, I thought I'd better hurry and get at least some of them up for you to see. Here are the 3 creamers. Two are silver plate. One of them looks like a little tea pot with the lid and spout.  The other one is ironstone. Something about the pattern just said pick me up! And for .50 I obliged.

The box I loved. It's warmth of the wood and the dovetailing are terrific. Plus, it held all my little creamers while I browsed. The two jars were bought at different sales but I didn't have any of that size so they were both great additions to my larger ones.

Two old bottles. The dark blue one was just like that. Like someone had just dug it up. It was just old newspaper that was crumbling off but it had an H on it. My last initial. And the other had it's cork with writing on it. I have weird criteria when I decide on what to bring home. But it makes sense to me.

Here they are all washed up. I haven't cleaned the inside of the light one. I need to figure out how to get in there and clean the neck.

These two corbels came from the estate sale at the old run down house we stopped at on Saturday. For $3 I got these, the blue jar with the zinc lid and 3 white bowls which I don't have a picture of.  I'm a cheap date.

I'm thinking they are some sort of a mold to make plaster corbels. They are not wood. They have a number engraved on the end along with the one written on it. If anyone has an idea please let me know.I think they're pretty neat.

I have the window frame and my coop to show you next. I would like to get the frame hung up before I do. I'm going to give it a waxing. The coop still needs a cleaning and maybe some wax too. I may want some ideas from you all on that one. 

Side note: I know a lot of my pictures are taken on my hearth but I do not keep them all there. I swear. Just better lighting in that spot.

Have a great day and stay out of the heat. It's going to be another scorcher!

Linking up with

Southern Hospitality Today's Thrifty Treasures
Coastal Charm Nifty Thrify Tuesdays

Estate Sale Heaven

I wanted to show you a glimpse of what I have been going to for the past few days. This is an estate sale that was being held at an auction house because the house was too unsafe for shoppers. I can only imagine what was left of the house and all that was still attached to it! How I would have loved to have been able to go to the house and rip out old doors, windows and trim.

There was so much stuff here it was overwhelming. My eyes did not know where to land for fear that I would miss something. Should I go left, should I go right, I almost had a panic attack. Day one was Thursday. I spent somewhere between 2 or 3 hours in here. I really don't know. Time was a blur and I was in heaven. I picked up the mirror that I showed you yesterday, a window frame, 3 little creamers, a wooden box and a blue ball jar. Oh and something I'm calling a coop because, well, I haven't a clue what it is and that's what the Mr. called it. 



 There was stuff everywhere. Every where. You had to look on the floor, behind things, on the walls, in boxes, every where. These are not my pictures but those that they put online. I am signed up at a website called estatesales.net. They will email you when estate sales are in your area. It's fantastic. I love it and you should try it and see what comes up.

There were insulators coming out the ying yang. I didn't get any but I did get the small blue ball jar. There some really neat old bottles. A lot looked like they had just been unearthed! 

There were two rooms full of stuff. I went back on day two and everything was 20% off. My plan was not to go back until Saturday when it was 50% but I was weak,  I could not stay away. I decided to just get small stuff and see what big things were still there. I picked up an old wooden floor lamp for 4.00 and two of  those old bottles. I had the lamp in my hand on day one but then was unsure. But I could not stop thinking about the darn thing. I could always take it apart and do something with the pieces if nothing else. Then came day three. It was pretty wiped out of the things I had been eye balling so I just picked up one more thing. The wooden wheel of a pulley. At least I think that's what it was. I liked the old weathered look and it will be good to elevate things on shelves.

Look at this ginormous sign! It was in perfect condition. I didn't ask how much. I don't think it would fit above my fireplace anyway. But it certainly would make a statement!

It was so much fun! I was by myself and able to take my time. Yet, I felt like you all were there with me. I know how so many of you love all that is old and lovely as much as I do. It would have been a hoot if you could have tagged along though. I left in such a good mood. I hope to come across more of these type of estate sales. I went to one today at a house. It was listed in craigslist. It was the 3rd weekend that she had held the sale. It was pretty neat too. I can only imagine what I missed on the first two sales. I picked up two small corbels, another blue jar and 3 white fire king bowls. You just never know what you might find or where you might find it.

Mirror Mirror.....

Hello everyone. I have come out of my dry spell. I came across a sale yesterday that was the mother load. I just wanted to quickly post one of my finds. I was so excited about bringing it home and I wanted to share with those who would be excited for me : ) This is what I spied from across the room. I had walked by it already and didn't notice it.

I went in closer and this is what I saw! It didn't take long before I knew she would be coming home with me. She looks like a she, doesn't she? I may just have to go back to this sale on Saturday. Half price day. Just to see what else needs to come home with me. 
 

I quickly got out of the shot as I was still in my pj's. Henry on the other hand didn't budge.

She is tall and graceful and I first thought of putting her in my bedroom to balance out the window on one side of my bed. We shall see. She is very heavy so I like leaning her. And I don't want to hide this.

It's on the bottom and oh so pretty. I think she may just get a waxing and a little high light to bring out the appliques. Ha! Waxing and highlights, she is a girl. I sort of like her in her nakedness. What do you all think? Any ideas for how to clean her up?

I picked up a few other things yesterday that I will share later. I have another sale I want to check out today and I need to get moving. But I will leave you with a little sneak peak of some of my other treasures.

Have a great weekend!