New finds

I like this simple little lamp, got a new shade for it though (from Target)

I had one of these blue mason jars, now I have 4.  These are more pretty in reality, they are all slightly different tones of blue and will be nice to store things or just on their own.

These bowls were marked "fiesta bowls from oatmeal boxes".  But after doing a little google research I found this.  They are "Carnival" dishes, and were made in the 1940s and 50s.  They were only $1.50 each.

In the last couple of months I started collecting a few of the fiestaware pieces.  I like the turquoise and the old ivory colors, so the bowls above do match perfectly even though they don't have the "fiesta" mark.

Back to school week

Ready for the bus the first day.

We had a good back to school week.  Kate started 4th grade and Thomas 2nd.  I had a great week with my class too.  I am a teacher in a Montessori school and have a class of 18 3-6 year olds.  It is my 3rd year with this class, so most of my oldest students have been in my class since they were 3.

After a busy week with school, yesterday we had a big day with Chris running a local 10K run, then Kate had softball tryouts for fall softball, then we did some antique shopping too.  I'll share some of my "finds" in another post.

Here are some pictures watching Chris run.

The PEZ collection

Thomas has quite the pez collection going on.  Most collectors probably keep them in their package to keep their value, but he really plays with them.  Thanks to Uncle Greg sending him a couple of new ones that he got at Movie World on a trip to Australia so now his collection is up to 100.

I had some shelves that I wasn't using in my office anymore so I put them up in Thomas' room.  I need more shelves to really display them so they can all be seen, and what couldn't fit on the new shelves we put on the book shelf.  It was his idea to sort them by color.

The hulk doesn't look to happy to be in the back row behind Woody and Dorothy.

One day maybe we can go here. 

Garage sale chest of drawers

Each time I paint a piece of furniture it becomes my new favorite thing.  Here is my current new favorite:

The new knobs (from Hobby Lobby) cost more than the dresser did.  I did get them for less than $2 each though (50% off).

Here is why it was so cheap, it was old, rustic, and had probably been in someone's barn judging by how dirty and how many cobwebs I had to clean off it.  And it was painted a barn red too.

I'd already taken the old knobs off and started cleaning it by this point.

After a coat of my favorite paint / primer in one (that I also used on my kitchen cabinets).

This new piece of furniture goes in place of this old shelf which had all my craft and scrapbooking supplies, and while it was kind of organized, it was cluttered and didn't look so great.

and NOW.  I still have the blue filing cabinet, but I managed to hide it in the picture by putting my desk chair in front of it.  It is painted "china white" (Benjamin moore paint)

and I moved the futon in here too, so now we have a comfortable place to read

how it looks from the front living room.  Love this light fixture since I painted it.

my shelf even got organized with some of my owl collection and other favorite things

my other white chairs and table are now here:

I go back to work on August 16th so my summer adventures of painting furniture, garage sale and antique shopping are almost over.

But at least my house is pretty organized for now.

Linking again to Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality.

And the Power of Paint party at Domestically Speaking.

Dr Pepper decor

To go along with one of my favorite pictures of the kids.

We found a great local junk / antique shop and I bought one of these old soda crates.  Pottery barn has something similar here, but I like mine better because we found it and it cost a lot less than their ones.

Here it is on our sewing machine table.

even though it's from Oklahoma and not Texas, I still love this old weathered wood, and a place to out other found treasures

Have you seen the new TV series on the History channel - called American Pickers.

"Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz are just two ordinary guys looking for extraordinary things. American Pickers follows them as they scour the country's junkyards, basements and barns for hidden gems."

I am not interested in a lot of the things they are looking for on the show, motorcycles etc, but I love the concept that there is a lot out there hidden in barns and houses waiting to be re-discovered.  One man's trash is another's treasure?

Linking to Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality

Favorite IKEA finds

Holly from the blog Homebody is having an IKEA party today.  This is an easy one for me to join, I love IKEA and can go around my house and find things to take pictures of in almost every room.

I have a couple of these little galvanized pots.  Right now I have little ferns in them, but I've also used them on my desk for markers and supplies for the kids.

I love the lamps from IKEA - this shade is from there (the cute base I actually found at Goodwill this week)

Pillows and pillow covers.  I have had these ones for a long time.  I love that they have washable covers and the down pillow inserts keep their shape.

This table is solid and we're using it in the kids' playroom right now but I've used it as a side table in my dining room at my old house, and also in my living room as a sofa table.  I like to move things around a lot!

this chair at Kate's desk was originally black, then pink, now white.  And there is another lamp (the base) from IKEA.

this doll bed was natural wood, I painted it pink.  

IKEA photo canvas in our bedroom

CD cabinet (we don't actually store many CDs in it anymore, Chris has all his music digital now)

IKEA bedoom side tables

this was my most recent IKEA purchase - long drapes for the bedroom $14.99 a pair.

Check out Holly's blog for more.

vacation 2010 - Part 4

Our last day in Maryland we drove down to Mt Vernon (George Washington's home). 

I took a picture of this cabinet to remind me I need to paint something this color.

This was in the rooms that was the servants quarters.

You're not allowed to take pictures inside the house, but it is restored to how it looked when Washington lived there, a lot of the furniture and things are original to the house.  I really enjoyed it, but it was a bit boring for the kids!

It is a really pretty location right on the Potomac river.

The next day we packed up and headed for one of our stopovers on the way home (Knoxville, Tennessee).  We made a detour through the Shendandoah National Park.

It was a change in scenery and temperature.

After a night in Tennessee we made it back down to the Gulf Coast.

Spent a little time on Biloxi beach.  Sad to see that there was no one there.  We did not see any signs of the oil spill, the beach itself was clean, probably whatever has washed ashore there is cleaned up each day.  It is very eerie to go to a beach like this there be no one there.

Sunset over Louisiana.

And our last night on vacation in New Orleans.

Went to the Cafe Du Monde for some beignets.

mmmmm, sugar!