a little more lilac loveliness......

just because i love them so much....

 lilacs, blue mason jars and an old farm table......

could there be a more beautiful combination???

more great thrift store finds....

i have been looking for small chairs for kids to use as photography props.  i have used full sized chairs in the past but wanted something smaller and with arms for my little ones.

i found this one at a church garage sale...for two dollars.

i have always love the jenny lind style of furniture so i was really happy to find this chair.

this color of blue photographs so nicely in any setting.  it looks great with grass green, sky blue and any color of flower that i would plop it in front of...

i liked it but love a more vintage and worn out look so i hacked at it with the sandpaper....

i love how it turned out but i want to glaze some of the sanded marks a little more.  

i needed it for a photo shoot so i didn't get a chance to do that yet.

but it photographs beautifully!!!

and it fit baby j. just perfectly...more on his adorable family later.

a new goodwill store opened near my house a couple of weeks ago.  i went on opening day and it was packed with people and goodies. 

 i found the furniture to be a little pricey but found a cool candelabra. it's about 12 inches tall and

the little holes at the bottom of the arms hold a string of crystals that i thought were plastic.  when i cleaned them up, i was amazed at how beautiful they were....

perfect little faceted glass crystals

and i couldn't believe the price,  $1.79.  

these candle holders were a bargain too, at just .99 apiece. they are heavy and beautiful.

the one on the right shows what it looked like after i cleaned it up with some silver cleaner.

these are a couple of finds from the garage sale last week that i didn't show in the last post.

a pair of brass wall sconces.  i love how ornate they are.  

 now i just need to find some glass shades for them.

 i fell in love with this sampler.....and since i'm from michigan, i had to have it.

 i love that it was stitched by an 8 year-old girl

 and that she misspelled pleasant....  :)

i need to find a way to clean this though, because i think that there is mold in the area of her name.  does anyone know how to clean something like this without ruining it?  any tips would be very helpful. 

and finally, our long awaited spring finally produced my favorite lilacs......

i hope everyone has a great memorial day weekend.  

it's been a busy week....

two photo shoots, 4 pieces of furniture painted, track meets, baseball and yardwork...
track meets have taken over our lives....there are two a week and my boy loves it....

he runs the 3200 meters (two miles) and the 1600 meters (one mile)

the 3200 meters take its toll!!! but he has been consistently in the top three when he races.
and track meets are loooooong and the weather has not been so good.  last week (may 16th),  i was in the stands with my winter coat, hat, gloves, blanket and umbrella. for reals!!!  
you know it's cold when austen wanted me to give him my gloves because his hands were cold....my bright red angora gloves...  :)


on to the garage sale finds......

 here are a few of the things that shannon and i picked up at the garage sales last week...

these pretty drapery panels.  two long panels for $2...

build-a-bear clothes for the girls animals....$2 a set (these retail for 12.99).. 

 very large (40 x 36) picture with a pretty frame for $10...shannon wanted it for the frame, not the picture.

yards and yards of random lace $.50 

this really pretty mirror with beautiful detail, and it's heavy, for $12.00...

cute, really long scarf valance for $1.00

five of these really cute handmade aprons for $2.00...

awesome matching table lamp bases for $3.00....for the pair.

remember the sneak peek in the last post???

 this pretty little french style footstool was covered in really dirty, heinous aqua vinyl....

but it was just $4.00 and it has really pretty carving on the body and legs.

but what was scarier was what was under that vinyl.....

i have no clue, it looked like horse poop...more on that later.....

a beautiful battenburg lace tablecloth the size of a twin bed comforter for $2.00 and a set of 8 matching napkins $2.00 

a box of quart mason jars for $3.00...

and this pretty roman shade for $2.00.  all in all, i think we spent under $30.00 for all

of these treasures.  shannon also scored two large ginger jar lamps for $20.00 and a sewing machine table with a built in sewing machine (that works!) for $5.00 .....i can't wait to get started on the redo's.  

in ongoing furniture redo's......

the cabinet i've been working on just wasn't doing it for me so i changed it up mid game...

she originally wanted a brown with a gray overlay like the new finish on some of the pieces at ikea.

i just didn't like the way it was coming along so i tried this...

and we both love it....this is a work in progress still....

here is a bookcase that lisa wanted me to redo for her son's room. you know,  the typical wood design paper over particle board....

this is another piece similar to the bookcase..a tv stand from ikea with the same particle board and fake wood finish....

with both pieces, i sanded them, primed them and painted them...

the tv stand was painted in a soft dove gray with a tobacco glaze.

and here is the bookcase in red with the same tobacco glaze.

the backs of both pieces will be getting either a fabric or paper backing treatment...

i don't like working with red paint....this piece took 4 coats of paint to cover the primer....next time, i'm tinting the primer.....

both are still a little bit of a work in progress.  i'll post pics of the completed projects soon.

this cute little mission style piece was found by my friend lisa. in the trash.  she was talking to me on the phone and on the way over to my house when she said "hold on", got out of her car in her 

work dress and heels and stuffed it into the backseat of her car.  when she got back to the phone, she told me that she found me a new piece of furniture....for free!! 

i think it is a desk because there is a pull out drawer but it is really small.

it was, however, in perfect condition....

remember this dresser? the drawers were broken and there were some drawers missing.  

this is one of the drawer fronts that i rescued from it....wait until you see what i do with it, and the two others.....

more soon!!!