One man's trash...

...is totally another's treasure! I have so much fun antiquing, flea marketing, garage saleing, etc. It's always a treat to wander Goodwill, too. I like to see the potential in something that others can't. I have fun revamping things plus it's much "greener" (and cheaper!) to buy things that have already been made rather then to cause new things to be manufactured, not to mention you are keeping stuff out of landfills! If I had my own place I think it would be Salvation Army Style all the way! Here's the latest finds:

I love to collect vintage dishes (and they're aqua! Double score!):

Aren't these vintage bride dolls the sweetest? I love love love them! I will use the one on the right to decorate with at the upcoming bridal shower I am throwing my friend (she is a brunette). They were only $2 each and I estimate they are from the 40's or 50's at the latest:

I also found this wooden house, it looks like it was made to hold a chotchke or two, but I like it on it's own as a sculptural element. It now sits by the phone.




Another steal was this random of random quilt top...a random quilt for a random girl, eh, Angela? Ha ha. It's actually rather difficult for us humans to create a random thing, our brains want to organize things so badly- I was rather impressed at their randomness. I guesstimate that this quilt top was made in the 60's or 70's as it has some very funky fabrics! Some even have butterflies, it was a sign.

The fabrics aren't actually pieced together, but zigzagged onto a backing.

Sometimes a steal really is someone's trash, like the other week when my parents found this antique sewing machine sitting outside an Amish house. They asked about it and sure enough it was out for the trash. And it's in great condition too- the paint still looks great, no rust. We have a Singer treadle machine that my mom bought when I was little (she sewed us a lot of costumes on that machine! Way to go Mom!) so we have an appreciation for them. I'm curious as to what happened to the cabinet this would have been a part of.

I was surprised that this was out on the curb, it'd be worth a pretty penny in an antique shop, especially since it is in such nice condition.

The silver detail is quite Art Deco, this machine is probably from the 1920's or 30's. It's newer than our treadle machine. Us Chaneys like to rescue cool stuff, lol. And you wonder why we have too much stuff....

Thought I'd show what can be done with a thrift store find- I bought this gold plastic frame a few weeks ago and finally revamped it last weekend.

Before:

I spraypainted it black- when you remove color from an object it becomes all about its form. I LOVED the design that was left on the cardboard! So ghostly! Next time I'll have to remember to put a good piece of paper down to preserve the design.

I let it dry and hung it in my room, no other place for it now!

Can you tell I like butterflies from my pic? Ha ha. I really like "Mod Victorian" items so I liked how the frame turned out. I think it would look great with some Haunted Mansion wallpaper!





Stay tuned, folks for more craftiness!

Books

You gotta love book sales...every now and then our little library does a sale of donated books, and without trying I wound up there at the start of dollar bag day! Got some good stuff:

Gotta love old art books...the information pretty much stays the same over time! This one has a lot of good color images that I don't have in other books- some old art books are black and white... what's the point?

It's falling apart, but there's a lot of good info about how to make all kinds of paper flowers!

This Simplicity booklet is from 1940 and in good condition. My grandmother modeled for late 1940's Butterick and McCalls pattern catalogs when she was young, I'd love to find one of those!

I picked up this little book simply because the fabric cover is so cute- it'd be cute to prop up in a sewing room! The info inside is good too- it's a little encyclopedia of every type of fabric there is.

Old quilt books sometimes have good stuff, too.

Gotta love old 1980's craft magazines...sometimes there is good ideas and patterns that just need some streamlining and modernizing!


All for a dollar! Gotta love small towns.