the junk fairy.

the next best thing to getting free JUNK alerts is having free JUNK show up on your doorstep. its the like the junk fairy came and dropped off a present, and it's way better than three dollars in quarters!

sondra stopped by with one of her drawers from an old letterpress. she must have known i was looking for one. casually looking of course, no need to be spending twenty bucks on one stinkin drawer.

these letterpress drawers were used way back when printing was done with good old fashion metal type. they held the letters, numbers and other symbols in 'em. fastforward a few decades and they are not in use with the computer surge... so many have been put out to pasture. making them VINTAGE, and a JUNK woman's collector item! they make perfect shadowboxes and can hold minitaures of any kind.

i am using my gifted drawer in the office as my rubber stamp holder for now. since i'm running out of storage room, i thought it'd be neat to hang on the wall above the crafting table.
thanks Sondra!!!

vintage letterbox.

i have been coming up w/ideas for how we can incorporate some of the things we enjoy most into our wedding decor. two of them being photos and travel.

so perhaps you can understand my delight when i found this vintage letterbox on one of the wedding blogs i love to read. snippet and ink always has fun, themed inspiration boards which can get the creative juices flowing for wedding ideas. they included the letterbox which featured on Grapevine weddings to showcase invitations. I just HEART the idea of old photographs that guest write on in lieu of a guestbook.

Now the question is - where can I get one?!?

free icebox.

you know you're a junker when.....

you get two text messages in one day from friends asking you to haul away fun FREE junk. this latest one made me squeal:

Lanie: Any desire 4 a free icebox? I think its metal.
me: omg. i love you.

junk alerts via text messaging are not quite as fun as scoring junk via a roadside pile. it must be the lack of the hunt and the swerving that can be involved. this icebox practically landed on my doorstep! (which can also happen quite a bit to us junkers).

i can't say my other half was as excited about it as I was - but he'll get there! it has such POTENTIAL! I'm already looking forward to the project!

stampin' fool.

who doesn't love a rubber stamp?! i'm pretty crazy for 'em. check out my newest set of STAMPS. this one came from an estate sale that sondra and i ransacked. i literally squealed when i came across it... well - after i removed the half inch of dust that is. it's a sign stamping kit from 1894. or atleast that's what the copyright is... let's just say it's OLD. there is a small & a large set of numbers and letters. and i just LOVE the typography on them!! they might be the oldest stamps on the planet - but for $15 - the set was a STEAL!!

so what can i do with them?! well i played around with them to scrapbook and make a save-the-date card for J&S. (that's my new nickname for josh-n-sondra) they're getting hitched lickety split here and don't really have time to send these out to their guests. i still thought they really deserve one irregardless. (i just hope she opens the card b4 she reads the blog)


then i made them some place cards for their bazillion guests. i invited my better half a few times, myself, her bro and SIL, and even 'G'. 'G's our favorite barn sale guy who calls and gives us the heads-up whenever he's having a BIG sale. for all he's given us in the junk world... he made my list. (who knows - maybe they'll be some of his junk decor @ the wedding ;-)

(you'll have to click them to look at 'em up close)




next attempt - i'll make sure i have more supplies stocked in their color scheme. seems i'm overloaded with browns and short on 'rust'.

ps - the craft world is a better place now that slicing doohickies have made it mainstream. man i can cut a STRAIGHT line in a skinny minute with that thing. (thanks again allison!)

garage sale glass.

how much do i love garage sales?!? let me count the ways....

ten
twenty
thirty
forty
fifty
sixty

sixty cents worth! can you believe they were selling these FUN apothecary-like jars for only TEN CENTS each?! i couldn't... so i snatched all 6 of them up!

this was my FAVE find of the day. a science kit! tons o beakers, test tubes, petrie dishes.... just oodles of fun, fun fun!! i got the whole box for $4.00. it's going to make one great BLOOMING centerpiece on our dining table. oh - and i'll have to be a mad scientist for halloween and decorate it all spooky-style. my ideas just overfloweth!


ps - yes, one of them looks like it has some gunk leftover from the most recent science project. i'll have to sterilize that one before i go putting mini blooms in 'em....

hoosier daddy.

check out my newest antique! the easter bunny up and brought me a HOOSIER cabinet this year. it belonged to my bff's parents for like a bazillion years and they were going through a re-model so i snatched it up for a steal. i have a few pics of it here. i'm still struggling with where to put my favorite cherries, but other than that - it's making the adjustment to it's new home nicely!

nice pair of legs.

remember that super old TV I bought last month that didn't work? well my JUNKHUNK gutted it and cleaned it up all nice for me.

as much as I liked the idea of turning it into a fishtank... i'm planning turning it into an end table. so now i'm on the hunt for a nice pair of LEGS. i'm thinking perhaps a metal base... maybe with casters so we can roll it around the living room. thoughts?! anyone know a welder!? i want the TV to be functional for storage so maybe we could turn the KNOBS into drawer handle to open the tv.

oh... there aren't enough hours in the day!

tv project.

i went on a junk hunt today with my fave junk bud Sondra and came home with a few fun FLEAFINDS. check out my favorite score! i'm so excited about this piece, it's an old Zenith tv. when i called my other half to SQUEAL about getting a great deal on a new TV - he wasn't thrilled with what he found when i used his muscle to haul it into the basement.

so what do i do with it?! i have a couple of ideas... but i'm really interested in yours. do tell!

gone sailing.

my sailin' habits quiet down during the winter. it really is quite sad. i resort to getting my junk fix from the co-ops and thrift shops around town but it's just not the same. there are a few, occasional estate sales that get my attention like a recent one i scored a christmas tree stand at.

well... it's not quite 'vintage' i guess. it actually still had the LL Bean mail order form inside the box. but for $7... i couldn't resist. i had flashbacks of the crooked tree we chopped down at wilbert's last year. we were plain lucky that tree didn't fall over on it's side!

say it with junk.

ever since i joined the american junk club, i get these fun emails from the junk ladies. the theme to their recent emails is say 'it' with junk... 'it' being whatever you want for us junk-lovers.


this week they sent how to say 'love' by giving your honey jewelry made out of JUNK. i just HEART the vintage silverware bracelet! and i'm sure i know some folks who'd love wearing recycled flatware on their arm too!

check out the rest of their jewelry for sale. they even sell supplies to make your own for those of you who don't love HUNTING for your own ;-)

junk wagon.

i fell off the JUNK wagon the last few weeks. work is crazier than a fish with fur and I just haven't had time! (hey - someone keeps telling me that there is a fur bearing TROUT species - is he fibbing me?)

anywho, i'm happy to report i'm slowly crawling back on the wagon! I've been kickstarting projects that were collecting dust and scooping up junk deals. case in point, last weekend I scored some JUNK from Sue. (my future mom-in-law)

Sue takes the most-junk-in-a girl's-possession prize. all i say is 'i'm looking to do a photo gallery up our hallway stairs' and she takes me to the several of her stashes waiting to be sold at her antique store. (basements, barns, garages... note these are all PLURAL!) before i know it, i have 20+ OLD, antique frames in our trunk waiting to be smuggled over the border! yea for junk! THANK YOU so much Sue - I can't wait to post about the before/after makeover!

some other treasures... a PINK blossom pyrex bowl (this made me squeal), a vintage fan, (she had like 8 to choose from), some kodak film canisters, an OLD meat thermometer (it says Rochester, NY on it!) and a piano bench in desperate need of paint and a new fabric covering.

Let the PROJECTS begin!!

Oh... how could I forget my most FAVORITE treasure of all - a vintage, wooden swivel desk chair for the office upstairs. i know why i forgot - it didn't FIT in our trunk ;-( so it's being delivered on TURKEY day when they come visit. I'm dreaming this chair sat in an old lawyer's office for many moons. the wear on the arm rests tells me they leaned back and rubbed the arms a lot, perhaps when pondering life or very stressed out. this chair is a keeper-for-life treasure!

pottery barn & Junk Ladies.

i have starved myself from reading Pottery Barn catalogs ever since I gave up the habit of working there part-time. it's just too painful to see full price merchandise after having a GENEROUS discount.

this past weekend, I skimmed the catalog at Jenn's house. I may have had little Cameron climbing all over me at the time - but that didn't distract me from seeing a $39 'Wooden Photo Display' for sale.

Holy toledo!! Instantly my mind was FLOODED with unanswered questions:

• Do the Junk Ladies shop at Pottery Barn?
• Did the Pottery Barn Product Research Team read Decorating JunkMarket Style?
• Did the Pottery Barn Product Research team read my blog post about my drying rack project or see the pics on my project page?
• Do the Junk Ladies know about this? Did they sell their project concepts?t

pb's wooden display is not as authentic as my drying rack (below) which gets lots of use holding biz cards at Dirty Birdies sales. but that isn't the point. vintage must be hugely popular, because I noticed lots of 'new' vintage things for sale at Pottery Barn. They had a vintage Door, vintage ceiling tiles, and a vintage architectural display doo-hickie.

I read a rumor last year that the ladies were designing home accessory products for Target, but Pottery Barn? I need answers people. i may have to take my questions straight to the junk ladies. you may recall i'm a card-carrying member of the JUNK CLUB.

new chairs.

before i say an official goodbye to summer and welcome in my fave season of the year, i want to say thanks for all the extra SUNSHINE and nice weather we've been experiencing.

it's allowed us to enjoy the retro, metal patio chairs i scored at a recent garage sale. can you believe the price?! this pair adds to my collection - nonw i have 4 retro, metal patio chairs. (sorry, I don't know if they have a real name) you may have noticed our RED ones when Lucy was busy eating corn on the cob. i paid twice as much for that pair!

the dirty birdies went the Chili Craft show today to show off and sell some of our homemade TREASURES. we have quite the cute setup, just check out our pics! and if you need any of it for your home, just give us a holler!

recent fleafinds.

i haven't written about any of the FUN fleafinds I've been scoring on recent sailing trips. here are just a few and what i plan to use them for. best part is they all were $1.00 or less!

2 grocery bags full of wine corks. now that's flippin fleafind FATE if you ask me. I have no excuse NOT to finish my wine cork wreath! note the original price, I drive a hard bargain.

a hat box. who knows if it's really old - but I have this thing for polka dots. i'll use it in the office to store all the photos I use for projs & scrapping.

scrabble. the 1948 edition. will be used to actually play the game this weekend when reigning scrabble champ, allison, comes to town. then the letters will go to good crafting use to make jewelry & other projs. (u can't even buy the letters on ebay for that cheap!)

last up for today, a red checkered TV tray. super-duper CUTE! the tray pops off and so far is used to make sure my wine glass doesn't tumble off the uneven wicker coffee table on our front porch. then i'm hoping it gets some prime real estate in my vintage/junk office makeover plan.

new table centerpiece.

i shamelessly stole another project from the JUNK ladies. using an old drawer I found at our local architectural salvage shop - I screwed on little wooden legs to turn it into a tray. The drawer was a perfect square and only $1! (I just love that store - it's near the Rochester Public Market)

during my junk outings - I'm always picking up fun, cheap, OLD bottles. I PACKED the drawer/new tray with bottles of all diff shapes, sizes, & colors and then stuck little blooms from the garden in a couple of them.

VOILA! A unique new table centerpiece! sorry the photo is so dark. you'll have to click on it to make it larger and really see it. note 2 self - need more SUNLIGHT.

ps. another reason why the drawer touched my re-purposing HEART is b/c it has HAWKEYE printed on it. Kodak bought the Hawkeye camera line back in 1907 which sold for many years. Then also named a major plant Hawkeye which focused on lens work. I can just picture this drawer sitting in that plant decades ago. I love finding an OLD piece that has a connection to me.

Does anyone have a great FIND in which you shared a connection? Share ur story please!

gone sailin'.

gone sailin' is the phrase I normally use when I'm out and about scouring garage sales. well saturday, sondra and i went sailin' and hit the jackpot numerous times.

here's a tip for garage sale regulars. have you ever been to a sale where more than one person is working?! well always try to feel out which one of the workers is the 'softie' on the prices. sondra worked her mojo and found the poor soul at one sale who's go-to price happened to be a quarter! We liked her, minus her crazy hat.

Once we filled my Jeep and cleaned out the place for pennies - we passed on the good TIP to others looking for prices.

you can check out her blog for her itemized finds, she is much better at that than I. (that cute lampshade was 0.50!) we hit a couple FREE piles that served up plenty of supplies for upcoming projects. happiday!

the winner.

the other dirty birdie asked her blog readers 2 guess what one of her recent junk outing finds was and what she was going to use it for. it was an interesting item which I'd never seen before so I was shooting from the hip with my guess. u can check out her blog if you're curious.... but I won! I was the WINNER!

i got my HEAPING pile of super-duper cute prizes when I came home from work today. there was a bouquet of hydrangeas wrapped in burlap, a loaf of lemon poppyseed bread, a K with lovely paper, and a cute card. they all brought a big smile to my face! i mean come on, who doesn't love PRESENTS?!

then it occurred to me that she won my plumbing trivia question. (for which i haven't selected the prize... but i'm already feeling the pressure!) well - we are really going to need more COMPETITION in our contests folks - otherwise the dirty birdies will just be exchanging junk piles!

and since I'm feeling LUCKY - I threw myself into another contest! this one is a fave blog of mine that I like to read often - freshvintage. colleen is witty, sarcastic, fun 2 read, and she's having a mystery giveaway to boot! the prize makes me DROOL....

vintage plumbing.

GUESS how much I spent on my latest garage sale find?!

It's a porcelain enamel pedestal sink. LOVE it! Even though we just put in a new sink - I could NOT pass it up. Maybe in our next house....

I googled Standard Sanitary Manufacturing and found the company started in 1899 and was bought by American Standard Company in 1929. Jiminy CRICKETS - could the sink be that old?! I think it is still the original enamel coating finish. It's in great condition, with some slight rust and etching probably caused by abrasive cleaning products.

LOOK - this vintage plumbing website is selling pedestal sinks for thousands of dollars. Holy TOLEDO! Maybe I'll be on the next episode of Antiques Roadshow...

I need to get a flashlight and see if the YEAR is on the inside of the sink.

do u have a guess yet?! leave me a comment - the winner gets a prize.

junker's heaven.

Today I will be super-duper busy day at work and then I am getting ready to jet outta town for the weekend. It is a great day, however, and I wanted to share just TWO of the reasons why:

Reason #1: I joined the Junkmarket Junk CLUB!!

Remember when Sondra and I met Sue from the Junk Ladies - well that duo is taking the junk market by storm by starting a junk club! If you don't know, Sue and Ki are the authors of Decorating Junkmarket Style (a good book that I don't like to let people borrow for fear of my own book-lending habits) and also write a column in Country Home Magazine.

Well they started a club 'for the enjoyment of people who like to hunt for, find, repair, recycle and reuse cool stuff. Often mistaken for junk.' That's ME!! I'm one of those people. I'm most excited that this club will introduce me to other junk-crazed people and create a forum for us to share ideas and projects. We can feel normal together in pure JUNK heaven.

Reason #2: The other dirty birdie started her own blog!! Check it out - it's called 'Aged Essence'.

There you have it. Happi Wednesday!