Saturday, August 21, 2010

How A Car Battery Turned Into An Unexpected Blessing :) :) :)

Hi everyone :) :) I hope you all had a great week.  Yesterday, I shared a little bit about what happened with our car. Click here to read yesterday's post.  Well, Dad and I had gone to Fred Meyer. They open at 7 a.m....and my dad and I wanted to get our errands finished EARLY so we could beat the heat.  Well, when he started the car, it was taking too long to start and making this funny noise...but you wouldn't notice it unless you listened carefully.  Well, it as a good thing we went to the car dealership to have it fixed. We were very well taken care of!!! It was great.

The car dealership has a really nice waiting area where we could sit on cushy couches and recliners and watch television. We hadn't eaten breakfast yet. Breakfast could wait...horror, I know...but the car needed attention. So we watched television in the waiting room.  I made myself a little cup of coffee and it was great. I added real sugar because the packets were so cute.. I mean, doesn't this look vintage cute? Dixie Crystals have been around for a LONG time!!!


This is more of a silly photo than anything else...I wouldn't normally take a photo of a sugar packet...but this was cute and I was a little concerned about the car, and hungry and the yummy, yummy coffee was begging for some sugar...

There was this beautiful mosaic also hanging in the waiting room area. You'll recognize this from yesterday's post, too. If you didn't read yesterday, this was a mosaic done by Charles A. Fomby in remembrance of 9/11/01.  I just love our flag and Americana things...so I had to snap a photo. It wasn't till after the photo was taken that I read the tag underneath it !!!

In Remembrance of 9/11/01 by Charles A. Fomby..

The unexpected field trip to the car dealership turned out to be a blessing in disguise...see, most yard sales in the area don't start till around 8 or 9 here...unless you camp out early and the owners let you shop early. So it looked like I'd have to wait till tomorrow. Well, we were there for at least an hour today...I didn't count the time too much because that couch was so comfy and I didn't want to leave after awhile ;) :) Anyway, by the time we were done, we ended up eating at Sonic for breakfast. I know, it's the first time in about a month that we've eaten fast food...Yeah...but we needed food!!!..and Sonic was just around the corner.

When we were done, we stopped at a yard sale that was near Sonic. It was held in the parking lot of a local plumbing company.  A bunch of young kids and their parents were holding a yard sale to raise money for cheerleading events etc...and there was some really cool stuff there. Take a look at what I found. I spent $10 at this sale today...my budget for the weekend!!!

A lacy table runner/bookcase topper..

Here's a beautiful white cotton/white lace table runner type of fabric...I didn't measure it, but it would fit perfectly on top of a narrow dresser drawer or shelf!!! I have this sitting on the dresser drawer I bought at this same sale today...The photo is coming up... I wish there had been more of this, I would have snapped it all up.

...lightswitch cover with all sorts of fun and feminine detail...

In an effort to find cute, frilly things for my room...I found this really cute lightswitch cover. My dad will put it on the wall for me sometime tonight!! I could just as easily do this myself, but my dad likes to help :) :) :)

...a beautiful off-white Ralph Lauren cotton flat sheet...

Okay...I snapped this up because originally it would have been inexpensive yardage to make my shelf liners and china plate liners with lace edging...but this cotton is so nice...I mean, you can tell by feeling it, that the thread count is really high...I may use this to make a tablecloth with romantic ruffles...at least those are the ideas swimming around in my head...

I didn't take a full photo of the flat sheet...because it wasn't really interesting to look at...but the quality of the fabric in my hands...oh, it was heaven...and it's made in the USA!!!! That didn't influence my purchasing choice...it was just a happy fact I discovered after I brought it home.  I'm still trying to figure out if it's queen- or king-sized....'spose it doesn't matter since I'll be using it as an accent for the dining room table. :) :) :)

Now this next plaque was purchased at a yard sale a block from my home. It's cute and vintage and Americana all at the same time :) :) This was only $1. This cute sign put me over my $10 budget!!!  I think I'll be forgiven...this time :) :) :) I have this love of Americana and all things pink, Victorian, romantic, etc...so I'm not sure how to combine the two into one room...but I'm designating the kitchen area for my vintage signs and Americana collections..I think...My bedroom willl be the palatial pink palace...as will the living room. Don't worry...there will be guy-friendly stuff for my dad, too!!!

There were some matching accents to go with this..but I wasn't really sure what I would do with them, so I didn't purchase them.  It's hard for me to exercise fiduciary restraint when I'm shopping at a yard sale :) :) :)

Okay...go back to the yard sale at the plumbing store...Here's the dresser drawer that I purchased. This cost me $5.00 even.. I saw it and went back to the car. When my dad realized what I'd passed up, we both agreed we should go back and ask about it. The lady only charged me $5. That's a steal of a deal... I need more storage for my clothes, craft supplies etc...and this will fit the bill nicely. If you look closely there are some nicks...specifically a missing knob handle and a chunk of the dresser drawer literally missing...but for the price, this will fit nicely!!!


The lacy table runner is sitting on top...with the "Stars and Stripes Forever" plaque sitting on top.  Right now, it's blocking the lower half of my linen closet...but as soon as I clear space, it'll be going into my bedroom. My dad really likes this. He says it looks "country" :) :) :) That's a compliment that was unsolicited :) :) He really likes it...but I want to paint it a creamy white or something that will remind me of all the beautiful pinks that I see on Saturdays here in blogland :) :)

So I know that some of you are really skilled with repainting things. Any suggestions for my dresser drawer? I'd like to repaint it, if it's not too spendy. I like linen white, pink etc... It's tall...which I LOVE...and it's narrow...which I also LOVE...so it wouldn't take a lot of paint...Any ideas? I'm open to your thoughts...!!!! Is spray paint or sample sizes of regular paint better? Isn't it fun to be able to have this kind of choice? This is grrreat!!!

Here's the latest installment in the mystery dishcloth knit along. If you're curious as to what this is exactly, click here to visit Rachel's blog :) :)


Day Five of the mystery dish cloth knit along. I've know completed 29 rows. I think this pattern will remain the same :) :) I like it...it reminds me of the lattice on a yummy pie crust!!!

That's about it for today...I'm wishing all of you a very nice weekend. That's the news from Oregon. Love and hugs, Heather :)

4 comments:

Grandmabeckyl.blogspot said...

Nice finds at the sale. I love Ralph Lauren bedding. For so long I wanted a comforter but too expensive, even though it was at outlet store I worked at. Just a few years ago, I found a queen size comforter exactly what I wanted for $15 at a thrift store in town. I love it!
I have the pattern for the dishcloth you are making. It's off Lion Brand web site. I was just reading over the directions last night. How cool is that? I want to knit one too but am working on my granddaughter's little sweater. Happy day and God bless.

Holly, the Old Western Gal said...

You got some bargains!

I know that spray paint is easier to use (but you must mask the runners, etc in the drawers), and you can get a high-gloss finish easily with it, but I guess it depends on what exact look you want for the "new" chest of drawers...I have seen them undercoated in red or black and then topcoated (by brush each time) with white, and some of it sanded off for the shabby chic look...good luck!

Unknown said...

More great finds... you go girl..

Patti said...

Wow, Heather, great deals!!! That dresser will be lovely in either white or pink. Sorry, I can't help much, as I'm not really a painter. (I spray paint little items, like candle sticks, but I've never attempted a dresser, mostly because my husband enjoys woodworking, and he loves wood, so he doesn't always like it covered up with paint.)

I love the table runner. It looks like Battanburg lace.

Have a lovely weekend.

Love,
Patti

PS I am a Sonic freak. I try to always keep money on my Sonic card, so when I'm out and about during the afternoons, I can stop by for an iced tea or a strawberry limeade. They have happy hour every day from 2-4...all drinks for half price.