A Quick Break...

This weekend Tom and I really got to work on the house and yard...I had a list longer than my arm of things I wanted to do and I think we probably got half of them done. Saturday morning Tom ran an errand (went to get Modano's autograph) and I ran an errand (went to Bachmann's in Minneapolis for the "Gathering of Friends" antique occasional sale...love those kinds of errands!) My bff Jane told me about it so I thought I'd check it out...so so so much cute stuff, there was an old cupboard type cabinet that I wanted for (maybe) a TV stand...I wasn't sure it would work and it was a little pricey so I wanted to get Tom's opinion before I decided so I headed home with this pile of goodies...

Tom was working on replacing the hardware on the front door when I got home...told him about the cabinet I saw and let him know I wanted to go back with with him later to check it out... In the meantime, I got to work replacing the floral draperies in the family room with some lighter, airier Rachel Ashwell curtains...what a chore that was! Patching holes, measuring, drilling, painting...whew! I sure wish I had thought about getting "BEFORE" pictures...
I painted a shelf, painted an old table we bought last year at a garage sale (you'll see pics of that on Tuesday), patched and painted more holes in various places throughout the house (thanks in part to my constant "re-decorating", washed all the bedding and put away the flannel sheets (don't think we'll need those again until December), washed the couch cushions, raked some leaves...THEN...we jumped back in the car and headed back to Minneapolis. By this time I had thought about the cute cabinet so much that I KNEW I wanted it, figured I could talk them down on the price a little bit and was so excited to get it. When we arrived I started leading Tom to the booth, as soon as I got it in my sights I noticed the cabinet had been SOLD! Argh! I was so disappointed...we found it up on a dolly ready to be loaded into the lucky ladies truck. Oh well, I guess it wasn't meant to be, Tom tried to make me feel better by telling me that it was too tall for a TV stand...maybe I'll find something like it somewhere else right?
By this time we were so exhausted we stopped for pizza (how strange it is for us when it's just the two of us) then went to the movies. I figured since I had Tom working so hard all day I'd let him choose the movie...alas, we saw Hot Tub Time Machine. I guess it wasn't so bad.

Today I finished painting (Tom slept until 10:00) and tried to clean up some of my mess. Tom finished raking leaves and put out my birdhouse...now all I need to do is paint the pole to match the fence.
Lucky Tom took tomorrow off work to go to the Twins inaugural game at Target Field...hope the weather is nice! I'll be back at my list after work...still trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the huge vintage screen I got a Mustard Moon a few weeks ago. I think I have an idea...

Over the (Mustard) Moon...

This morning I decided to try my hand at another occasional sale, I know, I know, I'm a sucker when it comes to possible treasures. Anyway, I'm fortunate enough to live in MN where Mustard Moon is located...you may have heard of this quaint little shop...it was mentioned in Flea Market Style magazine (I think Ki said it was one of her favorites) and today was the last day of their three day occasional sale. It really only takes me 10 seconds or so to decide if I like a shop once I step foot through the door and Mustard Moon was no exception. I literally couldn't grab goodies fast enough...good thing Tom was with me to hold all my loot. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I've been scouring flea markets and antique shops for a vintage sort of hat rack type thingy but everytime I find them they're either too expensive or not truly vintage...look what I found at Mustard Moon!!! Don't you just love how old and crusty it is? (It's really so much more pretty in person!) Tom and I hung it as soon as we got home and now I have somewhere to hang my old buggy wheel...oh happy me!
I found all sorts of old mismatched china, the neatest lamp I've ever seen (sorry I didn't take a picture of that), a banged up old screen window (that had the best price tag ever..."FREE") and all sorts of other to-die-for treasures! (sorry for all the exclamation marks but I'm SO HAPPY!!)

And, as if that wasn't good enough, Jane the shopkeeper is the sweetest person EVER. She and I got along fantastically (and she even let Tom borrow her drill to get things off the wall for me). I left a few things behind that now I wish I had purchased but her next sale is in April so I'll be back (plus the river in Carver is threatening to flood so she didn't bring as many treasures to the sale as she wanted for fear of them getting ruined). In closing, I would like to apologize to all the occasional sales I offended with my not-so-nice post last weekend...I take it all back and I hope you'll forgive me! Seriously...if you are ever in MN during one of Mustard Moon's sales you've got to check it out...SERIOUSLY! Ok...gotta go display all my new treasures, hope you have good luck treasure hunting this weekend too!

Occasional Sale Debut (and Finale)

I've been hearing a lot of talk about occasional sales and how fantastic they are so I knew I had to check a few of them out. This weekend was the one in particular that everyone was ranting and raving about. It was in Anoka., MN (the Halloween Capital of the World)...one of my favorite cities for junking so the 45 minute drive from our house didn't bother me at all, I was ready for a whole morning of treasure hunting. Tom and I found the "market" and headed in...I knew as soon as we were two steps inside the door that I would be disappointed. We looked around for a minute then exchanged the old "really? this-is-it?" look and left without finding anything we were remotely interested in, it's not that they were selling garbage, it was just household "decorations" you can really find anywhere. Oh well, at least we had four more antique shops to pick through. Shelby and I visited a different occasional sale in Hudson last weekend and found the same disappointment...alas, no more occasional sales for this junkaholic!

The excursion wasn't a complete loss however...Tom found some goodies (I swear he's turning into Frank from American Pickers...seems he's REALLY into tobacco tins lately) and here's my haul (I even found my next Trash to Treasure item!)


The pictures aren't as nice as I had hoped...I'm going to blame it on the gray and gloomy weather we've had the past few days.


I can never seem to have quite enough buttons, especially the ones with rhinestones in the center. All but one of the shops we visted were having big sales, anywhere from 15% - 50% off unless the item was marked "firm".

We got this adorable Googy glass for Matthew who has taken to collecting vintage disney memorabilia.
I couldn't pass up this photograph...the caption reads "Refugees In Line For Red Cross Food." It's apparently from 1928.

I got the cute little jewelry box to hold all my vintage rhinestone jewelry...one of these days I'm going to try my hand at turning some of it into a rejuvenated necklace or perhaps even a bracelet. If any of you have frequented the occasional sale in your area I sure hope you had better luck I did!