Any Thoughts?

I picked up these chairs at the Salvation Army for $7 each.

I really liked the cool backs and I thought they could be a fun re-do project.

So here's where you, dear reader, come in.  I already know I want to paint these chairs and recover the seats, and I've got a few ideas.  The first idea I had was to paint the chairs white and reupholster the seats is this fabric:

"Plume" by Thomas Paul for Duralee in peacock blue- I love love love this fabric, and the peacock feathers are really huge (about the size of your handprint).  I got it for an absolute STEAL last Thanksgiving in Boston, and so I ended up carrying 23 yards(!) back in my luggage.

Perhaps paint it lacquered red and upholster the seats with this cool Ikea fabric:

Or maybe black with some colorful fabric?  Any other suggestions?  I'd love you input.  I think I'd like to fix them up and sell them at an upcoming flea market.

Catching Up

I've been a bit preoccupied lately.  For those of you that don't know, I only moonlight as a thrifter/reseller...in fact, my "day job" is as a nuclear engineer.  I've been following the events in Japan very closely, especially because I have friends and colleagues directly effected by the earthquake, tsunami, and resulting nuclear emergency.  Also, Marc (my dear husband and my very own Mr. Fix-it) is a structural engineer specializing in seismic (earthquake) design.  It looks like he's going to be heading to Japan to survey the damage, so we have definitely both been preoccupied.

This weekend was pretty slow for estate-saling in the East Bay.  Marc and I braved the rain (it's not supposed to rain in California!!) to hit one in San Leandro on Saturday morning, but we walked away with nothing.  So after visiting the post office to ship an item purchased from my Etsy store (yay!), I motored on over to the close thrift stores in Hayward.  And here's the bounty:

A stainless dry good canister set!  I almost didn't get it, but then I found the matching breadbox:

They were both pretty dirty and rusty:

But after a good scrubbing with Barkeeper's friend, they're nice and shiny again!

Formerly rust-spotted area from before:  

But the real find of the weekend was this beautiful Gucci scarf with red/purple poppies:

There are nine different poppies on the scarf, each one rendered in vibrant colors and exquisite detail:

Sorry for the lack of focus on the blog lately...I think I'm ready to get back into the groove!

Some Groovy Finds for Thrift Share Monday

Marc and I rolled out of bed early on Saturday morning.  Our first sale wasn't supposed to start until 8, but I had a funny feeling about.  I told him, "Let's leave early...I think this sale might open before 8."  We ended up arriving around 7:30, and sure enough, the garage was open.  Only one dealer in sight, though, so I managed to scoop up some fun things.  Here's the haul (mostly from that first sale):

The sale was of a lady who LOVED dolls, and in fact all the bedrooms were filled with dolls of all shapes and sizes.  I only managed to pick a few that interested me, if you can really call them "dolls":

A set of foo dogs and two geisha girls

I found another cool stainless cake saver, and since I already have one, this one is for sellling.  I spotted some orange-themed things for my kitchen, including a cool orange-printed bottle and a really nice embroidered bowl of oranges:

I finally found a chip and dip bowl.  I found the top, smaller bowl and the gold clip on the dining table, and so I went hunting for the larger bowl, which I eventually found in the china cabinet.  I felt so victorious!

These little suitcases are in great shape and would great as a funky briefcase.  

Finally, my favorite purchase of the day was found by Marc.  This plant stand was sitting in the living room and I had even picked one of the "violet pots" up.  It wasn't until I saw Marc being so fascinated that I thought they might be worth getting:

There are four of these pots, and everything, including the violets, leaves, and terra cotta pots are knitted.  Including the "drip catchers":

After thinking about it a bit, I agreed that they were pretty cool.  

So we decided to take them, plant stand and all.

I love buying these kind of things at estate sales.  Just thinking about all the time and effort that went into making them makes me love these items all the more.  

The Gift of Thrift

I love being able to use my thrifting powers for good.  I especially love finding the perfect gift for friends and family.  My younger brother, John, is a physics teacher at a specialized science-focused high school in New Jersey.  His students are required to wear uniforms, so he always likes to wear ties in the school colors of blue and yellow.  Ties are constant in the thrift stores I frequent, so I began looking out for nice, clean ones in shades of blue or yellow.  Well, it only took a month or two to amass quite the collection:

Only the best for my little bro...

8 Thrifted Ties:  $12.50

Shippng to NJ:  $10.20

Having your brother win "Teacher with Best Ties":  Priceless!

My First Etsy Sale!!!

Hoo-ah!  I am so excited for my first Etsy sale!  And it's so fitting that it was these:

my beautiful little aqua bird wall plaque trio...they were my initial inspiration to open a shop on Etsy, so I'm glad they were picked first.  My little birds are flying to Michigan later in the week!

Visit my Aqua&Orange shop on Etsy!  Also, to celebrate, I think I'm going to have to do a give-away, probably after next week's Thrift Share Monday!  Mark your calendars!

Wow, What a Weekend!

This was a great weekend for thrifting!  It was cold in the Bay Area (ok, so it was only 32 degrees, but we did have SNOW predicted on Friday night- very unusual!) but that didn't seem to deter anyone from heading to estate sales.  Here's one of the first things I picked up at the first (8 am) sale:

A cool, rusty, weather-beaten, old ladder.  My brother and sister-in-law have been looking for one for their place in San Fransisco for a while.  But what do city folk need with a ladder? Well, I think they'd like to do something like this:

I get it!  A place to store my ReadyMades!  I like it!  Maybe I won't be so generous, although rusty and weathered isn't really my style...

And of course we found some of the ever-present Pyrex...I actually really like these two patterns, so I am keeping these:

Aqua snowflake divided dish.  Tiffany, aka DFWGirlieGirl Housewife, had an ingenious idea for using these dishes to their full potential that I think I might steal in the near future.  

These gorgeous "Daisy Cinderella" casseroles have such sunny colors, they are an instant mood lifter!

I did find some stuff to sell, and I have finally set up my Etsy shop!  Presenting AquaandOrange!  It will be a little bit vintage and a little bit of a project outlet.  All the rest of the my finds for the week are destined for the shop!  Some are there now...

Blue Dansk Kobenstyle Lasagna Pan (I collect these enamel pans, but in aqua so this one is for someone else!)

Aqua and Orange trivets!  I wonder why I was drawn to these...

Orange, Yellow, and Aqua Enamel Paella Pans, never out of the box!

Blue Danish wooden candleholders!  So cute!

A set of 8 red floral glasses.

I also found something a little too big to go in the Etsy shop:

This AMAZING danish modern sectional couch!  I saw it (and it's tiny price tag) and immediately told Marc we had to get it.  He balked...we had no place to put it.  But I knew it could be sold pretty quickly, for a pretty decent profit (ok, an INSANE profit), so I convinced him.  Look at the beautiful wood sides:

 

 ....it's graceful curves:

...those dainty feet:

Oh, yes, it would be mine....at least for the 12 hours it took to flip it on Craigslist.  Let's just say I made enough to make get that embroidery machine I've been eyeing.  Yes, it was a good weekend!

Adventures with Craigslist

My husband is a very good sport.  About every two weeks or so, I'll see something AMAZING on Craigslist.  (Since we live in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Craigslist started, everyone uses it to find jobs, apartments, significant others, and to buy and sell things.)  Our conversations usually go something like this:

Me:  "So, Marc, do you fancy a drive?"
Marc:  "What'd you find now?"
Me:  " A really awesome ______, and it's only ________!"
Marc:  "How far is it?"
Me:  "Um...only 10 (more like 20) miles."
Marc:  "Is it going in the garage, because (that's my space) there is no more room in there?"
Me:  "No, I'm sure I can fit in my craft room/the guest room/the upstairs hallway/(out of the way in the garage)"
Marc:  "Ok...I'll get my keys..."

Last week, I saw an ad with this picture:

She had described it in her ad as a "George Jetson's light fixture (kinda retro 90's)" and was asking $25!  I recognized it immediately as being an iconic PH5 Pendant Lamp, designed by Poul Henningsen of Denmark.  I recognized it because I really wanted wanted one for over my dining table and finally bought a knock-off on eBay two years ago.  Turns out, this lady had just bought a house and didn't like the light, so I bought it from her on Craigslist.  The crazy thing was that as I was leaving with my prize in tow, the seller mentioned to me that she really loved the Ikea esthetic.  Seeing as Ikea is obviously so influence by mid century Scandinavian design (a la Poul Henningsen), I found it really ironic that she was selling a great vintage piece to replace it with a contemporary "interpretation."  As much as I don't understand those who don't see the value in "old" stuff, I just have to remind myself that they're the reasons I can buy such great stuff so cheap!