Moss Rocks! ~

I'm a little late in finding these cool things called Moss Rocks.  I don't shop Target and WalMart like I used to.  I used to go to Target and spend $100 on "stuff."  "Stuff" I didn't really need, but wanted.  Well, since becoming a junk dealer, everything I buy has to fit into 3 areas. If I can't eat it, sell it, or paint it, I don't buy it. Of course there are exceptions to those rules, but it's amazing what you can live without or find at a yard sale or thrift shop.  

Well, tonight I needed to buy white paint. Out of all the paint I have, I didn't have any white. I have a ton of OOPS paint, but they are OOPS paint for a reason; bad tint job.  WalMart here we come. I used a sample of Glidden paint and I really liked it, so I bought a gallon of Pebble White. $28! I about choked. I hate paying retail for anything! But I needed it for a HUMONGOUS piece I'm painting in the morning. 

Long story short, I found Moss Rocks.  I had seen them on some blogs, but never found any.

Crap pictures, but cool rocks. 

I put them in an Ironstone bowl I found last weekend for $3.00! 

This is why I bought paint; I'm using an electric paint sprayer to paint this tomorrow: 

It's 69" long and HUGE and heavy. It has a top hutch portion also that I forgot to take a picture of. 

This violated one of my rules. If it's too big to handle on your own, let it go.  Well, It took 2 trips to pick it up. The bottom portion fit in my Expedition. But the top portion was too big and I had to borrow a pick up. 

Rules are meant to be broken, right?

~Amy

Pumpkins ~

It seems velvet pumpkins are all over blog land and I love them! I just can't afford them. 

Well, my friend Jan has made a pumpkin patch of her very own.  

I claimed this mini pumpkin. 

Pretty great, huh?

I like the grapevine wreath stems. Looks more rustic..

Here is another one of her creations. A flour sac pillow. Love the red and yellow together.

This is a cashmere sweater pillow with cashmere rosettes, and felted leaves.

This feels so good; it's so soft.

Well, all of these can be yours!

They are available at The Corner Store Antiques and More in Little Mountain, SC. 

If you don't live near me or SC, you can still own one or your own patch.  Feel free to message me and I can quote you and send them to you.  We ship anywhere! Happy Fall!

~Amy

I Was Featured ~

I got a call this morning from my friend Jan. She asked if I was excited. Well, sure, I was excited. I was awake to see the day and was checking my work emails. What could be more exciting than that? Well, this is: 

I was featured on Southern Hospitality's blog for my Thrifty Treasure finds last week!

I'm a geek, but it is exciting.  Rhoda's blog was the first blog that I started reading and following. I have been hooked ever since. I love reading blogs and getting ideas for decorating, painting and trends.  

Check it out: 

See? Pretty cool I think. 

So a big THANK YOU to Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for the feature!

~Amy

Wash Stand update II ~

The weather has been terrible and I haven't been able to finish this piece. 

But here are some pictures of what it looks like right now. 

It's YELLOW! and WHITE! 

The color was pretty much determined by how bad the red of the wood bled through.  

I primed it 3 times times and the yellow was the best color to make it blend in and not look so bad.  You can see some of the red bleed through where the handles should be. 

Good thing you won't see that once the hardware is put back on..

I still need to distress it and make it all pretty, but the rain is supposed to let up tomorrow.

This is the mirror that attaches to a bracket that attaches to the back of the wash stand.  

So instead of a finished product, take a look at one of my favorite pictures I have found..

SO CUTE! 

This weekend will be a busy one with FOUR estate sales going on. It's an addiction. It really is...

~ Amy

Christmas in September ~

 Last Friday, I drove to Charleston again for another estate sale.  It was in an old, Registered Historic home, and it was BEAUTIFUL! I was in line an hour and half early! What can I say, I'm a freak for great junk! I became fast friends with the first couple in line, Shannon and Steve from Mt. Pleasant, SC. People at estate sales are very tight lipped about what they are there for, for fear that you will be after the same things. I didn't tell either!

Here is the house:

Simply Gorgeous. Love the ivy growing up the front porch.

Here is my loot:

Love Ironstone. That is the main reason I went. Great pieces!

Coffee grinder

2 large dough bowls, a vanity stool and 2 luggage racks, which I didn't get a pic of..

this is a mixture of things from the estate sale and from another of my favorite shops Charleston.

Ignore the messy house. MERRY CHRISTMAS! Great (new) tinsel tree I found in a thrift shop in town.  It will look great in the booth in a few months.

Good stuff, huh? I think so.

It got too dark for me to take good pictures of the wash stand that I finished today.  So until tomorrow...

~Amy

Wash Stand update ~

This washstand came out of a barn. It was gross! 

I bought it off the back of a pickup. I wouldn't buy meat off the back of a pickup, but I'll buy furniture!

It also has a mirror and towel bar that attaches to the back. 

It took me so long to do anything with this because the veneer is messed up on the top.  It looks like it was burned and it was bubbling up. I was scared to touch it until this weekend.  I didn't want to ruin it! HA!

So... I took a razor blade to it and cut out around the bad spots, and then chiseled out the bad wood.  As I was cutting out the bigger section, two smaller spots became apparent.

All the spots are dug out and then I sanded the edges to make it smooth.

Then I spackled the heck out of it.  I filled in all the spots and waited forever for it to dry completely. The spackle turns lighter when it's dry, so then it can be sanded. 

All filled and sanded and ready for paint. It was easy overall, but time consuming and very hot in the sun.  

I painted it and it's just waiting for the hardware to be put back on, and then I will have the finished product pics. 

~Amy

I'm back! ~

I didn't go anywhere sadly. I wished I could have gone to the Country Living Fair in OH. Pictures looked amazing. I also wished I could have gone to Junk Bonanza in WI. I didn't. Pictures looked amazing though!  There is another Country Living Fair in GA which isn't that far away from my home in SC. So maybe I can go to that one. I just fear that everything will be out of my price range. But I think it would be fun to see different things, ideas and other people's junk.  I'll have to work on that one. Maybe drag my Mom along! Mom, get off the floor, it won't be hot, I promise!

Still trying to clean out the garage. Here is a pic of the "trying"

I pulled a few things out and painted them. I swear I did!

I painted this end table. It has only been in the garage for 2 years..

you like the dust on it? Dirt don't hurt!

That crud on the bottom shelf had to be scraped off. It was an old sticker.

And viola! Slate Blue Rust-O. I haven't used this color so much but I like it...

A little character building with distressing. Fini!

In the booth it went! It's very happy to have a new home, and I'm very happy to see it go.

I also did this little half moon table.

Nothing too drastic. It was already primed when I bought it (2.5 years ago) so I painted it Hyacinth by Krylon.  Again, a new color for me, but I liked it. I distressed it and green paint came through. Hard to see from the after pic, but there is green showing. I wasn't sure if I like it, but it grew on me and away it went.  I was saving this table for a project that never got completed. I wanted to attach it to a door and make this entry way door/table thing. Yeah, whatever, it's done and gone.

Tomorrow, I'll have the "after" pics of this wash stand..

I just have to paint the hardware and distress it and it will be done.

It has a terrible case of veener sickness. The veneer was actually burned in one place and had lifted up. This was a barn find last summer and I was scared of the veneer damage, but I fixed it and will show you tomorrow.

In the morning, I'll be taking pictures of all the great junk I have found the past 2 weeks. 

Great Ironstone, cotton scales, luggage racks, vanity stool, and more books! Shocking!

~Amy

Scenes from the Lake ~

My house has become the Labor Getaway for my sister and her family. I live a block from the lake and have a boat ramp for access. But I couldn't find the key this year! Too much JUNK!  I know, bad hostess.  We still had a ton of fun and I took a ton of pictures. 

My 9 yr old nephew Aaron wakeboarding

6 yr old Ethan kneeboarding.

dueling kneeboards. These kids are amazing..

A blue Heron looking for lunch..

Turtles sunning

I could have sat in these all day. Wonder if the owners would mind??

The next batch of pictures are from a cemetary that we visited by boat. A LONG time ago, before Lake Murray was here, there were 11 towns where the lake is now.  When the lake was made, the towns were relocated and then flooded to make the Lake.  There are still cemetaries and headstones visible when the lake level is down. It's pretty cool.

Lake Murray is also where Jimmy Doolittle trained his raiders to retaliate against Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There is an island on the lake called Bomb Island which Jimmy used for target practice. 

Anyway, this cemetary isn't one of the flooded ones. But it is on a point of the lake and it's pretty cool. So, I jumped out of the boat (not very gracefully) and took pictures of the headstones. 

There were about 8 stones that did not have any markings on them.

This was an infant son's stone dating to 1861. So cool.

This stone was broken, but dated to 1889

Saw the No Tresspassing sign as we were leaving. Oops.

Another great weekend on Lake Murray. Always fun with family and the annual Labor day parade, and the annual Library book sale that follows.  Like I need more books! But I'm addicted. 

I'm still trying to get my house in order (was it ever in order before?) and put back together so I can get back to FURNITURE! I'm having paint withdrawal. This was the last thing I painted:

And just my luck, it's almost the weekend again and the weather has cooled off and it is gorgeous!

Ready....Set....Paint!

~Amy