~MOLLIE MUSE~

  Oh nooooo.....

OH NOOOOOOOOOOOO......

I have a bad, bad feeling my dad and 

I are gonna be stuck here in this SUV

for a long, long time!

Hmmm...what does this spell?

 

 T-H-R-I-F-T

 

WHAT?

 

 You gotta be kiddin' me?

She'll be gone for HOURS!

(She may even spend the night!)

 

She's outta control!

She is!!!

 

I'm seriously thinking her life

has gone to the DAWGS!

 

(HAPPY MONDAY!)

Love to you...

Mollie

and 

 

~JUNKIN' ABOUT...~

~ANTIQUE PIE SAFE~

Remember last week when I told you I didn't know WHAT I was going to do with my antique pie safe?  Well...after moving our furniture around a bajillion times I think we finally found a place for it!  I am soo happy we put felt pads under everything!  Made moving the stuff around so much easier!!!

~RIGHT AT HOME~

 Looks like it's new home is going to be in our dining room.  Fitting place, I suppose, for a Pie Safe.  I guess when we decided to open up the wall between my family room and dining room I didn't think about the fact I was losing an entire wall that once held a lot of furniture!

My girl told me anything I didn't have room for she'd be happy to take it off my hands... :)

Yeah...as if!

~OUR WEDDING GOBLETS~

 ~GORGEOUS VINTAGE TABLE COVER~

~BEAUTIFUL VINTAGE CROCHET TABLECLOTH~

Now...I junque everywhere!  Super nice homes and even those that aren't so super nice! :)  But...I must admit that lately it's been slim pickens out there! Lots of estate and tag sales, but other than some bits of old lace and crocheted doilies I haven't found much.  I did find more cigar boxes, but I don't have a clue what to do with these!

Any ideas?

HELP ME!

Send me the link to a tutorial! 

PLEEZE....

 ~GREAT OLD BOXES~

The crochet tablecloth you see above WAS a great find too...but I got it at antique mall for half off!  I think it was $8.  I know...crazy-good price!

 ~NEAT TRAY~

 ~TWO BASKETS LIKE THIS~

~GREAT CANISTER~

Anyway...when the yard sales don't get my cash I can always count on Hobby Lobby (you know it's based in Oklahoma City, right?) to clean me out!

Sometimes I just hate that store.

 ~METAL BOXES~

 ~SHABBY WOOD BASKET~

All the stuff I snagged at Hobby Lobby was 80% off so I didn't walk away too terribly broke!  All of the items have been base painted and most have already been hand painted with roses...  All will be on my website when I reopen it later this month!  

~GREAT METAL HAMPER FRAME~

Now...do you remember last summer when I found this great old Clothes Hamper Frame?  Well...I finished it's MAKEOVER (gee...only took me 9 months...I could have had a baby in that amount of time!)!!! :)  I'll be showing it to you tomorrow for White Wednesday!  This piece was fun to give a face-lift to!

 

Hope your Tuesday is fabulous!  I'm off to create and to blog-hop around!

Love to you...

 

~LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING...and a SIMPLY FABULOUS OLD FIND~

 ~SWEET OLD FINDS~

A few weeks ago I visited one of my local antique malls and it was there I found an amazing old find that I was absolutely convinced needed to come home with me. It was an antique hotel key/mail sorter and it was made of solid oak. It had the majority of the embossed metal room numbers on the front and to be well over 100 years old the aging cabinet was in fabulous condition. I'd been looking for SOMETHING for over a year to hold my huge collection of vintage ribbons and laces but to no avail. I don't have much room left in my sewing studio and so I knew immediately the cabinet would be perfect...

~LOVE THE VINTAGE JARS~

So...did I purchase it? Nope!

Why you ask? Well...because it was over $500 and that was WAAAAAAAY over my budget. My heart was sick. As much as I loved it I couldn't imagine myself painting out such a piece of history (you know my LOVE for cottage white paint) even though I desperately wanted to.  Besides...my hubbs would have said a big fat "NO!" and that would have been the END of the conversation.  He's as big a wheeler-dealer as I am and that price was NEV-VAH gonna fly with him.

 ~GREAT MAKEOVER PROJECT~

Fast-forward to yesterday.

On Wednesday morning my Mr. AGPMan and I took a break from our 2nd bath remodel project and decided to make our way to Enid, Oklahoma via a small town called Kingfisher for a day of junk-store-shoppin'.  As you probably know by now it IS one of our favorite things to do together.  After lunching on Oklahoma's famous Okarche Chicken :), we drove on into Kingfisher and stopped at a little dive I honestly hadn't been to in over eight years.

~VINTAGE RHINESTONE BUTTONS & PINS~

My guy and walked inside the steely blue building and due to it's junky-looking appearance I found myself eager to make my way through the maze of stuff that lined the many aisles.  The place had more nooks and crannies than I have words to describe!

Looks can truly be deceiving!

Why had I waited so long to return to this dump???

~VINTAGE SEWING DRAWERS~

~CHARMING VINTAGE PLATE~

~FABULOUS PINK HAT FOR $1.00~

All the neat old things you see pictured above we found under the roof of that forlorn looking dive shoppe.

After checking out and spending less than $30 (don't hate me) we drove up through Waukomis (I thought of you Ginger!) and on into Enid.  I haven't shopped too much in this town and truly had no idea what I would find.  Our trusty GPS would help us navigate our way to several wonderful places...

I love shopping in the great state of Oklahoma!

You really should come visit us!  We ROCK!

Anyway...we found more neat old things (I'll share soon!) before pulling into the last stop of the day!  It was there I found something that caused me to lose my breath...

~WHAT A FIND!~

Around the corner of a very crowded booth (love that) I found this fabulous vintage hotel key/mail cabinet!  I couldn't believe my eyes...

Hanging on the wall right in front of my face was this fabulous antique cubby that was very, very similar to the one I had passed on buying a few weeks before.  Although it wasn't quite as old as the local one and the room markers had been removed (which would have been neat but not a must-have!) I was mesmerized.  I just stood there staring at the old thing...

Now...I had to hunt for a few seconds for the price which to be honest with you always makes me a bit nervous!  When I finally found the hang tag it was turned backwards...

~BE STILL MY HEART~

I reached for the yellowed ticket and carefully flipped it around...

It read...

TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS

($25.00)

Whhhaaaat?  WaaHHHT?  WHAAAAAAAT?

I immediately began running like a crazy woman  calling out for my guy to help me get it off the wall for me because I was near faint!  I knew beforehand he was NOT going to say NO this time!

After paying the nice man at the counter we loaded up our 2die4 purchase and began to make our way back home!

Now...after I paint out my latest treasure (spray-gun here!) my Mr. AGPMan is going to add a permanent back to the cabinet to square the sides.  I can hardly wait to hang it in place and fill 'er up!!!  I'll be sure to post pictures soon!

Today I'm feeling like I'm pretty much "BAD TO THE BONE!"...:)

~*~

Thank you God for finding a way to give me another 'little desire' of my heart!

Love to you all this AWESOME Summer Day~

~SHABBY ROMANTIC CHINA CABINET...Cottage Chic Transformation~

~VINTAGE CHINA CABINET~

Antique Mall Picture
Summer 2009

Last August I shared with you a POST about lots of the amazing finds I found while out doing some secondhand shopping. I fell in love with the vintage china cabinet you see above and wanted it soooo badly. I even snapped a picture of it while it was still in a local antique mall. I had every intention of buying it.... But~the more I mulled it over in my tiny little brain the more OVERPRICED it seemed. The tag read $475.00 and at the time I just couldn't see my way clear to spend almost $500.00 on something that I knew would just SIT UNTOUCHED for months...

And so...sadly I passed purchasing the little beauty and kept my hard earned cash in the bank.

Fast forward to December 10th, 2009.

My hubby and I visited the same Antique Mall while out one day celebrating my birthday. As I turned down the aisle that once held the cabinet I gasped because it was still there... I motioned for my Mr. AGPMan to come close and the price tag read $199.00--- WHAT?

I guess it was marked down because it had been standing in the same place for so long!

Instead of purchasing the china hutch that very minute (STUPID!) I decided to return home and measure for the gazillionth time the space I wanted it to go into. The mall was closing and I figured I'd just call them in the morning and purchase it over the phone...

When I rang the store early the next day I was told the cabinet was SOLD.

(INSERT SILENT SCREAM HERE!!!)

I immediately called my Mr. AGPMan and began to WAIL. I went on and on AND ON about how dumb I'd been and how I was NEVER going to learn, etc. Nothing came out of my mouth but words of REGRET over being so silly and dragging my feet for one day too many.

I heard nothing but silence on the other end of the phone...

And~

"Honey! HonEY! HONNNNNNNEY........... LISTEN TO ME! LISTEN TO MEEEEEEEE.....

I bought the cabinet!"

~SHABBY ROMANTIC WONDERFUL~
Completely Transformed

The story ended up being funny in the end but at the time it wasn't. My guy had just hung up from talking with the Antique Mall when I called them. They immediately phoned him back and said "Good thing you called so early because a woman just called wanting the cabinet!"

~SIMPLY DELIGHTFUL~
Filled Up With Keepsakes

Now...what I didn't expect was my guy purchasing another smaller china cabinet the very same day. This one had ALSO been in the space since the summer months and was also marked down. The one below was already painted and it was HEAVILY distressed (too much for my taste). It had been sprayed with a paint gun (not the best way to paint furniture in my opinion!) and was too chippy for me. He snagged them both for $333.00 (my guy's a wheeler-dealer)! :)

Good things come to those who wait (just don't be like me and almost wait TOOOOO LONG!)...

~SO PETITE & SWEET~
Perfect For Holding Extra Treasures

I love the storage area underneath the hutch. Great for holding extra plates and bowls, etc.

~MATCHING HARDWARE~

I've repainted everything on the cabinet except the front scrolly work. I need Mr. AGPMan to pop out the glass so I can do that and we've been busy...you can see what I mean about it being too chippy for me. I like gentle distressing...

~FRAMING OUT NEW DOORWAY~

Above you see the renovator man himself working on the doorway to the new dining room. He enlarged the opening to accommodate a pair of vintage french doors we found at The RINK (Oklahoma Antique Mall) for $99.00. This was the deal of the YEAR! French Doors are generally very expensive when purchased new (or vintage!).

~MR. AGPMan DOING HIS THING~

Shimming the door jam for a PERFECT FIT!

~VIEW FROM ENTRY~

Eventually the doors will be primed and painted. Right now we are just happy to have them installed and the mess cleaned up. Construction during Christmas made things exciting around here! You can see the larger China Cabinet inside...not sure where in the room it's going to end up yet! We still have crown molding to install and the dropped ceiling (sides) still need to be textured, primed and painted!

~VIEW FROM DINING ROOM~

Hopefully this year we will have hardwood floors installed in this room! Because this space was once a formal living room it is currently carpeted. That WON'T work for my family! Better choice will be a wonderful area rug...

And there you have it! All the things that have kept me and my hubby busy for the past several weeks. Hope you are inspired...

Blessings to you as you make decorating decisions for your own home...Rebecca

~VINTAGE SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE - Sweet-but those pointy bras must go~

~AUGUST 1950 SEVENTEEN~

A few years ago my daughter graduated from high school and we celebrated by going antique hunting (she loves old jewelry!). While shopping together at a local Antique Mall I happened upon this fabulous vintage 1950's Seventeen Magazine. Since Adrie's Grandmother (my Momma!) graduated from high school in 1952 I thought it would be a sweet gift for my girl. I wanted her to see what life (and clothing) was like when her Gramma was her age. My girl was 17 at the time and I was quite sure she would be both surprised and amused at both the articles and the pictures.

~LOTS OF SUITS~

The Magazine has almost 300 pages and is filled to the brim with pictures of the most fabulous fashions. Can you image that today? Three hundred pages? Skirts, sweaters, dresses, stocking, lingerie and shoes filled almost every page...guess what was missing????

PANTS!

~SKIRT AND SWEATER COMBOS~

I'm quite sure my Mother wore a little duo such as the one above. She loved skirts and sweaters and she is wearing a sweet little set in her high school graduation picture...

~LEATHER HEELS MADE IN THE USA~

I would soooo wear these shoes today....

~MORE FABULOUS SHOES~

And any of these as well!

~BE STILL MY HEART~

As much as I love PINK (Yes! Yes I do!) I would absolutely pass on this little number! I'm so grateful for Spandex!

~NO THANK YOU!~

I thank God every single time I see these pointy BRAS that the fashions changed BEFORE I required such a device!

When I watch old black and white movies I'm amazed at the teeny tiny waists of the women, pencil straight skirts and those chests that seem to scream out "LOOK HERE! LOOK HERE!"

~NO FOOLERS?~

Check this ad out! No kidding! Look close! "No Pads - No Puffs - No Foolers".

Hysterical!

~WAS THIS APPEALING?~

I distinctly remember my Momma looking exactly like this (Hi Mom!) :). By the time I got myself OUT of this little contraption it would be time to get back up again and put it all back on for the day....

No thanks!

~CREAM SHAMPOO~

Fairly inexpensive shampoo...even for 1950's standards! Wonder what those young girls would think about my $10.00 per bottle of shampoo???? I betcha they'd FAINT!

~GORGEOUS FORMAL FASHIONS~

Everything the magazine showcased was ultra feminine and tasteful. No raunchy clothing and certainly no thongs peeking out of extra, extra low blue jeans.

Surprisingly, there were articles written about attending college (yes!), decorating a dorm room on a budget, as well as advertisements for engagement rings and Hope Chests.

Tupperware Parties, too!

~CASHMERE BOUQUET~

I love this sweet Ad for Cashmere Bouquet Body Talc. You wouldn't even believe the number of articles for deodorants and creams! So many names I've never heard of before... Guess they were all surpassed by SECRET, SURE, RIGHT GUARD, etc.

~THE MOST REVEALING AD ~

I look like this when I put on my Antiperspirant... (I do!) :)

~LEG CREAMS AND SHAVING~

And I look exactly like this when I shave my legs and apply lotion!

Aren't you jealous???

~ENID, OKLAHOMA MENTIONED BY NAME~

Just MAYBE the reason this Magazine was still in one piece and found in Oklahoma is because it contained an article about teenagers in my very State. It was a sweet read about the band class of 1950 in Enid, Oklahoma.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of yesteryear. Isn't it amazing how far we've come? We've certainly made progress in many things that have indeed made our lives richer, better...

Still...can't help but wonder (the girdles and pointy bras aside) where we would be in 2009 had we not abandoned some of the values of the 1950's for the ones we choose to embrace today...

Something to think about~

Love and Blessings...Rebecca