WEEKEND LOOT

Our kids were at a Disciple Now youth event from Friday night through Sunday morning, so we had the entire day on Saturday all to ourselves.  It was the best day!  The weather was gorgeous, so we spent the morning taking our time driving around looking for garage sales, and stumbled upon a few winners.

I found some great wooden serving pieces at the first one.  $10 bought me a heavy, large cutting board and this tiered pivoting tray.  At first I thought I'd just tuck the tiered stand away for entertaining, but I keep thinking of other great ways to use it.  I have big plans for both of these, stay tuned!

I also found a seemingly brand new laundry sized basket- $3.

The next house was an estate sale where my husband joked that it seemed like it was frozen in time, somewhere in the 70s.  But, it had really cool stuff!  It was evident that this person was well-traveled, there were some interesting things to look through.

Ray found these tins.  They have Texas and bluebonnets on the top, and some Texas historical scenes around the sides.  A friend from church saw a shopping pic I had posted on Instagram and said she sold fruitcakes in tins just like these for her school band in 1967.  I love that story!  We have Texas connections in our family and thought these would be fun stocking stuffers for a few of them (family-forget that you saw these by Christmas, ok? ;)

There were a lot of neat old office accessories.  I thought this pad of graph paper was cool (dates from the 60s) because of the heading... "US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines."  And, for the record, this is my favorite kitchen utensil ever.  They are no where to be found in stores, and I'm always thrilled when I come across one at a garage sale or thrift store.  I don't know why, but I use them all the time.  It's what my Mom uses to make gravy, so I do too!  It also comes in handy for fried okra, scooping out veggies, and lots of other jobs.

One of my favorite pieces of design advice that I'm getting good at following is "Buy what you love, and it will work in your home."  As soon as I saw this piece, I LOVED it.  I took a few minutes to consider whether it would work in my home, but in the end the gorgeous color won me over and I couldn't leave without it.  I wish I knew something about it but don't even know where to start looking it up.  I'm assuming it's from Mexico, but that's my only guess! 

They came down from $25 to $20- still a little more than I wanted to pay, but I knew I'd be sorry if I didn't get it.  I considered putting it in my daughter's room, but instead found the perfect spot where I see it every time we walk in the house.  All of the details are just incredible, I love the sweet little family.

The same day I bought it, I received a few of these cute wall hangers (designed by Young House Love) to try out from The Home Depot.  

Perfect timing!  I gave the base of the clear one a quick coat of green (which tied in with the mirror wall across from it) and attached it to the wall.  I think these little knobs add the perfect detail for hanging frames or for wall hangings (they would have been great for this project too), and I love that everything I needed was in the box and that I could easily install in in about 1 minute.

That afternoon we stopped by a few antique malls that we hadn't been to before, and I found a few more treasures.  I don't have any copper cookware, but saw these two pretty pots and thought I'd try them out.

And, these birds.  I love them!  The pair was $7, and both tails have obviously been broken and glued back on, as well as a few other chips and cracks here and there.  But, I didn't mind.  I love the pink, but I'll probably try to fill in the cracks and paint them.  Such a fun accessory, you can bet you'll see these around a lot in the future! 

It's been a really long time since I've been out treasure hunting, and it was such a pleasant surprise to find so many good things.  Makes me extra ready for Spring and more garage sales!  Have you found a great treasure lately?