It's Stripping Day!

I know.  It sounds wrong.  But it's really FURNITURE stripping day!

Today, I am tackling:

1.  This slant top desk I picked up this weekend for my Baby Bee.

I wish I could just slap some chalk paint on this cutie and be done with it, but the black paint is bubbled and just pretty nasty, so I'm going to strip it.  Who knows?  I might just leave it with a wood finish instead of painting it.

2.  Our kitchen table.

Long story short - or as best as this verbose bee can make it.  I bought this pine table unfinished but wanted a wax finish for it.  Now wax finishes were not as popular then (about 13-14 years ago) and I was a bit chicken so I had an unfinished furniture store wax it for me.  It looked gorgeous on the pine sample they had.  When I went to pick it up, it was so grayish.  I hated it!  (Now, of course, I would love it.)  I asked what can we do to make it look more "honey" and they said they could stain and poly over the wax finish.

Well, yes, I do believe you can do that.  However, that process sucks!  It started chipping immediately and showing the wax finish underneath.  I've finally had enough and I'm going to try stripping it back to the wax finish.  I have no idea if this is going to work.  It could end up being a huge disaster.

I'll keep you posted.  And....please.....wish me luck!

Buzzingly,

Let's Just Pretend I've Been a Good Blogger, Shall We? PLUS Bonus Milagros!

Please go about your business and let's just all pretend that I've been posting projects and recipes and ideas here regularly, okay?  That way I can lift my head out of the deep pit of blogger shame I am in.

Agreed?  Good.

So.  I've been busy going to estate sales (and not listing on etsy or posting here) but I had to share something kind of fun I found recently.

First, my little cottage was built in 1951 (and I wish Chip and JoJo could work a bit of their magic on my kitchen/bathroom/living room/etc.) and my cute (but kinda' dated) kitchen has vintage pine wood paneling along some of the walls.  Why am I telling you this and what does it have to do with an estate sale?  Well, we went to the cutest little cottage - and it made my house feel like a mansion - on the second day and almost every wonderful bit of vintage fun had been picked over and sold off.  But the intrepid Worker Bee and I ventured into the garage which was filled with a lot of junk (as garages tend to do) but for some reason I looked down and found some cut pieces of this same gorgeous pine paneling that we have in our house.  (btw, ours is painted white) 

I knew I had at last found the perfect piece of wood for a project I've had in the back of my head for many years.  Do you ever have something like that happen?  Just all of a sudden the pieces fall in place and it's like something you'd totally forgotten about suddenly is solved!

You see, a few years ago, like maybe ten, Worker Bee and I had gone to that gorgeous town of Carmel and I had found these three milagros in a charming little shop.  

I bought three of them because we are a little family of 3 (and maybe because I like odd numbers too, but the story sounds better the other way) and I knew I wanted to put them on a piece of wood, but I knew I wanted the wood to have some character to it.  

You can just imagine the glee I felt when I saw this piece and how it connected to what we already had in our house and how I finally had the piece of wood that had the right character for my sweet milagros.  I bought every piece they had (which was 4) and I paid $2 for all of them! 

So, this weekend, along with several other projects I have in mind, we will nail these onto the board and then I will hang it in our living room!

What do you think of that?  And, no, I didn't dust or clean anything off, I was just THAT excited.  

So glad you've buzzed in for a visit.  Hope to see you again soon. 

P.S.  Cute indigo washi tape from a flash steal from Decor Steals!  I LOVE them!  

Working My Etsy Fingers to the Bone

Okay.  You've caught me.  I'm not really working my fingers to the bone, but my etsy stash keeps growing and I have not been listing, so I had to have a photo shoot, a measuring & weighing session, and a TV marathon while I typed up descriptions and listed away!

Wanna' see some of my stash that will hopefully be leaving me soon???  (So I can buy more stuff for my stash, of course!  But shhhhh…..don't tell Worker Bee.  I don't think he's on to me yet!)

Have I mentioned that Worker Bee is a small collector?  Hmmm….what do I mean by that.  Well, when we were first married (and well before Baby Bee) he collected vices.  Now I don't mean the kind of vice you might find in a garage.  I mean vices - like drinking and gambling!  In the spirit of that collecting I bought this cordial decanter for him for a birthday.  He did not love it.  But he's a sentimental guy (and pretty sweet too) so he never wanted to get rid of it, but I finally convinced him I would not be hurt if it went bye-bye.  

So…up for sale….a French made, card suit decanter set is now for sale on etsy.

And then this fun piece!  I've had it for quite awhile, (and another similar one) but they just don't stand out and I never quite know what to do with them.  So these could be yours too!

I've got some gorgeous European glass ornaments and some Shiny Brites!

And sometimes I just find something so pretty I have to bring it home because I just know someone will  love it.  Right?  Some sweet granny crocheted all those roses and leaves and the doily and this pretty little gal was just calling out to me from the bin at the thrift store.  (I might be talking to stuff I see at thrift stores too much.  Do not be alarmed.)

 And this!  LOVED IT!  So wish I'd known about estate sales when Baby Bee was a baby and I was decorating her nursery.  I kept telling people I wanted to decorate it in a vintage style and no one got it. (This was waaaay back in 2001.)  This is what I meant!  (Sadly, this little cutie had some paint lift off when I took off the price tag from the estate sale, so she'll be going cheap.  Oh!  Don't let her hear that. I don't want to hurt her feelings.  And really, do not be alarmed.  It's really okay to chat your vintage items up.)

 You all know why I scooped these up.  How could I resist a pair of Hazel Atlas cereal bowls in white and turquoise?

 Ahh….something else from Worker Bee's "vice" collection.  Ask me if we've ever made any of the cocktails on this shaker.  Go ahead.  Ask me.  

 Found a great quilt top at another estate sale.  Wish I could do something with this myself, but I am just not a sewer (Worker Bee is concerned your going to think sewer like pipes & plumbing & toilets, but you all know I mean seamstress, right?  He worries too much.) at this point in my life.  Hope somebody else will fall in love!

 Cute, right?  Enough said about this vintage sewing basket.  

And finally, the piece I changed my mind about.  I was all set to sell this gorgeous aqua milk glass and I did some research (I believe it's a French piece - a Portieux Vallerysthal Compote - but if you know more, let me know) and I just can't say good-bye yet.  

Would you be able to say good-bye?  

What are you working your fingers to the bone on?  

I hate to say this, but I'm a bit of a procrastinator.  I've had all summer to clean up my guest room and I'm running out of time.  I wanted to clean out my closets too and I didn't do that.  The problem is I always think I can do it tomorrow and I'm running out of tomorrows.  There was just always a book calling me or maybe a movie.  Or (deep confession here) one of my summer shows.  I confess. 

Just two weeks before I have to report back for duty and about three weeks before my new third graders come!

Oh. And this should probably be more than a by the way, but Worker Bee and I just got cast in a production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.  

(yes, we are crazy)

Okay.  Enough rambling.  

Off with you.

Go drink a latte or tea or something.  

See you soon!

Buzzingly,

P.S.  If you've hung in there this long you might want to know……I'm having a coupon sale on my etsy shop through Labor Day…..15% off anything over $10 with the code goodbyesummer.

Estate Saling with Worker Bee

Worker Bee and I did a bit of estate saling this weekend.  I can probably only talk him into going with me every 6-8 weeks so I was feeling lucky.

We went on the second day and most of the gorgeous vintage linens I coveted were gone.  In fact, they were all gone, so I didn't buy any linens.

Now I did find these –

a set of four vintage metal Christmas trays,  

a fabulously illustrated vintage chocolate box - I've tried finding information about this candy company and I can't find a thing - I'm pretty sure it is from the1920s though.  

Any thoughts?  

I also found this wine coaster - I already have a couple similar to this.  It's so pretty I might keep this one for myself (especially since I only paid $1 for it). 

I also found this pretty glass bowl.  It's such a sweet shade of blue.  I know nothing about this piece either.   I'll probably put it up on etsy, but I would love to know more about it.  

And here's something I can almost never resist - vintage baby clothes.  

Could it be part of a layette?  I couldn't get a nice picture of the whole thing.  It's like a jacket, but it's quite long - as long as a baby.  Do you know what it is?

Isn't the embroidery so sweet?  Pretty sure it's hand done 'cause I think I can see bits of the pattern.  Do you remember getting ready for that first baby?  I can just imagine the new mom who made this being so proud to show off her adorable baby in something she made.  

But what made this a spectacular trip was that Worker Bee found something he had wanted for a long, long, long time.

See, I'm not sure if I've told you that Worker Bee has a degree in geography.  (I know....what does he do with that? Not a lot - but it's what he loved, hence the degree.)

Part of what developed that love of maps and places and people and populations and regions and climates and weather is a book.

A book that Worker Bee's mother donated right before they moved from California to Texas.  A book that he has looked for for years.  (They moved in 1988 so you can see how long he has been hunting.)

The only bad thing about finding this book is now I can't play the

 "Hey, you might find that book you've been looking for" card any more.

That Worker Bee of mine was so cute.  As soon as we got home he pulled out that book and started sharing with us the things he remembered and learned from that book.  His enthusiasm was contagious and I could almost see the little towhead with glasses he was,  sharing what he learned with his parents and his older brothers.  

(yes, my heart got all melty)  

I was so thrilled he found something that made HIM happy!

So what have you found that had you buzzing like my Worker Bee?