Hello

Hello Friends,
I've been taking a little break from the blog. I've been busy with work and family and haven't made much time to post here. I have been posting a few pictures a day on Instagram. It is so quick and easy to just snap a photo on my phone and post it. If you are on Instagram please follow me! My IG name is kayteejaneshouse - easy to remember huh?

There haven't been any estate sales, church sales or yard sales around my area at all these past few months - just too cold and dreary I guess. I can't wait for spring to kick in so that sales pick up again. I'm also really looking forward to going to flea markets again. I can't wait!

This past weekend I did manage to go to a few thrift stores. Pickings at the thrift stores have been lean, but I did manage to find a few things after hitting about three different stores. Here is my haul from last Saturday.

Some of this will be for sale but I have decided to keep the milk glass basket - it already has jelly beans in it, the yellow Pyrex bowl and the drinking glasses.

I have also been playing with my Pyrex. Here is my attempt at a spring display. I added this cute metal cabinet to my dining room recently and I'm using it right now to hold some of my Pyrex.

 

I'm always on the look out for cool display pieces to show off my collections. I am maxed-out right now with furniture but when I see a great display piece my wheels start turning. Just this morning I saw this amazing old store display for sale as part of an estate sale ad on Craigslist.

Be still my heart. I love it! This is the picture that was posted in the ad. Of course the piece is miles away from where I live and also a tad bit pricey - so it is doubtful that this beauty will be mine. Oh well. I can dream right? I can just imagine all of the Pyrex bowls I could stack on there!

 



Until later - happy Spring and happy vintage!
Love,
KayteeJane

Projects

Seems like I have bought quite a few "project" items lately. All of these were found in the last month or so at yard sales or thrift stores.

Vintage School Desk - desk & base to be spray painted.

This cute metal cabinet. It is a nice petite size. This will be spray painted & a new decal added. Might use this as a night stand in my daughter's room - or maybe not. I also thought this would be great in a play kitchen. Purpose to be determined later.

Cart with wheels. This was also only $2. Not quite sure why I bought this other than it was a good deal. I keep seeing similar style carts from IKEA on some of my favorite blogs. I plan to paint this a cute color and then either use it as a bar cart or craft cart.

This "chippy" mirror. The mirror has a lot of silver showing through but I am going to keep it intact. I am also not going to touch the frame - love the distressed paint. I plan on putting window screen over the mirror and using this to hang necklaces and jewelry.

And the best for last - this amazing metal glider.

This will take some sanding and painting to bring it back to life. I have a major soft spot for vintage gliders. I love them! I was very excited when my husband found this for sale online at great price.

Lots to do - but at least these are fairly easy projects to accomplish. I will show the finished results when complete.

KayteeJane

So Long Shabby Sweet Furniture

When my second daughter Hannah was born I looked around for furniture for her bedroom that was vintage with the shabby-sweet style that I love. As with ALL of my furniture and home decor, I am usually on a very limited budget. Most of my furniture, with the exception of a few chairs from Ikea and my television set, are second hand. I'm not sad about that in any way. I actually prefer older styles and a rustic & worn patina. The great benefit of old furniture is that it is usually solid wood and well constructed  - which is uncommon in the furniture for sale new today - unless you want to pay out of the nose for it.

This is the furniture that was bought for my sweet baby girl's room.

I think I channeled a bit of Rachel Ashwell on the day I found these pieces. They were not purchased together. The dresser with the mirror was bought first - at an auction. I saw it and instantly fell in love. We lingered at the auction for a bit and the dresser still hadn't come up for sale. Having to leave, I left an absentee bid and prayed that I would get this piece. A few days later I heard that the dresser was mine. It is hard to see from the pics but the paint is perfectly distressed and cracked. The color is close to the shade of cooked oatmeal. There is even a floral decal on the drawer of a pansy. Now this kind of ready-made perfection doesn't happen much in my world. I usually have to paint, distress, or refinish to make a second-hand piece of furniture in my price range look like I want it to look.

The wardrobe came a short time later when I spied it at one of my favorite antique stores for sale. It too was painted like the color of oatmeal and already had decals. It was in my price range and it was the perfect match to the dresser.

Sadly, they are leaving us and moving on to another family. Hannah is 8 now. Her room went from pink, to purple to the latest...green. She has new paint, new bedding and she is done with this old furniture. She wants Ikea. (it pains me to say that publicly) - I want my kids to love their rooms and feel comfortable there. That is why I agreed to sell this furniture so that I could buy her some Ikea stuff (junk). Oh well. We are not our kids. They have their own style, and that is great. God made us each unique and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So goodbye perfect, shabby, sweet, distressed, adorable, Rachel Ashwell-inspired furniture. Have a good life at your new home.

Love,
KayteeJane

Pretties

Here are some new "pretties" that have made their way home to me.

We recently bought this awesome California pottery divided dish at a yard sale. Love the aqua color! I can see this holding candy or nuts, paper clips & office stuff or on a dresser holding hair clips or jewelry. I am having a love affair with anything aqua right now. Very retro but very much in style today.

 

At the same sale I found this little cloth bag in a box with vintage hankies. I paid 50 cents for it. It is going to be my new cell phone holder. I think I will stitch up some of these for gifts or to sell.

 

 

Recently I found this white pottery cornucopia at a thrift store in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. They only charged me a dollar - with no tax. I love it for fall and am going to find some miniature pumpkins and ghords for inside. I am so ready for fall that I'm going to start decorating this weekend.

At another store in Gettysburg I bought this charm for a necklace. It is two-sided and I love what it says.

My thoughts exactly!

I bought this Grease jar at another yard sale this past weekend. I've been looking for one of these for years and was happy to finally find one.

I am actually going to use this! Don't judge - I know grease is a dirty word these days. I don't care. I can totally see this holding bacon grease to use in cooking.

This is on my front porch to welcome school back into session!  

Lastly, I bought this several weeks ago while at the community yard sales. It is black and green chippy paint!

The top

It may not show very well in the photo but the paint peeking out from underneath the black is a sage green.

I love eye candy - don't you?
Thanks for stopping today.

KayteeJane