Thrift Scores

Hello, hello, hello! It's been another much too short week around the homestead. We had another move in at my job, so that kept me really busy all week. However, I did have Tuesday off and took the opportunity to head out on the road and visit some thrift shops I have not been to in over a year. I have been focusing my energy on estate sales, given the serious lack of good thrift shopping in the nearby area, so it was fun to change it up a little. I got some really good deals too, it was definitely a fun and successful little weekday trip. I was able to snap a few (very quick) pictures while I had a few hours off of work, so lets check out the goods, shall we?!

 

Watch for some of these items to be listed in the Blueprint Vintage shop soon!  I also had another opportunity to thrift, so hopefully I will get some pics snapped of those fun things as well.

Fall Times Decorations

 

Aren't I timely... Here are some pictures of my fall/Thanksgiving decorations. They look pretty similar to my Halloween ones huh?? Yeah...I felt I had a good thing going there. I swapped out my Halloween related objects for some lovely decorative pears and pretty much called it a day. The leaves are from the dollar store and they are the B.D.C! (bomb dot com) Thick crepe paper and wires hold a nice and "natural" shape.

So here's my question to you; what on earth do I do with my pumpkin/gourds now?? I really don't want to toss them, they are so pretty, but having them around makes it even harder to wrap my head around the fact that Christmas is a mere 20 some days away. (I've had a hard time ever feeling really Christmas-y here, coming from Wisconsin to North Carolina, the weather is so dramatically different, it's hard for me to associate 65 degrees with Christmas. But no, I don't miss the snow.) Maybe I could just stick some bows on them? That stack could sort of be a Christmas tree...no??? Ha ha ha! We'll see. I am thinking it's going to be a white pottery with pink and turquoise vintage glass ornaments kind of Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving! Here are my Halloween Decorations...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! As promised, here are my Halloween decor pics (just slightly behind schedule here). I took the Martha idea of spray painting a grapevine wreath black and adding black "creepy crawlies" to the next level by adding myself in a little dollar store crow. He really was the crowning jewel.

Awwwww, isn't it cute.

Here's the fireplace as a whole. It's hard to work around that stupidly large TV and cables. The pumpkin gourds have continued their presence through the current holiday. Who knows...at the rate I'm going, they'll probably still be there for Christmas too!

It's NOVEMBER!!

 

And here's reason #236 that I love North Carolina; beautiful camellias blooming in November; NOVEMBER!!! 

Upholstery Class

 

After 24+ hours...my chair is finally recovered and back together, and I have just the cushions to complete. I completely, COMPLETELY understand why upholsters can charge so much money. This job was a pain in the @$$! I do think the process would have been a bit speedier working at home, but one of the great *perks* of this upholstery class has been the camaraderie with the other classmates. We have potlucks and everything!! 

What my chair looked like before...also the two reasons it needed a good reupholstering

Fall Cleaning

It was gutter cleaning time this last weekend; clearly I was thrilled. I pulled lots of good compost out of them. I guess it's going to be a twice-a-year job. *le sigh*

A little slap on the wrist

This is the tree in front of my house. Yay Fall!!

This picture is actually a few weeks old and the tree is now a tree of sticks, bummer. So I've recently been getting some guff from my friends that they want updates...so I am going to make an effort to get the ball rolling again. I recently got a job, my first in three years, and balancing a 40 hour work week with 8 hours of upholstery class and the simple fact that I just am not used to being out of the house that much, has left me little time for the internet. But my job is part time and it is slowing up this week, so I hope to catch up on my blog, the blogs I read, and of course the SHOP. (I've been to quite a few estate sales lately and have a treasure trove of goodies hiding out in my shed/workshop)

So...things to look forward too...
I did in fact take some pictures of my Halloween decorations, so if I can find which memory card they are on, I will share them with you. (Just slightly belated)
I have several more pictures of pretty fall things happening in the yard. They are also belated but nice to look at.
Oh yeah, I'm in an upholstery class! It's lots of fun. (If not for all the hard work, than the camaraderie.) I have a lot of pictures of that project to share as well.   
Estate sale goodies and rearranging the house; lots to share there.

So thanks so much for sticking around, and thank you to those friends who've been nudging me to get back at it; I hope to have lots more to share with you soon!