Garage sale goodness

There are some days when I go garage saleing, and I can't find anything really great.  Then there are days like Saturday... that go down in history as a GREAT GS day...   Maybe it was leftover birthday Karma... maybe it was just plain good luck, but I SCORED big time.

I hit a few sales and got a couple of small things, then I arrived at an estate sale that was amazing.  I found this dresser for $5  then bought all these wooden crates for another $5 

 While looking around some more, I found  a bag of vintage laces for $3.  I spotted these crochet hangers, which I was ready to pounce on.,..  she told me 10 for a dollar, and then sold them all to me for $3...

Then as I was leaving, I asked her if she was selling the workbench and cabinets in the garage.  She told me, I could have them for free if I could get them out...  Are you kidding?  I got my hubby and the guy down the street helped him load it all up in our cars.  It took 3 trips, but I got a workbench,  2 cabinets and 3 shelves, scrap wood, a maple bed, some wooden boxes, a picture frame and a door, 4 table legs, a root planter, some driftwood for mounting orchids, and a storage bin with sliding plastic drawers.

 As I was leaving, she brought out a huge box of jewelry, and asked me if I did beading.  I said yes, I did, and made jewelry with the girls at the shelter.  She donated them to me for the art program! 

Then after leaving that sale, I went by a sale I had stopped at early in the morning.  and caught them as they were packing up everything for donation... I got these chandeliers and these two footstools for Kayleigh's room for FREE!  We're going to paint the sides of the stools with spray paint and then cover the tops with a fabric that matches her room.  She has been wanting some of these for a while now, and I am so stoked I got them for free!  So...  overall, I paid $40 and came home with 5 truckloads of stuff.  Stay tuned over the coming months as I transform these items into garden decor and the potting shed of our dreams!

A royal birthday

I have always been a big royal family fan.  I remember watching Charles and Diana get married when I was in 11th grade.  The cinderella story had me riveted.  I feel a great sense of honor and excitement to be sharing my birthday with William and Kate.  I remember, It was the night before my c-section with Kayleigh that the sad news of Diana's death was told to me by my aunt when I came back from a pre-birth dinner with my husband.  I remember the shock I felt, and the strange sense of disbelief as I watched the news that night.  I remember thinking, how sad, that she won't be there to see her beautiful sons grow up.  How tragic that she will never hold her grandchildren.  How truly sad I felt for those poor boys, who had just lost their only chance at having any kind of a "normal" experience of life.

I think Diana would be very proud of her sons.  She left them with a legacy of love and kindness.  But mostly, she instilled in them the sense of being normal boys in a world of priveledge.  Two thumbs up for Wills, marrying a lovely girl, who is even more than his mother, "the people's princess"  I wish them a lifetime of love and happiness.  They deserve it. 

Ode to Auntie Anne

I have written about my Great Auntie Anne before here.  She was a personal hero of mine.  My Grandma was my favorite person ever in the world...  Auntie Anne was the second.   If I had to sum Auntie Anne up in one word, it would be Classy. Always dressed to the nines, only she could pull off pearls and tennis shoes and look casually elegant. From her mannerisms, to her dress, to the way she always smelled, she was every inch a classy lady. White Shoulders perfume never smelled the same on anyone like it did on her. I remember when I was little I would stand close to her just so I could smell her. She was always so pretty, and kind, and really listened to what you had to say, even if you were a kid.

Photo L-R Anna, Anne, Marie, Hank, Hans, Tony, Antone

She didn’t get her grace and elegance as the daughter of immigrant farmers., being raised on a ranch was not the charm school most would attend. And yet she grew with more and dignity and poise that any charm school debutante ever possessed.  She was the family Fashionista.  Loved the color blue, and never hesitated to tell you if anything you did was unladylike.  She also never hesitated to tell you if the outfit you wore didn't look right, or ask if you had lost or put on a few pounds.  I always made sure to "dress up" when I went to visit her.  I got the most compliments when I wore blue (go figure)... I think she was born that way. A combination of solid grounded practicality, with an inner elegance and refinement no circumstance would alter.

She was a legend, and a great role model to so many.  Kind, opinionated, stubborn, loving, funny elegant, a devout catholic, a talented artist and doll maker, a great gardener, a real FAMILY woman.  She was a a person who triumphed over her losses, and grew to be a stronger and better person in spite of them. When she lost her first husband in the 1950's, she had teenagers and a six year old.  She went through her finances and figured out she could provide for her family with the rental properties he had built, so she could be a stay at home mother.  She went back to school to get a degree, just in case she might need it in the future.  She did most of the repairs on her rentals herself, closed out his construction business and finished up his unfinished jobs, and was always a very independent woman. She showed her children that women could do anything men could do, and all while remaining every inch a lady. She took in another child and cared for her. She helped her family. She played the mother and father role for her youngest daughter. When a boy brought Susie home late from a date, Auntie Anne was there as the Irate Mother/Father to greet him at the door and chew him out. When Susie said “He’ll never ask me out again” Auntie Anne told her “Good, I hope he doesn’t!” She told me she didn't feel he was worthy of her daughter if he wouldn't respect her rules.

Photo L-R Irma, George, Hank, Hans, Anne, Tony, Marie

I asked her recently what it was like to live during the depression. She said "We really didn’t notice it too much because everyone we knew was in the same boat. You just made do with what you had, or you went without. Everyone helped one another. You gathered together as a family and shared the burdens. Big family get togethers, barbeques and picnics with everyone sharing what they had. We were never hungry. We had a roof over our heads. We were so much more fortunate than others."

I love the story of her and her Sister Marie (my grandma) and a fur coat. It was 1931.  Marie wanted this muskrat coat, but couldn’t afford it, so she convinced Anne to pay half and they would share it. Kind hearted as she was, Auntie Anne didn’t have the heart to tell my grandma that she really didn’t want the coat, (she thought the muskrat was kind of yucky) or even like it… “but Marie really wanted it, and so I agreed.” After a few months of swapping the coat back and fourth after church on Sunday, Uncle Francis asked her “You really don’t like that coat do you?” She admitted she had done it to make her sister happy. So he took her out and bought her a new coat, and Anne gave the coat to Marie and said "You keep it Marie, it looks so much better on you anyway."

Auntie Anne became my surrogate grandma when Gramma Marie died. At 26, I assumed my grandma would be there forever, and that I would have PLENTY of time to visit her later. Then she was gone, and I had so many regrets over not visiting her more, and spending more time with her, and really sitting down and listening to her stories. Auntie Anne helped me ease the loss of my grandma. She was my connection to her. Sometimes she would say something like my grandma would have said, and I would feel like she was there with us. I would visit with her, and she would tell me all the stories of when they were young. We would look at all the photos and she would tell me who they were, what they were doing, and little snippets of memories of the day. My most precious ones are the ones of her and an old boyfriend and a cousin and my grandparents at Russleman park swimming in their 1930’s era bathing suits… clowning around and making funny faces for the camera. On the back of a photo of my grandma in a bathing suit hugging my grandpa, it says “Marie and Ben had a fight” we laughed at that one, because it was very typical of them… and she says, "well, obviously they made up… they got married after that.”

 She loved her family, and we spent a lot of time talking about her grandchildren and great grandchildren, and even her great great grandchildren. She would say she never ever would have dreamed she would live so long to see great great grandchildren. She was always amazed by her longevity. And boy did she pack some living into those 96 years. She was so proud of her children and all that they have accomplished.  What great parents and grandparents they turned out to be.  When I pointed out that a lot of who they were was a direct result of the kind of mother and role model she was to them, she modestly sidestepped the issue and said they were just born good people, and that she was lucky. I say she was blessed. In so many ways. She had that no nonsense, practical Boeger mentality, with the stubbornness that goes along with it. She liked things done her way, which was the RIGHT way, and when she wanted it done, it had to be NOW. Like when she was out in her garden and tripped over the hose and fell in the rose bushes, slicing her arm. Does she call 911, heck no… she wraps a dish towel around it and drives herself to emergency. And God forbid she ever miss her Friday hair appointments. I asked her once why she wouldn’t take a cab, after hearing of her falling a couple of times while walking to the beauty shop. She was indignant. “If I can’t even walk a couple of blocks, I might as well be an invalid!”

I helped her with a garage sale a couple of years ago, and she was so funny. First she wanted to get rid of all this junk… I pulled everything out, and she would tell me who got it for her, and then it was a gift from so and so, and would they be hurt if she didn’t keep it, and so on… so half of the stuff went back on the shelves in the garage, saved for her family… I’m sure it’s still there… She just hated to get rid of something that still had use or life left in it… She was shocked when my daughter Megan took all her 1960’s dresses and wore them. “They are fashionable again? Aunt Gert was right, everything always comes back around about every 30-40 years! I guess it’s good I saved them then.”

She LIVED all 96.3 years of her life. Her family, her art, her dolls and her love are the legacy she leaves behind.   Our tradition of playing We are Family at weddings and dancing around the bride just won't be the same without her sweet smiling face joining in the fun with us all...

She struggled with where to be buried... with her first or second husband.  When I asked her if it really mattered where her body ended up, she agreed that no, it really didn't.  But she had decided she wanted to be buried in the historic cemetery with her first husband, since he was the father of her children.  I also think he was the love of her life...  She laughed when she told me that she was going to be buried with Francis, and that her two husbands could fight over her when she got there.   Then she wondered if it would be polygamy, and if it was legal in heaven... 

Surrounded by love, her kids there with her, she layed down on the couch, freshly coiffed from her hair appointment, full makeup and dressed to the hilt, she slipped away peacefully, with the quiet and dignity she had hoped she would see in the end. I like to think that her big heart, so full of love, just finally gave out from all the loving she had done here on earth. God came while she was napping, took her by the hand and said "It’s time to go Anne." And she went, toward a light filled with all the love of her family that had passed before her, the sound of a harmonica playing Roll out the Barrel faintly in the distance and Uncle Bill hollering "Saddle Up Anne…"

I was talking to her in my head while driving up for her funeral.  I was saying I hoped she was happy, and that heaven was everything she had hoped it would be… and to give a big hug and kiss to my grandma for me...  then I turned up the radio and she answered me… the words “We are family, I got all my sisters with me”… was blasting out the radio. I saw a picture of all of them up there, in a circle, dancing and singing.... "Have faith in you and the things you do...  you won't go wrong... this is our family jewel."

The hole that her passing left will never be filled.  I want to honor her memory the best way I can, by remembering her with love, and humor...  She told her family when she moved herself back into her house after leaving the retirement home... "I'm not leaving my house again unless it's feet first..."  And as usual... she got her way.

More Estate and Garage Sale Madness

I met a local gal that I have been emailing for a while.  We headed out after dropping kids off on Friday to a couple of estate sales.  My mission of finding garden stuff and patio furniture as of yet unfulfilled.

Beka and I drove to Garden Grove, 20 minutes away, to get an early preview of what the guy said would be a "BIG" garage sale.  Well... some people's BIG is anothers no BIG deal.  The man was very nice, but there wasn't much to choose from.  I got 2 patio chairs that will make a cute bistro set if I can find a table to go with it.  I also took 2 drawers from a junk pile in the driveway, and an old blouse I plan on making into an apron for my ETSY site.  Becka got an old washing bucket rusted out and full of black widows, an old piece of chipped pottery in good condition and a towel ring from the trash pile.  She scored the best stuff for free.

With enough time to go to one more sale, we headed out to an estate sale in Fullerton.   This is one run by an estate sale company.  But a different one that I have seen before.  When we saw the nice displays and prices, we figured it would be to costly to shop here... we are quarter garage sale gals... But, I picked up a few things that interested me, and the prices in the end were actually negotiable...  The photo shows the things I got from the 2 sales, along with a trip to a GREAT salvation army store Beka told me about that I have never been to.  She is going to be a great person to know.  She knows all the really good  places to shop and find the best deals.  Thanks for a fun day Beka, and for telling me about all the other fun places to explore.  I look forward to more thrifting and saleing adventures with you...  BTW... I went back to the sale on sunday, and bought up all the other things I wanted on the first day for a fraction of the price.  I got the bodies to the doll heads that Beka bought on Friday... and a huge bag of vintage trims and fabrics and clothes for $20...

Estate Sale Madness

I love a good estate sale.  Unfortunately, with the economy the way it is these days, many estate sales are charging such high prices, they compare to new things at TJ maxx and Home Goods.  The great deals are harder and harder to find. 

I got up at 5:30 to go shopping at one that sounded promising.  Armed with a wad of cash, shopping bags and a determination to find garden stuff, I headed out.  It started at 6:30,  When I got there at 6:00, there was a crowd standing outside the garage peering in... The Estate sale guy, a very hip, bald headed, earringed bohemian wearing a beret, says "OK, start pulling the boxes out, this is how we do it." and it was complete madness... I beelined for a chandelier hanging in the garage, and saw a couple of dealers pawing through boxes. I could hear glass breaking everywhere as people literally threw boxes to each other.  Many of them worked in teams.  Whole families working together digging and passing boxes like a bucket brigade.  We were bumping in to one another and  some were elbowing others out of the way.  I tried to get more things, but my hand was full with the chandelier and I didn't dare put it down.  I put my things in a pile on the driveway, the designated spot for all claimed things, and started digging through boxes.  As I unpacked things and sat them on the ground, this lady was scooping them up and running off with them, and my :"hey, I wanted that" went unheard.  I was digging through a box of stuff a dealer had passed on, Franciscan Desert Rose china, a full set... and another guy comes up to me out of the garage, sees what I have and says "Oh, that's mine" He was nowhere near it... and said it after he saw what it was... because I had been standing in that same place the whole time... but whatever... He paid a lot for it all... I have been looking for that china for a long time, but it was out of my price range.  In all the hubub, I still managed to get some cute things... Many of which will be going up for sale on my ETSY site...  So check it out in the next few days.

Flea Market Style dining room

As anyone who knows me, or follows my blog knows... I love old stuff.  My mom was a flea market style decorator WAY before it was fashionable and had it's own magazine dedicated to it.  On sundays she would go to the local drive in flea market and buy stuff for a few dollars, bring it home and redecorate the house with it.  She was so good at using what she had, and completely changing the look of something by rearranging and changing the color.  Every couple of months I would come home and the house would either be rearranged, or in the process.  We would help her move stuff around so she could have it done by the time dad got home.  I never really realized what she was doing until recently.  She was moving energy unconsciously.  She wasn't the trained psychic she is now, back then.  She didn't know feng shui or anything about energy.  But she did know the house "felt" better after she moved things around. 

Whenever I feel stuck energetically, I clean and then I purge, and then I rearrange.  All lessons taught to me by my mom... She was down here recently and helped me decorate my new living-room-turned-dining-room.  Together we make an awesome team.

I showed you the dresser and cup shelf I had done previously.  I also had this china hutch I bought at goodwill for $40.  I had intended for Paskie to use it in the garden with his plants on it.  It was dark brown, and too shaded on the lower shelves for the plants.  So I painted it white and brought it inside.  By placing it on the other side of the fireplace, it balanced the dresser and cupshelf I had on the other side. It also gave me space to display the rest of my tea collection.  Mom had also regifted me with a dining room set we traded back and fourth a few times.  It was silver and gold metal.  I painted the base white, and stuck the chairs in the tack room for another days project.  I took the chairs I had left from an old farmhouse table set I bought when I was pregnant with Zack 17 years ago, and spray painted those white as well.  It took 2 coats to get the right coverage, but they look great.  The mirror I got from friends when they closed their business, and the pictures above it, I had purchased a long time ago at a garage sale.  They all came out of the tack room (my storage facility.)  We placed my grandmas trunk, which my dad painstakenly refinished for me, under the window for now.  It will eventually go in my bedroom.

Then mom went digging in the garage and tack room some more, and found these pictures, frames and shelves to create these spaces.  The chair was one I bought to recover, but it goes perfectly now in the space the way it is, so I am leaving it for now.  All I have left to do is recover and paint the matching dining chairs and paint the long dresser I have in the tack room, and my flea market style dining room is complete.

Making "actual" not "virtual" friends

The internet is a wonderful resource.  It has been my main mode of communication with family and friends since moving to Orange County.  I met my husband on line when he was still living in Barcelona and I was in the San Francisco Bay Area...  and we created a relationship across the world from one another via the internet.  He talks to his family in Spain on web chats every saturday morning, and his 2 year old nephew thinks he actually lives in the computer.  I love how I can always find a new blog to explore when insomnia strikes.  I can check the weather anywhere in the world while looking for a recipe that will please all the picky palates and food needs of my family. 

But the greatest tool I have found the internet useful for by far, is connecting with new people.  From my husband, to the new friends I had over for tea and art making on Saturday.  I don't talk about it a lot on my blog... but moving has been very lonely for me...  I can't work, so I have no social outlet there.  I am trying to meet with others as much as possible, but all the classes I go to where I would meet like minded people cost money, and like everyone, there is never enough of that to go around these days...  so what is a gal to do?  Yahoo Groups!  I met some people through various groups, and after emailing for a while, invited them over for an art play date and get together tea...  It was a smashing success.  I had only met 2 of the ladies, and by coincidence, some of the ladies knew each other from other yahoo groups and art groups in the area....  I finally feel like I am a part of a community down here.  I have made some great connections, and created new friendships that I hope will lead to many fun gatherings in the future.  I can't believe these are all the photos I took of the day.  I am hoping some of the ladies will, post them soon so I can add them here...  What a fun day. 

We made gratitude journals.  My mom Judi Garcia is a psychic up in the Bay Area.  She came down to play with us, and agreed to guide us through some meditation techniques, and gave us some tools for finding the gift in a negative situation.  We ate, drank, laughed and arted up a storm.  Before we knew it, 8 hours had passed, and it was time to say goodbye.  I was sad it was over so quickly... but very happy with how it turned out, and excited to know that there is another one coming up again in March and I will see everyone then...  So hooray for Virtual friends turned into ACTUAL friends....  I love the internet...!

Repurposed dresser and cup shelf

I have a lovely teacup collection that has been stored in a box in the garage for 5 years.  I have a living room with no furniture in it, and no space in the dining room for a table...  So I had an idea to somehow make a dining room out of the living room...  I could take this $5 dresser I bought at my favorite thrift store, and somehow create a space to display some of my teacups.  and then scrounge around and see what else I could come up with to make a dining room.

I puttied the holes in the dresser top and drawer fronts and had Zack sand the whole things down with a sander.  Then guess what I did?  Yep... painted it white... and spray painted the oxidixed bubbled up silver metal knobs blue...  Joke all you want family members, but it looks very cool now....

I found this oak cupshelf I have had for years in the back of the garage...  pulled it out and painted it white too...  and Ta-Da... a great teacup display and place to store all my tea party goods.  Napkins, teaspoons and strainers, tablecloths and linens, candlesticks and more are stored in the dresser drawers.  Now when I have my OC art sister friends over for art day, I have a place to store all my tea party stuff!  I LOVE the flea market style!

Garden Art

I have been at it again... Dumpster diving for treasures... in the form of plastic bottles, cups and aluminum cans.  I used to volunteer at the Depot's transfer station at the recycling center out in Benicia... I HATED to see the amount of plastic and aluminum that they trucked in every day...  I think plastic food containers should be outlawed...  everywhere.  But since it probably won't be, I am trying to think up more creative ways to use it to brighten up our lives, rather than cause more blight. 

I am also trying to create some art for my garden with no money...  OK, so I splurged on a few cans of spray paint... But a lot of it I got for free at the HazMat facility in Martinez on my last visit there.  You can use left over house paint, acrylic paint, glass paint, whatever you have laying around...  I like the way the spray paint looks.  But be sure to wear a mask if you will be spraying a lot...  It is hard on the lungs... 


I made these flowers by cutting the top of the can off like this

then I trimmed the rough edges off the cans and bottles like this

Using the pattern on the bottom of the plastic bottles, and by creating my own patterns, I cut strips down the side of the can, bent them out, and then cut petal shapes on the tips.

I layed them all out and spray painted them.  Once they were dry, I layered them on top of one another

punched a hole through the middle, ran some wire through and tied it on to a small piece of doweling.

They make a really bright addition to my garden.  I can't stop making them, it's addictive!

Vintage Luggage Redux

I collect old suitcases... Unfortunately, it is getting harder and harder to find the really cool ones. Once in a while I come across old hard sided train cases and larger luggage pieces at garage sales. They are usually really ugly and beat up and have very little personality. These three pieces were Navy blue, yellow and burgundy. I wanted a matching 3 piece luggage set that I could use for hauling my art stuff around.

Spray paint is the great equalizer. I LOVE spray paint. Gather up your stencils and anything else you can spray a pattern through, scrapbook laser cuts, lace, plastic tablecloths, paper doilies, rubber rug mats... really think outside the box with this...

I started with white, and layered the stencil down, spritzing the white over the suitcase in random patterns. Then I added pale green, aqua, pink and yellow. The colors seemed a little muted, so I then used a bright royal blue metallic and purple spritzed lightly to make the stencils really pop. The secret to this is the layers. You really need to keep layering one stencil over another to get the depth. If you don't like something, let it dry for a bit, and then spry over it again. Using metallic silver or pearl paint will give you a cool damask effect.

So drag out those old suitcases from the garage, go to the hazardous waste materials restore in your area and pick up spray paint for free, and go to town with all the cool colors and designs and see what you come up with!

The train case in the front left was painted by my daughter Kayleigh.  It started life as a black textured leather case.  She went for a more goth rock kind of look... she keeps her makeup in it.  Next time you see one of these at a yard sale or thrift store, POUNCE on it...  they are very cool when done up.

What would you do.....

with a plethora of frames like this...?  I love them ALL...  I can't get rid of them....  I was going to paint them all gold back in the day... that day has passed.... then I was going to paint them white...  and still might...  then I thought to paint them all black as a base coat, and then paint them with colors and sand it off so the black shows through... which I could also do with the white. 

Here is my delimma....  I have no artwork hanging in my house, no photos, nothing... I hung a couple of pictures I like, but they don't go with the house...  it is a ranch style house with a hideous wallpaper of blue and gray marble texture in the dining room and kitchen wall...  All my stuff is green, paintings with green, furniture that is shades of sage and celery green... and lots of white frames... (I had pale yellow walls at my old house and it looked GREAT!) so this blue gray thing just ain't workin' for me...  I have one large wall that I thought I could hang the frames on temporarily until I figure out what to do with them, thus killing the proverbial two birds with one stone.  Getting the frames out of storage while putting something on the walls... but I am unsure...  I would love some advice people...  I have posted a previous post on the 15th about the wine and glass cabinet I made in the dining room, and you can see the ugly wallpaper behind it...  I need serious decorating help from all you artistical and decorational types... I am good at making the stuff, and merchandising a store, but not when it comes to my home...  why is that?  Maybe because it is a rental, and I am stuck with this wallpaper as it is... and I really don't like it... maybe I am just feeling stuck in general when it comes to decorating.  I am loving the clean uncluttered feel of everything... Having not much stuff to begin with really gives you a clean slate... but it does make it hard when you try to do something with very little... Am I overthinking this? 

So far I have come up with 2 possibilities...  paint them all black and fill them with family photos in black and white and hang them in a grouping on the wall to create a gallery wall... the other is to paint them the soft aqua blue color I am in love with right now, and hang them all on the wall empty, and just appreciate all the lovely detail on them....  Anyone wanna give me an opinion?

Repurposed Sideboard and shelf unit = china wine and glass cabinet

I got rid of a great china cabinet on Craigslist before I moved, and now have no space to store my china and favorite pieces.  My mom  was visiting a couple weeks ago, and was scrounging through my garage for things to help me decorate, when she saw this sideboard and shelf unit I had buried in the back of the garage.  I said, "Hey mom, what if we put that on top of the sideboard in the kitchen and use it for glasses and wine and stuff?"  She measures, and then she and my stepdad brought it in, cleaned it up and did this with it!  How great is that?  A garage sale sideboard we bought for $40 and had shoved in the garage, along with a bookshelf my neighbor gave me when he moved a couple years ago...  2 unrelated pieces, that when put together, made a very functional and cool looking piece in my dining room!  I am stoked!  Now I am on a mission to see what else I can make with what I already have lying around!  Check back soon for more thrifting and repurposing ideas.