My Wall: Part 2 & 3

Once upon a time, I wrote up a post about my wall. And since that post, we've moved a few times. I've since set up my wall twice - two different ways.

If you're just catching up now, I'll do a little recap:

I have a collection of hanging wall decorations that I like to hang all together. I just love the look of having a collage of semi-matching things up on the wall. A lot of these end up being owls or nautical themed, but it can really be anything as long as it looks nice together.

This is the current setup of my wall. It's in our living room above the couch. I stopped hanging stuff as it reached a closed shape. I have more items that I might add eventually, but I will only do so if it doesn't look unfinished at the end. That was what I didn't like about the original spot - it never looked finished.

This was at one of our previous apartments - in the bedroom. (Low quality photo, taken on my iPod touch.) I noticed this open wall space above the closet doors and thought it would be perfect for my decorations. I love how it turned out up there. As you can see I have a lot more of them hanging in this space.

So far, in each apartment I've set up my stuff in a different spot. First the den, then the bedroom, and now the living room. Who knows where it'll be once we have a house of our own!

I normally mention where everything was from, but I have smaller posts for the individual items, some of which I've posted and some I have yet to photograph. Everything was thrifted, though!

Happy Thrifting!

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A Weekend of Travel

I know, it's been forever! I've been busy with lots of things - one of which has been a cross-country move. We are now living in Northern Virginia! We left Northern California at the end of Feb/beginning of March and drove all the way south through Texas and New Orleans and back north to our home state of Pennsylvania. We stayed there for a few months and then moved into our new place at the beginning of June. Our belongings arrived here at our new place in the beginning of July and we are finally (mostly) unpacked. Which means it's safe to say we have started exploring some local thrift/antique stores and estate sales. But before I get into those, I'll tell you about our most recent finds.

A couple weeks ago, my husband and I went on an anniversary trip back to Pennsylvania. We spent the whole weekend on the road - visiting friends and family, and going to our favorite amusement park. Of course we had time to fit in a stop at Black Diamond, in Frackville, PA. We used to visit this antique store years ago when we still lived closer to home. It's been a while and a lot has changed so we were happy to check it out again.

I always check the prices of these Pyrex dishes, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a price on this pair that I would normally see for just one dish. They're a bit bigger than we normally need, but it was too hard to pass up. They're in perfect condition and both have their lids, which is rare.

Nearing the end of our 4 hour drive back to Virginia, we noticed there was a Salvation Army on our route. It's a little out of our way on a normal day so we decided to stop out of convenience. We're glad we did, because it wasn't the best Salvation Army location (and we probably won't be returning). However, we did find one thing while we were browsing. This cute crossword mug! It was still in its box, never even used. It comes with a pencil for filling in the blanks and the clues are on the side of the box. The top of the mug says, "With a crossword, we're challenging ourselves to create order out of chaos. - Will Shortz"

Just a few new things to add to our kitchenware! (Did I mention the movers broke about 10 dishes??)

Happy Thrifting!

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On the House

In January, Ed and I moved into our current apartment. As many of you may know, moving is a hassle, and everything kind of stays in boxes for a while since you just want to get back to normal life instead of unpacking forever. That's exactly how our move went anyway, and once we got all of our boxes into the apartment we decided to reward ourselves by making a stop at one of our favorite local antique stores. Yes, after complaining about all the stuff we have, we got more stuff.

After perusing a while, we each found one thing that we wanted. It was perfect - just a little something for each of us. When we went up to the register, we made conversation with the lady who owned the place. She knew that we were regular customers, and she felt bad that we were waiting outside while she picked her kid up from school (we didn't mind at all). When she rang each of us up, she ended up giving us the items on the house! She was so nice and it was such a cute surprise. Our gifts to ourselves ended up actually being gifts from her!

My pick was this brass frog - of course to add to my brass animal collection. His pose just makes me giggle!

Ed picked out this sailor because it reminds him of / looks like his dad.

We recently made the trip over to this antique store (Route 65 Trading Post), but were disappointed to find that it wasn't there anymore. We couldn't believe it! It was a great location, even though we don't live in that town anymore. I hopped online and searched for their website and found that they still exist, but they just moved to another town. Phew! We'll hopefully be stopping by soon.

Happy Thrifting!

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The Marysville Strip

This past Saturday my husband and I went on a semi spontaneous antiquing trip. I only say semi since that's a normal weekend occurrence for us, however it was in a town we've never checked out. Since there weren't any estate sales catching our eye, Ed suggested we look into what kind of shops Marysville has. We saw a couple on the map so we figured we'd check it out. 

We had no idea that the street was covered in antique shops!! After hitting our first stop, the Antique Mall, we noticed a pile of maps next to the business cards on the counter. Our day suddenly turned into an awesome adventure. And the best bonus of all: most of the shops were really decently priced...

...which made it hard for us to pass on some really great stuff!

We found this cute weather house on our first stop (the Antique Mall). I never saw anything like it before, which drew me to it even more. It reminds me of a cuckoo clock, but instead of keeping the time it measures the temperature and humidity. And of course, its German roots sealed the deal for me.

Who wouldn't get a good chuckle out of this poster? We found this at the Antique Mall as well, and it's a great addition to our place. It's already hanging up on the wall!

Ed and I have been on the hunt for a spoon rest for the kitchen. We've seen plenty, but none of them have really caught our eyes.. until this. Yes it's actually an ashtray, but how hilarious is this foot? Especially used in the kitchen?! I'm so excited to clean it up and put it to use. This also comes from the Antique Mall.

As we went into our second shop of the day, we were greeted by this sweetheart of a dog! It took us a while to even start looking at the items because she was just loving the attention (and we loved giving it).

Ed and I are both huge diner fans, which of course means we like all the little things that remind us of (good) diners. We snagged this little syrup dispenser at the second shop, called Times Passing Antiques. 

Before making our next stop, we decided to stop for some fuel. As we looked across the street, a huge sign caught my eye and the decision was made.

Brick Coffeehouse Cafe was delightful. Most cafes I've been to either have a really great coffee/tea selection and the food is lacking, or vice-versa. This place had a good selection of both, and let me tell you - what I did order was perfect. I loved it! I had (of course) the peach cobbler, warmed and with whipped cream, and blackberry sage tea. Ed had breakfast burritos, which likewise were good!

The outdoor seating was so cute. I want to go back again soon!

Back on track, the next place we stopped at was called Digs. I pined over this vintage chair that was sitting on the curb. It was more than I can spend at the moment, but I would love to have a chair like this in the future.

I did find this brass quail at Digs though. A great new addition to my brass animal collection! I love the detail in the feathers.

We didn't find anything at Sweet Pickin's, however we were greeted by this cute little pooch! I think all antique shops should have a shop pet.

One of the last shops we stopped in was called Old Town Treasures. It had a lot of great stuff in it, and I ended up getting a few things.

 I've seen sets like this before, but for some reason just seeing one by itself was much more appealing to me. I always like taking pieces of sets so I don't have way (way) too many things - and I didn't even have to break a set for this one, it was already by itself.

Even the back of the canister is cute!

I also found this cute trio of brass owls at Old Town Treasures. I couldn't resist!

Overall, we had a really great day! We're very happy we found a new spot to go shopping - somewhere that's got great prices, great antiques, and great food!

Happy Thrifting!

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Antique Trove Sale

Last weekend, Ed and I busied ourselves with lots of thrifting adventures. It started out by just being a morning of estate sales - but after seeing signs for yard sales, stopping at the thrift store, and then seeing a huge red SALE sign at the Antique Trove - it turned into much more of an adventure. Add some Mexican food into the mix and fireworks at the end of the day, and you've got one amazing Saturday.

We didn't find much all day until we got to the Antique Trove. We were actually on our way home, but that sale sign caught my eye and we turned around.

We picked up a few treasures - all of which matched well for a little blog photoshoot. 

When Ed picked this one up to check the price, we double and triple checked it. It was the cheapest thing we ever found at the trove! Obviously he already liked it, so that sealed the deal. A great find!

1. We love globes/maps. 2. We love books. 3. We love secret hiding places. This couldn't be more perfect for us. It's in great condition, too!

I found the perfect addition to my brass animal collection!! These are just so cute. I found them right before we were about to check out and I'm so happy I spotted them. 

It usually ends up that you find the coolest stuff when you didn't plan on shopping in the first place!

Happy Thrifting!

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