Local Antiquing

Buying vintage items for my home makes me happy!  I love stuff with a story.  Knowing the history of an object is really fascinating to me.  I am so lucky to live in a small town that loves it's history. There are a few antique shops in town on Main Street that attract the tourists, but I love to shop at one in particular.  It's called Nest Egg Vintage.

 

Karen (pronounced Car-in) is the owner and has only lived in Midway for about the same amount of time that I have.  She has retired here and is using her nest egg to sell antiques.  It's a fun shop full of many different items.  She has baskets, marque letters, farm equipment, saddles, enamelware, mason jars, dishes, vintage furniture, etc.  There is always something different and it is so fun to look around.  Today I found two things, old milk bottles in a crate, and an old chippy chair.  I shop for what I love and then find a home for it.  And I loved both of these items and snatched them up!

The chair was only $15!!!  I love chippy painted wood and this would be hard to replicate.  

It's so chippy!!

The milk bottles have red writing that will fit in with the other red vintage kitchen items that I already have.  

 

I love everything about this chair!! And my neighbors horses were so nice to pose for me in the background :)

Once I got the chair back in the house, I think I found a place for it, in our home office.  It's holding posters and maps all rolled up in a group. I didn't want kids sitting in the chippy chair because some of the paint is really peeling and I don't want to lose anymore of it then I have to.  Hopefully the bucket will deter kids from taking a seat. 

If you are ever in the Heber/Midway area and want a fun vintage store to visit, check out Nest Egg Vintage:

93 West Main Street Unit B
Midway, Utah
Find them on facebook under nesteggvintage

Rethunk Junk Painting Project

Project to-do lists.....are your lists as long as mine?  I have good intentions but a lot of my projects get put on the back burner because life takes over.  Sound familiar? For example, I bought a wooden high chair for my fifth child around 6 years ago, with the intention of painting it.  

I had a pretty good excuse in my last home not to paint it.  My floors were travertine and my cabinets were distressed off-white.  The chair stood out against those colors.  But in my new home there is a whole lotta brown going on.  This chair might as well be on a secret military mission for how well it is camouflaged in its surroundings.  After a year of living with it I had to paint it. 

It's a brand new, fabulous chair!!  And it was beyond simple to change the color.  I have found so much success in painting by using chalk paint.  I found a recipe on pinterest and it has worked so well for me. It covers well and lasts with 5 kids in the house.  But I was having issues with the waxing step.  I use Minwax wax and it was covering well, but turning my lighter colored projects yellow.  I was getting frustrated.  But.....there is a store in Midway, Utah called All That Stuff In The Barn.  They carry country type accents, clocks, picture frames....all my favorite kinds of things!!  (It's really quite hard not to shop knowing this store is just around the corner!)  And they also carry a type of paint made by Rethunk Junk that is similar to chalk paint, but I feel that it goes on smoother and doesn't have a texture like the chalk paint.  

There are three steps in the Rethunk Junk paint system.  The Prep cleans off all of the gunk and whatever finish was on the surface, the paint (comes in several colors), and then the sealer.  I love the sealer!!  It is so much easier to apply than wax.  It dries quickly and leaves a colorless, smooth texture.  

I sprayed the Prep solution on, waited 30 seconds and then wiped it clean with a towel.  I then applied two coats of Seaside paint to my chair.  I let it sit about an hour and then sanded the edges to give it a vintage feel. Then I applied the sealer with a brush. 

 I LOVE the way it turned out!!  I love the color, the texture, and the sheen it has to it.  It's not too shiny, but not quite flat either.

 It's not camouflaged with the floor anymore.  Yay!!!!! I can see it!

 

 I love the color and it adds so much to my kitchen when it is next to my brown table and brown floors.  My kitchen table has the same problem that this chair did...it's brown and so is the floor.  There is no contrast.  My next project is to paint the table and chairs, not blue, but a color other then brown.  I can't wait to share that with you!!

My New Favorite Show

HGTV has been a part of my tv time for years.  A few of my faves, that aren't on anymore, are"Divine Design" with Candice Olson, and "Sarah 101" with Sarah Richardson.  But lately there haven't been any design shows that have captured my attention....until now!  Have you heard of a new show called "Fixer Upper"?? (image from Image from http://magnoliahomes.net/fixer-upper/ ) It stars Joanna and Chip Gaines from Waco, Texas and they help homeowners "fix up" their homes.  I love their country style and laid back family life.  

Image from http://magnoliahomes.net/fixer-upper/

Beautiful....right?!?!?!?!  I love Joanna's use of vintage finds from flea markets.  She has an amazing design sense.  I find myself pausing the tv just to look more closely at her finished rooms.  Check out their website magnoliahomes.net and watch their new show Fridays on HGTV.  I just wish they had a better time slot.  Thank goodness for DVRs!    

A Piece of History For Mother's Day

Mother's day has come and gone, and I received the wonderful, traditional flowers, candy and cards. But there was one item that showed my kids really know me, very well.  There is a story behind this gift and it was a group effort to actually acquire it. 

Here is the story of  how I became the proud owner of this vintage sign.  Isn't it cool?!  The picture doesn't really show how large it really is.  It is about 4 feet long and 2 feet wide.  And it's hefty!!

I moved to my town just over a year ago and every day as I drive my children to school, we pass the old abandoned high school.  On the side of the school gym were two signs that said "Gym Entrance" and pointed the way to the gym doors.  I love the pointing finger and the old font of the sign.  Every day, as I drove past, I wondered how I could talk someone into getting those signs down for me.  My kids suggested climbing the fence and taking them down myself, but I really didn't feel like getting arrested trying that option.  So, after a year the school board decided to tear down the old school because of the high cost of maintaining it.  I watched the old building slowly be torn apart.

 

 I know that it was old and would have cost quite a bit to turn it into a usable building, but I hate to see old buildings being torn down.  It feels like a part of history is being erased. 

One morning as I passed the school, the only remaining part of the school was the gym.  And my signs were still hanging on the wall.  I mentioned to my daughter that I wanted one of those signs and she laughed at me. But later that day during her lunch she sat across the street from the school and waited for a construction worker to talk to.  After, what she described as forever, a while she found someone to talk to and asked them if she could have that sign for her mom for mother's day.  They told her they would set it aside and ask the foreman if she could have it.  My daughter went back to school and was going to check back after classes got out. I had no idea she had done this as I passed the old school later that day.  I saw the sign laying against the building and I pulled over just as a worker was walking by.  I asked him if the sign was going in the garbage and if I could have it.  He gladly handed it over the fence to me!!  I was so excited!!  It barely fit in the back of the car, and my other daughter was laughing at me, but I got the sign!!

My oldest daughter was bummed that I got it before her, but I told her that by the time I was driving back by the school they had torn down the area by the sign and it would've been in the dumpster. We had worked together, unknowingly, to get this sign, and I was so touched she would do that for me.  I have no idea where it will end up in my home, but I feel like I am preserving a piece of history. I love items with history and a story.  I have many pieces in my home that have come from family, antiques stores, and garage sales.  Those pieces have a depth to them that new pieces don't.  It makes my house feel like a home, rather than a showroom.