Birthday Thrifting

Today is my birthday and lots of kind folks told me after I got the kids on the bus I should be sure to do something nice for myself.

Naturally I went thrifting.  It is such a silly thing that makes me so happy.  Sadly it was kind of a dud day. In the store that gives you half off on your birthday I couldn't even find anything to buy!  Ah well.   The thrill is in the hunt.

Some crochet thread, some baker's twine (apparently some happy crafter back in the day used it too - EVERYTHING comes back around) and a vintage metal frame.  This is lacquer box  is number two so you know what that means.  Yes peeps, I feel a collection coming on.  Again...

Feeling a bit ponderous today.  I officially have 364 days left in my 30s.  Wondering what I want to make of them.  When I hit the big 40 where do I want to be?  What do I want to be sure I've done?  How do I actively reach the next milestone in a way that lets me be ok with where I've been?  Yes, deep thoughts indeed.

What do I want to be when I grow up?  What color is my parachute?

Thinking, thinking, thinking...

In other news, anyone else not getting comments in their e-mail accounts?  E-mails stopped showing up a few days ago.  I like to respond to comments via e-mail so if you were kind enough to leave a comment, I'm not ignoring you.  I just can't figure out how to get to you!  If anyone has an answer or a fix I am all ears.

Still a few days left in my awesome Gorilla Glue giveaway.  If you haven't yet entered, what on earth are you waiting for?  With three prize packs being offered the odds really are "ever in your favor" (So sorry.  It's been Hunger Games central around here for the past week.  Every so sorry!).



Vintage Baker's Racks

Occasionally I see pictures for an upcoming auction and I get excited.

Rarely do I get as jump up and down, heart racing, "gotta win that" as I did when I spied these last week.

Good grief.  I've only seen them in magazines.  I actually thought there was just one so imagine how my heart raced yet again when we took a walk through the furniture before bidding began.

I was a nervous wreck wondering if I could get them.

Oh thank you junque gods.

Thank you.

They put them together as a lot and my husband came up on top.

The beauty of two?

I can sell one and keep one.  Guilt free.

So I've cleaned them up and spent Monday doing the "Musical Furniture" dance.

This was the shelving we had in the family room.  I have been bored beyond belief with this set of shelves although they are most cool.  Belonged to a family member who bought them in the 60's.  You can build them as high or as short as you like.  Super useful.

Here we are now.  I brought down a chair from the bedroom to replace the groovy aqua chair which is ever so sadly showing its guts.  Vintage vinyl stored for years in a garage by previous owners tends to crack and split at the seams.  Sad, so sad.  It will now hide in the bedroom until I win the lottery and can afford to have it recovered in leather.

Most items fit back.  This is one of those "live with who you are" pieces.  We keep out books and junque that show who we are and what interests us.  Why yes, those are Harry Potter books.  That series defines my son and was a major part of our lives (nope, not dorky, not dorky at all).

What happened to the original shelving unit?  It's hanging out in the front room hoping to find a new life/use somewhere.  Future uncertain!

The other baker's rack is chillin' in the garage.  It will debut at the Vintage Marketplace full of fun and fabulous junque!

Linking to:

Open House Party

Feathered Nest Friday

Vintage Inspiration

Knick of Time

Be Inspired

What's It Wednesday

Weekend Project

Sharing a quick weekend project:

I've had these flour sack towels in my stash of to-do projects for ages.  Possibly even before the dawn of time.

I'm a bit toddler like.  Easily distracted.  The thrill of a new idea sends me off running.  Thus, a lot of things wait in the wings. Forever.

Glad to say I've got these done (of course now I want to make oodles more).

A vintage tablecloth provided the flowers.  I put some interfacing on the back for stability.

The best thing about these flowers?

They do not make my throat itchy, my eyes water or require weeding!

These and several more will be for sale in my booth at the upcoming Rural Society

show in May.  Check out their page and make sure to view the current Country Living magazine where this fantastic farm is featured!

In typical toddler fashion I'm moving on.  The addition of this:

Means we are about to begin another exciting round of "Musical Furniture"!

I am soooo very smitten.

Check my FB page for a photo of the pair of these vintage Baker's Racks I scored at auction on Saturday.

Remember, you still have time to enter the Gorilla Glue giveaway (here ).

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Knick of Time

Be Inspired

Rednesday

Share the Love

Thrifty Thursday

Irresistable

Forgive me.  I simply could not resist.

For tonight all is well.

The Orange lives to ride again.

I do not know who came up with great graphic.  I found it via Facebook.

Hats off to the genius behind it.

Elevating The Newest Ordinary Picks!

Still elevating the ordinary here at Maison du Junque.

Witness a little re-do of the ever so humble blue Mason jar.

Stamped chalkboard tags add a little something (now down to 4 million 9 hundred thousand give or take).

Possibly you had one of these growing up. We never did but I sure remember them.  Made in Taiwan cheese dome with a new lease on life.

Oh that French Linen makes my heart pitter pat.  Thrifted silver plate wine bottle coaster adds a little texture (or as the Princess noted upon her return from school, "Mommy, I like how the silver gives it layers").

Really re-using now.  I made these junque ornaments around the holidays.  They had wired tinsel hangers before so I simply switched that out for some twine. Tied it on the lid and now we have one seriously updated "cloche".

What are you junking these days?

Don't forget to enter the fabulous Gorilla Glue giveaway I've got going on.  You never know when your junque might need a little adhesive!

Linking to:

Share the Love
Wow Us Wednesday
Primp Your Stuff
Open House Party
Creative Things Thursday
Feathered Nest Friday

Can We Fix It? Gorilla Glue Giveaway

A few fun finds this morning at the flea market. Unseasonably warm weather means more outside dealers than one might expect in March!

Oh my, I do love these. I have had many a canister set over the years.  I've even had a Dutch enamel set in orange (why did I sell that again?). But never have I had one that wasn't round!  Or orange metal.

DO NOT THINK I CAN PART WITH THEM.  Do not think...

Moving on.  You all are really wanting to know about my giveaway. 

Yes, you do. I know.  Here goes and it's a shout out loud giveaway.

The fine folks (locally based in Cincinnati of which I am loudly proud) at Gorilla Glue have graciously provided me with three ( yes, THREE) of these prize packs to give away.  But that dear friends is not all.  The equally fine folks over at O'Keeffe's are also including a Working Hands and Working Feet sample with the kit.  You know we junkers do a lot of damage to our skin what with the picking through boxes and tramping over questionable surfaces in our relentless pursuit of treasure!

Pure awesomeness awaits three lucky winners!  Please note winners must have a US address  only - no PO boxes. 

Contest ends at noon (Eastern Time) April 2nd.  Winners will be contacted via e-mail so make sure I have a way to get in touch with you when all is said and done.

We've got several ways for you to enter:

Mandatory:

!) Head on over to FB and like Gorilla Glue.  Let them know what fabulous projects they have helped you with!

Leave a comment here telling us you've liked them.

Additional Entry Options:

2) Be a follower of the Junque Magnet blog and leave a comment letting me know you're following along.

3) Head back to FB and like Junque Magnet.  Leave a comment here letting me know you did that.

4 + 5)  Mention the giveaway on your blog.  Post about the giveaway on your FB page.  One entry for each of these.  Leave a comment here for each.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

Winners announced on April 3rd.

Keep junking peeps and just think, now you can pick the broken stuff because the glue that fixes all awaits you!

Linking to:

Nifty ThriftyTuesday

Be Inspired

Thrifty Thursday

Recent Finds

Spring is definitely in the air.  Sadly this means the garden is in need of work.  I know a lot of you fabulous folks are terrific green thumbs.

Me? Yeah, not so much.

I loathe it.  I hate it. I dread it and the only things that grow really well in the clay/backfill we jokingly call dirt in my yard?  Weeds. Oh yes, they grow like a dream.

So I've been on yard duty. Not that anyone walking by would be able to tell.

Peeps, I live in dread of one of those ugly HOA letters.

So not much to share but I thought I'd put together a few shots of some of last weekend's finds.

Cool vintage school furniture.  I painted a green chalkboard top on it. Won't it make a fun bedside table?  Setting this one aside for Vintage Marketplace.

I have a strange affinity for vintage art supplies.  This ties in nicely with the school theme.

West German cake mold.  Love the heft and patina!

Filled it up with some trims and four metal drawer pulls which my husband spotted!

Love the embroidery on this ribbon.  So pretty. Of course I'll probably hoard it. Do you do that?  Rescue it because you love it but then never use it for fear of not having it anymore?

Issues people. I've got LOTS of issues.

Hope you are all happily finding junque.

As for me, I'm off to serve more of my sentence in the yard.  I've figured out that gardening is like exercise for me. I really love the results but have absolutely NO interest in putting in the effort required to achieve said results!

Check back next week. I'm putting together a fabulous giveaway with Gorilla Glue. Yeah, you heard me.  Gorilla Glue woo hoo!!!!

Springfield News: Can I Get A Close Up?!

Wow!  As if the Vintage Marketplace wasn't exciting enough?

Well hold on to your hats folks because Jon Jenkins just posted some awesome news.

The Extravaganza has been chosen as a filming site for the new show, Market Wars, which is being produced by the creators of Antiques Roadshow.

Filming will be on Friday so come on down and find your five minutes of fame!

Here on the Junque Front it's been a busy week.  Sorting, scrounging and creating in abundance as I prepare.

Finished a re-do on this auction frame.

French Linen lightly distressed and finished up with clear and dark wax.

I added a reproduction antique Paris map and stuck a fork in it!

One more done.

Spent a busy morning hunting and gathering.  Head over to my FB page for some photos of today's finds.

Enjoy your weekend!

Linking to:

More the Merrier

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Knick of Time
Wow Us Wednesday
Open House Party
Feathered Nest Friday

Delusions of Martha

I often tell folks I have delusions of Martha.  Perfect meals.  An immaculate home.  The most incredible birthday parties for kids.

I don't even come close.
  Case in point:

In my delusions of Martha state there would be the most alluring treat bags for the birthday girl to take to school.

In reality, the lazy Mom version hauled out the Cricut and stuck these babies on some store bought oatmeal creme pies (which may or may not have been sampled a minimum of six times while completing the project and wiping the tell tale cream off her face...).

Over the weekend I did make this:

In the past, delusions of Martha mom has crafted a number shirt for the Princess to wear on her big day.

This year Junque Mom stepped in and made a junque necklace.  In truth, the kid is getting a bit old for a big number shirt and has been begging me for ages to make her a junky necklace.  Lazy mom failed to get around to it.  Birthday Junque Mom saved the day with a bit of a raid through her stash. 

Vintage chokers are perfectly sized for kids (and ONLY kids because every time I try to wear one of these puppies I wonder just how petite women were back in the day).  An old brooch dangles off the domino with just a hint of bling and blue to match her eyes.

Martha I am NOT.

Junky I AM.

And that dear readers, IS A GOOD THING!

Linking to:

Share the Love

Wow Us Wednesday
Open House Party
Show It Off
Feathered Nest Friday

Now I'm Rescuing...

Apparently I now rescue/collect/hoard vintage embroidered pictures.

It started with:

You should have seen the eye roll my husband gave me when I started bidding on these.  I really only wanted the frames.  Figured I'd take them apart and get to painting them into the 21st Century.  But then you look at the needlework:

You consider the effort that went into doing it.  You think, "well I can't just tear them apart. Aren't they a bit of granny chic fun?"   So I resigned myself to painting the frames avec needlepoint roses and hoping that someone else would like them enough to rescue them again.

A few weeks later I was at the auction again.  You know where I'm heading with this right?

No one would bid on the large one and when it got down to $1,  I stopped mid-sentence in my conversation and shot my hand up.  I mean really people, somebody made that.  By hand!

Junque Magnet to the rescue.

And this one:

I was ever so innocently (ha, as if ANY trip to Goodwill is innocent) wandering the aisles at Goodwill when it yelled, positively screamed at me, "RESCUE ME."  Obediently (yes, obediently. That is so how I roll.) I listened.

That is not the original frame.  I liked the one it had although it naturally needed paint.  As I cleaned it the Junque Gods whispered ever so softly in my ear, "you have a groovy aqua painted oval frame in the garage.  You have..."

Out I went.  In a miraculous turn of events I even FOUND said frame.  In I came.  And unbelievably it fit.  Ah, I do so love it when a plan comes together!

And thus begins yet another accidental collection.

What are you accidentally junking?

Linking to:

More the Merrier

Thrift Share Monday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Vintage Style
Rednesday