Jackpot

August 17, 2015 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

Over the weekend, my girls and I found a garage sale that seemed as if it was created just for us. It was awesome. That is why we went back three separate times. (Yes, this is true. Three. Times.) First off, the sale was located on a beautiful property housing a barn, several out-buildings and a cute little home. The expansive lawn was dotted with gorgeous antiques throughout it’s beautiful flower gardens. Very Victorian. I loved it. Then as we neared the selling area, we discovered it was filled with two main categories of items: teaching materials and antiques. Oh boy. The three of us Fagan girls were in heaven.

We ended up carting home some beautiful vintage towels and clothes pins, several cookbooks and gardening books dating as far back as 1952, and we outfitted our entire homeschool operation with books and other school supplies. I would say it was a huge success.

What were you up to this weekend? I would love to hear. Enjoy your week, friends.

Acquisitions

May 16, 2012May 15, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

In a few posts (here and here), I have mentioned my love of antiques and this past week I obtained a few new acquisitions that I am just thrilled to share with you. I was on my way to pick up my eldest daughter from school when I saw a yard sale sign. I don’t know what made me follow this particular sign, as opposed to any of the other twenty I had passed throughout the day, but I am so very glad that I did! When I pulled up, the front yard was filled, literally brimming, with antiques. Everything from a wooden four poster bed, to an iron cook stove, to a kid’s gardening table were strewn across the grass on this beautiful afternoon.

I immediately parked my car, grabbed my two-year old shopping partner and started perusing. I have been looking for an antique work table for almost two years now. I wanted to put it on my deck to use for a space to prep food outside since we entertain out there so often. I had been unable to find a match to the picture in my mind…until now. Sitting there beneath century old irons, crystal and tools was the table I had been envisioning.

Needless to say, I walked away with the table, and an awesome chair. I made some repairs to the chair, added a coat of paint and now it is a bright new feature in our backyard. The table of my dreams…Well, I just washed that baby down and left her as is. I love the “oldness” of it. The cracks, the splatters of paint, the remnants of tape that can be found along the back edge. Love it.

As you can see, we broke the “new” table in this past Friday on pizza night. Yes, she will suit our needs just fine 🙂

Organization Station

April 11, 2012April 10, 2012 / makingofahome / 7 Comments

When we moved into our house, the room that I missed most from our previous home was our mud room. Our mud room had been the catch-all of our house, and without one in our current home, it seemed that our kitchen had become the place where everything was dropped: coats, shoes, bags, papers, purses, keys, the works.

Well, after nearly four years I finally have my own make shift mud room! Last summer my husband’s grandmother gave me an antique mirror and I had been desperately trying to find a home for it with no luck whatsoever. Finally I came up with the idea to create a “mud room wall” in our garage, featuring the mirror as the focal point. After a bit of carpentry work by my hubby, a little paint, and a quick visit to an antique mall, the project is complete.

I kept some existing hooks because they were so well fastened to the wall studs, but I needed some extra places to hang all of those coats that seem to accumulate so I used some antique pull-knobs, cabinet latches, a door knob and even a door stop to create a few more “hooks.”

I call my new creation my “Organization Station” 🙂

Old Things

April 9, 2012April 9, 2012 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

Many years ago (I believe I was in junior high), my extended family gathered at my grandma and grandpa’s home for our annual Easter celebration. My grandma, who was always filled with creative ideas, told each member of the family sit in a circle in the family room. She and my grandpa then proceeded to hand each of us a plastic Easter egg. Once everyone had two eggs each, one from my grandma and one from my grandpa, we were told to open the egg. Inside each egg was a tiny slip of paper. On each slip was written one thing that my grandma and grandpa found to be unique to each of us.

To this day, I have not forgotten what Grandpa “Dit” wrote on my slip of paper: “You like old things.” Those four words could not be more fitting to describe me. I have worn vintage clothes from thrift stores since seventh grade, love old music, enjoy antiquing, and I have been especially obsessed with refurbishing old pieces of furniture since I has in high school.

Over the course of the past several weeks I felt that itch again. The itch to take something old and unique and make it new again. So while my husband was on spring break last week and he spent his hours relishing in the time he could spend with the girls, I got to work on some projects.

For some time now, I have been wanting to find antique pieces to refinish and then use to redecorate our outdoor space. We spend almost every waking moment out there come summer time, and I felt like the area needed a bit of sprucing up. My husband’s grandmother, gave me a beautiful iron garden table that I stripped and then repainted.

I then went to every thrift store and antique mall in the city (and my husband will attest that there are MANY in our area), and finally came upon a fabulous dining room table that had two additional leaves that could be added. With a little tender loving care I knew it would be the perfect table for our many outdoor summer gatherings with family and friends. I repainted the bottom portion of the table, my husband fastened the leaves together so that it would stay together permanently, and I then put several layers of outdoor polyurethane on the table top to add some extra protection.