Happy Halloween!

Last night while Will and I were out on the porch hanging up our spider webs, we noticed the neighbor across the street dragging out even MORE of his Halloween stuff and we decided that I needed to do a little more shopping today and buy a few more things. LOL I feel a little friendly competition beginning between our houses. I can't wait to see what Christmas is like.

So, today, instead of going to Home Depot and buying paint, I'll be schlepping across the Baltimore metro region looking for more spider webs, some strobe lights, more tombstones, a couple of spotlights and then costumes for the two of us. Nothing like last minute preparations, huh? Oh, and I still need to go buy candy and fill up the treat bags.

Last year I filled almost 100 little treat bags and we sat at the house for the entire night and we didn't have even ONE trick-or-treater come by. Talk about disappointing! It was our first (and only) year in that house/neighborhood and we just assumed we'd get some kids. Hahaha I finally threw away all of that candy when we moved back in April. I've seen several houses on our new street that have decorated for Halloween though so I'm guessing we might get a few trick-or-treaters tonight. But, if we don't, it'll be okay because I'm buying all chocolate and well, I wouldn't complain if we had leftovers and I were forced to eat them!

And lest you think I sat around all day yesterday scheming up ways to out do the neighbors decorations, allow me to provide proof to the contrary:





That's right, folks. I emptied my craft room (minus the big furniture) yesterday and everything is now sitting in the middle of the dining room. Yeah, that's lovely! I absolutely HAVE TO paint tomorrow so I can get my stuff put back in here ASAP because all of my crap in the dining room is just not working! The husband offered to help me by putting everything in boxes & trash bags. lol Think he's trying to tell me something?!

Well, I should go get dressed and start running my errands so I can get back here early enough to decorate, fill up the treat bags and dress up! Hope you all have a frightfully fun Halloween, be safe tonight!

My latest Ghetto Thrift Goodies

Boy did I get some fabulous things at the GT today. You know, sometimes when I go to the Ghetto Thrift, I leave almost empty handed. Never completely empty-handed though because I always find at least one thing I just can't live without, but there have been times I've left rather disappointed. See, the drive to the Ghetto Thrift takes me through some of the 'hoods of Baltimore and I get kind of nervous driving over there. So, when I go to the GT, I like it to be worth my drive and I like to buy a lot of stuff. If this thrift store was in a different location (say, not in the hood) I'd probably go more often but I am just not that comfortable driving there more than once a week. It takes me about that long to get my courage up again!!

Anyhow, so yesterday I had to run some errands and I decided I needed to stop in the GT to see if there were any new treasures that needed to come home with me. And I wasn't disappointed at all. What I was disappointed about was the fact that the GT only has like 5 carts and the rest is hand baskets. Now really, how much stuff can you fit in a basket?? That is the most stupid idea ever! If you want people to buy a lot of stuff, at least have somewhere for them to put all of their crap while they are shopping. So, I wasn't lucky enough to get a cart because the store was crowded and I had to settle for a basket. That sucker got loaded down though and I thought the bottom might break!

Here is my little rant for the week. Last week I stopped into the GT and picked up a few things and the lady running the register told me I couldn't use my 25% discount because I didn't tell her in time. That kind of pissed me off because the first thing I do when I get up there is put my military ID on the counter. Basically, she didn't take the time to enter the discount and she would've had to ring my order up again so she just told me she couldn't take it. Ugh! So, yesterday while I was checking out, I asked if they were still giving the discount and the guy told me they were. Yay for my discount! I was counting on receiving the discount because I bought a couple of things I normally wouldn't buy if I had to pay full price for them!!

So, on to my fabulous purchases. First up, a couple of vintage children's books. I don't know why I've been drawn to these old books lately. Maybe it's because of the cute covers or the colorful illustrations on the inside. These are for resell though and I hope someone on Etsy will find a good use for them, either to read or to use in crafts.



I also picked up this vintage box of hosiery. The box says "Bakers Dozen" but there are only a couple of pairs left in the box. Either way, the box alone was worth the purchase price and if there are any retro-dressing ladies that need some new hose, well, here ya go!



And then I found this adorable twin size flat sheet with two pillow cases. I love the yellow flowers but more importantly, look at that ruffle! These linens are SO soft! I love nothing more than to crawl into bed and feel soft, cold sheets and these feel like they'd be heavenly to sleep on. Honestly, I prefer vintage linens to anything you can buy today. There is just no comparison to me, not even with the 12 million thread count sheets you can get these days. I'm torn on what to do with these though. One of our guest rooms has two twin beds in it so I could always keep these to use on those beds. On the other hand, we hardly EVER have company and those beds are almost never used.



And my absolute best find of the week is this little beauty below. I think I almost dropped my basket when I saw this hanging up. I couldn't wait to get my greedy little hands on it before someone else spotted it. Check out this full/double size blue with white flowers chenille bedspread.





Isn't it gorgeous? And in fairly good condition too! I noticed a small section of the fringe unravelling and one section on the back side that the stitching is coming undone but that looks to be an easy fix. I was just so excited to find this thing! You hardly ever see chenille spreads around here and usually they are white or beige. I love the bright blue color. Last year at the VV near the base I found a fabulous double peacock chenille spread that had a green background. It was only a couple of dollars and was shoved under a rack of linens. I'm thinking someone else wanted it and had put it there to come back later and buy but too bad! I'm debating if I should keep these for our other guest room or if I should sell it. Hmmm so many decision!

I also picked up a couple more milk glass candy dish things to hold more of my crap, er I mean very valuable items, here in my craft room and a cute drinking glass with a picture of a blue warbler on it. I swear I saw someone else post pictures on their blog not long ago of a set of glasses with birds but I cannot find the post now!

So, that was my day at the GT. Quite a good haul, I made it out of the 'hood safely and bought a ton of good stuff. Now I need to work on emptying out my room because I finally decided on paint colors and I'm painting this place ASAP! I can't wait to show you the new look. I have a few pieces of furniture that I want to paint but I feel guilty painting it. Someone please tell me to not feel badly for painting this stuff. I mean it's not like museum quality furniture. Just stuff I've picked up at thrift stores or estate sales and I want my room to match and look cute. Tell me it's okay to paint this ugly brown furniture!

Monday's Finds at the Value Village

Well, nothing helps cure those post-vacation blues quite like a 2.5 hour trip to the fabulous thrift store! Luckily, I got there early today so it wasn't quite as packed as it was last week and I was able to get down a couple of the more busy aisles before the crowds got there. I swear, sometimes I will stand in that store and wonder if people are really *that* obtuse. I mean if your cart is in the middle of an already narrow aisle and you see someone else walking down said aisle and coming towards you, don't you have the good sense (and/or manners) to try and pull your cart as close to the racks as possible??? Yeah, most people up here don't. I don't get it at all. So, it was nice to get most of my shopping/looking around done before the rude people got there!

I think I may have spent more there today than I ever have, but I bought a bunch of cute little things. I picked up a bag full of old Boys Town Christmas stamps/seals from the 50s, a baggie full of German ornaments, 4 pillowcases, a twin sized flat sheet, a couple of books and a huge Gund bear that still has tags on it and must've been a collectible type of thing from 2000. I dunno if I'm going to resell it or maybe strip his ugly clothes off and just keep him. The bear is about 30" tall and just so cute so he might be staying even though I don't really even like bears!

Yesterday I decided it was time to start trying to sell some of my stuff on Etsy. It's all vintage stuff right now, but I may at one point decide to actually make things too. I need to list more things today and start going through some of my stuff and putting aside things I know I can live without. See, that's my problem. I always go into the thrift store and find such good things I just know would sell online but then I have a hard time parting with them! I'm hoping all of that is about to change though. lol And I also signed up for Twitter yesterday too. I am so lost! I'm guessing I'll get the hang of it soon though. Seems easy enough to figure out.

Today I need to go pick up coffee creamer and a pumpkin carving kit for the husband and I'm going to try to make it to the Ghetto Thrift too if I have time. What I *really* need to do is stay right here at home, box up my entire craft/scrap/office room and clear it out so I can paint this weekend. But, seeing how I haven't decided on paint yet, cleaning all of this stuff out doesn't make much sense. I swear I tried to settle on a green shade yesterday but none of the swatches I have seem like the right color. I have a lot of red and green accents in this room so I can't find a color I really like. Maybe I'll just stick with white walls! Ugh!! I am so indecisive...it drives me NUTS!

Back to reality

Hello, my favorite vintage peeps. Hahaha. I make it sound like I actually have a lot of people reading my little ol blog! I've been away for a while but I'm back now and hopefully will get back on some sort of regular posting schedule. Which in reality, means about 1.5 times a week, but still.

So, Will and I just returned from a little jaunt down to the mountains of Tennessee and I have never been so happy to leave from a vacation! I know that sounds ludicrous but it's true. This vacation is proof that not all vacations are magical and that sometimes vacations can pretty much suck.

Now, don't get me wrong. I absolutely LOVE being in Eastern TN and in the mountains but the circumstances with this particular vacation were just so, ugh, I can't even form the words. Will and I went down and met up with my parents and my sister, her boyfriend and my niece. Everything was going okay the first night down there. Even the second day seemed to start off okay. We were going to go to Dollywood and have a fantastic time riding rides and eating tons of junk food. Except Dollywood is closed on Thursdays and we didn't know it until we got to the little entrance to the parking lot. Things just got worse from here on out.

Friday morning we woke up to torrential downpours and tropical storm-like winds. It was insane. The cabin we rented, which was quite nice I might add, sprung a few leaks around the windows and doors. That's how hard the rain/wind was. Oh, and then we lost power just as I was starting to get ready. No more power = dead curling iron and I went to town looking like a hot mess.

By Saturday the weather was fair again and the rest of the family went to Dollywood but Will and I skipped out. There were just so many things we wanted to do that we hadn't done yet and since it was our last day, we decided to skip going to the amusement park and actually get a few of the things done. One of our stops was at the Apple Barn, which I normally LOVE, but I ate a fried pie and drank a huge glass of apple cider and within about 20 minutes I became violently ill!

So, as you can see, our vacation wasn't that great at all. The weather was horrible one day, I was sick as a dog for several hours on another, I only spent about 5 minutes with my mom (which is another story I won't get into here because it just makes me so damn mad), the leaves looked like crap and Will and I didn't do hardly anything we had planned on doing.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to stop at any of my favorite little antique stores in the area either. But, today is 25% off day at the Value Village and I have every intention of drowning my vacation blues sorrows by getting there when the doors open at 10:00. I found a couple of cute little vintage Christmas things there last week and I cannot wait to go today & see what I can find.

In other news, I absolutely HAVE TO pick out a paint color for this scrap/craft/office room this week because I am painting this weekend. I am the most indecisive person ever when it comes to paint. I am torn between painting this room a shade of pale green, like maybe a very pale jade color, or maybe pale pink, or even pale turquoise. Gaaaaaaah. Why can't I make a decision?? And I must find a bookcase this week. My room looks like a bomb went off in here and it is driving me crazy. I think having a bookshelf/case would offer a lot more storage and could help me keep this place a little more neat. I hope. lol

So, what color should I paint this place?? Pink? Green? Turquoise? Something entirely different?? I need help people!

Fall decorating

Man, I have really been out of touch lately. Every day I remind myself I need to come and blog, and more importantly, come and read some of my other favorite blogs but I just haven't found the time to do that.

So, the husband was off of work Monday, which was nice. But it also cut into my thrifting! Instead of going to the VV for 25% off day, we went to Home Depot where I purchased HUGE mums that were "damaged" and thus, dirt cheap. We came home and planted them, I deadheaded the ones that needed it and now they look fabulous again and I'm so glad we didn't pay full price!

Last weekend was spent much the same way as Monday. We did some work in the yard, decorated the porch for Autumn and pulled out some of our Halloween decorations for the yard too. Of course we'll have to bring all of this stuff back inside next Wednesday when we leave for our little trip down to the mountains of Tennessee.

In addition to trying to get all of my stuff ready for our trip next week, I also have to go shopping either today or tomorrow and find something to wear on Saturday, when we go on our little WHITE HOUSE TOUR! Evidently it's some sort of "Friends and Family" tour and not just the regular old tour the average Joe gets to take. And we have to get sort of dressed up. And I don't really own anything "dressy" so I need to go shopping and buy something. I'm hoping the weather cooperates and it doesn't rain and it isn't hot. We were supposed to take this tour in July before our trip to Wyoming but everyone was so busy that it got pushed back. And I'm glad it did because I didn't want to be schlepping around DC in July with 100% humidity, trying to look "dressy".

Well, that's about it for now. Here are some pictures of the fall decorations.







These pictures are CRAP but I haven't gotten around to taking better ones yet. Maybe I can do that today!

Slim pickings at the Value Village

So, I didn't find too many goodies at the VV today, but what I did find was a total steal. I still cannot believe my luck! Take a look at what I found:



That's right. An authentic old Hudson Bay Point Blanket, in good condition and it doesn't smell funky like a lot of old blankets do! I immediately look for tags on old blankets and when I saw that this blanket was a REAL one and not a fake, I had to snatch this up. Do you think $7.50 was a good deal?? After checking Ebay and seeing how much these have sold for, I think it was a steal!! Here's the tag from the blanket.



So, that blanket and a couple of other small things were the only items I bought today at the VV. Will is gone again for the day so he won't be flying back into DC until late tonight so that means I can go to the Ghetto Thrift here in a little while! Maybe I'll have good luck there too!

Redecorating

I don't know about you guys but I feel like we are constantly redecorating this house. Which I don't mind one bit, by the way. I look forward to changing out accessories with the seasons. I blame it on being a Gemini. I honestly could not live with the same accessories, day in day out, for 12 months at a time. I get bored very easily.

I went to 3 different Targets this week. As many of you probably know, Target is having a HUGE clearance sale. HUGE. The stores around here marked down things to 75% off yesterday. Of course I spent the majority of the money on Thursday. Go figure! I totally scored though. I found a king sized dark brown velvet quilt for less than $18. The matching shams were $4 each and then brown "silk" curtains were $13 each. Yes, I know it sounds like a lot of brown but it's going to look fabulous once I pull it all together. And I have to admit that brown isn't a color I'd usually pick to decorate with.

I attempted to pick out paint colors today while the husband and I were at Home Depot. I'm kind of tired of looking at these white walls. At our house in SC, the first thing we did after closing on it was to start painting. Every room was painted. And then we moved to Maryland and rented a house and all of those walls were white. And we couldn't paint. So, although I'm used to living with white walls, I do want to paint here in our new house. I can't find a color I really love though. I need to keep the walls neutral because I do change out the accessories and slip covers with the seasons and need everything to match. I'm thinking a nice sandy color will work.

The weather is nice this weekend so I need to go tomorrow and pick up some mums and other fall stuff to decorate the porch. The husband has been busy today building a section of privacy fencing and he'll finish that up tomorrow hopefully. This weekend has been much better than last!!