Young House Love

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A Few Thrift Store Finds

I have been meaning to update you guys on four thrifty purchases (well, technically there are nine of them, because I got six of one thing) so let’s get into it. First we have this gilded pineapple vase that I found for $4 at Goodwill. Can you guess what I love most about it? Yup, the hex pattern all over the body of the vase. Even though it’s clearly pineapple influenced, it felt so “bees” to me (more on why we love bees here). And the antique gold finish is really pretty in person. Not too bright and shiny – it feels timeworn and authentic.

Brass Bees1

And see those three jars around them? They were sent over by a friend (ohmygoshIlovethem Amy – thankyouthankyouthankyou!) and they look perfect with my new vase. The color of the pretty lids are exactly the same antique-gold color and… wait for it… there are little bees on the lid of each one. I also love the criss-cross glass effect.

Brass Bees2

They’re sitting on our desk to the right of my computer so I can glance over and smile at them every sentence or two.

Bees 3

Not kidding. That happens.

Second of all, this guy is ours. And he’s also something that now lives on our desk and gets lovingly gazed at:

  WestElmPig

The minute he popped up on West Elm we put in our order (we knew he’d be the perfect way to enjoy music in the office and much cheaper than a Bose stereo or some of the other docks on the market). He was actually back-ordered for a little while, but he finally showed up and we love him (update: we hear he’s now back-ordered until mid March of next year! Crazy!).

The sound quality is great – and of course the white ceramic animal feature is our favorite. He definitely adds some sense of humor and some festivity (thanks to the fun music that we can now play while we type away). Oh and his name? Humphrey. He’s a total Humphrey.

  WestElmPig Butt

PS: Here’s a link to the music video for for the She & Him song that we were listening to. Zooey Deschanel is in all of her awkwardly weird glory, which we love. PPS: You should totally be watching New Girl.

Thirdly, I couldn’t resist bringing home six of these babies for $2.99 a pop from Marshall’s (originally $8 each).

Mugs Side View

I’ve never had matching mugs. We have one of those mish-mash collections that I never really minded (no more than two of the same kind) but I love that the next time I have John’s parents or my parents over we can all sip tea/coffee from the same mugs (and I still have my random mismatched mugs to use whenever the nostalgia hits).

It might be an embarrassing thing to admit, but they’re the first item of “china” that we own with a stamp on the bottom. All we registered for when we got married were basic white plates from Linens N Things without anything written under them.

Mugs Bottom

Is it weird that this is one of those purchases that makes me feel like a grown up? And it’s kind of unnatural how excited I am to toss these up on the future-open-shelves in the kitchen with all of our everyday dishes and cups. If gazing up at them while eating breakfast at the peninsula is wrong, I don’t want to be right. Has anyone else out there made any “I feel so grown up” purchases lately? Like a fancy sheet set (still don’t have one of those) or plush new bathroom towels?

But wait, it’s time for thing number four. It was a small (maybe about a foot long) thrift store rocking horse (also from Goodwill) that I grabbed for $1 because I knew that I could modernize the country-ish “outfit” that he was wearing for zero bucks. I stupidly forgot to take a before picture of the guy, but he was sort of faux finished with lots of paint and decorative details on him like the pony below (found here).

Horse Before

The scribbly blue stuff that I photoshopped in around his neck is supposed to represent the blue raffia around the neck that was glued with lots of globby mounds dripping down my guy’s legs. Hotness.

First I named him Bosley. Then I got to work. I ripped off the raffia wreath around his neck and used an exacto knife to peel/scrape as much of the glue blobs off as I could. Eventually I had a nice smooth finish going on. Then it was time to spray prime the guy (since he was made of raw wood, I thought I might have bleed-through issues if I skipped right to painting).

Horse Sprayed

After a few thin coats of spray primer and gray spray paint that I already had on hand from a past project, he was quite the looker. A bright color might have been fun too – but I opted to just use what I had for now. I’m loving the deep charcoal finish so far, but if I get antsy and Bos ends up hot pink I’ll be sure to tell ya.

Horse 1

He’s currently hanging out on the desk in the living room but I picture him traveling all over the house for a while (perhaps landing on a shelf in Clara’s room or the top of a desk or dresser in the playroom someday?). So far Clara has shown zero interest in him, but I have to admit that I got him because I hoped that someday she’d put a Barbie on him and gallop her all over the house. Yup, Bosley is perfectly Barbie-sized. We’ll have to wait and see if Clara is as crazy about this idea as I am…

Happy weekend everyone! Do you have any thrift store finds to share? Or new mugs with words on the bottom that make you feel oh-so-civilized? Or Barbie-sized anything? Lay it on me.

Comments

  4. Jamie says

    No cool thrift store finds, but I did just buy a headboard for my previously unadorned bed and I sure am feeling like an adult now!

    Reply

  5. Elisa @ The Self Life says

    That pig is hilarious! Trying to think of someone who’d love that as a gift..

    Also, just watched New Girl the other night just because it had Zooey in it. HILARIOUS. Also love me some Bones, too. Dat’s some good genes right there.

    Reply

  6. Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says

    These are all great finds! I cracked up when I saw that speaker pig (pig speaker?).

    We got our fine china set and I feel so fancy with them. I want to just start having dinner parties! Our everyday stuff is matchy but we still have a whole lot of mixed matched mugs (I love picking certain ones out for things like hot chocolate or tea).

    Reply

  7. Carley @ On One Hand says

    I love all the stuff you found but I’m struggling with the pineapple LOL I mean, I love it and I used to LOOOOOVE pineapple, but ever since I was pregnant with my second son I can’t get into it like I once did after it giving me a terrible case of heartburn…so that’s all I think of when I look at it =) I suppose as long as we’re not eating it, we can admire it right? After all, metal’s a little hard to swallow.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw man, I craved citrus drinks and ate citrus fruits the whole time I was prego! I had a girl though so maybe it’s a boy pregnancy symptom? Any other mommas who got heartburn from pineapple? If so didja have a boy?

      xo,
      s

    • Angela A says

      Im having a boy and I’ve drank pineapple juice and ate pineapple and so far so good, into my 8th month!

      Cute ceramic pig Ipod speaker btw! I just sent the link to my husband since he’s an Ipod guy. He found it amusing :)

    • Carley @ On One Hand says

      Pregnancy had me all messed up when it came to food/drinks. I used to love Dr. Pepper before my first, couldn’t touch the stuff afterwards – and I got heartburn so bad from red chile chicken my grandmother-in-law made I thought I was dying (I had never had heartburn before). Now after my second son I love Dr. Pepper again, and now I’m weird about pineapple and shrimp haha

    • Sabrina says

      I had the WORST heartburn with my son. Thought I was having a heart attack sometimes lol I was craving sweet pickles, pineapple, and steak ( which would always make me sick)

  9. Holly@Loveoflifeblog says

    I HEART New Girl. “Don’t run over to me saying, ‘Schmidt, Schmidt, you’re using too much Tarragon. Because you know what, I’m not.'” hahahaha
    I committed a major no-no at the thrift store and passed up two black frames that could have easily been spray painted white for my display wall. I just wasn’t thinking!

    Reply

  10. Seema says

    I hate to be “that guy” (or girl, in my case) since I worship you guys, but you spelled “nostalgia” wrong – came out “nastaglia”

    P.S. LOVE the pig

    Reply

    • Amy T-Y says

      Ha!
      Maureen–I’m the buyer of the cute little vintage bee jars.
      Glad you like them!
      And it might kill you to know that I found them in this tiny little DAV thrift store (I’m in Kansas City) run by sweet little old ladies. They were .78 each & the old lady said “honey, you might not want to pay that much if you don’t know how to get the tarnish off the lids.” I smiled & told her I’d just take my chances! No idea where they originally came from.

  12. Colleen in MA says

    I love your thrift-store updates. On a road trip this summer my husband and I dropped in on a thrift store because I had told him about all your fun finds. We came away with two ’50s-style NYC prints for a buck each – they are “so us” for so many reasons. Thrilled to find a cheap way to have fun, so thanks! :)

    Just one question – how do you keep track of all these names you keep giving your things?!

    Reply

  13. Courtney H says

    Thought seriously about ordering the pig until i saw he was backordered until March 21, 2012!! ugh. Wish the West Elm in Raleigh would get here sooner rather than later.

    Reply

    • Courtney H says

      Hey Sarah,
      Can’t seem to reply to your post so i’ll reply to mine…a little birdie in the Charlotte store told me back in August they were going to open a store in Raleigh in 2012. I asked about it the other day on the West Elm FB page and they didn’t confirm, but they hinted that i was right….can’t wait! I thought the girl told me spring 2012 so maybe there was a holdup – Southpoint i think?

  16. Pip says

    Wow! When did you have time for all this extra goodness? I nearly bought a white ceramic pineapple today – but got side-tracked by a white ceramic squirrel. And then I remembered I was Xmas shopping for other people. We’re getting your groove here in Perth western Australia!
    Grown up moment: having a linen closet all of my own – everything folded nicely, clean and organised. Thinking scented ironing mist was a good idea.

    Reply

    • Chrissie says

      Haha so true – I saw my first Chevron print thing here a couple of weeks ago. I nearly bought it, too, it was a really cute handbag from Target!

      Where did you find the white ceramic squirrel?!

  18. bridget b. says

    whoa! when i first saw the horse, i thought it was a rocker toy for Clara. i was momentarily so confused to see if sitting on your desk.

    have you decided what you are going to put in the bee jars (if anything)?

    cool docking station. that would be perfect for some incognito music in a nursery.

    Reply

  19. Julia @ Chris loves Julia says

    I just love that little horse!! Posts like this remind me that we don’t have very many accessories in our home. We have empty end tables and our piano is empty on top. I have the hardest time buying little things to accessorize with when we still have so many BIG things to do so our home. Were you the same in your first home???

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think it took me a while to work up to having a lot of little things I loved displaying. In the beginning I just had a ton of frames and little cluttery things I didn’t really have much attachment to, and slowly I had some yard sales and found some things that seemed more like “us” that make us smile a little more. Happy hunting!

      xo,
      s

    • heather says

      @Julia – I know what you mean. I hate things on surfaces just to be there, but I love adorable chachki’s (sp?) like Sherry & John have. Once’s that have meaning.

      I have this thing that if I ever opened a store, it would be called The Elegant Rooster. So, I have this ORBish wire rooster from HomeGoods who is my buddy. My husband has asked me it’s going to Goodwill and I gasped like he asked if I was dropping the dog off at the pound (which would NEVER happen for either of us, we’re dog saps). That little bird is getting a primer coat on it and then being sprayed teal and will forever hold a place in my office. That and I’m trying to find a white cow figurine I love. I sort of have a thing for cows.

  21. Alissa says

    I love that you guys name everything. Does your car have a name? My family has always named cars. My current one is Marsha but we’ve also had Jenny, Carla, Jimmy, Dino, Blooper, Cherry, and Brownie.

    Reply

  22. Lani @ Diapers and Divas says

    Love it all! That vase is GREAT! And those jars are just too sweet. I just went to Goodwill last Sunday and scored pretty good as all yellow and red tags were 50% off! A set of saucers that I plan to do some kitchen art out of, a plate and candlestick holder I plan to transform into a cake plate, a blazer (for $1! woot!), a book with a fun color cover, and a couple glass jars to help beef up my Turkey day table! Pretty good! All for less than $10. Love me some Goodwill!

    Reply

  26. Alison says

    That rocking horse is bada$$. I am amazed by your vision- I see those things at the thrift store, snicker, judge people looking at them and keep on walking! Good job!

    Reply

  27. Laurie says

    I just discovered a Goodwill Home Decor store. What a find! I bought an awesome divided Christmas dish. Perfect for nuts, candy etc….but it totally looks very vintage-y 50’s with these handpainted elves in the bottom of each section. It was a steal at $3. But my best find was a Fenton Glass footed compote bowl. It was also only $3 and similar bowls sell for upwards of $500 online. I swear people give stuff away with no clue what they have. Their de-cluttering loss is my gain. Love the bee jars. I have a thing for dragonflies so I would love those with a dragonfly on them.

    Reply

  28. Bethany says

    Way to see the vision with the horse! Question: how’d you get the “mane” black. Was that spray paint too! Any tip to get to the bottom of those bristles w/o it getting all globby or messing up the rest?

    Reply

    • Bethany says

      Ah! I see, it’s all the same color spray paint but the straw was darker and so the color came out different. From here it looked like somehow you painted the mane and tail with black spray paint and the wood with grey. I couldn’t figure out how you got it so precise! I kept thinking, wow, that’s a project (or just commitment!)

  31. Teresa says

    This is such a fun post! Thanks for sharing!

    I went Goodwill shopping the other day and picked up a few things, but they have to wait until tomorrow to get “prettied up” :) Some cabinet doors for 1.95 a piece, a clear bowl and a glass candle pedestals. I’m envisioning chalkboards and fun decorative bowls on pedestals! Oh and I picked up a jar to do our “thankful” jar. I may make my first note to be thankful I found this blog to get the idea!

    Reply

  32. Jen @ The Decor Scene says

    Love them all!!! Great finds. Love what you did with the horse….I hope Clara thinks of playing with the horse with Barbie riding on it too. Great video that would be…awwww how cute! I can just see the big smile on your face if she just does it one day without you telling her to do it. :)

    Reply

  33. Ilana says

    It seems like West Elm is partnering with a lot of bloggers these days, and while I like their products, I resent the subliminal advertising.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We bought that pig with our own money and our own freewill because we loved him, so West Elm had nothing to do with it and there was no “incentive” whatsoever! We never write sponsored posts or accept free swag, and when we’re teaming up with a company to host a giveaway for our lovely readers or chatting about the sponsors who make our blog possible once a month in a shout out, we make it super clear (we’re all about 100% transparency). You can read more about our no-swag policy here. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  34. Anne says

    I am going to be cracking up all day about the pig iPod dock. He might be the first ceramic animal we buy for our house. I am sure my husband will not love you guys when we have a pooping pig playing music in the house. :)

    Reply

  38. Jess says

    We have that pig speaker! Although ours wasn’t from West Elm (although it looks identical!) and I bought it for my husband’s birthday last year. He absolutely loves it. We keep it in our kitchen and listen to music while cooking dinner together. Sadly, he still has no name. I need to get on that!

    Enjoy your speaker pig – we really love ours!

    Reply

  39. Rebecca says

    YAY, a post on the pig! And a good name for him!

    We are having about a dozen friends for a Thanksgiving party this weekend and I am litterally giddy over using my entire 12 place setting (just Corelle, not China) and our various fancy serving platters that don’t get much use with just 2 people. HAPPY FRIDAY!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Maybe once a month or so? Sometimes when we’re traveling to see family or taking a weekend day trip we’ll see one on the road or we’ll stop in randomly just to see what they have at our local one while walking around downtown or something.

      xo,
      s

  41. Rebecca says

    Oh and I seriously am in LOVE with The New Girl. I told my husband if our 21 pound turkey doesn’t fit in the oven we can put it in the dryer….I got an eye roll out of him from that.

    Reply

  42. Amanda says

    Am I the first one to notice? Can you spot the spelling error?

    “They were sent over by a friend (ohmygoshIlovethem Amy – thankyouthinkyouthankyou!)”

    I hope you think me too for pointing it out ;) hehe.

    Also, I loove that little piggy, he’s so cute. I want one! I want one!

    Reply

    • Amanda says

      You’re welcome! It through me off, I was trying to figure out if you intended it or not, but I figured you didn’t since it doesn’t actually make sense. Unless it was some sort of joke that I didn’t get (especially since no one else noticed!)

      I forgot to say that I’m LOVING (like LOVING) New Girl. It’s hilarious. I also absolutely adore Zooey, and She & Him. Their songs are so cute. Did you buy an album of theirs or just specific songs off of iTunes?

  44. Kerrie says

    I really want that pig!! I am in desperate need of speakers for my iPhone..

    Oh and I LOVE NEW GIRL! I about died laughing when she put that turkey in the dryer!! Have you watched 2 Broke Girl? It’s crazy funny too!!

    Reply

    • Amanda says

      2 Broke Girls is AWESOME! I look forward to that every Monday. And How I Met Your Mother, and Castle of course.

      There’s some awesome new shows this year! New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, and I’m finally getting into Whitney. The first few episodes were okay, but I didn’t really get into it. I’ve been watching it the last two weeks and it’s pretty funny! My friend (who watched it from the beginning) said it has got more funny as the weeks progress.

      Apparently the girl who plays Whitney in Whitney is the writer, or producer or something of 2 Broke Girls.

    • heather says

      I super enjoy Up All Night with Christina Applegate. I don’t even have kids and it’s one of my favorites of the newer shows. My favorite is still, hands down, Parks and Recreation.

  45. Cassie says

    I adore everything in this post! I get so lost in a thrift store trying to figure out what would “work” in my house and what wouldn’t, but you guys are inspiring me by knowing what you like (bees, hex patterns, numbers, animals, etc.) first and then getting creative with your own vision for the object. P.S. I love that you love New Girl, but I love that you are listening to She & Him even more!!! One more reason you guys are my favorite!

    Reply

  46. Cate says

    My husband and I bought a bar cabinet recently. Nothing says “grown up” quite like a piece of furniture whose sole purpose is to contain your alcohol :)

    Reply

  48. Dawn says

    I just had to comment- have you seen the A Very She & Him Christmas Album they recently released? I have been trying to avoid buying it before Thanksgiving, but I just broke down this morning and bought it. Whoops. Anyway, it’s really good! Christmas music + Zooey Deschanel = heaven.

    Also, love the purchases. I think the rocking horse is my favorite!

    Reply

  49. NatalieM. says

    LOVE New Girl: Favorite LOL from this past weeks episode was
    “I wanna take him down to chinatown and give him a piece of this pumpkin pie” hahaha

    Also love that Zoe did a good amount of the sound track to the new Winnie the Pooh movie that my little guy loved

    Reply

    • Kasey March says

      Natalie you beat me to the Winne the Pooh reveal! I love Zoe and keep trying to watch the show, but I’m one of those awkward people that feels so embarrased FOR the charaters being foolish that I have to walk away from the TV.

      I still try.

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