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

  2. Niki says

    No thrift store finds (although I am STILL mad at my husband for not letting me buy an old dresser from an antique store in Scottsville, KY); BUT, the purchase I made (last year) was my new Toyota RAV4. I had an old Chevy Cavalier that I bought when I, temporarily, quit college. I had it until I bought the RAV. I totally felt like an adult then.
    I find it surprising, though, that buying two houses and having a child didn’t make you feel grown up :-)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, I guess there were moments when we realized we’re all grown up when we got a house and had a kid. Haha. But something about saying “yes, but we still only have one set of sheets for our bed and they’re five years old and from Target and don’t even have a thread count to speak of” make us still feel behind on the adult thing. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  4. Nikki Olson says

    I kind of want to leave work to scrounge around my GW for a pineapple vase! I love pineapples…they mean “hospitality” so I think you should put it in your guest bedroom:) Let me know if you want to make a trade. I am sure I have something that you would love…I could send you a few options?!

    Reply

  6. Ruthie says

    I scored an Oreck for $10. I was dancing and skipping to my car. Woot woot. Now, not to think about the old dead lady’s house it probably came from…

    Reply

  9. Amber says

    My next door neighbor gifted my baby girl the same rocking horse figurine, only ours was painted two shades of green and has what looks like Christmas tree needles and roses around his neck. He also has an odd white area on his left side that looks like someone tried to paint him with white-out. Weird. But now that I’ve seen yours I’m inspired to update the one we received. Thanks!

    Reply

  10. Angie says

    I was so excited when i got to the end and saw the rocking horse! then i realized it was a mini and not life size. I JUST found an old, old rocking horse for 2 bucks at the thrift store and I was hoping for some inspiration from you on a finished look! I already yanked out his nasty mane and tail and sanded down the ugly finish. I’m just trying to decide whether to paint it, stain, or leave it alone. Still love your mini though he failed to give me visions of what is to come for my esquire friend.

    Reply

  11. maribel says

    I recently went thru a bag of stuff my MIL gave me for my yard sale. I kept this handblown glass bird. I’ve seen the same style in Pottery Barn, and other stores ( I’ve seen ceramic and also terra cotta type.) I would like to to paint it, what kind of paint can I use.

    Reply

  12. maribel says

    One more thing your pineapple totally reminded me of your “Classy” purse featured in the video of you and Katie B last month.

    Reply

  14. Haley @ thedistractedblogger says

    That has to be the cutest speakers I have ever seen! And that tiny rocking horse is precious!

    I just bought my first pair of matching bath towels. It is amazing how much better I feel about my bathroom because of towels! I do feel a little more grown up now. :)

    Reply

  15. Gavin S. says

    I’m so glad to hear that I’m not the only one who totally adores mix-n-match coffee mugs (even when everything else is grown-up and matchy)! Your new mugs will look great on the open shelves (which I’m so excited to see come to fruition!), but I’m delighted that you’ll still be keeping the “memory mugs” in the cabinet for a rainy day. Is it weird that now I’m humming “Memories” in my head???

    Reply

  17. Jennifer says

    Love New Girl!! Zooey cracks me up every episode. Have you heard She and Him’s Christmas album yet?? It’s really good! (I know I know a little early to listen to Christmas music)

    Reply

  21. Trilby says

    Speaking of open shelves in the kitchen – I’m headed that way soon, as a part of a mini-remodel of our 100-year old kitchen. Do you have any tips or recommendations of which style of shelf to use? I like the floating shelf look you guys had in your first dining room, but are they sturdy enough for everyday use? I’d love to have something done by the end of the year, so I can display the new Fiesta dishes that I’m getting for Christmas!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We loaded those up with tons of plates and glasses and frames and they were nice and sturdy. Just be sure to use heavy duty anchors or try to drill into studs to really hold them strongly!

      xo,
      s

  23. Sam says

    Yes, we are big fans in my house of New Girl too. Just watched last weeks episode last night and was seriously laughing out loud. She & Him have a Christmas album too, thinking about nabbing that one soon.

    Reply

  28. candace @ thecandace.com says

    I love reading about your Goodwill scores – you and KB seem to have such a knack for finding beauties! Since we downsized to place super low on storage – I put my self “on hold” when it comes to shopping for house stuff. Can’t wait until I get to start it back up again!
    As for the matching mugs – I have a set of black ones that I adore and it makes me very smiley to share coffee with friends/family in ones that match. It’s the little things!

    Reply

  29. heyruthie says

    the last picture made me laugh, because all the way up until that point, I thought Clara was going to be *riding* Bos herself. I thought he was full-sized, like the one I used to have as a kid. then, he suddenly shrunk (but only in my mind!)

    isn’t it funny how different pics can look so different to each person?

    Reply

  31. mp says

    All great finds!

    I bought a rug a couple of weeks ago (the day I thought I’d run into John at the Hull Street/288 Home Depot) that matches another one in my room. I kept hearing Genevieve Gorder preaching about not being matchy-matchy, but when you only have two rugs on a white-painted bedroom floor, I think they ought to match. It makes me feel very adult to have two matching rugs in my bedroom.

    I’m also getting ready to pay my car tax bill (the first big one I’ve had in years), and the size of it makes me feel frighteningly adult!

    Reply

  32. mp says

    ps — That bee painting is great! $75 for original art?!? Wow! I’ve paid more than that for prints! Bees and rhinos and Burgers, oh my!

    Reply

  33. Dee Dee says

    I love the rocking horse!!!

    I bought a set of curtains recently that made me feel really grown up – mostly because this is my 3rd apartment and the first one that I bothered to put up curtains in :/

    Reply

  35. Danielle says

    I’m loving those bee jars too! I’m a bee-lover as well :-)

    Not a purchase, but I’m finally making my first Thanksgiving dinner this year instead of going to my parent’s house. I feel so grown up – and I’m 37! :-)

    Reply

  37. Riva says

    We made several very adult purchases over the weekend for our kitchen remodel project: ordered our backsplash tile from The Tile Shop (thank you thank you for the YHL10 coupon code!), bought 25 cabinet knobs at Home Depot, bought a stainless steel french door fridge for a STELLAR price on Craigslist, and ordered our new stainless DOUBLE OVEN stove (110% price difference match PLUS manufacturer rebate!). All we have left to buy now is a new light fixture for over the sink! (Please hurry up and do your light fixture swaps so I can get ideas?)

    Reply

  39. JR says

    Oh em gee. Humphrey made my heart sing as soon as I saw him so how appropriate that he’s musical. He reminds of of the pig collection that I had when I was little (I guess I should be embarrassed to admit that but I’m totally not). Recently, my sister found a tarnished brass owl at a flea market; his name is Frank, he lives on my desk and he’s glorious!

    Reply

  40. Jen says

    Speaking of coffee mugs – Not sure if you read Real Simple magazine, but in the December issue they showed these cups that instantly reminded me of you both (kinda weird, like I know you personally, right?) But that’s how you make us all feel through reading your blog, as if we all know each of you, even Burger :) Any who. They’re called Mugtails by Kinto (korin..com). Just thought I’d let you in on a possible future Xmas present for Sherry! (hint, hint John)
    Happy Holidays!

    Reply

  43. Wendy Tomblin says

    Thrifting is a very zen thing for me. The “hunt” is fun and relaxing so if I leave with nothing, I’m okay with it. Some visits like last Saturday I spent $17 and got a fab brass bowl, six vintage wood frames, a gold paisley pillow and a small silver pitcher with the most incredible patina. Most of which I plan to use in my currently naked foyer. Some days are just like that. Those are happy days ; )

    Reply

  44. Katie says

    I love the piggy! Random question – how does it get power? It says no batteries on the website but it doesn’t look like it has a cord. Just wondering before I put in an order for that guy…thanks!

    Reply

  45. Carolyn S says

    The horse is awesome! Love the gray color.
    Our big adult purchase is a couch (first new couch ever!). It’s actually a Kivik from IKEA. We found it after reading your posts about Karl, and loved the idea of a slip-coverd couch. So thanks, by the way, for the inspiration!

    Reply

  46. Sherry from BC says

    Love the look of the transformed horse. So sculptural. You really have the ability to see beyond the shabby look to how an item can be. I want one now as I have a thing for horses…..really want a piggy too…..like that you hook up to his butt….is that weird?

    Reply

  47. Holly says

    Great finds!!!! Love the piggy…that is really neat. I thought the rocking horse was for your little one to ride…and then I scrolled down and saw it on the dresser…he he, smaller than I thought :D

    Reply

  48. Donna says

    I love your piggy! That is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Would be sort of sweet if you could download some songs for Clara ( Old McDonald, maybe? ) and have the piggy play them to her. :)

    Reply

  50. laura says

    No finds, but we also never picked out (and 24 years of married life later) don’t have any china with words on the bottom (loved how you put that!). And have never missed them. My “good” dishes are a set of white plates from Bed.Bath.Beyond. Love them. Break one, who cares! We decided we’d never be comfortable eating off of $50 plates.

    Reply

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