Rummage Saling.

Gr.  I can't format this post right at all...

I have previously stayed away from rummage sales, because the word 'rummage' is kind of unattractive as is the mental image it conjures up.  Not that 'dumpstering' is a better word, but my 8 year old sister made it up, so it's cute.  Rummage is not.  Then I read on Moderate Means how she went to one, and even got free stuff, and I'd hate to think there are free things being handed out somewhere without me present.   That just wouldn't be fair. 

Actually, I went to TWO rummage sales (the churches were practically next to each other, and couple blocks from my work) a couple times, because I felt that the future Mr Snork should experience it as well, and there was a half off day the next day.  How can you not?? 

It was terrible.  They had, like 2 halls and 3 courtyards full of stuff.  There was a rack of fur coats ($175-$500).  A rack of them, not just the scraggly one or two.  We live in SoCal, by the way.  I asked the stern volunteer lady where they got their stuff, and was sternly informed it is all donated.  

There was a whole 'designer' clothing and shoes section, in addition to the Hall of Clothes and Courtyard of Shoes.  I saw 12 pairs of skis.  I asked where all this stuff goes when it doesn't sell - seriously - who buys fur coats in SoCal - and was sternly told it is either donated to S-Boutique, or various charities.  Pretty cool.  I picture a fireplace at a children's ministry somewhere with a cozy rabbit fur rug, for children to sit and read books on, courtesy of rummage sale fur coat donations. 

I was slightly obsessed with this $10 chair. The fabric is ugly, probably original.  I don't even like mid century modern stuff (except my awesome chairs) but I like the lines.  And the fact that I could change the cushions to the Alexander Henry fabric I've been dreaming about.  And then I could probably resell it.  On the downside, I have two danish modern tables in garage I'm supposed to be refinishing.  Jesse is getting suspicious over my intent with those.

I know, I already have a wedding dress.

But may be this one could be like an artsy photo project?

Or may be I could use it in case Jesse and I decided to secretly elope before the actual wedding.

Plus, once the wedding is done with, I probably can't keep shopping for wedding dresses, so I may as well, yes?

See how I added a shawl for a belt there? Artsy in progress. $10

I am not sure what this is, but look at the colors! And, they're dancing! It's on a piece of fabric and it's signed. ..Marcot?  My dad really likes tribal stuff, so I thought he'd enjoy it if my mom lets him hang it on a wall. Ha. $2.50

This $5 chandelier deserves a post of its own.   Don't let its dustyness fool you. 


There was also photo/history book about Soviet Union, 3 patterns for 10c each, a $1 ziplock baggy of plastic indians that my dad collects, and a very very soft cashmere blazer for the future Mr Snork.  He looks and feels like a very soft kitten in it, and it pleases me.    





The Things I Didn't Get But Eyeballed Gallery:

I want to hug and hold anything with ball and claw feet.  Literally.  If Ikea started attaching wood ball and claw feet to their fake wood stuff, I'd probably be all over it.  May be if I hadn't drug home a ball and claw alley table that one time..  I could have gotten this one.  (The alley table that I'm supposed to refinish is still utouched in garage.  Sigh)

Another awesome chair to feed my chair obsession. No balls or claws, but almost.  And the flowers.  !!

I wanted this kind of badly, it's got the original tapestry seat under the needlepoint fruit.  Note the tiny ball and claw feet.  And, it's practically a chair, which explains the magnetic pull it had.   When I came back the half off day (that would make $7.50) it was gone.  Jesse did a little dance.  Sigh. So much potential.. 

It's not quite as cool as the Amish Cat I stalked at a San Clemente thrift shop, but it has cool potential.

I also ate a jar of cookies this weekend, and accompanied Giraffy to Farmer's Market, so it wasn't ALL running around, rummaging and taking pictures, just so you know. 

Seen Today - Random Prettyness and Price Ridiculous-ness

Jesse and I walked through an estate sale a few blocks away from my work, by the Newport Bay.



I've seen this particular company running sales before, and I'm not a fan. They have ridiculous prices for most part, and they bring in their own stuff from a gallery, or whatever they run, as well as random things from sales they've had in the past. The prices seem to stay constant, so I don't know how they ultimately get rid of stuff. It's fun to frolick about and stare at, anyway. We left our wallets behind, pre-emptively.

They ARE pretty thorough though. Used Plunger for $3 anyone?



I liked -

The Fishy Crystal Vase, and a Green 24K Gold Flower Teapot:



Jesse really liked the Book Painting:



There was also a Weird Chair, for some unthinkable price, like, $395:



The tag ventured to talk about the comfortable-ness, but I sat in it (my chair fixation and all), and it was most definately not at all. All lies.



Other uneventfull-ness included bedding with super elaborate description of the obvious - beige, and stuff they brought in I had seen at their other sales, paintings, teacups, etc. Yawn. Estate sale FAIL.

Seen today – Eddie Bauer high chair

It was outside the Salvation Army on Harbor St in Costa Mesa, and it was pretty. It was $17, dark wood, and a little removable seat cover.
The plastic tray is missing, but it matters not. Plastic trays are ugly anyway. This probably throws a wrench into the whole, feeding a child business one might engage in around a highchair, but to me, it just makes it prettier.



I didn't get it, but I want it, and I hope someone else does soon before I break down and sneak it into our garage. "To stain, paint, and re-sell". I've seen my boyfriend fall for some pretty ridiculous stuff, but I didn't wanna push my luck. I have an unreasonable obsession with high chairs. Downright psychotic, when you consider I have no children and am not pregnant. But every time I see one, I want one. To use as plant stand? A side table?

Some people collect and display dolls and teddy bears on them, which probably works. But I think dolls are creepy, and I’m fresh out of teddy bears. Plus, Jesse had indicated that stuffed animals won’t do great things for his psyche, so I am limited to my box of beanie babies to do with what I will in the spare bedroom/office. I’ve thought about beanie babies on a high chair, but it looks weird. Like they were meant to be eaten and then weren’t.

It's not ALL high chairs, it's just the pretty ones. The one below didn't appeal to me at all.



It might be a biological clock thing, or, more likely, just a weird subset of a more serious, chairs-in-general fixation I have. I love the mid century Danish pair. Especially because the cushion covers are simple rectangles, I can have multiple sets in different colours and patterns. (it’s on the List of Conceived Ideas with Delayed Execution. Current backlog: about 20 projects) I even have one in the bathroom, as a towel stand. Or, in case you wanted to have a conversation with whoever’s in the shower. These things happen.

There is also an Antique Needlepoint Chair, an Ugly But Comfortable Desk Chair, and a Danish Sewing Machine stool. This last one is has an upholstered lid that opens to store sewing stuff. I was enthralled. It even came with parts of a sewing machine, that were absolutely of no use to me, but interesting regardless.

So, clearly, I have a chair issue, and a highchair is a really really pretty little chair. With long legs. And a tray, sometimes. The only thing possibly more appealing than a highchair is a properly built and adequately pretty rocking chair; but if a high chair and a rocking chair were slipping off a cliff and I had to save one, it’d be a rough day.

I got to drag home a couple one day, when Jesse was feeling generous. Yes, a couple. I’m just as horrified admitting it in public, as I was adamant about getting them. One as a plant stand? Right now it holds flower vases and keys in lieu of an entry table, and one, as usual, “to resell”. I think the white wooden highchair was the absolute all time victory of the “I’ll resell it” argument, and a testament that men are, indeed, weak creatures.

"Key Holder #1" and "Re-Sell Project #2":



I have yet to touch up the paint on it, or to get ready to part with it, so it stands, somewhat creepy-like next to my sewing machine. A crown jewel in the Collection of Things I Really (Truly) Could Do Without. Occasionally I toy with stacking books on it, a vase, or something else that would turn down the creep factor, and fail. By itself, however, it is spectacular. It’s got a little carved design and some faded pastel blue paint on the back.



The little tray is also wooden and white. It has a little leather strap for holding tiny things in. I would make a really crappy EBay seller, because I don’t think I’d ship the item. Ever. I think for now, I will settle for trying to wiggle my girlfriend’s 3 year old into it. And telling guests it’s something I’m storing for a friend. In my living room. So I don’t forget. Really.

On the bright side, if ever I found myself knee deep in pregnant,the house may be full of pointy edges, sharp corners, and small swallowable objects, but there are also two high chairs. Ready to go. And beanie babies.

Mid Century Modern

I saw these amazing ..ok, these ratty with amazing potential chairs at an estate sale in Corona Del Mar for a $100 a pair. And after looking them up online (Danish modern..what? They're OLD!) Jesse graciously agreed to go make an offer on them while I was at work. He called me and said that there IS a guy who would buy them and put in his furniture gallery (of old and haunted things, no doubt) but, unfortunately for the guy, and fortunately for me, $75 and a truck right there proved more lucrative than $100 and delivering the chairs to his gallery.

Really, most everything about these chairs was objectionable until you sat in them. They are as comfortable as the orange upholstery was itchy (and ugly). They reminded me of wood armchairs my grandma has in Ukraine, and of the fact that I have no wood armchairs, and, lastly, as usual, "we can always Craigslist/Ebay them". Jesse fell for it again.

So we dragged them home. The underside has "Conant Ball Co" burned/stamped on bottom, which I tried to research, and came up with not much else but that their other ugly for my taste furniture is relatively expensive. Win for my "we can always resell them" argument. They appear to be from the 40's - 50's. A fancy designer named Russel Wright designed a modern line of furniture for CB starting 1935, but my research indicates his fancy name is stamped on his fancy designs, which mine do not have. Then I got bored and gave up on trying to trace the royal lineage; I did, however, come across a guy trying to sell a really ratty one, sans cushions, on CL for $125, so my resale argument is as strong as ever.

They match nothing in the apartment. I'd have to find a place for them. The upholstery HAD to go.

The work in progress - you can see the original hideousness on the other chair. I think I was in such a hurry to strip them off the ugly, that I didn't take a picture of the two in all their burnt orange scratchy glory.



I went to JoAnn's and bought some obscene amount of $2/yd brown cotton fabric. I thought I needed 8 yards. I got 9. I used may be 6. The foam and batting wrap looked pretty good. I fabreezed the cushions, and sewed the covers.

The covers are basically rectangles, I cut up one of the orange hideousnesses and used it as a template. They look better. Or, at least, they try to blend in.

Jesse spotted some brilliant bright purple upholstery fabric at a San Francisco fabric outlet for $6/yd, and it is my plan to eventually make the chairs purple. And put them next to the green curtains (soon to be in progress) and a bright yellow painted wall (as soon as I talk Jesse into it).

Close up of the Purple Fabric lazily draped over chair. The brown set of covers, simple as they were, took me 5 incompetence filled days, so I'm waiting for the second wind.

I may, in the future, also replace the foam; that and a wood soap bath later they'll be like brand new. I love old stuff, but I also have an acute other-people-dead-skin-cell obsession that goes wild when untreated. I usually treat it by asking Jesse to refinish stuff (a good bath in Liquid Sandpaper leaves very little behind. Including your own live skin, if you're not careful), but he's backed up on projects, so I soaped it as well I could, and they're waiting in queue.

Update!! I was right, and the purple looks a m a z i n g against the Yellow Wall!