Hopeful Homemaker

Junk Sale

February 13, 2010 jennifer Happy Finds

I always complain that there aren’t enough junk/thrift sales around here. My husband emailed me an online advertisement for one taking place this weekend, so I had to go.

And, crazy woman that I am, I loaded up 8 children (yes, all 8 of them) and went.
I arrived on day two, and I was one of two, yes two, customers there. I’m guessing that a lot of stuff went yesterday, but the advantage to going today was that most items were at least half of what they were yesterday, and all the things marked $5 were now $1. All of yesterday’s $1.oo items were free today.

For $35, here’s what I scored:

The “watch children” sign is at least 2 feet square. It makes me laugh out loud! Don’t you think that a woman with 8 children should have a sign like this? I’m not sure yet where I’ll put it, but I believe it’s found an appropriate home.

I got the set of vintage blue canisters for $5. They’re in great condition, and they’re my color! I also scored some vintage glass jars, most of them blue and one that is clear. Two of them are really big, one of which came with a vintage metal lid on it. The large ones were $5 and the other four cost only $1 each. I’m so excited to clean them out and put flowers in them.

This set of vintage plastic letters was wrapped in saran wrap and I snagged them all for just $1.

They’re about 12 inches tall, and should be fun to use somehow. I know I’ll use one of the J’s for sure, but because I have multiples of all of them, shout out if you see one you could use! I’m serious here, I think that someone besides my two sisters reads this blog, so speak up! In front of the letters is a vintage glass shelf that was in the “free” pile, so I snagged it. It has potential, I promise. Remember my pink mirror . Hiding somewhere in all that stuff is a shelf and two candle holders that mount on a wall which were also free. Paint can fix anything!

In addition to these things, there was a box of little glass medicine bottles with droppers. They’ve never been used. I grabbed it for $1, knowing there will be something great to use them for at some point in time.

Also from the “free” pile, I grabbed some old sports equipment: youth football pads, an old football helmet, a batting hat for baseball, an old football jersey, and an old hockey goalie mask. I figure at the very least I can clean them and put them in the Halloween costume box, but I also think that the hockey mask might look cool in one of my son’s rooms.

Just for fun, here’s a picture of some of the huge, cool old signs that were hanging in the building on this guy’s property. They were fun to look at.

And thus ended my one hour thrifting spree with 8 children in tow. Now I’ve got to get cleaning! Hope you’re having a great Saturday!

6 comments 8 kids, blue, thrifty, vintage

Love this table setting!

February 13, 2010 jennifer Color, Decorating

If someone from Martha Stewart would like to run on over to my house and set our table for Valentines Day, or any day for that matter, I’ll happily leave the door unlocked.

I love everything about this! The gorgeous robin’s egg blue wrapping paper with birds used in the center, the red millinery birds on each napkin ring, the red carnations, and the white. Oh, how I love white! Gorgeous!

Leave a comment birds, Color, Decorating

Happy Birthday Mr. Lincoln!

February 12, 2010 jennifer President's Day

Today marks 201 years [ update 208 years now !] since Abraham Lincoln’s birth. While we have a national holiday to celebrate the births of our two great presidents, both with February birthdays, we celebrate each one separately in our family. Valentines Day is sandwiched between two birthday parties in this house!

February 12th is Mr. Lincoln’s day. We get out the flags, read this book , and eat this food . We talk about his life, his example, and what we can learn from him.

I like to do a little reading on my own, both of Lincoln’s own writing and also the writing of those who are scholars on his life.

I feel like pausing to celebrate him is my way of reaching back through the pages of history to thank him for his life and for his life’s work. I wonder if any of us can know the terribly high price he paid personally for the unity of our nation. Some scholars have written that he was depressed. I think that few people in the history of the world have stood, alone, with such weight on their shoulders. He and his wife buried a son while he was President. That’s enough grief to make anyone depressed, even if losing children was a more common experience in his lifetime. Imagine the terrible weight of the loss of life, destruction to property, and all the ugliness of war. War on your own soil. War between citizens of your own country. A war which had to be won at all costs. Trying to keep peace with other nations so that none would enter the war on either side. Having trusted members of your cabinet, even your vice president, prove to be unworthy of your trust. Oh, how lonely he must have been! Lincoln himself said, “This war is eating my life out.”

I believe that Abraham Lincoln was born for the time he lived in, raised up by God to guide the United States of America through one of the most difficult chapters of its history, guided by God in preserving the union which is represented by the Constitution.

I feel like forgetting him, choosing not to study and learn and try to teach my children, would be a betrayal on my part. Remembering is the debt I owe, the offering I must make in gratitude for what he sacrificed. He, who lived almost two centuries before me, and yet whose life influenced mine. How I wish I could somehow reach back in time and ease his burdens, comfort his sadness, be a support. I feel so grateful for his life.

This year I decided to make a new centerpiece for my table showcasing one of my all-time favorite quotes about Lincoln. Joseph Auslander said, “Abraham wore a stovepipe hat that brushed the stars where he walked.”

Oh, do I love that quote! Since one of the distinguishing characteristics of Lincoln’s attire was his hat, I thought it would be fun to make one and incorporate the quote in my creation.

So, I created a hat using black paper and modge podge (rather scrappy, but I like it) and used a tea dyed strip of muslin to stamp the quote on.

I attached the strip of muslin like a hat band and added some glittered stars to the top of the hat.

I’ve always had lots of patriotic decor and a few pictures of Lincoln, but nothing that represents him like this.