Feathering My Nest With Tag Sale Treasures

This past Sunday, my friend Diane over in Blue Hill asked me if I wanted to go to the last day of a community tag sale where everything would be marked down to 1/2 off. She had seen a potter's wheel there the day before and wondered if we would be interested in it, as it would be marked down to $10! The wheel was missing a motor, but I instantly had a vision of having a second wheel in our studio (located in our basement) where we could enjoy each other's company while throwing pots. We bought the wheel and that will be another project for another day. But today, I wanted to share pictures of some of the other treasures we picked up that day.

A glass apothecary jar that I filled with cotton balls

that until I got it home, I hadn't even noticed this sweet etching on the front of it!

I wasn't sure what this was, there were two, this one and a blue one. I immediately planned to pair them with a glass pedestal to use as a dome, perhaps for a wedge of cheese.

And this set of plates that hold a bit of sea inspiration for me.

A set of 6 white linen cocktail napkins with a raised white-on-white embroidered design. And there's the edge of the other lovely blue glass dome thingy.






A vintage (I think) glass nutmeg grinder with it's charming little crank handle.

And a tiny glass salt & pepper set with traces of pepper still showing up in the grooves of the design. Notice the nice patina on the top of the left one.

A set of 4, pink and white embroidered napkins that I have yet to launder and iron.

And I can hardly wait to pour this linen water into my iron and inhale the scent of those glorious steamy vapors. This is a container I already had, and today I filled it with the scented water I had left over from my recent experiment with lavender and lemon balm lotion. If you missed that post, you can read about that here.

When I came across this set of well-worn blue, striped napkins they felt so soft and lovely that I was inspired to get them for Henri to use as handkerchiefs. (You probably don't care to know this, but the pollen in the air around here is rampant right now! )

And the best part is . . . all of my treasures were located in the room where they gave you a brown paper grocery bag and told you that you could fill it up for the mere cost of one dollar! This was by far the best tag sale I have ever been to. Have you ever had a really great tag sale day too?

How Did Your Chair End Up On My Blog?

In our town each summer, we have a day set aside where you can get rid of any unwanted bulky trash just by placing it in plain sight, right at your curb on pickup day. But then as if on cue, up to a week ahead of time, random piles of debris start showing up all over the neighborhood, along with a steady stream of slow moving pick up trucks openly canvassing each other's dooryards in hopes of finding a treasure or two. This year, Bulky Trash Day is set for August 22. But the good stuff will never even leave the neighborhood.

Today is only August 17 and your chair has not only been found, repaired and power washed . . .

but has also been dried, and is now ready for a quick wash of color.

The first few brush strokes soon reveal that this treasure was made right here in Maine!

Suddenly, your chair has taken on a whole new look in a soothing shade of aqua.

And don't you think it looks quite lovely with a wreath of shells and objects, collected right from our shore?

Tonight it sits in my driveway drying, along side an end table you may have seen near my curb the day before.




Until I realized it too could be salvaged, right along with your chair.