Tarte's barn sale!!

Our good friend Cindy (first photo with Barn House's Jermonne) from Tarte has done it again!! Once a month her Oregon City barn's magical doors open to reveal wonderful treasures and inspiration, along with great fun and wonderful social interaction!! This time she added the most incredible treasures from the twins Diana and Donna, from Annie, Fannie and Abigail's Antique Studio!! Lisa and I spent a good two hours there taking it all in, visiting with old friends and even meeting fellow bloggers...!!! Oh, and of course we did a little shopping!! I came home with the most precious victorian fabric covered glass dish, two rusty metal flowers, a darling mother and child print and vintage lace. All I can say is, I can't wait for the next one!!!

Weekly happenings

I made my weekly trip to Monticello today to fluff up my space, and I am glad I did, as it was pretty messy!!! I couldn't help doing a little shopping, as usual...

















Here is a picture of my lovely finds (including a few from last week, that I hadn't shown yet).

I am absolutely in love with this adorable christening gown...!!





























... and I love this old sewing box, complete with notions!

A while ago I found this strange metal thing (what is it, a shade, a planter....?). It was black so I painted it a cream color and antiqued it with some gel stain... It will go on top of a floor lamp that I found at a sale for $2. What will I use it for? I thought it would be a cute display rack for aprons or dresses ( the hangers would hand on those curly things!). All it needs is a finial on top and it's ready to go!

Today I also finished a project! I found an old metal card table at a thrift store a while back that was in desperate need of a new cover. So I stopped by the fabric store and bought a piece of pink and cream polkadot oilcloth... Much better now!!

Why dads should never be left to babysit their kids....

Field trips and tote bags

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter day!! For us, it was a fun and relaxing day, full of Easter eggs, laughter and good food!! I took the girls to see the Hanna Montana movie (sweet, feel good movie!!), while Daddy stayed home with his buddy Alex to watch Transformers. But part of me always feels a little sad around the holidays, because I am away from my family (and Easter is the second most important holiday for us Portuguese, right after Christmas)... I do miss spending time with them and that always makes me sad!!

I had a few people ask me what I would do with the old springboard I found at an estate sale... I will be taking it to sell at Farm Chicks in June, but I wanted to show you what my sweet friend Joy does with hers: She actually hung it above her check-out counter, filled it with lights and cute paper globes!! How adorable is that!!























She also uses an old springboard at shows, which she stands up, to display little buckets and containers that hold small items, notions and trinkets!!

Saturday Lisa and I took off on a day trip to Centralia (about 2 hours north of Portland, on the way to Seattle). We met up with Timi and Donna, who rode the train there from Snohomish, WA. We spent the day visiting antique stores, had a wonderful lunch and even found a salvage depot!

Being the thrifty shoppers we are, we found the prices to be quite high, but I managed to find a few treasures, like this adorable doll, a fun (and old!) birdcage and stand, and a cool pink shelf!

Today, I have been busy working on making some tote bags... I really wanted to give them a vintage yet organic look, and I am loving how they are turning out!! I will show them better when I have them complete, with lining and handles!

Finally, I wanted to share a cute picture of my son... We had a few wonderful days of sun last week and had to head up to the park for some fun in the sun!!! I can't wait for summer to be here!!

I {heart} more pink

I had so much fun gathering some pink pretties last week, that I decided to join in Beverlys Pink Saturday again!! My love for pink started early in my childhood, and never faded... I even got married in a pink dress!!!! Happy Pink Saturday and happy Easter!!

Chair makeovers and more finds

Thank you all so much for the blog love I received from my first Pink Saturday post, I am so thrilled there are so many of you who love pink just like me!!!!

I was browsing through my pictures and found this project I worked on a year ago.... I had bought a director's chair at a garage sale, so I gave it a makeover! First, I dyed the white canvas a bright pink, then I used those new Clorox bleach pens to write some french sayings. It only takes a few minutes to fade the color... I loved how it turned out!!









































I decided to give the same treatment to a couple of beach chairs I had in the garage. This time, I used a sharpie pen in a metallic gold color to write french words, then used coffee and brushed it onto the canvas, going back a second time in random spots to give it a more uneven look!! I really like the results!! You can see the before and after....


































This last weekend we had some beautiful weather, so in addition to some well needed yard work, I did manage to go to a local flea market and estate sales. Here are some of my finds!

At the estate sale I spotted this old springboard, and the price was unrefusable!!!! It rode home with me on top of my car!

Finally, I was thrilled to find this gorgeous vintage rose painting with frame on Ebay for only $26!! These paintings are harder and harder to find and they usually go for a ton of money, so I think I lucked out! I am working on some other projects that I hope to share with you soon!