Of questionable taste

I love it, my husband thinks it maybe the ugliest thing he's ever seen

I bought this lamp recently on our trip to Oklahoma. It was at this little thrift store, in this tiny town that we nearly didn't find our way out of. It wasn't priced, and when we asked about the price we were told $5, but it happened to be 50% lamps day! I need another lamp like I need a hole in the head, but I couldn't leave this handmade ceramic beauty behind. When i got home I was having a hard time deciding on an appropriate shade. That weekend i did a little Sunday estate sale-ing, and came up with this handmade wool fiber shade for just a couple of bucks and knew it would be perfect!
So, I believe these two pieces are soul mates, and my husband thinks I may have lost my mind.

Awkward Family Photo

1970's ?

                                                                 

I try to keep this blog about things secondhand and not about family, but I purchased this one-piece outfit for my youngest just because who can resist a baby in a velour jumpsuit? its hard to tell from the photos how big the bells are, but they are big ! I think I will spend the next few months searching for matching jumpsuits for our Christmas card.( If you know me, then you know I don't send out Christmas cards, but this year will be different!)

These things find me...

What can I say, these things find me.
Yesterday I was on my way to pick up one of my son's friends from a camp in Webster, a area in town that I don't spend a whole lot of time in. Mapquest had giving me really poor directions, and I was a little afraid with the detour I had to take I was going to be late. As we cruised down the street out of the corner of my eye I thought i spotted what could be a cool lamp in a trash heap. I had no time to investigate and we were on a busy street that had no shoulder. After we made it to pick up our friend, I decided to go and take a closer look. I had to actually pull into the driveway to get off the street and I jumped out, picked up the pieces and just threw them into the back of the car, all while trying not to embarrass my son. He is used to me grabbing things out of the trash, but I didn't want him to have to explain to his friend it's a regular occurrence.
When we got home I was very excited to pull all of the pieces out of the car and see that not only had I just found one amazing lamp, there were TWO lamps that needed to be reassembled. I wiped them down with Goo Gone and Magic Erase, There were a couple of bulbs broken in the sockets, so I carefully removed those and replaced with 4 small nightlight bulbs for each lamp. Both lamps still work without having to get into doing any repairs, one lamp as a crack in the shade, which I used Mighty Putty to fill the crack so it won't get any larger. I think they will go on either side of my sofa, but I will need to do a little rearranging first.
So there we go, these things find me. I sold 15 lamps over the weekend to lighten the load at the house, and quickly these lovely lighting beauties knew even though they weren't perfect, they could find a loving home with me.

How to tell if someone you love has a problem...

I am getting ready for the Green Shag flea market this weekend, and here is  the pile of lamps that I'm not currently using and plan to sell this weekend. It's hard to tell from the picture but there are 16 lamps, It kind of breaks my heart to think of these lamps no longer living with me, but I think its for the best.
If you or someone you know also has a vintage lamp hoarding problem, please send them to see me this Saturday at the Green Shag sale, because if I have to try to put a stop to this problem of mine, I might as well enable someone else.

Nessen Lamp

I keep bringing home more lighting. I can't stop myself. I may have a problem. I may not have enough outlets.
I found this Nessen swing arm lamp yesterday at the thrift store. $5 and a very long frustrating wait in line is all it took to make it mine. It still has the Nessen sticker attached to the bottom. The linen lamp shade and cord are what gave away its age, but the body of the lamp looks like it could have been made yesterday. I believe that's the point to modern design. The lamp still has the diffuser at the top of the shade, which helps cast a beautiful glow.
Doing a little research shows that this exact lamp resides at MOMA and was first produced in 1927.

Finally feeling loved

Bertoia in good company

I was out of town all last week, so I didn't have any time to work on projects, but right before we left town I decided to do a little rearranging of the kitchen.  I decided I would move our stainless steel table out of the kitchen and in its place put our old pedestal table back in, and group my new Bertoia with the pair of Eames wire chairs I had bought a couple of years ago at an estate sale. I love the Eames chairs, especially only having paid $3 a piece, even though at the current time they don't match.
When I found the Eames pair they had been used as patio chairs, and one had breaks in the welds so bad it was no longer attached to the base. I took that chair to have it welded, and when I picked it up the man doing the work took it upon himself to also paint it. I'm sure he did this to cover up what mess the welding had made, but I wasn't sure I was going to paint them. Now, I like the contrast between the two but maybe someday I will paint the other one.
I do think the new Bertoia chair is enjoying the company he is keeping, and I hope he is finally feeling loved.

Free style pick'n

Before

appliance epoxy

plasti dip

after

Free style picking is a term I borrowed from the "American Pickers" , and they use this term for when they drive around and when they see something they could be interested in buying they ask the owner if they would sell it to them.
We were on a walk and I noticed in a backyard there was a lonely Bertoia accompanied by a folding lawn chair and two beat up wooden kitchen chairs. The Bertoia looked lonely and scared, not knowing how its life took such a turn that it would end up in a place this.
I asked the man out front if it was his chair in the backyard, and he said no its my neighbors, and he's not home. So, as I walked home I decided It was my job to rescue this poor lost soul, clean him up, and let him know he was loved.
I decided to drive by again a couple of days later, and I was lucky enough that the owner was in the back yard. I asked If I could purchase the chair, and ready for my rejection, he kindly said yes. He first told me he would feel bad charging me, since he had found the chair himself. But, after thinking it over for a moment, his reply was $15. I couldn't get to my wallet fast enough and handed him the money. He smiled and said he thought I was going to try to talk him down, and that he would have taken $10. he loaded the chair into the car, and we were both as happy as could be.
The chair needed some love, and as I had promised, I took him home, and began to bring him a new lease on life. I scraped him down to get any loose finish off, I took the seat off the base, and used white appliance epoxy on the seat and the used black plasti dip on the base. I did a few coats of each, letting them dry in between. And that is how this Bertoia got a new home. ( I also had to promise no more nights spent out side, this city can be rough)