Scores of yesterday (aka: the thrift gods smiled upon me)

Yesterday was the day of the Pottery Barn chairs score. But it was also oh-so-much more. Several times I stared dumbly at items in disbelief, since I had made mental notes to keep my mind open to such things (but really not thinking I'd find them).

The day went like this:

• Work in the morning.
• Lunch with husband.
• Race out to get Pottery Barn chairs (and also a lamp)
• Hop over to Goodwill to look for lampshades (and call neighbor to tell her about a garden statue at Pottery Barn chair place), but end up finding another lamp, an awesome sweater (name brand too!), a level (I needed one, badly), and a stained glass window.
• Swing by recycle store place and find nice bench for outside (husband wanted one).
• Go home, but neighbor wants to go see statue, so we head out.
  
• Neighbor gets statue, statue goes in my car (which we were driving). Decide to swing by recycle store place since she'd never been before.
• At recycle store (why didn't I see these earlier?!), I find two, BEAUTIFUL, steel containers and two horseshoes.
  
• Home. Head out later on to check out another goodwill for lampshades (since the Oregon vs Cal football game was making me anxious-- I went to both schools). Found a pot, then went to Home Depot, where I knew there was a sale on a plant. Also found a table at Goodwill, but more on that later.
  

WHEW!

And here are the photos.

The BEAUTIFUL stained glass window was just the type I've been keeping my eye open for. But seriously, these things are pricey. I always see this type (narrow rectangular) for $120+, and I wasn't willing to spend that. Plus, the design had to be right. Not too vibrant, not too cutesy. This one was right up my alley, and was $20. I'll repaint or sand/stain the wood surround. I really want to hang it in our dining room window.


This Buddha lamp will be PERFECT for our office remodel. We're going for calm and streamlined. For some reason (especially since I think Buddha would abhor this action), items with Buddhas on them are always more expensive. I found this lamp (the Buddha is about 1' tall, the lamp is taller with the lamp top) for $15, which is a great price for such a piece of work. Are we Buddhists? Not in the conventional sense, but we greatly admire and try to practice many of the peaceful and accepting tenants of Buddhism.

This beauty I found while looking at Goodwill for lampshades. not only do I love the cute, retro shape, but it was $6... but it was the right color pricetag, so HALF OFF!! $3 for this doll? Yes, please! I suspect this will end up going upstairs, either in the work area or the reading area.



Bob's been wanting a bench for the front stoop.... but to find the right bench has been hard. It had to be narrow and not too deep. This one was perfect. It was $10, and for that much, I will not be needing to build one (a cheap trade-off for $10). And really, it wasn't really $10 since I had filled up my punch card at the recycle place and had a free $50 gift coupon to use towards this. I'm going to spray-paint it gray to match the mailbox... but then it will probably need some bedazzling. I'm totally into (but also intimidated by) stencils right now... so we'll see.

Oh, and those are the two horseshoes I bought. I saw YoungHouseLove's simple horseshoe picture today (scroll down, it's one of the bottom photos) and I really love that idea.

Besides the Pottery Barn chairs, I think STEAL OF THE DAY!!!! goes to these beauties. I cannot tell you how happy they make me. PERFECT GARDEN CONTAINERS!!! We've really wanted large garden pots, but they are so expensive ($200+, EACH, for this size in ceramic). I found these in a back corner, stuck together. One of the volunteers and I pried them apart... but no pricetag. I held my breath, hoping they wouldn't be too high (I had no idea what steel went for...). I was expecting 2 for $50 or something like that, since they could totally be used for garden beds. The end price verdict? $8 each. SOLD!!! SOLD SOLD SOLD!!!! I danced. We'll spray paint them with a glossy rustoleum. I also think some tile on the top edge would really help spiff them up. I AM SO EXCITED over these beauties.

On the evening run to the other goodwill, I found this pot. I think it's a ceramic walmart pot, but I didn't care. It was large, but super cheap ($9). I'd been looking for one (and this one even had a built-in spill catcher!) so that we could buy a plant to put next to the nightstand on the one side. I knew Home Depot had an $8.88 sale for large indoor houseplants, and I wanted to take advantage of it. Bought the pot, and Home Depot was right across the street. The plant is a little off-center because the rootball was cockeyed. Small price to pay.

As I mentioned, I also found a round low table. I'd been looking for one like this for a while, thinking it'd be perfect for my plans for upstairs. I literally stood, mouth agape, staring at this table when I saw it. The top is veneered (which is the only not perfect thing), but acceptable, and the hardware connecting the legs to the top is antique cast iron. The table also turns on top! It is perfect. I'll show it off when the upstairs is coming together... right now it's in my trunk. :)