G-Saling + Wood Chippin’

I don’t know what you did on Friday afternoon, but Pete and I ran furiously towards the weekend at full speed, both desperately needing a little break from sitting opposite eachother in front of our respective computers for 15 hours a day for this last week. Diving into activities on extreme opposite ends of the spectrum, we disconnected electronically (except for a little instagramming) and did some mindless garage saling and stress-relieving wood chipping all the live long day weekend.

Side note: We did the same wood chipping drill about a year ago, cleaning accumulated brush at Pete’s parent’s house with their industrial-strength chipper. I’d wood chip my heart out and host a wood burning party all day long if I put my mind towards designing a business plan. Who’s with me?

As a lighter, less splinter-and-scratchy activity, we also hit up one of the great big neighborhood sales in Rochester. With easily 30+ homes participating, it was great to roam around and admire homeowner’s gardens and landscaping and also explore through their clearance-priced belongings. I didn’t actually take too many photos during our afternoon walk, but I picked up a few select items that’ll be either useful, or just fun to have around the house as my own.

Never one to turn down a big woven basket, this 12″x18″ basket was $1, which is exactly $28.99 less expensive than an even smaller basket I just bought last week on overstock.com (smack me please). As far as I’m concerned, there are endless uses for big ol’ baskets; maybe to hold books and magazines beneath one of my bedside tables, maybe to hold extra throw blankets since they won’t need to be draped over the couch all summer long. Maybe to hold Julia’s Beanie Babies. It won’t go unused.

Moving on through the neighborhood, I came across this phenomenal find from a man who priced his wife’s vintage fabrics well below what I would refer to as an “Etsy price.” For just $4, I hand selected 5 ginormous bolts of fabrics ranging in quality from cotton/linen to polyester to soft canvas. Each bolt is at least 3 yards, two of them easily 10. There’ll be plenty here for future slipcover/pillow/ottoman-covering adventures.

I pulled a rainbow of options, not being able to make up my mind. Very fitting, considering that my current house palette is much like a rainbow itself, although it would appear based on these purchases that bright pink and teal are going to be stamped in there at some point depending on how they get worked into projects.

One of my last stops yielded a few good finds. If you remember from previous garage saling posts like this one, you’ll recall that I go out of my way to collect good candles at yard sale discounts. This trio of 6-8″ candles (with ragged out but pretty candle holders included) cost 75-cents. Shown here pre-bath, the whites cleaned up to be flawless. Opaque whites are amongst my favorites visually, and the pumpkin-colored one smells lovely.

Finally, I never discount a roadside “free” bin despite risking looking like a bag lady. This time I was lucky, maybe, salvaging this wooden and plastic sailboat model which strongly demonstrates that whole “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” mantra. Refinished and reinterpreted, it’ll be a great addition to the home’s decor that so subtly has a beach-vibe thanks to the arm loads of driftwood and gigantic bin of beach glass.

Also, in that moment of excitement about the sailboat, I also swiped up this free metal index card holder and shoved it in my shopping bag. Rusted unhappily but not to a point of disrepair so I’ll find a way to fix it up and make it useful one again.

It has these cute rubber feet on it too so it’s not going to be all scratchy against whatever surface it lives on. What’s not to like?

While we’re diving back into another busy work week, I also have some pretty great at-home projects on the agenda for when I can carve out some time to make them happen.

What were you up to this weekend?

(Reminder: If you’re on instagram, come find me. Easy to find, I’m @merrypad!)