I admit it. I have been in a dumpster to rescue a light!

At least 6 years ago, my brother (yep, the one who knows I like old stuff) called...."Fazoli's is closing. Men are taking things and throwing them in a dumpster."
OH.MY.GOODNESS. I did it. I got several red Fazoli lights out of the dumpster!! I had ABSOLUTELY no idea what I was going to do with them! There were some little ones that hung over the tables and some HUGE ones that hung on the outside of the building. I just couldn't let them go to the dump....I put them in our little corn bin...for a couple years.

THEN we decided to move...to a house that wasn't finished---yippee--- I think--- (it's not finished yet, I'll let you know if it was a good move or not)....I designed our kitchen around the Fazoli lights. I mean, really, how could I not...they were red and FREE!

They might just have a couple dents and some scratches, but you would too, if someone threw you in a dumpster.

Here is a BEFORE picture ( I told ya we bought it not finished, CRAZY, I know!! )...I was practicing to see if this was a good spot to have the table....the light was wrapped around a truss ;) Gotta love good visuals don't ya?

See the 6 foot windows (the medical cabinet is between them now)...see why we had my brother (that's him) help us put them in! LOOK AT THAT VIEW!! I love Iowa :) Working on this house is a long story and you will hear it all ---eventually--- but there was only that little window...and Ron is standing in what was going to be pantry---it's not---it's the dining room. Sometimes, yeah most of the time, I'm thankful we could finish this house the way we did! I'll be talking about all the work we did and the things we learned for a long, long time!

Anyways, I have three little Fazolis over the island, one over the cook top, and one WAS hanging over the table. She was pretty and did a good job...however.....remember the sale where we found my pretty medical cabinet

---if not, you can read about it click here.

When my hubby went to pick up the cabinet, he brought back TWO of these pretties!

 One hangs above our table and one hangs above hubby's work bench....where he restores all the old radios you see in pictures!
We think these were old school lights. They had a little cleaning, little paint, new wires, and they are JUST LIKE NEW---well, maybe better than new....they have character! Oh, and did I mention, $15 for both....now, don't you love them even more?














In our upstairs hallway we have our old windmill light from the farmhouse we moved away from.... She got some new wiring, but otherwise she is just as she was (except for that fancy light bulb)!

The hallway had lights in it....SO, they had some spray paint. And when you are standing on a chair you can see that there just might be a scratch with some gold showing...OH, NO! Don't stand on a chair in the hallway at my house...you might see something you don't want to ;)

I WOULD like you to notice the ceiling and walls in this and the windmill light pictures. I base painted them a light tan. Then the ceiling got a taupe glaze and the walls had black glaze rubbed on them. It's different, it's ok, and we will talk more about it.... someday!...we had an issue with the texture. Have I told you yet? I HATE sheetrock mud...that has to be the worst job in the world...I was close to a nervous breakdown over mudding....plus my arm hurt and it was July.in.Iowa. with no AC!!....need I say more? NO?      OK, I'm glad you got it.      Back to lights.

This little beauty is from our FREE finds...remember the tote made from wood from the Iowa farmhouse....and the wood to do our bedroom floors.

This light was in the dining room of THAT house. She got a REALLY good cleaning and now resides in our closet. I had no idea she was so pretty there was SO much dirt on her.

The stairway to our lower level wasn't finished. Have you ever put tongue and groove wood on stairs?....in case you want to know...it takes a LOT of measuring and saw cuts to do it! THAT wood has a story too! Hubby found it in a corncrib, just a few rats had chewed on it;) It was flooring that had never been installed, we paid $25 for it. We did a couple projects with it at our other house and brought the rest with us when we moved. There was enough that hadn't been chewed that we did the stairs, the stairway walls and little bit of ceiling. Here is a little peek at it with this FREE old light! This former kitchen light had a little red spray paint and new wires....isn't she spiffy?

Oh, and here's this little gal....she came from a thrift store and moved with us. She HAD too! She had red on her. She's the first light you see when you walk in our house.

Those Fazoli lights...yeah, the big ones from the outside of the building...that I rescued from the dumpster....

SEE RIGHT THERE

This light is on the back of the house....and this light stayed just as it was!

On the side of the house with the pond we have three "Fazolis". They had an overhaul....thankfully we have access to some good tools at work! They have new "necks"....shorter and curved a bit to pull them closer to the house. The originals were just too big. These had a coat of black spray paint. AND for FREE, they will do just fine :)

Eventually we will put a couple Fazolis in the front of the house by our main garage....it's on the list anyways :) Don't you remember...you were gonna help us with that list :)

Just a reminder....check out those dumpsters...might be treasures there....just saying...someday you might need something that's in there ;)

AND maybe design a kitchen around it...



Hugs from Iowa,

Michelle

PS. Check out Donna's Saturday Night Special...my dumpster divers will be there!

I "HEART" garage sales.

I've been a garage sale-aholic for a LONG time! My hubby feeds my addiction....he goes with me :) We both love old things, things that don't have to be perfect, might need some repair or a lil paint.

 The Nester (click on her name to read more.) says "that things don't have to be perfect to be beautiful".....

THANK GOODNESS....

my house would be in big trouble if it did.

We have found some awesome things....here is one of our best.

Glass and metal medical cupboard from a local dentist's office.

Last January Amy at Whisperwood Cottage drooled all over her.....here she is dressed for Christmas. Click on her blog name to read about it.

She is rather pretty.

It was really fruit basket upset around here, she had to go between the big 6 foot windows....so the buffet is banished to downstairs until My Bug gets married and moves...then she goes into her room. AND I have another space to decorate...already gathering things/ideas for there :) Trying to stay positive and be an empty nester :(



I never realized how difficult she is to photograph though....all that glass sure likes to reflect all that light.

On top of that medical cabinet are some more garage sale finds. As long as you are patient and have a mental list of what you would like...well, this is what you can find and you don't have to pay antique store prices :)



The fan and typewriter ! The little urn and vase...course they weren't red when I spotted them. Add a little Rustoleum spray paint in Colonial Red and black glaze and ta, da... they fit right in. The aqua vase had a little spray paint too. Wouldn't want it to feel left out. Don't stand still too long in our house, you might get some spray paint on you!



Even the door trim boards ....found many years ago at a garage sale, fits in....I stenciled America on it....it moved with us.



 Right beside the cupboard is a bench I found last summer. I had been to their sale the year before. They had cute things, but more dollars than I usually spend. BUT last year they were moving....YEAH for me. The prices were REALLY good. I bought this bench (he talked me into it, he was sitting on it in the driveway).

A new cushion cover and pillows were added .....she was dressed in some really bad blue.



 In my craft room is a cupboard that the gentleman built for his parts, nuts and bolts, and stuff---40 years ago. The drawers were painted this awesome green, labels, and METAL, the inside of the drawers are metal...fantastic! the fronts are wood! $10....yep ten dollars! Now, it was just plain old plywood around those neat drawers, so I painted it black. AND yep it had a couple drawers missing. I cut some 1/4 inch plywood and made shelves, painted black and you would never guess they aren't supposed to be that way.

It holds a ton of crafty things ;)

AND as we were loading up, she took us in the garage, emptied this and GAVE it to me

It originally was a display for seeds. He used it for garage storage. It had some battery goo on it and nails sticking out....little cleaning and hammering....it's absolutely perfect for craft paints!!

At another sale was this beauty. I painted it and turned it upside down.... it was homemade, supposed to sit on the floor. Yeah, I have it hanging on the wall....more craft storage :)

Let's move to our bedroom....let me introduce you to Smoke....





She had been in a fire. Her glass doors were broken and she SMELLED!

She was scrubbed, stripped and stained. Isn't she pretty? I love her with her doors off. I even got to meet her original owner....she used to sit in her kitchen but was moved to her son's where he had a fire :( Smoke had been moved to the donkey shed.....yeah, RESCUED and RESTORED!!! She's not perfect and neither is her restoration, but she's pretty and USEFUL! PS. She doesn't smell anymore, but we liked the name Smoke---go Tony!

Hanging in our bedroom is this old porch fret work....$5....I. LOVE.IT. and I look at it every night.



LOOK....more work to do...that ceiling needs to be stained!

Now, sitting in the corner of our room, not hooked up yet....gotta do that wood floor first...is our latest find and MOST expensive. For $200 is a gas stove and all the piping....never hooked up before....on our mental list, but never dreamed it would be at a garage sale....

 



Won't she look pretty on wood floors? She'll provide us with a cozy warm room on a cold Iowa winter night!

The same day we found the stove, we found 6 wooden, matching, old chairs for the farmhouse table my hubby gave me for my birthday...I had imagined mismatched painted chairs, but these are SO pretty....they'll be staying just the way they are!

Now let's go outside.....

This picture is filled with garage sale goodies :)

• 1. blue glider----$10, just needed some welding.
• 2. blue chairs---so long ago, the coat of paint I gave them is peeling off--PERFECT!
• 3. potting bench---FREE! it was the end of the sale :) it's a homemade workbench that I added the wooden crates too (different garage sale) and a broken screen door.
• 4. orange stool---yeah, it wasn't for sale, till I talked her into it ;)
• 5. white urn, wire shelf, window, flag, wooden door (I made the sign out of it.) , some plants, and more!

• Notice the metal piece by the glider. I got her two years ago when Amy from Whisperwood Cottage was in Oronoco, MN!

and looking north....a new, old yardlight...$3!

SOOOO, it does take time....but it's usually time spent with someone I love. You need to have cash in hand, but deals are there to be made. You should take the pickup OR like The Bug and I did ---go back and get it :)

AND I almost forgot....the number one garage sale rule

"You have to hit 10 duds before you hit a good one!"

Not all my garage sale finds are big though....most of my "treasures" are little and have I mentioned that my beautiful grandbabies are dressed to the nines in garage sale finds...yeah, baby....that saves on the budgets of all!

You WILL find things! Just remember you can change things up....





 

Bringing Smoke home...I told ya she was rough, didn't I?....she was in a fire after all.

That little picket fence jumped in the truck too. She lines my flower beds now!

And here is this beauty still sitting in her former garage sale...waiting to come home with me....but look at the stuff that needed to be moved out of her!

Come RAIN or snow or sunshine...ya better be ready to look for your find.

Mike and Frank have nothing on Hubby and I....we LOVE American Pickers, even been to their shop twice. We "heart" our picks.

Thanks to The Nester  (click for more nesting tips) for saying it's ok to be "not perfect" and to Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick (click for more thriftiness) for saying it's ok to save money while decorating and Donna at Funky Junk Interiors (click for more junk ideas) for saying it's ok to be rusty and fun and pretty all at the same time!.....I'll be going to garage sales for a LONG, LONG time.

Hugs from Iowa,

Michelle

So many people have great finds...look at Rhoda's weekly party.....Rhoda's Thrifty find party, click here to visit

I'm joining a "Newbie Party" cuz I can! Click here to visit the party! at Debbie-Debbiedoos.

Out of the closet :)

Late this winter we heard a local farmer was taking an old house down....oh yeah, baby....our ears perked up. The farmer thought we were nuts,but told us we could take what we wanted. We aren't afraid of hard work, but I'm telling ya  THAT WAS HARD WORK. We took all the doors, most of the trim, 1 1/4 inch oak flooring from 4 bedrooms (it will be the flooring in our master bedroom this next winter!),  and a few other goodies.



one of our loads...



This is one of the rooms. I spent a bunch of time in this room (I didn't work as fast as my hubby). I even hurt my shoulder taking a stubborn piece of trim off that south window! I spent a bunch of time in that closet too. The shelves were made out of an old table! I wanted them ;) I didn't know what for, but knew they would become useful for something.



my pile of flooring and trim

Let me remind you, this is Iowa, and it was STILL winter. No heat, no bathroom, lots of mice, dirt everywhere......critters had lived here for a couple years. YUCK! But we did it and it was worth it....no money spent, FREE is good....just some time----lots and we aren't done, still nails to pull, sanding/planing to do, laying the floor, finishing it...we ARE NOT AFRAID!

In that closet.....this wood, which in it's former life was a walnut table, made shelves.



peg to join leaves of table


 


old newspaper lined the "shelf"





date from a Minnapolis/St. Paul paper....Friday, June 30, 1911....a 100 years old!!!

SOOO Donna   at Funky Junk Interiors says to build a tote. WOW, that's what I can do with that wood from the closet. BUT, I have been busy.....this and working and being a Gramma :)



my brother's new Ikea kitchen needed drawers/doors!




I made a sign to sell (out of the trim from one of the doors)and some other stuff!

Click here to visit the store where I sell a few things.



Donna had awesome instructions and with some twist of my own....this



I even took the closet rod and it became....





















LOVE. IT.



I saw you looking....I'll show you....here is the pond....









we did this last year---I'll tell you about it someday---we are already making an addition to it

back to the tote... a few pics of the process....I cut a shelf in half, one for each end and then I needed a pattern for the top....



my pattern was the top of this frame



a table leaf/shelf was ripped down for the sides













checking it all out

My hubby drilled the dowel holes, thanks Hon! I couldn't have held that drill for that....my shoulder is still yelling at me over that nail and trim piece.




oops, that was a wild brad nail...Hon, grab the nail puller (he is an EXPERT at that)





My hubby also thought he was being cute helping with the pictures...I tried to grab the camera....



gluing the last side





it's beautiful :)



love it on my farmhouse table...after all, it's all made from a farmhouse table :)

Now if you have some extra time and know how to work one of these

My hubby's hand is still swollen from pulling nails out of this stack

that used to look like this stack

cuz, he seems to think we should have a garage for the vehicles and not storing wood :)

Soooo Donna thanks for the inspiration for the wood that came out of the closet ....heee,heee! I'm linking to your party



Hugs from Iowa,

Michelle

Click to come over to Amy's party