Wooden It Be Nice

You can probably tell from the wide variety of items I bring home from my garaging forays that I have eclectic taste. But I admit that country and Early American don’t usually float my boat. I like those styles just fine in other people’s houses, but I’m usually on the prowl for midcentury goodies to go with my MCM house. (I’m getting semi-desperate to replace the fabric on the midcentury rocker I found last year. I just need to find the right fabric at the right price.)

So I was a bit surprised by some of this week’s loot. Like the framed Warren Kimble print.

What can I say, I just like the colors and the peacefulness of it. And that it looks like it’s painted on a slab of wood. And that I had a skinny spot to put it in.

At the Baptist Church rummage sale, I spotted this baby.

Early American, yes, but classic lines and beautifully made. The wood is probably cherry. When I turned it over and saw it was a signed piece, I decided the $2 price tag wasn’t bad.

By the time I left I was chuckling. This rummage sale had been going for probably close to half an hour when I arrived, so plenty of people had perused the goods. As soon as I picked up this tray, other shoppers started admiring it, as did the ladies who were adding up sales and the cashier. Perhaps it was waiting for me and had made itself invisible when other people looked at it.

But my normal taste reasserted itself when I saw this trivet.

A beautiful little slab of teak. I wasn’t very surprised when I turned it over.       Getting it for fifty cents was the icing on the cake.

This collection of wooden birdhouses on a chandelier wasn’t for sale. When I admired it, the owner told me his neighbors made it for them, and even snuck over and hung it in the tree.

This embroidery would fit well into country or Early American decor, and I confess I picked it up solely to resell.   Though I have done some counted cross stitch in my checkered past, I doubt my skills are up to this baby.

I recognized the designer’s name and knew these kits are very, very expensive. This one has the original price tag on it from probably 20 or more years ago.

If anyone is up to the challenge, let me know and we’ll make a deal. Otherwise it’s off to eBay. One of these days.

The weekend’s garaging was not without loot more to my usual taste. I love this little magazine rack

 

and it just fits in the guest bathroom.

Another treasure dates from about the same period, and it was free because Judy gave it to me. Of course, she got it from a free box a couple of weeks ago with a very sad aloe vera plant in it.  I took a couple of pieces of the aloe at the time and stuck them in dirt, and they seem to be reviving. I hope.

But Judy’s got more wilted so she abandoned it and gave me the planter. The curious thing is, we think this was probably a gift-with-purchase since the logos on the bottom are for Phillips 66 gasoline.

Ah, those were the days, weren’t they…when you could fill up for 29 cents a gallon, they pumped the gas and cleaned your windshield, and gave you a present besides.

And then you hurried home to try to fit it into your Early American decor!