Birds Of A Feather

When my friend came over the other day with a box in her hands, I knew she had brought me something great. And it was a surprise...I had no idea she was bringing something! She told me that while going through her grandmother's things, she instantly knew that I would want what was in the box. (The entire time she is telling the story, I have no clue what it is.) So, when I opened it, there were two vintage, ugly metal peacocks inside. She was so right, I instantly fell in love with them!

One was green-ish, and the other was blue-ish. But they were both rusty in a few spots. These twins were too great to pass up. And I knew that a little spray paint would fix them right up.

I grabbed the twins in my hands and walked around the house trying to figure out where to place them. Finally I decided that they both belonged in the sun room. It is the obvious choice since Merlin (the hubby's bird) is stationed in the sun room. I can corral all of the birds into one spot - the sun room.

So I took to the yard to spray paint these peacocks white. I know, plain ol' white again. But I didn't want anything bright because I want the mustache photos to be the main attraction in the sun room.

Drying time is about 10 seconds right now because the 110 degree temps instantly bake the paint dry. The back of the can says to spray under 90 degrees...at this rate, it would be November before I could paint the peacocks. So I broke the rules and painted them anyways. And after they dried, I hung them on the wall with a single nail. And then stepped back to admire my new, free peacocks.

And guess what I found on Pinterest....the same white peacocks! Looks like I am going to have to find some more peacocks so my flock can grow!

Source - Jennifer Bell on Pinterest

Thanks to Tori, my friend that brought me the peacocks. I bet that she is going to want them back now! And thanks to my mom and dad for fueling my spray paint addiction by gifting me with a case of spray paint at Christmas...this was the last can. Good thing my birthday is next month.

More Fab Freebie Finds

Yes, another truckload of freebies! I am having some great luck lately. Here is how this freebie find happened:

After driving past an old, condemned house for months, my mom and I finally decided to stop and peek in the windows. (The house was built in the 1800's.) However, not much could be seen because of overgrown bushes and dirty windows. But being the brave crazy girl that I am, I open the front door and both mom and I go inside. And holy smokes y'all! This house might be in sad shape, but it has some great features inside. It also has some items inside that I wouldn't mind having for myself. Did I get pictures of the inside of this house? Nope, I was too busy being sneaky. But here is the outside:

So after we quickly ran out of the house (there were fleas in there!!!), we headed over to talk to the owner of the house. He is an older business man in the community and was dead set on us not having anything out of the house....until mom worked some magic. She talked him into us getting whatever we wanted out of the house. Go mom! 

What did we get? A chrome dining table and a bunch of windows. And with a little elbow grease, these freebies will be extra pretty:

I plan to make a memo board out of the broken transom window. As for the other windows, I have no clue what I am going to do with them yet. Any cute ideas for old windows?

Roadside Freebies - Ultimate Jackpot

I spent Saturday shopping at flea markets and thrift stores with my parents. And while on the way back to my house, we spot something that looks like a yard sale with a large "free" sign in the middle. Free?! We had to go back and at least look. And guess what the sign really said.... "free, inside and out." What? The house was wide open and there were two other people there gathering up a few items. So, we just make ourselves at home and take what we want...inside the house too.

Now let me explain this free-for-all house. It was damaged by trees and a tornado during the recent storms. The family that had lived there took the items they wanted and then opened up the doors for what was left. It wasn't the cleanest or safest house, but it was a free-for-all, inside and out house. There were a few items that were no-takers, like the stove, refrigerator, or anything attached to the house - windows, hot water heater, etc. Why were they no-takers? Because that is what we were told and we follow the rules.

I am just like my parents - I'm a digger. We all got inside the house and moved trash, opened cabinet doors, dug through piles of stuff, and even had to move some tree branches out of the way. And we came away with an entire truck load of free goodies. It was the ultimate jackpot!

Now for the freebie run down:
1 round dining room table in perfect condition
1 coffee table with fold-down sides
1 fish tank (for my niece)
1 head board
1 foot board
3 wood chairs - none of them match
Water hose
Numerous spindles
Set of dining room table legs - just the legs
Pair of metal nesting tables
1 brown belt for me
Soccer ball (also for my niece)
Victoria's Secret Pink lotion - brand new

I think that is all, but I'm not sure. I would almost bet that my mom or dad found some other things and stuffed them into the truck too. This was the best free pick ever and far surpassed our flea market and thrift store finds from earlier in the day.

Out of respect for the family, I did not take any pictures of the house.