Sunday, July 29, 2012

A, B, C's

Last fall I took my first trip to Marburger Farms and found myself blown away by all of the beautiful things.  Two of my favorite trends were the industrial equipment used as every day furniture and the heavy use of typography in absolutely every space.  I became inspired by the letters and started gathering them on my thrifting adventures.  I now have a serious supply of Scrabble tiles as well as some plastic marquee readerboard letters and use them gratuitously around the house.  They are lovely little reminders of the things I want to focus on and can really pack a visual punch when decorating.

I was mostly content with my little letters and while I continued to lust after the large industrial ones I simply could not bring myself to spend the big bucks to purchase them.  (Why is it that people sell salvaged items for so much money?!)  Well lookie what I came across this week!  Can you believe it?!  These beauties were destined for the landfill and I was able to work a deal and save their little lives.  (That, and managed to severely embarrass my 10 year old...but that's not unusual.)  I brought them home and got straight to work scrubbing, disassembling (not as easy as I thought it would be), and even enlisted Big Daddy's help in turning a couple into lamps.  It's hard to tell from the picture but these beauties range from 18 inches or so to almost 3 feet.  That's right, 3 feet!  My living room is like a trippy version of Sesame Street right now and I just couldn't be happier about it.  Now I am very excited and hopeful that someday I'll find the perfect ampersand, or maybe even a pi symbol.  Oh, can you even imagine it?!  For now I'll be content to sing the alphabet song all day and wait for these lovelies to find their forever homes.  Oh!  And if you happen to come across a 1950's factory that is closing their doors and giving away their heavy duty assembly tables you just let me know!
Wall Letter Industrial Salvage - Channel Letter a or g - Blue Acrylic
For now I'll leave you with this little trip down memory lane.  Enjoy!  Sesame Street - Learning About Letters




Thursday, July 26, 2012

Not So Slow Summer

Every year when the weather heats up I start to dream.  I imagine long summer days sitting by the pool, late nights walking through the neighborhood, and indulgently late mornings with nowhere to go.  It feels the same every spring, but that is never our reality.  Instead we seem to spend our time picking up fun little things here and there until I don't know which way is up.

This here is my friend Nellie.  She lives at my mother's little farm and pretty much sums up the way I've been feeling lately.  I'm hoping to take a little break and see if I can wrap my head around all the changes and rearranges around here.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Bad News, Good News


Big Daddy and I have come to the conclusion that we have too much awesome stuff.  As cool as it all is we are seriously running out of space for it, so it's time to downsize a bit.  But how?  We decided the first thing to do is slash prices in the Etsy shop.  So, until we are able to sell a good portion of these lovelies (and easily walk thru the bedroom without fear of knocking something over) they will be at rock bottom prices.  Just think of it as our early Christmas present to you.

Merry Christmas!
Happy Blue Gal

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Grunge Thrifting

Hi, I'm Christi and I'm a thrifting geek.  Not just any thrifting, mind you. I prefer the dirty, you have to dig to find the good stuff and be careful not to loose a finger, kind of thrifting.  Somehow the pretty stores with their treasures all lined up and dusted off just aren't doing it for me these days.  Don't misunderstand me, you can still find lots of amazing things at the pretty places but I need to feel like I earned it.  Besides, I believe these things are on a sort of death row for junk and that every piece I buy is saving a lovely from the landfill, which makes me extra happy.


One of my favorite hangouts lately is the Goodwill Outlet Center, also known around town as "The Bins".  That's right, they sell the things that didn't make the cut at the regular Goodwill.  (Frightened yet?)  Honestly you can find some pretty amazing things here but you have to be willing to dig for them and deal with some seriously aggressive shoppers.  And guess what?  Everything in the store is $1.39 a pound.  Nice, huh?  You fill your shopping cart up, roll it onto a large scale, and that's that. 

If you're looking for the Goodwill Outlet near you I suggest checking out this site.  (That's what I did prior to the last family road trip!  More about that later.)  Also, I have a few hints and tips to keep in mind.  First and foremost, be careful!  These bins are loaded with stuff and there is no organization whatsoever.  You could be reaching for an embroidered linen tablecloth and not see the broken glass sitting just underneath it.  Broken glass, knives, and sharp objects of all kinds are all over the place so be on the lookout.  Some people wear gloves to protect themselves but I find that they just make me clumsy and that I'm safer without them.  You'll have to decide what works best for you and go for it.

You should also be prepared for some serious funk.  Yes, pack the hand sanitizer but don't fool yourself, it's likely you'll run into a few things that your handy dandy cleaning gel isn't going to be able to help you with.  I have come across live bugs, rotten food, dirty diapers, and even a dead rat.  Just when you think you've seen it all you will find yourself surprised, that I can assure you.  If you're still interested then I suggest you make your way to a Goodwill Outlet immediately.  And when you do, please drop me a line and let me know how it went.  I just can't wait to hear all about it!