Treasure Huntin' find... Uranium glass lamp!!!

The last coupla Treasure Hunts have been bountiful!

This chandelier begged me to take it home on four separate occasions, but each time I passed it by. I love the nautical look it has, but I just could not think of anything I could use it for. 

Well on this trip I decided that since it was still there after 2 weeks it was OBVIOUSLY meant for me to take home.

AND I have a fabulous plan for it...

 

  A little something for Chad or at least that is what I told him.  I picked this one up for him because he always says I never get him anything. It is really so he can build me more stuff. But we ain't gonna tell him that. :)

 Just a few small random things that will be put to good use. 

I love collecting little unique glass and silver kitchen items. The salt shaker has already found it's home in a glass front cabinet... Which will hopefully soon have chicken wire instead of glass. :)

 This adorable little lamp was a must have as soon as I saw it. I love the jade color. My camera does not do this lamp justice at all. For some reason the colors are off in every photo I take. It has no wire and no makers mark, but I knew it was definitely special.

 I just didn't know how SPECIAL until I got it home... And realized I had actually found a real Treasure.

From my research I have found out that this is a Houze Uranium lamp. The uranium gives it this fabulous glow.

 This is what it looks like under a black light.

 

And here it is all cleaned up with a new cord. Just need to find the PERFECT shade... Because you can't use just anything on something this Amazing.

 Another great trip this week... Lots of great finds.

 I'm pretty sure I have a frame addiction :) But each one will be used to make something fun and unique. The little tea jar with the wire clasp will be added to my collection in the laundry room, turned around so the words don't show, of course.

 How cute is this little stool. I see a coat of paint and some fun fabric in it's future.

 Love the design and colors on this spread, that will be used as fabric. And of course more frames.

 I just can't help myself they are all so pretty.

 And how great is it when you find a matching set. Well I found these pieces about a year ago... 5 bowls and this beautiful platter. They were perfect for my dining room and look great with the sunflower fabric and black ticking. Well.....

 Look what I found this week :) 5 matching plates. OH MY!!! How is that even possible? Not a REAL Treasure, but I am pretty excited about it.

Dining Room & Table Redo

Remember my big gorgeous hand-made farm house table that I just had to have because it matched my fabulous buffet...

(If you click on a pic, most of them come up in a larger view)

 WELL... it does not fit in the new house at all :( 

So I had to Redo a Redone trash shopping find from about 9 yrs ago. I don't have any photos of it when I got it, but it was painted half cream with an ivy stencil around the table top edge and the rest was a brown stain. This is what it looked like after I did a temporary redo on it.

This has been in my garage for about 3yrs now housing spiders and collecting saw dust.

 

I sanded the whole thing down to the original wood color.

  I started to paint the table with an Antique white, but decided the ebony was a better choice for my house. Plus I would have had to repaint the chairs and they were not easy to sand and stain the first time I did it. They took me about 2 weeks to complete and I really didn't want to change them. 

Also... I started this table because we had family coming and we needed a place for everybody to sit and eat. I started working on it with a week to get it finished before they would be here. 

 Finished two days before they arrived.

 I used ebony stain, but wanted it to be more solid than it was coming out... so I painted it on and left it thick to dry. It took about 4 coats to get the color I wanted on the pedestal.   

 

 

My husband wanted a more wood look, no matter how much I said no I want black. Well the top of the table was on his side. The stain wouldn't cooperate for some reason. Every time we put on a new coat it just looked clumpy or very uneven in places. So after 5 coats, a light rubbing with steel wool between each, and two coats of poly... This is the finished result. I do have to say I like it better this way than the solid black on top.

The scrolled edge around the top doesn't really fit with the clean look I wanted. So I did it in a deeper shade than the top and lighter than the pedestal to make it blend into both.

Now I just need to put a couple coats of poly on the chairs. They didn't need it with the old table, but look weird sitting with this one now.  

 

My dining room was going to have red, white, and cast iron to go with the kitchen, but "I changed my mind" :) I had redone the chairs with this gorgeous sunflower fabric and black ticking about a year ago so I decided to work with it.

When we moved in I had Chad replace the chandelier in here with my Treasure Huntin' find that I had painted white... Well I now want it in my laundry room... That is my next Redo :) 

So what to do...

I thought about doing a drum shade from embroidery hoops, but that would be too many circles in one space... So I started digging in my "crap room" (that is what Chad calls my mess of a craft room) and right now it is a good description.

I found these two wall hangings that had Christmas paintings in them, but the frames were perfect. Added picture hanging hooks to the inside.

 

A few pieces of chain used to make hanging lamps.

And we have a frame.

 

I then wrapped it with a off white linen fabric, stapled into place, and hot glued a jute rope trim around the top and bottom.

And we have a finished dining room. And just in time... The lamp was hung just 3 hours before the family arrived from out of town. :)

Because it's Pretty...

A few of my favorite things...

Treasure Huntin' 

Oh how I love to find those amazing pieces just waiting for me. You all know what I am talking about. When you walk in and something just speaks to you and you immediately see the beauty it can become with just a little love. 

This first photo is barn wood. Oh My... This was a great day. We had gone back home to Kentucky for a visit and my Fabulous Brother-in-Law gave me a truck load of this. :) He is one of the few who understands my "illness". I have many plans for this, but these two pieces already have a home. HMMM... Where could they be?

I'll give you a hint... Master Bedroom

 

Love this... ALL these Incredible pieces of art lined up in my garage. This is my Heaven... I am still amazed when I look at them. What a Gorgeous sight. I would have to rate this as my greatest Treasure Huntin' find EVER!!! 

This is definitely one of those things you should never pass on. I think I wound up bringing about 16 home with me.

 

Some were used for my baby sisters wedding, I am painting one for my bathroom, and some are going to be used outside.

This was a "in the right place at the right time" treasure. A small shop here in town was just switching owners. The old owner had left this piece behind and the new owner thought it was just a waste of space... So I took it home. The finished product is in my Front Porch.

Doors... another weakness. But you have to be very careful with these or you'll wind up with more than you can use :) Not that it is a bad thing. This was one of those things that just spoke to me as soon as I saw it. And I immediately new what it's purpose would be. What it looks like now!!!

 

I found this while I was redoing my downstairs bathroom. I love the white globes and am planning on painting the metal black to match the bathroom decor. The weird thing about this piece is that the box it was in actually had a picture of the fixture that is in the bathroom now. I took that as a sign that I should get this.

 

These are going to get a coat of white paint and be put out on my porch. I'm not a big fan of the glass pieces, but I love the look of the rest of them.

This lamp is one piece that needed nothing when I saw it. Well except a light cleaning. I love the rusty, beat up look that it has. I have however redone the shade, that shiny one was just not right for it.

I know this really does look like a pile of junk.... but when you see what I did with it you will change your mind.

Picture frames are my most resent obsession. I have no idea why, but for some reason I have to buy at least one every time I go Treasure Huntin'. I have redone a few of them for rooms in my house. I also have some on my Etsy shop. Thrown Together
At least I have a plan for them.

I'm telling you it is an "illness". There is no cure, however I have decided that it is hereditary so if you are afflicted it is not your fault... You can blame it on your Momma... That's what I do.

 

 Oh My... another great find. This was a great Treasure Huntin' Day! The oval frame, the mirror... and check out this foot board.

The original plan for this was to chop it up for parts. Look at all those gorgeous curves, but the plan has changed and it turned out to be Amazing. 

(Thanks to my Awesome husband.)

When we bought our house I immediately started talking about wood floors. I would love to replace all the tile with wood, but that all adds up to ALOT... And I am still trying to talk my husband into it. He doesn't understand why I would want to rip out good tile and replace it with wood. We have very different styles and design ideas. He is very supportive of my creativity and will allow me to do ALMOST any idea I come up with. But there are some things that he won't give in on easily. Mostly because he knows he will be the one trying to figure out how to make what is in my head actually work. But His main reason on the floors was cost. 

Another thing you need to know about him is that as much as I love to Treasure Hunt... He hates it. After 20yrs together he still does not understand why I love all this "junk". On very rare occasions I can talk him into going with me. 

This was one of those days, we were out and I asked if he would just stop by because I hadn't been to my Habitat for awhile. And look what was piled up by the door when we walked in. I got excited, he just saw somebody else's trash... Until I asked "how much". I think this was the only time I ever saw him the least bit interested in junk. When the lady told me $20, he said "load it up". 

 

And here is some of it in our guest bath. I know it isn't a very good pic, but you can see the rest when I get the Guest Room finished. 

 

This was another one of those days where it was ALL too good to pass on... Because it's pretty. This is the best way I have found to describe why to my husband. Like I said he doesn't see what it could look like, he just sees what it does look like.

Got this chair for $2 bucks, love the look and it is going to be gorgeous when it is redone. Just not sure yet what I want to do with it.

Another fabulous chair. This one was sitting out by the back door at one of my favorite places and I was sure they either wouldn't let me buy it yet or that it would be some ridiculous price, but you never know til you ask... So I did.

Here is the whole picture. All these great treasures just waiting for a little TLC...

Can't wait to see how they all turn out :)

I had been looking for one of these for some time. My Aunt Pam had posted one a few years ago that was in her bathroom and I could not find one anywhere. The color was not something I could work with, but it had lots of potential. You can view this one under Downstairs Bathroom.

I fell in love with the look of these pieces. This was one where I saw what they should be when I picked them up. Check them out in my Master Bedroom... Along with this beautiful polka dot fabric.

These are just a few of my Fabulous Treasures. I am working on many more of these posts and hope that it inspires you to find the beauty in "junk".