Monday, April 18, 2011

Monday Morning Thrift Finds

I had a sick child at home this week and during the weekend, we had a tornado warning so we stayed home. Sadly, the tornado swept through NC killing 19 people, flooding areas in Alexandria, VA and when it reached us, most of its fury had died down but we had one of the heaviest downpours I had ever seen living in the USA. They remind me of our tropical thunderstorms in Singapore, which we get daily.


I wanted to share something I picked up a year ago from a thrift store - some vintage tennis and badminton racquets (see picture above) It took me a while to find a glass maker and I happened to pass a store one day and decided to drop in to get them to put in the mirror. The man behind the counter was so tickled - obviously he had never heard of the idea before but agreed to do it.

It took more than 6 weeks to get it done and when I went to pick it up another staff served me and I said I was here to pick up the tennis racquets. He gave a laugh and said, "Oh, yes! Those ones!" Those tennis racquets must have given their staff a bit of a laugh. However, the smile died on my lips as I surveyed their work. It was shoddily done, as if someone had been in a great rush to finish it. They had cut the mirror by hand and you could see that it was crookedly cut and the strings were showing from underneath the mirror.

I asked him if he minded re-doing it. He apologised for the "less than perfect" work (I like this about America! If in Asia, the reply would have been - take it or leave it) and it took him another 3 weeks to get it done. When I picked them up, I was happier this time round.


I need to put hooks in the back so that they can go onto the walls. This is just a makeshift string I tied around the back to put them on the wall to see what they would look like. Of course, I would hang them a lot closer together, I was just utilising the hooks that were already in my wall. The wall is going to be painted blue, by the way.


During the week, I had a 20 minute visit to another thrift store and found these vintage wooden shoe forms. I don't know what to do with them yet I bought 2 pairs! I am thinking of using them as decor. If they don't fit into any decor, I can definitely use them for Matt's shoes!


It is the Spring break at school and the boys are at home. I found these flowers growing out of the most unlikely places around the house. It is a big mystery to us - were they planted by someone or do they grow in the wild. I see them everywhere and love them, they are so pretty. I love how plants have multicoloured leaves here.


Look! They are sprouting up under our playground. If it were planted by the previous owner, why would he have put them in such an unlikely place? That made us think that they are grown in the wild.
  
A shot up close.
 White ones are my favourite.

Have a good time spending time with family on your Spring break!

Linking up with Apron Thrift Girl

2 comments:

  1. What a great idea for the tennis rackets, they look fab.
    The flowers are daffodils or narcissus. Someone probably planted the bulbs years before. We have masses in our garden but didn't plant any of them and we've been here 13 years. Once the flowers finish the leaves die right back naturally and they come back again the following spring. Over here in the UK they are a signal that spring is here and they pop up everywhere, even on roadsides. Yours are lovely.

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  2. what a clever idea! My boys would be tickled if they see the racquets. So sad to hear about the tornado, I feel so blessed to be living in a disaster free country. Our thunderstorms are nothing in comparison.

    love~mongs
    mythriftycloset.blogspot.com

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