Much Ado About Junking

I promised you a glimpse of my sister-in-law's 112 year old house and its vintage decor.  I don't know about you, but I could sure use a blast of color--it's showering here today.  The neat thing about Claudia's house--well, just one of the neat things--is that, even on a gloomy grey Pacific Northwest day, there's plenty of cheery, glowing color.  The other thing I love is that there's always something different every time I visit:   new garage sale "finds" on display, or she's rearranged the furniture, or she's changed the curtains. Like Peter Pan's Neverland, it's "nicely crammed" with fascinating items in every nook and cranny. Claudia's also fearless with a paint brush.  One time she repainted the walls to look like a forest and hung tree branches from the ceiling just for a family party!

Here's a quick peek at Claudia's living room:

Unfortunately the other photos I took turned out blurry, so I'll try again next time I'm out her way. This is just a drop in the proverbial bucket!

Now perhaps you'd like to see a few of my own recent thrift/garage sale finds:

Isn't this a fabulous old schoolbook?  It's dated 1944, and it's full of charming illustrations!
 I paid 25 cents for this treasure.

I was thrilled to nab these treasures at the fraction of the original asking price when I stumbled upon them at the close of a community garage sale in Chehalis, Washington.  I'm in the process of refurbishing them.

Isn't this a pretty little doll?  I never saw one with an "up-do" like this one before. She reminds me of a little boy doll I used to play with at my grandmother's house when I was very little. I am pretty sure her dress is made of vintage feedsack fabric.  I'll be keeping this little doll for this little doll:

This is Benita.  What a smile!  Eat your heart out, Gerber baby!  (That's her "best buddy" Wickham  in the foreground.)

Well, enough of my natterings (is that a word?) for now.  Next time--hopefully--I'll have a couple of finished projects to show you!