gardenjunkpickergirls: Thrifting, Picking and cleaning the finds

Inspired by the recent reality TV show Picker Sisters, we are fans of REAL picker shows. We relate to the thrill of finding something cheep. We love road trips and filling the truck with our unique finds. We love the reaction of your husband’s as we pull in the drive w/ junk. Unfortunately, Picker Sisters is like watching a train wreck. You know you should turn away, but something draws you to it. You try to yell at the TV hoping it will STOP, but they just keep heading straight into a disaster.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Thrifting, Picking and cleaning the finds

Mo and I are all about re-use, re-duce, re-cycle. Keeping with that theme, I took a visit to the "Re-Store" yesterday. There are several all over the U.S. I went to the one in Aurora, IL. What a cool place. I found these cool vintage light fixtures. (Mo would freak; she is a light fixture junkie).

They have everything under the sun for the home, some used, some new.....stoves, furniture, doors, sinks, you name it. All of it is super cheap, even the new stuff. The best part? Everything comes from donations and the proceeds benefit Habit For Humanity. Thrifting/junking for a good cause!!! So cool!

While Laura was thrifting locally I headed on a short business trip to Indiana, I brought the hubby instead of Laura- not bad since he can drive and I can look online for places to stop and pick. We left Indi Saturday morning after a night at St Elmos Steak House for an early Valentines dinner. A little shrimp, steak and of course bourbon.

We took Route 136 east toward Illinois. Our first stop was Crawfordsville. A really nice town. We hit one local Antique store, it was nice but we did not end up getting anything- no deals. The shop owner did plan out the rest of our day- next stop Covington.

Covington was a hit- small shops that had deals and even a great lunch spot called the Beef House.

Most of my finds were $10 each. Some day I want to put a powder room in our Michigan house, so I found this old faucet - a little ruff but will clean up gust fine.

The vase is from some dishes I collect- it is easy stuff to find but often the metallic finishes have been removed from people washing in the dishwasher.

$5 old hook- and she put it in a pretty bad with tissue- small town charm and service.

Another item for the future bath- a cup holder hook.

Gotta get some rusty stuff for the garden- these stove doors will be great in the garden.

The most expensive find was this hose reel $26 bucks.

Came from a GM factory- perfect for the yard!

When I got home I thought it might be time to start cleaning the hardware for the trailers since I needed to clean some other stuff.

As you may remember from a previous post- I read a tip from another trailer remodeler that she soaked the hardware in rubbing alcohol. Pretty nice transformation!

I think this is going to do the trick!

Always some ups and downs when we pick- my husband saw an old beer sign he once had, he gave it away and now, thanks to the American Pickers, these things go for big buck- the one he gave away . . . $150 bucks. Also found a similar cookie jar to the one we put dog food in . . . $65! Our mutt must be a fancy dog:)

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MO

I come from a long line of pickers. I learned from my mom, driving the station wagon around on garbage day looking for stuff others didn't want. She taught me how to search through old barns, and find the items everyone else missed. I was refinishing furniture and polishing silver at a young age, always looking for the diamond in the rough. Her passion grew into a fabulous business, but for me, I am still just a picker who makes a living more traditionally. Many of our trips stem from my business trips that Laura tags along on, or weekend adventures. Laura is more thrifty then I am, we are very different . . . I will always have time for picking, gardening and blogging. I have three blogs, none for money, just to share my interests and opinions. Click on my picture to get to my garden blog. There is a reason I do the driving, do not let Laura fool you- you do not want her to drive! Picking is hard work, not a glamorous Hollywood production. You can call us “the picker girls”, “garden junk picker girls” or “the REAL picker sisters”!

Laura

Picker, gardener, not that good of a driver. . . Is one of the "greenest" people you will ever meet. She uses a clothesline, saves everything, is still cooking with some of the pans we had in our college house in the 80's. It’s not about being trendy, it’s how she lives. . . . OK I need to speak for myself here . . . Mo is definitely the blogger, driver and boss. However, I need to clarify a few things in my bio. First and foremost, I am an excellent driver and have an almost clean record to prove it. Also, my job as co-pilot is equally as important. I am, after all, the navigator through unknown country roads; no GPS in the old pick-up for these gals! I also have to rummage in the cooler and prepare sophisticated hors d'oeuvres. Last, but not least, I'm in charge of tunes. If left up to Mo, all we would be listening to is satellite radio's all Grateful Dead station. Not trendy? Without a doubt. I actually started thrifting and picking to save money. I still do for that reason, but more importantly, I want my surroundings to be funky and meaningful, and am always up for an adventure with my "true picker" sister!

Fender Art - has a long connection to "junk"

No it is not a fender made into a chair, just a fender made into ART! DEFINITION: The Middle English word jonk, ancestor of junk, originally had a very specific meaning restricted to nautical terminology. First recorded in 1353, the word meant "an old cable or rope." On a sailing ship it made little sense to throw away useful material since considerable time might pass before one could get new supplies. Old cable was used in a variety of ways, for example, to make fenders, that is, material hung over the side of the ship to protect it from scraping other ships or wharves. Junk came to refer to this old cable as well. The big leap in meaning taken by the word seems to have occurred when junk was applied to discarded but useful material in general.