It was a fruitful few weeks in April and May, with lots of inexpensive goodies found. I got a full set of silver chargers for tablescaping, and originally I thought I would paint them, but when I found the silver snowflake dishes, I changed my mind. I’ll keep them silver for now. The card making elements will make wonderful cards for Safelight when the next project time comes along.
No matter, at another store on another day, I snapped up this set of 6 gold chargers with a gold tray for just $6! Of course, I couldn’t resist the little placecard holder vases. My mother had a set of those that I let go in the estate sale and regret that I didn’t keep. The little wheelbarrow has a lot of potential for tables or maybe out on the veranda.
I will nab these plastic drawer units whenever I see one. The hat became will be another makeover soon, I just need to decide what to do with it.
The bins now hold all the sewing stuff that was all over the tables and sewing machines, cleaning up the space. One drawer contains just my cutting tools!! The other rolling drawer unit was also a thrift store find a few months back. Between them the space around my sewing machines is a lot clearer, and I can find things a bit more easily.
This candle holder has potential. I have some red votive holders that will fit the cups, so will have to see how I can use it on a tablescape. I might have some clear ones too, I’ll have to dig them out to see. I’ve been snapping up these clear plastic jars as well, to keep flour and baking ingredients, along with rice and other dry goods. They look a lot better in the pantry, and they keep things from spilling out of torn packaging.
This super find is a mandolin. Wicked sharp, I’ve been using it a lot to make thin slices of veggies for steaming and serving raw in salads, or onion for cooking.
It is rare that I find clothing to fit my shorter frame, but this top was a treasure. It was priced at $3.99, and that day was 50% off clothing! The petite sizing fits my short frame nicely, and the hat was just $2. I already remade it into a spring flower hat.
So, onto the projects with some of these items. I had to clean the tray and give it a fresh coat of gold metallic paint as it was pretty dinged up under the chargers.
Then I set up the gold chargers on the potting bench with paper to paint them, like I did the ones on this post.
Several coats of lilac color spray paint later, they are ready for a coat of varnish.
They go pretty well with this hydrangea. I hope to find blooms of this color when it is time to do a table with them.
While we were in London, I put my arm on an armrest not noticing the wad of chewing gum some jerk left there. Dang it, this is my favorite spring sweater! I pulled off all the gross, sticky mess I could that day. When we got home, I put the entire sweater in the freezer to try to break off as much as possible. Didn’t really work that well, and there was still a sticky mess of gum embedded in the sweater yarns.
An internet search yielded the advice to use a solvent on whatever was left. Several were suggested, and I thought that Goo Gone would probably do OK, without damaging the sweater yarns like some of the others might.
I didn’t have a lot of hope here, but tried it anyway. There was nothing to lose if it didn’t do the job. To my surprise, it worked pretty well. Now all I had to do was wash the sweater to get the Goo Gone residue out. This stuff is amazing.
So, I did that, blocking it on the dryer. The spot was on the right sleeve, and it is all gone now.
Another recent find, more yellow chargers with a lovely cut-out design on the edges. So, now the ones I painted yellow can be painted again in another color. I’ve already done a new treatment on the open weave hat, but I’ll share that later.
Do you have any DIY in progress?
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From My Carolina Home 
Very neat thrift store finds! I love the hats! I’m glad the goo gone worked for the gum. I have a bottle but am not sure I would have thought to try it on fabric.
I have not been shopping so much lately, I am been trying to get rid of the things that we aren’t using. DH did remake a clunker piano into a crafting desk for me. I just started using it, but I won’t call it done because I may ask him to make a few changes to it. It’s so nice to have a larger desk for crafting, considering how much of it I do! Have a good day!
Wow..Great finds..very energetic! I got tired reading about them..ha ha
Loved seeing all your “treasures.” I need to replace some ribbon on a hat I am going to wear this week for a luncheon. I am hoping my skills with the glue gun will do the trick:)
Hello Carole; Everything you found is a great treasure! You are so fabulous at knowing exactly what you will do with the items you find and how they will work. It just amazes me. I do not go thrifting as much as I would like, but whenever I do it is always such a fun time. I really look forward to seeing your new treasures in use! Thanks for sharing and have a fabulous day!
I went to a 100-Year celebration at the nearby Air Force Base where they were passing out DIY bird houses. Completed one for me already and will have my mother’s finished soon. Before starting, I spray painted the pieces … love the ease of spray paint!
What great fun you have had! And great that you were able to remove the gum and goo residue. That is an amazing product, takes pitch off fingers, shoes, etc., too. My DIY is always one in progress: straightening up my sewing room! LOL But I did just finish knitting a nice scarf for when fall arrives here…. I love scarves and wear them 3/4 of the time in all different colors and fabrics….I’m probably a nut for scarves the way you are for hats! :o)
Love your spring sweater, so glad you got the gum out. Thanks for the how-to for removal. My 9 year old boy got gum on his new summer play clothes on the first day he wore them to the first day of summer camp! Ice helped remove some, but I was stumped. .Now I will try Goo Gone.
Enjoyed seeing all your thrifting treasures. We are overrun with past purchases of good treasures and I am having a terrible time trying to clear the clutter. I’ll keep trying.
My family reunion was held this past week near Hendersonville, NC. I missed it because my husband had some illness that kept us away. My heart was in the Carolinas!
Our next DIY involves the roof…we are still pricing, but it looks like I am going to learn some new skills like shooting nails out of a nail gun and replacing plywood! We have an extremely simple and very flat roof, or we’d not consider it.
I like your DIY better! Some great finds at the thrift store and another tale concerning the wonders of goo gone! Amazing stuff, it is!
Lots of great finds there. I would snap up those plastic drawers quickly, too. They are so useful.
Enjoyed reading about all your thrift shop finds. I’m glad you were able to restore your sweater it sure is pretty. Not heard of goo gone. Don’t think we have it here.
Lovely finds, specially love those silver snowflake dishes. Your sewing stuff looks so organised in those bins. Good to know about the Goo Gone, thanks for sharing that tip.
-Soma
Carole, I’m picturing one of your lovely tablescapes with your freshly painted chargers and a hydrangea theme! Thanks for sharing your treasures at Vintage Charm!
You find the best things when you go thrifting! Chargers never have food on them, right? They just go under the plates? I’ve never used them, in fact never heard of them until your blog. In all the things my aunt taught me from Emily Post and The Army Wife, chargers were never mentioned. LOL Your tablescapes are always so pretty, though.
Good morning again, Well, running behind on my copying some of your hints, the one I got this time is the gum on the sweater, great thinking on that one copied it for sure. Still trying to go through all my Christmas things and donating some and willing some that are collectables to the relatives of German descent. What a task. Have a great day, gotta get back to the chores at hand. Phyllis