2 posts categorized "Ugly Lamp Contest"

interior walls, antiques, and the beach

The carpet and interior walls are glued in place.

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While the glue was drying Husband and I went out and about to enjoy the warm spring weather.

Our art museum is in the midst of an expansion and is closing for a few months during construction.  After all the exhibits were packed away the museum lent its space to the local artists for an "Artists' Studio Spring Clean-Up Sale".  I came home with a Glenn Wolff print.

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Husband came home empty handed, as the painting he liked was too large to hang in our house.

After the art sale we took a beautiful drive to Elk Rapids, to browse one of our favorite antique malls, which has just reopened after being closed for two or three years.

Normally I come home empty-handed from these trips, but yesterday I picked up a few things.

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I wasn't going to buy the metal folk art plane, but then Husband pointed to the "everything in this booth 50% off" sign.

I also picked up three more glass bottles for my slowly growing collection in the living room bow window.

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Two more I LIKE IKE campaign buttons came home with me.  I made it almost all the way through the last election cycle before I ran my last one through the laundry and ruined it.

I also picked up a unique glass bottle I've never seen the like of before.  I need to do some internet searching to see if I can determine what is was for.  It sits on my desk, because it's a scoosh too wide for the window frame.

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(Just ignore the dust, please.)

Husband came home with a Swiss Army type knife that appears as if someone modified to include a fork and spoon.  He spent the afternoon cleaning away the rust, sharpening, lubricating, and polishing.

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After lunch (gas station pizza and fountain pop, eaten in the Jeep, parked at the beach...the pizza wasn't that good, but the conversation was) we walked on the beach.

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Every year the beaches are littered by more zebra mussel shells, they wash up to create piles that look like banks of snow.  Zebra mussels are an invasive species decimating Lake Michigan's native clams.  It is rare now to see a clam shell on the beach; when I was a child they were plentiful.

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It may be difficult to see if you don't know what you're looking at....let me do this....

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They are fun to walk on, though.  Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Alright, back to minis....

Now that the build is no longer a hotel room, I'm going to go a little wild with the small bathroom...like an art student was let loose at the walls.

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This is the inside of the book jacket of a coloring book.  I bought the book when I re-did my dresser, thinking I would decoupage pictures on the drawer fronts, but then I changed my mind.  It took forever to find where I put the book.  Not on the bookcase, that would make too much sense.  I finally found it in my closet, under a box of crayons/pencils/markers.

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I'm going to spend a quiet afternoon coloring :)

Oh, wait, there are a couple more pictures in the queue yet...

Yesterday's winner in the ugly lamp contest...

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A miniature horse saddle I would have loved to purchase as a joke for my assistant, who raises Patterdale Terriers and has a ten month old son....but it wasn't joke priced, so I texted her a picture instead.

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Oh, one more....this post is already lousy with pictures anyway...

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the want of a prune box

My best friend, Susan, upon the moving out of another grown daughter, moved her studio into an empty bedroom.  She sent me lots of pictures (to shut me up, because I'm whiney).

Look at this....I wish my studio looked half as warm and comforting....

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Do you see, on top of the wire cart, that fabulous wooden Varsity Prunes box?

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Sigh...I want one.  I really, really want one...I want to put it on top of my worktable to corral my stuff.  While I was giving thought to how many pounds of dried cherries it would take to bribe her husband into stealing it for me I went to my local antique stores to see if I could find something similar. 

My first stop...Wilson's....downtown....4 floors and 20,000 square feet....surely I will find a box.

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Neat suitcases and globe...nicely reupholstered chair...but I've no place to put them...

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This little wooden cabinet would be great in my studio, on the little wall between my closet and the door...if only it weren't two inches too wide...sigh...

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Ohhhh....a three drawer jewelry box, underneath a pretty lamp...I can store miniatures in that...yes, please!

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EGAD!  Look at those lamps!  They win that day's Ugly Lamp Contest.  They're hideous!

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Ah ha!  A box!  I'm not very keen on Yeast Foam (bleck!), but it's a good size....there is a little sticker on the other side that says "not for sale", but maybe I can talk them out of it if I bring them a pretty new box to put postcards in. 

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The only other box there....it wasn't right....

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I consoled myself with a cerveza and a chicken chimichanga, next door, at Union Cantina.

I love their front door....

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Over the next couple of weekends...Wilson's East Bay, Cherryland Antique Mall, Bay West on Garland, Rolling Hill Antiques....

I almost bought this...

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but not this...this is creepy.

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Ugly Lamp Contest contender....

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Neat apothecary tins, but I've no place to put them....

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I want this juice set!  But I've no place to store this!  I need a bigger house.

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Oh, look!  A set for you too, Susan.

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I found this for you too!

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These tall old metal gym basket things would make great studio storage for someone....not me, I don't have room for them, but someone.  (That's husband, for size comparison.)

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I had never seen one of these before...I can't believe it's still intact.

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A giant ugly lamp, hosting an ugly lamp party...

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Notice the lack of wooden boxes in the pictures?  Sigh....

I did get a few things...a wire basket, an old purse, a multi-tool and a wooden handled monkey wrench....husband bought himself some lathe tools and a beer glass.

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My last hope....Walt's....

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I found some big crates in the basement....and upstairs, some old wooden cheese boxes (I didn't take picures of) that were too small...

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Boom!  Jackpot of wooden cherry lugs.  But they weren't priced and Walt wasn't there...besides, I have one at home already that might work, I'll try that one first, if it does I'll come buy another to replace it.  It's not quite what I want though.  I want a prune box.

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Susan is keeping her eyes open for me, maybe she'll find something good when she's out and about today.  I have my fingers crossed.