Category: the carriage house.

adding a little rust.

Published on by Quandie6 Comments

As I was preparing for my Carriage House Sale, I decided to rusty up a few things to sell.

The tall pot is plastic, the finial looking thing is that heavier resin stuff, and the smaller pot is clay with some sort of faux finish on it.

I knew they would all look better rusty.

Then, while I was at it, I also decided to add a little rust to this buddha.

I know he doesn’t look too bad to begin with, but in person he did look a bit too faux.

He is also made out of a heavy plastic.  I was slightly stunned to find a Bachman’s price tag on his bottom for $79.99.  What?!  Did someone really pay that much for him?  As you can see, he’s only about as tall as a watering can, so he’s not large.  Seems a bit crazy to me.

Anyway, I treated all of these items to the same prep.  After cleaning them with some Dawn dish soap and the hose and then letting them dry, I gave them all a coat of Rust-Oleum flat black spray paint as a primer.

Dixie Belle does make a product called Prime Start that you can use as a primer …

but I prefer to have black as a base coat.

You can use any flat black paint, so I’ve often used Dixie Belle’s Midnight Sky or Caviar, but sometimes spray paint is just easier.

Once the spray paint was dry, I applied a coat of Dixie Belle’s Iron paint using a stippling motion.

The Oval Medium synthetic brush from Dixie Belle works perfectly for this.

The stippling motion is important because you don’t want any brushstrokes.  The activating spray will pool in brushstrokes making them stand out more.

Once your first coat of Iron paint is dry, stipple on a 2nd coat and while it’s still wet, spray the piece with the Dixie Belle green activating spray.

Now, we wait.

I find that the rusty finish takes a while to develop.  As in several days at least.  If you leave the item out in the rain that helps even more.

But be patient because the end results are worth it.

At least I think so.  I like a good rusty finish on garden items.

Buddha looks amazing tucked into the garden.

The tall urn planter looked pretty plastic before, but now looks like it could be a genuine iron planter.

I had all of these items at my Carriage House Sale and they all got snatched up by some lucky buyers.  Now I’ll be on the hunt for more cast off items that can be improved with a little rust.

Have you tried any of the Dixie Belle Patina Paints?  Leave a comment and let me know how it went.

decision fatigue.

Published on by Quandie5 Comments

You’re familiar with decision fatigue, right?

It’s estimated that the average adult makes 35,000 decisions per day.

Phew, no wonder I can never decide what to make for dinner!  If I don’t plan dinner in advance, I almost never have the bandwidth to figure out what to have at the last minute.  And since I’m trying to reduce the amount of ultra processed foods in my diet, that can be a problem.

I definitely struggled with the decision of whether or not to hold my occasional sale today too.  I’m not exaggerating when I say that the weather forecast changed multiple times a day over the last week.  Originally it was 90°, sunny and humid.  Then it got changed to a possibility of thunderstorms, then rain showers, then just overcast but no showers, and briefly it was even 76° and sunny!  The latest is a 50% chance of off and on showers and a high of only 70° on Thursday, but sunny and 77° on Friday.

Good grief!

Ultimately, I decided to go ahead with the sale.  I’m not worried about a random shower or two as long as there isn’t any severe weather.  I’m having the sale tonight, but reserving the right to close in the event of high winds or hail (and so far they are not in the forecast).  We also plan to be open tomorrow morning from 9 a.m. until noon.

I’m even thinking that if we have enough merch left, I may open again tomorrow evening.  That’s because there is a vintage car show just a few blocks away from my house every Friday night, and it brings in a lot of traffic.

My sister said she’d be happy to come and sit on the deck with me to see if anyone moseys down from the car show to check out my sale.

Friday evening isn’t definite though, we’ll play that by ear.

But you know where else I suffered with decision fatigue?  Pricing my items.

I’m sure that shoppers come to my sale and wonder why the prices can seem so inconsistent.  That’s probably partly because opK, Sue and I all price our own stuff independently of each other.  But also, I just get tired of making a decision on what to charge.

In my case, I start out early in the day probably pricing things a bit high like my little Au Public dresser at $45.

but as I get tired of making decisions the prices get lower.

By the end of the day I’m just slapping low prices on everything!

By the way, that’s a set of 3 Bobbsey Twin books for $6, not just one book.

I guess this is my way of saying that you just never know what you might find at the Carriage House Sale.  There are plenty of bargains, lots of vintage, and quite a few upcycled items like the flower market sign (which, by the way, is only $30).

So if you’re local, I hope you can swing by this evening between 5 pm and 7 pm, or tomorrow morning between 9 am and noon.

See you there!

the sale is on!

Published on by Quandie4 Comments

The sale is on for tomorrow evening and Friday morning!

Although there is a chance for occasional showers tomorrow, we’ll still go ahead.  A little rain is fine.  However, we reserve the right to close up shop if the weather turns severe, ie. high winds and hail.

I hope some of my local readers can make it!

called on account of rain.

Published on by Quandie2 Comments

Just in case you didn’t already see the message, the Carriage House Sale has been postponed due to weather.

I made this decision on Tuesday when the forecast said to expect gusty winds and hail for both today and tomorrow.  Since then the forecast has changed multiple times per day, and the latest I saw said a “stray thunderstorm is possible” this evening or tomorrow morning.

Now I feel like I jumped the gun and should have held my nerve and continued with the sale anyway.  It’s gloomy and drizzly, but not exactly dangerous.  But, the responsible thing to do was not take any chances with a crowd of people gathered under my large maple trees during a gusty wind.

I sometimes feel like I must have done something wrong in a previous life because I seem to have such bad luck with weather when it comes to my sales.  One year we literally had tornado sirens go off during the sale.  I really don’t want to repeat that experience.

So, the sale is temporarily postponed.  At this point we tentatively plan to hold it next week, but that is once again dependent on the weather.  I’m learning my lesson and not planning too far in advance (which totally goes against my nature).

But this gives me more time to get things ready, and to share some of the fun merch with you guys before the sale, starting with some great finds for the garden.

I’ve got quite a few buckets.

Some of them are pre-drilled with drainage holes so you can plant in them.

And some of them are not.

But you could always add your own holes.  Or use a bucket as a small trash can, or in the laundry room.

Of course I have the Flower Market sign that I shared earlier in the week …

And I have lots of rusty pots …

and other rusty garden ornamentation such as this buddha.

I’ll have a smattering of toolboxes.

As well as some other pretty floral items like this flower bucket …

and this pretty pink child sized chair.

I’ve got some fantastic vintage books including this set of travelogues by H.V. Morton.

I’ve also got a couple of sets of my painted books …

There will be fun finds for the kitchen too, like this coffee pot …

these vintage cookbooks and a pretty French crock …

or this vintage vinegar and oil set.

I don’t have too much in the way of furniture although I still have this set of barstools from last year with the price marked down to $50 for all three …

As well as this simple desk from last year …

I also have this cabinet that I haven’t shared here on the blog yet (but will have a post about soon).

Along with some fun industrial stools.

My friends Sue and opK will also be bringing over some merch before the sale too, so there is bound to be something for everyone.

I’d say mark your calendars, but then again … maybe not quite yet.  Let’s just play that by ear for now.  I’ll definitely keep you posted next week.

the sale is postponed for now.

Published on by Quandie2 Comments

Just making sure that everyone has seen that the Carriage House Sale has been postponed due to weather.

We’re keeping an eye on next week’s weather, but to avoid any additional confusion we won’t commit to a date until we’re sure this time!

I apologize to anyone we’ve inconvenienced.

Stay tuned!

on second thought.

Published on by Quandie2 Comments

OK, on second thought, the weather forecast that is now calling for gusty wind and small hail has made me realize that continuing with the Carriage House Sale this week could actually be dangerous.

I have a lot of large trees over my driveway, and quite honestly it’s scary to be underneath them in a gusty wind.

So the Carriage House Sale is officially postponed.

We will most likely have it next week, June 11 and 12, but let’s play that by ear for a few days to make sure we don’t have more bad weather.

I apologize to anyone who made specific plans to be here, but I just want everyone to be safe.

Stay tuned for more information!

always fresh.

Published on by Quandie3 Comments

I’m super busy preparing for my upcoming Carriage House Sale this Thursday evening and Friday morning.

Naturally, the forecast calls for rain.  We had barely any rain for the entire month of May, but all I had to do was plan my sale and suddenly rain is in the forecast almost every day this week.  Argh!

Well, we’ve got a couple of tents and none of us will melt when we get wet, so the sale goes on rain or shine!

** UPDATE:  due to the forecast of gusty winds and hail the sale has been postponed!

I’ve been trying to finish up a couple of last minute projects to include in the sale starting with this next item that one of Mr. Q’s coffee shop friends sent home with him for me last year (thank you for that Connie!).

I’m not totally sure, but I think it was probably a headboard to a twin sized bed.  Maybe?  It seems a bit small for that, so maybe not?  And, if I remember correctly, it was a curbside find (it was a while ago though, so I may be wrong about that too).

Anyway, it was about the perfect size for my Flower Market stencil so I decided to paint it up for my sale.

I didn’t do much prep work on this one aside from a quick scuff sanding followed by wiping away any dust with a damp rag.  Then I gave it two coats of Dixie Belle’s English Ivy.

I just love this ‘always fresh’ shade of green, and I love using Dixie Belle’s Best Dang Brush for a large stenciling project like this one.

I first applied some portions of the stencil using Dixie Belle’s Coffee Bean.  Once those were dry, I moved the stencil just a little bit over and up and stenciled some of it using Drop Cloth.

Stenciling the word “flower” in the dark brown of Coffee Bean, then moving the stencil ever so slightly up and over and stenciling again with the Drop Cloth is what creates that dark shadow that you can see just on the word “flower”.

I think that effect adds so much dimension to a stenciled sign like this one.

If you need some more stenciling tips, check out my how-to post here.

After sanding to distress the edges just a bit, I finished the sign by adding a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax over the whole thing.

Then I propped it up on my rusty garden bench for a photo.

If any of you gardeners are curious, the lime green hosta in front of the sign is called Curly Fries.  Just below that are Forget Me Nots.  Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the hosta with the larger puckered leaves that is on the left.   It sure is a nice one though.

The sign, along with lots of other fun garden decor will be available at my upcoming sale unless someone local wants to snatch it up ahead of time.  Be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

carriage house recap.

Published on by Quandie11 Comments

I meant to take some photos once I had everything all set up for my recent Carriage House Sale.

But, you know how that goes.  You get busy making sure the signs are up, everything is ready for the checkout table, and everything looks good … and next thing you know the sale is all over and you forgot to take any pictures.

Well … regardless … I thought you all might appreciate a recap.

I would say we had a smaller than usual crowd waiting to get in at rope drop, ie. 10 a.m. when we opened.  So, I’ll admit I was a little worried.  But after our usual opening hour rush, we then had a fairly steady stream of customers up until around noon when it turned into a trickle.

The weather went downhill a bit at that point too.  It got really warm (upper 80’s) and super windy.  The wind was a little scary since I have a large tree that overhangs my driveway, and those trees were really whipping around by the time we closed up shop.

Overall the sale was a success though.

My rusty pumpkins were a big hit, they all sold within the first half an hour or so.

My black hat society sign sold …

but none of my other cupboard door signs went.

I did sell all of my toolboxes …

a tacklebox …

and a lunchbox …

so that was awesome.

I also sold all of my painted books.

I also sold this floral cabinet at the sale.

I guess that answers the question of whether or not floral items will still sell in the fall.

I can also answer the question of whether or not buyers are willing to purchase Christmas merch when it’s nearly 90° outside, and that would be no.

None of my sleds sold.

And very little of the other random Christmas merch sold either.

I did whip up a few other fun Christmas decor items right before the sale, so I’ll be sharing some of those projects here on the blog when the holiday gets a little closer.

But for now I need to put my carriage house back in working order.  We’ll need to be able to get our vehicles in there as soon as the snow flies.  You just never know when that’s going to start here in Minnesota, could be next week.

I’ll be back to my regularly scheduled programing with another post about our trip to Canada coming up later this week along with another toolbox makeover that you haven’t seen yet.  I hope you’ll stay tuned!

hope to see you there.

Published on by Quandie9 Comments

We’ve been busy all week getting the carriage house ready for tomorrow’s sale.

It looks like we’re finally going to get lucky with the weather this time around.  Well … for the most part.  It’s not going to rain, so that’s good.  And we aren’t going to freeze our toes off, so that’s good too.  Instead it’s going to be in the upper 80’s.  We may actually be hot!

And speaking of hot, we’ve got some hot deals (bad segue, I know).  My rusty pumpkins range from only $12 for the largest to $8 for the smallest.

We’ve got a few pieces of ironstone available again this time around.

We’ve got a sizable Christmas section as well, so I hope some of the buyers can think ahead to Christmas despite the unseasonable heat.

As an avid garage saler, I’m used to buying vintage Christmas items when I come across them in the summer.  It’s always good to plan ahead.

After getting a message on Facebook Marketplace from someone who was annoyed that we don’t accept credit cards, I feel like I need to remind people that we are not a shop.

We are three gals who enjoy thrifting, garage sales and the occasional estate sale.  We find cool vintage items and sometimes we add a little something fun to them.

And sometimes we don’t mess with the original.

I think the best way to think about the Carriage House Sale is to consider it a very highly curated garage sale.

We’ve dug through all of the piles of old stained Tupperware and tacky plastic kid’s toys so that you don’t have to.  We’ve spent hours and hours scouring garage sales to come home with only a handful of finds that will make their way into our sale.

Really, you just never know what you might find at one of our sales, but we think it’s all good.

Nothing here has been ordered in bulk from China, pretty much everything is vintage and one of a kind.  Except possibly the random decorating or gardening book …

and you definitely won’t find any stained Tupperware or half-used toiletries.

So no, we don’t accept credit cards (but we do accept Venmo, and that ol’ standby called cash).

We also don’t package things up in fancy bags, we just recycle the grocery bags we’ve been stashing all summer.

But you might find one or two items for your home that will add to your own special blend of eclectic decor.

Hope to see you there!

got plans this weekend?

Published on by Quandie2 Comments

Have you got plans this weekend?

Well, if not, can I recommend stopping by the Carriage House Sale?

We’re just a couple of blocks south of highway 36 off Century Avenue.

So when you’re done snapping up some vintage goodies at our sale, you can then continue down 36 and check out the corn maze at Country Sun Farm. or maybe go pick some apples at Aamodt’s Apple Farm.

The weather is going to be perfect!

Hope to see you there!