surf’s up.

Published on by Quandie17 Comments

 I fully admit, I’m a sucker for attractive packaging.  So the other day when I was at Home Depot waiting for some paint to be color matched (to touch up the Carriage House), I was browsing the spray paint aisle and came across this …

This is Behr spray chalk paint in a color called Surf.  Isn’t that a nice looking can of spray paint?  Somehow it’s much more appealing than your typical can of spray paint.

Am I right?  Or is it just me?

And I didn’t even know that Behr was making a spray chalk paint, did you?

It was priced at $9.99, which is just a tad steep for a can of spray paint.  But I went ahead and threw it in the cart to give it a try anyway.

I pulled out this metal plant stand that I’d purchased at a garage sale earlier this summer to be my guinea pig.

After giving it a good cleaning with soapy water, I gave it a few quick coats of the spray paint.

One thing I noticed right off is that this spray paint does not dry nearly as quickly as traditional spray paint.  Just something to keep in mind if you plan to try it.

But it went on beautifully, and it did have a nice matte finish similar to chalk paint.

I got some paint on my hand when I accidentally touched the plant stand before it was dry, and it was not as easy to wash off as chalk paint typically is.

I didn’t attempt to distress the plant stand, so I can’t speak to whether or not the spray chalk paint distresses as easily as other chalk style paints.  I’ll have to experiment with that on another project.

I checked out the Behr website and found a blurb in the description of the product calling it a “simple two-step paint and wax process.”  However, the instructions for use didn’t say anything about having to add a topcoat, wax or otherwise.

But I would guess that it needs a topcoat for durability based on them calling it a “two-step process”, and that you can use any topcoat that you would normally use with chalk paint.

However, I didn’t add a topcoat to mine because as it turns out, this color is a bit brighter than I thought it would be and truthfully it’s not really my vibe.

So in the end, I decided to go back to the drawing board.

After first spraying over the Surf color with a matte black spray paint, I then brushed on the Dixie Belle Patina Paint in Bronze.  While the paint was still wet, I sprayed it with the green activating spray (find a full tutorial on using the Patina Paint here).

Yep, that’s fits my aesthetic much more than the bright turquoise.

The green spray created a nice bit of verdigris.

After adding a small pot of ornamental kale, I put the plant stand in my recent sale.

It almost sold.  And by that I mean that someone put it in the ‘holding area’, but then they changed their mind and didn’t buy it.

Oh well.  Maybe next time.

Meanwhile, which version did you like better?

White, turquoise or bronze?

Leave a comment and let me know.

the least esteemed creatures toolbox.

Published on by Quandie10 Comments

Yep, I still have more toolboxes that I’m making over, and I have one to share today.

I picked up this toolbox at a late summer garage sale.

Nothing too exciting, right?

After giving it a good cleaning, I removed that Cramer label from the front of the toolbox.  I was able to pry it off quite easily, and I thought it would be better to have a flat surface for adding a transfer to the front.

Next up I sanded off any loose paint and/or chunky rust and gave it a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss inside and out.

I followed that up with a lovely shade of grey green from their Silk Paint line called Highlands on the inside.

Once that dried, I added a sweet little bird transfer from I.O.D.’s Santa’s Hollow transfer.

Next up I painted the outside of the toolbox in Ecru, which is rapidly becoming one of my favorite colors.

Then I pulled out this page from the Winter Botanist transfer from the 2025 Holiday Collection from I.O.D.

Isn’t that lovely?

In my attempt to research what the wording said, I came across this …

Apparently the design of this transfer is based on the cover of a book in Dutch called The Wonders of God in the Least Esteemed Creatures that was originally published in 1762.  It contains 50 engraved plates featuring butterflies and you can buy it from Abe Books for a whopping $9,600.

Or you can buy the Winter Botanist transfer for around $22.

I feel like this particular transfer isn’t super Christmas-y, but instead is only just slightly winter-ish.  It does feature holly and pine, but it also has quite a few butterflies (and I guess the Dutch thought they were the least esteemed creatures).  I don’t know about where you live, but here in Minnesota we definitely don’t have butterflies in the winter.

But let’s just go with it.

I customized the transfer to fit my toolbox by cutting out the wording from the middle to allow for the latch.

I then applied that cut out wording to the top of the toolbox.

Then I felt like I needed the transfer to spread out a bit more, so I added in some extra bits of foliage and some extra butterflies from the Winter Botanist here and there.

I also added some bells to the upper corners of the top that came from the I.O.D. Santa’s Hollow transfer.

So, definitely not overtly Christmas, and only slightly winter-ish in feeling, here is the least esteemed creatures toolbox.

For you locals who may be in need of a toolbox dedicated to God’s least esteemed creatures, I took this one in to Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater this week.  This is the perfect time to head towards the St. Croix Valley to check out the fall leaves as well.  According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Fall Color Finder, today they should be at 50 – 75% fall color.

As for the rest of you, how’s the fall color where you are?  And what do you think of today’s toolbox makeover?  Leave a comment and let me know.

prince edward island.

Published on by Quandie14 Comments

Every time I publish one of these travel blog posts I feel like I’m that family member who forces everyone to sit through a slide show from their summer vacation.

You know, like back in the 60’s when slides were the thing, and everyone had to sit in a dark room and watch as Dad clicked through slide after slide.

And most of those slides weren’t terribly good either.

Probably half of the audience fell asleep, and the other half desperately needed that cocktail in their hands.

So I apologize if that’s how you feel about these travel posts, but to be perfectly honest, I do these posts for myself.

I used to scrapbook all of my trips.

But I don’t scrapbook anymore.  I still miss it sometimes, but I also don’t necessarily want to continue to add to the 40 or so scrapbooks that will definitely end up in the landfill one day.

So, yeah, now I do these blog posts mainly so that I can go back and look at them later and reminisce about a trip we took.

Feel free to just skip over them if they just make you want to take a nap (or drink a cocktail), I fully understand.

And that brings me to the 2nd port of call on our recent cruise on the St. Lawrence seaway, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

As you can see, it was another absolutely beautiful day.  We had glorious weather on this trip.

I have to say that there wasn’t a whole lot to see here though.  We could have taken a shore excursion to visit the Anne of Green Gables house, but I never read those books as a child so that didn’t really interest me.  We also could have done a guided tour in a horse drawn wagon, but instead we pretty much did the same tour on foot on our own.

We walked through town admiring some of the historic homes along the way.

There were definitely some lovely old homes.

But here’s what stood out to me the most in Charlottetown, the locals were the friendliest, most helpful people I’ve ever encountered as a tourist.

We had grabbed a ‘self-guided walking tour’ map from the ship before disembarking, so as we walked along we had to stop a few times to refer to the rather unwieldy map.  Nearly every time we stood on a street corner with that map unfolded, a local would stop and ask if they could help us find something.  One guy was even just stopped at a stoplight in his vehicle when he rolled down his window and asked if we needed directions somewhere.

We could not possibly have felt any more welcomed by the locals.  It was truly remarkable.  Especially these days when tourists are definitely not welcomed everywhere.

We did eventually make our way to the Beaconsfield Historic House.  The house was built in 1877 as the residence of a wealthy shipbuilder.

And we happened to be just in time for a guided tour of the inside.

When the tour guide asked us to name the oldest thing in the dining room, I correctly guessed that it was the Christmas cactus in the window.  I knew those things could live for decades.  She said it was over 100 years old, although I don’t know exactly how they have a record of that.

The house was built with the most modern features of the time including central heating, gas lighting and running water.  Cold water, that is.  If you wanted hot water they still had to heat it on the stove and then carry it upstairs to the bath room.

I always enjoy seeing the kitchens in these old homes, not sure why that is since I don’t spend a lot of time in my own kitchen.

I’m not entirely sure whether or not those cabinets are original, but aren’t they gorgeous?

After touring the Beaconsfield House we moved on to walk around Victoria Park and the Prince Edward Battery, and then back through town towards our ship.

We had plenty of time left before we sailed though, so we then headed over to Lobster on the Wharf.

It’s the restaurant above with all of the red awnings.

Prince Edward Island is known for its lobster, so we figured we had to try some.  We ordered a lobster dip appetizer that was absolutely delicious.  We also ordered a lobster roll to share, and after one bite I decided that was not for me.  But Mr. Q polished it off and thought it was pretty good.  To be fair, I don’t particularly like fish or most seafood.

With that, it was time to sail away from Charlottetown and head towards our next port of call, Sydney, Nova Scotia.  If I haven’t put you to sleep with my travel posts, be sure to check back next week to read about Sydney!

it ain’t over yet.

Published on by Quandie6 Comments

This warmer than usual autumn weather seems to mean that garage sale season isn’t quite over yet.  So last Thursday my friend opK and I headed out to a few sales.

Our first stop was an estate sale where I came across this mid-century painting.

I just can’t resist these city street scenes with their thin matchstick figures.  I am guessing that they were a dime a dozen back in the 60’s and 70’s, but I don’t know much about them.  Do you?  If so, be sure to leave a comment and tell me more.  I plan to hang this on the gallery wall in my q branch.

Our next stop was a vintage/garage sale that my friend Sue told me about.  It was called JunkSmith Market, and if you’re local I highly recommend their sale.

It looks like they just have one sale per year in the fall, so unfortunately you’ve missed it for this year.  But maybe next year (follow them on Facebook).

I purchased quite a few fun things from them including this birdbath and large watering can.

I also purchased this old cupboard door from them …

I plan to clean it up, replace the knob with something a bit more fabulous, and add some sort of stenciled signage.

I also brought home some vintage books and an old brush …

and some adorable vintage Christmas glasses.

Our next stop was the Picket Fence Gals sale in Lindstrom.  If you’re from around here, you probably know about this one.  I posted about this sale last year after one of the vendors there purchased a few things at my sale, and I then saw them in her booth …

She did the same this year, but I neglected to get any photos of her booth this time around, but I did buy a couple of lanterns from some other booths.

I plan to do these up for Christmas, much like this one I did a couple of years ago.

So, there you have it.  I found a few fun goodies, not bad for the middle of October.

I’m going to have to get going on some Christmas projects this week, November is usually my best month for selling Christmas merch at the shop and that’s only three weeks away!  Time flies, doesn’t it?

the queen’s glory toolbox.

Published on by Quandie4 Comments

I actually completed the project that I’m sharing today more than a month ago.  It was one of the several projects that I cranked out before our trip to Canada, and it’s this toolbox …

I purchased this toolbox way back in January at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and it has been sitting in my stash ever since.

Since it was already black, I decided to go ahead and keep it that color on the outside.  That being said, I did scuff sand it, clean it and then give it a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss to both help my paint stick, and keep any bits of rust from bleeding through.

Once that prep was done, I painted the inside in Dixie Belle’s Cottage Door.

After all, who doesn’t love a gorgeous pop of color on the inside?

Next up I gave the outside just one coat of Dixie Belle’s Caviar.  Since I was painting black over black, just one careful coat was all that was needed.

Next up I applied some of those gorgeous florals from I.O.D.’s Saint Germain transfer.

I wrapped them around each side.

Next up I pulled out the Queen’s Glory transfer from re.design with prima.  This is another gold transfer, but it isn’t like the gilded transfers from I.O.D. that I’ve been using lately.  It goes on like any other transfer, whereas the I.O.D. gilded transfers require a bit of a more delicate touch when applying them.

It isn’t as ‘gilded’ looking though either.  The gold is a bit darker and not quite as shiny.

But I also think the smaller details are much better defined.  For example, compare the re.design with prima transfer above to the I.O.D. transfer below …

Another plus to the re.design with prima version is price point.  I paid around $20 for two 12″ x 12″ sheets of the Queen’s Glory transfer (so two sheets of the same design, I used just one of them on this toolbox).  The I.O.D. Etiquettes gilded transfer is around $50 for four 12″ x 16″ sheets.  So granted, yes, you’re paying about the same price per square inch, but if you just want to do one project, the Queen’s Glory would accomplish that at a much lower price.

So, six of one, half dozen of the other.  Both products have pros and cons.

And both products are fun to use to add a little bling to your project.

I finished off the toolbox with a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax.

FYI, the final waxing step really brings out the richness of the Caviar paint, and it also helps add contrast between the transfers and the black paint.  So if you decide to try something similar, don’t panic if it doesn’t look great right away.  Adding the wax really pulls it all together.

Normally this is where I would say that this toolbox is for sale locally.  However, I already sold it at my Carriage House Sale.  But I hope you enjoyed seeing it here anyway.

Have you tried both the re.design with prima and I.O.D. gold transfers?  And if so, which one did you like better?  Leave a comment and let me know.

the gaspé peninsula.

Published on by Quandie2 Comments

The first port of call on our recent Azamara cruise was Gaspé.

Gaspé is about 650 km northeast of Québec City, and has a population of just over 15,000 people.  We were greeted at the port by a band of drummers which was a nice touch.

Mr. Q and I didn’t really see much of Gaspé itself though, instead we took an excursion to Percé which is about an hour further along the coast.

I had read that it was a very scenic drive to Percé, and it was lovely, although I have to admit we were spoiled by the scenic drive in Norway that we experienced back in 2023 and this wasn’t nearly as dramatic.

Percé itself is known as one of the most beautiful villages in Québec, and I will agree that it was lovely.

And as you’ll soon learn was the case for almost our entire trip, we had glorious weather that day.  Sunny and low 70’s.  Perfect.

Percé means ‘pierced’ in English and the town is named for the rock formation that is located on the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula.

I didn’t really get a good photo of it, but the rock formation does have a natural arch at one end (on the right end in my photo above), so in other words, it is pierced.

Percé is even smaller than Gaspé, having a population of around 3,000 people.  It definitely felt like a tourist destination with mostly small shops, cafes and hotels in the center of town.

It is beautifully situated on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

But the shoreline is very pebbly.  Mr. Q and I attempted to walk along the water, but those pebbles are bigger than they look in my photo and they aren’t very stable to walk on.  I’m sure I wouldn’t want to attempt it barefoot.

Luckily Percé has added a very nice boardwalk along the waterfront that is far easier to walk on.

There were lots of comfy chairs where you could just sit and admire the view.

The boardwalk was mostly backed by small hotels.

I can see where this would be a great spot for a family summer vacation.  There are plenty of outdoor activities nearby like hiking, kayaking and birdwatching.  According to Wikipedia they get over 500,000 visitors per year.

But it was very quiet the day we were there since the summer season was pretty much over.

After first getting some coffee and pastries at a local cafe, then strolling along that boardwalk, we decided to walk along this road to admire some of the houses …

I suspect that most of these places are either private vacation homes or vacation rentals.

I certainly could see the appeal of staying in one of these for a few days.

However, I have to say that there really wasn’t much to do in Percé itself.  We were only there for about 2 hours and that was plenty of time to see the town itself, but not enough time to try out any of the surrounding outdoor activities.  I think this small village would be better experienced by staying there and exploring the surrounding areas rather than visiting on an afternoon cruise ship excursion.

That being said, it was a lovely day and I certainly don’t regret spending it in Percé.

If you enjoy my travel posts, be sure to check back next week when I’ll share our 2nd port of call on Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown.  And if you don’t enjoy my travel posts, check back on Friday when I’ll be sharing another makeover project!

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!

Bonjour Montreal.

Published on by Quandie1 Comment

Our recent Azamara Quebec intensive cruise sailed from Montreal, Canada so Mr. Q and I decided to fly in to Montreal a couple of days early so that we could see some of that city.

Let’s start with a couple of quick travel q tips in case any of my American readers are planning a trip to Montreal anytime soon.

First up, I highly recommend using the ArriveCAN app in advance to make your customs declaration.  You can then use the express lanes in the customs area in the Montreal airport.  We avoided some crazy long lines by doing this.

Next, although the taxi line at the airport was pretty long, it moved quickly.  Now, you are probably thinking ‘wouldn’t an Uber be cheaper, or quicker?’, but no.  There was an even bigger crowd waiting for Ubers.  Plus, as our taxi driver told us, a taxi from the airport to the historical city center in Montreal has a fixed flat price of $50 (that’s Canadian, so currently about $36 USD).  Since we arrived right around 5 pm, or rush hour, with surge pricing an Uber would have cost closer to $100.

My next tip is to take all of those tips you see on travel vlogger videos on YouTube with a grain of salt.  Many of the YouTubers I watched said it was considered rude to not at least try to greet people in French before assuming they spoke English.  So when we arrived at our hotel, we walked up to the front desk and promptly said “Bonjour!”, at which point the desk clerk rattled off a bunch of French back to me.  We then had to explain that we didn’t really speak French, and the clerk said “Well, why did you say bonjour?” and I had to explain the whole thing.  She said that was nonsense, just speak English.  Most people in Montreal, especially in the tourism industry, are bilingual and will respond back to you in the language you greet them in.

After checking in, we found a nearby restaurant for dinner and then called it an early night.  I have to admit, Mr. Q and I are definitely not night owls.

After fortifying ourselves with some coffee and pastries the next morning, we headed to the Château Ramezay.

This residence was built in 1705 for Claude de Ramezay, the governor of Montreal.  Now it’s a small museum with a mix of interesting exhibits showing 500 years of history.

I have to be honest and admit that I specifically chose it because it was the only tourist site I could find nearby that included a garden.

The chateau’s original garden was 4,200 square meters, but today only 750 square meters remain.  Nonetheless, the museum has done a lovely job of recreating a smaller version of the original, complete with a vegetable garden …

an ornamental garden (including some of my favorite verbena bonariensis) …

and an orchard (those trees behind the those trimmed arborvitae are fruit trees).

It was lovely to spend a little time in such a pretty setting.

After a quick lunch of some really delicious croque monsieur, we headed to the meeting point for a small group walking tour with MTL Detours.  We had decided to book a walking tour at the last minute the night before, and I’m so glad we did.

Our guide, Caroline, was full of information and also quite funny and entertaining.  She shared some of the history of Montreal, and how you could see that history in the architecture.

Some of the historic buildings are very French in style, like this one with its mansard roof.

And then there are places like Habitat 67 which was built for Expo 67, a World’s Fair held in Montreal in 1967.

The unique design consists of modular concrete boxes arranged in such a way that each individual living space has it’s own private rooftop terrace that isn’t visible from any other unit.

Caroline also pointed out the geodesic dome that was built for Expo 67.

See it over there on the other side of the river?  It was the United States pavilion and was designed by R. Buckminster Fuller.  It also was the inspiration for Spaceship Earth in EPCOT …

As a Disney park fan, I thought that was an interesting little bit of trivia.

We ended our tour at the Bonsecours Market.

The building was finished in 1847 and was originally home to city hall, but now it’s filled with restaurants and shops.

In hindsight, I’m now kicking myself for not going inside.  I wish we had at least taken the time to check it out a bit, but it was such a lovely afternoon that we decided to explore a bit more outside instead.

For dinner I decided I had to try poutine.  If you’ve been to Quebec and not tried the poutine, have you really been to Quebec?

If you aren’t familiar, poutine was invented (if that’s the right word) in rural Quebec in the 1950’s.  Traditional poutine consists of french fries topped with cheese curds and then smothered in brown gravy.  Poutine has gotten so trendy these days, and now you can get all kind of variations on the theme like lobster poutine, or buffalo chicken poutine.

I have to admit, I didn’t like it.  I had a feeling I wouldn’t.  I’m not a fan of soggy french fries, and really not a big fan of cheese curds either (unless they are battered and deep fried).  And brown gravy?  I like it on mashed potatoes, but on fries?  No thanks.  But now I can say I’ve tried it.

On our last morning in Montreal we decided to take a walk to the port to decide whether or not we needed a taxi to get there later with our luggage (we did not).

It was a lovely morning for a walk along the river.

And there were some nice views of the Montreal skyline from the quay.

It was the perfect way to say goodbye to Montreal before boarding our ship and sailing away.

If you’re interested in reading more about my travels, be sure to check back next week when I post about our first port of call, Gaspe.

In the meantime, have any of you tried poutine?  If so, what did you think?  Are you a fan, or do you also prefer your fries crispy?  Leave a comment and let me know.