Thrift Score Thursday 58

Oh my goodness. Do I have a #thriftscorethursday story for you today!

No, I promise, it’s not a “story” in the same sense that yesterday’s “Apocalypse-Chic DIY Bunker Build” post was a story… (Spoiler alert: we are not actually digging a backyard bunker by hand. Or at all. Aprils Fools!)

But it was quite the adventure and I did collapse in a bit of a nervous wreck after I arrived home…

We’ll get there in a moment. For now, welcome to #thriftscorethursday!

If you’re new here, Thrift Score Thursday is a hashtag part in celebration of thrifted treasures of all kind!

You can join by sharing a picture of any recent thrifty find on Twitter or Instagram using #thriftscorethursday!

The Facts:

– You can share any thrifty finds with us – whether they hail from a thrift store, Craigslist, estate sale, garage sale, side of the road, or apartment dumpster! The fun, the funny, the awesome, the odd – this hashtag party is open to all!

– Feel free to use #thriftscorethursday any day of the week! We’ll be keeping up with the hashtag all week long to find our favorites for the following Thursday.

– Each week, Trisha from Black and White Obsession, Cassie from Primitive and Proper, Corinna from For My Love Of and I will pick a few favorite thrift scores to feature! So please note that by linking up with#thriftscorethursday, you are giving us permission to share your finds via social media or on our blogs.

PSA: We can only view posts tagged from public profiles. If your profile is set to private, just know that we aren’t able to see your posts and give them some love!

Ashley from Bigger Than The Three of Us is joining us as a guest host again this week. We always love having her party with us! She has been sharing some really incredible projects on her blog lately, but my favorite recent post has to be this amazing Closet Reading Loft! I want one!

The Features:

There is no possible way I could let this week go by without featuring these brass griffin candleholders from Kris at Driven by Décor (Instagram: drivenbydecor). Aren’t they incredible?

I just love these vintage paintings found by Selina (Instagram: rockinredesigns_selina)! The one on the right especially – such whimsy! I’m totally captivated by it – it reminds me of a beautiful children’s story, The Gardener (affiliate link)!

I got such a kick out of this little embroidered piece from Lindsey at Linny Jane Vintage (Instagram: linnyjanevintage)! I NEED this or something just like it! I’m absolutely serious when I say that this is one of my favorite #thriftscorethursday shares ever.

I am so happy for Nancy (Instagram: casacavaliere) and her absolutely incredible thrift score! You might have spotted my own lucite coffee table score on Instagram (I’ll be sharing that on here soon) – it must have been THE week for lucite!

Nancy found this Karl Springer lucite and brass coffee table, but other people were gunning for it as well. Since she was the first to respond, thankfully the seller was a man of his word!

Do you follow Nancy on Instagram? If so, you’ll know this is just perfect for her fabulous glam style! I can’t wait to see more.

My Find:

I had intended to share my own lucite find today, but then something even crazier happened, so that is the story you will be hearing today.

Where to start?

I always love browsing the art selection at one of the Goodwill locations near me… It’s arranged along the back wall on a line of carpet scraps so the art can lean without slipping on the smooth floor. I have a very set routine for each thrift store that I visit, and in this particular one it goes: quick scan of kitchen/dining section, more detailed scan of decorative objects section, even more time time spent flipping through all the larger artwork.

I had already put two objects in my basket, although I wasn’t sold on either one, and I spotted a little original oil painting of a floral arrangement. I wasn’t one hundred percent sold on the colors though, since they were muted and a bit 70’s. Still, if I spot something with promise I always snatch it up and walk around with it for a while to give me time to assess my true feelings. That’s when I spotted… her.

I was instantly captivated. She was enormous. (39” wide by 47” tall to be exact.) And evidently a handmade piece of art. Most importantly, there was no price tag.

Now, I’m a frequenter of this Goodwill, so I know that pretty much anything larger than 24×36” is always priced at $49.99. It just is.

And $49.99 is too rich for my blog for a thrift store impulse purchase, barring a few special items (velvet sofas, lucite coffee tables, etc.). But I tracked down a sweet woman busy stocking shelves and asked her for a price.

As soon as I mentioned an unpriced painting, she said “The big one down on the end? That one’s been there for days and the price tags keep disappearing.” She went into the back to find out the price for me and I paced along the painting row evaluating the items in my basket.

I decided that if, and only if, the price came back at $20, I would allow myself to purchase this crazily huge painting. Otherwise I would walk away.

You could have knocked me over with a feather when she came out with a price of $23.99. Three dollars and ninety-nine cents over? I can live with that! I gave the piece another inspection (thrift-score-blindness is dangerous!) and then wrapped my arms around her and proudly hauled her up to the front.

Do you think the story ends here? Oh no, my friend. That would be too simple. Far too simple.

You see, this giant, heavy, unwieldy piece was just too big to fit inside the cab of our truck. So I laid it flat in the bed and thought, Surely that’s not going anywhere! Good thing I brought the truck with me today! And as I was driving home, I glanced occasionally in the rearview mirror and through the back window, just to double check that the painting wasn’t going anywhere.

So I was headed home on the highway when I heard a guest of wind followed by a huge thud from behind. Checked my rearview mirror and back window and… Nothing. No painting. It must have flown out of the bed of the truck!

I really can’t even put into words the amount of panic I experienced at that moment.

1) Had it flown out and hit another car?

2) Was it going to cause an accident on the highway? All my fault!

3) Was there any chance I could exit and loop around and find it unscathed on the side of the road?!

4) How incredibly stupid! My freaking thrifted-painting-of-a-lifetime flew out of the bed of my truck because I was such an idiot and hadn’t accounted for the science-y properties of wind and truck beds!

I exited as quickly as I could and was forced to take a circuitous route back several miles before I could loop around and retrace my steps. My eyes were scanning the four-lane highway obsessively – no painting! I approached the exit I had taken after the thud and still – no painting!

What could have happened to it? I expected to see it in smithereens on the highway, but I hadn’t seen a trace!

Another gust of wind hit the truck and in my rearview mirror I saw the corner of the painting flutter up…

It was still in the truck bed!

It had blown up directly under the rear window where I couldn’t possibly see it, but it was in the truck the whole time!

You guys, I was pretty hysterical! If you’ve never experience the whole “Oh my gosh, my thrifted treasure flew out the back of the truck in what may be the biggest mistake of my life, oh wait, no it didn’t,” progression, you might not understand. It was intense.

But I got home, lugged her inside, and she became one of my most prized possessions. Funny how that works – you never know what you have until it’s gone (or you think it is).

And that my friends, is her story.

I don’t know much about her, where she came from, how old she is, or anything, except that I believe she is someone’s take on Boticelli’s “The Birth of Venus”. Maybe the project of an art student?

Her face is painted, her hair is carved, and the background contains the most perfect gold-leafed flecks…

All she needs is a name! I’m completely open to suggestions! I’m reminded of the gorgeous Beatrice from Red House West, so I’m thinking something old-fashioned and a little fancy and elegant…

What should I call her?