Free.

Before I start sheepishly showing you the rest of the Skydiving scrapbook, I wanted to share a few things I picked up off the side of the road. I have big plans for these babies. BIG PLANS.

ALL of this came from a crazy middle-aged woman off of 11th street, which is a fairly busy road, so I'm extremely lucky that I snagged all of this.  I first saw a bookshelf on a curb waiting for garbage pickup, which you'll see below, but once we got it in the car, she came out to be crazy and talk to us, and said she had another shelf in her garage, which just so happened to be an ANTIQUE that she was just.going.to.throw.away....... What!? Yes. Then I asked her if she happened to be throwing out a chair that hadn't got to the curb yet. Which she was. She took me inside her house and showed me the two chairs and a table (perfectly fine pieces of furniture) that she was going to throw out. She wanted me to take the whole set, but I just wanted one chair. She was confused, but she was crazy, so whatever. On the way out of the house, I saw a bench on the deck. I made Adam go back and ask her what she was doing with it... and she gave that to me, too!!

And of course, pictures:

I've been looking for a chair on the side of the road for years. I'd been using our kitchen table chair, which is extremely comfortable, but it's a pain to keep having to bring it back into the kitchen when we have guests over. I wanted my own chair, and I finally found one! It's a little chewed up on a leg, probably from a dog, but since I've spray painted it down, you can't really see it.

A purple chair! It's totally Tessa. My room is totally me, and nothing but me, even down to the chair! 

A BENCH that I've been dreaming about for the (soon to be finished) mud room!

An antique, but very sad (what used to be a) "secretary desk", which is pretty much just a book shelf.

This baby has a lot of issues. I don't know if I can fix it up, and to be honest, I don't even know what to do with it at all because it's so damaged. Should I just paint over it?

Bits are even missing.

This is the piece that I actually saw on the side of the road and made me call Adam in a panic, saying "GET YOUR DAD'S JEEP! THERE'S A BOOKSHELF ON 11th THAT I HAVE TO HAVE! HURRY! SOMEONE ELSE IS GOING TO TAKE IT!" He was very annoyed. But he came anyway, like a good husband does. 

I actually didn't know it was a children's toy chest until I got there and dug it out of a bunch of other crap that way laying on it. I thought it was a regular bookshelf. I'll find a use for it, though. Or I'll try to sell it on Craig's list.  

The front edge piece is really chewed up, probably from a dog. Our friend Matt helped me cut and nail a piece of L-shaped molding over it so it looks a lot better. I'm very intimidated by this task. Probably because it's going to take hours of sanding, caulking and painting. And I still have the mudroom to finish.

Look at the naked babies! So appropriate! ...

And although this didn't come from the crazy lady, I'll include it too:

When we had our windows replaced last month, I asked the window guys to save me the ones from the basement. There are a few more that aren't pictured. After I scrub and sand them down, I'll give them a fresh coat of paint. THEN... the plan is to turn them into shelves above the windows in my craft room.