“Thrift Store SCORE!” {brass animals}

It has yet again been quite some time since I had any Thrift Store SCORE!s to share with you – But that’s just a matter of me working to shrink my small obsession with all things thrifted. Having ignored the urge for several months, I finally allowed myself a treat the other weekend while visiting my best friend, Erica, in Richmond, Virginia. I mentioned her briefly in this post where I described the origination of a new piece of art. Erica had just recently bought a house and wanted to do a little second-hand consignment shopping – You don’t have to ask me twice!

While curving up and down each aisle, scrutinising all the trinkets, pieces of art and antique trays, keys and dishware, I managed to keep my final purchases down to only three pieces – First up, was the framed magazine that I already showed you, but I also grabbed a pair of brass horse head hooks.

The brass finish was what first caught my eye (obviously), but the detailed carving and the functionality of the hook itself was what really sealed the deal. At only $9 each, they were in my shopping bag within a second of spotting them.

My last purchase of the day was a pair of brass (can you tell that I’m addicted?) birds. I couldn’t resist the art deco style and in-flight motion of the birds – Plus they are BIRDS, yet another thing I can’t resist. The icing on the cake again was the price – Just $12 for the large one and $8 for the small.

After giving myself a week or two to brainstorm the P-E-R-F-E-C-T spot to hang the birds, I settled on my bathroom. To be honest, I’ve had a hard time reeaaaalllly loving the space ever since I painted it green way back when. There is practically NO other hint of green in our house (despite the fact that it is my favorite color), and I just felt like it didn’t particularly mesh with the house as a whole. So I’ve been toying behind the scenes with new art and thinking up a new color combo to make it seem more intentional with the house. I’ve got a couple of trouble shooting thoughts to try before I throw my hands up in the air and paint it the same color as our other upstairs bathroom – Stay tuned!

But in the mean time, let’s take a look at the latest update to the space – My new brass birds.

I know that a lot of people would have cleaned up the brass before hanging the birds, but I sort of LIKE the aged patina. Gives them just a touch of a rustic feel, which I’m a-okay with. Luckily, I’m sure there’s a special cleaning combo I can whip up should I decide to make them gleam.

As for the horses, I decided to hang those at the top of the basement stairs where John and I can easily loop our keys on the hooks. Because of John’s job, he often comes home with piles and piles of warehouse and truck keys, all of which end up cluttering my our kitchen island. As you can imagine if you too are Type A, this drove me crazy, so I’m hoping the horse hooks will wrangle the mess in their own cute brassy way.

It may look like the hooks are hung awfully far from one another, but don’t worry, I eyeballed the height using my own key ring and it works like a charm with plenty of breathing room in between.

What thrifting treasures have YOU guys unearthed lately?