Bragging on my Handyman

Have I mentioned how talented my Handyman is? He can do just about anything with his hands. His boss asked him build a front desk for a new business he's opening. This is what he came up with.

Can you believe he made this? Stunning, isn't it? He really enjoyed doing the project. He'd love to design and make furniture for a living. Maybe some day... Here are a couple more shots.

I think he could sell something like this, don't you?

Garage Sale Bargains

My Handyman and Sweet Pea went out for a walk on Saturday morning, while I was off for a luxurious visit to the fabric store all by myself. Sweet Pea has it out for that store, and so I dread trying to shop there with her in tow. It was really wonderful to spend a couple of hours wandering around and looking to my heart's content. {ahhhh...}

Anyway, back to the point of this post. While on their walk, my Handyman discovered a moving sale at a home a couple of blocks up the street from us. He liked what he saw, so as soon as I got home he insisted that we go back together and take a look. Here are some of the "treasures" we found.

There was a whole table of Tupperware, most of which was quite old and yellowed, but I picked up this box for storing cookies and bars for $0.50.

I've been wishing for a second loaf pan, and I found these two for $0.25 each.


We bought these three Christmas ornaments for $1. I can't wait to see them hanging on the tree!

We picked up these two thermoses for $0.50 each. They'll be great for picnics and even for my Handyman to take to with him to work.

One of my favorite finds of the day was this sweet little rocker for Sweet Pea. It was only $5, and it's really in pretty good shape. My Handyman plans to refinish it if he gets the time, but even as it is, I'm happy with it. We plan to give it to Sweet Pea for Christmas, but when we brought it home she fell in L-O-V-E with it. I finally hid it away today, and I'm guessing she won't remember it when she receives it for Christmas.

My Handyman's favorite find was a set of china. I've never really been interested in owning a set of china, I'm content with simple, inexpensive dishes that I can use every day, but my Handyman REALLY liked the set that they were selling. They were asking $175 for it, though, and I didn't feel like we needed it at all. The lady saw how interested my Handyman was, and was obviously hoping to make the sale. I told her it was lovely, but I really didn't think we needed it, and she came back saying that they could take $150 for it. I said thank you, no, and walked outside to look at other things. My Handyman asked me if he couldn't offer her $125, and I reluctantly agreed. She came down to $135 and my Handyman couldn't resist. So, I am now the {proud} owner of a set of china. It really is pretty, and when we got it home and unpacked it all, I had to admit I think we got a really good deal.

I like the simple design, and the pretty silver ring around the edge.

The flowers in the center are a very pretty light blue, but you can't see very well from the picture.

The brand is Noritake, and it was made in Japan. I don't know anything about china, but from what I can find online, this is a company that has been around for nearly 100 years, and they still are making china, although this set seems to have been discontinued.


It's a HUGE set. There are 18 place settings, with a dinner plate, salad plate, dessert plate, and tea cup and saucer. Plus there are 6 additional tea cups and saucers (24 total), a tea pot, 3 sugar bowls and 3 creamers. There are 10 serving dishes (various large bowls and platters), and two gravy boats. Many of the dishes are still in their original wrappings and seem to have not been used. In all, there are about 130 pieces, and only one has a small chip.

For now, I don't have any place to put it, so it's all packed way in boxes, but some day, perhaps I will have a bigger home and a china cabinet to display all of these lovely pieces!