shopping in chapel hill part 2

Happy Hump Day!

Already half way through the week.  Wow, is this summer just flying by or what?  My daughter got home from her lacrosse tournament in New Jersey Monday night.  We had one day together before she heads back out today for Notre Dame and University of Michigan to lacrosse camp.  The day was spent doing laundry – getting hair cuts – updating physicals and packing back up AGAIN.  This kid is like the Energizer Bunny … she never slows down.  I would be lying to y’all if I said her mood has been cheery.  Since she has been away so much this summer, she all of a sudden thinks she is completely independent and doesn’t have to answer to anyone.  Hmmmm…. big big mistake.  She had a firm reminder of who is paying for all this lacrosse and who makes it possible for her to get everywhere she is going.  A little R-E-S-P-E-C-T please.

She will be travelling with a teammate and her mom this trip so I am safe from another crazy car incident.  If you don’t know what I am talking about – check out my Part 1 post.  Let’s just say Melissa McCarthy’s line in Bridesmaids: “I want to apologize … I can’t even be certain which end that came out of” was very relevant for my return trip.  Enough said.

I am looking forward to showing you Part 2 of my shopping trip in Chapel Hill, NC.  This is a cool antique store I found in Chapel Hill called Branching Out. It was actually located in the mall. Shocking … I know.  Here are some highlights:

This was the car area of the store.  Bright blue letters, old hubcaps and antique oil cans are just a few of the cool things you could buy for the car enthusiast in your family.

Next to the car area (notice the wheel bases on the far left) is a children’s area.  I think the old flashcards are super cool.  What an amazing decor item if you are a teacher or just love math.  That wouldn’t be me, but I still think they are cool.

How amazing are these old letters?  The patina on these things make me swoon!  You could use these individually or in a group – either way would be fantastic!

This place was full of old letters!  Tin – check.  On a wooden block – check.  Old colorful plastic – check.  Awesome – check!

If you have been to my house, you might have noticed that I like old globes.  Actually my hubs and I both  like old globes.  My Hubs travels so much for work, I think globes have a lot of meaning for us.  A reminder that the world is not always so big after all.  It also gave me a way to show my kids, when they were little, that Daddy wasn’t too far away.  Not to mention a little geography lesson snuck in.    Check out what they did with these globes … cut off the bottom and made them into lights.  How cool is that?

Here is a picture a little closer up.  This is definitely something that could be done yourself.  Have you seen those plastic lights with colorful cords at IKEA?  I think I am on to something … I will save this idea for a Teach Me Tuesday.

Old shoe molds … who would have thought?  Great patina and shapes.

Just a glass cloche filled with old yarn spools – but isn’t it so interesting and unique?  I love the textures and colors.

Hello  little black and yellow chair with bird cages … come to Mama!  I had a hard time leaving this little chair – thank goodness I had my small car with me.

The store had old suitcases all over the place.  I love a stack of suitcases in a guest room –  used as a nightstand.

More suitcases and on a Kilim rug … really someone is trying to kill me!

Okay … does this remind anyone else of a toy that would be in the bad kid Syd’s room from Toy Story?  Eeeks!

I like seeing different ideas of what to put in vases or in this case old milk pitchers.  It doesn’t always have to be flowers.  You can use branches, twisted wire or in this case just some simple plans rolled up.  I love the color of the paper – looks like old butcher paper.

I have never seen anything like this old coffee/tea pot.  It swings on a stand so you can pour out of it without picking it up.  My girlfriend really liked this and almost bought it.  I am guessing that now that she is seeing it in this picture again she might be having some regrets. It is incredible!

I took a few pictures of these really unique birdhouses.  The roofs are old books.  This one is Edgar Allen Poe, so they put a picture of Edgar on the front of the house with an old fountain pen as the perch.  Super clever!

I love this one with the book To Killing a Mockingbird as the roof and a branch as the perch.

This is the last one with the book Here’s Television and old sitcom stars on the front.  Is this the Cleaver’s or that show with the kid Bud in it?  Hmmm…   Anyway – I really like that they used an old television color tube as the perch.  I  like the old green table it is sitting on as well.

Well that is all I have for the store Branching Out.  Isn’t this a great find?  I could have spent days in here just looking at everything.  The owner changes product constantly so there is always new things to see from what I understand.  I bought myself a ceramic elephant.  I am spray painting it orange because I have been dying for an orange elephant.  You don’t hear that everyday.  I will show you a picture when I finish it.

When I told the lady behind the counter I was spray painting it she almost had a heart attack.   What?  Don’t like orange?  Who are you?

Hope your life is more vintage globe heaven than creepy toy havoc!

Missi

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