Thrift Store Finds - 8-2-13

I found some great things at Second Life Thrift Store this past Friday, and here they are!

This frame is one I happen to plan on using to frame a piece of art my daughter made, but it is so elegant, it could be used as a simple wall hanging on its own (like in my entry that I posted about a couple months ago). I love gold so much lately, and this has those simple, yet beautiful, designs in the corners, making it perfectly understated and ideal as an accent piece.

If you do plan on using something like this as a frame, as I do, you could go the cheap route and post the canvas in yourself, or you could take it to a professional framer. Yes, those places can be expensive, but the biggest expense is always the frame, and you've got that covered!

This one cost $2.50.

Ok, so a friend of mine from high school (sister of my friends, but same thing, basically) was telling me about an idea she had to make a tray she was given into a picture frame using Mod Podge. Genius! When she finishes, I'll be featuring it in a post, but in the mean time, I thought I'd give it a try.

This small golden tray cost $1.50.

Now, this guy.... I love him. He was in the toy section, but he should have been with home décor. Not a big deal - I got him cheaper as a toy! He is handmade, and I think he's adorable. I thought about painting him, but I don't think I will. The dark wood on it is actually in almost perfect shape, and besides, someone spent a lot of time putting this together. I figure he should be honored as he is.
He only cost $1.50!
So these were my finds. Perhaps you would do something very specific with them if you had them to yourself. Feel free to share what that might be!
Happy thrifting!

Dollar Store Decor

There are all kinds of reasons I don't buy expensive things. Mostly, I can't afford all the designer décor pieces I love, but who can? Of course there's also the fact that I have two small children and two cats who like to break things. So I've had to become creative when it comes to decorating my home.
I guess that's the whole point of this blog.
When I'm not at the thrift stores, I also love the dollar store. Yes, I'm super cheap. Tell me something I don't know. They actually have some really cute stuff that I use around my house, and if it breaks, what's the most I'm out? A couple bucks?
Here are a couple examples of some dollar store décor I worked on today:

First of all, remember that road flare I fixed up? Remember how I said it would be cool as a vase? Well, I bought some dollar store flowers.
Now, I know fake flowers are a big no-no in professional decorating, but in a house with cats and kids and when I need something cute and small to tuck in the corner of a shelf, I think it's ok.
Anyway, I picked some white flowers that I thought were just adorable, and I trimmed down the stems and tucked them in the "vase." Here's how it looks:

Cute, yes?

And just for fun, I paired the little ensemble with a road marker I picked up at a rummage sale a week ago for $.50, but I'll have a post on that later.

 

So, then I grabbed a few things from the craft aisle. And the craft aisle at the dollar store is awesome, by the way.

I grabbed 3 bags of decorative green stones, three clear vases of varying sizes, and a box of small votive candles. At one dollar an item, that's a total of $7, plus tax of course.

 

I split one bag of stones between the two smaller vases, then poured the other two bags into the tall one, then placed a candle in each.

 

 No, it's not museum art, but if my kids or cats break these vases, I'll feel a lot better about that than I did when they broke my designer Mercury glasses last month.

I won't go there.

So there's my dollar store décor. I hope this inspires you to check out your local Dollar Tree (or whatever you have near you) and look for cheap ideas that still add a special touch to your home!

Happy thrifting!

On the Road Again...

A couple months ago when I came back from vacation, I shared some finds with you that were form the peddler's Malls and flea markets in Kentucky. Among those items was this little guy:

He's an antique road flare. I knew when I saw him that he was absolutely perfect and he had to come home.

P.S. I felt like I had to give him a trucker's name, like Big Joe or Bubba or something. SO yea, I went with Bubba.

 Anyway, Bubba needed some work, and today I finally got the chance to give him some much-needed attention.

 The first thing I did was I took him apart. The top unscrews easily, then the wick cover inside, and then I pulled out the wick and threw it away. It is still full of whatever fuel was used to light it, and I thought maybe it was a good idea to, you know, get rid of all the stuff that could blow up in this very combustible home I live in.

Yes, that's my sink.

After all the parts were removed, I sanded off all that greasy, grimey gunk and rust that made it look kinda... well... crappy. What a difference it made!

 

Then, I cleaned it. Since there is some gunky residue, I used soap specifically designed to remove grease, and though I didn't use a Brillo pad, it might have been a good idea. But hindsight is always 20/20, right?
Lastly, I painted it. It would be fun to paint it a really unexpected color like a deep purple or hot pink or neon green, but for the theme I'm working on right now with some of the stuff I'm doing, I just repainted the original red.

Wouldn't this be amazing as a vase? I just love mixing the industrial, rough-and-tough elements with something as soft as a bunch of lilacs or daisies.

Another great idea would be to convert it into a lamp, using a very inexpensive and easy-to-find lamp kit from a hardware store.

Personally, this one I like just as is for now. I really am digging this whole industrial thing lately, and I love it. But I think I'm going to buy more and experiment.

If this is a project you're interested in trying, these are incredibly easy to find online on sites like ebay, where you can get a whole box of them for around $10-$20. Imagine the profit if you fixed up a whole box of these and sold them!

So that was today's project. It was super easy, a lot of fun, and most importantly, incredibly inexpensive.

Happy thrifting!

Get Inspired

Do you ever bring home that gorgeous piece you know has so much potential, but once you want to work on it, you're like... um... now what?
I have those moments almost every time.
Lately, I've been bringing home more and more things, finding things in my home to redo, and getting spray paint galore from ReStore or the hardware store clearance paint section. But still I get home, and I look at my project, and then I look at my paint, and I'm just stumped.
The day I discovered Pinterest, my life became complete. You know, besides the days I had my kids or got married, it was pretty much the most amazing day. Ok, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration. But seriously. It was an awesome day.
Finding inspiration on Pinterest, blogs, and even just Google searches has given me the ideas for some of my favorite projects. And in case you're not on Pinterest, I'm telling you you need to be.
I leave you now with some of my inspirations and the end results. I always put my own twist, never copying exactly. What fun would that be?

Hope you've been inspired.
It's so easy! Go for it!

Owl love you forever...

I love owls. Not necessarily the living, breathing, creepy kind (all though they're ok, I guess), but when incorporated into home décor, I just can't get enough of them. Maybe it's the whole vintage vibe, or maybe it's that they have those whimsically huge eyes, or the fact that they can go with any theme... I don't know. But I love them.
I also love painting. I suppose I might have mentioned this before (wink, wink) but it's true. And when I combined my loves, the result was just... owlsome? Sorry... trying to think of a pun. They were a hoot! That's one's better.
Anyway...
I have been collecting owl figurines and wall hangings since high school. Since then, some have broken, some have been lost in moves, but some, a very fortunate few, have stayed with me. Most of them are gifts, but some I have bought ridiculously cheap at thrift stores.
I don't like to alter gifts. Unless I absolutely have to, or the person who gives it to me tells me they want me to, I don't change the condition I received them in.
But when it comes to the items I bought, anything goes.
I love to shop for paint. Ever since I discovered ReStore, I am there every payday, and sometimes even more regularly, just stocking up on paint, mostly spray paint. And this weekend, I decided it was time. I was going to paint some owls.
Sounds like a euphemism...
Anyway, these are a few guys I've had in my collection over the years. Well, actually this is only two of them. There is a third, but I failed to take a before picture.

Excuse my foot. And the sideways picture. I don't know why it's still sideways even thought I changed it... hmmmm....

So I thought I would look up some trends in home décor, since these guys are gonna be in my shop I'm opening in the future (I think it'll still be a few months - getting a inventory together first). Here's how they looked after a coat of primer and a couple coats of spray paint:

 

Again with the sideways picture... odd.
So these are instantly a great way to add a pop of color to any room. I think they'd be especially great for a nursery or an enclosed porch. Just my opinion, though.
I hope this gives you just a bit of inspiration as to a simple way to fix up items you already have or that can be easily found at thrift stores. I don't think any of those owls cost me more than $2, and that's guessing high.
Happy thrifting!

A walk on the wild side

The other day, bored with my situation and desperate for a furniture piece to redo, I was ecstatic to find a slate-top end table for $6 online.
The picture appeared to show a quaint little table with wood that needed a little help (no problem - that's kinda what I do) and doors in front, showing potential for plenty of storage. For $6, yes. Yes, I would take it.
When we got to the apartment of the woman selling it, it ended up being much bigger than it seemed in the photos. It was a little over 2 feet tall and about 2-1/2 feet on each side. Also, I had no idea how heavy slate was! So, I borrowed my brother's truck and came back for it the next day. I was not gonna let this baby go.
So there she was, sitting on my porch, looking at the duck pond behind our house and watching the ducks. And I was watching her. She was so pretty, or at least she would be when I got done with her.
I knew I wanted to work with a new color, so I chose a magenta-ish color from the ReStore paint aisle. Once I applied it, I fell in love with the color.
I removed the doors, not only because it makes painting around them easier, but because I had bought a can of white spray paint I fully intended to use on them. I also removed the hardware, hoping to give that a fresh look as well.

I applied the first coats of paint (it eventually ended up taking 4 coats, plus touch-ups).

 

As far as the top went, I would have used the slate it came with as it was, but it had been discolored. So I painted it. After looking for inspiration, I thought I would try a pattern. Zebra seemed to be the most appealing one.

After applying the tape, I spray-painted white, then after removing the tape, painted stripes the same color as the wood. If I'd had black paint on hand, I probably would have used that, but no regrets.

Finally, I painted the doors white, and I painted the hardware silver.
Behold, the finished product!

I love her! She will be my coffee table for now, but I'm thinking I might start selling soon, and I may just start with her. Not sure yet!
So, this is my most recent project. I look forward to more!
Happy thrifting!

How exactly does one get coffee stains on a lamp shade?

No idea. But it happened to me.
A couple years ago, I got these really cute lamps at Marshall's for $20. For me, it was a bit of a splurge, but I fell immediately in love and brought them home. It was my reward for keeping my Christmas shopping well under budget.
They have been sitting dutifully atop our bedside tables for almost 2 years now, and they have served their purpose well. They still make me happy, and I still think they are just absolutely stunning. But several months ago I noticed that one of them had a stain on it. I can only assume it's coffee, or else it is pop, but whatever it was I knew I had to get rid of it.

So I thought to myself, "Great. I have to buy a new lamp shade." Actually, I thought I should probably buy 2, since they were matching lamps. I am not someone who think if you have a set of lamps that they all have to look alike - I myself have a pair of stainless steel lamps in my living room that have slight differences (pictured on this blog in an early post). But these were clearly a set, and I wanted them to match.
So, look I did. I went to all the stores, even new ones, and everything was either way too expensive or just didn't go with the style of the lamp. Then someone suggested buying fabric flowers and covering the spot by hot-gluing them over the spot. A great idea, but as you can see, the stain was pretty much almost half the lampshade.
So I decided to use fabric paint.
Fabric paint is incredibly fun and easy if you do it right. Especially with lamp shades, the proper strokes and amount must be applied, since the light shining through will expose any mistakes. I found a mustard yellow color of fabric paint on sale at Wal-Mart for $2.50. When I applied it, I knew it was the best choice. I loved the color!

Please excuse the cluttered workspace.
The process does take time, and for this kind of job, I needed to apply 3 coats, plus touch-ups in any patches I missed or somehow painted lighter than others. It is also washable after 72 hours.

Voila! Lamp perfection!
Be crafty, think outside the box, and remember that sometimes you can be thrifty by choosing to put a little elbow grease into a project rather than spending money to fix it. Based on the average prices for lampshades, I figure I easily saved about $50 by doing this project myself.
Thrifting is more than thrift stores. Being crafty can greatly reduce the amount of money you spend on things like home décor and even your wardrobe. I plan on learning how to sew so that I can make some clothes for myself!
Happy thrifting, and happy crafting!