Thrifting around my Home

I've been doing some work on my blog and so I have to go back and look at it a lot. And I was pretty sick of looking at that big red fish monstrosity from my last post!

So I thought I'd show a few things around my house that I've found while thrifting. I love thrifting. It's like therapy to me. I can spend a little time and find something that's unique and usually doesn't cost very much. The danger is doing it too much and ending up with a lot of junk that you don't need, or bringing home stuff that really belongs in the trash. But so far, no one has told me my stuff is really ugly. What do YOU think?

Almost everything in this cabinet came from a thrift store. And I was happy to find the coffee filter wreath. I added my own burlap bow. I think I might try to add some more filters to make it fuller. These are pottery barn metal baskets. One was already white, the other I spray painted white to match. The basket and flowers are thrift store finds on two separate occasions. I thought they might like to be together.

I'm not sure what this rusty looking piece is but I love it.
  

The chicken came from a yard sale and the wooden stool and gold frame are thrift store finds.



this chunky family picture frame is kind of different, it commands attention.



This basket sits on top of my kitchen cabinets and I love it's texture and leather handles.

Thrifting is a great hobby for me, just like blogging and decorating my home.

Have a wonderful weekend!

A Rescued Canvas

I found this canvas at Goodwill.  What the fish? This thing is large and in charge!

But the price tag just couldn't be beat.  Yes please.

I didn't know what I wanted to do with it when I bought it but knew something could be made of it.
So today I decided to just do something  with it instead of let it sit in my "I'll get to you someday stash".  First thing was to paint over it and get it back to white again, like nature intended it to be.
Then I got out my letter stencils that I've never used.  If I had a vinyl cutting machine I wouldn't even be talking about stencils right now, but I don't.  So I am.

I mixed up some brown and black craft paint together and just applied with a foam brush.  Again, not really knowing what I wanted but just making it up as I went along.

I did know what quote I wanted.  So I just made me some lines with a straight edge and planned out where the letters should go.  I like how it looked, but it was too white.  So I added a little water to the paint and did a wash over the whole thing when the letters were dry.

And wiped it off with a paper towel.  .

 

The canvas naturally took the paint more saturated in some areas than others.  I like it that way, it gives it a more aged look.

And here is the finished canvas.

It fills the space on this wall in my bedroom.

One ghastly goodwill canvas rescued.

Fabulously Creative Friday

Feathered Nest Friday

Treasure Hunting

 I love a good yard sale.  Sometimes you don't find anything and sometimes you strike gold.  I struck gold.   This may look like junk to alot of people, but not to me.  It used to look like junk but my Mom has changed the way I look at things.  This scale was $9.  I've seen alot of old scales in antique stores and boutiques.  All of them at least $45 or more.  Look at it's rusty goodness!

This old sconce is just lovely.  Old silver, glass and crystals. * Sigh.*

This is an old eyeglass display case.  The man gave it to me for $3 and said he hopes I'll enjoy it at much as he thinks I will.  I guess my excitement wasn't contained very well.

I have plans for these ice skates.  These $3 cuties are going to look lovely on my porch next Christmas tied to an old sled that I haven't bought yet.

My daughter Emily is a good luck charm.  She always finds the best yard sales and spotted alot of these things for me.  I think we make a good team.

Gray wash tables

I saw a gray wash table at Marshall's while shopping with my seester and my mother.  It was lovely, the price tag wasn't.  The lamps were lovely too.  With the gift card my mother gave me, the price for the lamps was lovley.  I bought them.
I saw two small tables at D.I. while shopping with said seester and mother.  The price tag was lovely.  $15 each. The tables, not so lovely.  But I knew I could make them into the Marshall's gray wash tables of my dreams.  So I did.  Here is what they looked like in their before state of sadness.  Where's the table? I can't see it because it blends in with the floor.

I lightly sanded the whole thing.

I very unmathmatically mixed up some paint I had with some water.  I wiped it on with cheese cloth and wiped it off again.  I repeated this process until I achieved the look I was going for. And in the meantime gave myself a very gray manicure.

Here are the finished $15 looks very expensive but aren't tables.  And my lovley lamps.
Love.
It's soft, subtle and the wood tone still shows through but it's much more interesting now.

I love how they look different colors in different light.
This little makeover is a success!

A thrifty sweater

I found a sweater at Savers the other day on their 50% off day marked $2.99.  So that made it about $1.50.  I washed it first and then I cut the arms off and cut the neck so it was straight.  Then I put one of my pillows that came with my sofas inside.  I didn't sew.  I glued.  Yes, my glue gun again to the rescue.  It's now a soft and warm and cozy pillow. 

And with the arms I made some sweater roses to dress up some plain pillows.

Not bad for $1.50.  Do you have an old sweater in the back of your closet?  Give it a new purpose.

yard sale find

The girls and I went to a community yard sale on Saturday.  That's what I'm talking about, two or three sales on every street!!  I spotted this little beauty just sitting on the sidewalk.  There was nothing wrong with is except it's oak color (you know how I feel about oak) and a thin layer of cat hair.

A little cleaning and painting fixed her up like new.  I don't know the first thing about reupholstering so the coral velvet fabric stays.  It gives my room a pop of color that I like.

You can't really tell from the photos, but I painted it a light gray.  No distressing yet.  We'll see.
  It was a good find:)

A little help here

I found these old lockers at a yard sale this morning.  This woman had so much stuff I could have bought it all.  Old stuff that her mother in law had been collecting for years.  Old birdcages, an old cabinet to display dishes, vintage retro looking lawn chairs and lots more.  But I kind of like to be married, and if I'd bought more that these lockers, I probably wouldn't be much longer.

So here's my question for all of you:  Do I leave them as they are in their faded, rusted old paint state.  Or do I make them fresh looking with a new coat of paint.  I know.  It probably depends on what I'm going to use them for.  And I don't know yet.  Maybe that depends on if I leave them or paint them.  You see the dilema??

This is to show you the size of these things. And the lockers are deep!  I just love them for some reason.

So what's your vote?

Some good finds

Emily is turning out to be alot like me in some ways.  She loves to decorate and thinks about ways to use things for decorating.  She's also got an eye for good finds.  Last weekend she came home with this old door she found on the side of the road in our neighborhood.  She knew I would like it.  She was right!

It just needed to be cleaned up a little and I took the hinges off because they weren't old enough looking.  But it's chippiness makes me happy.

And I found this white wire basket and vase of flowers at Savers last week.  I like the look they all make together.

FREE + CHEAP = HAPPY