Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Thrifty Thursday: Salt 'n' Pepper Shakers and a Pretty Lamp

Happy Thursday!  

My boys started all of their summer activities this week and for some reason I am exhausted!  They are the ones running around and swimming all day......I'm just the taxi!  But somehow they want to go till midnight, and by 8:00 I am done!  Funny how that is!

But I did manage to get to ONE thrift store this week, and it was GOOD!

Another funny this is the Thrift Store!  I have been searching for a fun set of wooden Salt/Pepper shakers and have had no luck!  But don't worry, this week I found 3 sets....yeah 3! 

At the same Goodwill, on the same day! Isn't that kinda funny?!

Here they are all prettied up:

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all 3 sets, 

but

I am the most excited about these tall ones:

 I used acrylic paint on all 3, but I only used polycrylic on the 2 blue sets.  

On the green set I really liked the matte look so I did without the poly.

 The 2 short sets cost $4 each

Tall set: $6

 I also scored this FABULOUS antique lamp!  Isn't she gorgeous?!  I love her so much because she is peach, which is one of the colors in my piano room!  She came at a price of $7.00!

The shade came from my garage...one that has been unused for quite some time, 

but it worked nicely with her! 

Party Links:

The Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday

The Frugal Girls: Chic and Crafty Party, Love of Family & Home: Inspire Me Please, The Pin Junkie, Remodelaholic, Tater Tots & Jello: Weekend Wrap-Up, Funky Junk Interiors, Its Overflowing, 

Six Sisters Stuff

Waterfall Dresser

I am so excited to tell you about this dresser!  I found her on Craigslist.  The lady was asking $30 for her and the ad said she needed a little TLC....well, just what I like.  So I gave her a call and headed out to pick her up.  It was about a 40 minute drive for me, but I couldn't pass it up for $30!  

This is how she looked:

 She was pretty adorable as is, but the top was stained and discolored.  And I did have to put some muscle into her!  The backside was falling off, and the drawers needed some love!

But back to my story.....when I got to the seller's home,  the lady was SO incredibly sweet, and she just GAVE me the dresser!!!!  That's right my friends! I got her for FREE!  I couldn't believe it, I mean I wasn't even going to haggle with her price!  This made me so happy, and my hubs even happier!

Its pretty hard to see a difference, but this is her after a fresh coat of paint, some sanding, and new hardware:

The hardware was on for about 5 minutes before I took them off again and decided to paint the drawers a different color:

I used Valspar's Polar White for the main part of the dresser, and used Apricot Ice for the drawers.

The hardware is from Hobby Lobby

And here she is, all finished! And for only $14 (for the hardware)!

Party Links:
Domestically Speaking: PoPP, Savvy Southern Style: Wow us Wednesday

Not Just a Housewife: Show me What ya Got, Nap Time Creations
Rain on a Tin Roof: Give me the Goods, The Shabby Creek Cottage: Transformation Thursday
Start at Home: Paint Party, Someday Crafts: Anything Goes, The Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday

Miss Mustard Seed, Remodelaholic, Funky Junk Interiors

4th of July Porch

  How was everyone's Saturday?  I spent the day changing up my porch for the 4th of July...finally!  

I've never been really big on holiday decorations (except Fall and Christmas!)  And even when I manage to put up a few things, its usually only on the porch.  But I tried a little harder this year for the 4th and added more patriotic goodies!

 Since I have to use fake flowers on my porch, one thing I always do for the Holiday/Season changes is change up the flowers.  So I replaced my pink Spring flowers with these pretty red and blue ones 

(from Hobby Lobby and Garden Ridge):

Over Memorial Day Weekend, I went shopping with my sister and her husband's family, and her sweet Mother-in-Law Joyce bought me this Welcome sign!  Isn't it adorable?!  

Then I made 2 wreaths:

This first one cost me about $6

The brown wreath I got at Goodwill, and the wood stars came from Hobby Lobby.  

I just attached them to the wreath with hot glue, and hung it on my post 

(which I will tell you more about later!)

Here is the second wreath:

 I made this one using the same type of wreath and attached hydrangias instead.  Then I looped some burlap ribbon and hung it on my door.

This one cost me about $15

And Finally....I made ANOTHER pallet sign! HA!  They are just too much fun!

And the best part is that it cost me pretty much nothing to make it!  I used my free pallet wood, then used my favorite technique (explained here) for transferring the lettering, then added a few wood stars and burlap ribbon.  I attached it using a wooden stake that I had! 

So here's my porch all finished!  

And of course it's not complete without a little munchkin sitting in the middle, right?!

Party Links:

Craft-O-Maniac: Monday Link Party, Keeping it Simple: Motivate Me Monday,
Skip to my Lou: Made by You Monday, Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Adventures of a DIY Mom: Terrific Tuesdays, A Stroll through Life: Inspire Me Tuesday
A Diamond in the Stuff: Time to Shine, Savvy Southern Style: Wow us Wednesday
Not Just a Housewife: Show me What ya Got, Rain on a Tin Roof: Give me the Goods
DIY Sunday Showcase, Someday Crafts, House of Hepworths: Hookin Up
Gingerly Made: Show & Tell, All Our Days: Finished Friday, The Frugal Girls: Chic and Crafty Party
Be Betsy: Brag About it Tuesday, The Pin Junkie, Tater Tots & Jello: Weekend Wrap-Up,
Love Grows Wild

Thrifty Thursday: Full Lenghth Mirror

I have been dying to get my hands on one of these!  And I finally came across one at Goodwill for a price I was willing to pay.  

$30 bucks!

Here's a side by side Before/After:

It  looks (I mean "looked"!) identical to one I had in my bedroom growing up!  In fact, this is why I have been dying to get one:  I loved it as a teenager! 

 Call me vain, but one thing I always require is a full length mirror!  And the flimsy one from Wal-Mart just wasn't working out....I don't think it liked me! 

Anyways, this guy was pretty dusty, but in near perfect condition!    

He is heading straight to my closet, but I still have to freshen him up with some paint!

I used Valspar's Meadow Breeze, then topped it with Valspar's Antiquing Glaze:

 This is the mirror I had before:

Now it looks like this:

He won't be seen by too many people since its in my closet, but at least he is nice to me and I like to look at him!

Old Desk gets New Life!

As I was browsing Goodwill I came across this Amazing piece!  I'm sure many people passed it by, not knowing what it was.  But the moment I saw her I knew EXACTLY what she was, and I snatched her up and brought her home! 

 Its the top to an old antique secretary desk.  

The poor thing had her legs removed!  So sad! But all of her hardware was intact,

and when I opened her up she was so smooth...almost perfect!  

Her wood was a little beat up, but thats about it!

I paid $15 for her!

But before i could begin transforming her, I had to get her some new legs. She was built with square shaped legs, so I went to Home Depot and picked these up for about $10 each.

I used long screws and large washers to attach them. 

(they fit perfectly where her other legs were removed)

I painted her with my chalk paint in Valspar's Polar White (yes, I use this ALL the time!)

After I sanded her, I thought it would be really fun to add some stenciling to her front.

I got this stencil at Hobby Lobby, but didn't follow the directions! ha

I just taped it on, used a normal foam brush, and dabbed on the paint.  I used acrylic paint (basil green)

After stenciling, I took sandpaper and lightly went over where I had stenciled.

I glazed her after I stenciled so the glaze would go over the stencil too.  I chose Martha's Metallic Glaze for this piece

And here's why:

This particular glaze really "sticks" to the places that have been sanded and darkens them up really good!  Because this piece had a dark finish, and I added light unfinished legs, I wanted to make sure the  piece would look uniform when complete.

 You can see in this picture how the edges of the leg darkened enought to match the original top piece:

 Here she is all finished!

I used her original hardware because I think its beautiful!

Total cost for her: $55

Now I just need to find a spot for her!

Party Links:

Not Just a Housewife: Show Me What Ya Got
Domestically Speaking: PoP Party
Shabby Creek Cottage: Transformation Thursday
Start at Home: Paint Party
Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Feature Friday
Love of Family and Home: Inspire Me Please
The Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday

Funky Junk Interiors: Party Junk

Thrifty Decor Chick

Kitchen Island Update

Happy Monday everyone!  So I finally finished a project that has been in the works for awhile! 

A few months after we moved into our house, I added a few things to the kitchen.  Since then my mom has wanted the same thing in her kitchen, and I'm happy to report that we finished!

I will start with a quick explanation of what we did to OUR kitchen first:

Ok, I added a bead board backsplash.  

Then I liked it so much I wanted bead board on the island:

For the island I used bead board wallpaper, and painted it blue to give my kitchen a pop of color!

Now, on to my parent's kitchen!  

My dad is very conservative and it took me many weeks to finally convince him to let me do what we did!  He didn't want us using an accent color, and he didn't want us to paint ALL the cabinets...just the island.  So we respected his wishes! 

This is what their island looked like before:

First, we added bead board to the sides and back of the island, along with trim around the bottom (there was nothing before....ugly!)  We used the pre-cut packs of bead board from Home Depot.  To put it up, we used small nails, but also liquid nails for extra reinforcement.

Before we painted, I took the cabinet doors and drawer faces off and sanded them down.  I then applied a primer.  I used a semi gloss white latex paint.

Here's the back:

SO pretty, don't you think?!  It definitely brightened up their kitchen!

 Then we moved on to the backsplash.  We also continued it across the wall, and finished with chair rail trim.  We painted it white to match the island, then painted above it with 

Martha Stewart's Spanish Moss

My mom loves it, and even my dad was pleased.....which makes me happy (considering I was the one that pressured him into it! haha)

Party Links:
Remodelaholic
DIY Showoff: That DIY Party

Thrifty Decor Chick