WorldGazing

Staying busy this rainy summer

2009-08-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love those Aha moments when something comes together perfectly. I had one of those just last night. But let me back up a minute...

The other day I was at the thrift store and I kept eyeing this strange child's lamp that is definitely not my style, but I knew it was begging for help. So I asked the lady how much it was and she said $2! Can't beat that, so I grabbed it and it was all mine...for what reason I didn't know.

Coming back to last night, a friend called and said I was invited to a babyshower for a girl I barely know but who LOVES horses. That's when the AHA Moment struck.

I really liked it and thought it was classier than before but my husband said it looks like a poodle. Completely ruined my enthusiasm... oh well. What do you think?
If you are still with me after the poodle/horse experience then I hope you will love these milkglass lamps as much as I do! I found them for 5 dollars each at the thrift store.

Notice the tacky brass and wood!

Ahh so much better. I just used Hammered metal Bronze spraypaint from Wal-Mart.

Here they are in my bedroom. Please excuse the poor lighting. Total these ran me around $50 after the spray paint and lampshades. But I found a comparable lamp on ebay for $80 and that was for ONE! Gotta love the thrift store!

Thanks for looking!!

Check this out
http://asoftplacetoland-kimba.blogspot.com/2009/08/diy-day.html

DIY Day at Kimba's

2009-07-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

It's Diy day over at Kimba's. Go check it out for all the exciting projects! I know I'll be up late tonight checking out whose idea to steal and copy!!

Some of you may remember the $5 dollar yardsale chair I found a few months back. It had pretty bones but needed some kind of POP!

Look at those beautiful spindle legs. I'm in love and for 5 bucks you can't beat it!

So the first thing I did was apply white primer to her. I know, white primer, but it's all I had. I hated it! I was so frustrated that I started scrubbing furiously with sandpaper....lo and behold...this is what you all call "distressing!" I loved it!! The next thing I decided was that I was too lazy to buy material if it was just going to sit on my porch and hold a flower, but with a little more thought, I thought, why not this...make it into its own flower holding thingy migger.

And after 3 months of patient (okay not so patient) waiting, this is what I have now. I think she is beautiful and I can't wait until all the flowers bloom!!! LOVE

One last before and after...

Dresser Drawer Repurpose!

2009-07-08T00:47:00.000-07:00

I saw this wonderful repurposed drawer over at Cottage Charm and Family Inspiration and knew I had the perfect drawer to copy with. Doesn't it look awesome, especially with those beautiful glass knobs. Thank you Clara and Marcela!!

Here is my version...

I love it. I used ABC stickers, primed them and the drawer and spray painted it with Rustoleum Heirloom White. I covered the inside with scrapbooking paper.

This will eventually end up in my son's room because of the alphabet stickers but for now I want to enjoy it! Hope this inspires you as well!

PS I saw the stickers idea on a post where they were placed on a mudroom chair. If anyone knows about that post please let me know and I'll link it to this one. Thank you!

Thursdays are DIY days over at Kimba's. Check it out!

Thrify fun and fun projects

2009-06-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

Once again it's time for some thrifty fun over at Rhonda's place. This week I have been on a strict strict budget and only had 1 DOLLAR!

I told my hubby I was going to see how many things I could get for 10 cents!!

ha ha :0)

He really does think I'm obsessed.

Well anyways, around 1130 am (WAY TOO LATE FOR YARDSALE-ING) I got together with my dear friend for lunch and as soon as I hopped in her car, she threw the yard sale list and said which one?!

So me and my dollar said "okay!"

I never thoughts we'd find anything

but I found this.... for $5

(on loan from my dear friend) until I get paid this week...anyways...

I COULD NOT believe this little beauty hadn't been sold. But the lady wanted $8 (a bit much) so I think people were not willing to pay for it. Anyways, I snapped it up, then waved a 5 dollar bill at her and she snapped IT up! :-0) Now it fits perfectly on my little shelf.

Oh and I have to show off my thrift store find from Wednesday!

I brought this home and told my husband I had gotten it for him and acted really offended when he didn't like it.
In reality I had gotten it for him, but with, obvious, other purposes in mind.

Anyways those didn't pan out so I turned it into this...

a silhoutte of my son. I kinda like it!

Surprises in the Mail

2009-06-25T23:29:00.000-07:00

My aunt Phoebe is near and dear to me and today she sent me a wonderful box full whimsical lovely birds.

I love birds!!

Enjoy the pics. of my newest additions!

My lovely bird atop a shelf I'm not sure I love....hummm

Should the owl go here...

or here...?

(ok, I just wanted to show off my awesome vintage "coool it" fan)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Party Time with Red, White + Blue

2009-06-25T17:52:00.001-07:00

Etsy Cottage Style is having a fun party to highlight what all you bloggers have been working on. So go join the fun if you have something you'd like to share!

I'm going to share my version of our dear ol' flag. I was inspired by this blog post.

I really wanted some cute flags for my flower pots but didn't have any but I did have scrape material. These are so easy to make and I think pretty cute! Hope you like them!!

Yard Sale Finds Party at Southern Hospitality

2009-06-22T00:28:00.001-07:00

Rhonda is having her weekly yard sale party at Southern hospitality and she has great taste. Be sure to visit her, if you haven't done so before.

This week was a bit lacking in the "GREAT" yard sales but I still managed to find some keepers. First up is a hobnail lamp that had a much too large shade that WOULDN'T come off!!! ugggghhh. So, frustrated as I was...I took my straight edge and just cut some of that sucker off! So then I needed to hide the ragged edges... What do you think? I think it turned out pretty darn cute!!

Next up is a wreath and letter that I found at the Salvation Army. I have been on the look out for either a wooden letter "W" or a metal one. The walmart in our town quit selling the large wooden letters, so I squeaked with delight when I saw this at the thrift store. I just spraypainted the "W" with my handy dandy hammered metal bronze spray paint and glued on some ribbon. LOVE IT!!
75 cents total can't beat it!

And last but certainly not least is my FAVORITE find of the day!! Two cute cute cute cream pitchers ($1 each). I love to use them to serve salad dressings in for a nice dinner. Also they would be so cute with flowers in them and placed at each dinner plate! Cant wait to try it! Oh and the ribbon cake stand ($5).

A Perfectionist...Who Me....??

2009-06-17T22:33:00.001-07:00

A few months ago, the hotel on base decided to purge themselves of this terrible 80's furniture. I'm sure the guests were all relieved! Anyways, this is how this oh so comfy yet UGLY chair came to be a part of our family.

Let me tell you, I spent many a sleepless nights thinking about how to live with this thing.
I thought about spray painting it, yes spray paint. There is fabric paint but it has to be in the 70's for drying purposes...so that eliminate me. (I live in Alaska).

Then I thought I'll slipcover it... oh my...to many choices. So I decided to GO FOR IT. I took a crow bar and ripped the wood off...only to discover had I cut off the fabric first I would have seen the screws...oh well!

Then I cut off the fabric, traced it onto my canvas and brought out the staple gun!

Wait for it...

It was a lot of work and is still not finished completely but I am much much happier with it!!

(Sorry for the terrible photography..oh and I re-applied the wood with Gorilla Glue. That stuff is truely amazing).

Check out the fun party at http://sanctuaryart.blogspot.com/2009/06/welcome-to-make-over-open-house.html

Before and After Yard Sale Chair

2009-05-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I LOVE the tables that I have redone and I would never be able to find them in any catalog or department store. So when I get completely overwhelmed with my "re-doing," I stop and think about how much I love them.

Yesterday, I found this little gem. When I saw it sitting there, my heart gave a little "flip flop" and I knew it was mine. I had 20 dollars left in my pocket and was prepared to give it away for this... But I collected myself and said "how much do you want for this," and he said "1 dollar!!!!!!!!" I practically fell over.

It doesn't look like much but it was awesome details. Notice the beautiful scrolled legs and hardware. Someday this table will be proudly displayed...after I figure out what to paint it.

Any ideas?!

But after I got over the shock of paying 1 dollar for the table. I found this chair for $5 and liked the details on the back and decided it would be easy to re-upholster.

When I got home I promptly went to sanding, crackle painting and then applied the top white coat. Well the crackle paint didn't take and so I HATED IT. I started sanding it down like the frustrated woman I was...when I discovered "ohhh I like the effect of the white sanded off and so this is what I ended up with...

My husband and I are still not sure we LOVE it and it needs the seat redone but we'll live with it for awhile anyways.

Have fun re-doing all your yardsale finds!
Go here to be apart of the thirfty finds part at southern hospitality.

10 Minutes of Motivation

2009-05-15T16:43:00.001-07:00

So I decided to do a little experiment last night. I was looking at my horribly messy kitchen (that had been clean but isn't it amazing how dinner can destroy that) and thought "I could walk away" or "I could just dive in, it won't take that long." So I dove in and it took me a mere 10 minutes to go from this...

to this...

I hope this inspires you to dive right in whenever the task looks overwhelming!

Then today I was inspired by this inspired room.

Look at this corner of my laundry room... what an embarrassment~

So I decided to do something about it (with my little helper, of course)

And the finishing results!

It's important to feel happy in a space, especially as stay-at-home mommas. I love this and it makes me happy to do laundry in here!

2009-05-15T00:19:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to join this party! Recently I realized I love wimsical details in my home (mostly birds).

Here are a few of my favorite things...

The new slightly hawaiian looking throw pillows I made. The are currently being quilted and I can not wait to get them back on my couch!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these little birds! I found them on Ebay and love the way they look as my drawer pulls!

This abstract thing is a corner cornice (is that what it's called) love it but hate the paint job, so I couldn't show it it's full glory.

I just found this bird postcard on Etsy at simplykumquat.

It makes me happy everytime I see it!

Frugal Fashion Show

2009-05-14T22:31:00.000-07:00

Over at Jen's blog http://www.inpassionatepursuit.com/ she is having a yard sale fashion show! This fashion show is actually what inspired me to start blogging, as I had some outfits I just had to share!

Here is my contribution to the show:

Ok so I take terrible photographs but you get the main idea :-)

In the first photo I have on a button down from Banana Republic $1

and Tommy Hilfiger jeans for $4!! I couldn't believe when I saw them.

In the second picture I have on my favorite new sweater from Old Navy that I picked up for $2! and the same Tommy jeans.

It will be fun to link this to Jen's site as she doesn't know who I am or that I read her blog. But Jen thank you for being such an inspiration!

Chalkboard Worries

2009-05-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share my trials and triumps of my chalkboard project. Several months ago I found a piece of glass for $2 at the trift store. I had NO idea what to do with it so it was shoved under my bed for weeks. Then I decided CHALKBOARD PAINT! Love it!

Then I decided it needed a frame. NOT loving it!

This is where my trials began. First I bought a piece of wall molding and had a friend cut it for me. We nailed and glued the edges and this is where I say: DO NOT use molding to make a frame unless it's real wood. The pressed wood splintered and we had to glue it and oh what a MESS.

But I preservered.

I wood glued pieces of wood to the back of the frame and tapped in nails to support the glass. (Still hoping this doesn't fall apart!)

Then I painted the frame a dark brown. UGLY!! So I bought CRACKLE PAINT! This stuff is amazing. I got it on ebay for 10 dollars and you paint it on over a base color then 2 hours later I painted on my top color. It crackled right up and now my frame looks antique. But I DO NOT like the green color. What do you all think? Should I sand it off and repaint a different color?

Recycle Those Yard Sale Finds

2009-05-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

One of the things about myself that bugs me is that I don't fall on the "average" size. Therefore finding cool clothes at yard sales is close to impossible. I know of you ladies have the same frustrations. So I decided to share my solution to this problem.

SNAP up those cool clothes anyways!

1. Someone is going to buy them and it might as well be you.

2. Sell sell sell. If they are truely cool (aka name brand) you will always find someone willing to buy them on either Ebay or at your local consignment store.

I usually choose to go with my favorite consignment store where I don't have to photograph and write descriptions for each article of clothing.

Here are some tips on how to find piece that will sell and how to make $$ on them!

1.Be sure when you purchase them from the yard sale that you are not paying more than you can get on Ebay or at the consignment store.

For example: The other day I found an awesome BRAND NEW pair of American Eagle jeans. The price tag said $10 but I new the consigment store would probably only sell them for around $15. My cut of that would be $7.50, so I lose out. I bargained with the yard sale ladies and got the jeans for $5!! $2.50 may not seem like a lot of profit, but it adds up!

2. Make sure the clothing doesn't have any stains or tears and is not to faded. Look CLOSELY for these things. Sometimes they can be hard to spot.

3. Make sure to IRON everything!

4. Always look for baby clothing in NICE condition and from name brand stores like Osh Kosh, Children's Place, Gymboree etc. They are usually cheap at yard sales and if they are in great conditon, people at consignment stores will pay good money for them. Why? Because they are still cheaper than in-store.

For example: My friend was moving and was selling LOADS of brand new baby clothes. I gave her $20 for a box full of them and sent them to the consignment store. I made around $100 dollars just off that $20!!

5. Its been my observation that people love baby clothing but if you find great brands in adult sizes they will sell well too! Look for brands such as: American Eagle, Gap, Ann Taylor, Aborcrombie and so on.

Here is a picture of some of the clothing that I plan to take to the consignment store very soon!

(notice I haven't ironed yet ;-) )

Liz Clairborn brown pants $3

American Eagle button down $2

Old Navy button down $2

Gap hat and gloves

Ralph Lauren hat and gloves

Good Luck with your shopping and recycling!!

WooHoo My First Official Post

2009-05-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

Some of you expert bloggers will probably quickly recognize that I have no clue what I'm doing on here. But I wanted a place to share my projects and our travels. Currently we are severly lacking in the travel department but I LOVE to travel and one day I'll get back to it.

Right now I have no idea what to post for my first post so I think I will get on the bandwagon over at www.inpassionatepursuit.blogspot.com Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Jen is so great at finding fashion at yard sales and Friday the 15th she is a having a Frugal Fashionista Fashion Show. I mostly signed up for a blog so I could be a part of this! (ps she has no idea who I am or that I even read her blog, so this should be fun!)

Here is the outfit I will be showing off:

The picture leaves a little to be desired, but you all get the general idea. I am wearing Tommy jeans found for $4! Yes, Tommy doesn't have to equal $$$$.

The black button down is Banana Republic and I think I paid about $2 at a thrift store! WooHoo

My husband took the picture and actually chuckled when I told him it was for a yard sale fashion show. Men...

I guess that is it for now. Come back often. I'll try to post something new every few days!

Ps thanks for being such an inspiration Jen. I heard of your blog through OUAF.