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Thrift Finds: Spring 2012

I haven’t posted my thrifted finds for a while so I thought today would be a good day for that :) Since it’s been so long I had to try and remember what I have thrifted since February! I may not have remembered everything but here are a few of my finds as of late…

I love anything white. But I’m sure you already knew that :) So I couldn’t resist this ceramic vase for $1. I love it and I’ve already used it a bunch since I found it. In fact, I have flowers in it right now!

A fun basket I found for 20 cents. Crazy that you can buy anything for 20 cents! I haven’t decided how I’m going to use it yet but I will find a spot for it!

Containers have been easy to find recently I guess since here is another one. I found this for 50 cents. I have an idea for it, I’m just still deciding how to accomplish it. You will have to wait and see!

Another container, another basket. This one is long and I bought it for 50 cents. It will be perfect to use as a french bread basket and since I didn’t have one, when I saw it, I decided I needed it.

Another planter. Yeesh! I guess I do really have gardening on the brain. I have yet to fill this $1.50 pot with anything yet. Currently I have it sitting on the floor inside in my entryway. And I like it there. I just might have to put a plant in it one of these days…

Moving on from containers… although it still is sort of a container :) One of my favorite finds recently. A vintage purse. I love it. Aren’t the colors great?! And for only $2, I knew it had to come home with me.

And lastly, my very favorite find. A mint condition gray army blanket for $6. I have been wanting one for a while. Last year I found the red one, which I was terribly excited about, but what I really wanted was a gray one. And now I have one. I’m super stoked. I wanted it for our bed, to go under the duvet and it fits our bed perfectly. I especially love the U.S. that is on it. Yay for thrift stores!!

I have also found some various clothing items and one day I will have to do a couple outfit posts with my finds. Thrifting is so addicting :)

Hope you all have a very happy Wednesday!!

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Tagged: Thrift Finds

Thrift Finds January – February 2012

I realized that I haven’t posted my thrift finds for quite some time and I sort of have a pile stacking up of treasures that need to be shared with you all! I think part of the fun of thrifting is sharing the good bargains I have found :)

When I was in Oregon I went to a thrift store with my brothers. I had completely forgotten how everything there is so expensive! Thrift stores are usually dirt cheap here and I had grown accustomed to it. No way was I going to spend $20-$30 on a pair of jeans (from a thrift store!) when I can get them for $2-$4 here. Crazy talk! Not only do we have a bunch of really good thrift stores with good prices, we have one in particular that all of the clothes are 50 cents. It’s one of my favorite places to go. So I guess I’m spoiled here. And I’m sorry for all of you who don’t have cheap thrift stores like we do!

I found this vase just the other day for 30 cents. Really? 30 cents?! I loved the color and so it had to come home with me. It will probably end up in the main living area since I seem to have a lot of that color floating around in there.

I love finding frames. And when they have the glass also, a double bonus. This frame and glass was only 50 cents. I’m not into the picture, it will get tossed but I loved the frame. I’m not sure where this little gem will end up yet. And I’m not certain, but it may get a fresh coat of spraint :)

Embroidery hoops. There are always projects that I wish I had embroidery hoops for. And to get 4 of them for 50 cents I figured it was worth it to bring these home with me!

Another vase. I loved the wonkiness of this one. It looks like it was handmade although I’m not sure if that assessment is accurate or not. It was only $1 and it now resides on the shelf in my dining room.

I’m super into brass right now. I knew it would eventually come back in style since all things do, but I remember when I hated brass. Now I look for it! This little brass bow hook was only 75 cents! I don’t know where I will use it yet but it will definitely have a home with me somewhere :)

Right after I found the bow hook, I also found this brass wall hanging at a different thrift shop. They are similar but I still had to have both of them. This one was $2. I might use it in my bedroom. We shall see…

I find lots of good clothes at thrift shops too. I don’t normally post them because sometimes they need to be shown off as an outfit instead of just perched on the table. Maybe I should show them more often. Is anyone interested in seeing the clothes I find? Anyhoo, I found these shoes for $2 and they had hardly been worn. I love it when I find shoes like that :)

I’ve said this before, but fabric is one of my favorite things to find. This is a large piece and it was only $1.25. I have plans for this but you will have to wait and see…

I loved this little brass bookmark when I saw it. Another brass thing, I know, I know… Although finding a W might seem weird (yes, a K or D would have been better!) my Dad’s name is Warren so I figured a W works too :) Plus, it was only a quarter. How could I leave it there?!

I am completely in love with this fabric. It’s actually a jacket but I am going to use it for the fabric and make it into a pillow. It was $4 and worth every penny. It’s really one of my favorite finds as of late.

So now that you have seen my latest finds and know that I am spoiled here in TN for our cheap thrift stores, does anyone else want to share any recent treasures? Do the stores in your area have reasonable prices or are they over priced like Oregon? Do tell!!

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Tagged: Thrift Finds

Laundry Room Sink

One of my favorite things about my new and improved laundry room is my new sink. I am seriously in love with this thing. It is a tank and I can’t wait to put it to work.

You may recall that previously, there was just a little sink in there. Since it’s a small space, I understand why there was just a small sink. But I needed more room. I wanted a sink that I could actually use for more than just washing my hands. One that was deep enough for cleaning out paint trays and buckets and the cat’s litter box. Currently, all of that stuff has to be done in the kitchen sink which in my opinion is not ideal and I have to clean the sink out with bleach just to make sure it is disinfected afterward. How wonderful to have a sink that is meant for dirty jobs!!

I mentioned back in June that I found a sink on the side of the road for free. Oh happy day! I actually found it a couple of years ago and have been storing it in the garage ever since, just waiting for the day that it would end up in the laundry room. Well that day has finally come, it has a new home!

Isn’t it great?! And this thing is a beast. A heavy beast! (You can also see where I stopped painting in this photo!)

We got a new drain and faucet for it. It was quite the process finding the right drain. You can read a little bit about it here.

I wanted a faucet that was taller to make sure I could fit buckets underneath it. Plus, I didn’t want a little dinky faucet because I thought it would look funny with this large sink. But, it already had pre-drilled holes and so I had to find one that would fit. My best bet was a faucet for a bar sink and it worked perfectly! Isn’t the little stopper so cute?!

And lastly, the base. Also back in June I mentioned that we found a table saw attached to this base on the side of the road, again, for free. The table saw didn’t work but we kept the base and I spray painted it matte black and we attached the sink to it. It worked out really great and I love how it looks together! I can’t believe I found two independent things on the side of the road and matched them up to work so well. I was telling my Dad about this and he said, “I feel a blog post coming on.” He was right :)

We still have yet to connect the pipes because we ran out of time before my brother got here but soon it will be a working sink! Now, it just looks pretty :) The ironic thing is that the whole time we have been doing this project we were wishing we had a large sink to clean up all of our messes in. Oh well! We will have one for next time!

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Tagged: DIY, Our House, Thrift Finds

DIY: Painted Guitar

My love for sprainting things stops at nothing :) I recently hung a shelf at church in the entryway. I needed a few things to add to it to fill the space and just this past week I found the perfect item at a thrift store:

It’s a child sized guitar that had seen better days and it was only $15. I knew that it was the perfect item to add to my shelf. Sometime I have a harder time decorating at church because I don’t want it to feel like a home and yet I want it to feel welcoming and somewhat decorated as opposed to blank and boring. So when I found the guitar I was excited. There was only one problem… I didn’t like the color. Plus, it had a really shiny finish that I also didn’t like. And this is where the sprainting part comes in.

I mean really, what does it matter if I paint a $15 guitar? Right? My Mom thought it was a good idea too :)

I used Krylon Camouflage paint in olive green. I really love the color and it came in ultra-flat which is what I wanted.

Just in case anyone wonders, for the shelf, I bought the brackets at Ikea for $4 each and the shelf for $11 at Lowes. The pound sign was from the thrift store along with the National Geographics. The fake plant and the giraffe are from TJ Maxx. I’m really liking how it turned out. I still am planning to hang something on the wall under the shelf and I have a plan but it is still in the works :) It’s coming together though, and looking better all the time!

Have you spray painted anything crazy lately or am I the only one? And a guitar isn’t too crazy, is it?!

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Tagged: Before & After, DIY, Thrift Finds

DIY: Color Block Belt

Awhile ago, I came across a super cool belt that I thought I could diy. So I did :) I can’t find the original image but I think I saw it at Madewell. Basically, the belt was wrapped in different color embroidery floss. Sounds simple right?

First, I had to hunt for a belt. A few weeks ago, I came home with this belt from the thrift store for only a quarter:

I knew I wanted a skinny belt and I wanted it to fit around my waist not my hips. So, it was the right size, color, style and price! Here is the finished product:

First, I chose 4 colors of floss. I started with light pink and wrapped it around the belt once and tied it in the back. Then I just kept wrapping until I had enough light pink. You will want to push the thread together to make it tight as you are going so you don’t see the belt through the thread.

To switch colors, I tied the new color to the old color on the backside in a knot and snipped off the excess of the old color. Then I held down the raw ends on the back so my new color would cover them up as I wrapped the thread around. Here is a shot of the back, you can see all my little knots.

I didn’t want the blocks of color to be all the same length so I varied how much thread I used for each block. I did keep the same color pattern going but you could also mix it up if you wanted.

The above photo shows how I ended it. After I finished wrapping, I tied a knot with the last color and then tucked the knot under the last wrap. I’m sure you could also glue it but knots seemed to work well for me.

And there you have it! My super swanky new belt. I actually found the embroidery floss at the thrift store as well so this whole project only cost 65 cents. Not too shabby. I used the whole skein for all four colors of thread, so, for a larger or longer belt you will probably need more.

Like I said, I have had this project in mind for a while and then just last week I came across this post with the same idea for a bangle. And, I found a headband with the same idea. I also think it would be cute to do the same thing to some purse straps to liven up a boring bag. Oh the possibilities! Even better, it’s a pretty brainless task so you can do it while you are watching T.V.

Enjoy!!

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Tagged: DIY, Thrift Finds