Rainy day: thrift store finds and a trip to Michaels

Well I went to Lowes today and got a ton of fun new things to DIY with...and it began to rain. 

So today's post will be about free acquired decor, the awesome things I found recently at my favorite thrift store, and deals you don't want to miss at Michaels. 

The first addition to our house are these postcards of Moscow from 1966. Sidekick's dad's family spent some time there and we were given these as a gift! I put them in a distressed frame 

I had hanging around the house and they look great! 

Next are these frames from the thrift store! They had pictures in them and one was $10 and the other was $20. I bartered the $20 down to $10 so I snagged them both for $20 total! I have too many ideas of what to put in them. Old maps or typography on Etsy are on the top of my list. 

This was also found at the thrift store. It's nothing vintage or super unique, but it was from Homegoods originally and only $3! I couldn't resist because it is a PERFECT match for my bathroom. 

I was so inspired by my new art that I move my silver 3 tier rack 

from the closet to the bathroom, and accessorized from the rest of the house! 

Good thing Michaels had candles for $1.29!! 

I stocked up on late summer, early fall scents. 

This find is a mix of Michaels and the thrift store. I always look up the artist when I see artwork at thrift stores. This artist does pictures of the Outer Banks! We love going there for our yearly vacation, so this was perfect for $15 in the master. 

The frame is from Michaels and was 40% off. Love saving!

Here are my finds at Michaels. A super cute birdcage and a white ceramic decor piece. I wish my iPhone captured these better, but filters will have to do for now! Both were under $6 each. 

Happy Finding!
-C

New look!

Thanks to The Cutest Blog On The Block I now have a new look. I am sure I will change this a few times before I am satisfied! It was so easy to follow the directions on their website :) 

Next up, make a signature....so far I have this: 

........It's a work in progress for sure!!!

Happy Finding

-C

Chairs, chairs, chairs

At my new favorite thrift shop, they sell chairs for $6.99!! I have not left without a chair yet...oops :) 

The first one was a light oak color. Again, I do need to remember to take before pictures!

First I gave it a light sand, it was pretty clean and smooth. Then I sprayed Rust-Oleum's primer to see how it covered the light oak color. It took about 2 coats to cover everything.

Then I sprayed it with Rust-Oleum's Stone Gray. It goes on a little lighter, so wait for it to dry between coats to get a feel for the true color. 

It goes on looking a little lighter, so wait until it dries to see the final color.

I displayed it at the yard sale and got a little interest in it! 

For now, it's sitting in a corner of the dining room. I may try to antique it a little, thoughts? 

Happy Finding!

-C

Milk Glasses

Thanks for Ruffled's post about spray painting milk glasses! I was so excited to try it. At the same great thrift store I got the books from, I bought a few clear glass vases from $0.99 to $1.49 each. (Still working #iphoneonly. Sidekick did not cross off everything on his vacation to-do list)

The steps were very clear on Ruffled's blog. I used Rust-Oleum's paint and primer in one in Gloss White. I do suggest waiting longer than the can says. It took a while for the paint to dry on the glass. On Ruffled's blog, they say to spray at a distance so there would be no drips- which is an important tip!

I sprayed the smooth one first because I was scared of the patterns! It turned out perfectly and I instantly wanted to keep it and change the whole look of our front hallway (of course!). 

I started with the vase turned upside down, and gave it at least 4 coats total. 

                              The patterned ones weren't so scary!

 

Here is the new front hallway. I am sure the cats will knock it over if I put flowers or any sort of modern looking grass in the vase, so I opted for the minimalist look. 

After I became comfortable with painting the glasses, I went to town with the others I bought. 

I think they looked great at my table at the local flea. Not a lot of interested buyers, but I better sell some quick before I think of a creative way to use them all in the house! 

Happy finding!

-C

Book Jackets Be Gone!

After teaching 6 and 7 year olds, anyone needs a little retail therapy! I decided to hit up one of the great thrift shops in the area. It's a huge space, and it can be hit or miss like any other finding adventure. 

This particular day was a HIT like no other!! I found lots of new projects that I cannot wait to share. 

Our camera is broken :( 

(Sidekick has this on his "Things To Do For Girlfriend While On Vacation" list) 

so these pictures are all #iphoneonly #lotsoffilteringneeded

My DIY for today didn't require me to do anything but peak under the book jackets 

of lots of books in the Home and Garden, Travel, and Cat sections.  

Here they are in all of their 80s, 90s, and 00s (?) glory. The book that caught my eye was, of course, Gardening by Martha Stewart. She is about 30 in the picture on the front, which made me smile. 

She was on NBC's Hollywood Game Night the other night and seeing her trying to guess the da da da's of Matthew Morrison gave me a whole new respect for her. 

For some reason I took off the book jacket, got inspired and began digging.

My sidekick and I love cats, so I found this great one about lions, cheetahs, etc. I loved the pictures in the Ethan Allen book, although it was one given to clients from an interior designer at Ethan Allen, so it's not a classic like Martha's books, but the color was perfect for our den.

The others were put around the house and already I want to move them around. I never go through this section of books at the thrift store, so this opens up a whole new obsession!

 

The Home Rules by Nate Berkus book looks really cool without the book jacket.....

.......but he's extremely attractive. 

Happy Finding!

-C

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Happy Finding!

-C

Four Dollar Folk Art

My favorite yard sale-ing friend and I went for a marathon find on Saturday! I found three great Sandi Wickersham Resnick prints for four dollars each. The frames didn't go with my personal taste, but they had been professionally framed, so I decided to paint them.

This is a picture of the picture at the yard sale. The harbor scene reminds me of home in Massachusetts!

I used plastic grocery bags and Frog Tape to prep so there wouldn't be any paint on the glass. I wasn't too careful because I knew I could scrape the paint off in the end. I used primer first then regular black spray paint. I only used one coat of primer and 2-3 coats of black.

It turned out looking more modern and fit the personality of our house. Off to do the next two!

 Happy Finding!

-C

Honeydew Two-Tier Metal Rack

New project!! I got so excited to paint it that I forgot to take a before picture. 

It was an oil rubbed bronze freebie from a friend who did not want it anymore.

I used two coats of Rust-Oleum's 2X Ultra Cover Spray Primer. Then I sprayed 2 coats of Krylon's Fusion Gloss Spray Paint in Honeydew. 

 It looked perfect! No drips at all. Above is my proud Instagram picture with a nice filter. 

Then I realized that the bottom was not done. I used bricks to hold it upside down. 

BAD IDEA!!! I have been laying a nice towel or napkin over the bricks, but as I said above, I was excited and not thinking. It scratched my beautiful work on the top, so I had to go back and redo a few parts. I reprimed and repainted the general areas where I scratched it and it worked nicely. 

Here is the final product. It will be a perfect piece to sell at the 

local community yard sale to benefit the Lyons Club!

Happy finding!

-C

Satin Fossil Side Table

The latest project was a table I bought at a local "furniture rescue" store and warehouse. They have tons of lovingly used furniture that you can take unpainted, or have painted for you.

Materials:
cover stain oil based primer, paint brush, fine sand paper, satin spray paint (we used 2 cans of Rust-oleum's Satin Fossil spray paint), new hardware

This time we tried the cover stain oil based primer. There was no sanding needed! Make sure to have some vegetable oil to wash your hands after priming. We did 3 coats of the primer, but didn't use the highest quality brush which definitely makes a difference.

The new hardware is from Amazon. If you search around, you can find some great deals! 

Here's the final product! The satin finish makes the table look clean and modern. 

The color fits perfectly in our living room! I've already switched around 

all of our accessories in the living room to accent this table :)

Happy finding! -C

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Hooked

Our first project was a "freefind" side table I found while driving to work in the morning last May. With some help from a great DIY blogger, Centsational Girl, we gathered all of the necessary tools to get started.

Materials:
5 speed orbital sander, medium grit sand paper rounds, medium sand paper for hand sanding, fine sand paper for in between polyurethane coats, respirator (I have the 3M half face piece respirator 6000 series), gloves, drop cloth, painter's tape, plastic or newspaper (to cover the top if it does not detach like ours), primer (we used Rust-oleum's primer in a spray can), paint for the bottom (we used Valpsar's gloss white spray paint), pre-stain (we used Minwax), wood stain (we used Rust-oleum's Kona), polyurethane, finishing wax.

Here is the table before:

The first step was to sand the entire piece. Lucky for us, the top came off so we could split up the sanding. If yours does not, see Centsational Girl's idea of wrapping the top in plastic wrap and sealing with painter's tape. Spray paint first, then stain the top.

We used a 5 speed orbital sander with medium grit paper for the flat parts, and we hand sanded the edges and legs.

I used MINWAX Pre-stain for the top.

I used RUST-OLEUM wood stain in Kona for the top. It took about 3 coats for me to get the look I wanted. After I did the coats of stain, I waited a night and finished with the polyurethane. It takes about 4-6 hours for the polyurethane step, so be ready to start another project in between! Also, you can use the Polyshades which takes out a step.

While I was staining, my sidekick was busy priming and painting. We used a Valspar gloss white spray paint. 

The final product looks great in our living room! We skipped the finishing wax part because we were so excited to put it back together and take a few staged pictures with a variety of different accessories. Of course, now we are hooked on refinishing furniture!

One of our cats, Emmy, approves!

Happy finding! -C.