Garage Sale Score

I happened upon a garage sale late in the afternoon on Saturday and the owner was itching to get rid of everything in sight. After asking her three different times if she was sure it was OK, I went home with a box full of vintage sewing items, including unopened rolls of lace and tulle, and these lovely ladies for...

ONE DOLLAR!

I'm already brainstorming sewing ideas just so I can use that bright lemon "magic zipper." Is it garage sale season where you live yet?

Thrifting Jack Pot

For years I have had my eye on beautiful accent chairs. You know, the kind with fancy upholstery and carved wood frames. But every time I found one, the price tag would be different...$165...$135...$225...even $300+...but always out of my price range.

Then one beautiful day on Craigslist, I spotted this treasure and immediately made an offer ($20 lower than the asking price, 'cause I bargain like that).

After some negotiating, I picked her up and brought her home for the much more affordable $40!! It had lived in a formal living room in a gigantic house and I don't think anyone had ever sat on it.

Raised velvet, glazed legs, double welt cording...so, so beautiful.

I don't know where she'll live permanently, but for now she sits in our constantly used living room. Poor fancy chair. From a life of leisure to a ramp for my son's train set. She probably never saw it coming.

I did some digging on the internet and found this exact chair for sale at JCPenney's for $399!!! Pretty decent day of thrifting, I'd say!

What thrifty finds have you scored lately?

You stay classy, 1986...

We had a garage sale earlier this month and while setting up for it, I ran across my childhood stash of jewelry. The 80s and 90s...what were we thinking, folks?!

I took a picture so you could mock my penchant for hearts, stars, and bright metallics. Feel free to enlarge the picture. I even created a little map so you'd know where outside of my house I wore these "lovely" pieces...

The snow slopes of New Mexico, baby. And I got MULTIPLE compliments on them.

Wow. My mother let me out of the house wearing these???!!

And what's a conversation about 1980s fashion without gigantic magenta studs?

Make fun all you want...these were the hot ticket item at the sale. And I can't wait to see them on folks around town!! Any old jewelry in your drawers?

Oh, the potential

My mom looked at me like I was crazy when I told her this little loveseat could be so beautiful. We were walking through a local thrift store, she was only $40. Look at those legs! Can't you just see it reupholstered in a black and white damask, or even with a white linen slipcover??!

But it's just another project... So I passed. She'll probably end up in a college dorm room somewhere, covered in empty pizza boxes and unappreciated. *Sigh*

Lamp Revamp - Flea Find Edition

My wonderful mother-in-law passed down this lamp to me when my husband and I bought our first home. It is a very nice lamp, but I wanted a different look for the shade.


Then one day I was meandering through one of my favorite flea/antique markets with a friend. I saw this drum shade out of the corner of my eye and muttered to my friend that even on sale there was no way I would pay what they were asking, I was just sure of it.

Then I saw the tag: $2.50. I couldn't get that shade in my hands fast enough!

Not a bad change for only a handful of change!

In the coming weeks I have plans to possible change the look entirely but I'm not sure what look I should go for...chevron striped fabric over the shade? paint the base a bright color?

What say you, readers?

Rosette Lamp Redo

So I was walking around one of my favorite home decor dives and saw these beauties:

I stopped in my tracks. Love, love, love them! Then I looked at the price tag: $60! That made me stop in my tracks again. NO way am I paying that for a lamp. It just ain't happenin'. So I went on my merry way until one day I ran across this bad boy at Marshalls.

Yep, the price tag says 70 cents!!...the price was right for me to dive into a new lamp project. If it didn't turn out lovely as all get out, then all I'd lost was 70 cents and some leftover fabric, right? Just in case you've got the urge to revamp one of your sad little lamp shades (we've all got 'em, sister), here's a tutorial of what I did...not necessarily the right way.

I hot glued the fabric to the underside of the lamp edges. I didn't want trim or fringe or any of that nonsense so I had to hide it on the underside. If you are trimming the lamp, you could leave unfinished edges. Lots of fabric bulk at the ends - you'll trim it later.

Now it looks like this: smooth and sleek. I had to use two layers because the tweed on the original shade was showing through. I folded under the edge that showed where the fabric meets on the back of the lamp shade, but I might go back and use some bias tape or something similar to hide the fold a little. If it stays in the back though, no worries. No one will see it!

I cut about 1" strips out of the muslin. (This is all leftovers and cheap!)

Then I sat down in my favorite craft chair. Remember when I made her beautiful?

To start each strip, I folded it into thirds and folded the end under, securing it with hot glue. Like this:

You may want to omit this step. I was inconsistent and didn't do it throughout the entire project. But I will say that it made it easier to keep the frayed, cut edges of the fabric from poking out everywhere. It's up to you. Fold the entire strip of fabric into thirds and smear the tiniest of hot glue every few inches to keep the fold secure.

Then pick a spot and get started! I put a good dollop of hot glue on my folded under edge of fabric and held it firmly in place for a few long seconds. I didn't want everything to fall apart half way through.

To make the rosettes, I literally just wound the fabric around and around itself, placing glue underneath the edges every so often. It's no science.

Then place more wherever you'd like.

I have waited to post this because I wanted to find just the right thrift store lamp base for it...but I couldn't hold on to this project any longer. It was just too easy and it's already gotten so many compliments from friends, that I wanted to share it! So, here's my dirty little secret...

I just set the new shade on top of an old one (it doesn't fit this base) so you guys could see it and so it could be shown off until I find its permanent home.

Not too shabby for 70 cents and a little bit of hot glue, right?

I made two sides because I couldn't decide which design I liked better. You'll have to let me know which one you prefer:

Side 1:

Side 2: Thanks also to Show and Tell for a little design inspiration!

I'm linking to:

Trash to Treasure

A SOFT PLACE TO LAND (Sorry, Kimba! Couldn't get your button to load)

Flea Finds

I was introduced to a new (to me) antique mall in our area. Holy moly. We're talking huge warehouse antique mall. It was so much fun to meander through the aisles, dreaming, laughing, and maybe mocking a wee bit, the treasures in that building. My mom came with me and we found the perfect telephone table for her entry but it was deemed too big for her house. Sad. I have no idea why I didn't get a picture of it. Silly me. It could have something to do with the sweet toddler that fussed at me when I stopped pushing the stroller. Just maybe.

I did manage a few pictures of some of my favorite pieces.

Can't you just imagine this in another color? If it weren't for the price tag, it would have come home with me and ended up a distressed white, or maybe a citron green. I can't help myself.
The legs on this one were so fantastic. Again, price tag, but oh how pretty it would have been distressed white with gray undertones. Dream...

And, lo and behold, my dream piece of furniture. If it's possible, I think my mother drooled over it even more than I did. We snapped out of it once we saw the $1300 (!!) price tag. I don't think I would have touched the finish on this one. Surprised? It's just perfect as is. I love, love the dark tones and all the natural wear and tear on the edges. All those tiny little drawers. Can you imagine how many sewing notions and ribbons and every other delight could have a home in this beauty?!

But back to reality. This little baby was more reasonable, but it still didn't find a home with us. Why? Because my precious friend, Kera, ran into us while we were there and when she heard how in love with the apothecary dresser we were, offered to give us an old antique card catalog she had wasting away in a forgotten upstairs room. I almost had to peel my librarian mother off the floor.

She's delivering it to me today and I cannot wait to see what it looks like. It will live at my mom's house (until she goes out of town and it manages to run away to my house somehow) so any changes in its finish are still up in the air. The possbilities are endless. I almost can't stand the anticipation!! I'll post a picture of it this week.

The "Lots of Potential" Chair

This is my "lots of potential" chair. Not just because of what I saw in it that freezing cold day at the thrift store. And not just because it had a TEN dollar price tag on it. Did I mention the brand name "Broyhill" is imprinted underneath the seat?? No, I call it my "lots of potential" chair because of the plans I had for it in my home. We have lots of people over. On any given week it is possible for us to have upwards of twenty teenagers from church roam through, not to mention our friends and all of their kids in tow. Needless to say, we need the seating. We were given a precious antique turn-of-the-century dining set (complete with horse hair cushions) that we are so thankful for but one by one, the "antique" chairs have broken (sometimes while people were sitting in them...but that's another story). We haven't thrown them away (all you antique lovers can take a deep breath), but until we figure out how or decide to throw money into fixing them, they sit nicely in a corner of our garage.

At Thanksgiving and Christmas all of the families end up around our table(s) so folding chairs, ottomans, stools, office chairs - you name it, just about every possible sitting surface is pulled up and used as a seat. So when I saw this little darling, I knew I had to scoop it up and turn it into something we could use.

Isn't she cute? I loved the legs and the details on the back.

But G-R-O-S-S. I don't even want to think about what these stains are from. The fabric HAD to go. Thankfully the foam and padding underneath were in great condition. My mom had to talk me into using it because I couldn't help but think that those stains seeped into everything (shudder). All she had to do was remind me how very expensive nice foam padding is and I was back on track.



After unscrewing the seat from the base, I used a little of my favorite liquid deglosser or liquid sandpaper. I learned that trick from Traci. I think I re-read her site five times before I started my first refinishing project. She's a great resource so go check her out (and tell her Sarah sent you).


Then I sprayed her down with a couple of coats of Rustoleum's Heirloom White. When dry, I rubbed the edges and a lot of the visible surfaces with a light sandpaper to distress it just a bit. I'm not a huge distressing fan, but I think a little goes a long way. I may change my mind on that so don't hold me to it.



I didn't use an undercoat or base because I wanted the natural wood color to shine through just a bit from the sanding. Just right to me.

Some cheap cotton fabric later and it's just right. I chose a cheap, funky pattern because I know I'll want to change the fabric over the years. I didn't want to commit to an expensive upholstery fabric and then be sad later. It's all simply stapled underneath so it's an easy change if I get restless. For now she lives in my red toned office and I love the light blue contrast to the dark walls.

I just purchased a shower curtain that will soon become office window treatments or "mistreatments" as the Nester would say. I'm also planning to make a flea market find trip this weekend, so check back to see what does or doesn't (even more fun) make the cut.

I'm linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick's before & after party.

Have you made any fun flea market finds lately?