Summer Thrift Store Finds

I haven't been out much this summer looking for good thrift store finds. There is just something about 115 degrees that makes me want to hurt everyone in public...so it's best if I just stay in:)

I have found a few good things at my local Goodwill Saturday sales (seriously...who doesn't love those?) and a few other vintage shops.

One rule I have when it comes to getting anything at the thrift store (or anywhere else for that matter) is that it has to serve an immediate (or almost immediate in case it's a project) purpose. So that means leaving some gems behind because I just don't have the room for them.

One thing I was SO happy to find was this tin recipe box. One of my summer goals was to organize my recipes so finally they are all in one tidy space!

I fell in love with this jewelry box almost immediately. All that scrolling detail just makes me so happy! It does have a broken foot on the front...but it will get fixed up and repainted this week. I just can't decide if I want to give it to my daughter for her jewelry...or be a selfish mom and keep it for myself:)

I did find something for my daughter. I am putting together her Christmas present right now, which is basically just some accessories for her play kitchen (which I will share soon). These mini salt and pepper shakers made me so happy...and for $.35 each...I couldn't resist bringing them home to paint and let her play with.

I would have to say my biggest soft spot when it comes to thrifting is vintage owls. It's like I can't say no! The brown owl is an iron trivet that I found at a vintage store in a nearby retirement community. The silver owl is another trivet I found at Savers, and finally the yellow framed owl is a greeting card that I found in a different frame at Goodwill. I painted a little frame I had yellow and put him in there.

They live together on my living room wall:

This next find took a few weeks for me to purchase. I saw it a while ago at Goodwill with no price tag. The cashier priced it at $7.99...but I was too cheap to spend that (it has a small crack on the back). So we went on vacation and I regretted leaving it behind.

Another sale day rolled around at Goodwill and it was still there! I put my own lampshade on it and I love it! I was so blinded by my affection for it that I realized (on the way home) that most likely my husband was going to hate it. He was so nice when I asked him, "What do you think? Can you believe no one bought it for three weeks?" that he said, "I think it was just so beautiful that no one else wanted it." He is so nice to me...even if he is being sarcastic:)

It makes me so happy when I see it each day...I think may even say something like this when I walk past it. Here it is in our living room on my grandma's old dresser:

I also picked up some lovely vases:

And finally, my favorite piece of the summer has been my Drexel chair. It was priced at $30 but I asked if they could go any lower and they went down to $20!

It lives in our room right now...but my mom has already offered me more than I paid for it:) It's nice having a chair in the bedroom to sit and talk and also for my husband to sit and put his shoes on. Does anyone else hate butt marks on a newly made bed as much as I do??

So, have you found any good finds lately?

Bassinet Makeover

My original plan for our little man was to move the crib we have into our bedroom and he can start his days sleeping in that. Then I came across this bassinet at a local thrift store and it was half off for $15...so I thought it might be nice to save some of our bedroom space until he makes the move into our daughter's bedroom. I used some Harley Davidson fabric that I found at Goodwill last week. My husband is a Harley lover, a Harley rider, a Harley mechanic, and now even teaches the subject for a living. So, I guess you could say we like motorcycles in this house?

So, I paid my $15, loaded it up in the back of my mom's truck, and scared my husband when he saw me walking through the door with this:

Oh come on...it's beautiful in it's own "why were lace and ribbons ever a trend?" way:)

I wanted to make my own cover for it, and I tried to use the existing one that was on there as a pattern...but it just didn't seem to give me the same look I wanted. So in the end...I just measured the bassinet and winged it!

I started by tracing the mattress to make the bottom part of my cover.

(And yes, you can be jealous of the awesome floral mattress that came with this gem)

I traced it with an extra 1" all the way around. I knew I could always take it in if I needed to...but if it was too tight...then the whole project would end badly.

Next, I placed the mattress and the new mattress piece I cut out into the bottom of the bassinet to see how it fit. I then measure from the top of the mattress to the top of the bassinet edge and half way around (I needed two pieces to make the inner edge).

When I am trying to recover something, I like to tape on the pieces I have made to make sure it looks like it will all come together when I sew it.

I cut out another piece for the inner edge and then measured the whole outer edge and made two pieces for that as well (my seams are on the two long ends of the bassinet). I decided I wanted the cover to come down on the outside about 6 inches.

Finally, I sewed it all together. I started by sewing together the two inner edge pieces at each end (right sides facing), creating a big circle or "bumper" for the bassinet. Next, I sewed the bottom piece to the inner edge (right sides facing). Now I had what looked like a fabric basket. Finally, I took the two outer pieces (also sewn together at each end with right sides facing) creating another large circle, and sewed that to the edge of the inner piece.

The outside of the bassinet was a little larger than the inside measurement, so that's why I have a little pucker in the middle of the front (and middle of the back) of my cover.

Also, just to make sure it fit securely, I folded under the outer edge that was still raw and sewed it all the way around with a 1" seam allowance, leaving a 2" opening. I then measured some elastic around the outside of the bassinet and strung it through my opening. I sewed the ends of the elastic together, fed it into the opening, and sewed the opening shut.

Here is the final product (after my husband also touched up the paint job). I made a little orange and black blanket to match too.

Also, if you want a little more padding than just the mattress, you could sew some batting to the wrong side of your bottom piece or iron some fusible felt onto it for a little more cushion.

I'm sorry there weren't many photos with this tutorial. I was sewing it late at night and trying to figure it out as I went along. It was actually one of the easiest projects I have done in a while. It only has a few pieces to it, but it's the measuring that takes a little time.

I love the fresh new look it has and I can't wait to bring home our little guy so he can try it out:)

Price:

bassinet: $15

fabric: $2.50

elastic: $.10

Total: $17.60

I'm linked to:

Sugar and Dots

Tatertots and Jello

$10 Dresser Redo

I'm back in the 21st century! Not having the Internet for over a week was horrible for about the first two days...then it's crazy how I just got used to it and I'm actually on it a lot less now.

We are FINALLY moved in. I think this was the longest and most stressful move to date and after a lot of crying and tantrums (from my 2yr old...and from me)...the hubs and I have vowed to never move again! Unless the condo across the street opens up for sale someday...other than that, we are here for-evah!

I still don't have good pictures of the place since it was clean for maybe a day...so I hope to share our new place soon! For now, I will share my most recent project:)

My grandma's house is being cleaned out in order to sell it, so a while ago I asked for this old dresser for my daughter's room:

(Sorry I never took a full picture of it before I started painting)

My goal was to paint it white...but after using one whole can of spray paint just on two drawers and finding that it was going to take about 30 more cans of paint to get the job done...I grabbed some black paint that I had and it covered the dresser like a dream.

This is the space before I moved out our old desk (that the movers broke while moving it):

I could tell it was going to easily become magnet for junk and I HATE clutter!

Now, here is the nook with my new black dresser:

I'm in love with it! Its a little more "shabby chic" than the rest of our space (which is Ikea and Target), but I love that it was my grandma's (actually my mom's first) and that it has history. Plus this new condo has three closets...so I need all the storage I can get!

I have some plans for the top of this baby. I want a funky lamp for the top and some colorful artwork above it...but for now my teenage lamp and photo of my husband and I (that I took in college) can stay where they are.

In case you are wondering, I used Krylon's Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. It is by far my favorite black spray. Its got a hint of brown in it so it's not so stark black and it has the best satin finish. Best of all, it covers really well. I did this whole dresser with three cans!

OK...I'm off to work on some more projects and maybe just maybe sit for a little while:) It's good to be back!

Total Price (3 cans of spray paint at $3.24 each): $9.72

I'm linked to:

Sugar and Dots

Tatertots and Jello