October 2010 Project

Well as a part of my list to complete two crafts per month (#47) here goes my wrap-up for October 2010:
 

Unfortunately I only got one craft/project done for this month which is okay as it was a bit more time consuming than other crafts I have done in the past. Craig and I spent three solid weekends in thrift stores just to kill time during the days. We have so much fun finding all the interesting little objects in the stores (which we usually don't buy) and then we tend to find several items we've been on the lookout for, like this:

 We saw this on our first trip to one of several Salvation Army stores in our area, we happened to be there during their half-off weekend. The sticker price on this baby was $250. I pointed out the piece to Craig and we passed on buying it. Even with half off we thought $125 was still too much to spend. The following weekend we ended up in the store again and I didn't see this piece anywhere, it had been on my mind since first seeing it. The third weekend we went there ta-da this baby was still there! It was a half-off weekend again and the $250 tag was still on it. I called one of the workers over and told him I saw this 3 weekends in a row and the price was still the same - I checked to see if he could lower it any. We ended up buying it for $100 total. It was still a tad more than we wanted to pay but it was exactly what we were looking for for our kitchen/dining room. The weekend after we brought it home we ran to Lowes and bought some stain/sealer in one and started the re-finishing process...

 

 

I was surprised at how well this color stain matched our dining room table. I was very pleased with the outcome; however, I must let you know that this project is still incomplete...

...more to come, later.

The Latest in Thrift Store Finds

I thought I'd share our latest thrift store finds and what my plans are with them. The first collection was found at a combination of about four different thrift stores. You'll see the glass jars in an upcoming post so I'll leave those a mystery! The bamboo looking thing is actually a really nice table runner that I found for a buck. I wasn't looking for a table runner but for a whole dollar I couldn't pass it up. I also found the Pampered Chef spoon rest (the white bowl thing with the metal base), my mother in law had one and I always liked it. I got that for a buck fifty and it's in brand new condition. The portion of the frame you see is for a project in our bedroom, I've been looking for an empty frame large enough for a project I've been thinking of - it'll have something to do with my jewelry. The spoon, small mirror and potato masher aren't interesting so I'll skip on by those....

 ....and move right on to this beauty. I found her sitting on a shelf all alone and I felt SO bad for her that I just had to take her home. I spent three dollars on her scary little face. I can only imagine the story behind her. She looks as if she was thrown at something due to the nature of her injuries: her poor nose is chipped off as well as a portion of her right eye. I fixed her eye with a little bit of white nail polish and now she sits proudly (and creepily) on our mantle. Eventually she'll make her way to another place in our house but for now that is where she'll be. Looking over us with those creepy eyes.

 The last item we found (well that I am posting about) is this ottoman. Four bucks. We actually found three of the exact same ottomans but only brought home one. I didn't realize our dogs would love it so much - BOTH of them have taken turns curling up on it. For that reason I wish we had purchased two of them. Oh well. I intend on re-upholstering it, as soon as I figure out how.

Goodwill

More Goodwill items! Yay! Hubby and I are on a mission to find furniture for our house, but we can't help but wander through the trinkets, kitchenware and even clothing sections of Goodwill. Here is what we found...

Green vase (Target brand) $4.

Towel rack (wanted one of these for a while) $4 

and the glass dishes $3each.

My hubby is awesome. You'll see these spice jars re-done in a future post but for the rack and jars it was a whopping $4. The rack will eventually go back to goodwill though, unless you have an idea for it?

We also found an off-brand 'Slap-Chop' for $2, miniature cast iron pan for $7 and a sweater and scarf for $8 (gotta stock up my winter wardrobe, right?).

Second Hand

Here are some items I picked up at Goodwill & Salvation Army (same day). Overall total for everything was $20! Some of these I've already made-over (below) and some I will eventually make over so keep checking in.

 The largest frame in the back I ended up spray painting black and created a piece of art with some more recycled work materials. At my previous job we were able to order free yard samples of wall covering - I found this really cool zebra-esq paper and had no need for it professionally but I knew I'd want to make something of it. I also took a smaller sample and cut out a little heart to create more interest. It's all mounted on foam core cut to fit the frame. Took me about 20 minutes from start to finish.

I also spray painted the accordion wall pegs and some candle holders that I got second hand from my mother in law, they used to be an antiqued white (forgot to take a before picture of those, but you get the idea).

I have a new found love the Goodwill Outlet store - and it's right down the street! They sell items by weight and we found a few pieces of decent furniture, each needing their own mini-makeover for under $10 each (but did not buy). Although, be warned: you need a good amount of hand sanitizer and perhaps some pepper spray to feel safe!!