Thrift Store Lamp Update

I needed a table lamp for my dim living room so obviously I started combing thrift stores for the perfect one.  Unfortunately I came home with this....

Brassy, 80's, doesn't play well with the other collected furnishings (West Elm zebra rug, estate sale cedar chest, & boring beige couch that is).  So I decided to spruce it up with spray paint and see what happens.  A couple coats of Rustoleum later plus a new modern shade from Target et voila!

Much better!  I'm still working on clearing the clutter.  I think I have too many different shades of blue here, no?  Don't worry, it will eventually be all fixed!

Are there any Mizzou fans out there?

Awhile back, my roommate and I went to one of those crazy free-for-all garage sales where heaps of clothes are strewn about and you fill a garbage sack with as much as you can get your hands on.  I ended up purchasing a sack of stuff for 60 cents an item!  My roommate loves all things Mizzou, and she stuffed this t-shirt in the sack hoping it would fit.  When we got home, she realized it was too small and was all upset about it.  

I decided to sneak it away and make something useful out of the too-small t-shirt.  This pillow is the end product.  Well, will be the end product when I get around to finishing the back.  It's going to be 24" x 24" when finished.  

Thrifty Thursday

Well I think I found the mother of all good deals at my local Goodwill yesterday!  While casually perusing the shoe aisle, I pick up a gorgeous pair of heels, which also happened to be Tory Burch and priced at $4.99, barely worn.  The bad part of this story?  Size 8.5, not my usual 6.5 to 7.5.  Oh well!  I did buy them and they are currently listed on eBay.  I'm terrible about making any money on eBay so we'll see how this venture pans out.


It's almost Friday!  Have a great weekend :)

Thrifty Thursday

First of all, happy birthday grandma!!


Second, let me just say, the Goodwill in my new town rocks!  Here were my finds this week.


Brushed nickel lamp base: $5.99

NIB Target shower caddy rod: $10


Lilly Pulitzer king size pillow case: $0.99  (to be turned into a quilt at a later time)

Ziplock bag full of wine corks: $0.99 (to be turned into this, pic via lovemyearth.blogspot.com)

1.25 yards of Moda Saltbox Farms sheep print fabric: $1.99

Basket for organizing my new casa: $1.29

Goodwill = good buys :D

Thrifty Thursday

Last Friday afternoon I cruised through a couple garage sales.  I ended up buying a headboard and footboard!  I've been looking for an antique set for a long time and pondered even making my own, but this set is pretty much exactly what I'd been picturing.  I'm going to have to figure out how to build a frame or mount it onto my already existing metal mattress frame (or maybe I'll let my boyfriend do that part...).  The flower detail on the footboard is so precious!  I'm thinking about refinishing it too, stain or paint?  Decisions, decisions...


How much did I spend on this?  How does $35 sound??  Yep, I thought that was pretty good too.

I think I may end up trying to copy this Pottery Barn Gabriella upholstered headboard that goes for $699 for a full size.  Isn't it dreamy?

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/gabriella-upholstered-headboard/?pkey=cupholstered-beds-headboards

Sometimes a deal doesn't save you money...

I needed a desk for the sewing machine and I've been cruising around CL (craigslist) for one over the past several weeks.  Yesterday I thought I struck gold again with a "like new white desk, we think it's Pottery Barn, only $50" ad.  As soon as I saw it, I replied and met the man after work.  He showed me the desk which was filthy and looked like it had been setting in his garage for decades.  I offered $40, and he said no because he's had a lot of responses on it.  I really doubted it was actually a Pottery Barn desk because it was kind of flimsy.  Exasperated that I had driven so far to look at it, I yielded and paid $50.  As soon as we picked it up to load it, I could tell it wasn't that sturdy!  I was scared it would break on it's way in my door, and even worse, that my sewing machine would be too heavy for it!  Ugh...why do I do this to myself?  After I got it in my house, I washed it down only to discover the grime won't come off!  ARGGHHH now I have to paint it :(  On the bright side, I'm thinking of painting it a nice sage green or possibly robin's egg blue.  Ooo maybe I'll match the green in my favorite houndstooth fabric!  That'll tie everything together nicely  :)

On the flip side, I went to the nearby thrift store last week and scored a queen size pleated bed skirt for $1!!  It's an adorable green check that magically happens to match my comforter.  Now this is an amazing deal because I've been wanting a bed skirt for ages!  The same one isn't available right now, but the others run around $80 plus. 


I guess what I saved in the bedskirt, I paid for the desk.  I guess the moral of the story is, if you have any doubts about it, don't buy it!

Meet the Lovebirds

This weekend one of my sewing projects was to make these lovely little birds I found while perusing flickr.  The pattern is from Spool sewing blog and the inspiring baby mobile from Sew Girly is what I aspire to make.  

I made two from some of my vintage sheets and cut up shirts laying around.  Aren't they sweet?  When I get my fat quarters from the vintage sheet swap I was in, I'm going to make more and complete a mobile.  I love how they perch just so on top of my mom's sewing machine!

That reminds me, my lovely mother told me she went sewing machine shopping for my graduation, and we like the same one!  I can't wait to have my very own Bernina :D

Green Coffee Sleeves

For my sewing project last night, I decided to try something new - coffee sleeves for your hot coffee cup.  They're green for a couple reasons: 1. It's reusable.  2. It's made entirely out of scraps i.e. recycled material.  

My overflowing box of shirt scraps!

I have a lot of scrap material from making my aprons (see my etsy shop!) and the vintage sheet swap I participated in, plus I still have that "found" lime green polar fleece, which I used for batting/insulation.  I tried out two different methods, and I'm not really sure how I feel about these prototypes.  The blue one is made from men's shirt scraps and the yellow one is made from vintage bed sheet scraps.  I was hoping more of the flower print would show, but I think I made it too small.  I did try to quilt the yellow one a little bit with triangles.  After sewing these, I think the polar fleece will be fine insulation, but I didn't like sewing with it and may switch to insulated fusible batting if I pursue these as a potential money maker.  I'd also probably leave it open with Velcro or elastic and a cute button on the end to make it mutli-sizable.  

coffee sleeves (sorry, no coffee cups to fill them with yet!)

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has a great Easter!  I had brunch on the beach, and it was fabulous.  I meant to go to sunrise service at the beach, but set my alarm clock for 5:30 pm instead of am :(  Oops.  I had a delightful soft shell crab and shrimp omelet for brunch.  If I decide to park it on the East Coast for an extended period of time, I'll have arcus before you can say "hypercholesterolemia" or "lobstaholic."

At long last, here's the picture of my finished Easter egg blue dresser.  When I was shopping for dressers, one like this would easily sell for $150+ at one of those kistchy boutiques.

Before:

After:

I'm in a relationship!

It's official - I'm in a relationship with my sewing machine.  I realized this when my friend from school called yesterday and asked me how the dating scene was panning out around here.  I said, "Beats me, I've been pretty serious with my sewing machine lately."  I can't really cuddle with it, but Bernina makes me soooo happy, and never lets me down!

Today I cheered myself up slash avoided studying for boards (7 days away - eek!) by crafting a jazzy new ironing board cover to brighten up my makeshift bedroom/home office/craft studio.  My ironing board already had a nice padded cover, but it was really ugly.  Earlier this week I picked up a cute full size sheet from Goodwill and my mind's been swimming with ideas for it since.

Here's how I did it, in less than an hour and a half to boot!

What you need:
- a piece of fabric that'll cover the top of the ironing board, plus 3" overhang
- 3 yards of 1/2" wide elastic

Before:

Wash, dry & iron the sheet.  Lay it out flat, and set the ironing board face down on top of it like so, and draw a line 3 inches all the way around the perimeter of the ironing board.  Cut it out now.

Make a casing all the way around the edge by folding the fabric 1/4" (wrong sides facing) and then another fold 3/4" wide.

Baste the curved edges along the 3/4" fold and gather the fabric so it lies flat on top of the ironing board and it's gathered on the underside.

Now sew the casing closed along the edge, leaving enough room for 1/2" wide elastic and a 2-3" opening to insert elastic.  Put a large safety pin at one end of the elastic and pull it through the entire length of the casing.  This part takes the longest, keep it up!  Make sure the cover fits tight over the ironing board, mark where the elastic ends should be sewn together, and tack them together well.  Cut off the extra elastic.

Sew the casing shut, shimmy the elastic around if needed, and viola!  A bright, happy new ironing board!  Much better :D

Total cost of project: $5.00

sheet   $3.75    and I still have a ton left over, watch for this fabric pattern again!

elastic  $1.25   JoAnn had a 50% off notions wall sale today, lucky me

Oh and I got the ironing board at a mission store for about $5 too.  It's definitely coming the 1000 miles home with me now!