greatest thrift store find EVER

Christmas came early.  I just found something at Savers for $9.95 that I was pricing on Ebay for anywhere from $30-125! Before I show this amazing item I have some others to share.  Keep in mind (if you've never been thrifting before) that the items I am showing you I collected over multiples trips to the DI/Savers.  Before we begin I wanted to share my rules for thrifting.


1. If you don't find at least one thing, you are either not being creative enough, are not in the right mood, or you are going too often.
2. If you are buying more than 5 items you are probably just buying crap.
3. If (I like it and) it's 5 bucks or less it's mine.  If it's $10 or less it's probably mine.
4. Never, never, never go on Saturday.
5. If you want it and it's relatively cheap you should buy it because if you don't buy it someone else will.  If you come back tomorrow it will be gone.

Here are some great finds; some of the prices I don't remember so I'll be guessing.

 

bread box $3.00

Owl $0.75-1.50     Lamp $4.00 Lamp Shade $3.00 {the lamp was originally gold and cream sort of striped; I spraypainted it with ORB)

$1.50 for the vase/planter/whatever $0.50 for that awesome Native American bust

And last the best of all the game....

My amazing ceramic Christmas tree! I was in love with one my grandma had when I was a little girl. Just look them up on Ebay and you can see how pricey they can be.

before & after

I painted my bedroom furniture, bought a new comforter set and a new hamper, and if ya ask me it looks pretty darn good.  It did not turn out according to the plan/the way I picture it in my mind, but does anything ever?

dresser: Before

dresser: after & new hamper

$5.00 Mirror that inspired me. I guess I forgot to take a before of my nightstand but you can see it in the background (sorta).

Nightstand: after

$10 Table

Bed: Before

Bed: After

After all was said and done it didn't turn out how I thought it would, but I still like it.

My tips for painting furniture are as follows:

1. Do not skip steps! Steps should go: 1. Prep/Sand 2. Primer 3. Paint
2. Using a glaze or stain does NOT work out on furniture that is not made of real wood.
3. Yes, there is such a thing as awesome primer to help you prep laminate furniture and/or prep furniture without sanding, but it is CRAZY sticky and that is why it works. Here is a picture of my brush I tried to soak in hot water and vinegar to clean it.  Notice how the sides of the bucket are painted. Yeahhh I painted the bucket from underwater.  Be careful with that stuff.

trash to treasure

I saw these great pictures on pinterest and it linked back up to a simple how to.

Unlike the other site, I did not take pictures of the project in progress, just the final project.  Since I bought four frames for this I decided to do one for each season.  I was being drawn again and again to autumn and winter silhouettes so I forced myself to include the summer and spring pictures.  This was so easy, but I did ruin one of my DI dictionary pages trying to send it through the printer.  They were very thin so I glued them down to a piece of paper to keep it from jamming the printer. 

I found these little gems recently and they begged me to take them home.

Mrs. Potts $1.00

I actually made this cake plate/platter with a candlestick and a plate and some E6000, but watch out that stuff is toxic! Yikes! The topper/cover was $3.00.

have you seen my mojo?

I try to keep this blog updated about 3 or 4 times a week for a few reasons:

1. My life is super interesting and exciting
2. You people love reading about me
3. and lastly, uh... I got nothin' else.

Unfortunately, last week, I lost my mojo. You know, my mojo, that thing inside me that puts a positive and hilarious spin on all happenings in life. My mojo is definitely something that is required for blogging. I think it's back today, but not totally; so let me know if you see it somewhere.

In other news, last Friday I discovered that thrifting it up for unknown treasures is about 1,000 times more enjoyable at Savers vs. the D.I. One of the worst things about the D.I. is this really disgusting and unpleasant smell that assaults your senses as you walk through the door. That smell just is not there at Savers.
I offer as exhibit B. that relaxing elevator music plays in the background.
Exhibit C. shelves and merchandise are better organized (wherein comes the only downside: products are more accurately priced to match their value, resulting in often higher prices).
The last exhibit, exhibit D... if you are keeping track, are these amazing carts/baskets that you simply have to see to believe; frankly, I can say no more on the subject. I wish I had photographic evidence, but maybe next time.

As I enjoyed the wonderfulness that is Savers, I found the cookie jar of my dreams. I have been looking for a cookie jar, but if you have looked at cookie jars you might realize there is a category most cookie jars fall under and that category is tacky.
I somehow found this, the cookie jar of my dreams.
Note: This photo simply does not capture the beauty.

Before you delete the D.I. from your friends list I have to tell you the cookie jar was $7.99 which is almost a rip off considering this is someone's trash. Am I right? Plus, I got this weird deer for 50 cents {at the D.I.} which I just had to have for some odd reason.

Charming, yes?

Well, I think so, but if you don't... then whatever to you and yours.

DI Decor

Yesterday I worked on fancifying this blog for an indiscriminate amount of time and today it looks sort of tacky to my eyes, but I spent so much time on it that I won't be changing it anytime soon. Lucky for me, right now I get to spend my days lounging on the couch (reading, facebooking, or watching TV) taking Biff for walks, heading to gold's and going to the DI in an effort to get out of the house without spending too much money. Since I teach year round school I have random 2-4 week vacations from work every 9 or so weeks. I am currently enjoying one such break, but I am in for the ultimate Monday come this Monday. The ultimate Monday meaning going back to work after living the life of a bum for a while.

Yesterday I took a trip to that smelly place known as a thrift store in hopes of finding some unknown treasure(s). Lately I have noticed that when I go to said store it is packed with customers; which makes the experience even less pleasant than usual.

I did (of course) find items to waste some $ on, although not a gravy boat which is often what I am looking for when I decide to venture out.



I got that little vase above for $1.50 and classy lady that I am I filled it with those fake plant like stems from another favorite store; Dollar Tree.



I got two of these decorative coat hanger doodads for $1.50 each. Never you mind that I don't have a use for them yet...



This last purchase was my favorite item of the day for $5. The great thing about it being that 1. It is red and 2. It's gigantic so I can take it to work. I currently take my regular purses to work and wear them out too early by overfilling them with things like my lunches, laptop, books, or any other teachery thing you can think of.



I thought you might enjoy a photo of this baby in action even though it turned out blurry.