Weekly Thrift Scores

Here are a few home decor steals I found while thrifting and antiquing.

1) "Farmers Market" sign.

$10-20.  I can't remember exactly how much I paid for this.  It would be easy enough to make on your own, but I wasn't feeling very creative at the time and I really needed something to fill the empty wall space above the cabinets.

2) Old ladder.

$30.  I have always wanted one of these to hang blankets on.  And now we have one!

3) Wooden crate.

$6.  Perfect for holding magazines.  Or towels.  Or toys.  Or pretty much anything.

4) Letter "K".

$1. This red K was a perfect addition to our "K wall" in the family room. It's an old plastic letter (like the kind you used to see on gas station signs), but framing it keeps it looking a little less cheesy.

5) Sugar container.

$12.  This container has been used in a variety of locations - kitchen, front entry way, spare bedroom.  It currently resides in our kitchen holding coupons and random important things that don't yet have a home.

Weekly Thrift Scores

I thought a "Weekly Thrift Scores" blog feature might be fun.  I don't always go thrifting or antiquing on a weekly basis.  But I go often enough that I have a huge stash of awesome scores to share with you all for weeks to come.  Some are items that I never would have purchased had I not seen something similar on another blog somewhere.  So I'll share my finds too and maybe it will help broaden your next thrifting trip.  Or not, but at least you'll have some pictures of pretty things to look at.

Since I'm almost 7 months pregnant, I'll start with 5 of my recent faves that I am incorporating into our nursery.

1) Changing table.

I found this baby on craigslist for $25. Basic ones like this sell new for about $100+, so I thought this was a great deal.  It was an ugly oak colored wood, so Ken took it apart, stripped and sanded it, and put it back together in a sturdier fashion.  We painted it a mustard color to go with the baby room, and then I added some chic shelf liner.

2) Vanity mirror.

This was from the local antique shop for somewhere around $100-120.  And I don't feel the least bit guilty about the price tag.  I absolutely LOVE the edges of this mirror and the vintagey feel of the whole thing.  I know it's supposed to go on a dresser, but I think it looks great on the wall too.

3) Side table.

$60.  Obviously antique store price instead of thrift store price.  I originally had some old white night stands from Target that I was going to repaint for this room.  But I'm tired of painting.  And once you figure in $10 for paint, my time, and then factor in how sick of painting I am, $60 doesn't sound so bad.

4) Vintage baby sweaters and petticoats.

Free.  These were mine from when I was a baby and my Mom dug them out and shipped them up.  I'm so lucky that she saved so many of my awesome baby clothes.  There are some treasures in there!  If you aren't as lucky as me, you can find items like these in higher end thrift stores and antique shops if you look hard enough.  Maybe even garage sales or estate sales.  Here are some similar items on Etsy: 1, 2, 3.  I will be reusing some of the clothing on my baby girl, but some will also hang as decorations in the nursery.

5) Photo holder.

$4.  I just liked the color and thought it would be cute to hold a family maternity photo once we have those done.  Or maybe a cute little print like this one.

DIY: Ruffled Lamp Shade

I've seen several tutorials on ruffled lamp shades around the blogger world, so if my version is confusing, do some googling and I'm sure you'll find someone much more descriptive and eloquent than me.  Warning: You're going to want to ruffle all of the lampshades in your home after this.  Assuming, of course, that you're a ruffleholic like me.

At the time of creating the lamp shades in our master bedroom (shown above), I wasn't keeping up on the blog, and therefore didn't take step-by-step photos.  Lucky for you, I couldn't resist doing more ruffled lamp shades and recently created another one for an owl lamp in the baby's room.  See?  I'm in love.

Materials

Old lamp shade

Fabric

Cutting & measuring tools

Sewing machine, thread that matches fabric

Hot glue gun

Step 1: Find an old lamp shade, preferably in a color similar to the fabric you will be using.  Measure the circumference of the largest part of the lamp.

Step 2: Wash and iron your fabric.  Cut into long strips.  My strips for the owl lamp are 4" wide.  Each strip will need to be at least twice the length of the circumference of the lamp.  If your lamp is 30" in circumference, then the longest strip should be 4" x 60".

Yeah, my fabric isn't ironed.   I hate ironing.  It still turned out okay.  You should definitely wash it though.  It makes the fabric more soft and ruffleable.  Ruffleable is totally a word.  Also, I don't do anything to keep the edges of the fabric from fraying.  I think it adds to the whole look.  If you want your lamp shade to be tailored and neat with hemmed edges, you might want to rethink the whole ruffles thing in the first place.

Step 3: Sew a single length of thread down the center of each strip.  Do NOT back stitch at the end of each strip.  You will then pull on the thread from each end, and ruffle up the fabric along the length of the thread.  Or use a ruffling foot on your sewing machine and skip all of that.

Step 4: Using a ruler and pencil, mark where you want each ruffle to go on the shade.  This is where you will be placing the hot glue, so space the markings appropriately.  For the owl lamp, I used 4 rows of ruffles.  Make sure that the top and bottom ruffle will adequately cover the edges of the original shade.  And make sure that the ruffles are close enough together so that the original shade won't show through in between the ruffles.

Step 5: Start gluing on the ruffles!  I place a glue bead of 4-5" long at a time, and then work quickly to smoosh the center of the ruffle into the glue.  At the seam of the ruffles (matched to the seam of the lamp shade of course), I overlap by about 1/4" inch and then trim off the extra fabric.

Step 6: Add each ruffle layer until the shade is covered.  Here is my masterpiece in the baby room.

Those Anthropologie inspired curtains?  I used the tutorial from Besserina.  That side table?  A total score from my local antique shop.  That awesome awesome rockin glider and ottoman?  50% off deal from Guilt Groupe.

DIY: Upholstered Headboard Redux

Remember this DIY upholstered headboard that I did for our master bedroom?  Here it is in our new place.

But after a year or so of floral and pink and red and uber girliness, I got really tired of it all.  Okay, I'm lying.  I'm still totally all about girliness.  But the floral headboard was really hard to decorate around without turning the bedroom into a Laura Ashley style theme, which isn't my style at all.  And I think the hubby really appreciates me toning the whole pink flower thing down a bit.

So...I redid it and ended up with this.

I tore off the existing fabric, replaced it with micro suede, and replaced the crystal buttons with oiled bronze buttons.  This is much more the look I'm going for in the room.  And now I can do drapes and furniture paint colors and wall decorations without the place turning into a pre-teen girls room.

Those ruffled lamp shades and ruffled bed sheet?  So easy!  I'll be doing tutorials in upcoming blog posts.

Blog Revival

It's been about a year and a half since I last worked on this blog.  Yikes!  In that time my world has changed dramatically - moving to a new home, racing 2 more Ironmans, getting pregnant, and a whole lotta crafting.  Not to mention the invention of Pinterest.  I have lots to share with the crafting interwebs, so stay tuned!