Motivation

About 4 o'clock this afternoon I realized it was Tuesday. That meant I needed to come up with another post for Two Post Tuesday! I decided that was a sign to go ahead and show you my Thrifty Treasures that I found on Saturday at Value World.

This little duck was so cute, I couldn't pass him up. I think he was less than 50 cents.

I found this cheese dome and it kind of reminded me of a cloche, although its not quite as tall. I'm sure I can still find something to put inside it!

I do not have a green thumb. At. all. I am ok with that and happen to not be ashamed to use fake flowers and plants. I found this for a couple of bucks and just need to cut down some of the flowers and I'm painting the pot.


I found these great frames. The tallest one I'm leaving as is and I might leave the other two as is, too.

A few close ups of the details of the frames. Cute!

If you checked out this post, you'll see why I picked some of the items I did. I decided to try my hand at initials. I printed this C off the computer and it needs to be cut down a little bit, but I'm hoping to find some pretty scrapbook paper to use instead.

So, this little set up will be part of my kitchen shelf decor, along with the tea set that was my grandma's! I think it's good for summer and I'm sure I'll be happy with it for at least a month.

Come back tomorrow ... I've got some pictures of my cart redo to share!

It's just one of those weeks!

I have been a major slacker. MAJOR, I tell ya. I had a pretty busy weekend! Although I did find time to do a little thrifting, I did not get the chance to join Rhoda's Thrifty Treasures party. My lazy thoughts are that I will join next week with last weekend's finds so I don't have to squeeze in any thrifting this week before I leave for my 3 day weekend at my parent's!

Crazy, right?! My house is a mess, I need to do laundry ... I'm just in one of those moods!

I digress.

I did get a few good things at the thrift store and can't wait to show you! A couple of them are project pieces so I'm looking forward to doing some transformations. Speaking of transformations ... did you see Kate's guest post on A Soft Place to Land? I'm a huge fan of Kate's - she does ah-mazing stuff and I think I could look at her blog for hours. I loved the post and was glad I stumbled upon it!

If you're in the mood for a different kind of transformation, check out the latest Fashion Roundup post from OnePrettyThing. My favorites are the shoe projects!

And since we're on the subject of fashion, I must vent about my closet situations. Part of my messy house is due to the fact that I have ... inadequate closet space. I went from a walk in closet to a small little hole in the wall. With no hanging bars. So, there are some big renovations that need to be done in that area.

As always, I went to BHG to check out some ideas for closets. I like this one a lot, but I'd need a little more space for hanging stuff. I have a lot of dresses!

This is just a dream .....

I'm always asking for advice, but how have you transformed a small closet into an organized mecca?

Needed: Opinions

I need a little bit of help. I have these great antique tins that my Mom gave me. I used to have them in my dining room at my old apartment but I thought they'd look great in the kitchen at our new house. I have a little ledge right above my sink so it's the perfect space for some extra decor!

Here's what it looks like now ... please excuse my dirty mirror! And say hello to yours truly in the dirty mirror.

I decided last night that maybe I want something new. Mainly, because it gives me an excuse to go thrifting for new stuff! So here's one option - I thought about grouping them all in one corner then finding some goodies for the other side.

A close up! Aren't they great?

Another option is to use this tea set that is currently on top of my fridge. It was my grandmother's and I love the print ... it's perfect for summer. The set is in excellent shape and I'd really like to put it where it'll be seen.

I thought I could find a basket or vase to put some (fake) plants in for either side, or maybe a couple of cute tea cups. This also might be a good time to introduce our initials into the kitchen ... a white plate with a green J or an orange C?

Love, love, love.

So whaddya think?

Should I leave the tins as they are?

Or group them off to one side and buy new goodies for the other side?

I'm loving my grandma's tea set ... should I use that?

I love to hear your ideas and see your pictures!

Now I know my A B C's

I have a new obsession.

Have you noticed everyone is doing something with their initials? Frames, plates, chairs ... you can put your initials on just about anything - and I love it! It's such a great way to personalize your decor. My honey and I share the same initials - J C, and (fingers crossed) when we get married, I won't have to worry about changing anything I decide to emblazon with a "C".

I've seen some great ideas on these blogs - Creations by Kara, The Andersons and Reinvented so be sure to check them out!

These are some really neat projects that I found at oneprettything.com. Just click on the picture and you'll go right to the tutorial!

I love buttons ...

Burlap ... hmm.

I'm thinking that this will be a good project for my headboard. And I'd like to do something for the kitchen, too. I might just go crazy.

Have you done anything neat with your initials? Leave a comment with the link - I'd love to see!

Ma chambre

Before I get started, Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick posted this today. Glidden is giving away a free quart of paint! I picked Black Tulip. It's pretty and I'm thinking I'll find something to do with it for my dining room!

And believe it or not - I went to Goodwill today and did not buy a thing! I literally walked in, looked around, and walked out. Empty handed. I have to admit, I've been quite lazy the past couple of days and really searching for some goodies was taking too much energy. Have you ever done that before? I just need some reassurance that it'll all be ok.

If that didn't give you a clue into how deep my slump is, here are some pictures of my bedroom. It is seriously lacking. A lot. I notice it now more than ever ... maybe I shouldn't have taken pictures just yet?!

This is my new bedding. I need more pillows. A LOT more pillows. And I thought I didn't need a headboard, but I think something needs to be back there. Got any ideas? I don't. Hopefully I figure out something fast before I resort to spray paint again ... not that there's anything wrong with that!

A couple of close ups of the pattern. It's pretty for summer and it was only $20 at Wal Mart. I'll get a new, heavier one when winter hits.

Here's a shot with pillows I stole from my little seating area in my living room. It looks better, but I'm going to start looking for some more that match a little better.

Here's my night stand. I kind of threw some stuff on it, so when I go thrifting (seriously thrifting) I'm going to look for some goodies to go along with the theme of the room. As soon as I get a theme for the room.

See? It needs work, right? I hope I get some inspiration soon. If you have any ideas feel free to comment or e-mail me. I need all the help I can get!

And (mostly to make myself feel better) so you don't think I've really lost it ... I did a couple loads of laundry, dishes, cleaned the bathroom, kitchen, and rearranged my computer desk today. Oh, and I made sweet tea.

My historic dining room

Welcome back to Two Post Tuesday, friends!

The best part about my blog posts this week is that I'm getting some much needed redecorating done. When we officially moved in, I put things where I thought they'd look good but I've been moving a lot around this week. My dining room isn't completely finished but I'm loving the way it's looking!

I took a lot of pictures ... but the dining room is a really good place for me to display some of my favorite pieces, including my dining set that I found at Salvation Army. Its about 40 years old and is in almost perfect condition. I love the color and the print of the cushions!

Now that I think about it, everything but 3 pieces (lamp, picture frame, and flowers) were bought at thrift stores or passed down to me.

Here's a little table that's been in my family. It's another one of my favorite pieces.

That's my little cream and sugar set I found at the DAV last week. The picture in the frame? That's my grandparents on their wedding day, August 1945!

I found this little vase at Goodwill in my hometown and loved it! It goes really well with my table.

This vase was given to me by my honey for Christmas. It was his mom's and I absolutely love it. I put hydrangeas - my favorite flowers - in it!

I found the butter dish at a wonderful thrift store called Value World.

I also put my new salt and pepper shakers on the table.


This is my "service table". The actual table has also been passed down to me. The spoon was passed down, but the other 3 items are from Goodwill.

Loved this cream and sugar set.

My teapot's lid doesn't close and I still love it!

Another shot of the table. That's my Lefton china set that I found at Value World.

Now, I just have to get my shelves up to display my teacups but all in all I'm pleased with my dining room!

I don't know about you, but I fall in love with antique booths where their owner has decorated the space instead of thrown everything together haphazardly. I kinda hope that my dining room looks like one of thoes well done booths ... and to me, it does. It certainly has a good history!

When life hands you cheese ...

Make pizza! I saw this post on Jane's blog, Out of the Crayon Box. Her pizza looks so good ... and not too long ago, I decided I'd try to make my own pizza. This is how it turned out! I wanted to make stuffed crust so I used the frozen dough you buy at the store and rolled it over cheese sticks. It turned out really yummy ... mmm and cheesy.

I topped mine with onions, bacon and feta cheese. I took leftovers to work the next day and made sure I ate it in front of lots of people! I think they were jealous. Hehehe.

I love to eat out and it really is easy, but cooking at home is more fun and definitely saves money. I challenge myself to fix stuff that I'd normally get at restaurants, like sweet and sour chicken - that's my favorite! And it really is satisfying to know you made it just as good, all by yourself.

Come on back ... today is Tuesday - I'll have some more decor pictures for you tongiht! See you then.

Nooks and crannies

As promised, here are some pictures that do not involve spray paint! It's also a small little decorating project that I've been meaning to do for a couple of weeks now and finally got the motivation to do it!

Our house is one of those weird ones with 2 front doors. It drives me nuts, but whatever! We only use one of them so instead of having this ugly brown door in the living room (that I didn't want to bother painting) I put up an old shower curtain (so I didn't have to buy anything!). The door has 3 small glass windows, as you can see, so I like that it gives the effect of a window.

Yucky blue carpet ... ignore that, please and thank you! :-) I put my cute little "sofa" that I got at Kmart a while back right in front of my door for a little seating area. I don't think I'll use it that much (since it's not in front of the tv!) but I like it there.

Another shot from the dining room/living room.

We ripped up yucky blue carpet in the dining room area a while ago, but decided to rip up some more in the rest of the living room yesterday! It needs a lot of work but I like it much better than the carpet. The other side, with the front door, I guess must have been a front porch because it doesn't have hardwood. We're replacing yucky blue carpet soon!

I feel better now that I got an actual decorating project out of the way! It also helped open up a little more of the living room since I kind of "shoved" everything back into the corner. The best part? It didn't cost a penny!

Putting the pieces together ...

I'm never taking anything apart again. I forget what it looked like (thank God I at least take pictures!) and somehow it never goes back together as easily as it came apart. I'll get into that proclamation when it's time. I officially think I've uplifted my funky mood with spray paint, so this week I'll be focusing on decorating with my newly painted goodies. Here are some before and afters for your viewing pleasure ...

I was so happy to find these keys!

And I really like them now!

Story time! You know how you find something and you think why would someone not want this?! That's what I thought when I saw this. I knew it'd look great spray painted and maybe filled with something, maybe not. So ... I took it apart.

Here it is painted. Does it look the same? No. I can't get it back together the right way! I realized whoever donated it to the DAV didn't want it because it doesn't have all the pieces it needs ie the little balls that hold the screws in. I at least wanted to get pictures ... I'll keep trying to figure this one out.


My cute little basket. I love these but I wanted to give it some color.

I like it!

Salt and pepper shakers. They looked super cute like this ...

But I am completely enamored with this paint color. I sanded around the design and I think it turned out pretty good.

Here are the frames for my stamp project spray painted green.

I love the little details.

And the other one.

It had some rough patches but I really liked how it looked after it was painted.

I also realized I forgot to take pictures of a couple other pieces I got at the DAV. I love silver, so I found these salt and pepper shakers along with ...

This little cream and sugar set with a tray! I got all these pieces for $4.98. I already have a cream and sugar set, but I just couldn't pass this one up!

I have a lot of silver pieces and I've always just left them like this. I think it gives them character but I am curious to see how much they would sparkle and shine if I polished them. Does anyone have tips or suggestions? Would you just leave them as is?

Ok friends ... that's all from my spray paint obsession for right now. I'm detoxing this week, as I said, so stay tuned! Warning : I will have one post involving spray paint - my trashy cart. I'm finishing it up and I'm so excited for you guys to see it!

PS: Check out Rhoda's party over at Southern Hospitality ... I linked up myself with my goodies from this week!