New prints are now available in the nifty thrifty girl etsy shop. Several sizes and finishes are available. Great for housewarming, birthday and all-occasion gifts. Please stop by the ‘shop’, check them out and get your original photographic triptych now!
Wow, it’s been quite a while since my last post. Sorry for my absence but all work and no play = no time to post! I’m back for a few seconds to share some of my newest pictures – taken with my new toy…
I am having FAR too much fun with this camera, it’s hard to put it down. I think I may have found a new business venture. Stay tuned and look for more photos coming to etsy soon!
A few weeks ago my daughter and I headed out for a little shopping. I had been thinking about a pair of side tables I had seen at an antique store. I’ve been wanting side tables for quite some time and I couldn’t get these off my mind. They weren’t exactly what I was looking for but the price was right, at $36 for the pair. Instead of heading to the antique store I took the chance and headed to the local thrift store. With those side tables still in my mind, I couldn’t believe what was sitting in front of me when I walked into the thrift store. Two perfectly adorable side tables.
They needed some major TLC but at a mere $8.99 (!) each, I knew they would be coming home with me.
I cleaned them up, sanded them lightly and gave them several coats of paint. I also sprayed the handles with an oil rubbed bronze spray paint. And here are the little darlings now:
I just love these little tables and I found the perfect matching lamps for them once they are in place in my living room!
Although I’m not a huge fan of wallpapering the walls of my home, I do find great joy in using wallpaper to decorate ordinary objects. When I found this great deal on wallpaper at Steve’s Blinds & Wallpaper I couldn’t resist. As soon as the wallpaper was delivered I got to work on this project:
Oh, what fun! It only took approximately an hour and a half to wallpaper all of these risers. Now that the steps have a fresh new look I will need to touch up the paint on the treads. (Yes, that is wallpaper at the top of the stairs. It was such a beautiful paper I had to use it on the walls!)
Next project…
This little guy was not as easy as the steps. Once I got the piece of wallpaper cut out, I had to glue the seam and carefully use clothespins to hold down the paper around the top and bottom rims until the glue dried. It turned out better than I expected but I would still like to perfect the technique.
I have several more wallpapering projects planned that I will share with you shortly. In the meantime, grab some wallpaper and have fun!
My lucky daughter just spent a week vacationing in Florida with her aunt and grandparents. So, while she was away I decided to do what I love best – redecorate. Her bedroom had been painted and redecorated last year but there were still a few things she wanted changed. She decided that the scalloped wooden valances above her windows (that were installed when she was a wee one) were too babyish and wanted them removed. She wanted more modern, ‘adult’ curtains. She wanted her bedroom door painted white (it was a garish green color), she wanted a desk, and she wanted her great, great grandmother’s beautiful, ornate dresser & mirror removed from her room and replaced with something modern. That’s quite a list for someone who’s only eleven!
As soon as her plane took off I scurried home and started tearing her room apart. I have no ‘before’ pictures because the mess that was her room was far too embarrassing to be published. Believe me when I say it looked like a tornado touched down. It took me an entire evening to box up all the things that were scattered around the room. I decided that I would do the decorating and when she got home she could do the sorting.
I knew at some point that I would be redecorating her room so I had previously purchased several pieces at yard sales, IKEA, etc. The major find was the IKEA Knappa pendant light – a mere $2 (!!!) at a yard sale last summer. Her metal swivel office chair was another great find – only $5 at a yard sale…and all I did was clean it up and recover the seat with some Ballard Designs fabric I bought on clearance.
Since a brand new desk was not in my budget I used a small drop-leaf table (that used to be my Mother’s kitchen table) and painted it white. The one white wall in her room was begging for some decoration so I added a little artistic flair and painted a black floral design.
Desk accessories from IKEA and Walmart:
Next, her bed…
I used a previously purchased Ikea duvet that she had picked out, assorted pillowcases & blankets, an Ikea accent pillow and pink accent pillow that I made out of a recycled sweater. I hung artwork/photos (including the photo of a pink lily that she took at a photography class last year) in black frames.
And the final touches: a new white shag rug, curtains and curtain rod from Target. Notice little Waffle enjoying the view.
Not too shabby for a week’s worth of work, don’t you think? I have yet to find a dresser so for the time being we are going to store her clothes in a large, white antique bookshelf.
My daughter arrived home safely last night and her response when she walked into her room: “You’re kidding me!”
