Nifty Thrifty Girl

I’ve always wanted a fancy bird bath but could never afford one of the lovely vintage cast stone bird baths nor did I want to shell out the cash for a reproduction. And then at an estate sale I stumbled across an old metal ice cream parlor chair. It was rusty and falling apart, but for a mere $1.00 I decided I would purchase it and come up with some clever way to reuse it.

I took the chair home and started to disassemble the various pieces. As I sat and looked at the base an idea came to me. I grabbed an old ironstone platter and …TA-DA!… it rested perfectly on the base of the chair. I now had my very own, unique bird bath.

I do bring the bird bath into the garage for the winter as the platter would surely crack under the extreme NY weather we have. But as soon as spring arrives I always look forward to setting up my bird bath in a quaint little corner of my garden.

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One of my favorite organizing tricks is to make use of the assorted glassware I’ve collected over the years. Most of these pieces were found at thrift stores, flea markets and estate sales. I’ve made a rule for myself to never pay more than $4 or $5 for a particular piece - most of them were actually found for under $2.

I use these pieces throughout my house for organizing; here are just a few tips/suggestions on how to use your collections to your advantage:

- Use small containers to organize bathroom supplies such as cotton balls, Q-tips, makeup brushes

- Use on your dresser top to organize earrings, jewelry, miscellaneous items

- Use on your desk to organize office supplies such as pens, scissors, paper clips

Put your collections to good use, get yourself organized and have fun!

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On one of my many trash-to-treasure outings during my town’s annual spring clean up I found several vintage dresser mirrors. These large, framed mirrors that were once attached to dressers make great accent pieces. The frames can be painted to suit any decor. Use them on walls, mantles, or over dressers.

I found several mirrors in very good condition and I grabbed them all. I cleaned them up, removed the hardware used to attach them to the dresser, painted the frames and now use them on my fireplace mantel as a focal point. I chose to paint one mirror frame white, and one black so I can change them out as the mood suits me.

These pieces were free, took only a minimal amount of refurbishing and look great. How can you beat that? You can also find these pieces very inexpensively at flea markets, yard & garage sales and estate sales.

When searching for such pieces make sure they are sturdy, with no chipped frames, warping, or broken mirrors. Also, make sure the backing is sturdy as this is what keeps the mirror in place. If you find a perfect mirror that is missing the backing, by all means grab the piece and have a new back piece cut to fit. Also, if the frame is in disrepair but the mirror is in perfect condition and is a pleasing shape don’t pass the piece up. You can take the mirror to a local hardware store and have holes drilled for mounting it on a wall.

And just a piece of advice when looking for trash-to-treasure items; always take precautionary steps to avoid getting cut by rusty metal or broken glass!

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One of my favorite decorating tricks is to make use of the many collections I have. Whether it be ironstone, cut glass, milk glass, quilts, or enamelware; displaying collections is a great way to enhance your style. If you are like me and have a variety of collections, you can rotate them with each season for a quick decor change.

I have a large collection of transferware which includes several plates and platters. I keep plate hangers on all of these pieces so I can just grab one and switch it out as often as I like.

Ironstone and milk glass pieces are great additions to your collections. White goes with everything and makes for a calming, eye pleasing display.

Experiment with different combinations - use pieces from several collections, or focus on a single color or pattern. For vignettes on tables or shelving try mixing cut glass vases, candy dishes, and bowls. Or try arranging several kitchen items of a similar color for an interesting wall display. The possibilities are endless!

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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.