A Little of This & A Little of That

Today I decided to share several things....thus the title! First up are a couple small before and afters of some recent thrifty finds! The little daily bread platter got a coat of white paint. She's looking a little better, but I'm not thrilled with her. I'm not sure what I l will do to change her....yet!

Next up is this cute little frame. Never mind the stains on the cardboard back. It wasn't bad before, but.....

after is so much better! Now to decide what to put in the frame! I wish I had a sweet little piece of embroidery to put in it, but I'll come up with something!

The next two pictures are signs of spring in my yard. I just love my red-leaf maple in my front yard. It has grown up with my children and is so pretty all leafed out in the summer! Here are some new leaves budding out....beautiful! I love how the shed blurred out in the background...:)

This is a sweet little wild violet bloom that hasn't opened yet. The first one on the plant so far this year. This plant is pretty hearty and will withstand some pretty cold temperatures. Speaking of cold....we are supposed to have a hard freeze this weekend....UGH! I do NOT like cold weather!

Another before and after....but this one is just a sneak peek! This is a project I am working on for my guest bedroom.....if we ever finish it!

Last....I wanted to share just a few treasures I found today after work. I found this metal plate rack for $2. The small tray was a find from last weekend's big haul of treasures! Now I just need to find two pretty plates just the right size to put in it!

I also found this pretty candle holder. It is pretty good sized too....about 10 inches high including the base. I am planning to use it more as a cloche than a candle holder. The base is brass or something similar, but has some discoloration, so I think I will paint it. You'll be seeing it again!

I don't know why, but I just had to have this pretty ceramic box. I plan to include it on one of my library bookshelves when I finish it. I can always store bookmarks in it or any number of things. It is about 7-8 inches in diameter and was just $3. The price tag was still on the back for $15.99! One day I hope to see the Eiffel Tower in person!

With Easter just around the corner, I couldn't pass up these bunnies! They are adorable peeking out of their bucket and watering can. They are Home Interior and were $2.50 for the set.

This beautiful shamrock looks like crystal, but it is actually a hard plastic. It was only fifty cents so it had to come home with me!

These sweet little bunnies are so small....just a couple inches high overall....I love the one in the swing! They will look sweet under one of my small cloches! They were $1

Here's another sweet little bunny figurine....it was $1.

I bought two brand new sets of drapery clips. I have never used them before, but I couldn't pass them up for $2. I can paint the cherry wood or use them as is. They aren't as red as they appear in the picture!

This next treasure was thrifted out of my yard! I have had this armillary for a few years and it has a nice rusty finish to it now! You can't leave anything meatl out in Florida and not have rust on it! It will reside on a library shelf as well! I have seen these a lot in blogland and decided I might as well bring mine in and use it inside!

And....the last thing I wanted to share is my new quilting book I bought! I really want to make a quilt and these truly do look easy! Maybe one day I will start one......:)

Thank you for letting me share with you! I hope you enjoyed looking and will come back to visit again soon! Until next time.....

Decorating With My Thrifty Finds!

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a fabulous Monday! I wanted to share a little vignette I put together on a side table in my living room last night. I am new to the art of creating vignettes (not that I didn't decorate before, I just didn't put as much thought into it). Those of you who follow me know I love to go thrifting! I put several thrifty finds together to create this vignette. Let me share....

Here is everything put together...:)

 started with a stack of books. They are all coffee table type books. I have had all of them for years. I am a book lover! I added the tall white vase full of white, silk hydrangeas & other flowers to the top. It was a recent thrifty find....it cost a whopping $2.40! You can see it and the other treasures from that trip here. I also added the short blue vase for the color and shape. Last, I added a pretty little crystal clock. Both the blue vase and clock were thrifted over the weekend and cost $1 each. It was one of my best trips ever and you can read more about it here and see all the treasures I found! I also added a pretty crystal frame I already had with a picture of my beautiful daughter, Miranda when she graduated from Florida State University last August. The last thing you see is one of the crystal and silver vintage coasters that I thrifted about 3 years ago. 

 

Here's a close-up of the clock.....it is so pretty!

Here are the book titles. 

You can see the flowers in this one...:)

Here's Miranda tossing her cap into the air! I love the expression on her face in this picture! That was a wonderful weekend. I am so very proud of her!

You can see the pretty beads on the lamp shade here. 

They are actually garnet and gold....Florida State Seminole colors!

You can see part of my gallery wall in this last photo. It is home to a few thrifty finds as well. 

I have decided I LOVE decorating my home on a budget. I am always looking for items that I have seen on many of your blogs. It is so much fun treasure hunting! I hope you enjoyed my humble, little side table vignette. Thanks for visiting and do come back! I am getting excited about reaching 25 followers so I can follow through with a giveaway! So, if you want a shot....follow me! You will have a 1 in 25 shot at winning!

I am linking up with:

 Marty for Tabletop Tuesday 

Kathe for You're Gonna Love It!

Kathy for A Return to Loveliness

 Until next time.....

From Sugar & Spice to Frogs & Snails!

Source: typecast creative

Today I'm sharing a gorgeous chair my Aunt Loretta painted and recovered. It is adorable and would look oh so cute in a little girl's room! I wish I had taken a before picture because trust me....it looked nothing like this! Check it out...

Love the two fabrics she used...coordinating floral and stripes....:)

I also love the pretty ruffle around the bottom....it finishes it off perfectly! She is planning to sell this little beauty since it doesn't match any room in her house. Isn't it too cute?

Now on to..... 

Source: ebay

So...after my loooong post yesterday, I couldn't add this to it, but I did want to share! After my very successful thrifty shopping trip, I went to watch the rest of my son's soccer game and then we went to look at trucks. Now, my son has had a truck for a while, but it was older and has been giving us some trouble. So, hubby and I  decided since we bought our daughter, Miranda a car for graduation, that we should also buy our son, Dakota, a vehicle as well. So, we did! Now....it is not brand new. We do not buy brand new vehicles....but it is in excellent condition for the year. It is a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 4 wheel drive. He has wanted a 4wd for as long as he's been loving trucks. This one only had one owner and had only 55,000 miles on it. The exterior & interior are truly like new....minus the new car smell. It doesn't have power windows or door locks, or cruise control, but we couldn't pass up this deal. We gave him the choice though and he really loved the truck and decided he didn't care if it didn't have the bells & whistles. He really isn't a bells & whistles kind of kid anyway! He is so happy....even though you may not think so in his pictures below. The kid doesn't smile in pictures....but isn't he a handsome fella? I joke that he only smiles when someone gets hurt! Typical boy....he truly is ALL boy and always has been! 

Of course he wants to do some things to it....different wheels, a grill guard, etc, but he can do that over time. He is just thrilled to have it and I am thrilled we were able to provide him with it. 

Man...I love this kid! He keeps me young and has a contagious love for life! I can't believe he is graduating high school this year and turning 18 shortly after. I truly don't know where the years have gone!

A little different from my regular posts, but I wanted to share. Have a blessed Monday! 

And....as always........

Thrifty Thrills!

Hi everyone! I first want to warn you.....this is a ridiculously long post! So, if you stick around to the end I'll be impressed! I wanted to share the treasures I found over the weekend! If you read yesterday's post, you know I was about to head out to a city-wide yard sale in a neighboring town. I went with my sister and my Aunt Loretta. (she's the one who gives me so many treasures!) Boy am I glad I went....I found so many goodies! First find of the weekend was this ceramic berry basket from Crate & Barrel for $2. I found this one on my way home after work Friday. I have been wanting one of these...and it's white! My kitchen is going to be mainly black and white (with pops of color) when I redo it!

Everything else was found yesterday....:)

First up is a cute little white pitcher (creamer) I got for $1.

Next up is the wooden base you see under this cloche. I had the cloche already, but it didn't have a base. Well, now it does and it was only fifty cents! I may paint it but I am not sure yet!

I have been wanting one of these pretty painted trays for a while and I found this small one for $1. I love the black background...:)

This gorgeous polished cotton fabric was a steal at $5. There is about 4-5 yards. I am thinking about using it to make a duvet for my bed. The green matches the beautiful green glass on the vintage lamps I found recently. You can see them here. They may become nightstand lamps instead of buffet lamps!

This gorgeous little Noritake footed bowl was $2. I will probably sell it in my ETSY store that I plan to open over my upcoming Spring Break!

Look at the sweet gold detailing on the feet!

I fell in LOVE with this gorgeous cut glass pendant light fixture. It needs to be completely rewired, but I can just picture it hanging over my kitchen sink when I redo the kitchen....or perhaps in one of the bathrooms or the laundry room!

These little antique seam rollers were only $1 for all 3. I will list these in my store. I found similar ones online for $12-$40 each!

This Buffalo China cup was too pretty in aqua blue and white to pass up! It was $2 and will probably be displayed in my kitchen.

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This pretty brass ship's bell was only $2. I found similar ones for $15-$50 so I will probably research it some more and sell it in my store.

This sweet little vintage mushroom planter was $1 and will also be going into my store!

This next one is one of my favorites. It is Bavarian, hand-painted china and is probably 100 years old! I gave $4 for it and am having a hard time deciding whether to keep it or sell it! It is beautiful...and I love poppies, but I really don't need to start another collection!

I thought this cute little pail needed to come home with me and live on my porch I am hoping to build this summer! It is too cute for $1 and it can be repainted easily! I will probably plant some pansies or some other pretty flowers in it.

Ok....this is seriously one of my favorite finds of the day and my biggest splurge! It is a pewter horse head bookend. I am debating on whether to paint him or not, but he will look fabulous perched on my bookshelves in my library when I finish it! I always wanted a horse when I was a kid!

Next up is a brand new candle for a mere $1. It is a pretty pink and will be used in my craft room! This one is brown sugar and fig and is sold at Bath & Body. I found the exact one on ebay for $18.99!!! Good grief!

I love decanters and this pretty, little jewel was $3. I plan to display my decanters on my library shelves some day. This makes three in my collection. I should probably sell them and someday I just might, but for now, I'm keeping them!

This pretty vintage pitcher was just $1. It is trimmed in gold and there is definitely some wear to the gold trim, but I can sell it for a lot more than $1 in my store so it was a deal!

I found a sweet little pitcher/vase with hand-painted violets to add to my collection. Isn't is gorgeous? It was $2!

This little brass bell has the prettiest sound. It was $1. I think I'll keep it. It is small and will look pretty displayed in vignettes.

This lovely Royal Albert cup and saucer had to come home with me for $1.50. The pattern name is Conway . It is so pretty with it's grey leaves...very unique coloring. I could sell it for $20-$30 but I'm not sure yet if I will or not. I kind of want to add it to my rose patterned china collection!

Here's another sweet little violet dish for my collection. It is a reticulated pin dish...too cute for $1!

This huge basket was $7, but I had to have it. The beautiful aqua blue chippy paint is so pretty. I will probably put it on my porch and add a few potted plants inside. You can see the little pin dish inside to see how huge it is...the pin dish is about 2-3 inches wide. It came in handy to carry my stuff in yesterday!

It's sitting on top of a chair here and hanging off both sides.

Shabby but lovely!

I had to get this beautiful little clock for $1. I like the way they look in vignettes and it is small enough to go under a cloche as well. 

This little vase was the prettiest shade of aqua. I am trying to incorporate it into my color scheme. I didn't care for the flowers painted on it, but turn it around and....the flowers disappear! I will place it on a stack of books or something and add a pop of aqua for only $1.

This little set of note cards was just a quarter.

These three decorative balls were a quarter each....they are also shades of aqua blue! They had original price tags on them or $4.99 each! Who would pay that!

I fell in love with this pretty Relic purse for $3. It is like new! The colors just sing spring...:) 

 Check this one out on ebay....crazy!

The aqua blue and white polka dot with the bright flowers is just so sweet.

I got this pretty little crocheted piece for a quarter...:)

This set of punch cups was just $1 for all nine! I needed them to go with a set of 7 vintage Federal glass snack plates that I got for $1 a few weeks ago. One day I hope to find the matching cups, but these will do for now.

Here they are together. I found a set of 6 plates with the original cups for $45 on ETSY! Too bad I don't have the original cups. The Federal glass plates are from the late fifties/early sixties. They have a pretty shape and raised swirled wheat design on the back. I think these cups look ok for now though. 

OK....the last and best deal of the day is this solid wood cabinet I got for only $5! I was so excited to find this vintage cabinet. It's pretty large....about 3 feet wide and 3 feet tall. It will work perfectly for my entry way I plan to create (I don't have an entry now.) when I remodel my living room. I plan to add some curvy new legs to it as well as some pretty trim pieces and replace the wood knobs with glass ones. I also plan to add a piece with sides and a top as well as one shelf and a mirror and then back the whole piece with bead board and paint it when I finish it! I will most likely paint everything white except the bead board back which I will probably paint turquoise or aqua blue. Who knows...but I can't wait to start working on it!

Love the old hinges!

The inside will hold lots of things Possibly our collection of board games!

I am thinking about adding these metal pieces to the doors. I love the look of appliques on wood pieces. You can see some gorgeous pieces at one of my favorite blogs.... 4 the Love of Wood. You can also see the beautiful home she and her husband created in a single wide mobile home! 

Amazing.....she truly inspires me...:)

Well...if you stuck around to the end, thank you! I know that was long, but I just had to share....:) 

Until next time....