Awesome Deals & a Makeover!

Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful and restful weekend. I got a lot done and managed to squeeze in a little time to do some thrifting. My hubby had some work to do at his mom's house Saturday morning, so she and I decided to see if we could find any yard sales. We only found a couple, so we made a quick run to the flea market and one thrift store as well. I managed to get some really super deals! Let me show you what I bought!

First up are these coffee mugs. Now...I normally don't buy mugs because I am not a coffee drinker. I use them occasionally for hot chocolate in the winter, but that's about it. But...I had to have these! Not only are they white, but they also have words on them in raised lettering...love it! I also love the cute little handles! They were only $0.49 each so into my cart they went!

Next up is a mug I picked up for my daughter, Miranda. She had three of these already and now she has a set of 4! I told her one day when she gets married, she and her hubby can plan all their trips while enjoying a cup of coffee or hot chocolate in these mugs. She loves anything map or globe themed! She has a Bachelor's Degree in Social Science and loves to travel and learn about other cultures...:) It was just $1. Next is the little wood box with rope handles for $0.89 that will come in handy to hold something in my craft room or at school. Last is a lemon keeper to store a cut lemon in. It was still in the box and was just $0.49.

I found a sweet set of 10 Currier & Ives Low Water In the Mississippi steamboat dessert plates for $1.99! A couple have minor damage but overall they are in great shape.

I also found these sweet brown transferware dessert plates in mint condition. I have been wanting some of these for a while now and think they will look beautiful in a fall tablescape! They were just $1!

This was my best deal of the day...and the first thing I bought! A set of six Blue Velvet Rose dinner plates and salad plates by Corelle. They are so pretty and immediately caught my eye! I could not believe it when I saw the price tag said $1.50! Seriously....a dollar and a half for these beauties...:) My tablescaping collection is growing by leaps and bounds!

I found this gorgeous 8 x 10 ornate, gold frame for $0.99 and this brand new sweet little gold sequined change purse for $0.79. 

This was another awesome deal today! I found this really large, old briefcase type bag at a yard sale for $2! I looked it up and based on my findings, it would have been used by a salesman, lawyer, Dr, or pilot back in the day. The inside has a pocket on one of the flaps and two dividers inside. The flaps are hinged all the way down both sides. It is such an awesome old case and in excellent condition! My daughter will most likely end up with this piece too...:) If she doesn't want it though, it will make for good storage in my craft room.

I found this metal basket to go with my collection of metal flower pots for my future porch. I love the color it is already and may not paint this one! I have quite a large collection, now if I just had the porch! :) It was $0.99.

Last thing I found was this cute little pop-up book. I normally wouldn't pay $2 for a used book but it was like new and the pop-ups are so adorable...:) I will use it in February during dental health month. So stinkin' cute! I was thrilled with all my finds and only spent around $15 total! Awesome if I do say so myself!

I also have a little makeover project to share today. You may remember this little piece I bought recently for $3. I thought it was so cute and could just picture it painted white and living in my craft room. 

Here it is before.....

And here is after.....:) 

I love it! I used some washi tape from my stash and gave it a little trim around the edges. I also used a small piece of pink and yellow floral on the handle inside. Isn't it cute?

And here is what I decided to store in it....my glitter filled salt and pepper shakers! It works perfectly for this purpose.

Well friends...I'm off to a Common Core Standards training today at school. I have three days of training this week...but it's a good thing since I need to familiarize myself with the new curriculum standards we will be using and I get paid well for attending.....so double win! 

Hope you all have a lovely Monday and until next time.....

Jade & White and I Was Featured!

Hello and happy Wednesday to you! I am happy to report that I was actually able to sneak a spray paint project in today between rain showers! I'll share that in just a bit, but first, I wanted to show you a couple photos I took on the way to my son's college this morning. This is just not the kind of weather you want to be out and about in!

Needless to say it poured on us most of  the way! I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the clouds were though, especially in the second photo. These were taken just a couple minutes apart. The closer we got to the bad weather, the prettier the clouds got. Then we got to Branford and crossed over the Suwannee River as we always do. The river is so high right now. I snapped a quick picture when we went over. Look along the banks to see how high it is.....up in the trees! Unfortunately, there will be no boating until it goes back down...:( This is the second summer in a row the river has been too high to boat on! The reason you shouldn't boat when it is so high is because of all the debris.....trees, huge limbs, and trash washing down the river. It's very dangerous.

I also want to share some exciting news! 

Linda chose my solar light project as one of her features from last week's party! I was honored to be chosen out of all the great link-ups. Linda is such a kind-hearted and beautiful lady...:) I always enjoy reading her blog and  communicating with her through comments and e-mails. If you don't know Linda, you should go pay her a visit. She and Dianne co-host Thrifty Things Friday each week....such fun!

OK...so I mentioned in this post, that I bought something at one of my favorite flea market booths that was going to be getting a little makeover before I shared it. Well, the sun peeked out long enough today for me to dash out the door when we returned home from the college and do a little spray painting! While we were in town, I picked up a couple cans of Krylon spray paint in a new to me color....Jade. It is the color of the jadeite dishes I love so much. One day I hope to own a few real pieces of jadeite, but until then, I will settle for my knock-offs.....and this little project!

I tend to forget to take before pix and after I started, I remembered I hadn't taken one, so I made a mad dash into the house to grab my trusty little camera. Here is what I bought....a sweet little plate shelf. It was $10 and in perfect condition, so I thought it was worth it. Don't be jealous of my spray painted picnic table....it has a rainbow of colors on it....along with a little brown and white dog! That's my Sassy...sorry I didn't realize she was in the picture and cut her head off!

I gave the shelf 2-3 coats of paint, left her out to dry for a few and then brought her inside. Now....I also forgot to take an after picture until I had it on the wall and loaded down. 

So....no after photo of her empty.....sorry!

Here she is hanging over my buffet. I took the mirror down and will hang it somewhere else. I really love the way this turned out. I had run out of room for my little white pitchers on top of my china cabinet and had been wanting a different way to display them. I think this is perfect! How about you?

I'm sure I will switch out the plates occasionally, but I'm loving this look for now! Everything on the shelf was thrifted except for two of the little pitchers and the silk flowers.

This one was bought at Michael's. It was half price and I just loved the leaf and vine design.

And this one was bought at TJ Maxx a couple years ago. I bought the matching sugar bowl but this was before I started collecting little white pitchers...:) I love her curvy little handle!

I robbed the white flowers out of my 4th of July bouquet I recently packed away.

The top and middle shelf.

The middle and bottom shelf.

Love this platter I found at the flea several months ago. It has a chip in the side but you can't even tell since it's resting in the plate groove. One just like it was going for close to $100 on ebay and I gave just a couple bucks for it!

Well, that's it for today folks! I am steadily crossing things off my mile long to do list and I'm feeling pretty jazzed about that! I'm off to work on another cute little project for my classroom. Oh...if you didn't see my little lady in red and aqua from yesterday, click here to see her. She is just too cute!

Until next time.....

Beachy Tablescape

Anyone up for a trip to the beach? I am always ready for the beach! Since I can't actually go to the beach, I thought I would create a beach inspired tablescape. I have been wanting to do this since finding these lovely vintage glasses a few weeks ago.  Do you remember them?

Anywho, today I went with my son to the college to finish up some admissions paperwork and we ran by the little mall to look for him some new shoes when we were finished. He is going to the beach this weekend....Panama City Beach to be exact! Lucky kid...:) Well, of course we had to look at TJ Maxx since it is right at the front of the mall where I park and go in! I needed some place mats for my tablescape and I was fortunate to find these delightful little ocean dwellers plates while I was there as well. I was so excited. They were pretty inexpensive too...just $5.99 for the four! They had to come home with me since I knew how perfect they would go with the glasses!

What do you think? I just love how the place settings turned out! Here are the other plates....

The crab is my favorite, followed by the seahorse! It wasn't difficult to gather things for the centerpiece since I have lots of seashells and ocean themed decor in the guest bathroom. I shopped around the house and this is what I came up with!

My little white lantern got some coral (from the Keys) and a few decorative stones.

Some old blue bottles that my belated Granny Valentine dug up years and years ago. 

A hurricane full of seashells & beach glass....a few of which I picked up off Florida's beaches!

A couple candle holders bought at TJ Maxx today on clearance for $1.50 each. I love the bubbles and imperfections in the glass.

A book I bought at a Goodwill in Pennsylvania last week on vacation specifically for this table!

I also bought these napkin rings last week at the same Goodwill for $0.99. I thought they might work for this tablescape and I think they do. The metal blends nicely with the silverware and the mercury glass votive holders on the table.

And...here it is all together. I love how it turned out! Makes me want to go to the beach so I can get up early to go walking and hunt for seashells!

Of course I had to give the buffet a matching look, so I nabbed this wood bucket of seashells from my son's bathroom. Most of these were picked up by me and my kiddos over the years!

I kept it simple with just a couple large candle holders and my milk glass collection. It is so versatile! I feel like I need to add something more, but I'm not sure what! 

Well, that's it for today folks! I'm hoping to get a couple more projects completed tomorrow! So much to do...so little time! I better get b.u.s.y! 

As always, thanks for stopping by!

I'm joining Susan from Between Naps On the Porch  for... 

Be sure to go visit Susan and see hers and all the other lovely tablescapes...:)

Until next time.....

Operation Chair Redo & a Giveaway Winner!!!

Hello everyone...:) I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend so far! I sure am. I started my day with some flea market shopping with the hubby and found some great junk stuff! Many of the items are for my ETSY store, but I did manage to find some treasures for myself as well! (I never fail to find things for myself...lol!) I am going to share those with you in a bit, but first I want to show you my chairs I have been working on! I have had these chairs for a few years now. They came from a teacher friend's classroom when she retired. Here is a before from the first time I recovered them (they used to be olive green leather....lovely).

These chairs were made in 1970 by the Ashmore furniture company. The original tags are underneath the seats. 

They also used to belong to the University of Florida...

Ok....here is the after!

I am in love! I have been wanting to recover them for a few weeks....since I found this gorgeous fabric at the thrift store! I am so glad I spotted this beautiful cabbage rose print linen. It is by 5th Avenue Designs and is from the early 90's...so it's vintage! I love the gorgeous shades of pink and green and the robin's egg blue in the background. See the strawberries? There are raspberries too! This fabric is so much better on these chairs....they needed a larger print. These colors go so well with the look I am trying to achieve in my home too. These chairs reside in my little library space which I will be sharing soon. I have been working in there and adding in lots of my recent thrifty finds! So....what do you think of my chairs?

OK..., here are a few of the thrifty finds from today's haul!

First up is this sweet little ironstone pitcher....made in Brazil! 

$1

I also bought these beautiful salad plates from the same sweet little old man.  

They were $2 for all 4!

They are Dane by Colonial Pottery in Stoke, England. I also got this pretty little wooden box which I had planned to repaint, but after I scrubbed it up, I decided not to. 

I love the shabby, worn look of it! 

It was $1!

I found this pretty old rose print which I had intended to put in my ETSY store, but I have decided it needs to stay with me...:) It's too pretty to get rid of!

It was $1 as well...:)

I found this pretty old glass jar with a wooden lid at the same booth. I painted the lid white and love it! It was also $1!

I found this gorgeous Limoges platter and had to have it despite the chip! It is staying with me and I don't care about the little chip! I found one just like it on ebay for $54.50 so I feel pretty good only paying $2 for mine...:)

See the little chip at the bottom? 

Look at the pretty handles! And the gold trim is in really good shape!'

So....$8 for all my treasures! At least for the things I am keeping. I bought several things for my store as well!

OK....if you're still with me, it's time to announce the giveaway winner!!! I ended up putting in everyone's name in a list on random.org and and the first name on the list it generated was....

Congratulations Stephanie!!!

Stephanie has a lovely blog......

If you've never visited her, you should! Her blog is so charming...:) 

Congratulations again Stephanie....I'll be contacting you soon to get your address! 

I would like to thank each and every one of you special ladies for following me! 

I wish I could send you all a gift...but since I can't, I give you the gift of friendship...:) 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Until next time.....