thrifty finds

It's been a while since I shared any thrifty finds. Pickings have been slim lately but last Saturday we found two fun items.

A vintage bicycle! For $26.

I especially love the basket!

The bike seems to never have been ridden, just sat in a barn for thirty years. It was very dusty and a little rusty. Michael cleaned and oiled it and it was good to go. It didn't even need a new chain or tires.

Vista Sophisticate. I don't know much about it, but it sure is cute!

Ezra got a ride in the basket. We normally wouldn't do that or ride without helmets but for a quick ride on our quiet residential street we broke the rules.

Spectator Mary Jane's for Gemma.

They won't fit her for a while but they were too cute to pass up.

Only $5 and have never been worn!

What about you? Have you thrifted anything great lately?

before and after: orange bookcase

In lieu Five Things Friday I am going to show off my pretty new bookcase that I mentioned last week.

I have been craving two things for our main living space; more storage and color. I had decided to buy the expedit bookcase from IKEA. It was fairly inexpensive and would give us the needed storage space even though it's bland and cheaply made. The day before my IKEA run I swung by the Salvation Army nearest my house and found this:

I knew immediately that she was going home with me and I knew just what I was going to do with her! I had just seen this a couple of days previous and loved it. Michael helped me add the vertical pieces. I chose Benjamin Moore oil paint (this piece is going to see a lot of wear and oil is so much more durable than latex) in Tawny Day Lily. It is the perfect reddish orange color (though it appears more red in the photos than it really is).

The bookcase was tagged at $50. I was able to get 10% off. $45 is still a ton of money for me to spend on thrifted furniture but this bookcase was perfect! So much better than the expedit I was planning on spending $70 on. My thrifted bookcase is solid wood and it's longer and narrower than the expedit. It fits in my family room perfectly! With the cost of paint, I spent about the same as the expedit shelves but I got something that is unique and won't fall apart in a year!

On top of the bookcase I have a little teal lamp from Target, a rose votive (Michael bought it for me at a local boutique), two thrifted books- I loved the pretty printed covers, and a little bird- also from Target, a few years ago.

I am really, really happy with it. So happy that I don't want to put anything in it! But this house is lived in. It's not a museum. There will soon be library books and baskets of toys and diapers filling these shelves. As they should be.

Happy weekend!

tissue box makeover

I thrifted this tissue box a few months ago and I finally got around to doing something with it!

I liked the filigree look of the box but I'm not a fan of the brass so I spray painted it a bright, cheery red.

Since the boxes tissues come in are notoriously ugly I wanted to make sure it wouldn't be seen at all while not losing the filigree detail. I bought a piece of white art board for a few dollars at Hobby Lobby and cut it to size. I used a tiny bit of E-6000 glue in the corners to secure the art board.

Now my tissues have a pretty place to reside on my kitchen counter.

It's a silly little thing but it makes me happy!

DIY ring

I have made a goal to start accessorizing more and I hear Forever 21 is the place to go for cute, cheap accessories. So I made a trip to the mall. I rarely go to malls. I really dislike them but I am a sucker for cheap things... so to the mall I went. I found two cute necklaces but that was it. I really wanted a cute ring to wear but all the rings at Forever 21 were HUGE. Not at all realistic. I'm a mom. I change poopy diapers, do dishes, wipe noses, play Go Fish!, and tickle my kids all day. I can't imagine doing all that with a golf ball sized plastic rose attached to my finger! So I decided to make my own ring:

don't you love my wintertime dry, scaly hands?

I started with a pair of vintage clip on earrings. One has several stones missing so I was able to talk the price down to $3. I'll keep the extra around as a back up in case my ring loses stones.

I bought a ring in the jewelery findings section of Hobby Lobby for $1.47.

I removed the clip on part of the earring and glued it to the ring. I used Gorilla Glue because I was out of E-6000. You have to be careful with Gorilla Glue though because it expands as it dries.

I love my new ring! It is just big enough for me; large enough to be eye catching but small enough for daily wear. It cost me $4.47 and a few minutes of my time. Best of all, it is completely unique.

thrifty finds

I mentioned my thrifted desk and night table a couple of weeks ago and had a lot of requests for pictures. Sorry it has taken me so long. I probably should have just waited to share once everything was in it's place but I was so excited when I bought the desk and night table that I couldn't wait to tell you all!

As with most old houses our "Master Bedroom" is pretty small- about 11"8' x 12'8". We don't have a separate office so the desk and book shelves reside in the bedroom making the room feel even smaller. It's tight but it works.

Thrifted night tables (stands? Is there a difference?). The one on the left is Michael's and is the one I bought a few weeks ago for $18. The table on the right is mine. I bought it a few years ago. I don't remember how much I spent for it but I think it was $20 or less.

A close up of Michael's night table. It is not identical to mine but pretty darn close!

Here is the $35 thrifted desk. I love it! We used to have a huge IKEA desk but it wasn't used enough to justify the amount of space it took up. We gave it to my sister-in-law. She works from home and needed a big desk. This desk is the perfect size to be tucked into a corner of our bedroom and with the four drawers it actually has more storage space then the huge desk.

Above the desk I hung the family's silhouettes. They are in desperate need of an update though. We have a whole other person in our family now!

When I bought the desk it came with two butterfly knobs. Definitely not my style!

I found some awesome MCM knobs on eBay but was not willing to pay $25/knob. I bought these egg shaped antique bronze knobs at Lowe's for $2.70/knob. I think they look perfect with the desk.

I haven't been thrifting in a couple of weeks. I am itching to go to day but Liam, my oldest, is home sick. So help me live vicariously through you! What amazing thrifted items have you found recently?

thrifty finds

I knew it had been a while since I had shared my thrifted treasures but I didn't realize it was over nine months ago! I guess it makes sense though, I have been in a thrifting dry spell. With a new baby in January and a long summer with four kids at home there just hasn't been time to thrift. Now that the two big kids are back in school I have had a little bit more freedom.

I found three pieces of milk glass to add to my collection. $2 for this cute footed hobnail dish.

A week or so later I found this ruffle edge hobnail dish at an antique store in Asheville, NC for $9. That's much more than I would normally spend but I really wanted it, so I splurged! I think I will put on top of my dresser to hold my little earrings that are always getting lost in my jewelery box.

At the same antique store I found another bubble bowl. I had to buy it! $6, not bad for antique store prices.

The silver basket set me back $1.50 (marked down from $3) not as impressive as Melissa's silver baskets at $0.75 each, but still a good deal.

The triple strand green necklace was $5.

I fell in love with this filigree tissue box holder. It reminds me of my grandma, she had lots of filigree items in her bedroom. I think I may spray paint it. It's been ages since I have spray painted anything. I paid $5- another antique store purchase.

This green necklace was a better deal at $3, plus I think it's even cuter.

I never find doilies at the thrift stores. I found a pile of them at an antique store so I bought every single one they had. Not sure what I will do with them yet, there are so many cute doily projects out there. $4.75.

$37.25 total. That is a lot more than I normally spend thrifting (darn those antique stores!) but I don't have buyers remorse about any of the items so I guess they were worth it! What about you? Any amazing thrifting finds lately?

thrifty finds

I didn't find a lot last week thrifting but I LOVE the two items I bought.

First this bowl that mentioned yesterday. I love white. I love polka dots. This bowl was just meant for me! $2.


At the same store I found this mid-century sideboard. For the last five years or so we have had a dresser masquerading as a sideboard in the dining room. It has worked very well but I have always been on the look out for a real sideboard. When I spotted this piece I knew it was the one! It had only been there a few days but luckily the manager was willing to negotiate on the price. I got it for $30.


I couldn't fit it in the van that day so we had to go back and pick it up on Saturday. When Michael saw it he said "I am not sure this was worth $30". It told him to trust me but seeing it again I was secretly wondering the same thing. It had some scratches on the sides, the legs were loose, it was really dirty and worst of all it had cup rings and cat foot prints (eww!) all over the top that I couldn't get off with normal cleaning. Michael tightened the legs. I cleaned the entire thing inside and out and polished it. Then Michael lightly sanded the top and put on a couple of coats of poly. Good as new and definitely worth $30!


The new sideboard is actually a little smaller than the dresser which works well because we now have more room to maneuver around the table.

Did you have luck at the thrift stores last week?

the hutch

My friend Meredith recently reminded me that I have never "revealed" my thrifted hutch that I painted months and months ago. This is a common problem I have. I sew something, paint something or bake/cook something and plan to blog about it but I just keep forgetting. It gets worse with every year and every pregnancy. Someday I fully expect to forget I even have a blog!

Anyhow, here is the finished hutch:

Here is a reminder of the hutch before:

I was really unsure of what color to paint it. I considered aqua, green or white. I am really happy with the blue I finally decided on. It's Kerry Blue Terrier by Martha Stewart. It goes really well with the dining room curtains which was just luck considering I found the curtain material after I painted the hutch.

I filled the hutch with all my pretty white things. Most of them are thrifted, one gifted, a few from IKEA (the teardrop vases) and a couple from CB2.


This cute bubble bowl is my most recent thrift store find. I love it! $2.

Thanks for helping me remember Mer!

this weeks thrifty finds

Some weeks I find nothing at the thrift stores. Other weeks I find several great things. This was one of the good weeks!

A couple of years ago my sister-in-law bought an awesome white lamp that I totally coveted. I finally found one almost identical to hers! It was only $4.99! I love the shape. I put it in my bedroom replacing the yellow lamp. I was ready for a change so this lamp came at the perfect time!


This $1 box caught my eye. I love the colors and flatware design inside.


At first sight, I wasn't interested in the recipes and cards inside but after flipping through them some of the recipes look really good and the dividers have helpful information like this place setting guide. Plus the cards have a nice clean design with great colors. I couldn't find a name on the box or cards but it looks like something Real Simple would have produced.


-Three wreath forms (I gave one to my sister-in-law Laura. She is going to make this super cute wreath!) $0.50 for the large one and $.025 for the small wreaths.
-I love these vintage red satin Christmas balls- eight for $.025. I am hoping to find more of these before we get a tree.
-The gold sparkle star was a 'splurge' at $1.99 but I really liked it.
-I am hoping that my old friend spray paint will help me transform this sad little tree ($0.99) into a glossy beauty like this.


Last, and one of my favorites, I found these adorable shoes for Ezra. He has very wide, chubby feet and it is almost impossible to find shoes that fit. These shoes give him plenty of room and they were $1.50 and in unworn condition!


Total: $11.72. Not too shabby! Have you thrifted anything great lately?