Thrifty Finds

I don’t remember if I mentioned that I found a place, by accident.  I thought it was the Goodwill and it turned out to be the local flea and antique mart.  I’ve been in there twice and twice I’ve found things to buy!  Here are my recent finds.

I was sad to see that my dome clock cloche did not make the move intact and I had to throw the glass portion away.   This one is a little bigger than the one I had and had cost $2.00 at a yard sale.  This one was $7.00, which wasn’t too bad considering the original price tag said $15.00.

Also found this little sugar and creamer set tucked away in another booth.  The sugar bowl has no lid, but I just love the design on this little set.  It was $2.50 for both pieces!  Love them and into my “whites” cabinet they go!

Linking up with

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Treasure Hunt Thurs. at From My Front Porch to Yours

Make sure you swing by my Cabbages and Roses giveaway post!  Enter for a chance to win At Home With Country!

Kathy

Quick Tip

I had this metal tray that I picked up from Goodwill last year.  I just added script scrapbook paper to the bottom with Mod Podge {with some on top to protect it}. 

In our new kitchen, I decided I wanted to use it to hold our cooking oils.  This is how I currently had them ~ sitting on paper towel.   I need to find my decorative bottles.  I usually keep these oil containers in a cabinet out of sight, but I like the idea of having them close at hand.

Even with the Mod Podge on top I was afraid it would get some oil residue on the paper.  We had a box of Avery clear page pocket protectors, which I thought would work to protect the bottom of the tray, but also allow me to still see the script paper.

I measured it out with a marker, cut it with scissors and put it in the bottom of the tray.  Now I can have my cooking oils out in my tray and I won’t ruin the paper I had put in the bottom.

You can’t see the plastic, but I can see my pretty scrapbook paper!

Linking up with:

Tricks & Tips Party at In My Own Style

Kathy

My Papered Pumpkins

Let me start out by saying that I will most likely not do this again.  Nope. Not again.  I would buy some that other people make, but I won’t be Mod Podging my fingers up again any time soon.   So let me show you the pumpkins in their finished state first.

I showed you the pumpkins and paper that I had decided to use.  I figured going small would make it an easier project.  I was very much mistaken.  It did not.

I cut my paper into strips, about an inch wide, and had the length go to about the center of the bottom of the pumpkin.  I put Mod Podge on, then a strip, and continued that way.  Because of the shape, you have to go back and fill in the “gaps” with more strips. 

I believe that the Country Living article suggests tearing your toile paper and attaching it that way rather than strips.  And, that may be a  much better idea.  I also think it is a much better idea if you use a larger pumpkin that probably does not have as many grooves to it as these pumpkins. 

I hope this doesn’t discourage others from trying this out if you had planned to; this is just my experience and it probably would have gone easier with larger pumpkins.  Not every project goes smoothly and I like to share the successes and failures with you.

Don’t forget to check out the current giveaway I have going on ~ a copy of Cabbages and Roses book, At Home With Country.  Click here to enter. 

Kathy

Cabbages and Roses Giveaway

This Giveaway Has Ended.

I’ve got a great giveaway to share with you today!   Cabbages and Roses’ At Home With Country! 

With chillier weather approaching don’t you love to curl up with a good decorating book and your favorite warm beverage.  English Country decorating was one of my first loves and I still love it.

Bringing in florals, incorporating my books, and using plates for decorating in my home was inspired by English Country.  I love how Christina Strutt interprets that for today in her book.  Here’s your chance to win a copy of this book.

There’s a lot more to see on the Cabbages and Roses website, as well as the Cabbages and Roses blog. 

To be entered in this giveaway, just leave me a comment on this post.  You can gain additional entries by:

• Blogging about this giveaway and coming back and letting me know in a separate comment;
• Putting this giveaway on your sidebar, come back and let me know in a separate comment;
• Tweeting about this giveaway and coming back and letting me know in a separate comment.

Giveaway will end on November 2, 2011, and is open to U.S. residents.  Winner will be chosen by random number generator.  If you do not have a blog, you must leave me an email address that I can contact you at. Winner will have 72 hours to confirm or a new winner will be chosen.

Kathy

This Giveaway has ended.

Fall Clearance

I love clearance sales!  Just the word makes my ears prick up, my eyes start darting around and the adrenaline starts racing.  Between Michaels and Hobby Lobby this week, I picked through the 50% off bins and racks and got some new Fall décor to add to my now minimal storage availability.  Since before I left New York almost a month ago, I was smitten with these pumpkins pictured on the Country Living cover.

I think everyone was and they have been turning up all over blogland since.  Always one to lag behind the current fad, I had been biding my time to purchase the perfect pumpkins for this project.  I found these little guys. 

The smaller {more orange} one was on a pick.  I cut the stick part off and will do the toile paper on him.  I thought the small ones would be a good size for a first go at this project. 

The second pumpkin is not very attractive at all, but at 50% off, he’ll do and is probably the best recipient of this type of makeover.

He’ll get the harlequin pattern.  I’ll show that project later this week.  I also found this great paper mache pumpkin and a leaf candle ring. 

I had hoped to use it on my white Pier 1 charger under my cloche {and just in time for Marty’s cloche party}, but I always over estimate the size of this cloche. 

The pumpkin is too big! I’m going to leave it without the cloche; that will have to find a new place to rest for now. 

Kathy

Gallery Wall

I have been waiting a long time to get my family pictures back out and up on a wall.  I packed most of them up two years ago when we first went on the market.  I knew I was going to do a gallery wall in our new place, but wasn’t sure where.  Now with the furniture in place, I’m putting it in the living room over the couch wall.

I’ve been saving gallery wall inspiration pictures and most recently Melissa at 320 Sycamore put hers together.  She did a great job!  Here are a few others I've been collecting for inspiration.

I decided to go with black and white pictures.  I went into Photoshop and converted the pictures I wanted to use to black and white.  I went online with CVS {very close to me} and had them printed out there, getting a variety of sizes ranging from 4 x 6 to 8 x 10.  I laid them all out on the floor to play with the lay out.

I used paper, I measured, measured and measured again and the lay out is finally how I want it.  Although, don’t look too closely because things are not perfectly lined up.   Plus, I still have two other pictures to add.

My husband had tears in his eyes when he saw it and I was touched that it touched him.  I found out later that he had been thinking about all the holes I had put in the wall.

I have to admit, I did allow myself a good cry when I was putting these pictures together and did the one of my son and my husband.  My little guy {next to the key and “P”} is a black and white my sister took when she was in college and has always been a favorite of mine.  Of course, here he is earlier this year, cooking with hubby.   I miss him very much and am looking forward to him having a nice amount of time off from school so that he can come visit us and not be rushed.

And my little precious, that will probably see the most changes on this wall.  This picture of the two of us is already old, as she now has curly blonde hair!

I can see this changing a few times a year, as new pictures become favorites, as well as adding a few more to it.  For a very minimal cost, I got a great way to show off family pictures and a nice feature on this large expanse of wall.

Linking up with

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Fall into Fall at DIY by Design

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Kathy

Right Under My Nose!

Not far from the back of my mind has been the rolled canvas I had gotten from Uprinting.com {with the French writing on it}.

I had been looking around before we moved to see what I could put it on and had no luck finding anything premade.  While deciding that my large wall mirrors probably aren’t going to work out, I thought of it again.  My eyes fell on this piece of artwork that I had purchased at Home Goods when I was staging my home for sale. 

Not something I’d normally get for myself, but it worked with the bedding in the guest room I was fixing up.  Guess what?  It’s the perfect size for the canvas and I had it in the thrift store pile.   Thankfully, I gave it a second look.

I painted out the print {three coats of brown craft paint} and cut out the white space around the graphic.  I used a heavy duty spray adhesive to adhere the canvas to it.  My fingers are crossed that it holds.  I don’t use spray adhesive often enough to trust it, but it says “heavy duty”, so we’ll see.

It is just the right size for the “dining” area where it will reside over my painted chest.   This needs a little more going on around it, but that will come with time.  I’ll be looking for stuff!

I need to get some kind of liquor in that decanter and I just placed some of my Halloween brews and potions on this chest.  Not sure if that lamp will stay there.  I had that on my entry foyer chest in the old house, but it’s providing some much needed lighting at night right now.

I’m so happy that worked out.  And it was right under my nose the whole time!

Kathy

Cabinet Back ~ Blah To Better

For the first time I have a glass door cabinet in my kitchen.  Just the one, mind you, but I’m spending too much time focusing on it.  Here it is with my white pieces and some Beatrix Potter figurines {until they can find another home in this condo}.

I thought I might put some of my white everyday dishes along the back to give it some interest, but then I remembered the one million pieces of fabric I have and decided to see if I had one that worked.  I found this gray and white toile-esque called, I believe, Silver Liang, that I got from fabric.com last year.

Since I have enough cardboard boxes here to build forts for about 100 kids, I cut a few pieces using the measurements that I took from the back of the cabinet {height and width}, keeping it just a little bit shorter than the actual size so I could wrap the fabric and have it fit snugly inside.  This way I don’t need to use anything to adhere it to the cabinet back.  Here are the rest of my tools: scissors and shipping tape.  I haven’t found my glue gun yet.  I found the glue sticks, but no glue gun, so shipping tape it is!

I centered the fabric and taped it in place, then popped the piece into the back of the cabinet.  It makes a difference already!

I continued the other two pieces removing my breakables as I went.  Here she is all done!

I may have mentioned previously that I found two battery operated sets of white lights that I put on the top and bottom shelves.  Ideally, I’d like to add a light to the inside of the cabinet.

I have no windows in this kitchen, so it’s going to be a lot of fun to try and photograph this.  I can tell you that it truly looks better in person.

Pretty, plus it covers up the screws that were showing that hold the cabinet in place.  It took me about an hour to do this from start to finish.

Linking up with

Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Fall Into Fall at DIY by Design

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence

Kathy