Evalyse Goes To Goodwill

This should be entitled "Evalyse Goes To The Plaza", but grandma hasn't won Lotto yet! 

Well, it was bound to happen.  This weekend I went out with my daughter and granddaughter, and in our quest to find some lamps for my daughter's apartment we hit Goodwill {and Pier 1 as they had some on Clearance}.  We saw a few possibilities but came away with these darlings.

I have a small shade that I picked up at the Restoration Hardware outlet over the Summer for the smaller lamp.  She will use this on an entry table/shelf by their door so when they come in they can switch a light on.  I will be spray painting this little one black.  It had a paper shade, but it was crap so I threw it out when we got home.

We also found this larger more solid lamp {no shade} in a sage green color.  It would be okay "as is" but I will also be spray painting this lamp black.  It has a little crack in the base, but once I fix it up, it will be hardly noticeable.  Both lamps are wood.  I'll pick up a shade at Target for this one.  She decided to go with black on these lamps to go with the black one we purchased on Clearance at Pier 1. 

Of course, we couldn't leave without my looking things over and I came away with these items.

A brand new cloche!  It has a gold band along the bottom that seems like it is painted on, so I may just paint over it or see if I can attach ribbon or something.  It would be great if I got lucky and it just peeled off smoothly.

This cheese dome.  The dome itself is plastic and that hit the garbage once I got home.  I really wanted this for the wood base.  A clean up, some Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint and I have a base for my new cloche.  If I can find a wood candle stick somewhere along the line, I'll glue that to the bottom of the base to give it some height.

Lastly, I found this wooden dish/tray/stand/thingy.  I had seen this on someone else's blog awhile ago{maybe Thrifty Decor Chick or Beneath My Heart} and it was spray painted ~ white, I believe.  I'm not sure if I want to go with Heirloom White, ORB or black with this one.  So, I'll think on that one for a bit.

Update: I managed to get these pieces spray painted {except for the large lamp which I patched up with wood fill} on Sunday.   The smaller lamp is now black.

The wood base from the cheese platter/dome is now Oil Rubbed Bronze.  I still need to deal with the gold rim on the cloche before I pair these two up.



My favorite so far is this stand, which I painted in Heirloom White.

Not sure where it's going yet, but for a picture I put it on my kitchen table. 

Evalyse loved everything we got!  Although someone got a little cranky when we were waiting on line; but that's only because I didn't have my breakfast.  : )  It was lovely to spend a little time out shopping with my girls!

Linking up with:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Bobbypins Boardwalk Bragfest

Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous

Thrifty Finds

I haven’t been to Goodwill since early December and I was itching to get in there.  When hubby told me to look for a piece to put the flat panel television on in our bedroom, so that he doesn’t have to mount it to the wall ~ well, you don’t have to tell me twice!

I figured before I look to buy something new, let me see what I can find at Goodwill.  Well, I found nothing at Goodwill.  The Goodwill I go to doesn’t have too much in furniture pieces {although, my son did get that brand new storage ottoman, with the tags from Target still on it for $24.99}.   I found these things instead!


Projects came to mind as soon as I saw a few of these things.  The silver trays just said to me, “here’s your chance to try chalkboard paint” and I said, “Yes, it is!”.  These were probably the most I paid for any one item ~ $7.99 and $6.99.  I wasn’t sure if that was good or not, but they were shiny and I kind of go into a dazed state when I see shiny things.

I couldn’t resist this cute little clock!  I love it!  It’s a whimsical little piece even if it is plastic.  It was $1.49 and when I got home and put batteries in it, it worked!  The cute little pendulum swings back and forth, too!  Too much cuteness!  I just cleaned it and added it to my mantel in the den {as of this posting it's now on my foyer chest}.  The little shoe was $1.99 and is on a shelf in my closet.

I almost didn’t get these leaf shelves.  I stood and looked at them for a good 5 minutes before I thought, “What would Miss Mustard Seed do?”.  Well, of course, she’d get them and paint them!   At $1.99 each it was a good deal.  Everything is intact; that color just needs to go.  What do you think?  White or black for use in my living room?


As soon as I saw these cute little teacups and saucers I knew they would be perfect for pincushions!  You can see how small they are using the jewelry pieces for scale.  Sherry over at Creations From My Heart makes some gorgeous pincushions and I thought I’d try my hand at it.  I have so many sample fabric pieces lying around that I’m sure I’ll find something I can use for these.   This was $1.96 for all four pieces.


While checking out, I saw a couple of pieces of jewelry in the case and asked to see them.  The gold piece is a pin with a filigree design to it and the other turned out to be a pair of clip-on earrings with these great dangles.   I thought these might make great embellishments to some future project so I got those as well.  $2.99 for the earrings and $1.99 for the pin. 

All in all, I spent about $35.00!  Not bad and it gives me at least three totally different projects I can work on. 

Linking up to Frugalicious Friday over at Finding Fabulous! 


The Ashley Brooke Design Giveaway for 10 Valentine's Day cards ends tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST.   Don't forget to enter!

A Rainy Saturday At Goodwill Brightens My Day

I took a trip to Goodwill this morning and my son {19} tagged along with me. I figured it had been a couple of weeks since the first time I ever went to Goodwill and they would probably have some "newer" stuff out.

Frames were on my mind this trip because I have some projects I'd like to make and I needed frames. I found these two that had kind of an antiquey look to them that I thought might work for one project. I'll be posting that Monday. These frames were $2.99 each.

I also found these Christmas frames ~ new in box! One I'm going to give as a gift and the "Let It Snow" one I'm keeping, since it matches a pillow I won from a giveaway by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. These frames were also $2.99 each.

I was looking for pillar candle holders to paint and/or transform, but they didn't have any. I did find these cute little pots though. I may leave the one with polka dots alone, except try to make the dots white {they are more cream or tan right now}. The other one I will definitely paint. I think they are asking for a couple of cute little topiaries to dress them up. The pots were $.99 each!

Here is what I consider the scores of this trip.

I was fully prepared to do some shoving, grabbing and poking {only if necessary} when I saw this fabric. Which turned out not to be fabric but a curtain panel! It's still destined to be pillows and whatever else I can get out of it. I did start to sweat a little bit at the register because the cashier couldn't find a price sticker and they have a sign up that says "No price tag, no sale, no exceptions!". I tried to play it cool and look like I didn't care, but inside I was saying "please, please, please". I got it for $2.99!

The ultimate score was this storage ottoman my son found as soon as we walked in. The tags are still on it! It has a little tear in the top corner, which you can't even see unless you look. When we got home I checked Target online ~ this retails for $80.00. He got it for $25.00!! {Well, I paid, so I got it for $25.00 for him}.

Did I say the tags were still on it! Here it is with the lid up.

Here's the tear. Yeah, I know, you can't even see it unless you are that close to it!

Total spent: about $53.00! I'm thinking this is a pretty good Goodwill!

My First Venture Into The World Of Goodwill

After constantly reading about all the great finds other bloggers come across at Goodwill, I made my first trip to the local Goodwill this morning. I believe the term you veteran GW'ers {look at me, still a newbie and using the acronym!} use is SCORE!

I took $40.00 cash with me and wanted to see what I could get for that amount or less. I had a few items in mind that I was looking for but, of course, I found none of that. I did find this:



I swore I wouldn't buy another Halloween decoration at this point, but I couldn't resist this witches hat for $.99. The amber colored dishes, which I thought would make a nice way to serve pudding or fruit salad, were $2.99 for the set of 4. And the badly done fruit urn {which, contrary to what you may believe, I bought for the urn and not the fruit} was $2.99. This will be de-fruitified shortly and painted.

But this. This was my real score! Two pre-lit Christmas trees in black urns for $14.99 each! You couldn't even get something like this at Home Goods for $14.99 ~ it would be at least twice that. And ~

. . . . the lights work! The branches need to be fluffed a bit, but I had been planning on getting smaller trees to put in other rooms in my house this year {besides the larger main tree} and I couldn't have asked for better.



Here's a close-up of the urn. I can just picture reindeer moss peeking up over the top of the urns.




In total, with tax, I spent $40.14. So, veteran Goodwill hunters ~ how did I do?

Hooking this post up with Frugalicious Friday over at Finding Fabulous.