Today's Thrifty Treasures

Hello again! It's Monday morning. . . er. . . early afternoon. If you haven't gotten out of bed yet, don't bother.
I'm joining Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for Today's Thrifty Treasures, and Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday. Here they are in no particular order:
Up first. . . BOOKS! My little third grader is SO into reading right now. I just couldn't pass up these greats for him at .50 each.


Next comes this little goodie. We're calling her Ugly Bonnie (as to not copy from any well known television shows that may or may not be named something similar) I payed 7.99. I know, a little steep, but I knew that she wouldn't make it until 1/2 off day. Somebody else would have snatched her up by then.



The cute gal at the Goodwill checkout said, "oh, I've had my eye on this one for a while now."

I said, " yeah, it's getting a makeover, but it's cute isn't it?"

She said (with a small tear in her eye) "you're going to paint it? I think it's perfect just the way it is."

I felt a little guilty. But not too guilty. After all, she looks so much better now. Not the gal, the treasure chest. . . silly :) I sanded it, painted it, distressed it, lined it with burlap and stenciled the number on the outside.



Happy Monday!

Thrifty Thursday

Yep, it's that time again. . . Thrifty Thursday at Bloggeritaville and Thrift Store Thursday at Homebody Holly's blog. Here are the finds of the week.

Cute little blue knit dress for my 5-year-old daughter ($ 1.99)

I love the little flowers across the front. After all, every girl needs a little bling, even in Kindergarten.

Circo top in tip top shape for 12-month-old daugher ($1.00)

Mini muffin tin exactly like the one I already have. ($1.99) Yay. . . now it won't take me 2 hours to bake a batch of mini muffins. I'm such a nerd.

Empty grain sacks. . . oh yes, my friends. . . and they're not smelly, or moldy, or yucky in any way. I've got great plans for these. ($2.49)

Giant fork and spoon. LOVE THEM! I've had my eye out for these babies for a while now.

(.99 each)

And, last but not least, check out this sweet little girl that I picked up for only 50 cents! And you thought your neighborhood Goodwill was filled with treasures!

I'm joking, but the little gingham dress was originally a women's shirt ($1.99) that I refashioned into this sweet little dress using a tutorial taught by my pal Connie of Green Apple Orchard. She got the idea from her super creative relative, Dana of MADE. These gals are so amazing and so willing to share their great ideas!

This little pink one was my first attempt. . . the shirt generously donated by Connie herself. I love the belt made from the leftover sleeve cuffs.

Happy thrifty Thursday! xoxo

Knock Off Knock Out Party

Cheri, from It's So Very Cheri, is having a Knock Off Knock Out party today. She asked me to post about my desk. Here is the picture of the desk that inspired me. It's by Kathy Ireland. Price tag: $1,199.00 at Office Furniture.com I liked the black, but a lot of the furniture in my house is black, so I decided to lighten up a little. I also love the drawer pulls here, but since my desk is older, the pulls would have had to be a special order. . . . special order = $. I paid a whopping $10.00 for this desk and I wasn't about to blow that smokin' deal on a few drawer pulls.

Here's my version BEFORE:

And, here it is AFTER:

You can read about the steps taken, and see more pictures here: Old Desk Makeover

Now, head on over to Cheri's place and read about more fabulous Knock out Knock offs!

Clipboards

Today I'm joining Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality for Today's Thrifty Treasures. I've had this photo hanging around in my file for quite a while now. The clipboards were purchased a while back for .50 each. I finally finished refinishing the old desk that I imagined them hanging above. Here's my attempt at a fabulous idea. I'm not sure I pulled it off, with their cute molding and smaller space, it seems to work better.

Here is their version from Martha Stewart.com.



And, here's mine. What do you think? I figure that with a few vertical items on each side of the desk, it will give the clipboards a better feel. I'm still looking for an old ladder and possibly a bookshelf.

$10 desk: Before and after

It's time for thrifty Thursday hosted by Leigh of Bloggeritaville, and Vintage Thingies Thursday hosted by Suzanne of Colorado Lady

Here's the before of the $10 desk, again. I don't know how old this is, but it has names scratched inside the drawers. I left them there. They're meant to be left there. I think this was an old teacher's desk. I really haven't done anything but this for the last 2 weeks, after all, it is 110 outside (and in the garage )


Here is a before of the office:


And, here's the after: (the office is a work in progress)

Here are the steps that were taken:

1. Removed hardware. Stripped the veneer from the top and sanded it down all over.

2. Filled large gouges on top of desk with Elmers wood filler

3. Sanded again

4. primed with white Kiltz stain blocker

5. painted with Behr Premium Plus Saturn Gray in eggshell

6. chugged at least 2 large bottles of gatorade. . . in a row

7. Primed hardware with Rust-oleum rusty metal primer

8. Sprayed hardware with Rust-oleum Metallic finish (Oil Rubbed Bronze)

9. Applied 2nd coat of Behr paint to desk

10. Distressed desk

11. Locked my keys in the car because it was in the driveway instead of in the garage. There was a desk in the way.
12. Top coated desk with minwax polycrylic. 2 coats

13. Lined desk drawers with scrapbook paper (mod podge)

14. Let's be fair, the Golfer re-attached the hardware. . . and moved the desk inside. . . and moved the old desk out. What a good hubby!

I love how it turned out! I especially love that I can fit my printer in the left side and the shelf slides out. I also love the drawer liners! Not bad for a $10 Goodwill find!

Giveaway

My bloggy pal, Tricia, over at Boutelle Family Zoo is having a giveaway. Can you believe it. . . . she's giving away a year subscription to better homes and gardens to two lucky bloggers and a surprise to another blogger. I love giveaways.

Go on, what are you waiting for! Give Tricia a visit and tell her that I sent you.

Giddy

We wandered into Goodwill on Saturday. . . it was meant to be. There it was, sitting there so lonesome, wearing nothing but a 19.99/week 29 sticker. "Don't worry," I said, "I'll bring you home with me." We took the ticket to the front, and, what do you know. . . it was 1/2 off! Turns out that week 29 was the special of the day. $9.99 oh bless my soul! The golfer and I squished it into the back of the trailblazer and tied the back closed (with 3 kids and me strategically placed in the leftover space.) Sometimes you do what you have to do to save an extra trip. . . even with the Goodwill employee eyeing you as though you'd lost your marbles. After all, he did hear me whispering comforting words to a desk.

In the picture, the front pencil drawer has been removed and is off to the side. The golfer had already started taking off the hardware. See, he was anxious too! (The left side is a door that opens up to reveal a slide out shelf. . perfect for the computer hard drive.) We stripped the cheesy veneer from the top to expose the lovely wood underneath and I headed to the store to pick up some heavy duty primer. The sides and back are wood veneer. I'll keep you posted on the finished product. . . along with a home office transformation. It's good to be back in creative mode.

Kreativ Blogger Award

I'm not sure how I keep receiving these awards, since I have been out of the blogging loop for a good month now! How nice! Connie, over at Green Apple Orchard gave me this award. She really is one of the sweetest girls I know. Here are the rules:

The Rules
Thank the person who gave you this award
Copy the logo and place it on your blog
Link to the person who gave you this award
Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting
Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers
Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate
Leave a comment on each of the blogs to let them know that they have been nominated

7 things about myself (If you don't find them fascinating. . . shame on you.)

1. I love to play volleyball
2. My biggest pet peeve is hearing or seeing someone chew with their mouth open
3. My feet are SUPER ticklish
4. I have 4 sisters, no brothers
5. I live in AZ and love the warmth, but I really miss the seasons
6. I'm scared of deep/murky water
7. I love to read

7 blogs that deserve this award

1. Love Your Room
2. Beneath My Heart
3. Marley and Lockyer
4. The Old Painted Cottage
5. Living With Lindsay
6. Artsy Fartsy Finds
7. Simply ReDiscovered

Pass it on!

The time has come my friends. . . for vacations to come to a close and for blogging to begin again. The projects are circling inside my brain. First, I must pass on an award.


I recieved it two months ago, and I've finally come around to passing it on.

The award goes to:

Young House Love

Your blog is fabulous!