Showing posts with label Thrifting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thrifting. Show all posts

Friday, July 12, 2013

Stuff....

July 12, 2013

I'm going to change the name of my blog to Marie Likes to Keep Busy...

I haven't stamped in months or done any papercrafting for a while!

My son graduated from High School in June, my daughter is transferring universities and possibly moving and I had some health issues to deal with so the time has just rolled by.

I've been busy crocheting scarves and hats for the upcoming craft market season and in between I've been visiting my local thrift shops and keeping an eye out for "FREE" stuff by the side of the road.

Here's a few things I've picked up recently.

I love these leopard peep toe shoes - got them for $11.99 at a local thrift store!



I picked up this headboard in an alley near my daughter's rental in the city.  Of course I spray painted it!
It was originally that pink coloured pickled pine look with the cane panels.



I also spray painted this pineapple lamp that we inherited from our friend Jim - it was originally gold toned.



It's times like this I wish I had taken some "befores".


Saturday, May 19, 2012

More DIY and Thrifting...

May 19, 2012

Sorry I haven't posted much lately....I have been very busy doing "stuff".

After I helped my DD move into her student rental house I got caught up with all the little jobs that needed to be done there.

First off she needed to paint her room.  The walls were red and the closet had been used as a canvas by the previous tenant - an art student!


 The walls were covered in thumb tacks and those holes needed to be filled.  It took 3 coats of primer to cover the closet walls and 1 coat of primer sealer to cover the red walls!
 Here's what it looks like now - the colour is by Dulux and it's called Sanctuary.

After we painted we got her some furniture - Ikea - and organized her new room.

It still felt so bare so we started looking for other furniture and other little pieces to make it feel like a home and not a squatter's hovel.

Checking out the local Thrift Stores I found some living room chairs for her as well as frames, and artwork.




I must admit that I have become addicted to thrifting and find myself at a Thrift Store at lease once a week.

I'm not much into old clothes but I have found a lot of cool stuff.

Here's a couple of my latest finds:

I found this cool Van Gogh portrait that is actually a mosaic.

The bedroom doors all had chalkboard squares painted on them 
so we used a $1 frame and some foam tape to make it look a bit nicer.

I picked up this oval frame with glass and we're going to make it into a dry erase board.  
It doesn't even need to be paint - it just needs some neutral fabric or canvas to put behind the glass.

Doing all this stuff for DD and thrifting has really motivated me to do some things around my own home.

Since I was shopping for curtains for DD's new room (at the rental) I picked up some curtains for her room at home (on the to do list for over 1 year now) and for my living room and dining room.  I got some curtains that are a lighter colour and lighter weight - I had corduroy and velvet curtains in these rooms before..

 As well I finally got around to putting up a curtain rod in my bedroom and putting up the curtain panels I've had for 6 years.  This job was on my to do list for almost 8 years now - where does the time go???

And I finished turning my "found" picture frames into cork boards.

Click HERE for the BEFORE and now this is the FINISHED.
 These frames were not in very good shape but spray paint hides a lot!
And they are big!  This one is 14 x 16 and the other one is 20 x 24.
 I used foam core board as my base, glued on the cork sheet (with white glue) and then used these mounting clips to secure the cork to the board.

Well that's enough for this post..

I've got more projects planned - both papercrafts and DIY - so check back if you like!


Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Getting there...

April 17, 2012

Last night I loaded up my thrift store spinning thingy with my technique swap samples. 

Now all I need to do is give it a spin to be inspired to try a new technique!
Over the weekend I made a quick dash out to IKEA and picked up a couple of kitchen racks to accomodate more punches.  See the new longer rack on the very bottom?

I added a smaller one here for more punches and I found a space for my flat SU! punches too!
I was a bit bummed that they didn't have the same kind of rack as what I started with but this style is ok and with all the punches you can't really see the rack!

I also finished my mother-in-law's birthday gift - I made her a bronze and gunmetal chainmaille bracelet. 



Until Next Time!
Marie

Monday, April 16, 2012

Wooden Desk Chair

April 16, 2012

Today I had to take my car in for service and there happened to be a thrift store on my way home.  Luckily I had my Pathfinder with me because I scored this great wooden desk chair for $10!!

I'm thinking about spray painting it - black?


UPDATE - here is the finished chair



Until next time...
Marie

Friday, April 13, 2012

Thrifting...

April 13., 2012

Today I did a little shopping at a couple of local thrift stores and I even hit a consignment furniture store.  I'm getting in the habit of checking in at these places at least once a week.

My daughter is moving out to a house she'll share with 3 other poor university students. So I'm looking for specific items and I'm being very choosey.

That's an empty house so that means she'll need pretty much everything from can opener to couch!

You already saw the chairs that I'm spray painting for her - yep I found those at a thrift store!

Today I saw lots of cool items but I only bought 2 things - and one of them was for me!

First I found this vacuum for the DD's new place.  We've got central vac at home so I can't bring our vacuum to help her clean up on moving day.  This little guy should do the trick.

Then I bought this for me....

it's one of those spinning alpha thingys.  I plan on using it to organize my technique samples.

I'm also a Freecycle member and this morning I picked up a table to go with the chairs - that is after I spray paint the white parts black and stain/seal the top. 

This table seats 6 and it was Free!  Thanks to Donna!


The girls would really like a farmhouse style table like this one for $700 but they'll just have to be happy with the FREE one!

Consignment Canada (on Pemberton in North Vancouver) is an awesome place to go if you are looking for good quality second hand furniture - a big step up from the thrift stores - and they are jam packed with tables, chairs, couches, and more.

I've got some more painting to do this weekend and maybe a trip to IKEA.

So I'll finish off this post with a few photos of some interesting things I saw at the thrift store....

Old luggage for $15 each...
 this one had a purple satin lining!
This dresser/sideboard was solid wood and only $50!
I would have loved to have picked this one up and spray painted it a fun colour like this one from Pinterest.

Pinned Image

But it's too big for DD and I have no space for it at my house! Darn!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Until Next Time!
Marie