Snowball fight!

This guy will find a special place among all my Christmas things this year.

Desk

This one, I can't believe I don't have a before picture. If I do I can't find it. Anyway, this desk was a freebie. I didn't need a desk. My kids didn't need a desk. But it was free. Who am I to say no to that? In it's previous life this desk was blue. I like blue, but it was what I call Country Blue. You know that lighter blue that was popular in the 80's? The previous owners of our home loved Country Blue and pretty much every room in our house is painted in this color. I have gotten it out of our kitchen, but I still need to get it out of the rest of the house.

Back to the desk: I have always seen in magazines where they use wallpaper, old maps, or other paper to cover drawers. I've always wanted to do that. I picked up this wallpaper border on clearance at Wal-mart. It's from their Better Homes and Gardens line and it was $3. This was one of my "I don't know what I'll do with it, but I'm sure a project will come along someday" purchases. The rest of the desk is painted, in you guessed it, Colonial Cream. I think it might be a little too much on the wallpaper. I keep going back and forth on it. But Cordelia likes it and I guess that's all that matters, because it's her desk.

I looked everywhere for handles, but never found any I really, really liked. So I spray painted the original gold metal handles in a cream color. Perfect.

Chalkboard

Sorry, I don't have a before picture. But this was a basic wood shelf I got at a thrift store for $4. The open area must have held a picture or something, but I painted the back board with chalkboard paint. Then I used some more of my Colonial Cream paint for the rest. And of course, I "shabbied" it up a little. This shelf found a home on our wall right as you come in our front door.

Halloween

I finally got my Halloween decorations up this last weekend. I'm pretty happy with my new "window display". I got the window last year at Junkfest for $5. The middle pane was broken out so I just removed that one. It's been sitting in the garage for over a year so I finally got it in the house and thought it would look good with some Halloween decorations.

Of course everything is super thrifty. I got the ribbon at a thrift store recently for 75 cents. At the time I didn't know what I would do with it, but I liked the colors. The round silver piece is actually the lid of a frozen juice container. The scrapbook paper is from Wal-mart that was in a pack of 5 or 6 Halloween prints for 97 cents. And the letters are from the dollar store in Mandan.

I love this skull. I found it at a thrift store for a dollar. It's actually really ugly and scary looking. Perfect for Halloween. I got the Hamlet book in a box of books at an auction earlier this year.

Book bin

This is something I found at a rummage sale in Carrington after Junkfest. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I liked it and at a dollar I couldn't let it sit. I wish I would have taken a before picture because it was rather ugly, but I get excited and get going on projects right away sometimes. So imagine it before as an ugly brown wood shelf.

One of my favorite thrifty tips is to check out the "mis-mixed" paint in paint departments. I found this great gallon of paint called Colonial Cream at Wal-mart for half off the original price. I used that color on this book bin, then sanded some edges to give it a shabby look. I spent a long time deciding on a rub-on to put on the front, but finally settled on the little girl and saying. Originally, I wanted to put this in the bathroom for magazines, but this will now be going in Cordelia's room.

Fun photos

While on vacation this summer, I was able to pop into a few antique stores. I found some fun treasures including a bunch of slides for $2.00. I've seen many craft projects with slides that I've wanted to try so I figured one way or another I would use them for something. For fun I had to look at the slides when we got back to the hotel. There were a lot of landscapes, but the ones with people in them were great. Here's a few of my favorites. Lots of good hunting and fishing shots. There's also a picture of two women with a string full of fish that I really liked.

I'm guessing someone had fun in Hawaii.

Happy boys.

Wish the booze was more in focus. But maybe the photographer thought it was in focus.

I'm not exactly sure what I want to do with the photos yet. I have some ideas and I'll be sure to post the finished product when I'm done. I only had about 20 of the slides scanned to disc, but they turned out so good, I'll probably bring in some more to be scanned.

Halloween fun

Halloween is one of my favorite times for crafting. It's just a lot of fun letting your dark and wicked side out. And I love upcycling and using things in a way they were not intended. For this project I took a cheese tray found at a thrift store, spray painted the base black and put a rub-on on the glass. Last year I put a small skull under the glass, but this year I found this great white rat and fly at Wal-mart. I found some more great Halloween rub-ons and a couple more cheese trays recently so I think I have to get some more rats or other creepy stuff.

Glitter bulbs

I saw this project somewhere last Christmas and have been picking up cheap bulbs when I see them at thrift stores. I think we made about 50 of them already and I know I have another big Ziploc bag in with my Christmas stuff yet. And yes, it may be too early to be doing a Christmas project, but most of my crafty stuff is currently packed up and I had picked these bulbs up the other day and really needed to do something crafty. This project is super easy. You will need bulbs (I bought a few strings and just unscrewed them from the string), school glue and glitter. I thinned the glue a little by mixing in a little water. Apply the glue, roll in glitter and you're done!

I even got a couple of helpers! This is a fun and messy project for kids. Torii said he likes arts and crafts. He's my junkin' and repurposing partner now.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea. When I saw this project, the crafter had put the bulbs in one of those tall, thin flower vases. I think they would look neat in a bowl too.

Junkfest

I had a good time at Junkfest although I didn't find as much as I thought or maybe I hoped I would. Still I had a great time. Torii decided to go with me. He's becoming my junkin' partner. I wasn't sure about the patterns, but when I got home and got a better look at them, I was happy I got them. There are some cute little kid ones. There's a few apron ones I like too, which is what I really wanted.
Some of these things are from the rummage sales that we hit in Carrington after Junkfest. I think we had more success with the rummage sales.

This was my find of the day. It was also my first find. And four dollars! It is currently propped up in the corner on a cabinet in the bathroom until I find a better place for it.

I have a really bad junkin' bug now. I want to go find some more treasures. But until then, I've also got a major repurposing/crafting bug too and have been working on some projects. Hopefully I can get those done soon and I'll post pictures when I do.

My thinking spot

This is one of my favorite spots in the house. It's our back entryway. I like to sit here with a good book and relax. And hide from the kids. My favorite thing about this room, is that everything has come from years of searching. The great thing about thrift stores, rummage sales, etc. is that you'll never know what you'll find. And I love that you can't find this stuff at Target or some other big box store. My other favorite thing: the price. This room came together much cheaper than if I bought everything new too. So here's what my room cost me:
The white bench: $30-thrift store
Picnic baskets (which makes for great storage totes): can't remember exactly but together less than $15-thrift stores
Pillow cover(It's Washington, D.C., kind of hard to see)-25 cents-thrift store
Flag-$5-thrift store
Flag picture-$5-auction
And pulled together, doesn't this look much better than new stuff?


And the best art around provided by my kids. Sometimes I feel like such a bad mom because I don't display their artwork. I thought this was the perfect spot to display some of their best work. They love having their work displayed too.

Chair redo

There is a couple of thrift stores close enough to work that I've become quite a frequent shopper. I stop at least once a week during my lunch break. Last week I saw this ugly chair at one thrift store. It was only $4.50, but not knowing immediately what I would do with and also to avoid the wrath of Fred who thinks there is enough projects in the garage, I let it sit. That afternoon I knew exactly what I would do with it. The next day was pure torture as I waited for my lunch break. Thankfully it was still there and I snatched it up. And viola, here it is. I made the little table a chalk board and found some cute fabric for the chair. I'm pretty proud of the piping I did on the top part of the chair. It's not perfect, but it was my first time using piping and I did a pretty good job.

When I bought this I really didn't have any intention to keep it, but I noticed a place in my bedroom where it would fit perfectly. I like it too much to give it up right now.

Side table remake

This is a side table I got at the auction. Nobody was bidding on it so I took it for a buck. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it so I let Cordelia help me. She picked out the color. I wasn't too sure about her color choice, but I let her pick it so I had to go with it.

I got the basket at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $5.00. It looks so cute with Cordelia's color choice. Now I'm happy she picked that color.

I also let Cordelia pick out the drawer knob. Like any good repurposer I have an assortment in my crafty stash waiting to be used someday. I got this knob at Michael's last winter in their dollar section! So for about $10 Cordelia has a little table for her room once we get the boys out of it.

Propeller

This was one of my favorite buys from the auction this past weekend. I bought it on the spur of the moment even though I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I just knew I needed to have it. I spent $7.50 on it. Dad laughed because mom just bought one the other day at a rummage sale. I had no idea. Great minds think alike, right? It took me about 5 minutes to come up with this idea. It's going on Rion's desk in his new industrial themed room. Propeller pencil holder:

P.S. Rion loves it!

Activity center centerpiece

This is a project that has been on my mental checklist for years. I saw it some where years ago, but I'm not sure where. I figured this would be an easy project to accomplish because who uses lazy susans anymore anyway? So finally after years of searching I found a lazy susan at the good old Lincoln rummage sales for a whole buck. A coat of primer and two coats of chalkboard paint and the kids have a cool little centerpiece for their activity table (which I now need to find since they don't officially have one). And I'm so happy about the tin with crayons. Mom has one and I've been jealous of it forever. Got it at the auction this weekend for $2.50 with a box full of other fun junk. And the paper around the little candle holder with the chalk in it is from an old Golden Dictionary (that I got at one of my favorite sales- the library's used book sale) that I just copied and taped around it.

Game night

Mom and I were out junkin' and thriftin' over the weekend. I found this great exercise Twist Board at a thrift store for $3. It has a swivel on the bottom so I had planned on using it as a lazy susan. I just love the graphics on it so I had to get it. I had a few ideas for my lazy susan, but I started having a lot of fun with the games theme so I continued with that. I'm going to do a couple more themes when I have time, but for now it's games.

I printed the Monopoly rules on some vellum and put that around the large candle. In the dish is extra Sorry playing pieces I had. Sometimes I get after myself for having so much stuff, but when a project comes together like this, I'm so happy I've collected all of these things.

The spring has the Clue case file and the candlestick attached to it. I put pencils inside the test tube inside the spring. I just keep finding more and more uses for those springs.

Monopoly coasters

Wine charms made out of Poker chips. I had gotten these poker chips probably 2 years ago for 50 cents. I knew I would eventually find a use for them.

The only new item in this project was the Twist Board. Everything else was in my craft stash. Hooray for being a pack rat!

Homemade stamp

Inspiration found here: http://dalemackey.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/make-a-kid-stamp/ Rion can be such a good artist when he wants to be. I always liked his drawing of a penguin. Now it's a stamp. I think it might go on Christmas cards. Now Torii wants to draw something so I can make it into a stamp too.

Pillow case dresses

A co-worker recently had a craft book and this was one of the ideas in it. It's super easy and so cute. This is really close to the one I made: http://www.ehow.com/how_4422889_make-pillowcase-dress.html. Or just google "pillowcase dresses" and you'll get a bunch of results. I found both of these pillowcases at thrift stores for about 50 cents each. I had to buy bias tape and elastic, but that was the only other expenses. Cute, cheap and recycled! For the yellow one I embrodered a heart at the bottom just so it wouldn't be so plain.

$3.00 window hanging.

I love to thrift store shop now. I haven't really looked at our thrift store's in town until recently. I have found some great 'junk' finds. I just picked up some little ugly wood picture frames and I knew right away what I wanted to do with them. I've been having fun with little quote stuff as you can probably see with my last post. :P They are just so cute to play with. Laurie, this one is for you if you want it, I can send it over. Let me know if you would like it or not. It would look cute hanging in a window or just on a wall. it looks super cute also. I also have one for you stacy with a football logo on it. :D