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Today's Thrift Shopping Bounty

This afternoon, I set off with-out children to the thrift stores. I had no real idea what I was looking for, I just wanted to get out of the house for an hour or so.  Here is the strange mix of things I came home with after spending around $30.

1- A french drip coffee maker - most likely never been used - circa. 1975.  A great way to brew coffee with really hot water - a must in our house.

2 - A wicker towel rack.  Totally weird, I know, but I just thought it looked cool.  I'm thinking I will use it to display a quilt in my new sewing room.

3 - 3 new ties to add to death row- They are now waiting to be converted to bow ties.  I have so many standard looking ties in my collection, I'm now trying to find ties that are a bit more wild.  I thought these fit the bill.  Fun, huh?  I can't wait to see how they look in a bow.

4 - Weird cabinet thing - I don't know what this is, but I thought it would look alright in our 50's brick ranch home.  It's really just a wooden cabinet.  My husband things it used to be mounted on the wall, but I don't want to do that with this one.  I'd like to re-line the top, possibly paint it and use it to store linens in our dining room.  For now, it's a fun place for my 1 year old to hide and that's about it.

5 - Throw Pillow- My newest addition to the random handmade and thrifted pillow collection is currently posing as a coal tender for my 3 year old's train (The one with the diagonal stripes and tassels).  He likes to line all the pillows up in a row and pretend they are a big train, then he walks away and the dog thinks he has a new bed.  Once I get around to picking them all up, the whole process starts over again, sometimes involving houses made with couch cushions.  Oh... life with little ones under-toe.

Ikea Scrap Fabric into an Adorable Purse

Yesterday, I had the wonderful pleasure of spending the afternoon with a very sweet six year old girl.  The first thing we did together was make a purse.  She completely designed this purse.  Choosing the fabric, size, and decorating it with bows.  She even had ideas of how she wanted the straps and the pockets to be.  I was so impressed with her enthusasm and we had so much fun creating.  She told me I'd be a good mom to girls... maybe someday.  Or maybe I'll just have to have fun with other people's daughters.

One great thing was that all this fabric was FREE from IKEA.  They have a bin filled with small pieces of remnants that they said I could take.  The pieces were very small, but not too small to make a purse, apparently.  If you are a sewer, check out your IKEA for super fun free fabric.

I'm thinking about taking some of the pieces I have to decoupage a shelf... but that's a post for another day.

The Chair is Recovered

It took a lot of strength.  My back is actually sore today from all the tugging and pulling it takes to recover a chair.  But it is done and was very much worth it.  The fabric I bought was from Hancock Fabrics and it really wasn't cheap- even though it was 50% off.  I bought two yards and that was just about perfect.  I have enough leftover to use to make a small accent pillow for the couch but that's it.  

Photo credit- Hancock Fabrics.

The fabric is called Zanzibar Odessa Mist Decorator Fabric and I just loved the softness of both the look and feel of it.  It has a lovely design but it isn't overpowering and coordinates well with other things we have.  

Total money invested was $10 for the chair and $25 for the fabric.  If you're more savvy, you can easily find much cheaper fabric, I just fell in love with this one and couldn't be swayed.  Now I'm thinking of asking the lady with the peacock farm from our church to share her feathers with me so I can use them to accent this chair.  

I have another home decor project involving fabric planned for today.  I'm excited about it.  Stay tuned.

Four days, four projects

OK, I've got only 4 days to create a giant mess and clean it all up before my husband gets home.  I have a couple of bigger projects in mind and a couple of little projects in mind as well.  We'll see how productive I can be while caring for the little ones by myself this week.  

First order of business: Recover this chair.  I purchased it at goodwill for $10 yesterday.  Today I hope to cover it with beautiful fabric.  Bring out the staple gun!

Lucky Me

I received these earrings in the mail thanks to a fabulous giveaway from Snug-N-Luv Handmade.  These Earrings were made by Daisy's Petals.  Please check out all of her handmade Jewelry which is very reasonably priced.  I think every decent man should have a relationship to some degree with someone who makes jewelry so he can surprise and impress his loved one or mother or sister while also supporting an independent artist.  It was the best surprise to find out that I had won such a lovely item.  Owen REALLY loves them too.  I have to make sure his grabby hands are not too close when I wear them.  

I understand, little Owen.  When I see a lady wearing earrings this beautiful, I want to rip them out of her ears and take them for myself too.

Great Success at the Thrift Store Today

We walked in wanting to purchase some giant mirrors to hang in our house but they had already been sold.  We didn't leave emptyhanded though.  Check out all this cool stuff we got.

5 yards waverly canvas fabric ($1)

Stack of books- Less than $2

Vintage Leather Suitcase- $3

Seemingly Unworn Striderite Sandals in Owen's size - $1

MY FAVORITE ITEM:

Vintage Stencil Kit- Unused- including 20 stencils, unused paint and brushes.  Wondering what I should stencil first... Maybe the suitcase?  Or maybe this little key dock we got?

 Key and Letter Dock $2

Stay tuned this week for all sorts of stenciled goodness in Low-Fi Pictures as my camera is off to the hospital and PhotoBooth is all I have left.

Cheers!

Anglo Threads with an Italian Accent

***Note, this is a guest post by Ellie's husband, Andy.***

Usually my contributions to this blog are limited to replacing the occasional comma with a period.  But the illustrious Ellie LaVeer has seen fit to allow me to guest post for a very special occasion.

Behold, Devona's great photo of my 1979 Vespa P-200E, taken back in January.  

I figured another $20 (half off) for this sterling silver Vespa tie bar from Vespa Charlotte was not much after paying $400 in repairs yesterday.

This is one of those things that Ellie really wished she had found and given me as a gift. And it's one of those things I in no wise had to justify purchasing. 

And since this blog often features thrift store finds, I'll call attention some such pictured here: Chaps RL sportcoat, vintage Joe Bank tie, and a Brooks Brothers non-iron button-down.

I think throwing the Vespa tie bar into the ensemble both adds class and disarms those who would otherwise think I was dressed a little bit "pushy".  It also adds a good bit of vintage Italian (which constitutes 25% of my blood) to my otherwise Angl0-Saxon (which constitutes 12.5% of my blood) -inspired garb.  I also think it helps me effectively re-incarnate my late grandfather, Samuel Francis Lichi--the man whose class and knack for thrifting himself into a fantastic and incredibly affordable wardrobe* I will always seek to emulate.  

*Speaking of affordable wardrobes, check out another dapper Italian--this time a young Bostonian named Giuseppe--who has taught me whatever I didn't learn from Papa Sam about thrifting:  An Affordable Wardrobe.

Posted by Andy Stager.

I actually won something

I've commented and registered for many giveaways in my day but until yesterday have not won a single thing. But to my surprise, in yesterday's mail was this super fun green tote bag.  I won it from an earth day giveaway I registered for.

Thank-you to Calypso Studios. You made my day. Seriously, just ask my husband, I was SO excited!

*Photo from Calypso Studios.

Vintage Tray

I found this at the same time as This painting.  Isn't it lovely?  It goes nicely in our front room.

Flowers in the garden

When I came back from my trip to Phoenix I found a blooming rose bush- didn't even know I had a rose bush.  She is mixed in an enormous hedge at the side of the yard.

I also planted a couple of moonflower plants today that I had growing in a pot.  The moonflower is a climber so I planted it next to a pillar by our walkway.  I hope it works (like this lady's vine) Maybe it will climb up the decorative flower first.  The flowers are said to be big, fragrant and attractive to beautiful moths.  

After Andy picked me up from the airport we stopped at the Junior League thrift store and I picked up these babies.  I know I'm like the last person in the world to finally get cool rain/gardening boots, but I couldn't ever justify spending $20 on rubber shoes.  I'm glad I waited.  These were only $8, LLBean brand, quite comfy and they don't go all the way up my leg which makes them much more cool.  I wore them all morning while we played outside in the damp yard.  

And the little white and pink flowers by the boots are begonias.  I planted them just for fun.  As long as I can keep the kids from stepping on them and the dog from peeing on them, they should be in good shape.  I think we've already ruined a few of my begonia plants for those reasons.  Everyone has heard me raise my voice enough to stay clear of my flower patch now.