Knock, Knock! Take Me Home!

Last week as I was taking Allison to school, I saw this beauty leaning on a dumpster at an apartment complex nearby. She was gorgeous! I fell in love instantly! . . . or maybe it was lust!

Anyway. As I was driving by her, I heard this ever so faint little voice saying, "Take me home. You know you want to. Curtis won't mind."  I shook my head and continued to drive.

I dropped Allison off at school and went to pick up some groceries. I'm in the freezer section of the grocery store minding my own business and I hear: "You want me. Take me home. I can make you happy. You'll regret it if you don't." I slowly turned my head to look around for the softly spoken woman's voice. Hmm, strangely enough there was no one there. And the last time I checked neither Ben or Jerry had a softly spoken woman's voice! Could it have been that beauty I saw earlier in the morning? Nah, I wasn't any where near her!

So. I paid for my groceries, loaded them in the car and headed home. Funny thing though, the voice got stronger and louder and SASSIER! It was not a sweet voice any longer. It now said, "TAKE! ME! HOME!"

So I did.

And here she is . . . . . . isn't she just lovely????     

Yay, Curtis thought so too. Well, maybe not but he humored me!

She's needs a little work to make her really pretty. However, I'm afraid she's going to have to wait until spring. We do not have a garage and I don't want her outside in the elements while I give her a makeover.

She's going to hang out with us in the family room when I am done making her pretty. I can't wait! I'll be sure to share it with you when she's all dolled up!  But for now, here are some door makeovers for you to see. I found them all on Pinterest. I've attached the link to those that have them and noted that below the pictures.

Click on photo above for link.

 Click on photo above for link.

This link has amazing door ideas!

 Click on photo above for link.

 Click on photo above for link.

 There isn't a link for the above photo but I LOVE this one!

Time will tell what I do with my beauty! Stay tuned!

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Three Lovely Ladies!

Since we had some snow on Friday, there hasn't been any yard sales yet this year for us. I've been stopping by the Goodwill a couple of times a week but nothing there seems to be jumping in my cart.

I think I've just gotten more selective in my older age. If I don't have a use for it or if I don't have a specific place for it, then it's not coming home with me!

I've also been planning my own yard sale and trying to declutter this house so that is probably another reason why nothing has appealed to me lately either.

I did pick these 3 lovely plaques up late last fall for $0.99 each at the Goodwill! Yes! I said LOVELY! Just wait, the next time you see these ladies, they will have a fresh look and be gorgeous! I had in my mind where I could use two but I thought I would go ahead and take the third one home with me for that price. I'm planning on using these ladies in my living room when I finally redo it. I can see them painted black, can't you?

Click on the button below to see what other Thrifty Treasures were found by other thrifters this week.

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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall!

I'm linking up with Rhoda's "Today's Thrifty Treasures" party over at Southern Hospitality to show a couple of thrifty treasures I picked up. Click on the button below to take you to Rhoda's site to see what other treasure have been found.

I remember years ago my Mom having a mirror on her wall like these. It was probably sometime in the 1970's. Do any of you remember these?

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one but I couldn't pass up the price of $5!

I paid $6 for this one and I'm planning on painting this one black and using it above my table in the foyer.

I actually bought another one of these last year and painted it a bright, bright green for my daughter's room. I know it seems a little much but she's 8 years old and loves it and that's all that matters to me!

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My Mug Shot!

COFFEE mug, that is!

Those of you that know us in person, knows that Curtis is a coffee freak. Seriously. He drinks 8-12 cups a day. However. He does not like travel mugs, paper or Styrofoam cups. So what does that mean? It means he takes our coffee mugs with him to work every morning and wherever else he may be going. Most times they make it home and on a rare occasion, they don't.

This kind of stressed me out in the beginning. I don't know why. Maybe because I'm a sentimental fool and I'm attached to some of them! I know. I'm a little crazy but I have never denied it!

Anyway, I knew couples fought over much less (like leaving the cap off of the toothpaste), so I needed to find a solution. First I separated what Curtis could use and what he couldn't use. This worked for a while but then our stock of mugs that he could use depleted. Well then I decided that I needed to stock up his supply of mugs. You can call me cheap but I was not about to spend $6-$10 each on mugs for daily use that may or may not make it into next week.

My answer was Goodwill. You all know I love finding treasures there! I started to pick one up every once in a while when I saw one that I liked or fit us. This proved to definitely be the best way to go since their mugs are 25 cents and some of them are 50 cents if they deemed them as collector mugs...and most of them look as if they have never been used!

Since we are close to Christmas and I can't get the lyrics "These are a few of my favorite things." out of my head, I've decided to share a few of my favorite mugs here.

I'll start with the one above. I found this red snowflake mug just yesterday at Goodwill for 25 cents...and it's never been used! This mug is totally for me and not Curtis! It think it just screams WINTER FUN!

This next one was a gift. My friend, Missy, had some surgery years ago when we both lived in Ohio. Her Mom, who lives in Louisville, Kentucky, sent this to me as a thank you for being there for her daughter. It's Louisville Stoneware and my absolute favorite mug! This one is definitely off limits to everyone else in the house except me!

This next one is one of my favorites because it's Allison's. It reminds me of her Disney Princess phase. Curtis makes awesome hot chocolate and he uses this mug for hers.

If you live anywhere in or around Pittsburgh, you'll recognize this next mug. Yes! It's a Smiley mug from Eat 'n Park Restaurant! They sell them in their restaurants for $6.99 but I picked mine up at Goodwill for 50 cents!

This last mug I picked up years ago when I lived in Northern Virginia just outside of Washington D.C. I used to love going to the National Zoo and seeing Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing. They were the Giant Pandas that China gave to the United States after President Nixon visited their country. Okay...enough of the history lesson! This mug reminds me of the inner peace I would experience when I would sit there at the zoo and watch them. However. Years later this mug took on a whole new meaning for me. Shortly after I became pregnant, Curtis had a cup of coffee sitting on the nightstand next to my side of the bed. He asked me to pass it to him. When I went to pick it up, my perception of the mug changed immediately. I didn't just see two pandas. I saw a Mother-t0-be panda on the left and a Daddy-to-be on the right. They both looked as if they were connecting to their unborn baby. Now when I pour Curtis a cup of coffee in this mug, wash this mug or put this mug away, it still jogs a memory in me. It's not the old inner peace memory I used to feel watching the pandas at the zoo. It's a new inner peace memory. It's the inner peace I felt being pregnant because I was finally realizing my childhood dream of becoming a Mother.

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Some Things Are Just Meant To Be!

Edited: I'm linking this post up to Rhoda's Today's Thrifty Treasures Blog Party. I found this great treasure just after the close of last season's blog parties but I am so proud of this find that I wanted to share it with you all!

Do you believe that some things are just meant to be? Do you think that everything happens for a reason?

Even though I sometimes do not like the outcome of things or situations or wonder why they happen a certain way, I try to stick to the belief of "it was just meant to be" or "it happened for a reason." There's no sense in dwelling on it if we can't change it. I guess it's part of my "roll with the punches" or "go with the flow" kind of outlook on life.

Well. This is the story of my latest "it was meant to be" that ends with a happy ending.

It all starts one day back in the middle of September when I had to go to Cranberry to run some errands. When I go to Cranberry, I always make sure I stop at the Goodwill store there. It's just under a year old and much bigger than ours here in Butler. Anyway. I walked in and I spied this beautiful china cabinet. I fell in love immediately! The ticket on it said $100 which was a very good price. HOWEVER, with quitting my job in June and not starting a new one yet, I talked myself out of it...which wasn't an easy thing to do! I took this pic with my cell phone to show Curtis. I don't know why because I WASN'T buying it. Right? Oh, and I didn't go back to Cranberry the next week to look at her again. No. I didn't. I'll deny if you say you saw me there! After all. I did have this one that I bought at Salvation Army about 8 years ago for $20. It's not what I had envisioned for a china cabinet. I actually bought it for Allison's room to hold books, coloring books, crayons and such. It was in her room for a little while without the glass doors. I was just about to paint it, when I bought her a bedroom suit. Now it didn't fit in her room so I moved it to our eat-in kitchen. I put some of my dishes in there but I NEVER liked it in there. I finally settled on making it over using beadboard wallpaper that I saw on Rhoda from Southern Hospitality's blog. I was hoping it would make it not so 60's/70's style.

About 3 1/2 weeks later, Curtis, Allison and I had dinner at the Olive Garden in Cranberry. He wanted to stop at Radio Shack and I said "Only if I can stop at Goodwill." He agreed. Well! I as soon as I walked in the door, I saw HER! She was STILL there after 3 1/2 weeks! I couldn't believe it! That's amazing for Goodwill. Usually pieces like that only last a day or so. I walked back and rubbed my hand across her. My heart was happy like I saw an old friend. I went to the van to get Curtis. He had to meet her! He wasn't as excited as I was but he supports my whims so you've got to love him! I really wanted him to see if he could fix her. Yes. She wobbled or rocked back and forth like she lost a bit of her foot or something. Thankfully, he said he could nurse her back to health, told me to use her wobble as a bargaining tool and then announced he was going back to the van.

So. I walked up to the counter and asked if they ever discounted items that have been here for a while. The young man said he would send a manger to me. The manager met me at "her" and said "Ya, it's been here a while and we were just getting ready to get rid of her so I could come down on it if you want it." I pointed out her wobble and the manager said it wasn't there when they put her out so maybe the floor was uneven or something had rolled under her. I then asked what she would want for it...secretly hoping for $75. She said "How about $40?" I think I choked on my own saliva but managed to get out a "SOLD!"

Can you believe it? She was coming home with me! She was truly meant to be mine!

Curtis and his brother picked her up for me one night after work. She had some scratches on her that quickly disappeared with Liquid Gold. Curtis couldn't believe how beautiful she was after a little TLC. Oh, and guess what? She DOES NOT wobble or rock! Bonus for me!

Isn't she pretty? I had planned on painting her either heirloom white or black in the spring but I think I may change my mind. My concern with heirloom white is that my Pfaltzgraff that is cream might look dirty against the white but it will show off my pink and green depression glass beautifully. Painting it black will showcase my Pfaltzgraff but won't do anything for my depression glass. So I might leave her the way she is...she even matches my dinette set. What do you think? Heirloom white, black or as is? By the way, please ignore the orb on the picture below...why do those happen anyway?

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I stayed up until 3 in the morning polishing her, cleaning her glass, washing all my dishes and glasses and playing with how to arrange her. It's like Cindy at My Romantic Home says "because you are never too old to play house." Click on her link and you'll see her beautiful china cabinet makeover.

I've always admired my Mom's china cabinet with all of her pretty dishes in it. I'm so excited to have one of my own! A couple notes on some of the items I have in there. The white rooster soup tureen was made by my Aunt Carole. It was hers and you can read more about how I acquired it and what it means to me here. The other rooster figurine was my Grandmother's (my Mom's Mom) and was handed down to me. Being sentimental, they mean the world to me and I'll cherish them forever. I hope Allison will cherish them and pass them down too.

Here's her bottom...she has so much storage that I desperately needed!

The semi-side view. She has a light too but it didn't photograph well.

One more photo and I'll end this lengthy post! After the above pics were taken, I felt I needed something in the pink depression glass bowl on the bottom shelf. I thought about little pumpkins for fall, ornaments for Christmas, eggs for Easter but then what do I do in between holidays? Well. I filled it with my Grandmother's cookie cutters! Perfect!

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A Reading Chair Redo!

If you read my blog a couple of days ago, I talked about being inspired by Gina at The Shabby Chic Cottage to complete 10 Tasks in 10 Days. If you missed it, you can click here so you won't be lost.

Well. So far I have completed 2 tasks and started 3 others. I'm pretty happy with that so far. I am a little worried though because tomorrow is my last day of nice weather for the next 4 days and I have more painting to do! Oh, I can't think about this now! I'll go crazy if I do! I'll think about it tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day. Oops! Sorry! I got carried away there!

Anyway. Here is the first completed task/project of my 10 Tasks in 10 Days challenge. I'm linking up with Gina for her Transformation Thursday so after you are done here, head on over there to see what other creative souls have transformed and while you are there grab yourself some inspiration too!

Edited to add: One of my favorite furniture re-doers is having her first linky party. She's a real furniture artist so I'm linking up with her too! Be sure to check her out at Miss Mustard Seed!

Edited Again to add: Another one of my favorite furniture re-doers is having a Before and After Party too so I'm linking up to Jen at Sanctuary Arts at Home too. When you are over there, take the time to look around. She does some amazing stuff!

Oh, and I'm also linking up for DIY Day at Kimba's A Soft Place to Land. There's lots of fun to be had over there but be warned...you'll get sucked in to all the inspiration and wonder where your day went!

Okay, let's get started here. This is the before of the chair. I picked her up at a resale shop that just opened a few months ago. She was asking $30 but considering I had to redo the whole thing, I offered less and we settled on $23. It's a very solid chair so I felt it was a fair price. Isn't she lovely????

Here. Let me give you a close-up! See. She's in sad, sad shape! The pink paint didn't cover the green paint underneath it, the fabric was hot glued down with a few staples and the gimp trim was lifting up. She needed some TLC!

Yum! Red vinyl under all of that!

After sanding and sanding and sanding, I painted her wood the lovely color of Rustoleum's Key Lime Green! Don't judge me here! This chair is for my 8 year old! What do you call and 8 year old? Is she considered a "tween" yet?

Let me take you in for a closer look but you better get your sunglasses on!

Next I put a layer of batting on stapling it every couple of inches to tack it down.

Then I trimmed the batting.

I didn't take pictures of the steps here but I followed the same steps as the batting. Actually, I just lied to you. I used a spray adhesive on top of the batting to help hold the fabric in place. I was afraid that if I didn't stick it to the batting then it would slide every time Allison sat on it and put pressure on the fabric at the staples. I didn't want it to tear because as you can see, this is not upholstering fabric. I took a chance here but I wanted this fabric because it was the perfect color and softer than you can imagine. I used a bazillion staples to make sure this fabric isn't going to move!

Here are the steps for covering the seat. It's basically what I did with the back.

Sprayed a light layer of adhesive on the seat.

I placed the batting on top of the seat. After it was secure on the top, sides and corners, I trimmed the bottom flush with the lines of the seat.

Then I sprayed the batting with adhesive and added the fabric. Again, I used a bazillion staples to be sure the fabric wasn't going to move!

Ta Da! Wait! It's not done yet!

What am I going to do about all these staples???? Wait! I know! I'll cover them with twisted cording in the third color of Allison's room! Grape!

Oh no! No one local sells it in grape and I'm too impatient to wait for it to come in the mail from an online source. So. What's a girl to do? Dye her own! I found this really awesome dye that I used for the first time. I LOVE it! It's made by Dylon and you can use it on cotton/polyester. The color is amazing! I used "intense violet" and it came out exactly how I wanted it to!

Now isn't this much better?

Here she is done! This is in full sunlight so she's a little bright.

Here she is in Allison's room. She doesn't look so good in this pic because she is a HARD color to photograph! The Key Lime comes out NEON! This pic was taken with a flash and the pic at the top of this entry was taken without one. I like the top one better. It's more realistic.

Thanks Gina for your inspiration! I didn't think I was going to get this done until spring. It's because of you that I threw caution to the wind and got my hiney in gear!

Now I've got to run and get moving on another task!

Have Fun!

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A Booty Bench to a Pet Pedestal!

Welcome to all my new friends that are visting from Miss Mustard Seed!

I hope you enjoy this makeover. It's another one I did for my daughter's bright tween room. It goes along with the chair I shared last week. If you missed it, you can see it here.

A year ago I took Allison to my sister's house for her annual 5 day visit and spoilfest. She lives 2 counties away from us. I dropped Allison off and set out to do some antiquing and thrifting in a new territory. I stumbled upon this huge run down store that looked like it was going to be a score of a stop. Well...as I was walking in I saw this bench thing sitting outside. It was amongst a whole bunch of seat-like items. There was an older gentleman sitting on one of the items. I looked this bench over and asked "how much?" He shrugged his shoulders and said $5.00. I said "sold!" I had seen one previously in another store for sale for $20 so $5 made me happy. What a great deal! I couldn't wait to get inside the store. Well. Although the store had beautiful antiques and other items that were unwanted by their previous owners, I felt the store was WAY over priced! I'm no expert on pricing but I've been around enough to know about some antiques and they were asking way too much! It was crazy!

Anyway! I did manage to find a couple of small items, paid and went to collect my bench. As I walked outside I realized the bench was not originally for sale. It was a booty bench for all of the old friends of the store owner! While I was shopping in the store, I guess they had gotten off of work and started to gather outstide. I scooped up my bench, they had a little laugh at the Mom who bought "that old thing" and I went on my way!

I had planned on using it my entrance way to sit on while putting on shoes but then when I got it home, I didn't like that I idea. So it sat for a year until last weekend when I was redoing Allison's room. I was faced with the dilema of where to put the 10 gallon crabitat. Yes. Allison has hermit crabs...thanks Aunt Susan, Stephanie and Uncle Brian! The only flat surface big enough was her dresser. Well. That was not going to work for me! It didn't fit into the image I had in my head for her pretty new tween room! After stressing for a little bit about this, it hit me on Friday night! I would redo the bench and make it a pedestal for the crabitat!

Well. Whose laughing now?

A piece of foam rubber, some batting, a can of spray paint and a piece of fabric and TAH DAH!

We have ourselves a home for the crabs that is worthy of a tween room!

As you can see, the crabitat fits perfectly! I thought that it would slide but it doesn't at all. However, I am going to put some non-skid stuff on the bottom just in case.

Have Fun!

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