Weekend Finds

This weekend we went out searching for wainscoting, shower strips, and something else. I forget what. I asked Jeremiah who was driving. He was, of course. So we hopped in the Ford. Do you know what fits in his Ford? Not much. We stopped first at Salvation Army, which we all know is hit-or-miss. I shop there all the freakin' time because that's what it takes to find the good stuff. Or the crappy stuff that I try to fix up to be good stuff.

Anyway, we spotted this at the same time:

As you can tell, it is hugely tall. It leans like a ladder against the wall, and has things to attach it to the wall so it doesn't slip. And the mirror can be tilted so you can see your whole body, which is great, because I hate getting ready for work and not knowing how things are looking below my waist. I stand on the edge of the tub to see everything. I am imagining it a dark brown to match my shelves and dresser that are already at home in the master bedroom. So I peeled the tag off (that's how you claim the heavy stuff at Sal. Army. Take the tag.) and kept looking. And by that, I mean I turned around and saw this:

It's not actually a black chair, but a smokey dark brown. So pretty. And sturdy. And heavy (I know because I had to carry it through the store and to the car and I had to stop several times. But part of that could be because I have no arm strength. Sad but true.). Perfect for the desk. I might not even refinish it, I like it that much.

And the next aisle:

I found these. We've been searching for matching nightstands since we moved in together. By "we've" I mean "I've". I'm sure Jer hasn't been losing sleep over this. I like that they have drawers AND a shelf, so I can store unsightly items and keep things looking tidy. I imagine them being either white or dark brown, to match the other furnishings. I'm slightly worried about things being too matchy-matchy, so I'm leaning towards white. And new knobs because the ones on there already? No.

I should mention that each item gets the Jeremiah stamp of approval before it goes home. He does such a nice job of checking sturdiness, craftsmanship, etc. He flips things upside down, pulls out the drawers (hahaha...that sounded dirty.) and makes sure I'm (we're) getting a good deal.

The funny thing was that the only thing that fit in his itty-bitty car were the nightstands. That's it. And it peeved him (sorry, babe). He was NOT happy. It must be a man rule. Thou shalt have a car big enough to haul crappith.

It made me laugh (again, sorry, babe) that it was MY car that ended up being driven back to the ghetto later that day to pick up my finds. We didn't even have to fold down the seats. Subaru Intervention (again).

Those were the weekend bargains. No shower strip STILL. Heading into week four of "Ohmygod, there's a boy in my bathroom!".

The price breakdown looks like this after the 55% off sale they were having:
Mirror & Shelves - $23
Two Nightstands - $7 a piece, for a $14 total
Chair - $5? I'm not sure.

What do you think? Anyone else like to bargain shop?

$2.50 Tables

Remember a looooong time ago when I mentioned that I bought two tables at Salvation Army and I only paid $2.50 total? Hence the title of this post. The tables started out looking like this: Ugly. For suresies. And I am pretty sure that Jeremiah scoffed at my tables and thought they were unsalvageable. He humored me, the tables came home with us. Lucky bastards.

Then when we he sanded the cabinets he also sanded my tables. Still darn ugly.

When he finished, I primed. Oil based primer. It covers just about anything and sticks to the crap that didn't get sanded off.

Then I painted. White. Several coats. The gnome made his way into this picture, too, so I cropped his happy little face right out. Here's a close-up of the table.

And here they are, finished. With my cheap $5.00 lamp.

We like.

Another success!

So much prettier than before, and at only $1.25 each, quite the steal. Anybody else love to bargain shop? Get any great deals lately?

Salvation finds find salvation

A while back (as in, nothing was painted, nothing was finished, we'd just moved in...so actually, a year ago.) I got this mirror at SalArmy. You can tell it was supposed to be on a dresser or something.

But I knew it had potential. If only we could turn it sideways and paint it, too!

So we did. And I also had Jeremiah hang little hooks so I could get these CUTE little letters (our first initials of our last names).
Here's what it looks like finished. The table was also from SalArmy. I paid about fifteen for the table. The mirror was five.
Please ignore the fact that there are two different types of knobs. I'm still deciding. And I'm not sure if I want the top of the table to be black or left as is.
Anyway, here is the setup for a grand total of about fifteen dollars!


P.S. I would like to introduce a little something I call, "What I'm listening to now."
What I'm listening to now: T Rex - Electric Warrior
It's Jeremiah's vinyl and it is one of my favorites. My favorite song on there is "Cosmic Dancer".

Cabinet Redo, Part 1

Step One: Find a happy guy to pose with his toy after he has already removed all the cabinets, drawers, and hardware.
Step Two: Have said guy sand all the stuff. All of it. Front and back.

Step Three: Have him sand (I mean, he's out there sweating in 110 degree heat anyways, you know?) the two tables that you got at Salvation Army for $2.50 (Total.For TWO tables. Yeah, I know I'm awesome.).
Step Four: Send the guy away so you can prime in peace.
And that is currently where we are with the cabinets. Things take us a bit longer than we'd like sometimes. Ooh, and the tables? They will rock, I promise you that.

Kiss My Glass

I mentioned that I found some awesome deals at Salvation Army. Again. I heart Salvation Army. I really do.

My first piece is this fun green vase. I figure it will be perfect with those little tiny tea lights I bought, some fresh flowers, or whatever. I likes it a lots.
Excuse the water spots, but aren't you loving these glasses? So much fun! They totally go with our stuff. I'm planning on using them for drinking glasses, but they could double as cute votive holders or even small vases.
Lastly, I added another jar to my collection. You can see that we put my first two right to work. They house our rice and corn kernels. Yes, we pop our own popcorn. No, we don't own a microwave. No, we haven't set any pans on fire (remember that, dad?). And yes, people think we're weird 'cause we don't have a microwave. In my defense, I bought one, wasn't satisfied, took it back, and just kind of never replaced it.

Anyway, ooh, pretty. Right?

So that is it. Anyone else have an addiction? I figure I'm okay because I use all of the glass I buy, plus I pay about 50 cents for each item.

P.S. Stay tuned because we are painting kitchen cabinets this weekend, I've bought fabric to FINALLY slip-cover that slipper chair, and MAYBE we will finally be making our own drum shaded pendant light. It doesn't get much better than this.

Artsy Fartsy

This weekend, even though boyfriend and I are completely sick (some of us are now in the getting better stage...those of us that were the ones that brought the plague into the house in the first place - me), we have been completely productive. Call it the cool weather (98 degrees) or call it a need to be artistic, but we kicked some serious ass this weekend.

Saturday we picked up materials so we can make our own drum shade for our dining room light fixture. We also got materials so I could sew some pillows. I also found a pillow I liked at Target and picked it up for clearance cheap. One with pets can never have too many pillows.

There was also a trip to SalArmy where I scored some cool glass items - pictures to come. And Goodwill, where I scored some picture books on the cheap for my students. I'm going to be using a lot more picture books than I've ever used before.

Saturday afternoon I perfected my Midwesterner's tan and hung out in the pool while Jeremiah had a fellow musician over to play some music. The guy (Tom) plays...bass. They sounded great, even from outside. I'm not really worried about the neighbors complaining considering the going-ons of the neighborhood. I can't compete with stabby house, barking night and day house, or chain saw at five in the morning house. Those asshats (my new favorite word, borrowed from Jen Lancaster) had it coming. Anyway, boyfriend had fun.

Then today we sat around in our clean house, relaxing. Boyfriend played some music and cleaned the bathroom. I did some laundry, lesson plans, and...sewing. I sewed up a storm. Totally tried out some fun features on my sewing machine. Pictures to come.

Anyone else do anything creative this weekend?



P.S. It looks like my mom wins the AZ points. Purple sage was her guess and it looks like she might be right. One website claimed the sweet hay scent I liked so much wafting from the sage actually smelled like breast milk. I was a bit disturbed. I really don't want people to think that our backyard smells like juice squeezed from a boob (Friends, anyone?). I prefer to consider the scent as hay-like.

Bargain Saturday

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Call it back to school blues, call it cabin fever, call it whatever. There's been brooding and moodiness and all sorts of stuff. So ignore the funk.

What I really want to share is some serious bargains I scored this weekend. Jeremiah's exciting purchases were limited to new bike wheels and a toilet kit. My buys were endless...and so cheap.

Apparently I'm going backwards or mixed-up, so here goes. My second stop was Pier 1. Love Pier 1. Especially when they have these glass tea lights on clearance. Sixteen tea lights (which can be reused with new tea lights when the current ones burn out) for under five dollars. They'll be perfect for a nice dinner or scattered on the mantle.
Now go back in time to Salvation Army with me. I got this canister for about a buck. Perfect for sugar, which seems to go quickly what with the hummingbirds and Jeremiah's tea habit. Probably not the original reason for the canister (I'm thinking coffee), but for us, it's the sugar.
I also found the exact replica of the Rubbermaid container that I was trying to convince my mom to give me this summer as she packed it up to go to the new house. About a buck. And we love Jell-O here, so this is a good buy.
And this bowl/dish? SalArmy. Could be used as a centerpiece. See below? Or as a fruit dish...Love it.
The glass vase came from Poland! $3.50.
Finally, while at SalArmy, I saw these glasses:
Not exactly my style, but I couldn't step away. They had a funky snake design imprinted on the bottom. They were on sale for $3.50. I used my new phone to google the glasses. Guess what? They sell for about $25 a piece. So I snatched them up.

Those are my bargains. It doesn't always work out that I find so many great deals, but when it does, it is fun. So fun. Nerdy bargain-y fun.

Sneak Peek

There's been some updating going on at the casa. Check it:
First we have the gigantic frames with some fun prints inside. They decorate an entire wall.
Next, the fireplace transformation is complete. Primed, painted, and decorated. Bam! I haven't yet found a suitable mirror for above the mantel, so I'm not going to show the 'place in all of its glory. Just yet. Soon, I hope.
OOh. Trim. Ohmygosh. How we love the trim. This is what it looked like just set against the wall. Can you imagine the beauty when it is finished? Wowza.

We painted the front room a color called Ashen, but I prefer to call it Frappe. Oh la la. We love the color. Trim to be added this week. Also watch for the UGLY chandelier to be replaced with something much more Emilie. She's the Euro snob, remember?
Another fireplace picture. These glass whatevers came from SalArmy. I heart them. They sit atop the mantel.
Oh, the windows. How I love the windows. The roman shades I got super cheap on clearance at Lowe's. The sheer curtains are from Ikea. Super cheap, super chic. Can I get another Oh La La? No?
Look how cozy this little area is! I usually work on lesson plans in this little nook. Love. It.

So these are just some of the updates. Still to be finished: Rug for the back room, sanded and refinished tables, mirror, and lots of stuff in the front room. Be patient, my Russian friends, be patient.

Love Birds

So Jeremiah got me these bird salt/pepper shakers for Christmas. It was sort of like this when we walked out of the store. Me: "Tell me right now if you aren't going to get those for me. I want them and I will go back in the store RIGHT NOW if you aren't going to come back for them." Boyfriend: "Just get in the car." I took that to mean that he would get them for me and he did! Want to see my shakers?

Don't you love them? I've always been a little chickadee and I've always liked to watch the birds, but lately I've been bringing them into my house, so when I was at Salvation Army on Saturday and saw this...

I thought, oh.my.gosh. and picked it up immediately. It was a dollar. One dollar. It matches my shakers perfectly. I don't have anything else to say. I'm just in love with my little white birds.