Master coming together

I couldn't resist a close up look at my favourite new dresser.

 

 

 With my favourite little yellow lamp, favourite knitted pouf, and favourite fuzzy felt containers.

 

 

These fuzzy little felt treats were from the dollar section in Target.

 

 

And this small ombre bowl was (surprise surprise) a thrift store find. 

 

 

One more time for those at the back.

 

 

Kate

xxx

Bumper year!

It wouldn't be a weekend without at least one trip to a thrift store or flea mall.  So I set the SatNav and hot footed it to Gardendale Flea Mall.  I hadn't been there in a few months, and they had some goooood stuff this time around.  I was specifically looking for furniture, and I wasn't disappointed.

The first thing I spied was this dresser.  I ripped the price tag off quicker than lightning so no one else could steal my the dresser.  It came with a mirror too, but I couldn't squeeze that in - a good excuse to pop back this weekend to pick it up.  And maybe have another quick look round :-)

Next up was this sweet shelving unit.  It was piled high with junk and fabric, but I know amazingness when I see it.

I also snapped up these 2 pictures

 

There was also a vintage orange chair that nearly made the cut.  I might buy it if it's still there this weekend.  Watch this space!

Starburst - on the cheap

Pinterest to the rescue! 

I've been searching for a starburst mirror for above the sofa in the living room.  Those things are expensive!!  Even at my old favourite Homegoods they are at least $70 each.

So when I spied a diy starburst pin, I following the link and found the answer at JandJ Home.

I made a quick trip to Home Depot for the shims, and Michaels for the circular flower arranging bases.

I laid the shims out to get a rough idea of how I wanted the final product to look.

 

Then glued and glued and glued some more (and squashed it with some heavy books overnight).

 

 

The mirror was a bargain buy from Hobby Lobby.  I originally bought a 12" mirror, but it looked too big, so I went for the 10"

 

And here is my diy startburst mirror, made for under $15.  Bargain!  Thank you Pinterest!

 

 

 

 

 

Kate

xxx

 

Find more crafty ideas HERE

 

Longest Yard Sale

Here are some overdue shots of the longest yard sale.  Sadly, I didn't find much loot this year, but it was definitely worth the drive for the experience.

Lesson 1 - Pack your best parking skills.  Be prepared to go off road and squeeze into the smallest of spaces.  But don't go over that white line - I saw the police handing out tickets on my first stop (as I sprinted back to my car to make sure it wasn't me they were ticketing!).

Lesson 2 - Head for churches and schools.  They have parking (woo hoo!) and lots of sellers in one place.

Lesson 3 - Get there early.  I joined the sale on Saturday, and the Thursday and Friday buyers had clearly grabbed a lot of the good stuff.

Lesson 4 - Bring a good co-pilot who can scout out the sales as you drive by to see whether it is worth stopping.

Lesson 5 - Watch out for cousin Eddie, I'm pretty sure I saw him out there!!

Subtle Chevron

During one of my daily trawls through Craigslist, I spotted a wooden headboard for only $20. I knew, with a little love, it would be perfect for our second guest room. 

The orange wood tone wasn't ideal, but I liked the built in chevron pattern.

I used Behr Country Cottage for a soft white/cream colour.

I was originally thinking about doing alternating colours, but I don't want the room to look too much like a dorm!

www.hautelook.com

I may change it up, but for now, cream it is!



Miniature mascot

I paid a quick trip to Bama Flea mall on Saturday (if you count 3 hours as quick!), and picked up this little fella for just $1.  I love the unusual shape and teardrop design.  The green and yellow colour, not so much!

A few layers of spray paint later, and it now looks like this:

Upside down, it looks weirdly like the Olympic mascots!

The very weird Wenlock and Mandeville!

Just me then!

Honeycomb

I love the honeycomb, hexagonal, hive pattern that is popping up all over the design world.

These vases from West Elm come in a variety of great colours.

West Elm Hive Vases

I've also had my eye on this honeycomb wine rack from World Market.  I wonder what it would look like wall mounted in a bathroom, with some crisp white towels rolled inside?

World Market Wine Rack

These cement coasters would look great on our coffee table.

Culinarium

We've also unknowingly managed to add honeycomb to our living room.  The rug was a HomeGoods find and the basket and bowl were from Tuesday Morning.

This little white bowl was a steal at $5.  I was really going for funky hexagonal pattern, and not tacky dad golf gift! 



Arty pants

In my search for cheap art, I took to the mean streets of Birmingham.  Well, I took to the streets of a nice residential area called Inverness.

The whole subdivision has Scottish street names, and I thought I could drive around, take some snap shots of the street signs, and frame them as a little reminder of home.  There were so many to chose from.  Imagine living on Tam O Shanter Lane (I promise I'm not making this up!), or Selkirk Drive, Clydebank Circle, Coatbridge Lane, Tartan Lane, Glasgow Circle.

I'm sure the residence thought I was crazy driving around taking pictures of their street signs, but the results were great.  Here they are framed and ready to hang:

To finish off the set, I bought this close up pic of a Highland Coo from Etsy (Stephanie McDowell).

Console

We've been playing around with our living room furniture.  My clever plan of switching the sofas failed miserably, unless you enjoy squeezing through a one foot gap to get into a room! We don't, so they're in the same position but shifted down a couple of feet.  This has opened up the perfect little space for something like this:

Emily A Clark

Aesthetic Oiseau

An Indian Summer

Pottery Barn

I bought some graphic fabric from a great Etsy shop (Katherine Codega) which I'm planning of framing.

All I need now is a console table.  Luckily, I have this to look forward to on Saturday:

I'm ashamed to say I have never been to a yard sale!  I just don't like the thought of turning up to someones house, being the only one there, and feeling guilted into buying some rubbish I don't really want.  Lets face it, I buy enough crap of my own accord :-)  But with 690 MILES of yard sales, I'm pretty much guaranteed safety in numbers. 

It runs from Gadsden in Alabama (my jumping off point) to Addison in Michigan.  Google map it - it's gonna be HUGE!!  It actually started on August 2nd, so I'm hoping by Saturday that there is still some good stuff left, and that sellers have dropped their prices to get rid of it!  I have a loooong list of things I'm on the hunt for.

I'll report back with my finds.