Aye aye Capt'n

I knew these trays would come in handy, I just knew it.  Well, I knew they were cheap (on clearance at Target for a measly $4 each) so I snapped them up.

They've been hanging around in a box in the basement ever since then, just waiting for their big transformation.  Oh yes, they knew their time would come.

Now for the plan: I've seen lots of variations of the Captain Mirror.  From Ballard Designs, ringing in at a whopping $449:

 

To Horchow at a budget busting $725

The first thing I needed was a mirror to insert into the center of the tray.  I measured the tray and it was an awkward 13.5" across.  Michaels had a craft mirror at 12" and Hobby Lobby had a candle mirror at 13".  Ideally I would have gone for the 13" to leave as little a gap around the outside as possible but it was so heavy I didn't want to put any extra strain on the straps or bamboo tray (notorious for splitting).

The 12" turned out great, and I kind of like the extra border around the outside.  It was as simple as hot gluing it into the center of the tray.

Now for the straps/belts.  I measured the height of the tray and around the bottom half to make sure the buckles would meet the tray at the right point.  With tape measure in hand I hit up J&J Junk (more on that here) and found these 2 belts for only 50c.  That's right, just 25c each and unbelievably both are real leather (one is even Tommy Hilfiger).

 

 

See - I told you so.

 

 

I hot glued one belt around the bottom of the tray, then attached the second belt to loop around the top so the buckles were level on each side.

Here is my version of the Captain Mirror for under $10.

 

I used a chunky acrylic hook I bought, for I think $1 at a flea mall, to hang the mirror.

 

 

I love how the worn leather belts look.

 

 

Here's the captain in pride of place in our master.

 

 

Kate

xxx

 

Valentines

In the spirit of all things valentines, I thought I'd try something I've seen on Pinterest about a million times - met, married, live.

The idea is to cut out a map heart of the place you met, where you married and where you live.  I picked up this old school map from J&J Junk on my last visit, and printed out the silhouette of a heart.

 

The tricky thing was we met in London, so a road map of US, Canada and Mexico wasn't exactly going to reach that far.  I decided to get creative and used London Ontario instead.  Perfect!

 

 

I rummaged around my frame stash and found an old Aris frame I bought from Michaels when they were on clearance.  They are exactly like the Ikea Ribba frames but about a quarter of the price.  I must have bought about 20 of those frames, so annoying they don't stock them anymore.

 

The only thing was there were 4 spaces instead of the 3 I needed.  I decided to cut out a red heart to fill in the extra space.

 

 

Here it is up on the wall just inside the front door.

 

 

Kate

xxx

 

Smug thrifter alert!

I am feeling especially smug after my trip to J&J Junk at the weekend.  I managed to pick up some real mid-century treats. 

The Jacob Zook sign was a whopping $1 (admittedly, I had to Google it as I thought it was some magical board game I had never seen before!), the Royal Haeger vase another $1, and I splashed out on the mosaic trivet for a budget breaking $1.50.

 

Also making it into the basket this time around were a stack of orange melamine plate mates, a pair of lucite wine bottle holders (marked at $3 each - amazingly the nice cashier lady took exception to that lofty price tag and gave me the two for $3!) and a small wooden candle holder.

 

I was fully prepared this time with cash (they don't take cards) and wet wipes to wipe away the inevitable layer of grime that comes from rummaging through boxes of toot for 2 hours! 

 

A morning well spent. 

 

Kate

xxx

Nessy-ssary Art!

Ooft, I outdid my self with the title today!

This print is a much needed addition to the otherwise bare walls in our hallway.

You see it as soon as you walk in the front door, so it's a little "hello" to visitors and a nice reminder of home.

It's by the super talented Amy Sullivan, who has at least another 20 prints that I could easily buy tomorrow.

More pictures of our brightened hallway to follow.

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

 

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).

And we're back!

We took a couple of weeks off from home improvements to head home for a visit.  Now we're back and it's full steam ahead.  The countdown to P-day (parents arriving for their first visit to the new house) is officially on.  7 weeks and counting!

We're still working on the kitchen - will it even be finished!!??  And I've been in a picture hanging frenzy.

I hung the first pictures in the second guest room. 

These were cheapo frames from Michaels and a $5 scrap booking pad from Big Lots.  I picked the pages with the patterns and colours I liked the most. What took the most time was hanging the frames so they were evenly spaced (maths hell!!).

I finally hung the London Underground map I'd framed a couple of weeks ago.  The print is wrapping paper, and was only $3.95 (www.paper-source.com).

It's hanging right above the sofa in the living room.

Below are the three pics I've hung in the dining room.  These have been up for a while and are, surprise surprise, more wrapping paper!  What can I say, it's just such good value!

Starburst

The walls in the green guest room were still looking a little sparse, even though the Orla Kiely art was looking good on the headboard wall.

 Opposite the bed is the door to the closet and the door to the landing.  In between we have managed to squeeze my favourite piece of furniture we own.  No surprise, it was a flea market find (Encore Resales).  Amazingly, I didn't buy it the first time I saw it.  After two days of worrying someone else was going to snap it up, I called the nice people at Encore to hold it for me.  It's more of a buffet, but adds good storage to this room, and I love the mid-century style.

I hung the starburst mirror above it.

And my 3 Marimekko glasses, ok plastic cups, found a home on top.