Plum Shabby

Old Glory Antiques Fair Littleton, CO 2013

2013-06-16T13:21:00.003-06:00

Deep breath. It's really hard to control yourself when everything that you love is within a few hundred square feet of you.When I pulled up to The Old Glory Antiques Fair in Littleton yesterday my eyes kind of glazed over and my heart started beat faster, faster, and faster. There was so much there to take in. It was like a candy store that was full of Turtles, Cadberry eggs, Swedish Fish, and Pink Jelly beans. All there for me. I could pick anything that I wanted... as long as it was within my budget.

Kari from Babs rode along with. Its great to know someone that has the same appreciation for ~~junk~~ treasures as I do. She tells me that I am certainly not a hoarded just a serious collector.

We had a cupcake from GiGis and found some really great things IE a trunk that I am going to put all of my hand me down quilts in for... wait for it... $50?!?!?!??!?!

She didn't buy this. I promise.

What was my biggest takeaway from this show? There are so many amazing items out in the world that people are throwing away. I think about some of my favorite stores Restoration Hardware, Anthropologie, and Pottery Barn. They have been collecting "trash" for years and people pay ridiculous amount of money for it. I can take a Saturday to attend fairs and shows like this and come home with great items that would probably retail for 5 or 10x times more than what I pay for them.

It's totally worth the hunt and time spent.

Check out the Old Glory Antique Fair site and get it on your calendar. You won't be disappointed.

Ana Whites Simple Potting Bench

2013-06-12T09:57:00.001-06:00

I am slacking on my posts lately...
1. I need a new computer
2. I donated my printer and it was the only way that I could upload photos to my computer. It was old. Yuck.
3. I sold my computer chair at my yard sale and haven't replaced it...

What was I thinking...

I know I promised a backyard oasis a couple months ago but the HOA took so long to approve our plans we spent our money on a new TV. Ha. We have started saving again and are thinking it might be a better purchase for the fall anyway. Stores trying to get rid of inventory at the end of the season.

In the meantime I am making due with what I have. I had piles of pots and various gardening items on the porch and didn't have room in our garage to store these things... We actually park our cars in our garage. Who does that??

Ana White has an awesome website that has plans for anything that you could ever think of building. I started checking out potting benches on Pinterest and then found a link to her site. We have used it before for other projects and knew this was something that I could handle.

The great thing about her site is she tells you the boards that you are going to need and then the order that you should have them cut in... Here is what I took to Lowes with me...

They cut it for me. Right there. I just had to go home and put it together. It's just like Ikea... only more a bit more sturdy.

I used my handheld mouse sander thingamajig to smooth out my boards because I used the cheapest boards that I could buy... small budget.

I had a small towel rack from Ikea that I had not used yet and put that on the front of it in case we needed a towel one night while we were grilling... you never know! It will be an awesome serving table and we can put drinks in my metal bin on the bottom shelf. Multi purpose people. Multi.

I used Olympic Antiqued Grey Stain... 1 quart did the trick.

Click here to get the plans that I used.

I can't wait for my next project! Now excuse me while I go and pick the splinters our of my hands.

A Paris Street Market in Boulder 6/9/13

2013-06-09T15:45:00.003-06:00

Obviously I have a thing for getting up early on Saturday morning and starting my day. Boulder on the other hand does not. I got up at my normal time of 6:30 yesterday and headed to Boulder for the Paris Street Market. I didn't think twice about what time it was to start because the sister market in Littleton begins at 8 if not a little earlier. I arrived at 7:45 only to realize the dumb thing didn't start until 9.

I sat patiently on a brick wall for what felt like 4 hours, My phone finally showed 8:57. I started walking around. Now that I was a bit irritated and I became a little vulnerable. I came across a few things that I really didn't need but told myself if I didn't buy them that I would regret it later... I still have nightmares about the couch Chad talked me out of buying at the Pottery Barn Outlet 7 1/2 years ago. Ahhh gives me chills. Who leaves a $250 down couch just sitting in a store? Chad does... and apparently I do too.

I was done by 9:24 and spent more than I intended.

I brought this iron home.

Will I be returning to the market in Boulder? Probably not. It was small. The vendors were really irritated that they all had to pay cash tax after the show was over, none of them took credit, and none were willing to negotiate. One lady got mad that I offered her $3 less than my total for 5 itmes that I wanted. She told me her things were priced to sell. Sell them to someone else and put it all back. I'm not going to be buying from you.

I understand that it's a "higher end" show but seriously... it's a market. I know a little better than to pay $55 for a locker basket. That's cray.

Let's all wake up a little earlier, drink a little more coffee, and negotiate next time.

I did top my morning off with this. I enjoyed it. Lots.

Check back tomorrow to see my new potting bench that I made!

Accounting by day... dog treats by night.

2013-06-06T07:33:00.000-06:00

Now that Spring decided it would show up I have been really busy outside. My lawn war continues with dead spots all over the grass but I am glad to have the motivation to be outside and work on everything. I have Iris blooming, Lilacs, Columbines,Chives, and a ton of Lambs Ear.

Quincy and I have picked up a little after work hobby. We have been making dog bones. I never imagined it would be so easy and so yummy. No. I don't eat them but if I was starving I could because all that we use are basic kitchen ingredients.

Quincys Peanut Butter Num Nums

2 Cups of Flour
1/2 Boiling Water
1/2 Oats
2 Heaping spoonfuls of Peanut Butter (I used crunchy all natural)
1 Egg

Combine Dry ingredients
Add water
Add Egg
Knead 3 Minutes
Roll out
Cut

Bake 350 15 minutes

New pot, a garage sale, and a giant weed/tree

2013-05-20T08:13:00.001-06:00

Purging is always an amazing feeling. You never realize how much junk you acquire every year until you take some serious time to dig through your closets and pull out all of your skeletons. I have had a garage sale once a summer the past few years to clear out and reorganize our house. Plus you make some cash to spend on plants and other needed things like new sheets for the guest room. Just saying..

I will neither confirm nor deny that I looked like this at my garage sale on Saturday...

After my sale I took my cash about bought some new pots for our front porch. We have a new neighbor across the street that has started a lawn war and I will not loose. I am not joking when I say that they are out there all day and night. I let Q out to potty Friday and she had her husband fertilizing at 9 PM. Get out of town people.

They woke a sleeping dragon.

Dragon started to pull a little weed and then dragons sod started to unroll into the street. Dragon had to resod her yard. Eeeek.

The grass might look like crap but at least my new pots from Ross look good.

A Paris Street Market Littleon, CO

2013-05-05T11:12:00.002-06:00

A Paris Street Market kicked off in Littleton yesterday. Finally! That means summer is here...

Pyrex... couldn't leave it there for anyone else.
A chicken feeder for my lipstick to stand in
A metal basket that is now in my basement housing all of my rolls of wrapping paper

Some of my favorite items and booths...

You should always go through the trash.

2013-05-04T18:06:00.000-06:00

I am not saying that you should pull the car over and go through every can known to man but if you see someone cleaning out a older home and lots of trash bags out by the road... you might want to pull over.

Why do I bring this up?

Because I got a message from a friend/follower Holly yesterday and the story goes like this...

"GIRL I HIT THE JACKPOT."

I am thinking to myself that she must have won $10 or $20 on a scratch off. I wasn't aware of a Powerball...

She was at a ladies house buying a table she saw on Facebook and the lady tells her that she is going through her parents things and is tossing stuff. If you are a junker/collector/hoarder/cheap or a vintage goddess this is when your eyes water up and your heart starts beating uncontrollably at 160 beats per minute.

She drags her husband to the street and they start digging.

Shes diggin' she diggn' through that ~~luggage~~ trash.

It makes me sweat thinking about it. She ended up with a truck load of things. A small sampling of her finds below. No drooling.

Mulch.

2013-04-27T15:09:00.001-06:00

My weekends have been pretty light lately due to cold weather. We finally heard from our HOA at 6:30 this morning that our pergola project has been approved. We can start moving towards our back patio oasis the next few weeks. Phew! Who knew it would take so long to get that done.

This morning Chad drove me to the local landscape supplies store to check out how much mulch was going to cost us to replace what we scooped up a couple weeks ago. After talking to salesman we figured we would need approx 2 yards. Whatever that meant. I sent Chad back to pick it up in his truck.

Meanwhile I am in Marshall's picking out a new tennis skirt (Yes mom! I joined a tennis league EEeeek!!) and he calls me freaking out because a front loader has just dropped 1 yard of mulch on his truck and his truck is now dragging very closely to the ground. We'll have to pick up the other yard tomorrow. He tells me to get home fast to help him unload it because he had a tee time less than an hour and half from that exact time. Yessir!

I make it home and I see him with his truck backed up onto the sidewalk blocking the neighbors driveway. He has our snow shovels out. This time he is moving something much more satisfying to me. Chocolate mulch.

2 yards of mulch put us back a grand total of $60. That is a much better price to pay than $4 bag from Lowes. Makes me wonder what I was thinking the last time I bought 30. Duh.

Screen Door to the Basement

2013-04-15T18:04:00.000-06:00

We are still waiting on the HOA to approve our patio so we are working on this and that inside the house. Last weekend we addressed an ongoing issue...

Going to the basement used to be annoying. Who would design a house and put 7 doors in a tiny tiny tiny hallway? I don't have the answer but if you do please share.

We thought it would be easy to find an old screen door to replace door numero uno. Everyone has those fancy storm doors these days so there is a surplus of screen doors somewhere... We looked after work last Friday at some junk/thrift shops and didn't find one door under $75. One booth had a cool black door that had redone but was being used a message center. She tried to sell it to us but thought we were cray when we said we were going to use it as an actual door. *Astonishing* Using a door for a door. That's crazy talk.

I got on Craigslist and found one for $20 and arranged to pick it up on my way to the half off sale at Goodwill Saturday morning. We cut it to size Saturday afternoon. Painted it and sanded Sunday. The project wasn't easy and it's still not 100% but close enough that I can show you. Enjoy!

Here is our tight space before...

Without the door... not bad but we don't want Q running up and down the stairs all night.

Attempt numero uno on cutting the door to the correct size. Forget that... it took forever and alot of sanding. I still need to sand more off the sides this weekend. My arm hurts thinking about it.

Painting attempt 1 Saturday evening... then it started to get really windy and I had to finish inside on Sunday.

Today we got 6 or 7 inches of snow so I was able to clean it up and take photos. Like?

It fulfilled our need. We now have air circulating between the floors, you don't have to guess what's behind door number 1, and it's not wide open for Quincy to roam free.

I made a board on Pinterest of some other doors that I like... Check it out.

House Portraits

2013-04-14T13:05:00.000-06:00

My mom is an avid painter and has been working on some commissioned paintings of peoples homes the past few months. I have been beggggggging for one of our house. Wouldn't it be cool to have a painting of every house that you have lived in all on a wall together? Need.

I came home from work to find a crazy shaped package on the front porch a couple weeks ago. Chad got to the package first so he was the one who got to open it. It is always a race to see who can get the mail or the packages that are left first... Everyone likes a prezzie.

Some others...

I am working on a wall in our bedroom to hang it on. I am sure it will be a few weeks before I show you as much time as it has been taking me to finish anything lately. The weather has been forcing me to spend as much time as possible outside in between snow storms.

Stay warm.

A Fresh Birthday

2013-04-02T16:51:00.001-06:00

Yes! It is the most important day of the year. A day that is literally all about me and I don't have to worry about anything because if I want to cry I can, if I want to dance I will, and if I want to take a bubble bath I have no problem taking the time to do so. It's cold and rainy today. I might have even seen a little ~~snow~~ confetti falling out of the sky at lunch in addition to the rain.

I wore my pink Easter dress today to cheer myself up about the weather and my increasingly older age.

Easter 03.31.13

I know that you are all wondering what I got myself for birthday. Chad let me loose in Anthropologie and Sephora Friday night. He insisted on being dropped off at the local Golfsmith while I went and
rummaged the clearance racks and tried on makeup. Nothing beats being at the mall alone and not feeling rushed out of your favorite stores. Am I right? I know I'm right.

This Fresh face wash and my Sugar lipstick were in my bag first.

Fresh

Barr Co Soap is a must have and then a new one that I haven't used yet Sea Salt Soap from Anthropologie. It's a really light cotton scent. Mmmmm.

Fresh soap from an awesome friend today for a gifty. I cant wait to use them. Ohhhhhh the soap flavors are to die for. Trust me.

I grabbed a couple other things like pads of paper, a new candle, notebooks, thank you notes, ect. It's been fun. I can't wait for next year. Ha! I am working on finishing up a little project that I will share later in the week.

Have an awesome Tuesday eve!

My Yellow Thrift Store Lamp

2013-03-27T07:57:00.003-06:00

I am ok admitting that the lamp I bought a while back was a bit shabby.

And now I am ok admitting that the lamp I bought a while back is AWESOME. Last weekend during my Saturday romp around Target I noticed a clearance on some early spring Threshold items. Like a full moon with shooting stars, a chocolate Easter bunny on Easter morning, a full stocking of Swedish Fish at Christmas the perfect lamp shade was on clearance. Just for me. No one else. $14 later it was in my car on it's way home to meet its new base.

Suddenly my $4 yellow lamp turned into a $40 yellow lamp.

Happy Wednesday!!!

Vintage FFA Ribbons, a Cast Iron Skillet, and a Spike

2013-03-26T20:09:00.001-06:00

Good evening! How's your week going? Mine seems to be moving along quite nicely. Easter is approaching and snow is melting. I like the signs. Maybe I'll have green grass for my birthday next week. That would be sweeeeet.

I got an email a couple weeks ago with a Craigslist link to an estate sale. I did some investigating about it around around town. I googled it. I read about it... I concluded that I would not be able to go. I didn't think I would be able to afford anything.

Then it snowed. It snowed a lot. Chad woke up early on Saturday and said it might be my chance to go to the sale and be able to actually purchase some things because no one would drive there for it. They'd be crazy.

We're crazy.

30 mins down the road at 30 mph we made it. I started to grab items. I couldn't stop. I knew it was all half off and my negotiating vein was bulging. Chad needed breakfast. We paid, we left, we ate, and we went back for more. That is when he saw the light. Looking back at our purchases they are very masculine compared to the usual stack of Pyrex that I return with. A nice change.

My birthday mantle.

2013-03-23T11:05:00.001-06:00

Have I told you about my birthday party that I am throwing for myself? I rented a 56 passenger bus and we are going to a surprise location for an evening. Yeahhhhhhhh buddy. Get on tha' bus. I'll post photos of the shinnagans later but for now you get to see my birthday mantle that is in the makings...

I love vintage photos. I have a few tucked all around our house. Last weekend I came across a bookstore that sells them. They aren't cheap. I sat on the floor for about an hour and dug through boxes of them. I picked out ones I wanted. Pick out ones I might want later. Then I picked out a couple that were really random for Ole' Chadwick. I made a cash offer to the owner and he took it. Surprised me. He didn't seem like the negotiating type.

So here they sit. Waiting. Waiting on my birthday cards to come in the mail and to have company on the mantle. Soon boys... soon.

Do you see a birthday coupon from Anthropologie? You betcha.

All of my friends going on my bus ride.

Birthday cake bakers

A happy baby.

Sweet girl

Route 2. Best address ever.

Does he have the best tights known to man on???

A photo montage of my week...

2013-03-22T16:50:00.000-06:00

That is me on our front porch Tuesday after my rain barrel was delivered.

This is Chad putting it together for me.

That's the swat team in our neighborhood when we left our house at lunch to go back to work.

This a blurry photo of me after a long phone call with a City Water Engineer and learning that rain barrel's really are illegal in our state unless you live off the grid. Once my long history lesson on water tables, western water wars, gold mining, and water release timing laws from him was over I had to convince WayFair to let me ship it back to them and get a full refund.

That's me this afternoon surfing on a box that was on our door step from World Market when we got home from work.

Yes, the contents are that awesome.

Bug pillows from World Market
Equation:
Free Shipping + several coupons= a good deal

That's what's up.

Lady Bug Outdoor Throw Pillow

Warm Chevron Outdoor Lumbar Pillow

Purple Bug Outdoor Lumbar Pillow

Warm Venice Outdoor Bench Pad

March Birchbox

2013-03-19T09:48:00.002-06:00

Phew! This months BirchBox made me wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too excited.

I always watch the internet to see what other people are receiving in their boxes and saw that there were Twistbands in some of them. Twistbands are made from elastic trim. They don't pull your hair. They don't cause headaches. You can wear them on your wrist without it turning purple and becoming numb. They don't dent your hair.

I had been wishing that I would get a Twistband headband for a while. I have the hair ties... so the headband was next on my list. I opened my box and squealed. Yes. Like a pig. Like a kid with a new puppy. Like a man with a new golf club.

Fancy Emory board and Shaving Cream that smells like Heaven (AKA Blueberries)

Do you have a Birchbox subscription? I am obsessed with it. It costs $10 a month for the box of fun to be delivered to your mailbox. You then give reviews on each product they sent to you (optional) and earn points that you can use towards full size products.

Here is my referral link for Birchbox if you want to check it out! There's no contract. You can cancel it anytime.

Click Here

BUT there is more... Twistband has a monthly box too!!!

It cost $10 and they send a box of their products to your mailbox. Here is the link for that...

Click Here

That's all that I have for you today. Stay fresh.

A Wooden Bowler and Carboard Kids

2013-03-17T10:59:00.000-06:00

A free day is something that I don't have very often. Yesterday was rare. The sun was out, I had no plans, and I got ~~some~~ a little more than I needed retail therapy. I intended to just go to one shop but I ended up at ohhhhhhhhhh 8? I am glad that I went to all of them because I found some amazing items.

Where did I shop?

Arc Loveland

Goodwill Loveland

The Vintage Green Downtown Loveland

Nostalgia Corner Downtown Loveland

Community Thrift Loveland

Do you spy my little table and chairs for the patio beneath it all? You just wait. I checked off several items on my "Ultimate Patio Checklist" this last week.

So that stack of clothes on my bed...

2013-03-11T12:55:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I told you that I did some serious cleaning over the weekend. No joke. I did. I literally had the energy of 10 super woman who just drank red bull. After I finished my linen closet I went to my personal closet.

As always I started by pulling everything out and wiping everything down... then I busted out the Dyson a few times. You know how it is.

Next I made stacks of clothes. Big stacks. I was brutal.

1 stack for Ebay

1 stack for the local consignment shop,Clothes Mentor (don't waste your time there... list it on Ebay.)

1 stack to keep

1 stack to throw away
1 stack of items that were missing buttons or needed dry cleaning

Once I did this I literally had 60 empty hangers in the laundry room and a TON of space in my closet.

So then I asked myself ,"what is someone to do with all this extra room? "

I have been wanting a spot to sit and put on my makeup so this extra square footage happened to work out perfectly.

1 pouf from Target , a rug from Marshalls, and a new mirror later I was hanging out in my closet.

The space is awkward already. It's a huge square-step up-box-thing cause by the staircase under it. The builder made the ceilings really high on the stairwell to the basement so it didn't feel like you were walking into a dungeon. I am thankful for the box not only for the extra ceiling height but for my new hide out.

Things got real this weekend.

2013-03-10T17:24:00.000-06:00

Let me rephrase my post title... Things got real clean this weekend.

The weatherwoman said we were to have 10 plus inches of snow Saturday. Heh. Yeah. They got that wrong. There was snow. But nothing near 4 inches. Lots of wind. That was about it. I had to come up with something to do. It was too cold to go outside.

I was laying in bed Friday night reading my new Country Living and I saw this article.

How did they know that I needed the ultimate linen closet?

If I show you my linen closet photo promise not to cry? Prepare....

Ew.

I had to do it. I could see the ultimate closet was within reach. I pulled everything out.

I washed and fluffed the towels, tossed out old ones, unpacked my massive Sam's pile of TP, pulled all of my extra bathroom items together, and then found baskets. Lots of baskets.

Bottom shelf tub now has all of my candles and air fresheners from around the house. Middle shelf has all of our medicine. I went through and tossed everything that was out of date. Then the top shelf has things that we use a lot IE extra lotion, soap, q tips, razors, Epsom salt. I like to soak. Known fact.

I finished this project and proclaimed victory. Then I looked at my clothes closet...

That's when things got really real.

Sunday Finds and a Shelf for all of it... March 2, 2013

2013-03-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

Check my temperature and the calendar because it's started. The great clean out is here. I have listed everything but the kitchen sink on Craigslist and Ebay. I have tossed, sorted, and cleaned...

It.Feels.So.Good.

I have been thrift shopping every weekend for about 2 years now. I have accumulated some pretty amazing things and I have gotten rid of some amazing things to make way for the new amazinger things.

But why?

My taste changes. A lot. I like the look of something different. I want a new visual every now and then. Probably a little more than Chad but he deals.

This weekend I sold some things on Ebay so I could buy a bookshelf. I had my eye on a white one at Target and happened to get a 5% off coupon in the mail this week. It's like this. If I want something new I need to get rid of something old. In some cases 2 or 3 things.

Chad drove me to pick it up after church today. He unloaded it into the room that it was going to go in. Then he went golfing. We have this understanding that I can put things together a little more peacefully if he isn't around.

He returned 126 screws later to take this photo of me.

After spending a few minutes on the floor recovering I was able to arrange all of my books and toys that I have collected onto the shelves. Now I know what you are thinking. You collect childrens books and toys but you have no kids? Yeah. I do. One day I might have kids. But for now they are my toys and I don't have to share.

Pretty much everything on the shelves are items that I picked up from a rummage sales/antique stores/ or thrift shops.

What isn't from one of those? The two games nexts to the Animal Cracker tin are from the sale rack at Anthrologie. There is a speaker that my parents gave to me in college on the second to bottom shelf and the green birdhouse on the bottom is One Kings Lane.

Everything else is collected by yours truly.

But I can't stop with the shelf can I? Nahhhhh. I found these two today at Goodwill. They weren't on sale but for $5 each I couldn't resist.

Keep cleaning!

Linking to Mod Vintage

Let's talk about our porch.

2013-02-26T17:52:00.001-07:00

What have I been up to the past few days?

Yeah that's right...

In honor of the sun and green grass that I will eventually be reunited with I want to talk about our back porch. When we first moved into our house we quickly purchased some outdoor furniture and spent a ton of time outside on the patio.

After about 6 months we realized that we had made a mistake. It's ok. We all make purchasing mistakes. Right? No? Oh. Maybe it is just us. That's ok. We'll admit it.

The cushions on the furniture didn't have any way to attach to the frames. We get afternoon hurricane force winds at our house. Something about the plains and no wind barriers. We would have to chase our cushions down the street. I kid you not they were on one end of our neighborhood one day on someones front porch. Not to mention the cushions were red and faded more and more every day. It was a mess. Yes. We could have sewn some strings on them to attach them and then sew more fabric to help the fading red. It was easier to just start over.

We sold them on Craigslist last summer and we are starting fresh.

2013 is a new year. Starting fresh. Here's the list. No particular order. Just an order.

1. A pergola that we can grow vines across the back for some privacy

Dorchester Vinyl Pergola from Sams $650

2. A table and chairs to eat on... Something simple and all weather. Nothing that fades.

via

3. A chaise for me to waller on in the sun during the summer...Yes. I said waller.

via

4. A grill that has not been blown off the porch with the wind and is free from dents

5. A rain barrel to catch the little rain that we get.

Funny story. Chad tried to buy this at Sams for me for Valentines Day because I have been bugging him for one for years... When he went to buy it the darn thing was gone. When we asked management they said the city came into the store and made them take it off the shelf because they said that rain water belongs to the city and that it is illegal for citizens to catch their own. Well... why do they have them at Lowes and Home Depot? Strange... I will get this. I will.

via

6. Keeping with my New Years Resolution I want to have lots of pots for fruit and vegetables for me to nibble on while I waller.

What are you dreaming of this winter? Roses? Beaches? Pergolas? Apples? Whatever it is you should start a list. Lists are fun. Lists get things done. List show you husband you are serious about your list.

Check out my Gardening pinspirations!

Until I sit down at my desk again....

Saturday Finds 02/18/2012

2013-02-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

Did everyone have an awesome Valentines Day? Mine was pretty darn sweet. Chad surprised me with an assortment of flowers and an Anthrologie gift card. *YES!* Ooooo AND a trip home/beach for Mothers Day! Southwest was having a mega sale and he said he couldn't resist it. I haven't been home with my mom for Mothers Day in 4 years. I can't wait!

Anyway enough about me. We should be talking about this weeks Saturday finds.

This little metal dish was from Goodwill. Half off. I paid $2.50

Remember my rooting experiment? Well........ I kind of rooted A LOT of little coleus stalks. I needed to plant them in peat pots this week because there were so many roots on those babies. I set them in this tray for them to hang out in until its time to plant. Its great for watering and moving around the house for sunlight.

This awesome mirrored tray was also $2.50. I have it by the front door to catch mail and hold my stamps. I can never find them when I need them.

I also grabbed two Tom Sawyer books and then a Pooh book. I might read it to Quincy tonight so he has sweet dreams.

Did you find anything good over the weekend?

Easy Valentines Day Art

2013-02-11T09:46:00.001-07:00

Hey all you Plum Shabby gals! I am Rasonda from Lake Cottage Dreams, thanks so much to Lily for having me over. I am honored to be here sharing a fun little holiday project with you guys.

I don't know about you, but I am a sucker for the holidays! However, I am more of a simple girl when it comes to Valentines Day decor. I am not one for a home dripping in pink glitter and red hearts. When I saw this little project on one of fave blogs, Cozy Cottage Cute, I knew I had to do it. It was easy, super cheap, and just my style.

I had most of the stuff needed for this laying around, but for those of you that need a shopping list this is what you will need...

A frame {I got mine at Micheal's, it came with a matte}

A heart punch {Martha Stewart- Micheal's again}

3-D adhesive dots {Hobby Lobby}

White card stock

and a book

Most of this stuff you can find at Hobby Lobby or Micheal's. Be sure to look out for sale items and grab your 40% of coupon. I used a frame with a thick matte so I didn't have to do a ton of work punching hearts but you can use whatever size frame you'd like, just make sure to grab a matte to make the final product look more finished and clean.

First, I chose a book. I am a huge book lover, which I part of the reason why I loved the idea, but because of this I had a hard time "defacing" one. I found this book buried deep in my ~~hoarding dungeon~~ basement. I bought it used, for cheap, and to be honest it needed to be put out of its misery {no offense Nora fans}. I wanted that use something that would have a lot of words like love and emotion. Of course, a Nora Roberts romance novel fit the bill for that. I did have to be careful since it was going to be displayed in the house in full view of the kiddos and visitors. After choosing my book, I punched some miscellaneous hearts out from random scrap paper for a test layout. After I figured out my spacing, I created a sort of grid {although its a wonky grid, I still consider it a grid- I was tired DON'T JUDGE! ha!}.

After figuring out how many hearts I needed I started finding my "romantic" words. Next, I laid the heavy highlighted grid underneath my card stock with my matte over it so I could layout where I wanted my hearts to be. I don't know if you can tell from the photo but you need to be able to see the pattern through the card stock.

Once I got everything ready to be permanently placed, I grabbed my adhesive dots and started placing them on the back of the punched hearts and sticking them to my paper.

To make things fun, I used some vintagey red paper I hand on hand as the last heart. I tried it in the middle and the top, but the last space seemed to work best {thanks Sarah!}. Another idea I had was to make an ombre style art piece with paint chips. Since I love books and did not feel like going to the hardware store, this worked best for me.

This is the perfect understated piece of Valentines Day decor and would also make a great gift.

Thanks so much for having me Lily and thanks so much for reading Shabby gals! Have a fabulous Valentines Day and be sure to come visit me at Lake Cottage Dreams.

Rasonda

Xoxo

Winner!

2013-02-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

And the lucky Valentine is.....................................

Email your address to me PlumShabby@gmail.com

Enjoy!

Thanks to everyone that entered! More to come... soon!

Thrifted Outfits for your Date night!

2013-02-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to guest blog here on Plum Shabby...and it didn't hurt that it involved shopping!

Lily gave me the challenge of putting together 3 outfits with pieces I found second hand, spending just a crisp 20. Oh, little did she know thrifting happens to be one of my favorite past times, and thrift I did! I went to a local store called Vapor. Via their website, the store "generates resources to establish centers for humanitarian aid and sustainable life change in third-world environments." It's not very large so furniture picking here is weak, but the clothing selection is pretty fantastic.

I left with four pieces totalling right over $20 and three outfits that I am quite smitten with.

First though, I must introduce my model, a 1950's beauty I snagged a few years back at a downtown Birmingham antique store. I call her Hannah.

Here are my finds and their respective tags.

My first look is a laid back V'day date night, or perhaps day date. I loved the flowy fabric, touch of lace, and pale hue. For cool February I topped it with a sailor inspired jacket and a statement necklace for a pop of color. The coat and lace give way to the start of a vintage theme I tried to carry throughout the three looks. I left off the bottoms, I would likely pair with skinnies and bone colored heels but this could go so many ways.

Next I decided to layer the very feminie White House Black Market shell with the Mix Nouveau jacket/shrug. The look must have been right at home for Hannah, the pattern and style of the jacket screamed 1950s bombshell and the v-neck lace beneath was even more vixen. I paired a simple teared silver necklace. Again, the bottoms could dress this way up or down. I could see anything from jeans to tuxedo striped cigarette pants.

The last piece is a retro charm layered necklace with pearl detail. I paired it with a vintage slip dress I found a few years back on Etsy and a modern blazer belted at the waist. Definitely the most dressy of the three but the necklace and blazer make it suitable for most Valentines outings.

Thanks again, Lily! Happy thrifting to all!

Love and be loved, xx,

Sarah @ Stella&Gray