Guest Post: Eclectically Vintage

I'm most excited to share with you today Kelly from Eclectically Vintage! She's so talented in so many ways!!

Hi, I'm Kelly from Eclectically Vintage, and today I'd love to share my fabulous family memo center.

Here's the story...of a lovely lady and an unlikely memo board combined with a curbside castoff to create the perfect landing spot by my back door for notes, keys, shades...and other random things!

At an estate sale a few months ago, I spotted an old crib in the dark recesses of the attic (picture me doing the happy dance)! I politely declined the possibly bedbug ridden mattress though – getting itchy just thinking about it. 

Right away I knew it would be the perfect memo board - one day.

But since it was almost Christmas when I found it, the crib spring made it's first appearance on my Christmas mantel.

Christmas came and went, and the crib spring came down (much to the hubs delight)!

But alas, he didn’t have time to rejoice for long because before he knew what hit him, he was hanging that spring on the kitchen wall where it’s our new memo board.

The blue metal table under the spring is a curbside castoff I rescued from the side of the road.

I still laugh out loud when I think of getting caught in the act by the hubs.

Can you believe that at the same moment I was wrestling the table into my car (far from my house, I might add), he drove by shouting, “Just Leave It There”!

He scared the bejeebers out of me but it didn’t deter me from my mission.

The table (did I mention it was FREE!) was topless (how embarrassing!) so I had grand plans of getting a piece of marble cut for the top.

Months went by and she still had no top – until fate intervened. While cleaning out my basement (which resembled a scene from Hoarders), I spotted some leftover tile used in our house reno. Three marble tiles fit perfectly! Entire table = FREE!

The perfect fit around the light switches!

Old clothes pins are perfect for hanging all those A+ (hopefully) papers!

Keep your eyes peeled at yard sales and thrift shops (and by the side of the road) for hidden gems.

Hold your head high while you’re diving into that dumpster and you’ll probably find some pretty cool things too! And don’t be afraid to shout it from the rooftops – I found it in the trash!

Hope you'll come visit me at Eclectically Vintage, so I can share more of my dumpster diving and vintage loving adventures with you!

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Blog Post Trade-Off: Mommy is Coocoo

Hello! I am Amanda, and I blog at mommy is coocooo. My blog is all about fun! Whether you are laughing about the realities of marriage and motherhood or being inspired to make your everyday surroundings lovely, regardless of your budget. 

I couldn't be happier to do my first guest post at Life as a Thrifter!

My thrifty project involves two tables I purchased for $12.50 a piece when

 Nanny Needed a New Coffee Table



I don't like sanding and I don't like using primer either. I like to see results quickly! Nevertheless, the top of Nanny's table had a sheen so I lightly sanded it before I painted. I didn't sand any other part of the table. Painted furniture is more likely to chip and scratch if it is not sanded and/or primed so I frequently go with the "roughed up" look. (Some may call it Shabby Chic or distressed but my mom once said to me, "If you want to buy something that has a lot of marks or scratches on it, bang on it with your hammer and sand it a little. That is called the roughed up look."

I've been a fan of the "roughed up" look for several years now.

I  used a stencil for the chandelier and damask images on the tops. Finally, after the paint dried I lightly sanded the table(s) to reveal the dark wood underneath. The roughed up approach is best because Nanny is in college and this table will see a lot of action be used a lot. 

Which coffee table do you like best?  The readers of mommy is coocoo were almost evenly divide. The chandelier table won out by one vote, which was perfect because Nanny (who had the ultimate vote) chose the Chandelier table.

Holly - Thank you for allowing me to share today. This coocoo Momma couldn't be more grateful! If you'd like to see other coocoo projects or learn more about the whole coocoo family, head on over to mommy is coocoo.

Amanda

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Blog Post Trade-Off: re-U

I'm thrilled to introduce to you JoAnna from re-U. She shares the same passion for thrifting and up-cycling as I do! Check out this fun find!

Hi, My name is JoAnna Garnto and my company & blog is re-U. I like to say I do interior design with a green twist. I help busy women create homes that reflect their own personal style while being kind to the bank account and the earth.  re-U teaches, inspires and encourages re-Using, re-Purposing and re-Cycling items to create a fresh and unique living space. If you are interested please visit me at www.re-Ublog.com and while you are there be sure to check out the "free stuff" tab :)

I have ALWAY'S loved thrifting and I think it's the best way to decorate a home! Holly's home is proof of that. Thanks so much Holly for having me. 

Today I'm sharing the before and after pics from a vintage telephone table that I found for $15!

I also found a vintage table cloth at an antique store for $8 that I used to recover the seat. My mom who is oh so talented and crafty embroidered a design around the edge of the seat. So it has quite alot of personality!

Thanks for reading & hope to see you over at re-Ublog.

Cheers!

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Blog Post Trade-Off: Balancing Home

I'm so excited to introduce to you, Megan from Balancing Home!  Wait until you see the sweet, little find she snagged up!!

Hello! I am so excited to be here sharing with you all today. I am Megan, and I blog over at Balancing Home. I used to rock kid's minds (yeah, I was a teacher), but now I'm rocking out at home with my seven-month-old daughter and my three-year-old son. I am all about making my home and my time with my kids fabulous. I love creating, and I love sharing.  Being a stay-at-home mom wasn't going to keep this girl quiet! Thus, Balancing Home was born. I am an ordinary girl, turned ordinary mom, on a less-than ordinary budget trying to make it all work. I also partnered up with my husband (graphic design extraordinaire) to start a print shop.

Today, I want to talk about some rummage sale flowers I posted about here. A while ago, I picked up four flowers for a quarter each at a rummage sale. 

I decided to only makeover three since one was a little funky (it was taller and had a bigger base) and things look best in threes. Those of you who saw the letters I made for Eleanor's room (seen here) are going to know exactly how I rocked out this makeover. I started by spray painting the flowers white.

Then, I took my lovely paper and cut it down to size. For the second time that day I got to use my handy cutter my mom swooped up from TJMaxx. She knew it was just the kind of thing a crafty girl like me would love. It is pretty sweet.

Gorgeous? I think so!

Fandangled Cutter

So there you have it, a crafty girls best friends: scrapbooking paper and spray adhesive. For those of you keeping track spray adhesive-already had, flowers-$1.00, scrapbooking paper-$1.00 (probably less with discounts), spray paint-already had...grand total-$2.00 at most.

On to the next step. I simply sprayed and attached the paper. I only did one side at a time. I figured doing both sides at once would make cutting extra tricky.

At this point me and the X-ato knife (and cutting mat) got down to business. I simply repeated on the other side (spray, adhere, trim). To be honest my trimming gauged into my paint job a bit and the spray paint didn't cover as much as I wanted to so I went back over everything with a little acrylic craft paint. I was really glad I did because it took no time at all and gave the flowers the finished look I was after.

To finish them off I added a little ribbon around the base with some spray adhesive (and yes, this was ribbon I already had, meaning...free!). Here is what they look like in the little lady's room,

I do recall a husband of mine questioning why I would have ever bought those flowers. He didn't believe I could make them look good, and I think I proved him wrong (he agrees). For $2.00 I couldn't be prouder.

 

I love giving things new life. I hope I have inspired you to take the ugly and make it beautiful. You don't need a lot of money, just a little creativity and craftiness. 

A big thank you to Holly for having me over! Be sure to stop by the blog and check out more. The hubs and I have also been busy working on all sorts of free printables for our loyal followers!

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Blog Post Trade-Off: Rose is a Rose

I'm so excited to introduce you to Ellie from Rose is a Rose!!  She has some of the most super fun ideas!  I was enthralled with her simple way of adding a little extra storage space to her little boy's room.



Hi, I'm Ellie from Rose is a Rose Designs.  I live in Texas with my husband, 2 year old son and dog Holly.  I'm a stay at home mom, crafter, sewer, DIY blog addict (self-diagnosed). I hope you'll check out my blog and become a fan as I post new tutorials, tips, deals, etc in the new year. We are welcoming another little boy into our family in about 5 weeks (YIKES!), so we were looking for a unique way to store baby books and maximize space in the baby room. Our goal was to not purchase ANY new furniture for his room and to do his nursery on a tight budget! My husband and I put our heads together and came up with a fun, unique way to double the use of an old dresser! We think it turned out great and wanted to share with ya'll to incorporate into your own home! I'm calling this tutorial Dresser DressUP!  I've had a great antique dresser that just kept getting re-painted and shoved in closets year after year.  Not quite the attention it deserved!  So 1 dresser, 1 spice rack, and a handy husband and this project was a GO.

Available here at Target.com  

Here is the old beauty in the before stage (minus a couple drawers/knobs)

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We decided to divide the spice rack so that we'd have 3 separate "shelves"

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Next we had to paint the shelves and the dresser

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And attach the knobs

I got clearance lettered knobs from HOBBY LOBBY for $1.49each.  His name is only 7 letters so we had to do 3 plain white knobs. His name is in the shape of an "L" on the dresser..my hub's great idea

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And attach the shelves

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And the finished project!

I'm so very excited to have a special place for Lincoln's books.  Let's face it, his brother has an entire library of books so I really didn't need a HUGE bookshelf in his room, just a space to place next to the rocker to store some good light reading for the little guy.

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Blog Post Trade-Off: Everyday Lovely

I'm thrilled to have Cailan here today from Everyday Lovely.  If you haven't been to her beautiful blog yet, then there's no doubt you'll be convinced to today!


Hello! I'm Cailan from Everyday Lovely, and I'm positively delighted to be over here at adorable Holly's cheerful, thrify-fun blog. :)

Today, I'm going to share an idea for an quick,

inexpensive {and lovely!} Christmas gift, you can make yourself:

Numbered Bottle Cap Magnets.  

First, gather yourself a little collection of bottle caps, enlisting helpfully thirsty people to contribute for a few weeks until you have 10.

 

Then, sort through the microsoft fonts and decided on one you like.  I liked SimSun-ExtB for it's simplicity.  I printed several out, trying to get the right size and in the end used some numbers in size 62 and some in 49ish for extra-fun variety.

At this point it would be handy to have some sort of crafty circle punch, but I have nothing anywhere near that nifty, so I just eye-balled and cut and trimmed a circle that fit and then used that as I guide for the others.

 Then, get out your Mod Podge and the whatever paintbrush you can find in  kiddos' craft cupboard.

 Brush some Mod Podge on the bottom of the cap, put the number in and then coat the top.

 Then hot-glue these heavy-duty magnets from Walmart to the backs.

At this point, I decided they looked a bit too crisp and white, so I got out some Old English furniture polish.

Added a bit of the polish to my glue plate, brushed a coat of it on top of the dried Mod Podge, and wiped it mostly off with a paper towel.  You could add a coat of resin at this point, but that would add to the cost and mine have held up perfectly peachily for months now.

So here they are:  sweet-little-antiqued-numbered-bottle-cap-magnets.

And really, since I already had the Mod Podge and furniture polish, the only cost was the magnets, which were $6 for 50/ $1.20 for the 10 I used - woohoo.

Guaranteed to make your friend's fridge {or cute chalkboard!} 
feel extra-special-pretty. 

You can find more easy-peasy Tutorials and ideas for lovely everyday living at my little blog Everyday Lovely.

Thank you very much for having me, Holly!

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