Thrifty Thursday

Katsy moves into her new apartment this weekend, and I'll be moving at the end of the month (yes, already). We hit up Goodwill, Home Goods, and Target to try and prepare ourselves, and I think we found some pretty good deals.

I left Goodwill with two Anchor-Hocking casserole dishes (Pyrex-type dishes are my latest obsession, and I got these two for just $2 total!), two large and beautiful stoneware bowls, a wine rack for my roommate when she moves into her new apartment in St. Louis, a book on salsa (the condiment, not the dance), a little butter dish, and a tiny little dish with a lid to hold jewelry and whatnot. Katsy found a big wall-mountable coat rack and something to use like a large candle votive. Not bad at all.

Then we headed over to Home Goods, where Katsy found a lovely little cutting board and some curtains, which she may use as actual curtains, use as a divider for her new, door-less closet, or turn into a shower curtain. I used my birthday gift card to buy a gorgeous 4' by 6' rug for $29.99! Made my day.

At Target, I picked up a clearance tube of caulk, because I've heard you can use that on the bottom of a rug to make it non-slip. Can't for the life of me remember what Katsy got.

Here's a pic of my favorite finds from today! Happy thrifting, everyone!

Little Kitchen Garden

So far this year we've had at least two days of 75+ degree weather, two snowfalls of more than 10 inches, and a couple of thunderstorms. You can see why I'm not eager to start planting anything out on our little deck just yet, so for now, I'm growing my baby plants in the kitchen. 

It's not much, but I love checking on them and seeing their progress each day! So far, I've got a couple of little strawberry and poppy plants growing, and I just planted a couple of red morning glory seeds. The poppies and strawberries came from little packets in Target's dollar section, and I thought they were the most darling thing ever. All the blue and white ceramics came from thrift shops. 

Right above my babies is a potted plant, kind of like a small tree, with no flowers that I've noticed yet. I have no idea what it is, but I brought it in along with two other pots from beside the dumpster after a neighbor moved out. My roommate and I knew we couldn't just leave them out there, and they've been great for jumpstarting our garden and deck decor. (Because who wants to spend money on things like terra cotta pots and potting soil and what not? You wanna spend it on fun stuff, like seeds, and hummingbird feeders!)

More pics as the little garden progresses!

Simple Black Headboard

It all started with a free piece of plywood.

"What can I do with this?" I asked myself, after finding the clean, simple board beside the dumpster by my building. I thought about painting it, and I thought about using it as a cheap tabletop, but what really sparked my imagination was the thought of turning it into a headboard. I've seen so many tutorials on Pinterest and other blogs, and they all seem to have incredible results. And what do you know, but my boyfriend was interested in a headboard for his very plain full bed. So I took the board over to my grandparents' house to get their expertise.

(Before we go any further, my boyfriend's specifications were as follows: Headboard must be black. Should be a leather-like fabric. No tufting. Should be rounded, but not elaborately shaped.)

Together, we measured the plywood, and found it to be 48 inches across and 38 inches high. It wasn't wide enough to serve as a headboard for a full bed, so my grandmother suggested that I buy some 1x6 pine boards to fill it out on either side. We also decided that I should buy a couple extra pine boards to add stability across the back of the headboard.

I already had the fabric I wanted to use--black leather-looking vinyl, only $6 a yard at Hancock Fabrics. The boards were cut at the Home Depot, and only cost me a few bucks. Then I went to Joann's to get fabric and was kinda blown away when it cost $18 a yard. Even with my coupon, that was more than I was hoping to spend (especially when the other components had been so cheap). But, it had to have foam.

I took all the pieces back to my grandmothers and we surveyed our supplies.

Maybe not a lot to look at, but I had a vision (not cliche at all).

As you can see, I traced a rough, curved line along the top of the board, and then, I wielded a saber saw for the first time while my sister and grandparents held the board in place for me (apparently clamps are too much of a hassle). To make a long story short, I broke the blade and had to finish it with a hand saw (surprisingly easy).

My grandmother dug up the right nails and I nailed the pine boards onto the sides and along the back.

Look at that! Next, I hot glued the foam onto the front, and wrapped it around the back. Then we took it inside and stapled down the edges of the foam. Yes, we use our staple gun indoors.

We rolled out the material... and discovered a problem. It was very creased, and we couldn't seem to press it out. I had just resigned myself to trying to pull the material super-extra-tight when my grandmother emerged from a spare closet with an entire roll of remarkably similar material, with not a wrinkle on it. And there was just enough of it, after we trimmed the foam down on the sides.

After a couple dozen more staples, here's what we came up with:

Ta-da! I'm considering putting a strip of plum linen down the middle to make it less plain, but I'm going to see what my boyfriend thinks of it first. His birthday is in a couple of days!

My method was far from perfect, but it got the job done. If I were making a headboard to sell, I might be more careful with the staples on the back, or try tufting it or something. And it only took a couple of hours! Once we get it set up, I'll post more pics.

Have any of you ever made your own headboard? Do you want to try now that you've seen how easy it is?

Projects Galore

I've got so many projects in the works right now but haven't actually finished anything for a while, but I thought it was about time I updated. Here's what I've been up to:

I carried this credenza up three flights of stairs by myself the other day and now it's finally in the living room where it belongs! I picked it up after seeing it listed on craigslist, and have every intention of painting it eventually, but for now, I don't think it looks bad at all. And it's so much better than what we had the tv on before. [Don't mind the dust!]

Right now, I've got two of these chairs in the kitchen, where they are drying after a coat of primer, while the other two wait outside on the deck. Wanna know why? Because they smell, and they are sticky. I know primer should cover up most of the smell, but what do I do about those seats? Put a clear coat of paint over them and recover them?? Suggestions, please! I love the lines of the chairs and want to paint them green, with fun blue patterned seats.

I think I picked the perfect time to work on these projects because I've got tomorrow and Friday off from work and we'll be snowed in!

Naked Patio Furniture

I spent the last couple of weeks housesitting for my uncle about 20 minutes away from my apartment. While I was there, I saw a few listings on craigslist for free furniture right down the street from my apartment! What a bummer. However, on the very last day of watching my uncle's house, I happened to see some free, cushion-less patio furniture listed--and when I mapquested the lister's location, I was thrilled to see that it was only 6 minutes away!

To be honest, I drove there hoping to pick up one of the small tables they'd listed. But when I arrived, those tables were gone, and the patio furniture frames were so much nicer than I'd expected them to be. I started loading the pair of chairs into the Party Van, and then got talked into taking the loveseat as well, although I have no idea how I'll ever get all three to work on the tiny decks in our apartment. For now, the two chairs are stacked together, and then set across the top of the loveseat.

So now that you have an idea of what the bones look like, do you have any suggestions for what I should do with them? I don't want to give in and buy generic WalMart cushions that everyone else will have. I imagine my sister and I will have to cut some foam pads down to size, and then fit them with indoor-outdoor fabric. Will that work best? Should I try one of those laminated fabrics? Does anyone know if a crib mattress will fit the loveseat?? I'm so open to suggestions over here, it's unreal. Thanks, everyone!

Belated Thrifty Thursday

Don't you just love a good trip to the thrift shop? I do. Last week, my sister and I got together to hit up Goodwill and the Hobby Lobby next door to it. We went in looking for small furniture, kitchen items, and home decor for her future apartment, so of course, she walked out of Goodwill with one glass and one picture frame, and I left with seven glasses--a set of four tiny, greenish-blue wine goblets which Kat originally spotted, two yellow highball glasses, and a whiskey glass etched with the word 'BOCADILLOS.'

In case you don't know, and most people probably don't, bocadillos are simple but tasty sandwiches served at bars and cafes in Spain. I studied abroad in Madrid four years ago, and the omelette and green pepper bocadillo became my everyday lunch, consumed between classes at the Complu. What this glass was doing in a Kansas Goodwill is beyond me, but I knew that I had to have it. 

So now my collection of colorful glassware is further expanded! I know I've jumped wholeheartedly onto the bandwagon since reading that House Beautiful article, but I'm not worried about it at all... because you know who else is on that bandwagon? Macy's. They're selling this set of four faux vintage glasses for $36! And that's the sale price! I got mine for a dollar each at Goodwill. I call that a deal.

Holiday Picture Frame Re-Do

What with my newfound obsession with Hobby Lobby's cheap furniture hardware, I've been spending a lot of time there. That's how I was able to take advantage of their Christmas decor clearance. I got these two frames for less than $3 each:

Fun fact: when I was younger, I thought animal prints were the tackiest thing ever. Now, I'm kind of obsessed with them. Not as much as Hobby Lobby is, though.

I wanted to make these frames work year-round, not just around the holidays. So the first thing I did was rip that sad red bow and plastic brooch off of the frame on the left. I made a large but simple bow out of a piece of gorgeous blue ribbon, also found at Hobby Lobby. Does anyone know the best name for that color of blue? It's deeper than teal, but not as flat as navy. Such a perfect color, and the photo doesn't even do it justice.

Anyway, here's how the first one turned out:

That's my grandparents' wedding photo! I'm crazy about the frame now, but I don't know what to do with the other frame. Should I paint over the gold stuff around the inside, or replace the red spots with another color, or just put a Christmas photo in the frame (as my boyfriend suggested)?