the finished product

It’s up and Hope was as excited as I suspected she would be.

She promptly began taking all the letters down…

I had so much fun putting this little project together and it was super easy.

Due in part to finding the frame with sheet metal already put together at my local Goodwill for just shy of $5.

But you could just as easily head to a local thrift shop, find a big frame, spray paint the tacky out of it, then go to your local hardware shop and get a piece of sheet metal cut to size.

After attaching it with your glue of choice (the one I purchased had been hot glued to smitherines but I don’t mind because from the front you don’t see it.) prime the sheet metal and put a few coats of chalkboard paint on top.

It’s great for leaving little messages on.

One day…down the road…many days down the road if unsupervised…she’ll be able to color on it with chalk too!

And to keep all the numbers & letters ($1 a pack at my local big box) corralled I grabbed three acrylic shower caddies ($2.44 per caddy)…the kind that suction to the walls…gave them a shot of spray paint and hung them just below the board.

Just.like.that. miss Hope now has something else to keep her entertained with during her “nap time” if she opts out of napping.

Good Grief to Glam! Toddler Decor

This will be brief…it’s mostly finished…just needs to be hung in Miss Hope’s room…

Do you remember this?

This lovely hand-painted frame complete with a sheet metal insert???

And for this price I could hardly justify passing it up.

Well, with a little bit of this and this…

It began to take on a whole new look.

After the primer and spray paint sat for a day I opened this can of worms paint.

I’ve been so eager to put chalkboard paint on SOMETHING.

I let it dry for the recommended time…forever…and after it dried it looked like this…

With just a little bit of seasoning and magnetic numbers & letters,  it now looks a little bit like this…

Next on the agenda…let the letters (the red ones got a shot of white spray paint too) and bins dry…then into the lovey girls bedroom!!!

She is going to get the biggest kick out of this…I can’t wait to have it completely finished and hung!!!

To see a slew of other B&A’s head over to Thrifty Decor Chick!!

this’ll only take a minute…

Famous last words right?

20 minutes later…and the clock is still ticking…

Well this really will only take a minute…or maybe 5…

I mentioned we had a very successful treasure hunting trip to our local Goodwill a little over a week ago…pictures of our finds are in order. Plus…a peek at my $10 Craigslist steal.

And let’s just call these purchases what they are…cheap…in cost…not character…quality? Debatable.

But beauty is in the eye of the beholder right? And besides? Who really wants to spend a fortune decorating their home?

Not me.

The cheaper the better I say!

So in no particular order…

No…silly.

I didn’t find these 2 there. Just brought them along…certainly makes walking the narrow and moth-ball infused lanes a bit trickier!

First up…and let me preface this by saying that I actually purchased 4 of these bowls (2 minis & 2 mediums) but the precious girl checking me out, who told me she wrapped them up, in fact just stacked all 4 of them and wrapped 1 piece of newspaper around them…needless to say, 2 broke…1 mini and 1 medium…what do ya do?

Anyway…I L.O.V.E. these bowls. White and whimsical…and I KEEP FINDING THEM. I have a few others scattered throughout the house so imagine my excitement when I found 4 more!!! Down to 2 more and still excited…at .49 cents a pop they’re a steal!

These crates are already making themselves useful down in my kitchen…I’d originally thought I would paint them but they’re doing such a wonderful job holding sweet potatoes and onions I think I’ll just let them be…just .59 cents a piece!

This little tray is also in the kitchen…very busy corralling my EVOO, utensil jar, and salt dish (another find, from another day that I’d better show soon…too cute). It will be getting a make-over…plus a little chalkboard paint…then it’ll really be stylin’! This one was .99…love.cheap.finds!

As far as finds go this one is hard to beat…a Pier1 tea pot…for $3.99! I knew it was a keeper when I saw it…did ya notice it’s white?…but I was really curious as to what it retailed for…somewhere in the ball park of $15…ah…one good bath later it’s ready for tea!

I’ve been wanting to put chalkboard paint on something for quite some time…and this looks like it’ll make a great little message board…after the carrots bid every farewell…say “bye bye” carrots.

This was one of three pieces on this venture that will get a touch of chalkboard paint on them…so excited.

.79 cents.

So.

Excited.

A few pillow cases that are an identical match to the color of our sofa fabric will soon be given a new life as throw pillows…with some Pottery Barn inspiration, home made style, to boot! These were .99 a piece and they had three racks full of pillow cases…three…

And finally…the piece that is actually knee deep in it’s make-over as we speak…this beauty:

I know…it really doesn’t look like much now, but trust me…it’s looking pretty.darn.adorable. with it’s new coat of white paint and…can you guess? Chalkboard paint!!!

It’s just the thing I’ve been looking for to finish up the little lady’s big girl bed room.

Magnetic? Check.

Chalkboard? Check.

I was pretty pleased with the $4.99 sticker after flipping the frame over and seeing that someone paid $17.99 for just the frame. Deal.

Okay…now…the cherry on top of my latest venture into the world of bargain decorating…where to begin???

Ah yes…All Bower Power…

One of the three blogs I religiously stalk.

And one day while reading the latest post by the fabulously creative and frugal, not to mention downright hilarious, Katie Bower I saw a picture of her coffee table.

I immediately fell for it. Hard.

Well, late last week I was keeping myself entertained by scouring Craigslists…I do this periodically just to see what people are selling…you’d be surprised what you find.

And then I spotted it.

Coffee table.

$10.

I was curious so I took a look.

And I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw an octagon table just.like.the.one. in Katie’s living room.

After sending a quick email to the seller I fully prepared myself for it to be sold or a hoax.

The next morning the seller wrote back, “two people in front of you…if I don’t hear from either of them I’ll let you know.”

Two whole people. It’s a goner…why would either one of them pass at this?

“Okay…sounds good. Just let me know if you don’t sell it. I’d love to purchase it if neither of them does…here’s my number…”

Not 10 minutes later I got a call back.

It was mine if I wanted it.

And you know I said yes!

So here it is…in all its undressed-I-need-a paint-job-glory.

Even though nothing says pretty like a fresh coat of white paint, I’m thinking Chandelier Sparkle will suit this table nicely…my hubby suggested “leaving the cane as is for a little bit of depth”.

He’s quite the decorator. He just wouldn’t tell you that…you know…to keep up pretenses.

🙂

I’ll see how it looks…might be just the ticket to make this $10 find look like a million bucks!

Well you know the next thing I had to do was send an email to miss Katie…let her know…I thought she’d be just as giddy as I was.

And you know what?

She was.

In all her past-her-due-date-craziness she even took time to write back…isn’t that just so nice??? I’m sure she has at least 10 other things to do while she waits for her little one to arrive…but she did.

And guess what? She only paid $10 for her coffee table too!

No kidding.

The moral of this story: you’d better keep your eyes peeled…maybe these octagon coffee tables of old are the latest craze…and if you’re lucky you might just score one for $10 yourself!!!

So…those are my finds. Not only are they bargains but it’s nice to give something a second wind…much better than buying something new for twice the price and it keeps it out of the trash. Done and done.

Who says you can’t put together a spiffy place to call home without spending a fortune. A little creativity. A little scavenging. And a whole lotta fun!

And seeing as Goodwill treasure hunts seem to be posted about daily in blog land,  I’m curious what great finds you might have found? Any thing you’re giving a second wind? Maybe you’ve just been inspired and now you’re heading out to find your own treasures…dumpster diving… 🙂 Either way you go about it I’d love to see pictures if you’ve got. Stories? Do tell.

Happy Treasure Hunting!!!