Yard Saling

What do you think of the new, festive look? :)

While visiting family in New York, I stumbled upon the most amazing Yard Sale.

Cloth napkins, vintage books, teapots ~ everything you could think of, for very reasonable prices.

So, after about an hour of sifting through everything, I finally decided on a nice assortment of items. When I walked over to the woman who was hosting the sale, she smiled at me and said "Hi! That will be six dollars."

Um...what?

Six dollars...seriously? I honestly thought she was joking. I had at least $25 worth of items in my hands and scattered behind me (I found so much great stuff, I couldn't even hold it all!). Oh, and when I say $25, I mean 25 yard sale dollars...that would equal about 100+ retail store dollars. ;)

Well, she was not joking, and even though I offered to give her more money (hardcore yard-salers, please don't mock me too much for that one), she insisted, and I walked away with a ton of great items and a very full wallet!

Here are a few of my finds...

4x6 gold frame: will be painted white & placed on my new desk in the study

White Teapot ~ already found a home on the turquoise shelf by the dining room

Bamboo Tray ~ may be painted white (like yours, Deb!)

Not pictured: 2 hardcover books on decorating, 4 magenta cloth napkins (for Valentine's day), 1 teal-colored vintage book on gardening, Phase 10 (the game), 1 stove-top cover (I'll be painting it white and hanging it on the wall ~ the scrollwork on it is beautiful!), 1 tall black-and-white laundry basket, 2 3lb weights, and I think there's even more but I can't remember. :)

Have you found any great deals lately?

Before & After: Lamp

My goal is to use as little moula as possible to make something as fabulous as possible. Case in point: my lamp project.

While taking out the trash a few months back (actually, Ben was putting the trash in the dumpster while I supervised from the car), I saw something sitting by the dumpster. My curiosity got the best of me and I jumped out to find out what this little treasure could be.

Lo and behold...it was a lamp! But not just any lamp: a free lamp. Unfortunately, my dear husband and I did not see eye to eye on this discovery...

Me: Just look at this beautiful lamp!

Ben: Why are you putting someone else's trash in our car?

Thankfully, in the end, Ben just sighed (after getting tired of hearing me shriek "please?! It's free!!" a hundred times) and let me bring home my new treasure.

Since the lamp was free, I decided to see if I could find a lampshade that was nearly as budget-friendly.

Sadly, after a month of searching (at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, J.C. Penny, Target, etc.) I could not find a single lampshade that fit both our budget and our style.

But then, just as I was about to cave and settle for a pitifully small, $17 drum shade from Target...I re-discovered Ikea's scratch-and-dent section! Much to my surprise, I found an enormous, black and white striped drum shade for just $2.75 - and there isn't even anything wrong with it! Can you believe it?! Two dollars and seventy-five cents!!! That definitely deserves three exclamation points! ;)

So, I snatched up the perfect lampshade and immediately went to work on my new-to-me lamp...

The lamp: BEFORE

The lamp: AFTER painting it with primer

My "new" lamp, with its new shade

A view of the guest room/study* with the lamp

A lovely bedside lamp for our guests**

So, have you been working on any free (or nearly free) projects?

*This room will be painted gray once I receive my free paint!

** The orange pillow cover was a recent purchase from West Elm. Ben suggested that instead of buying a pillow form, we should just fill it with the stuffing from an old "husband" (one of those pillows you rest against) we had lying around. He's pretty much a genius! :)