Thrift store score!

Just a small one today... yesterday on my lunch break I picked up this sweet little glass dish. I love the floral design and the colors. It's about 9 inches long.

I also got this vintage blanket in its original packaging:


It's not one of those cozy, soft cotton blankets...it has more of an acrylic/polyester feel which I don't really like. But it was new and in perfect shape. I figure it will be great for a picnic blanket this summer!

Have you found any thrift store scores lately?

My tiny valentine (and some vintage goodness!)

Yesterday I got to work and this tiny bouquet was waiting for me on my desk. And I mean tiny!

Now isn't that the sweetest Valentine's bouquet from the best boyfriend in the whole world who knows I love tiny things?! I just love it so much, and no fumbling with a big, awkward bouquet that spills in the car on the drive home! lol. The vase is hand blown and from Kiva Ford. She has amazing tiny things, so go take a look!

I also wanted to show you the vintage hamper I got yesterday!

It's in just about perfect condition and has the sweetest scalloped lid.

Anything to make laundry a little less horrible is ok in my book!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day. :)

Weekend vintage goodness.

A while back I bought the amazing mid century shelf pictured in the above photo. It was going to be really expensive to ship, so the super sweet seller agreed to meet me halfway so I could pick it up. Thank goodness we lived close enough for this to be possible! Let me tell you, this shelf is so cool! It was up within minutes of returning home.

Photographs really don't do it justice! On the way home, we stopped at a little antique shop that I love, but haven't visited in a few years. It's one of those great old junk shops where you don't even know where to start looking. I ended up coming home with what used to be the top part of a desk:


It's about 2.5 feet long and perfect for sorting mail and other odds and ends. I'm pretty sure I'm going to paint it. It's just too beat up to leave as-is. I'll be sure to post a photo when I do!

Speaking of thrift store art....

How cool is this?!

Turn a thrift store painting into your very own paint-by-number!

I love this and can't believe I never saw this post before now. Go read the full tutorial here. I can't tell you how many ugly floral paintings I've seen while thrifting. I may just grab one now!

What actually happened when I tried a Pinterest project.

I first saw this project on Pinterest, but the original how-to can be found on this awesome blog. So here's my step-by-step account of how it all went down when I actually tried it.

First, start with a cheap thrift store painting. The one I bought is actually one of those old prints that's a stiff piece of board and has a uniform texture all over it. I wish I would've found a paint-by-number, but this did the trick. It was $4.00:


Next, go to the store and get yourself a pack or two of vinyl letter stickers. Since I don't live by a craft store, I had to go to the hardware store. Translation: NO good fonts. :(

Make sure you get the letters that are part of a white rectangle rather than the peel-off letters that are already shaped like the actual letter. If you get the white rectangle type, you'll be able to trim the letters to actual size while the backing is still attached for easy layout planning! You won't be able to do this with the letter-shaped type.

The bad news if you do it the way I did it is you'll have to cut out each letter. But it's easier in the end, I promise! Here is a pic after I had cut out some of my letters. All of the stickers in this photo still have the backing attached so I can move them around freely:

These stickers are three inches tall (in case you're wondering!). One of the problems I faced happened when it was time to place the sticker down for good. If I put a sticker down incorrectly and had to lift it, it would pull off some of the print. See next to the "T" after I had moved it to the left a bit:

Ok, now if I was going to cut ALL these letters and paint the whole thing only to find out at the end that the whole original print was ripped off when I removed each sticker, I was going to lose it. What worked for me was sticking the letter to my hand a few times before I put it on the painting:

Just take it on and off your hand a few times. It will still be sticky, and will also make for easy lifting without ruining your print! I didn't lose any more of the print after using this method. Remember to remove the stickers gently and slowly just in case!

Time to paint! Make sure you get spray paint. That means no brushes and less chance of bleeding under the stickers (though mine did bleed a very tiny bit in some spots). It would've been WAY worse had I used regular paint and a brush!

It took three coats before the original print was covered to my liking. I used a satin finish. Defects and problem areas are always accentuated with gloss, and I didn't want completely flat paint, either. Let the paint dry. Ok, time to peel off the stickers and see if this worked:

Success so far!! Well, except for the fact that I didn't use a ruler or a straight line of any kind and just guessed where to put everything. Plus, before you paint it and your letters are on top of the busy print, it's really hard to see where some of your spaces between words and letters are just too big. Darn! I can't go back now, so I have to live with a little sloping and crooked letters and the bottom words being too far apart from eachother:


Overall, I'd say the project was a success, but next time I'm using a ruler! Some of the big spaces and crooked parts are going to bug me forever.

P.S. This is a lyric from a song called "As We Go Along" sung by The Monkees (written by Carole King/Toni Stern).

Some things I've bought lately.

First up, I love my new owl mug from Urban Outfitters! It holds a lot of liquid and is soooo cute. I bought it at the actual store, but it's cheaper online right now! Get two for $10.00 here!

Next, how sweet is this vintage cat plush?

I didn't need her, but I couldn't resist that cute little tipped head. I got her here.

I just got this old ROOMS sign yesterday while out at my local antique store:

I immediately hung it on my ancient basement door. Maybe it will make people think there are cool old rooms behind that door rather than a disgusting, scary 100-year-old basement. Notice the print in the background. It's this one and it's amazing.

Finally, take a look at this amazing felt collage I got Julia for Christmas!:

It's from pixlpshr and it's absolutely every bit as cool in person as the rest of her shop looks. I wouldn't mind having a whole collection of these! The felt is adhered to a 6x8 canvas and the back is finished very professionally with a little wire for hanging. Love!

Now show me what you've bought lately!

Something weird about me.

I hate hate hate smoking. I hate the idea of it, the smell of it, everything about it. But I love vintage ashtrays. Why am I always finding the cutest ashtrays?! I keep telling myself maybe I could get one and use it as something else, but in the end, I'll know it's an ashtray and I can never bring myself to buy one. Tell me these owl ones aren't the cutest ever!:

I want them. I REALLY want them! And some more cuties (shop links at bottom):






I always try to convince myself that maybe I'll just put tiny pencils in the cigarette holders. lol

Photo credits:
1. ForestDaydream
2. NeedorWant
3. flippingout
4. Fairyknob
5. highwatervintage
6. RetroMagnetism
7. EasterInHarlem

P.S. Sorry January was so quiet around here- I'm back!