Today's Thrifty Treasures and Met Monday

Happy Monday! Today I am joining Rhoda for "Today's Thrifty Treasures" @ Southern Hospitality
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/yardsales-once-again/
and Susan for "Metamorphosis Monday" @ Between Naps on the Porch http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2009/08/welcome-to-33rd-metamorphosis-monday.html.

I didn't have a very successful thrifting weekend. I decided to visit some new thrift shops that are south of the city but didn't come away with much.

What I did buy were six bottles for 50 cents apiece. I initially intended on using them for some more snowmen but decided to dig through my supplies and alter the bottles with a vintage flair. I used some book pages, stickers, copies of vintage postcards from my collection, lace, keys, wire and old jewelry. A simple project with not much time or money invested.

Here's a before and some after pictures.

Happy Thrifting!!

Good Morning

This 1909 postcard I recently purchased sums up my post this morning. Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

Show Me Your Roosters!

It's time for another party and since I, unlike our guest of honor, will not be up crowing at the break of dawn, I am posting my party pics the night before.

Many thanks to Barb @ http://barbsgoodlife.blogspot.com/2009/08/show-us-your-roosters-party-time.html for hosting this very well received party.

My post will be short and sweet because I don't have that many roosters perched in my home. The few roosters I have all reside in my kitchen (at least I think they're all roosters!!). Three of them are sitting on top of kitchen cabinets so major dusting had to occur before picture taking!

This picture is actually a framed strip of a wallpaper border. I saw the border at a wallpaper store and the colors were perfect for my kitchen. They gave me this sample strip for free and I framed it in a frame that I already had.
I remember buying this guy a few years back because his color also matched my kitchen decor.
I purchased these wood plaques because they fit so well in the narrow wall space between the kitchen and breakfast nook.

This cute wood rooster with his metal legs was the perfect size and color to perch on top of a small black shelf hanging on a wall between the kitchen and breakfast nook.

Finally, these plates were a natural fit with the color and decor of my kitchen. They hang on a wall going into my dining room.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave me a comment and let me know you were here.....I hate to think I dusted for nothing!

Enjoy all the parties!!

It's Vintage Thrifty Thursday!

I'm happy to be joining everyone again for Thrifty Thursday. You can check out all the thrifty finds at Leigh's blog:

http://lbratina.blogspot.com/2009/08/thrifty-thursday-31-and-tablescape.html

I'm also joining Vintage Thingies Thursdays for the first time. You can link to that great party at:

http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/2009/08/vintage-thingies-thursday-bears-need.html

Thanks to both ladies for hosting these fun parties!

For those of you that have been following my blog, you have probably gathered from my previous posts and pictures that I love vintage items. I hit the jackpot this past couple of weeks with some vintage (yet thrifty) finds.

Typewriter: FREE
I found it at a thrift store with no price tag and the woman working said I could have it for free because "nobody wants those old typewriters anymore"! I will be using the keys and other parts for some of my projects.
My second vintage thrifty find is actually a part of the FREE typewriter (yes I had to capitalize that again!!). As I was unwinding the typewriter ribbon that was still in the typewriter, I noticed it had a great patina and thought it could be used in a project down the line. So I wrapped it around an old spool I had on hand, tied a bow around it and added a hat pin (from friends of my mother). Doesn't it look great on it's own?
I have an ever growing collection of vintage alarm clocks and today I found this one on the shelf at the local thrift store.....$3.98!!! This was a rare find for a thrift store and it totally made my day.
I love these old bottles!! I found the Vanilla bottle at a thrift store and paid $5.00 for it. The other apothecary bottle I found at an antique store. It was marked $9.00. I didn't think that was a bad price for a vintage bottle but then the owner told me everything in the store was 40% off so I ended up paying $5.40. This last little treasure cost 79 cents. I paid 50 cents for the little silver plated tray and 29 cents for the candle globe that I turned upside down for use as a small cloche. I added one of my snowman creations for this picture.That's it for this week. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I'll be visiting all of the participants in this weeks parties to see what thrifty and vintage things you found.

Knock Off - Knock Out Skeleton Key Project

I posted this entry on my blog last Thursday and then came across Cheri's "Knock Off, Knock Out Party" http://itssoverycheri.blogspot.com/2009/08/exciting-news-100-plus-knock-off-knock.html . I'm posting a link to the project because I thought it was perfect for the party. Thanks for hosting Cheri!

Here's the link to my Pottery Barn inspired Skeleton Key Project:

http://mamiejanes.blogspot.com/2009/08/one-more-key-project.html

Today's Thrifty Treasure

This is my first time to join Rhoda's "Today's Thrifty Treasures" party @ Southern Hospitality. You can visit Rhoda at: http://southernhospitalityblog.com/ to view all the thrifty finds!

I only have one thrifty treasure from this weekend but I love, love, love it!! After taking in Saturday's parade and festivities (see earlier post) I stopped by the local antique mall which had several of its vendors set up outside. I immediately saw this birdcage and cautiously looked at the price....$7.00!!!! Of course hubby said "What are you going to do with that" and my response was my typical "Just wait and see, it's going to be gorgeous". But to be honest, I think it is gorgeous just the way it is. What do you think?


Thanks for visiting. Have a great "thrifty" week.

I Love a Parade

Hubby and I went to downtown Parkville, MO today to watch the Parkville Days parade and to wander through the many craft, art and food booths at the Parkville Days festival. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and hundreds of people lined the downtown streets for the activities. What a great way to spend a Saturday morning! Hope your day was just as enjoyable.

One More Key Project

If you read my Thrifty Thursday post today you saw several projects where I incorporated some of my vintage key collection.

I got on the internet after work today and decided to get some inspiration from the pages of Pottery Barn and guess what they are showing.......vintage-looking skeleton keys.

Their idea was simple and beautiful! So here's what I created using the Pottery Barn idea as my inspiration.


First I decided since my keys were not 4" to 7" like the Pottery Barn keys I needed to ground them in a frame rather than have them simply hanging on the wall. I took this thrift store frame I had on hand (this one cost 25 cents) and went to work.




After dismantling the frame and putting the glass away for another project, I painted the frame black, distressed and antiqued it. I tossed the original picture but kept the cardboard backing. I sprayed adhesive glue on the cardboard and adhered some cream colored fabric that I had on hand. I choose 7 of my favorite skeleton keys and decided on their placement. I pierced small holes on both sides of each key and used thin wire to hold the keys in place. I attached the finished project back in the frame and project completed!

I love the finished project. It will look great hung with a grouping of pictures and photos. Thanks Pottery Barn for the inspiration!!


P.S. The Pottery Barn keys cost $19.00. My finished project cost $7.25.

Thrifty Thursday

Welcome to my Thrifty Thursday post. Thanks to Leigh at Tales from Bloggeritaville for hosting this party. You can visit her and connect with all the participants at:

http://lbratina.blogspot.com/

I love old keys. You can always count on finding me rummaging through a box of keys at a flea market or antique store. I am particularly drawn to skeleton keys (it's a nostalgia thing.....all the doors on the house I grew up in used skeleton keys) but any old key may end up in my collection.

Here's where my old keys meet Thrifty Thursday:

1) The keys themselves are a thrifty find because my rule of thumb is to not spend over $1.00 for any key (most of the keys I have collected cost between 25 cents and $1.00).

2) I use the keys not only for display but in a lot of my thrifty projects.

Here is a picture of some of my key collection. They are displayed in a $1.00 thrift store find, a beautiful divided glass and silverplated dish.

This next project cost a total of $2.00. I painted and distressed each frame (25 cents apiece), added an old book page for the background paper, then glued a flat vintage key (each key 25 cents) to the paper. I added a little wire for dimension and glued a button to the top of each key. I then glued the frames to a strip of black ribbon I had in my stash and added a skeleton key ($1.00) to the top to act as a hanger. This project was not only inexpensive but also very fast to create.

I have seen a lot of jewelry using old keys and decided to give it a try. Total cost was around $1.50. The key cost 25 cents and the beads cost me no more than $1.00. Jewelry design is not my specialty but I was happy with the outcome of the pendant.

If you have read my earlier posts you know I am creating snowman for an upcoming craft show. I have used old keys on several of the snowmen.....here are some of them pictured.

In this last thrifty project I took a framed picture I purchased at a garage sale for $1.00 and gave it a whole new look. I painted and distressed the frame, covered the original picture with a cream colored scrapbook paper (50 cents) and then wrapped that with crochet thread (thrift store purchase for 10 cents), keeping the thread about 1/4" apart. Once the picture was completely wrapped, it was reattached to the frame. I now had a blank canvas to create any number of different looks. The string is what holds everything together so there is no need for glue, tape, etc. In the example below I slid a vintage looking piece of scrapbook paper under the thread, added a black mat and vintage family photo, an aged tag with buttons, some lace (thrift store find for 40 cents) and (I'm finally getting to the key part).....my $1.00 skeleton key. NOTE: Come back and visit my blog tomorrow. I am going to show more examples of how this one frame can take on any number of looks, by just sliding different elements under the thread.

Thanks for stopping by! Please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.

Thrifty Thursday / Back to School

I am happy to join Leigh at Tales from Bloggeritaville for my 2nd Thrifty Thursday. Check out all the thrifty finds at Leigh's blog: http:/lbratina.blogspot.com

Since school starts in our neck of the woods next Monday, my thrifty finds this week are all school related.

What's school without textbooks? I got these vintage school books for $1.00 apiece.

I found this great vintage loose leaf notebook for $1.00 at an antique store. This notebook was filled with recipes from the 1940's (I haven't tried any of them....I'm not much of a cook).

While vactioning in Ohio this summer I found this cute old wood pencil box for $2.00 at a thrift store. The division worksheet card was in a set I found at a garage sale for 50 cents.

This vintage slate board was $3.00 at an antique store. I'm going to use this to display my grandmother's grade school class photo from 1915.I put all my school finds in this "Back to School" vignette. I purchased this small vintage suitcase at a flea market for $5.00. The other items in the display (not mentioned above) are a vintage ruler (50 cents), a school picture of my father-in-law (circa 1933) in a thrift store frame (25 cents) and a copy of my grandmother's grammar school diploma (1920) with a class photo on a clip board that I've had for years. The small banners belonged to my neighbor when I was growing up. They were in her high school memorabilia from 1931.
Happy Back to School!!!!

On Pins and Needles

A two-fold meaning to the title of this post...........

First, I had a busy weekend watching my son race his bike. I have to admit that I am always on "pins and needles" during one of his races. These guys are traveling at a high speed and close proxemity during these races and wrecks are not uncommon. Luckily we have had an accident free year of racing. My second reference to "Pins and Needles" refers to the pin cushions that I have been creating. Here's one I finished this weekend.
I found this white china creamer at a thrift store for 25 cents. I combined it with a hand-stitched quilt piece that was made by a wonderful neighbor when I was growing up, some eyelet and buttons from the thrift store, some ribbon made to look like a measuring tape, a small buckle from my scrapbook supplies and last, but not least, a shoestring! This has made a nice addition to my sewing table.

Thrifty Thursday

I am very excited to join the fun at "Thrifty Thursday" hosted by Leigh at Tales From Bloggeritaville. I just came across her blog tonight and added my name to the list of devotees of all things thrifty about 30 minutes ago. Since it is still Thursday...........I quickly ran and got my camera and took a picture of one of my thrifty finds.

This little lamp started life as a cute, little coffee pot. When I saw it sitting on the shelf at an antique store I knew it would make a perfect lamp for my kitchen. A friend had all the lamp parts (and the expertise) to make the transformation. I already had the lamp shade so my total cost for my new kitchen counter lamp was $10.00. An added bonus.....my husband even likes it......he's not always so thrilled with my thrifty finds!

Looking forward to sharing more of my thrifty finds next Thursday.

Let It Snow!

I thought it was time to show you one of the projects that I have been working on for the past few months. I am going to participate in one craft show this year. It is the Octoberfest in Atchison, KS held the first weekend in October. My mom has had a booth for the past six years at this show (she makes doll clothes for American Girl sized dolls) and I have helped mom with her booth these past few years. (I plan on blogging about my wonderful, active, 80 year old mother in another post). Well this year I have decided to get my own booth (right next to hers of course....that's half the fun). One of the items I plan on selling are my vintage inspired snowmen created from old glass bottles of all sizes and old silver plated salt and pepper shakers. Here's a picture of some of the salt and pepper shakers still waiting to be turned into snowmen.Now here are some pictures of my finished product. I have used all sorts of items for the hats and extra embellishments. Look close and you will see old keys, vintage earrings, buttons, thimbles, metal jacks and scraps from old books. The salt and pepper shakers are perfect because the shaker top makes a great snowman hat. I have filled the inside of the bottles with old beads or "pearl" necklaces that I have found at thrift stores.

So, what do you think? I have almost 50 of these made so I hope people like them, otherwise my house is going to be decorated with a lot of snowmen this holiday!!

Happy Birthday Alex!!

Spent a great weekend with my family in Dallas this past weekend. While we were there we all helped my son celebrate his 18th birthday!! Happy Birthday Alex! Your Dad and I have been so proud of you these past 18 years. You have a wonderful future ahead of you.