Thrifty Thursday: Glamping Luggage

I'm always asked about where I find the things I decorate my home with and upcycle, so I thought it would be fun to share some of my Thrifting and Garage Sale finds on Thursdays.

This past Friday I hit the jackpot when I came across THREE, not one, but THREE vintage suitcases. I picked up the two white cases for $7.00 and my initial thought was to resell them on a Glamping group I belong to on Facebook, but when I got them home, my daughter immediately wanted to use the small white case to store her beauty products at school.

They both need a good cleaning on the outside, but the inside of the smaller case is in near perfect condition.

 When I asked the price for this smaller Red case and she told me .50 cents, I tried to hold my bluff long enough to pay her and get out of there! She obviously had no idea how in demand these pieces are at the moment. Again, I was trying to convince myself to it sell it, but also thought it would make a fun piece for camping. I don't see me actually owning Glamper anytime soon, but I can Tent Glamp and this would make my trips just a tad more fun. My intended color theme for Tent Glamping is Red, White and Blue, so this could be put to good use. Right now I have a ton of Emergency supplies that I keep in an old draw string bag, why not just transfer the items to this small suitcase?

Ultimately, in a perfect world, I'll clean up the larger piece and still sell it to cover the cost of the two pieces were keeping. Considering I paid $7.50 for all three, I have no doubt that will be a problem. Right now, I just need to pull out a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and get busy.

December Confessions: Day 1-3

I can't believe it's already December 5th. It really is amazing how time flies when you want it to slow down the most. Sunday morning came, it was December 1st and time to send my daughter back off to school. I wasn't feeling the best on Sunday, so I decided to stay home from church, but like many days in my life, I never know when I'll end up back at work. My 11 day vacation, had a few little glitches, but when I walked out of their last week teasing, that I'll shoot for 9 days out of 11, I was spot on. That left me with time at my desk to finish up cards, make gift list, send out my visit teaching letters for the month and finish up some holiday planning at the office. 

Monday it was 60 degrees here in Northglenn, Colorado, but the threat of sub zero temperatures was looming. I woke up knowing, if I didn't get my Christmas lights done then, they weren't going to get done this year. So I strapped on my hot pink knee pads and went to work. 

At one point, we ran out of daylight and used the spotlight to finish after dark, but finally 11 hours of work, one failure to launch, an emergency trip to Costco for new lights, we were done.

Tuesday was just full of small things that make me happy. Like this candle. Holiday Spice candles are one of my favorite scents from Partylite Candles. But the cost is way up there for a jar candle. Several years ago, I came across this scent at Kohls and it smells exactly like Holiday Spice, but cost just under $5.00 when on sale. You can't beat that!! 

On Black Friday, I picked up these awesome Poinsettias at a rock bottom price and was able to send one to the office for each of the girls and kept two for myself. 

Now that I had time to sit down and enjoy the moment, it was time to open my first batch of Christmas cards from my MHH friends. They were all beautiful and really made my morning.

I'll finish with this piece of "Art".  It's the only painting I've ever bought at a thrift store and of course, it had to be a winter scene to catch my eye. You can't really see in this photo, but it portrays a snowy, day, in an old village town. I tease that maybe someday I'll find out that I'm one of those lucky people, who bought a million dollar painting at the thrift store. I'm sure that thought will wear off, but the smile this painting brings me, will continue on.

Girlie Pink & Black Lamp and Mirror Upcycle!

I was super excited to surprise my niece on her 12th Birthday. She's been talking about wanting a Pink and Black room for awhile now, so I've been making her things here and there to add to her room. For her Birthday yesterday I surprises her with this new lamp. 

Here is the before photo. 

I was able to buy this at a 50% off day at the Goodwill, so I paid about 4.00 for this lamp and that did include the lampshade. Most bases and shades are sold separately, but on occasion you can score with a set that already matches. Everything about this lamp was fine structurally, it was just faded, a bit dirty and the trimming was old and brittle.

 The first thing I did was paint the base with Krylon Glossy Black.

After removing the old trim, I added this black velvet ribbon to the top. 

Next I purchases this hot pink Florette ribbon by the yard at Hobby Lobby and used hot glue to add it to the base of the shade, making sure I didn't cover up the beads hanging from the edge.


I also wanted to give her a mirror, so I also purchases this mirror at the Goodwill for $4.00. 

Most of my mirror can be removed from the frame, but this one could not. So I had to fit paper in between the seam of the frame and tape it in place until I had covered the entire mirror. Then I uses the same glossy paint as above. Here it is on her wall. 

This awesome frame I did not paint or make. I actually bought it from Hobby Lobby on clearance. Ciara thought I had bought it for her room redo, but nope...I new exactly where it was going. 

When I was in her room, hanging these things I looked around and felt pretty happy to see all the little things up I had give her over the past year. The painting above my daughter painted this summer for herself and decided to give it to her cousin. 

However, these two paintings I specifically painted for her last year. I'm not a painter, now do I pretend to be one, but thanks to Canvas and Cocktails I've been able to make some great gifts for my friends and family. I was brave enough to paint these at home even! 

Last, but not least I had totally forgot about this vinyl decal I had bought her. I think it all comes together and looks great. Best of all, she was super excited when she got home last night. As usual, I had a blast.

Thrift Store Finds of the Week!

It's that time again. Time to share my newest thrift store finds.First let me share some items I found for my daughters room. This white lace pillow looked brand new and will go perfect on her bed. The black velvet with beaded fringe is suppose to be a throw. I'm not sure how many of you use a throw with beads on the end, but I'm going to use it for either a valance over her small window or make a full length curtain with it. She has one window that faces West, that lets in horrible heat and sun during the evening. The curtain pull backs were perfect to use for this same window, so she can pull it back when she needs to let some air in and use the fan. 

The bold colored print, Ms. Ciara picked out herself. She said it had lots of possibilities with accessories. The other pink and white skirt I bought becuase I thought it was very "soft and feminine". I'm not sure she'll actually wear it, but if she listens to my suggestions it will fit perfectly in her wardrobe.

Here are a few finds for myself. Another awesome frame with the perfect amount of scrolls and fancy decor on the edges. It will be painted in the future, but I"m just not sure what color yet or where it will go. Time will tell. The fabric is actually a flat sheet that's never been used, so I'm keeping it for future projects. The pitcher..well when I get my new kitchen done, it's going to make a beautiful centerpiece with bright roses and flowers. 

Last, but not least some new Christmas books. Tammy bought me a book at a garage sale a few weeks ago, and luckily I didn't have it. In fact, I'd never bought any in the series, so I was lucky to find the other 2 for .99 cents. I also got this fun Christmas book. Their aren't to many of those out there, so it will be nice to have a fun, romantic book to read. If you've not read any of the Richard Paul Evans books, I highly suggest you seek them out. They have them at all local bookstores, including Deseret Books. Many have already been made into movies as well.

I missed it..but I will be there in 2012!!

After seeing him on the Nate Berkus show, I've been meaning to hook up with Mr. Goodwill Hunting online and in the blog world, but I kept forgetting.  Today I finally logged in on Facebook and found out that I missed a special thrifting day this past Saturday. 

Sounds like a lot of fun to go around town thrifting with others, who have just as much fun as I do. Have not doubt, Ciara and I will be there next year. In the mean time I'll be ordering our T-shirt to wear on some of our days out! You Can Order Here

This is why I love the hunt...Ideas like this!!

When you see this....

Do you think of this????  

Projects like this are exactly why I enjoy the hunt of turning the ordinary, into extraordinary. At Mod Vintage Life she has turned these trashed silver trays, into a spice rack. They can also be used in a bedroom or bathroom for perfume bottles and who know what else others can come up with. If you want a step, but step tutorial, check our her website. She's done a great job!  

I'm excited...can you tell?