Thrifting

We've had quite the low key weekend and I think it's just what we both needed. No big house projects to work on this weekend (although I did work on a few mini projects when I could sneak them in). Next weekend we will be back at it as we have someone coming out to measure and give us estimates for new carpeting in our bedroom, hallway and steps as well as hardwood in the living room. I'm pretty excited as I can't wait to rip out the berber carpet in the living room.

Friday after work I ventured out to one of my favorite thrift stores to check out some goodies for the house. Most of my thrift adventures are pretty hit or miss. I did manage to score these great pieces. One gold frame for $.99 and two small gold mirrors for $1.99 each. I've already found homes for all three.  

While I'm there, I always take a peek at the jewelry as I wait in line to pay. 

Every once and I while I will spot a gem like this one.

The perfect dainty gold necklace that can be worn alone during the day or paired with another longer necklace for a night out. 

And can you beat the $1.91 price?

Aside from house goodies, my absolute favorite thing to shop for at thrift stores is a good vintage clutch. The thrift store I frequent most always has two full bins of clutches and make up bags. It takes some digging and patience but I've had good luck and scored some great finds. This time around I found two perfect pieces.

First was this tiny beaded white clutch. It's the perfect palm sized bag with just enough room to fit some cash and a lipstick. All you really need for a night out, right? I love that most of the old clutches come with a thin chain that can be used or easily tucked inside if you prefer.

$2.08

Second was this great black alligator clutch. I've been in need of a good black clutch for a while now so this one was a definite must-have as soon as I laid eyes on it.

$1.98

Here are a few other of my favorite thrift clutches I've collected over time.

I showed you in my closet tour that I have a collection of vintage gloves passed onto me by my paternal grandmother. Every now and then she will present me with a gem - purse, jewelry, piece of milk glass, etc. A few months ago I scored this great bag. It was in their pile of things to donate to the Cancer Federation. I asked my grandfather if I could root through and I'm so glad I did!

Isn't the detailing gorgeous?

I also have an amazing collection of her jewelry that I will have to show you all sometime. She only wears a few statement pieces these days but has saved the rest her jewelry for me to have.

What are your favorite things to thrift shop for?

Deal of the Week

Michael's is having a coupon bonanza this week.

Coupons are good starting tomorrow, Sunday, April 3rd until next Saturday, April 9th.

Deals include:

- 40% OFF Any One Regular Priced Wedding Item

- Extra 30% OFF Your Entire Purchase Candles

- Extra 25% OFF Entire Purchase Wall & Tabletop Frames, Framed Art, & Display Cases 

- 40% OFF Entire Regular Price Purchase Artist Canvas and Paper

- 40% OFF Entire Regular Price Purchase Artist Paints, Pencils, Pastels & Markers

- Extra 15% OFF Celebrate It Basic Narrows, Basic Basic, Sheer Creation, Home & More and Mega Roll Ribbon

- 15% OFF Entire Purchase Kids' Books

I plan to take advantage of the 40% off canvas coupon for my next project.

Get the coupons HERE.

How To: DIY Pom Poms

In my previous nursery post I gave you a sneak peek at my latest DIY project. I wish I could say that I brainstormed these beautiful pom poms on my own, but I actually got the idea from a wedding blog. OnceWed.com features a DIY Wedding Pom Pom tutorial that I replicated (along with their color scheme - isn't it gorgeous and perfect for a little girl's room?). Since their instructions were a bit vague, I had to do a practice run and figure out some more specific details (size of lantern, size of circle cut outs, etc) on my own. 

Materials needed:

• paper lanterns (I used one 9" and two 6" lanterns)
• 2-3 yards of fabric per lantern (I used 3yd for 9" and 2yd for 6")
• glue gun
• ribbon
• a long weekend

Before I started, I printed out 3" and 4" circles and traced them onto cardboard to cut out and use as my tracing template. Once I had my fabric picked out I used my template to trace the circles along the whole piece of fabric. I was sure to put them as close together as I could so I didn't waste any fabric.  

With the 4" circles I was able to get 100 circles per yard and used a full 3 yards. Obviously you get more circles with the 3" template (but I forgot to count), and also use just under 2 yards. This is where you don't want to spend a ton of money on expensive fabric. You want something light that won't be stiff when you glue or heavy when hung. I used a basic thin cotton material that cost $3-7 per yard depending what you chose. I lucked out that there was a sale going on at JoAnn Fabrics along with a 25% off coupon I had, so I purchased my fabric for pretty cheap.

Once traced, I cut out all the circles. This is probably the most time-consuming and somewhat boring part of the project. It's good to just plop on the couch and stick in a movie while you do this. I watched a Jersey Shore marathon while I traced and cut. (T-Shirt time!) 

Once your circles are all cut you can begin to glue to your paper lantern. First fold the circle in half, and stick a dab of glue in the middle. Fold it in half once more to seal. Put another dab of glue at the bottom of the folded circle and attach to your lantern.

(these 3 pictures snagged from OnceWed since I had no free hands to photograph this step!)

You want to make sure you mix and match directions that you place the circles. 

Continue this for a loooong time until your paper lantern is covered.

(my work area mid-construction)

Once finished, it will look like this:

All you have left to do is attach a long piece of ribbon to the hook inside the top of the paper lantern and hang where you want. We picked up an inexpensive pack of mini hooks from Target that simply screwed into the ceiling. It took the two of us to tackle this step so that I could eye the spacing of the pom poms and Jordan could screw them into the ceiling.

Here is a close up on the ribbons I chose. They were each $1.00 for a mini spool at JoAnn fabrics. It took about 1 full spool per pom-pom (then trimmed for length). I chose teal, white and pink ribbons each with its own unique decorative detail to mix and match with the multi-colored pom poms. 

Once hung, just sit back and enjoy your pretty, whimsical decor!

Favorite Things

Here are a few things I'm digging right now.

Anthropologie monogram earrings

I thought it would be romantic to get one for me and one for Jordan, but since we have the same first initial, I opted for a J and D. (Which is still technically both of our initials.)

Jessica Simpson boots (from Macy's)

I bought these back in the fall, but have only begun to wear then recently. And now I can't stop. The peep toe is getting me ready for a Spring wardrobe. I've paired these with leggings, tights and even bare legs. 

Sinful Colors nail polish in Dream On

I've been wearing this color a lot lately. I think I'm getting Spring Fever (without the Spring weather!) I bought it in a matte finish and love the fact that each coat dries in no time. And for $1.99 at Happy Harry's you can't beat the price. 

Mac Face and Body Foundation

If I'm going out for some errands or brunch with the family and don't feel like packing on the makeup, I usually put on a quick coat of this foundation. It's so incredibly light that it feels (and looks) like you are wearing nothing, while still providing an even coverage to hide red spots and dark circles. 

Neutrogena Hand Cream

This winter has been brutal and this product has been a must for me this season. While it works magic on my hands, I also use it on my lips and even under my eyes (a spot that gets super dry for me). You only need the tiniest bit to coat both your hands, so even in it's small size, this bottle goes a long way.

Burts Bees Honey Lip Balm

Another must have for me this winter as I'm the queen of chapped lips. Sexy, right? I use this stick all day, every day.

Ray Ban Wayfarers
Jordan and I each received a pair as a wedding gift (thanks Ellen and Nick!) and I wear them religiously.

Look for Less: DIY Faux Zinc Letters

I think it's safe to say that we are all obsessed with Anthropologie's Zinc Letters.

Not so much in love with their $18 price tag per letter.

I've wanted these letters for quite some time now, (most recently while planning the nursery) but never wanted to shell out the cash for them. While shopping in JoAnn Fabrics this past Saturday to pick up supplies to finish one of my nursery projects, I came across an aisle filled with letters. Wooden, plastic, cardboard, large, small, curvy, boxed. Every type and size. 

I saw these 8 inch paper mache letters:

Originally $2.99 they were on sale for $1.99 on Saturday. Not to mention that I had a 25% off (entire purchase) coupon with me. Remembering that I had seen a few blogs where people made their own Anthropologie letters, I figured I might as well give it a shot myself. And if it didn't work out, I'd only be out a few bucks.

What I needed to decide was how I was going to replicate the metal finish. I had a few ideas. First was to use a metallic spray or craft paint. That would be the easiest way. So for $1.99 I grabbed a bottle of silver metallic finish craft paint and a $.39 sponge brush.

My next idea was to use the faux stainless steel contact paper I had used about a month ago on my laundry room shelves. Since I still had some left over, that cost me zero dollars.

I also thought it would be a good idea to use some sort of silver leaf but I had no luck finding any at JoAnn. If I ever come across any I may still give that a try. 

Armed with my supplies, I got to work on both my letters.

Once they were finished, they looked like this:

Left: contact paper; Right: paint

The paint looked great. Smooth, clean and honestly pretty darn close to metal.

The contact paper, not so much. Not only was it a huge pain to measure, cut and wrap, but there was no real place for a unnoticeable seam. Plus, I couldn't get the paper to lay perfectly smooth on the cardboard with no bubbles or puffiness as you can see below. Not to mention that I picked a pretty basic letter to test with easy, clean lines. This method would be near impossible with an 'S'.

We have a winner! Clearly the metallic craft paint is the way to go. Even better - it only took me about 5 minutes to complete each letter.

$1.99 (letter) + $1.99 (paint) + $.39 (brush) = $4.37 to replicate the $18 Anthropologie letters. And the best part is that the brush is cleanable and reusable, and the leftover paint can be used for more. So it actually costs even less per letter. The only other thing I could do is to incorporate some streaks of black paint to make the letters look a little more rustic/metal. 

Needless to say, I ran back to JoAnn fabrics and bought more letters to paint! I figured I might as well take advantage of their weekend sale and my coupon. 7 more letters only cost me just over $8.00.