THRIFTY THURSDAY: A LITTLE OF THIS AND THAT

Today I am joining Leigh from Tales From Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday. Visit Leigh's delightful blog~ you will love it and then visit all the girl's with their great thrifty buys!

I recently had the good fortune to find a thrift store called 2nd Time Around, not too far from where I live. I saw the ad in the back of Romantic Homes and went, "Wow... that's only about 15 minutes from here!" So off I went and I have gone back a few more times since. I can't say there is anything old there, like some of the antique stores I frequent, but I am trying to learn the art of not only seeing what something IS, but what it can BE!! That takes a lot of creative thinking and talent and I have learned so much from all of you, my friends. But I am going to give you fair warning, I am going to be asking for a wee little bit of help in this post! ;-)

First I have a wrought iron, two tier basket with some little grapes and leaves on it. It appears to have been spray painted a lovely shade of baby poop brown. It's about 24 inches high and my first thought was to use it on a counter. In the kitchen perhaps, to hold fruit or in the bath to hold soap and hand towels. That ends my many usage ideas and actually, we can scrap the bathroom idea because none of my vanities are big enough for this. Secondly, do grapes belong in a bathroom?? Next, I have the issue of the paint job. I actually think the BP brown can be used to an advantage if I paint it white and then sand it a little to distress it with some of the brown showing through. Any other ideas? See how creative I can be!

This is the pitcher and saucer that you see a lot on the mantle in the background of all my "Abby Posing Pictures". Sherri from Sharing With Sherri mentioned she liked it so I'm sharing (no pun intended). This is also from the same place. I have beautiful roses in it from Michael's, my florist of late. I like the raised pattern on the saucer and it looks almost brand new. I'd like to tell you I paid $1.50 for it, but honestly, I don't remember since it was months ago. I'd also like to say it was such a bargain that I had to have it but again, in all honesty, if I really liked it, all common sense would fly out the window and I'd end up going home with it, maybe hiding it in the closet for awhile and doing the "Oh, that old thing?" number when The Husband asked about it. Nothing needs to be altered on this find, maybe I will splurge on real flowers once in awhile!

This is another pitcher I found just recently. I guess I'm having a thing for pitchers. You can't tell from the picture, but it is a very pale yellow. I thought it might look good in the white Cottage Kitchen, maybe to hold cooking utensils. I really like things that are pretty and have a function. Or at least I am supposed to.

This is one of my bigger finds. (Ignore Monster Fern. He is being sent back to the lake where he belongs now that the weather is warm). This is from an antique store blocks away from here in Chicago. I believe it was a dresser since it has hardware in the back of it where a mirror might once have been on the side behind the drawers. The Husband did not believe we would ever be able to replace the mirror so he bought the one on the wall from Home Depot. Did you know they sell beautiful mirrors? I didn't. It has a medallion to hang it from but I was too anxious for him to drill the hole! LOL!!

Oh goodness, I downloaded the same picture twice!! Sorry. I don't know how to edit this so just say "It's okay, Blondie" and we will move along...

Now this cabinet is the closest thing I have to a china cabinet due to lack of space. We have a bar/counter that divides our kitchen from our living room and the dining room table is sort of between. I can't explain it very well, but one day I will take a picture. In the drawers I keep tablecloths, place mats, napkins, napkin rings, candles, etc. Everything I need to set a table...

Inside I keep a mess, I mean some china and all sorts of bowls and platters and miscellaneous things. It really needs to be sorted out but frankly, there is no where for it to go. I don't dare complain, you see, because a few years ago we found the house of our dreams. I was going to have that big dining room, a pantry off the gourmet kitchen, a sitting room off the bedroom...you get the idea. We just couldn't make that leap from not having a mortgage to once again having one. Months later, the beginning of the end of our great economy occurred. I am forever grateful for what I have and yes, I complain my closet is the size of a locker and that I can set the table and clean my bedroom at the same time, but we avoided disaster.

Okay, here you can sort of see the strange configuration of the rooms. The couch divides the living room on the left from the bar and kitchen on the right.

Now, I never had any intention of changing the finish on this cabinet in any way because the wood grain is beautiful and the inserts are cut across the grain of the wood the way it used to be done before we stopped destroying our forests. But I am wondering about the knobs... My sister~in~law suggested glass knobs. What do you think? I really think they need to be changed. Is there anything else out there that might look good on these drawers?? By the way, Layla says Hi!!! I woke her up from her nap.

So this is it for Thrifty Thursday. Pay Leigh a visit, she has a fun blog and she is just the sweetest! I will see all of you soon!!

xoxo

Jane