Best Find EVER! pt II

Alright, so right after that last blog I wrote, I was so excited about starting this project that I began right away. I used a fabric that I had gotten for free from a family friend, which is a very nice printed upholstery fabric . I had just, and I mean just enough fabric with no room for mistakes. I had to remove each panel from the dress form one by one, pinning fabric stretching it and stapling it down make sure to get as little pulling possible, which is rather difficult when your fabric has no stretch whatsoever. I spray painted the stand to give it a fresh look, used some bias tape ( which isn't tape, it's a hemming strip) to finish off the shoulders and tied a ribbon around her waist.. And the pearl necklace adds a nice touch too I think. Best find ever? I think so.

Before

removing each piece
one at a time

adding fabric to each piece

and placing each piece back on

Voila the finished piece

the before once more

The glamorized with light
version

Best Find EVER!

Yesterday, my husband and I were taking the dog for a walk and he noticed something on the ground. It took me a second to realize what it was. Just then, it started to rain and without thinking I ran home to grab the laundry off the line while my husband ran the other way to make sure the dog got at least around the block.
And a short while later he came back with the dog and the treasure. Fritz says he's taking credit for this find, however I think it's mutual because I'm not too sure if he realized what it actually was.  I guess I still haven't mentioned my self what it is.

It turns out that we found what I'm pretty sure is an antique dress form. She's in a bit of a rough shape, with stains and holes on the fabric and some rust, but the old mechanics of sliders and wing nuts is complete. I have never been this excited about a find. I have always wanted one of these, but they are pricey items, and yet here we found one on the side of the road, like it's meant to be.

I've been trying to find the actual value for her in her present condition. I have found a couple on line and they range form $100 to $800 but those ones are in pristine condition. I don't know if this one will even reach the $100 mark due to her condition, but I have great plans for her.

I would like to to replace the fabric for starters, give the legs a fresh coat of paint and completely clean her up. I can't believe I found an old dress form! This has to be my all time favourite find and I am sooo excited to fix her up and display her and I will make sure to post the results when I do.

The new treasure, in rough shape,
but so much potential!

high/low/subterranean

I have this mind set that I can always find an item for a better price. It might not be the exact same item but I'm a person of constant change and so I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on items. One of my favorite magazines is Style at Home. I don't subscribe to it though because I just stand in the aisle and  read it. I save $7.90 per magazine that way. Usually they have an article called High/Low. This article shows two rooms, they look very similar in contents but one room is usually decorated with very beautiful, but very costly items while the other, looking  VERY similar costs only a  fraction of the price. And yet I look at the "low" room and I still think "they spent how much on a table?"

So in this blog I want to show you how you can make a"low" costing room even lower.

high: $20,893

low: $4,408

This is the outline of items and cost for the Low room.

Trendline sofa in Dash Ecru, $739, G.H. Johnson's Trading Co.

Glass-and-chrome Como coffee table, $895, Elte,

Cotton Skruvsta swivel chair in Almas Red with steel base, $199, IKEA,

Oak-and-leatherette chair, $329, Most,

Wool rug, 5' x 8', $600, HomeSense

1960s teak sideboard, $995, Zig Zag

Green ceramic table lamp with white polyester shade, $79, Shelter Furniture

Indian rosewood Pawn side table, $298, Morba

Turqoise hand-blown glass Calypsobowl, $43, Crate and Barrel,

Crosley stainless-steel-and-plastic radio, $68, Urban Outfitters

Plastic picture frames, 4" x 6", $2 each, Dollaram

White ceramic vases, $15 (tall), $6 (short), Bouclair Home

 Cushions(from left): cotton with fibrefill, $20, HomeSense

cotton floral appliqué, $45, Pier 1 Imports

silk Ikat Border cover, $34, with feather insert, $14, West Elm, westelm.com;

green appliqué with polyester insert, $23, HomeSense, homesense.ca.

cusions total: $136

Okay now keep in mind, I cannot/don't want to create an image that has a layout like this room using the items I have found. Instead I am listing the items picture and price, you can match the images, most will be obvious

dining chair with blue seat $25 for 4
(I would probably sand off the ugly red stain)

lamp (paintable)$20

lampshade $5

Antique radio $40

red accent chair $100

glass ball ( couldn't find a bowl) $5

round glass coffee table $50

rug $75

sideboard $80

side table $30

white vases $5 for both

couch $50

black frame $2 X3 ($6)

insert $2.99 X4 ($12)

fabric 7.99/m need~$20 for 4 pillows

So now if I add up my items, most of which I found on Kijiji, I com up with a grand total of ... drum roll please..... $523

So for the above room, I could pay a) $20, 893 for probably very high quality one of a kind items b) $4,408, for very similar items of less unique quality but still just as nice, or c)$523 for mostly re-run items that are still of good use. 

A borrowed Idea

I love reading other people's DIY blogs. One in particular showed a utensil crate which I loved and wanted to re-create. I don't however own a mitre saw, though I am sure it could be done with out, and thus had to improvise. (I think the next tool I need is a mitre saw. *hint hint hubby*)

I found a small crate in value village today that would work perfect, I stained it so that it looked a little less dollar-store-esque, and placed 4 mason jars in it. The mason jars hold my knives, forks, spoon and teaspoons. And then I tucked some napkins in the back, which I want to replace with some more colourful ones ( Ikea has some fun napkins!) 

my breakfast nook, now with utensils.

my kettle and yummy cookies
in the oven

I also found this adorable tea kettle at value village. As soon as my husband comes home from work, he's probably going to say something along the lines of "quit buying stuff" But I'm sure you must agree with me that this is a great kettle. Plus we can take it camping.

My husband and I spent the past weekend at a cottage in Grand Bend owned by friends, and every time we go there we make sure to visit the Pineries Flea Market. Last year I found a mirror which I repainted and an ottoman/storagebox (not the one I refurbished in the last post). This year, we found a brass sand timer for $3. I love it!

Now that the warm weather has passed (and my countdown to spring has almost begun) I thought Olive might like a warm spot to lay down. I found a simple wicker doggy basket in VV, which I covered with brown fabric (held down with elastic) and made a bed out of a blanket and some pillow stuffing also from VV. I added a purple flower for a bit of a girly touch and voila, Ollie has a basket. As soon as I finished she hopped into it too, it was really cute.

I bought a gun

Maybe I should clarify, I bought a staple gun. Technically I bought 2 but the first one I bought used and it didn't work so I returned it and bought a smaller new one for less. I needed a staple gun for a reason and that reason is ofcourse to refurbish another item. 

I got this old ottoman from my in-laws. They were going to throw it out so I took it home and put a little work into it. The first thing I did was completely strip the ottoman of it's fabrics. the most tedious thing was probably removing all the staples. there was at least 500 of them!

After I removed the materials I transfered the woven potato sack material from the top of the ottoman to the bottom so that I could create a storage space. Our house is very small so everything has to serve a storage purpose also. 

I then started adding a new fabric and stapling it into place with my new staple gun.  

I purchased a small piece of plywood to create a lid, placed the padding ontop and added material to it. I connected the two with some hinges, attached a loopy thing for a handle  and added some tacks for decoration. 

The only thing that needs to be done still is an inch or so needs to be chopped off the front legs because for some odd reason they are waaay longer than the back ones. 

after

before

I think it looks fairly good though I am not too sure about the corners of the fabric, I beleive I left too much excess fabric to fold over but it doesn't look terrible.

In with the old, out with the new.

Ingo-bought at Ikea

 

Although I really like the clean look of modern furniture, there is something about the texture and look of old pieces that I really like. 

I recently bought a hand held sander of my own and thought I should try it out, so I started a new project: converting my Ikea Ingo table into an older rustic table. (The colour of this table is inspired by the Bekvam Ikea cart remake which can be found at http://www.homeroad.net  which is another great blog).

I had to purchase some materials I needed so I went to Rona. I didn't take a list with me as it was only a couple of items: paint, nails, tape and sandpaper for my new sander. I spent quite some time looking for the right can of paint: white and cheap. Rona should make small cans of recycled paint because the other stuff is expensive. I found the chain I had to purchase. It costs $160 for the roll...I got a rather questionable look when I told the sales clerk I only need a foot. I guess not too many people buy only a foot of a heavy-ish chain. I purchased the wrong nails. I didn't notice until I got home that I had purchased concrete nails. I did notice however that I forgot to purchase tape. I guess I should have brought a list after all. However after making sure I had all the materials, it was time to begin this new project.

tape..then paint

                                                                                                                                                                               The first thing I did was tape the edges of the table top and then painted the legs and skirt of the table white. 

Because it was unbelievably hot hot outside, I didn't even have to wait for the first coat to dry before applying the second.

sand the legs and skirt

I then used a heavy-ish chain and a hammer to beat the entire table giving it an older look.

This was followed by sanding the top, the skirt and the legs of the table to wear off some of the paint and the old stain that was left on the table so that it looks more natural. 

sand the top

I added tacks to each leg and the corners of the table top as well as some randomly placed tacks to give it and old used wood look. Lastly I added 3 tacks to the centre of each side for decorative purposes.

add some random nails

add nails to the corners

add nails to the legs

                   a little decorative touch

    all finished!

The look of the table brightens the room up nicely!

That is an inappropriate donation!

Today I was working in the donations room where we also sort books. While I am not accepting donations, I take a bag or box presumably full of books, sort them according to condition and separate the movies, Cd's and books. Sometime working in the thrifting field has it's challenges.

As I was grabbing a bag from a bin to sort through, the bag hit my leg and began to vibrate!!! of course we don't always think much of this as often we get battery operated nick knacks and singing Santas and such. However this was a different type of toy. I am ashamed to even tell you what it is. But I am sure by now you have all guessed what was in the bag. As a clue, this is not the type of toy that you buy at Toys R' Us. okay fine I'll say it. it was a freaken dildo!!!!! (and other related items). EEW! who donates that? there was also some money in the bag...probably apology money.

Apology not accepted.