A Goodwill Disappointment

Have you noticed how so many fantastic furniture finds people blog about finding at their local Goodwill? Have you seen Thrifty Decor Chick's coffee table, Ode to My Abode featured this dresser, Beneath My Heart's $5.99 chair, or My Cottage Charm's laundry room dresser?

Well, I sort of hope the good people who run our Goodwill store here would see my blog today. Our Goodwill is no bueno if you are into finding inexpensive furniture that needs to be refinished/repurposed/recovered, etc. First off, our furniture section is itty bitty. I mean really -- this is it!!

Please forgive the awful quality of these photos. I was stealthily using my iPhone to snap these pics. I have a "rule-following" nature and was honestly scared if I was caught taking photos they'd kick me out. Yes, I am 30 years old and yes, I did pretend to be texting after I snapped the photo. (Doesn't EVERYONE text at shoulder level?!)

So, not only does our store have two small rows of furniture type items -- they are also really expensive. I didn't take any photos of tags because...well, let's be honest...I was intimidated. Let's just say that you won't be finding any $15 or $30 solid wood dressers.

While I'm on the topic of what Goodwill doesn't have... let's talk about what they DO have. NEW stuff. Does your Goodwill store carry brand new, in the package, never used items? I'm confused. If I wanted something (anything) new I wouldn't go to Goodwill. But check out our store's NEW section. Do they really sell enough ceramic statues to warrant a whole shelf of them?

Again...sorry for the quality! One day I'll be brave enough to take my real camera with me.

I think sadly I may be ready to give up on our Goodwill. Here's hoping they improve or Craigslist is always around for potential furniture makeovers. Anyone else disappointed in their area store?

On another note... I did see a few things on the shelves that I donated last Saturday after my garage sale. :)

A tale of two trees

See my {semi} matching topiary trees?



Crazy thing is I bought the green one at least 6 years ago at Ross. And the brown one three days ago at TJ Maxx. Either my style never went out ... or I hung on to it long enough for it to come back in! :)

Alright Alright... I Caved!!

After seeing all these cute coffee filter wreaths on all sorts of blogs I decided to try it out for myself. It didn't take too long and I'm pretty happy to have it finished.

I had the perfect night to work on this project. My husband was out for a few hours and I had some Dancing with the Stars to catch up on.

I gathered my supplies... a straw wreath (with the plastic still on), natural colored coffee filters & my trusty glue gun.

At about this point I had throbbing fingers from the hot glue mishaps and was really regretting my decision to begin this project. I even thought of stopping and finishing it later. But since I know myself so well I realized that I may have a 1/2 finished wreath NEXT season so I pressed on through the pain!

I'm not sure where its final home will be. For now it is hanging on our back door to the garage. All in all I am pretty satisfied with it!

By the way... this project cost me $3.48!!! Wreath was $3.47 and on sale for 40% off. The coffee filters were $1.40. Not bad!

Linking Here:

Between U & Me

Fireflies and Jellybeans

Quick Wreath

How many of you have seen the pre-made wreaths at our favorite craft stores? There are some super cute ones out there...but the price tags are NOT at all cute. I for one am not spending $99 on a wreath... just can't do it. So, I set out to make my own. I am not really great at floral arranging and greenery "stuff" but I did my best and am fairly pleased with how it turned out.

I started with a wreath for $4.99 and walked up and down the aisles of the store adding things to it until I felt like it was 'enough'.

I wrapped it with ribbon just for an added touch. I would have preferred wider ribbon, but this is what I happened to have on hand already so I went with it especially since it was a last minute thought only because I saw it in the bottom of my craft box while looking for the hot glue and floral wire.

Then I just added the leaves, berries, pumpkins and one flower to the wreath as I went. I didn't hot glue or wire anything until I was sure of the arrangement. Here's the final result!

My only problem is trying to figure out where to put it. I tested it on our front door...but it just wasn't right. I have it hanging on the door to the garage where it just may stay unless I get creative and find another suitable spot.

Have you made your own wreath? We'd love to see...

Linking Here:
Craft-O-Maniac
Cottage Instincts
The Girl Creative
Making the World Cuter

Our long awaited girls trip...

Guess where the That Village House girls will be this Thursday and Friday?!



That's right!!! We are headed to Canton... and can't wait! We've got our lists ready, our bags are packed and we are headed off with three other friends to see what kind of fun things we can bring home that we didn't even know we needed!

And let's be honest... it's also a time for us to check out some things that we will say to each other "I can make that!" So, who knows, maybe we'll come back inspired for more crafty Fridays and home decor changes that our houses need. Well, "need" may be an exaggeration...but we'll go with it anyway.

What about y'all? Anyone else headed there this weekend? Maybe we'll see you there!

Using white plates

I recently asked for your help with my living room and boy, did you come through!! Thank you SO much for your feedback! A few of you suggested using white plates on my big empty wall. Great idea!~ I don't know why I never thought of that, especially sense I already have a TON of white plates stacked up in my cabinets. I laid them all out on the floor to get an idea of spacing.

And then up they went! It took 20 minutes and cost $4.99 for plates. The little square plate on the left was my ONLY purchase. I had a few plate hangers on hand and spent about $15 on a few more. No more big empty wall!

You'll notice too, that my curtains are now turned upside down.

Another great idea from fabulous you!

thank you, thank you!

I'm linked up here

Between Naps on the Porch

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

What $200 Can Buy

Have you ever sat and looked around your house adding up how much money you've spent on furnishings? My husband and I made a decision when we were newly married that we'd never finance any furniture. I am happy to say that we've lived up to that for the last 7 years and hopefully we can continue. We (particularly my husband) are firm believers that cash is king and is the most powerful negotiating technique. We have three pieces in our house in particular that we've saved a lot of money on by paying in cash and negotiating. These three pieces were each bought for $200.

Normally these doors are open to see the TV so I don't ever notice the clutter to the right...I guess someone should take care of that, huh?


This piece was thrown in when we were buying mattresses... all because we asked and had cash!


And the BEST most EXCITING $200 purchase EVER is.....


So the furniture guy told us all about this piece by name-dropping the maker and where he got it, etc. It all meant nothing to us to be real honest... but imagine my surprise when I got home & Googled to find this piece being sold for $1,700!!! Let's just say I did the happy dance a time or two. It wasn't exactly what I was wanting...but for $200 I thought I could make it work. :)

So, get out there... take your cash ONLY and negotiate!!

Chalkboard Calendar

I'm so excited to share this post with you today!

It comes from my sweet friend Lisa...

I recently saw this dusty, ugly framed mirror on a routine trip to Goodwill, I instantly remembered Tiffany's chalkboard and knew the ugly thing had the potential to become the perfect weekly calendar for our kitchen. So I haggled on the price and got it down to $25. Not exactly cheap, but I thought it was worth it for the vision I had in my head.

I didn't think to take a photo of it before I sanded it and popped out the scratched mirror. You'll have to just use your imagination...

Then I took a trip to Lowe's and picked up a quart of chalkboard paint and some backer board. Since I had measured the frame before I left, I asked the nice old man that rubbed my son's head ;) to cut the backer board to fit the frame exactly.

I painted the smooth side of the backer board with the chalkboard paint using a sponge brush. It would have been nice to have a wider sponge brush, but I just used what I had on hand and a normal paint brush left brush strokes. I also used some glossy white interior paint that we had on hand to paint the frame.

Second coat:

Third Coat:

And....Ta Da! I think it fills the tall, awkward corner wall in our kitchen quite nicely.

I liked the weekly calender on Tiffany's board so much that I copied it. Straight up copied. It's the best form of flattery, right?

The color is off on this photo. I don't have yellow walls...but you get the idea. :)

I love it! It replaced our weekly dry erase board in the laundry room where I wrote dinners and commitments down and the grocery list that was on the fridge. My husband even uses it for his own lists and the ledges make the perfect "tray" for chalk. Now I'm just working on training my son not to grab for (and try to eat) the chalk. ;)

Thanks for sharing Lisa!!

Check out Lisa's Bible covers, personalized magnets, & more.

So, so cute!!

Navy Mango

I'm linking up here..

Finding Fabolous

The Shabby Nest

Home is Where My Story Begins