Thrifty Miss Priss

Getting Ready!

Do you need last minute EASY gift wrapping ideas?  Beth (Gathering Dust) has made some WONDERFUL tags available for download...for FREE!  They are absolutely terrific!  

After I printed them out in multiple pages...I cut them all out at once by layering the paper.....made things much easier.  Then I was bummed about having to put them on my bright red wrapping paper...I didn't think they'd show up very well.  So I decided to REVERSE the wrapping paper and use the WHITE side......I love the look of the neutral colors and the tags really POP now!  Thanks Beth!

Here's a few fun vintage things I've found this season

And while I'm thinking about junking.......

My friend Sue has recently  published a calendar  that I missed out on last year!  I just placed my order just in time for the NEW YEAR!

I'm late mentioning this...but my friend Sue and another blogger,  Inis Lovely have published an e-book "Selling at an antique mall"  I downloaded it right to my ipad and devoured it immediately!  Totally worth the LOW COST if you are considering doing booth space or flea market sales.

Speaking of selling in antique malls....hop over to The Faded Farmhouse for the latest news!

I hope this season fills your heart with happiness!

Merry Christmas!

Beverly Hillbillies go shabby chic

one load down about 20 more to go

The space isn't "ready" yet as we'd hoped.  We are waiting on final permit and final carpet removal specialist (ie family members) but we started moving in just a small portion of what we've accumulated.

Yesterday after a quick stop at the Habitat Re-Store I scored some great wood pieces to make a few more signs.  Last night while watching Dear John on my ipad I painted this

I'm so in love with it I want to keep it.  I can always make another but I keep imagining it hanging over my kitchen sink.  This is a huge piece of heavy plank.  I remember seeing this one a long time ago in country living magazine.  I could not find the image online so I just searched around for some inspiration.

Do you all know Donna?  From Funky Junk Interiors?  SERIOUS DAILY inspiration over there.......if you visit her you'll be gone for a few hours....just warning you!

I was eager to get started after the purchase of the wood yesterday.  I printed out the letters on cardstock and cut them out.  My older daughter bought a Silhouette but it hasn't arrived yet.  So I did this the old fashioned way.

I lightly sanded the board.  Then i dry brushed a cottage white on to it and wiped most of it off.  I taped down the letters

This was just for blog purposes.  As I said, I'd painted the board in a dry brush technique, then taped the letters on.  I traced around with a pencil and lifted off the cardstock letters.  Then I sat and watched "Dear John" and painted away.

This morning after it had dried really well I sanded the whole sign down by hand and distressed it.  I wiped on walnut stain and let it sit for a few minutes then wiped it off.

So thats all there is to it.  It's so gratifying to have something turn out the way you pictured it in your head!  Today my husband opened the back door when I was loading the truck and said "hey!  I CAN'T GET OVER that sign!"  Guess he didn't see the vision like I did originally!

Last week I made a sign for our store (WHEN WE FINALLY GET IT OPEN).  I used an overhead projector to do this one

Stay tuned for more Faded Farmhouse goodness in weeks to come!

Groundhog Day

Ever see that movie?  Every day is the same....day after day....after day?

well that pretty much sums up my life right now!

We had beautiful weather in Virginia today so it allowed us to get outside and spray a bunch of furniture!

Have a nice relaxing weekend!

Good things are happening!

Things are moving right along with the Faded Farmhouse!  I signed the lease and NOW it's official!  I have SO many ideas swirling through my head I can barely think straight!

Shopping for fun things, painting and tweaking it all it quite the job!  Luckily I have my daughter AND this past weekend my son in law to help paint furniture.

Anything in my house thats not nailed down will probably be ending up in the shop!  I don't have a "love affair" with anything I have so out it will go....along with lots of new things!

There's lots of space to fill and I'm excited to get in there and make it ours!

Searching for beautiful unique pieces to bring in has been exhilarating!

 
This is something I've wanted to do forever...but never found the right place or right time....

all the little things I find and collect.....will all have a place to show off and shine

and hopefully be able to go to a NEW home to be used and loved.

Has it always been your dream to have a little corner somewhere to show off all your favorite finds?

To be with other women who share the same passion for beautiful old discarded things that still have years of use left in them?

I'm fortunate enough that Heather from Pretty Petals  will be displaying some of her beautiful jewelry when my shop opens it's doors.....

(heathers beautiful photograph of one of her pieces)

And tonight I met up with Sue from Vintage Rescue Squad to show her the space and pick her brain apart and eat some good greasy food.  Sue has years of experience in the business and knows all the ins and outs of this business.  She's currently working on a book with another author, Inis on Selling in an Antique Mall.... You can find out more details here.

I'm so fortunate to have the support of good friends all over the world, and my family right here in my little house.

If this is something you've always dreamed of doing, but were afraid to make the leap, why don't you come along with us on our journey?

email me at thrifty underscore misspriss at yahoo dot com if you want more details!

 

Coming up for air.....

Wow.  I think this is the longest I've ever gone without writing on my blog.  Right after I pushed publish on that last post, my mom was hospitalized with pneumonia.  She was in ICU and my days and nights were consumed with being at her bedside along with my two sisters.

But she's a strong Norwegian, and before long she was back at her assisted living facility getting better every day.  If it weren't for their excellent care things might not have turned out so well.  They immediately noticed her difficulty breathing and called 911.  

(picture taken last Halloween)

While she was sick all my spare time was spent visiting and worrying.  I lost my creative mojo.

I was slowly starting to get it back.....I painted an old door I bought months ago. It felt good.  Then something completely unexpected fell out of the sky right in front of my feet.

I found retail space to rent to open my own shop!

looking and wishing and wondering for several years now and it is finally going to happen....and SOON!  The deal is not completely finalized yet but It will be in a prime retail location in an "old town" historical area.  The space is finished and ready for me to move in.  

 

It's a big scary exciting "I want to go for it - I don't want to go for it" emotional roller coaster.  I guess I have to take a chance at something if I really want it.  My older daughter is coming along for the ride with me.  

I hope to find a few others that might be interested in renting out some of the space so I don't have such a HUGE store to fill.  But I'm willing to take the chance on my own if I have to.  

Right now my back patio is LOADED with furniture that I've collected this weekend that has to be moved into the basement to be painted.  The next month will be crunch time.

I am ready.

Please stop by and visit me..... The Faded Farmhouse

Pottery Barn Cubby Storage-KNOCK OFF

Have you seen these in the Pottery Barn Catalog?

pottery barn

I just love these wall mount cubbies.  I've been in PB several times petting them but think their prices are ridiculous.  I figured it couldn't be too hard to make one...but I'm not good with power tools except maybe a drill and a glue gun.

I've been on the hunt for a few weeks for something I could use to make a knock off cubby shelf like this one.

I thought about using a crate and adding my own dividers...again, not good with a power saw.....

so yesterday I was in the thrift store and saw this.

(do your animals have to sniff everything out that you bring home?  mine do)

 It only has 9 compartments and NOT 20...and it doesn't have a backing on it....but for $15.00 it could be mine.  Now I'm not really complaining but I think $15.00 is CRAZY insane for this chunk of orange-ish wood.  But yesterday was my lucky day and everything was HALF OFF so I got it for $7.50.  After I got it home I realized it even has the exact SAME SHAPE at the top as mine.....with those little curved side rails at the top and bottom.

I spray painted it heirloom white and distressed the edges with a butter knife before it was completely dry.

so this is MY version.  What do you think?  I was pretty happy with it.  I hot glued a piece of burlap to the back, and stenciled the numbers with a fine sharpie black pen.

So here's their version:

pottery barn

and here's MY version again:

all the little white pitchers have been picked up here and there for less than $1.00 each, including that Anthropologie Cup with my husbands initial!  The old crusty Virginia License plate dated 1958 is my husbands birth year and I bought if for him at the DC Big Flea last time it was in town.

I can just see changing this out with different themes.  RIght now I've got all whites in there because I refuse to admit that Summer is leaving us fast.  It's a reminder to me of warm days and cool nights and crickets and fireflies and air conditioning.  

But come November I might be ready to try something like this

pottery barn

Is this not the cutest?  I love the little packages and that tiny little squirrel down there peeping out from the cubby!   

So for an afternoon of spray painting and a little stenciling I got something that I've wanted for a very long time!

Another thing that I've always drooled over is this

It's an Apple ipad.  It's basically a mini flat laptop that you can take anywhere, it's as thin as a notebook. Since I'm so addicted to reading blogs my husband kept saying "you really need an ipad".  But thrifty me kept replying that I was perfectly happy with the desktop computer that we have.  Sure it would be nice to lay on the couch and surf blogs...or take it outside and lay in the hammock....but really.....such a luxury!

Well....my husband and kids chipped in and bought me one for my Birthday!  At first I was insistent they take it back!  The frugal thrifty side of me didn't want my kids parting with their hard earned money for something so extravagant.  But my daughter pointed out that by the time everyone bought me a gift combined it was more practical for them to do this!  So I ripped that box open and I've been glued to it ever since!

Here's my favorite spot to relax and visit you

  

 Have a wonderful week!

  

Back to Reality

There's nothing like going back to work after a great vacation to give you a fat dose of reality.  

I really do like my job, but I like watching the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean and eating breakfasts like this every morning.  Served TO me on the 11th floor balcony overlooking the ocean.

My son in law served breakfast to us every morning like this.  It felt like I was getting room service or something!  He is an excellent cook and we all benefited from it!

To be honest I only saw one sunrise.  The rest I missed because I was sleeping in and enjoying not having to be anywhere.

Dinners were enjoyed at little local places.  This one has been around since before my husband was born, and from the looks of the inside they've never redecorated either.

But our theory is if you eat where the "locals" eat, then it must be good!  This place is always full of police officers and fire fighters eating their meals. 

When we were on the way home from the beach I was dreading our trek across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  I used to drive over this bridge with no problem as a teenager going to the beach for the day...but now I'm pretty terrified of it.  I have to read or look at something inside the car to avoid seeing that huge drop.

As a kid my dad used to take our boat under the bridge and fish.  It never really scared me then, but I could see the huge expanse of it and the height. My husband likes to point out all the nice boats WAY DOWN THERE in the water as we're driving across, and all I can do is yell at him to stop looking at the pretty boats and watch the ROAD *&%#$.  

So I'm sitting in the seat with my gaze locked on the pavement passing by...not really looking DOWN. 

and I'm having a conversation with myself that goes something like this:

"chill out....just relax, this will be over in a few minutes......there is not a thing you can do about this situation at THIS moment other than get through it.....yadda, yadda, yadda" (yes I guess I'm certifiably crazy for talking to myself through this, but it's that or hyperventilate.....)

The next thing I know a car passes by and the license plate says "His Will".  Ok-ie Dokie.....That about sums it all up......Instant relief came over me as if all was well....

 I finally got some pictures of a few of the treasures I found while I was at the beach last week.

  
 I don't know if these will get plucked or sold....I can't decide. The blooms are beautiful and the velvet centers on those daisies are just really nice!

 

 I love the blue Ball Jars.....I'm starting to gather a little collection.  The ornate frame in the back is a picture of Pope Somebody...but I loved the frame.

and then there was a box of this.  

These were once a baseball score board, according to the little old man that sold them to me.  I liked the bold numbers but really had no idea what I'd do with them.  Upon further inspection, they really are not done that well.  The numbers are a little wonky and I'm not sure if I'll be using them.  There were lots of blank ones as well so I came up with this

  So now my head is spinning with different phrases to use to make more of these.  

Even though it was wonderful to get away for a long vacation at the beach, I really missed my pups.  

 I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

I'm back!

We had a wonderful time at the beach with our family!  

Fun times!

My little friend daughter had NO FEAR of even the biggest rides!  Luckily my son in law is just a big kid himself and he enjoyed riding with her..

Who looks more excited?

Lily is so lucky to have her uncle and my daughter to do all these fun things with her.  They treat her as if she were their own child.  They had to leave on Tuesday and Lily got to stay the entire week with us.  She never once got homesick!  We kept her busy and had lots of activities.  I think her favorite was swimming in the pool when it was dark out, and building a sand castle on the beach at 9:30 at night!  

     

Here she is jumping the waves with my husband, the look on her face is pure joy! LOVE this picture!  He bounced around in the ocean with her quite a bit, but me...I just enjoy sitting in a chair in the surf watching....

I had a lot of fun taking pictures again this year.  My subjects didn't enjoy it as much.

Just when I thought we were going to get down to business and get some great pictures.......look what happened....

some random little boy ran through!

This picture was actually taken using my iphone.  I love the ap that I used to alter this photo right on my phone!

This is Lily and my youngest (17 yr old) daughter.  

Love this one.....wonder what that little peanut was thinking about?

Another HIGHLIGHT of the vacation was when I had a project to work on while I was there....

 
 looks as if I'm writing on a huge bed sheet with black paint.......yes that would be it....

My son was on his way to the beach with his longtime girlfriend.  They arrived around 11:30 pm and went for a quick walk down to the ocean.  When they turned to come back to our condo this was waiting in the sand

 I had mere seconds to execute this plan once they walked down the beach.  I was almost done placing it when he texted me and said "we're coming back!" I had to run like the wind to get out of site and tripped and flailed my arms all over the place...but I did it!  

So now I'm going to be a mother in law again!  This really made our vacation even more memorable this year!

My son is extra tall so anyone standing next to him is going to look extra short!

Another fun thing I got to do again this year on vacation was visit the annual flea market held by St. Annes Church in Bethany Beach.  They have it the same weekend every year and I was lucky to hit it again this year.  I got lots of fun things that I will share with you after I get pictures.  I hope to plan my vacation again next year at the same time, but be better prepared, I barely got the suitcases in the car for the ride home after my purchases!

Even though Ocean City Md is only about 4 hrs away (with traffic) it feels like a different world while I'm there.

We actually came back a day early.  All the "big kids" had left and I was missing my dogs!  We had a wonderful time and I already can't wait until next year!

   

I'll be back with flea market goodies soon!    

 

I'm going to recharge my batteries....

I will be spending the next 10 days here

the cutest little seaside condo ever

    Cross your fingers that I don't wipe out on the stairs again....

I'll be doing some of this

 

With my entire family and significant others.....and this one

my sweet little "friend daughter".  She's been coming with us since she was 3 years old!

and since I'm not one to stay out on the beach all day anymore, I'll be looking for plenty of places like this

  I hope to share some great finds with you when I return!

Thrifty Finds

 I 

I've been making a few changes round here.  After my bathroom do over I decided I hated my living room curtains.  The light comes in so strong in this room that we can't see the t.v.  Off to Home Depot for painters drop cloth!  I washed  and dried them with about 10 bounce sheets.  They came out perfect!  Since they are SUPER long I just folded them over and clipped them with my curtain rings.  I even moved the curtain rod by myself and used a drill!  I'm not much with power tools but I'm determined that I'll know how to use an electric saw before it's over.  I also bought these stick on blinds that actually have a cord that you can raise and lower.  The window size is huge and I don't want  to invest in a custom blind.  Now it's nice and dark if we're watching t.v, or nice and light if we're bird watching.

I found this beautiful lamp at the thrift store a few weeks back.  

 It's a metal milk jug.  The wiring is in good shape so I was able to plop a shade on it immediately.  When I saw this lamp on "The Lettered Cottage" I just loved it.  I did some pricing and these babies are expensive!  I actually found one that was over $200.00.  So when I spotted this from across the room at the thrift store....I made a mad dash for it.  It happened to be 50% off day so I dropped $2.50 for it!  

Or I could have bought this one  that Layla found from Bellacor for $524.00 (on SALE)

Maybe I should just paint a big gold "20" on mine and I'll be good to go!

A few other fun thrifted things I've found:

a pottery barn tea light lantern

a really ugly brown lamp that looks like a pillar candle.  I painted it and it's not so bad now.  I like soft light in the bathroom but I usually forget when I have a candle burning....so this is much safer!

A new resident found a home with us too..

My daughter insisted on buying this pink beta fish.  Then promptly forgot that she's supposed to take care of it.  So I put the "tank" in the bathroom, thinking it went with my "coastal" theme.

So I thought it was so cute and clever, then after about a week it dawned on me that this fish never sees natural light.  We have global warming, floods, oil spills and earthquakes and I'm worried about a 99 cent fish not getting natural daylight.  I kept yammering about it wondering if it was cruel and my husband finally said "It's a FISH!"  "I don't think it really cares!"  but I couldn't sleep at night thinking It was destined to a life in a dark bathroom.  So now "it" happily swims in daylight all day long in the living room.  And I have one more smelly pet to be responsible for.

More fun things I've found recently and not so recently

Jewelry Box and rhinestone jewelry

when I found the jewelry (all at the same place) I about fainted.  I've never found stuff like this in my area.  I ended up sitting down and sorting through a LOAD of vintage jewelry that took me over an hour.  I'd just texted my husband prior to the discovery and told him I was on my way home.  So he almost sent out a search party looking for me.  

      

 

I was so excited driving home thinking about all this bling!  But in reality....it really won't go with my "scrubs" I wear to work, and I don't dress up nearly enough to justify hoarding all this pretty.  It's going in my Etsy shop with major reluctance.

Another thing I've clutched to my chest for almost TWO YEARS is this vintage Bates Pink Bedspread

As you can see, this picture was taken in the Winter, almost two years ago.  I bought it with the intention of selling it, but I've NEVER seen another like it and believe me I've done some intensive searching.  It became harder and harder to part with it.  It's in wonderful condition and I just love it.  Other than taking it out every few months and smelling it, and feeling it, I have NO USE FOR IT WHAT SO EVER.  So I'm releasing it from my grip and letting it go to a new home.

 

 

Ok....I'm done.....goodbye Pretty Pink Vintage Bates bedspread........

You can see all my pretties listed here!