Thrifty Miss Priss

Different Day Same Story

A really cool cabinet with drawers on the left, and a place to hang things on the right. 

 

LOVE THIS HEADBOARD!

Cute little music cabinet I got from my moms house.  It has a tiny mirror for the top that attaches to the back

The inside of the music cabinet had damage on the door so what to do?  Cover it with old music!

This baby rocker was pretty awful looking when I found it...agree?  I had some opinions from my husband and a male co worker...not to paint it!  Put a DISCLAIMER ON IT NOT FOR INTENDED use!

 

I think it turned out pretty cute!  I put the little Sally Emblem on the back...it needed something (Sally from Dick and Jane)

Cabinet being primed

My prototype of the burlap runners I want to make.

We are trying hard to get everything done and do our "soft opening" the first weekend in December!

I doubt I'll be back here before Thanksgiving.  I hope you and your friends and family have a wonderful day filled with good food, love and laughs!




 

 

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!

 

A paint booth!

I now have a paint booth in my basement!

and here's what I'll be doing for the next several weeks.....

Have a great weekend!

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!

  

Court dates and Craft Dates.....

Thank you for all your sweet emails about the pillow I made for my mom.  She's enjoying it still even a week later.  Her caregivers tell me she holds it all the time and tries to tell them about her family in the picture.  Since it was such a big hit I will try and do another one for her soon.  It was easy to do, just print out the picture on t-shirt transfer paper and iron it on to fabric, then sew it into a pillow form.

Last week was quite interesting for me.  I was summoned for jury duty.  I'd never been called before so I figured I'd show up and be released by noon and on my way to work.  We were taken into the actual courtroom with the Prosecution and the defense teams.  The defendant was in there too!  We were given random questions to answer out loud in unison, like "does anybody in here have a moral problem with passing judgment on another individual" and "is anybody in here married to someone in law enforcement?".  It went on and on like this for about 30 minutes.  They sent us all out and called us in a few minutes later.  They called 12 people to be the jurors and I was one of them!  I couldn't believe it was happening.  We were told it was a criminal drug case and the trial would last two days.  (It ended up lasting three full days).  The defendant was facing up to 20 years in prison!  We heard testimony for two days, some from forensic scientists from the police crime lab that tested the drug.  In a nutshell it boiled down to this:

The person was caught on two separate occasions by the SAME police officer with a schedule 1 drug (in the same group as cocaine, heroine, marijuana etc).  Schedule 1 possession in Virginia can get you ten years for each offense.  

We found him guilty on only one of the charges.  He was never accused of selling it, just possessing it.  So after we found him guilty we were sent back to the jury room to decide his sentence.  In the state of VA the jury decides.  My heart was pounding so hard.  It was surreal.  Out of 12 jurors, 8 wanted him to have jail time.  We argued back and forth for about three hours.  It's very strange and yet very liberating to argue with total strangers, because you really don't CARE about their personal feelings. 

We sent a note out to the judge saying we could not decide.  He sent it back and said that he will have to declare a mistrial!  So we got to work and had to have major compromises on everyones part.  I was not happy with the outcome but it is all give and take.  

The defendant got 7 days in  jail and a $2000.00 fine.  

It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I was a part of it. 

   ...ok...lets clear our thoughts and think of HAPPY things!

 

After all that mental anguish I was really in need of a craft date!  I don't have any crafty friends who want to hang out and make big messes.  I was thrilled to see that  my friends Karla and Beth are hosting an on line workshop called Romantic Gothic Ghosts.  The workshop is just in time for some wonderful Halloween images, but really these projects can be left out all year.  I'm not a fan of the Orange Halloween thing anymore, in fact I prefer just using black and white and tans if I decorate for Halloween at all.

   _{(my Halloween decor last yr)}

 

  (you can see more Halloween decor from last year here)

    The images are full of mystery and leave you wondering if it really is a ghost you are looking at.  You know how the old vintage photos can make your imagination wander.....they've used a lot of old vintage photos and they're incorporating them into several different projects.

I just love the different "gothic windows"

Do you remember the show called Dark Shadows?  I do and it scared me to death! Karla and Beth were able to find some vintage sheet music titled "Dark Shadows" that they use in one of the projects!  You will be able to download all images and backgrounds to use in your own projects!

I can't wait to try these projects myself!  They have step by step instructions and even some videos to explain how they've done different techniques!

They use lots of sepia colors and natural materials like burlap.  Of course you can follow right along and do it just like they show you, or you can get the inspiration from them and use their images and go off on your own to put your own spin on it!

Check out the on line workshop here!  I hope to see you there!   

A picture worth 1000 words.....

Do you do facebook?

I signed up about 6 months ago, mainly to find and re connect with cousins that I have spread out all over the United States.  I seriously do not even know how many cousins I have. If I had to guess it would be about 60 on my mom and dads sides of the family.  I know very few of them "well".  So it's been fun finding them and hearing family stories.

One cousin has a LOT of photos from my Grandparents on my moms side.  She found photos of the farm that my mom grew up on and posted them  As the story was told to me, my grandparents purchased this farm in about 1940 at auction.  Their previous home had dirt floors.

I have no idea when this picture was taken but I'm sure it was long after my grandparents left the farm.  It sat empty for years after they sold it.  In the early 70's my mom took me to North Dakota and we got to go through the house.  I was about 10 years old at the time and it left such an impression on me.  I remember the built in bookcases, the leaded glass windows, the maids quarters in the attic, glass doorknobs....what 10 yr old takes note of these things?.....I wonder if this is where my obsession with old things started.

Even way back then I could picture  my mom sitting in the attic window on a rainy day reading her Old Nancy Drew Books.  She usually got one for Christmas every year, and her first one was in 1939.  

They were regular every day farmers.  They lived off their land and had to buy very little in the way of food.  Every morning and every night regardless of heat, rain or snow, they had to tend to the cows in the barn, milking etc.  No matter how tired, sick or lazy you were, there was ALWAYS work to be done.

I used to hang on to every little thread of story my mom would tell me....because I was able to visit this homestead I had created quite a story in my imagination of what it must have been like.  As her older brothers grew up and went to fight in WWII more of the workload was shifted to my mom, her sister and two younger brothers.

My cousin posted this picture on face book last week of my mom, her brothers and my grandparents.  I've never seen a picture of my mom so young.  I just stared at it and burst into tears.  Something about seeing her so young and fresh faced made me so sad.

I knew I had to get the picture to her.  I also knew she probably would not recognize even herself.  If I framed it she'd never look at it hanging on the wall.  I decided to print it out onto a pillow, that way she could keep it on her bed and look at it all day long as she catnapped.

at first there was no sign of recognition.  But as I said the names to her a few times, and gave her her glasses to put on I slowly saw the light come on in her eyes.  She got that same look in her eyes that she gets when I bring her the milkshakes.

She must have held it like this for 15 minutes or so.  Finally I propped it against the wall and the bed so she could always see it and she promptly fell asleep.  I tiptoed out and hoped it would give her sweet dreams for a long time.  

Jeg elsker deg Mom! (I love you in Norwegian)

   

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!