Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Thriftying

Hi, my name is Karyn and I am a thrift-o-holic.

If you've spent any time with me, you know I'm a thriftying addict . . . in all forms. I LOOOOOVE finding a good deal on something.

I love a good clearance sale, and you can often find me at the Dollar Tree.

But my true love is for thrift stores. Goodwill, D.I., Savers . . . all of them! My husband thinks am crazy . . . I prefer to call it creative :)

So here are some of my thrify projects as of late.


I got this chair for $3 at the Goodwill. I loved it's curves and lines and mostly its potential. I'd originally planned on it just being a cute accent chair for somewhere in the house. But then I remembered seeing something at Tai Pan Trading that I thought I could recreate.

I LOVE the way it turned out! The version that I saw at Tai Pan I think was suppose to be one you hang on the wall . . . maybe like a glorified shelf?? I'm not really sure. But mine currently works as a glorified easel. It's been great for holding and displaying all sorts of fun junk.

Unfortunately, this project did only reinforce the "crazy" instead of the "creative" in my husband's mind. When I took it over to our neighbor friend's house to have him cut it all up for me, him and my husband looked at each other and were like, "Ummmm . . . kay . . ." (*eye rolls*). Oh well, I like it anyway!

This is my official, bonified, for reals first quilt. I've attempted other smaller projects before with the sewing machine. But the darn thing has a way of running away from me! But I finally tamed the wild beast to complete this quilt throw. And I got all the fabric for cheap at Hobby Lobby!

P.S. My wonderful, sweet mother did end up sandwiching, quilting and binding it for me, cause I'm not quite so talented yet. I'll attempt those on my second one . . . maybe. Baby steps, Baby steps . . .

I love how it looks with my old windows and Dollar Tree plates.

These were some old shutters I got off Craigslist.

Turned them into this to fill my big, blank, white kitchen wall. I think they turned out just perfect.


So once I turned my red accent chair into my glorified easel, I decided I still wanted a fun chair for the living room. I came across this for $10 at the Goodwill and snatched it up.
This was a fun transformation. I never had reupolstered anything, and this was a good small project to practice on. It's amazing what some paint and fabric can do!


P.S. Got the fabric from the Goodwill too!
And last, but not least . . . the layout in our house doesn't allow for a good office space. So, unfortunately, our computer and all its glory has to sit front and center in our kitchen. You can see all the visual clutter it creates. And every time I walked into the kitchen I wanted to scream at the mess. But thankfully I came across this post over at The Shabby Nest and knew I'd found my solution.
Aaahhhhh . . . SO much better. Definitely something I can live with! And the best part, I got the fabric for $1/yard at Wal-Mart!

23 comments:

shauntel said...

karyn - i think you are amazingly creative and an awesome thrift shopper! I want to be just like you!

Laura said...

Such cute stuff. I need to take lessons from you. Way to go super mom!!

Crazy Lifferths said...

WOW! I am super impressed! I need to be more creative like that!! I am going to paint some things for my front room, like a little shelf thing, can you help me?!

felicia said...

i didn't know you were a thrift store junky too:) Love your projects! I need some help with how to paint so well! what kind do you use?

SmithFamily said...

Way to go Karyn! You could totally create a blog like Melissa's!

Erin Fanello said...

Besides having way cute stuff, I love how you displayed them, I think I could learn a lot from you on presentation!! Keep up the good work...we need to finish our photo wall plan:)

Erin said...

When in the world do you find the time? One day I will get back into the crafting/thrifty world but hauling 4 kids there over the summer doesn't appeal to me at all. I LOVE your shutters. I might have to copy.

Luke and Tiff said...

I lov the shutters--so cute and what great texture to add to a plain wall! Nice job on all the deals.

Bear said...

Have you ever thought about decorating for a magazine? You'd be great at it. I LOVE your house.

hOLLIANN said...

So cute! You need to start on my house next! I am an awful minimalist! I like bare walls... sick I know!

Elizabeth said...

Karyn! I am so impressed with you. Amazing! I love all this stuff!! Awesome.

Unknown said...

stubled across your blog! love the windows with the primitive stars hanging on them. Such a darling idea!

Michael and Lindsey said...

Wow Karyn, you're so creative! You have lots of fun ideas and your house was super cute when I saw it.

Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality said...

Karyn, thank you for leaving me a note! Ya'll are just great & I appreciate your support & for reading my blog.

Darla said...

Karyn, I am so impressed with your finds. I have several Goodwill projects calling my name and can't wait to get to them. I love finding good deals but I definitely do not have your talent of putting it all together. I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay impressed that Rhoda from Southern Hospitality commmented on your blog. Her blog inspired me to do my first spray paint project and she is an almost daily read for me. Thanks for you post. You totally inspire me.

MaRiN said...

Hi Karyn! I'm so glad you found my blog. I too love to go thrifting, I just don't get to do it as often as I'd like to. I love seeing thrifting transformations. I'm a little jealous of your shutters...I've been looking for some for a while now without any luck.

Erin said...

Why are you so good at stuff? This is the kind of stuff I dream of doing and never do. I'm going to. That's it.

Keri said...

Karyn you are amazing! I have been neglecting my blog for the same reason as your post on May 22nd...Madi started crawling a few weeks ago:) You have inspired me to 1) blog again and 2) to finish many of my crafting projects. Thanks;)

Ashley @ AshleysBusy said...

Wow, LOVE the white chair, too cute!

Brenda said...

Go Karyn!

Melissa said...

Karyn~your house is looking fabulous! I love all these things you've done~what did you decide about the house you were looking at?

Mud Pie Studio said...

Love, love, LOVE the red shutters! What a great transformation! You do really fun projects!
Lori

A Home in Progress said...

Okay, I loved your shutter idea myself I used it in my own home! I will be posting my results on my blog later tonight - giving you credit, of course! Check it out!