I love craigslist; not only can you save perfectly good items from the dumpster (yay going green) , but you can save some serious cash. Tuesday's are normally for my thrift store finds, but I found this AWESOME table on craigslist, and couldn't resist posting. My current press board table wasn't going to survive move number four in April, so I was really excited when I found this sturdy birch piece. The new table did have some problems (mainly scratches from the previous owner's cat), but for 50 bucks it was hard to pass up. Now, I have no clue about repairing furniture, but those claw marks had to go. After a quick internet search I discovered my 3 options
1. Completely strip the item then re-stain or replace the veneer
2. Prime and Paint the whole item
3. Use "Restore-A-Finish", Markers, and Woody putty to correct flaws.
The coffee table's original color matched my currently living room set perfectly, so I opted for choice # 3. Using #0000 steel wool and dark walnut "Restore-a-Finish" I lightly buffed out 95% of the tables blemishes. The one remaining scratch was colored in with a dark walnut stain pen. Below are the "before" and "after" pictures of the table just using "Restore-a-Finish"
Table after all corrections were made (click to enlarge).
Table ........................ $50.00
Restore-a-Finish ....... $9.00
Stain Pen ....................$5.00
Total cost of new table $64.00
After purchasing this table I was able to sell my old wobbly coffee table on craigslist for 20 bucks so I really only spent $44.00, and prevented two items from getting trashed.
Military Balls = the bane of my existence. For those not married to the Army (or serving), a Military ball, is kinda like prom, but way stricter.
Civilian Women's attire should be.....
- A formal gown (knee to floor length)
- Tasteful
Real helpful right? Basically your dress shouldn't look like something you'd wear to prom (e.g. lots of fake rhinestones, glitter, reviling cutouts, neon colored ect), nor should it be a huge 6 hoop ball gown. The dress is suppose to classy, elegant, and not too flashy. After going online and getting a general idea of the type of dress I wanted I started my search.
Now here's a tip about thrifting, that I live by. Make a list of items that you need or know you will need sometime soon; carry this list with you at all times, so every time you go thrifting you can remember to be on the look out for those items. For example I keep the following list on my phone.
- Large picture Frames (18 x 24 or larger)
- Formal dress for Mil Bal
- Drinking Glasses
- Wicker Baskets (for the rabbits)
- Small patio table
- Chair suitable for outdoors
Important note, don't expect to find all the items on your list all at once; you'll end up being disappointed. Also don't let the list limit what items or sections you browse, it should serve more as a reminder then a grocery list.
After 3 months of checking, I finally found this awesome size 4 "After Six" dress. This gown in a bridal shop normally goes for about 250ish. I paid 10 dollars for it, and it fits perfectly :)
So when I got married, I made the mistake of registering for these pricy glass tumblers from Crate and Barrel. The glasses were so pretty, however, very bottom heavy (aka VERY drop prone). After 3 years only 3 have survived. Now I love how real glass looks and feels, but I didn't want to sink a ton of money into something that might not make the next move, thankfully Saint Louis has plenty of thrift stores. Now normally when I go to my local GWs I see a lot of stemware, and a lot of mixed tumblers, but Saturday I hit the jackpot. While checking out the new items section I came across 7 of these matching yellow and black glasses; best part they were 50 cents EACH. So for basically a whole new set of glasses I paid 3.50, that's less then one of the Crate and Barrel glasses.
After getting these bad boys home (and washing them of course), I had to try them out. Here's my personal ....
Tropical Tester cocktail
6 fl oz Diet Pomegranate Juice
3 fl oz Pineapple Juice
1 fl oz Vodka (I use Rain Vodka, it has a somewhat sweet taste)
Combine all three liquid ingredients, mixing well. Pour mixture into serving glass, add ice and garnish as necessary.
Ok so I'm some what of a TWA collector, and when I saw this bag on shopgoodwill.com I couldn't resist adding it to my collection.
The bag itself was only 5 dollars, but after shipping my total was around $15. I'm hoping to use it as a carryall on my next day trip, to add a pop of color to my outfit.
So I signed up for the RedditGifts Arbitrary Day 2011 exchange. After weeks of work I have finally finished my main present for my giftee.
The painting I created is loosely based off this awesome WWII Air Corps poster I found online.My giftee is currently in NROTC, thinking about a career in aviation, and listed video games as a like; I thought trying to combining all three interest would be fun. For my first time using acrylics, I think I did alright.
Oh wow, I'm so happy I broke down and ordered swatches before purchasing the fabric for my re-upholstery project. Some of the colors, looked totally different then what I was expecting from viewing the online photos.
I ordered the following samples from fabric.com
The Samples
-Vintage Suede Kiwi (PS-2400)
-Richloom Solarium Outdoor Solar Kiwi (PS-312)
-Richloom Portsmouth Basil (PS-3580)
-Premier Prints Indoor/Outdoor Dixie Solid Greenage (PS3-6594)
The Results
The Suede Kiwi was my favorite, however it was dry clean only (a major problem for a color this light, in a high traffic area). The Basil sample was a hideous pea soup color. The Solar Kiwi sample was a nice color, but felt like sandpaper.
The Final Purchase
I ended up falling in love with the Dixie Solid Greenage swatch; not only was the color perfect, but the fabric had a nice heavy but soft feel to it. I ended up ordering 17 yards for my soon to be green couch. After a 20% coupon and free shipping I spent a total of $114.49, a pretty fair price to give new life to my dated couch.
I hit the jackpot at my local goodwill tonight. Look at all the awesome stuff I found.
- Blue Feather Patterned Dress total .........$4.50
- White Dress with Blue Trim total ............$4.50
- Ipad Leather Cover total ........................$6.99
- Flower Vanity Tray total .........................$1.00
Not too bad if I do say so myself. I found this Ipad Case new, and in it's original box. It normally retails for around 70 dollars, but you can easily find it sale for around 30 or 40. My Dad just got a new Ipad II so this case was the perfect gift.
The feather patterned dress was my favorite find tonight. It had a split seam, but nothing 5 minutes of pinning and sewing couldn't fix. I'm thinking about accessorizing it with some gold Grecian sandals, a charm necklace, and some dangle cutout earrings for a hot summery look.