One Heck of a Trash Pile

Oh boy!  What until you see what I've got to write about today!  In my last post I mentioned it but nothing could have really prepared you for what you're about to see.  First though, I must begin with a little intro.  A few weekends ago, we chaperoned a middle school retreat.  The retreat came and went and before we knew it, it was time to go home.  I rode home in a packed van with friends...emphasis on packed...every seat was full and the trunk was stuffed.  Off we went, down the street, around the corner, through a neighborhood, past a gorgeous, antique loveseat sitting on the curb amidst a trash pile...WHAT?!  Yep, word for word, that's how it went.  And this is what ensued:

Me and friends:  Oh my gosh!  Look at that loveseat!  Who would throw that out?  It is really out there for the taking?  Wow!

Our friend Dan:  Sheena, do you want it?

Me (inside):  Of course I want it!  It has "TAKE  ME AND FIX ME UP" written all over it!  But the van is PACKED...I'm so torn!  Just look away Sheena...look away and move on.

Me (outside):  No, it's okay.  

Our friend Dan:  Sheena, are you SURE you don't want it?

Me:  There's no room!  Just keep going...it's okay.

Our friend Dan:  We'll carry it.

...and they did.  Dan and Kevin carried our treasure down the street, around a corner, through the neighborhood, and to a building on the high school campus where Dan's wife Lauren, their kids, and I drove

to meet them. 

(Right after I took this picture, our friend Kevin (left), who was visiting from out of town that weekend and who doesn't know about my thrifty behavior and DIY mania, asked "So, is this some sort of hobby?"  I thought to myself, "more like addiction" but just responded with an enthusiastic "yes".  Lord, help me.)

You might be wondering too, as we were, why anyone would curb a couch like that.  Well, we'll just say it wasn't exactly in perfect condition.  The front, left leg is broken but still works as a support and the back two legs are just hanging on by threads. 

See the difference in the two front legs? The caster will come off the right leg, making them even.
Also, the woodwork along the top is a little shaky but thankfully, isn't part of the support system.  A few little nails and maybe some wood glue and we'll be good to go sit.  The whole thing needs to be reupholstered, which I'm so excited to try too!  Nothing like learning on something that was free in the first place, right?  For now, this beauty is resting it's haunches on Anthony's toolbox.  I've even already started the process of peeling off trim, fabric, and old batting which I'll write about in the next post! 

Oh what fun it's going to be!  Come along with us on our loveseat adventure!  We promise we'll do all the work, all you have to do is watch the transformation!  :) 

P.S.  If there are any seasoned reupholsterers out there, or even any amateur ones reading this, I'd love some input!

The Bird

This post isn't about that infamous 'bird' some use to communicate "I'm mad at you"...

nor is it about the hundreds of birds that decided to skip migration and land on our grandma's lawn over our Christmas vacation in New York...

but it is about the first ever, homemade artwork I created for our house!  Here's the whole story:

Right after we got hitched, we bought three identical frames from my favorite thrift store ever in Ohio for 25 cents each.  They weren't anything special except that they had ancient pictures in them of people who we had no idea about and they were orange.  Lacking pictures (because we're horrible at remembering to bring our camera when making memories), all we did was display the frames in our hutch...pictures of strangers included.  I can't even begin to count how many times we've been asked who those people were and every time saying "I have no clue" and telling the frame story.  Later, I whipped out a can of brown spray paint we had on hand and gave them a coat.  Well, then we moved and the pictures moved with us. 

See them on the top shelf?

I found two pictures (on of my dad at his first birthday and one of me at my First Communion) that replaced two of the unknown persons, but one remained...until last Tuesday.  That was the day I decided to change them up.

First I decided to lighten them up a little.

 I decided to 'go green' with them using some paint leftover from our guest bathroom.  To go from dark brown to that light green though, I first spray painted them white.

Onto the pictures.  Here's the six strangers that had been.  Anyone recognize them?  We'd love to know their stories.  :)

For now they're being stowed away somewhere in case we need them someday or someone claims them.  :)

Still lacking pictures that would fit into the frames, I decided to morph into an artist for an hour and create my own personal pictures.  I've always wanted to draw/paint some kind of picture that continued through three frames...let me explain.

First I cut three 5 x 7 pieces of card stock out using the covers of some construction paper books we had.  Then, for drawing purposes, I tape them together so that I could get a cohesive picture that could be separated later but still be cohesive in three different frames...make sense?  I decided on a 'bird and branches' theme so first I drew out the main branches and the bird.

Using leftover brown paint from the previous owner, I painted the branches and then went on to paint some leaves.

Using leftover blue paint from our master bedroom (y'all know I'm all about using what you have), I painted our pretty little bird.

After it was dry and my 'masterpiece' was complete, I carefully removed the tape joining the three and put them in their respective frames.

Introducing our new, FREE, artwork made with lots of love and leftovers by me, Bean.

Back into the hutch they go for now but later in life I'm thinking they might grace the walls of a future little girl's room or sun room...we'll see!  Big change though, right?  Anyone else break out their inner artist and create something with leftover paint recently?  My friends Lauren and Jenn did, creating some great modern paintings to flank a fireplace with two large pieces of canvas and leftover master bedroom paint!  It's very therapeutic, costs little to nothing, and looks great!  Anyone else?!  Any other ideas?  I'd love to see them!  Of course now that I've started, you can be sure to see more in the future too!

Fab Finds: Yard Sale Style

I love yard sales but I don't go to them very often.  For one, I don't like going alone and two, I feel bad walking away without buying anything.  However, a few weeks ago I laid aside my petty issues and walked from house to house during a neighborhood yard sale near our house.  

I had my heart set on finding some used throw pillows that were clean, cheap, and in good condition.  Once found, the plan was to make new pillow covers out of outdoor material and adorn our porch-side wicker furniture with them.

 

A few days before I had scoured a few thrift stores around my house for pillows but they were all either too much (and by too much I mean over $4 for an old, used pillow) or too gross to feel comfortable about leaning against.  But back to my yard sale excursion.  I did find my pillows and almost jumped five feet in the air when I looked at the price tag and found them to be $1 each!  They looked like they were brand new, were nice and cushy, and fit the backs of my chairs to a 't' (which I found out later) too!  

   Since then I've been searching for fabric to recover them with but to no avail.  This is where decorating on a budget collides with needing to have lots of patience.  I'll only need a little over a yard of fabric for these two but I really don't want to spend over $15...and I'm picky.  I've already found lots of great patterns but none in my price point.  But, my experience tells me something will pop up and I'll be happy I waited.  :)  Plus, shouldn't outdoor fabrics be clearancing out about this time of year?  I guess we'll see!

So I've found what I've set out to find but I make one last stop before I get back home.  Leaning against other unwanted items at this last attempt of deal-finding is an interesting structure I'm not sure what to classify as.  It is a grid-like, frame thing but there's no glass...so maybe it's just a decorative object to adorn or lean against an empty wall? 

 After she notices this crazy person, me, staring into space at this piece the owner comes over and soothes my wandering imagination to tell me it used to be a multi-photo, picture frame but that the glass had been broken...ohhhhh...I see said the blind man!  There was a little sticker in the corner that said $2 so, after asking her if was sure she only wanted $2 for it (it was so big and cool that I felt like I was ripping her off), I excitedly handed her two dollar bills and made off with my new find.  I had an idea for what I wanted to do with it but wouldn't find out until I got home with it if it would actually work.

The Happy Ending:

Our guest room bed has a new headboard and it only cost $2!  I originally wanted to make my own upholstered headboard for this room but this works for now (plus $2 sounds better than $30+).  Who knows, it might stay there forever or it might grace another space in our abode someday!  What color it will be, if it even changes, is the question.  :)

So in the words of MasterCard:
Two pillows to be recovered:  $2
A make-shift headboard:  $2
Getting over my fear of "yard sale-ing" by myself:  priceless