A Genie of a Lamp and Things to Do with Burlap #4

    I have shared this lamp before that I picked up for peanuts…..    

     A bit brassy and I don’t mean the good kind of brassy. A simple spritz with spray paint and I know have this jobbie to light up my life.

     On to “Things to Do With Burlap”, California got hit with a major storm last week. I was gone, but thought that my stash of burlap would be safe under the patio cover. I was wrong! The stack got a bit damp so today I decided to cover part of my driveway in burlap.

     Okay, it isn’t really a burlap project, but it made me grateful that we have a really huge driveway!

 

Best Thrifty Week EVA!

 

     First, thank you all for your birthday wishes for my mom and I. I had the best day!! I can’t really remember the last birthday where I didn’t mope around and whine about getting older. I didn’t do it once this year and I think that I owe everyone a hug for that! (There was that one moment when my dad asked if I was 40, but I laughed that one off)

    

 

     Having been on a thrifty hiatus for a couple of weeks, I made up for it the last few days. There is a lot of stuff, so I will just get to it!

Really ugly lamp- $3.50 I have already sprayed this baby and she is beautiful!

Random Frames- 50 cents a piece.

Big Frame and silver platter- $2 each

Killer bookend - $2 Does anyone know who this is?

Magazine Rack- $5 Just calling out for some paint, doncha’ think?

Unworn Land’s End Mocs-$2 I have been wanting these every time the catalog comes out, but they are like $40.

Best find $5 for a huge bolt of this fabric that is really hard to take a picture of. It is sort of satiny and will be great for lining things, like burlap stockings!

    The rest of this week is going to be busy with getting ready to leave for Chicago on Saturday. MurphyGrace will be going to the boarder for the first time. I really hope that he doesn’t think that I am returning him to the shelter! (He was a two-time loser, poor guy)

 

A Mountain of Burlap, Some Denim, & a Touch of Copper

 

 

     Oh NO! This is the last week of Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality. I can’t thank Rhoda enough for hosting Thrifty Treasures every week. It has been a grand entrance for me into the thrifting world all around the country.  Thanks Rhoda!

     On with the loot. I have mention before that Art is in the grocery business and brings home some great, if not quirky, finds. One night last week he came home and asked, “Didn’t you say that you wanted some more burlap sacks?” I said, “YES!”

     His next day off we jumped in the truck and drove to SLO Roasted. It is a local coffee roaster that sells their beans all over the county. What we found was MOUNTAINS of burlap sacks that had held the beans prior to roasting. There were pallets full of empty sacks!

     I grabbed a stack and the manager was pleading with us to take more. It seems that they have a hard time getting rid of them!

     I now have them spread out and airing on the patio. The raw coffee bean smell is pretty harsh, but seems to be fading.

     Some have great graphics and I can’t wait to get to cutting and sewing with them. I have no idea what I am going to make, but I know that I have enough burlap.

     Next up, a consignment store opened near me a few months ago, but I just got in there this week. (I found a coupon online for 20% off the total purchase and just had to check it out)

      Even better than the coupon, it seems that there is someone else living in my area that has freakishly long legs and a love of jeans! I have a heck of a time finding jeans at even full price in my size and I brought home 5 pairs this week. Thanks to the coupon and probably due to the fact that few in the area wear size o jeans with a 32-34” inseam, I got all 5 pairs for less than $20! Yeah Calvin, Abercrombie, and Gap!

     Last, but not least, I got this copper platter at of all places, the Home-Do-It Center for 50 cents.

     Let’s see, the burlap sacks were free, the jeans my mom paid for (THANKS MOM!), and the platter was 50 cents. That is one thrifty week!

 

A Thrifty Place to Study

 

     It was a quiet week thrift store wise for me. I have been dealing with some health stuff that makes me too tired to venture out from the house much.

     On Thursday I got a surprise though. A box of books that I won on Gather.com came. There is something that I shouldn’t admit here, but I will. I love reading more than I love decorating. So I was doing a happy dance when I opened the box to find these. Thank you Gather.

     I did sneak out yesterday to take advantage of a sale at Ace Hardware. Say hello to my little friend, Mr. Stapler/Nailer. We have already met and conquered our first ottoman.

     He also came home with a friend, Mr. Super Dooper Glue Gun. I got both for 50% off, so that counts as thrifty in my book.

     Of course there were a couple of garage sales that were sort of on my way home. The one that I stopped at had 6 beautiful Australian Shepherds. I wish that I had taken the camera, they were stunning. I am glad that I left Murphy Grace at home though, because they were NOT friendly.

     I spent two dollars and brought home these beauties.

     The best find was one that, believe it or not, I spied while sitting on my bed feeling crappy. I live on a rise and the sliding glass door in my bedroom gives me a cool bird’s eye view of the street and my neighbor’s yards. I like watching the world go while snuggled in bed. They can’t see me, but I can see much of what goes on. (okay, I swear I mean that in a not creepy way!)

     Yesterday I spied the neighbor struggling to bring this out to near their trash cans……

  It needs some major love, but Art hates dislikes his current desk and this will be perfect. It is big too, 33 X 60 and I just know that it is going to look great! I love the lines of it and it has drawers just like he wanted.

     That is it for me and my thrifty treasures. Every week, I feel like I have nothing until I sit down and try to put this together. Every week, I am surprised by all of the things that I and everyone else comes up with.

Make sure you visit Rhoda at Southern Hospitality and check out all of the thrifty finds.