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Showing posts with label garage sale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garage sale. Show all posts

Sugar Bowl Bird Feeder (Plus More DIY Feeders!)

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My kitchen window above my sink looks out to a good part of our backyard. I've been yearning for a bird feeder but haven't found one I really like. So I whipped up my own in about 2 seconds. My DIY bird feeder cost me $1 which is what I paid for the little bowl.


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So many projects, so little time

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Do you keep a million DIY, craft, and home projects going at one time?  Ugh...we do. We currently have so many to finish but we keep starting new ones!  Here's a glimpse of some of our finished and unfinished projects we've been busy with for the past few weeks!


This is how the people before us repaired a leaky sump pump pipe. Yup, duct tape. It's like they didn't know it was really for making into flower topped pens and such.  We couldn't understand why our lawn was mushy in one spot until Jim uncovered this. He fixed it properly, of course!





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Updates to Molly's Bedroom

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I'm making hurricane lemonade. What?  I mean that since Hurricane Sandy threw us a whole lotta lemons we had to make some lemonade out of it. So thanks to Sandy for giving me the time to get some stuff done around here.   She made us stay in the house a lot and so we got some little home projects going or finished up!  Jim planned and built a firewood rack and cleaned a ton. He is a web based business so when his company lost power he ended up with a week off of work!

I finished a curb alert nightstand for Molly's room and then stenciled a few little doo-dads on her closet doors (she has 4 doors because she has 2 closets) and on the side and top of the nightstand. 



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Fall Front Porches, Yard Sale Treasures

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Have you gotten your porch, stoop, or entryway ready for fall yet? I am trying to hold off buying mums, pumpkins, corn stalks, etc. for a few more days because I'm trying not to rush things. But I can't stop thinking about it! I'm sure you've seen most of these but I thought I'd share some of my favorite fall porches! Pin from the original source please!!

Ok, so I'm shamelessly self promoting my front porch from last year. Guess having a blog is shameless self promoting too.  So now I don't feel badly about showing off my little stoop display.
Days of Chalk and Chocolate


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Summer Dress and Features

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Hi all!  I have been itching to try my hand at sewing something a bit more complicated than a skirt or pillow lately. So I used a dress that Molly already owned and used it as a pattern!  I added some length to it because it was a size too small and then just winged it (wung it? wanged it?).  I didn't do a lick of measuring either. I'll never be a terrific sewer because I don't measure.  Anyway, she's decided to wear it as a beach cover up. Truthfully, I don't think she's digging the material. Frankly, neither am I but I had it left over from sewing the playroom curtains. You just thought about Scarlet O'Hara, didn't you. Or you thought of Carol Burnett as Scarlett with the curtain rod going through the shoulders, right?  HA HA HA!  awesome.

I got this ladder shelf at a flea market for $20! Shwing!


Ok so now here are some features from last week's party!

The Velvet Door
Game Room Reveal



Lake Cottage Dreams
 Bathroom Storage



Design Dreams by Anne
Bathroom Makeover



The Space Between
Rooftop Bed



Cooking on the Front Burner
Limoncello Cupcakes



Thanks for linking up!  See you all tomorrow!

Cheers!
Jenny

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Flea Market Finds

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Hi Friends!  I hope you all enjoyed a fun and restful weekend. We did!  I saw my nephew play his trumpet in the high school jazz band and they were awesome!!  I'm so proud of him. He is thoughtful, handsome, determined, and talented!  Go Joey!

Today I went to a flea market at a local high school. I was so excited to go but once I got there I almost regretted it. It was a nasty, cut throat affair. People were pushing, rude, and careless with the items. Frankly I was speechless. Do we have to lose our common sense and good manners to get a $3 baby gate?  I think not.  I grabbed a few pieces of milk glass and some wreath forms although some lady yelled at me because she thought I cut the line to pay. Guess someone spit in her chocolate milk this morning. 

Here is what my $9 bought me.







I love that measuring cup I didn't need it but it is super thick and heavy and felt old to me. It made me happy!

So let me tell you a story. When we first got married and bought a house I decided I would hang this and only this in my dining area.


Pottery Barn

And so I spent months scouring eBay because at the time it was being sold by PB for $299.  I ended up getting it off of EBay for $199. Better but still what I consider a bit of a luxury to us. Everyone thought I was nutso to hang a giant chandelier in our dining area when was really just the eat-in part of the eat-in kitchen. I did not have a dining room. So yes, I hung that in my kitchen. So what? I loved it so much that I excluded it from the contract when we sold our house. That chandelier is MINE.

So it went into storage for 6 months until we bought this house. Then it sat in the box in the dining room (it finally has a proper home) for 5 months until the electrician took care of our copper wiring.  He opened the box and rays of light radiated out as the angels starting singing. Finally it is up!  YES!  Uh-oh. Bad news. Neither Jim nor I can find the crystals. Weep. Sob. So I found the replacements and put them on but there was only 3 of each so now this is what it looks like: 


Keepin' it real, peeps, keepin'it real.

And with that, I wish you a great Monday!

Cheers!
Jenny

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Old Plaques New Again

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I've been busy on some decorating projects for our house. Some worked out and some did not (stupid homemade shower curtain). Here is one that worked! A while ago I got these hideous plaques at a garage sale for the (very appropriate) price of $0.00. Free!  Super!  Jim thought I was insane but again just hauled them away. 

Here they are from way back when:


Clearly they were old but really...when were these
ever pretty?  When did someone look at these
and say "oh yes! I have just the spot!"

So I did what any reasonable DIY blogger would do. I spray painted them white and Mod Podged the heck out of 'em with sweet pictures of my babes.  Then I dug out my wedding portrait (um, not quite a portrait, I know. But remember, I was young and giddy at the time I chose it) and did a little leaning vignette on my mantel.











I know what my fellow teachers are thinking right now.
I know, it's also a cause/effect lesson. I picked right up on it.

Truthfully, I don't mean for them to be permanent. They aren't even fantastic copies since I just printed them on printer paper from my computer. But they make me happy and it makes me thrilled to know I paid nothing for them. How can you not smile at that belly peeping out on Ellie?  Luscious.  I have one more that I'm still working on and I'll post that as soon as I'm done!

If I get that stupid shower curtain up I'll post that soon too. It has the potential to be so cute!  We'll see.

Hope you are all happy and well.

Cheers!
Jenny


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Latest & Greatest #8, Garage Sale Table, Little Bits O' Christmas

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A bunch of years ago I bought a table and chair set at a garage sale for $25. Jim thought I was crazy because it was in such rough shape but I was determined!  I painted the chairs white and recovered them with new fabric but they proved to be very uncomfortable. Sadly they did not make the trip to Central Jersey from North Jersey.


It was for the best as I know so much more about furniture redos now than I did back then.  Anyway, I started sanding the top of the table with the intent to restain it but then I got pregnant, had Ellie, blah blah blah. It not only never got finished, we had a half sanded table for 3 years.  I did manage to spray paint the legs a wedgewood blue and did some really bad distressing. Here is what it looked like


This is how we used the table..it's not a mid-project picture. Gross
And the blue isn't showing up well on the front apron but it was all
blue and not white as it appears.



 Now that I have plenty of space to work I decided to make that table look the way I knew it could. So I applied a stripper to remove the glossy finish.

I applied the one on the bottom right. OMGosh this is hilarious.
Ok, back to DIY

Supposed to be safer. Safe enough to use indoors. Indoor what?
The atmosphere?  Because it ain't comin' in my house, thanks. But it worked FANTASTICALLY! 
Really cut down on my work.
Then I scraped and washed the stripper off. He liked that. Moving on, I sanded with my handy orbital sander.



I stained it using Dark Walnut stain by Minwax which is what the previous owners used to refinish the floors.  I decided to only apply 1 coat of stain because I loved the way it turned out on the first go.


Poly-Sand-Poly-Sand-Poly-Poly-Poly


I spray painted the legs Granite by Rustoleum. I love the color but it bubbled a bit because of no reason I could figure. So I sanded and sanded and realized I should have sanded to begin with but I was lazy. Taught me a good lesson. Buy furniture already made. Kidding. Just Sand.

I lightly coated the legs with Minwax Finishing Wax and now here she is!








I'm really happy with it!

So I'm decorating for Christmas around here but everything feels like clutter for some reason.  I'm anti-stuff right now. So I'm just doing small touches around the house. Here are some glimpses of Christmas.

 
I actually already took this down and replaced it with a fresh wreath
that doesn't even have a bow. Nothing. Minimal.

See? Gone. This is much better. I'm going to fill the shelf part of the window
with pointsettias.




Sorry about the wonky color. Um, can we say saturation??  Ick. But I love my snowman hat.
It's so glittery in person and makes me feel like a snowman paid me a visit
but forgot his hat and cane.

Amaryllis are my new favorite Christmas flower. I'm growing some
but in the meantime these will do. They are glittery as well. My theme this year
is sparkle, maybe?!

Big Whoop. A fake pointsettia. I don't care. I like just having a bit of Christmas here and there.


I hope you are all well and happy and enjoying the season!  I'd love to see some of your Christmas touches!





Cheers!
Jenny

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Garage Sale Bargains

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We were at the house waiting for the new appliances to be delivered and I decided to run out quickly to buy some paper to line the shelves. Right around the corner from our neighborhood was a block sale that was supposed to have ended an hour prior. Luckily for me they decided to hang out a little longer!  Look at what I scored for a whopping grand total of $7!





I love my treasures.  I bought an old crate that I will just use to hold craft stuff, a long shelf (with scrolly brackets...SCORE) that is going to be painted and hung on the large wall in the kitchen, a white pitcher to go on the shelf, and that way cool old tool carrier thing. It's in ROUGH shape but I truly don't care. I'm filling it with dried hydranges as soon as I have a table to put it on.

Hope you all had a productive day too!

Cheers!
Jenny
Don't forget to link up to Latest and Greatest Friday #2!!

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More NJ love and Vintage Freebie

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My first subbing position went as well as could be expected! It was weird to know no one and have to get used to a new everything. But the kids were as cute, silly, bored, entertaining, and funny as any other I've ever taught. The best part, though, was the actual school. It was amazing!! It was a newer building so it had central air (I've never taught in a school with air conditioning ever!) and space beyond space. When I taught basic skills I did it in a renovated closet or the hallway. This was different...she had her own classroom with updated technology, materials, and a huge desk! What a treat! And all the teachers I spoke with were delightful! The principal seemed genuinely glad to be there and was smiling every time I saw him. The parents were happy, the kids were happy, the staff was happy and it made me realize once again that NJ schools are bringing it!! I am so proud to be a NJ teacher and so proud to someday send my children to school here. And I am also so proud to live in communities that value their teachers and schools and support them in all ways. ROCK ON NJ PEEPS! (disclaimer: I am in no way implying that schools in other states are not rocking on. I just have experience only in NJ. Feel free to add your own ROCK ON for your state in the comments!)

Now back to what is truly important (HA HA HA I KID!) and look at what I scammed for free at a yard sale last weekend.




It isn't as old as I would have liked and it needs some cleaning up. Oh and it needs to have the lid put down and we can't figure out how. But who cares?  It was free!  And will look very cool hanging out in my living room or in our office.  I also grabbed some hideous plaques that will make incredible chalkboards or some type of art for the girls' playroom. I have to take a pic soon of those to show you the complete hideousness. It's really hard to describe.

Have a super weekend! 
Cheers!
Jenny

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