Vintage Lamp & Kitchen Knobs Transformations

I believe I've found a new BFF! I kept reading about Brown Hammered spray paint and while in WM I decided to give her a whirl.

This is the expected result up close and personal! I loved the look but would it "do the trick" on my antique brass kitchen knobs? I really didn't want to buy all new knobs for the kitchen...so here's how I accomplished the feat.

I took a few knobs off and screwed the screw back in place. Then I inserted the screw into this block of styrofoam. (Would give credit where credit is due...but can't remember where I saw this tip. It's a good one.)

When the knobs dried they looked just like the paint can said they'd look! Eureka! For less than $7 I transformed 28 knobs, a planter, a metal display piece that holds up a large hurricane, another metal display piece, a small table and I still have 1/2 a can of paint left!! Now that's a bargain! Remember: Brown Hammered

I had a good time scoping out the thrift store Monday. I found this pitiful little lamp.

She looked like the Last Rose of Summer, poor thing...

I removed all the innards and cleaned her up.

After spray painting and a little "antique juice", I reassembled her. Now she's a little candle holder! The key that is dangling from the ribbon is the "lamp handle".

Maybe with a globe and mercury glass votive holder?

I also found a little grass basket...my obsession is all things "basket".

A California container...still has her tag on top.


The real McCoy...

And last but not least is this beautiful little silverplate shell server...inside is a removable milkglass shell. I might have to have this for a jewelry shell. That's the prob with thrift storing...I feel duty bound to take everybody home with me...I just know there is hidden potential in every item...the more tattered the better.

Do I dare relate this story? Oh, yes, why not. A good friend and I went shopping in Hattiesburg today. We spent over 2 1/2 hours in the BBBIIIGGG Hudson's alone. I found lots of decorations for the next year's school Christmas tree and she bought a boatload of outdoor pillows for herself and her mother. (Also a beautiful quilt)...anyhoo....on her way home she had to pass the prison. There had been an escape the night before and now there was another one. Every car on the highway was stopped and searched...including you know who's. I can still see her now trying to explain what she was "hiding" in the trunk of her car with all those pillows and that quilt! What a hoot! They finally let her pass and I just heard on the news that all prisoners were accounted for...no escapee after all!

Join us at Southern Hospitality for the Thrifty Treasures Party.

May all your shopping excursions be successful,

Thrift Store Find & Putting My Magazines on a Diet

Very fun day...not particularly productive...but fun nonetheless. First I was determined to go to a few thrift stores today. I have read about them non-stop for the last few days on everybody's blog...so I decided to go back to some of my old haunts to see what they had. I did NOT find but one thing that whispered my name.

Look at her, poor little thing. She is tin with a black shade and oh, so in need of a day at the "spa". (I must admit something here, I am a lover of all things primitive, but when I decorate in that direction, my house becomes extremely cluttered...I have tried to go more contemporary in the last few years, but whenever I see something like a yelloware bowl, a dough bowl, a little tin lamp...my heart flitter flutters.)

Anyhoo, I brought her home, cleaned her up and re-did the shade. I used an old children's nursery rhyme book (1936 and in bad condition) and some really old sheet music to cover the shade using, ta-da, Mod Podge. I like using Matte finish for a project like this. Then I tied a twine and checked ribbon around her neck, finished the bow off with a square mother of pearl button, and I think she looks mighty fine.

I put her in my kitchen since I had been looking for a tiny lamp for under the counter. She may reside there or I may move her around until a suitable abode is found.

Next, I did some weight reduction...not on my person, but on my magazine collection. Every six months I take all my magazines, go through them thoroughly and tear out every page that appeals to me...this is no small task as you can see the very large stack of magazines with which I was faced.

Notice the magazines on the right. I actually had around 6 more that I couldn't part with, so they were spared the scalpel. But now check out the left side. Yep, that's the sum total of pages that I kept! I then took those pages and divided them into six or seven stacks. These stacks will be filed in my file folders: Christmas, Tablescaping, Gardening, Crafts, Interesting Articles, Decorating, and Patterns. At the end of the year, I go through the files and unceremoniously dump any articles that don't appeal to me anymore. That keeps the folders under size control.

Unfortunately I LOVE magazines. Those companies will never have to worry about me reading them online rather than perusing the real McCoy. I re-read them many times...and I always find things I missed the first or second go round. Read with a magnifying glass close by. You will be amazed at what you see with its aid.

Hope you are having a productive time after Christmas. I love this time of the year because I do a pretty good "clean out" of the house. I am working on several other projects that will be ready for a reveal shortly.... Happy Tuesday!