Thrift store finds

Vintage Wooden Wall Shelf Redesigned

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Most of my recent trips to the thrift stores have been utterly disappointing.  It would seem that spring cleaning is the last thing on anyone’s mind.  It’s bitterly cold outside, yard sale season is long over, and the streets are blanketed in snow from our most recent weather event Hercules (Since when did we start naming snow storms??) Everyone seems to be walking around with a post holiday hangover causing many (myself included) to limp into the New Year. Luckily, I still have a few projects up my extremely bundled and layered sleeve to share with you.

Although most of my thrift store trips have been uneventful, Every once in a while I still manage to find something unique.  I came across a really lovely and unique vintage wall shelf with a drawer.  I especially loved the curved sides and the drawer for storage.  It was in rough shape, but that didn’t deter me from placing it inside my cart.

Vintage Wooden Wall Shelf

When I originally purchased the shelf I had every intention of keeping it.  A blunder made during another project intended as a Christmas gift changed that and I had shift the original intention of this piece.

I lightly sanded the item with sand paper, and used a white latex primer to cover the piece.  I left the inside of the drawer alone as it was still in very good condition.  I decided to paint the piece black. This shelf has the potential to be hung in any room, so I wanted the color to go with any decor, and black is neutral. I painted all of the piece except for the drawer and shelf.  I planned to decoupage these areas later and didn’t want the dark color to bleed through the fabric. I used two coats of black acrylic paint and once it was completely dry added a layer of Mod Podge over top to seal it. I had some left over black and white damask fabric from a previous project.  I applied Mod Podge to the front of the door and shelf with a foam craft brush, I cut the fabric to fit as best I could as I would trim away any excess fabric later.  I made sure to line up the fabric design so that the piece would appear symmetrical.  I applied Mod Podge over top of the fabric allowing my nail to work the fabric into any grooves and once it was dry, carefully trimmed any excess fabric with a box cutter knife.

Black and White Damask Decorative Wall Shelf

Decoupage Black and White Damask Wall Shelf with drawer

I love damask designs and this was a tough piece to part with. My favorite project is draped in damask and this would match it beautifully. In the end I was happy to gift it to my sister to go with the chair I made for her in her bedroom, or perhaps it will go in her kitchen?  We shall see, as I offered my services free of charge to help her hang it!

From “Odd To Mod” Upcycled Thrift Store Mystery Wall Hanging

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Recently, I have made quite a few thrift store walk throughs, without finding much of anything to stimulate my creativity.  My pockets are lighter, and even the amount of freebie finds have dwindled. Sure, my attic is filled with items all screaming “Repurpose me, me, meee!”, but our attic is a bit of an organizational nightmare I can’t seem to wake up from, not to mention it is unheated and freezing cold up there! When I go up there, I have to bundle up like I am going for a mile walk across the tundra!  I also feel the secret is out now and when I pull up to the Goodwill store, I am lucky if I can find a parking space!

Despite this, I always take a look for those unique items you can only find in a second-hand store and yard sales. Part of the fun is the thrill of the hunt, and coming up empty-handed is a part of it.   I am always interested in quirky little items even if I am not sure what its original use was.  My husband and the toddler apprentice were out with me one Saturday, and we couldn’t find much, but did spot this unique wooden wall hanging with a bit of storage.  It definitely screamed late 70’s early 80’s to me, and I thought it would look cute in our kitchen.

thrift store wooden wall storage thing

I wanted to re-style it to be more vibrant and colorful.  I thoroughly cleaned the piece with a damp cloth.  I had some leftover red spray paint from a previous project and decided to use it to brighten up the piece.  I took it outside and sprayed it red.

Spray painted piece

This particular spray paint required about 9-24 hours to completely dry.  Once it was dry enough for me to pick up, I brought it inside to my craft room and allowed it to dry in front of the fan.  Later in the evening the piece seemed dry enough, so I placed the front of the piece down upon the back of the fabric to trace it with a fine tipped black marker.  Probably better if I had traced the object on to the fabric before it was painted, but I was lucky and none of the marker made its way on the painted area.  I then applied Mod Podge with a foam craft brush on the front.

Apply Mod Podge

I then applied the cut fabric and smoothed it carefully out with my hands.  I picked a fun Mod fabric with a lot of bright colors.

Apply Fabric

I applied Mod Podge over the fabric and allowed it to dry overnight.  The next morning it was ready to hang.  I love the bright colors which go along perfectly in our yellow kitchen. Now, I just have to decide what I will use it for.  I am leaning toward a salt and pepper holder.

Upcycled Kitchen Wall Hanging and Storage

Before and After: 

From Odd To Mod-Upcycled Thrift Store Wooden Wall Hanging Restyled with Mod Podge, Paint, and Fabric

Fredrika Fabric Corner Shelf Makeover: A Final Farewell

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I was a bit sad when I realized I was running out of one of my favorite thrift store finds,  Fredrika Fabric from Ikea. It is amazing when I think of all the great projects restyled with this fabric, most of which currently reside in our daughter’s playroom.  Ahh the upcycling memories.  First it was a little wooden step stool, then many more followed, lost basement table, 1960’s Coffee Table, Repurposed Umbrella Holder/Toybox and even a Garden Pig Makeover!

We needed a shelf in the playroom out of our daughter’s reach.  We had a great baseball lamp my sister gave to us as a gift, and we needed a place to display it on. The playroom still has a sporty theme coupled with a girly mod look.  I found this great corner shelf at Goodwill for $2.99 and I snatched it up!

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I had just enough fabric to cover the surface with a few scrap pieces to spare. I traced the shelf on the fabric and cut the tracing with a pair of scissors.  I applied Mod Podge to the shelf surface and carefully placed the fabric on top.  Once dry, I applied Mod Podge over it to seal it.

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The most difficult part of this project was hanging the shelf!  It had 3 slots which required three screws hung on the wall precisely.

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I love how this turned out and so simple to make!  You can “jazz” up ordinary furniture and decor and make it a unique expression of your own personal home style!  This project was certainly bitter-sweet.  I will miss you.  Farewell Fredrika!

Expect The Unexpected: A Couple Of Weeks In The Life Of A Thrifter.

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When thrifting, part of the excitement is, you never know what you are going to find. Sometimes you walk out a winner ,and other times the goat for having wasted precious time without reason. Lately, I  have been unable to come up with many upcycle project items. I have found some great pieces and items that were better left in their original state, so I am not exactly complaining!  Of course, Thrift stores are also never short on “interesting folk” for example who would have thought I would have struck up a conversation with the famous Woodbury Dancing Man ? Never a dull moment.  I can hardly call that a wasted trip!

I thought today, I would take a moment to share with you some interesting items I have picked up over the last couple of weeks.

Bert's Blockbusters

Who didn’t grow up and love Sesame Street? I jumped at the chance to buy this record from 1974 featuring the voices of the late great Jim Henson and the talented Frank Oz.  I am a small collector of records and still love listening to them on my vintage stereo. For me this was a must buy item~ The price for this lovely item you ask?  Just .99 cents!

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I came across this vintage wooden nut tray and didn’t think much of it at first until I took a 2nd look and was lured in by price a mere .99 cents! I could tell this tray was quality made and it was stamped on the bottom Weavewood Inc. Minneapolis.  After some research turns out trays like these are going for $ 15-$20 each on Etsy.

vintage pyrex glassware

Vintage Pyrex items are a rare find at best in my area, but I jumped at the chance to pick up this 1 1/2 court Pyrex bakeware item for $2.99 at Goodwill.  Of course, I was disappointed it did not have a lid, but the nostalgic gal in me couldn’t resist buying it anyway!  Who’s family did not have at least one piece of Classic Pyrex Glassware growing up?

VHS Disney Movie Collection

I am not ashamed to admit that we still have a VHS Tape player in our daughters playroom. While looking through Goodwill’s .99 cent video collection I noticed that they had most of all the classic Disney movies many of which I enjoyed myself as a much younger person. I couldn’t resist them at such a deeply discounted price, and jumped at the chance at building our daughter’s Disney movie collection. (Of course if you look closely I also couldn’t resist the classic Muppet Move in between Pinocchio and the Aristocats.) An amazing bargain! I got all of them for the price of one DVD!

Stay THRIFTY my Friends…..and happy hunting!