the Blogger Plunge...

alright, i am taking the plunge! i spend endless hours after my girls have gone to bed searching through blogs and looking for inspiration for this craft or that craft, or how to redo a piece of furniture, how to sew this pillow or that baby dress, so i've finally decided to jump into the blog world and create my own blog to keep track of my own crafty endeavors.

i've always been a bit thrifty, but fortunately with the new green movement, i can hide my thriftiness a bit and proclaim myself as "green," rather than, let's face it, cheap! i love a bargain, sale or discount. i even heard one of my four-year-old twins say to the other today at the craft store, "but it's not on sale." the lady next to me got a chuckle out of this, and i just said "i've taught her well." i love nothing more than sitting back in one of my decorated rooms and mentally sorting through each piece and remembering which garage sale or thrift store each item came from, or which hand-me-down was from what relative. i hate to waste and love to reuse. i love imagining the story behind each piece, be it a picture frame or dining room chair, and knowing that it's been cared for and loved before it reached my hands.

now my inspiration behind all of this is to achieve the look i am aiming for but to accomplish it without anyone actually being able to look at the item and say "THAT is from a garage sale!" and i think i've done that well! eclectic, yes; cheap, no! it's the challenge of buying it for nothing but turning it into something!

while leaving my neighborhood for an errand, i saw this vintage-looking lamp at the end of the driveway. a local charity had picked up the other items laying next to it, but i think they must have broken this lamp when doing so, so they left it behind. being polite, i knocked on the door to ask if i could have it; she didn't answer, so i figured, "fair game," right? pregnant with my third daughter at that time, i was intrigued with the three angelic cherubs that ran around the base of the lamp. it was originally black and gold and the crystals were missing.

with a can of lavender spray paint to match the color scheme of the nursery, a "who cares about the missing arm" attitude, and some crystal replacements (which i had conveniently saved from a not-so-attractive chandelier from a neighbor), i made the first official piece for the new nursery:
( and i must note that the bedside table was my first 'shabby chic' purchase at an illinois garage sale for $1! and my grandma even treated me that day! i bought this before a nursery was even a thought)

(one more notable - the vintage bird picture was made by my friend's little 4 year old boy and it sweetly says Isadella, with the d being a backwards b - makes it all the more precious, doesn't it? )

a few weeks later, in that same neighborhood laying outside for that same local charity pick up, i saw this large framed piece of art. i had no interest in the actual picture framed, but the cherry frame caught my eye from a distance. again, doing the respectful neighborly duty, i knocked on the door and explained to the man who answered that i would love to reuse the frame for a an idea i had in my own home. it was mine seconds later! out came the lavender spray paint once again, and some silver metallic spray on top of the purple to accent it a bit, and a double matte purchased from Michael's (which of course i used the 40% coupon for), and there was my frame waiting for my baby's first picture!

add a fantastic friend photographer to that project, mali workman from http://www.workmanphotography.com/ and i got quite a darling framed picture for her nursery!
and here is my adorable little bug who gets to call this luscious purple room her own(laying on my blanket from my baby days - i am 35 but i fear labeling any of my own items as vintage -- can i really be that old already?) who gets to call this room her own miss izzy belle!