What I'd buy on Craigslist this week

Hi friends!
You know I love Craigslist, probably more than the average bear.  It is a treasure trove of things just waiting to be reinvented, or used again.  As always remember that safety is the most important thing when shopping Craigslist!!  Be smart and safe and always take someone with you if you are picking an item up, and make sure someone knows where you are going and who you are expecting to meet.  That said, I don't know any of the people selling these items.  I haven't seen any of them in person.  So if you want to buy one of these things, just know I can't personally vouch for them.  But I would buy each of them myself if I could. :-)

1.  It's not furniture.  But it's adorable and vintage and would look fantastic sitting on a table in a hallway somewhere.  Add a vase of flowers.  Be tempted to start that novel you've been meaning to write (this thing still works!)  Hint: if you're not the novel-penning type, get a cool piece of card stock.  Type out a page full of "Happy Birthday from the Smiths," cut them up, tie them on to gifts and look COOL.

2.  Run.  Do not walk.  And someone please go buy this chair.  Why, you ask?

Because you paint it a gorgeous creamy white, and join the ranks of happy people everywhere who have cheated the Pottery Barn Gods by stealing a look of theirs FOR $300 LESS.

3.  Fuzzy picture.  Clear winner.  This coffee table has loads of character, storage, and leaves you can pull up for more space with guests or with the kids to play a board game.

Paint it and show off all the great detail (like this one that looks like it sold for $225 on Etsy although the link is broken.)

4.  Find a cozy corner of your home, fill it with books, a blanket, and this chair.

Or this one.

But first, give it a fresh blue and red color scheme. Gorgeous, right?

5. Ok this last one requires a little imagination. But it would be a conversation piece for sure!
Pick up this unique side table.

Paint the body of it white like this one.

Then paint the faux book spines a soft beige, or mod podge some burlap onto them. Grab a stencil and some white paint.  Stay with me.
You would hopefully end up with a look like this on the spines:

Would that not be cool?!
I hope you can see that in your head as I can.

Now get out there and make something awesome!!

XO,
Anne

Homerun! (baseball room reveal)

My oldest turned 7 over the summer and we moved shortly before that.  All in all, it was time for some new room decor.  His first "big boy" room was transportation themed and he loved it.  So did I.  But times change, and so we moved on to bigger and better things.

There are two major caveats that I should throw out there that made this room possible.  My awesome in-laws downsized, and we were the beneficiaries - very nice furniture.  We inherited:  a full size metal headboard and bed frame from Room and Board (similar to this), a dresser from Room and Board (similar to this), as well as a desk, nightstand, and two lamps.

He fell in love with baseball, so I set about giving him a slugger's space. (I took this pic in our backyard.)

Almost everything was found on the cheap. It took most of the summer, hitting yard sales, checking out eBay and Etsy, combing through Craiglist, and sifting through piles at my favorite thrift store.  I also worked online sales sites like Groupon.

We did grab in a new duvet cover, a simple navy and white stripe. (Found at Target, here)

The first thing I did was embroider a little design on one of his pillowcases.  He's a fan of both the Cincinnati Reds as well as the Milwaukee Brewers.  So with some embroidery floss, I stitched this on by hand.  Easy peasy.  It's washed up fine, too. (Like the wrinkled pillowcase?  Just keepin' it real, folks.)

I scored this shelf on Craigslist for $5.  Is it heirloom quality stuff? No.  It's plastic. But it fit our theme, and our colors so I added it.  It's a home for bobbleheads, little league trophies, and keepsakes from the pro games he's been to.

One of the lamps my in-laws gave us had this great, rectangular shaped shade.  It begged for a design.  I found a Babe Ruth quote, grabbed a paint pen, Googled a baseball-ish font, and 15 minutes later, had this:

This baseball mitt wall shelf was a thrift store find, and it holds a bat and a ball.

My Dad and I went to an estate sale, and in the barn/garage there was a big bucket of scrap wood.  I think we paid $5 for it all.  There were two different colors of painted wood, and as soon as I saw them I thought, "Those look like fence posts."  Instantly I remembered seeing a cute baseball sign about "swinging for the fences."  My Dad nailed them together for me and added a hanger.  I used my craft paints to add the slogan.  Done.

I found a vintage Cracker Jack tin at the Worlds Longest Yard Sale in August.

 I also grabbed some old baseballs and a bat there.  I sat the balls up on the ledge over his closet door.

I had a plain beige throw pillow from my in-laws so I painted on the word "baseball."

This wood caddy was another thrift store find.  I added the Brewers logo - using this technique. It's a place for him to store his baseball cards, game programs, etc.

I used stencils to add a sweet little detail onto the door to his room, to remind him that you should have something to aim for (Cooperstown is where the Baseball Hall of Fame is.  The mileage is the distance from our house to Cooperstown.)  It took 15 minutes but it makes me smile whenever I walk by...

This Reds poster was a find on Freecycle - which, if you haven't checked out, you should.  People post things they would like to get rid of, and if you want it, you email and ask and if you're first, you get it.  Free.  The letter B was from his old room, spray painted to match.  I think it originally came from HomeGoods.

We had a Groupon to a wall mural company, and Brady picked out this pic of Miller Park in Milwaukee.  From left to right, the Ryan Braun canvas was a birthday gift from a relative, the game towel was another gift, and the Brewers sign was an eBay win.

We added a mirror from our stash, at his height instead of above the dresser where you would normally put a mirror.   It's his room, and I want it to be something he can use when he needs to.  Then we added four double-pronged hooks to give all those baseball caps a place to live.  I didn't worry about screwing them into studs because they will only be holding hats.

I've saved the best for last.  At a charity auction, my husband did something he almost never does.  He bid on something!  And not something little.  No, he bid on a custom painted wall mural done by a local artist.  And he won!  We knew right away which room this would be going in. :-)  My son chose a scene from Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.  Keep in mind, we had done the rest of his room on a budget, so this was definitely our big splurge.  It took four whole days of painting (artist's website here).  But in the end, the result is a stunning, inspiring scene that makes this little boy's room an absolute home run!

If you are working on making over a room, my advice would be:

Take some time and search as many places as you can for second-hand items to add to it.
Add some inspiration, some positive thoughts.
If you are the creative type, include some personally done touches.
And don't be afraid to invest in a marquee piece!

I had so much fun putting this space together, for someone I love so much!

Thanks for reading!
XO,
Anne

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It's the little things

I have had so much stuff coming into and going out of this house - pretty much since we moved in 6 months ago.  It's hard to keep track of what in the world I have.  But I did want to post the cool stuff I got last month at the World's Longest Yard Sale. This was my first trip to the WLYS and it did not disappoint!  

This little blue wood step stool was $1 (it was plain blue when I bought it) and I found some stickers at Joann that matched the decor of a friend's new baby's nursery.  It made the perfect baby gift!  I painted stripes around the sides, put the stickers on, added his name, and gave it all a couple coats of Minwax Polycrylic.  Done!

 These are in the odds and ends department.  They are all little wood things that I paid no more than 2.00 for. In the back is a little sled, which would be a great mantle decoration. In the front - awesome duck motif wood basket. :-)  To the right a trinket box and to the left a really nice old wood drawer organizer that has tongue and groove corners.  So nice.

 In this pic, a great old picnic basket is in the back - I'll probably turn this into a wedding gift and put the couple's last name on top. On top of that is a small wall-hanging basket.  In front, L-R is a wall rack for spools of thread, a small sign that reads "you are forever blessed" (until I paint it), and a wood carving that looks like blocks and has all the seasons, each on a different side.

 These little tables are adorable!  They are only like 2 feet tall, and have drop leaves on both sides, so they fold down to almost nothing.  I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, but they are great and it was $10 for the pair!!

 More wood signs and wall baskets, and a plain bulletin board.  (again, nothing more than 2.00)

 These are miniature garden gates - I think they'd make great Halloween props outside! They were 1.00.

 These are crazy old wall hangings that I'm saving for someone special :-)

 This is going to be gift for someone, too.

 I also found a bunch of nice old linens.  Holiday guest towels that were hand embroidered.  Those are French knots above and they are just lovely.

 I also scored a sweet flowered sheet for my daughter's room, and a batch of everyday cloth napkins. I think they were all 1.50 each.

 I also spotted this baseball fabric, which will be perfect in my son's new room.

 These printed graphics are nice - the America one, probably for a 4th of July mantel and the university is my alma mater.

 Then there was the glassware. My new house has all glass-front cabinets on top.  So I have been buying glass lidded containers at every yard sale and thrift store I go to.  I also got a couple of decorative pieces to add to my collection.  Again, I didn't pay more than 2.00 for any of these. Do you sense a theme? I am cheap, and proud of it!

 I bought this old Corningware teapot that my mom used to have.  It reminds me of the past whenever I put water on.

 I'm not sure what to do with this pitcher.  Maybe a Thanksgiving centerpiece?  It could also easily be painted.

 The little teeny teapot is actually a kitchen timer.  So cute!  It was .50 cents.

 This is an awesome vintage ice bucket.  Hammered aluminum, I believe.  It feels very Mad Men, and we didn't have one, so I picked it up.

 Stuff for the kids was everywhere.  I kept buying for them to a minimum.  A piggy bank for my daughter, and a thermos and bowl for her, too.  Some vintage Fisher Price toys in excellent condition for practically nothing.  A water jug to fill and keep in the car when it's hot.  And a cool set of Halloween cookie cutters.

Then there was this beauty. I think I'll keep this one, and fold up some quilts or blankets in it.
So that's my story.  I can't wait until next year!

XO,
Anne