Wishing You Whale!

Something you already know about me, if you've been reading for long, is that I love thrift stores and antique shops.  I feel that you find items there that contain a history that you just can't find by going to a chain store and picking up a new object that was just manufactured by huge machines.  The antique items are often handmade and one of a kind treasures!  And the piece that I'm going to tell you about fits into this category.

My husband and I went antiquing while on an anniversary weekend (back in June) in Mt. Dora, FL.  We went to an antique mall filled with all kinds of treasures that I almost took home with me.  First, I found a vintage hat hailing from the 50's, which I loved and still regret passing up.  Second, some old aluminum movie reels, my idea was to keep them as they were and arrange them above our t.v. in the den as art.  But again, I passed that up as well b/c of this awesome creature that I found and fell in love with! 

whale sailboat rudder

Any guesses as to what it is?  Well besides the fact that it is clearly in the shape of a whale.  No? Well I'll tell you.  It's a sailboat rudder.  The person we bought it from said it was from the 50's and made of mahogany.  He added the tail on the back to make it look like a whale.  Isn't that clever!?!  Here are some close ups so you can see the wonderful aged wood details! 

I love unique finds like this one that add to our houses beach-y vibe!  And I love the fact that this rudder sailed ocean waters 6 decades ago!  I wonder who sailed on the boat and what their lives were like?  It would've been a pretty large boat considering the size of the rudder.  Oh the romanticization (is this a word?) of it all!!  Have you all found any unique and awesome pieces recently?  Please share!:)

Shimtacular!! Pinterest Challenge take 2!

Okay, Okay.  I know the title is a little well...lame.  You will understand the title a little more once you see my Pinterest Challenge project:  The Second Edition.  (See the First Edition here.)  Well, actually my husband Matt and I worked on separate projects last week which ironically both were inspired by the incredible eye-candy that is Pinterest.  I will post his beautiful creation later.

So after seeing a lovely cedar shim mirror that was made by a wonderful blogger, found here I decided to make one too.  I know this is technically plagarism and I am only supposed to be inspired by Pinterest but I loved her mirror design so well, I thought, why mess with a good thing.  I knew that this mirror would look lovely in my home.  I did make one minor adjustment and add luminescent shell around my mirror.

Here's how I did it:

First I gathered my supplies.  Which included:

-18 packs of cedar shims from Home Depot
-two wooden wreath forms from Michaels:  one 12" and one 18"
-gorilla glue, hot glue, and wood glue used intermittently throughout
-one 12" mirror also from Michaels
-and 3 iradescent shell napkin holders found on clearance at West Elm

Here's a pic of the napkin rings that I scored for 2.40 each at West Elm.  This pic is from westelm.com

http://www.westelm.com/

First I decided my shim pattern, I decided to glue my shims side by side leaving a 3/4" space from the top of the first shim to the top of the next shim.  Then I made a "form" -- basically I lined up a stack of shims into the opposite of my design.  This is to keep my intervals between shims consistent, then all I have to do is stack my shims against the form and glue.  This was my husbands idea, and it made the project MUCH easier rather than having to measure each one before gluing.

 Here is a pic of my form:

I then lined and relined all of the shims up until it formed a circle.  I added a mirror and both wood wreath forms to the back.  This really made my mirror a lot more sturdy!  Lastly I added some embellishment around the mirror with the iradescent shell.  And was left with this:

I really am enjoying it hanging in my hallway.  I hope you like it too!

Also check out the Pinterest Challenge hosts blogs for a look at their awesome Pinterest-Inspired Creations :  here’s Katie’s, Ana’s, Erin’s, and Sherry's).

Hearth-warming

We recently redid our hearth around the fireplace to update it.  It used to be an old tile original to the home, and while it was a huge decision on whether or not to change it, we decided to go ahead with the update.  I usually love to keep all original items in our house b/c I think it adds to the history and charm, but in this case some of the tiles were in very bad condition and were cracked and discolored.  They were also a marbled green/brown color that definitely does not suit our taste.

Here's the best pic I could find of the before:

Our process was a long and drawn out one b/c rarely do we ever come to a decision quickly.  We have to weigh out all our options and make sure the decision is right for us.  I first fell in love with a cement tile by villa lagoon that was an awesome blue/teal graphic design.  The tile can be found here.  The tile itself was actually quite affordable and I loved that the cement texture would mimic the style of our original cement tiles.  The tiles were also 8" just like the original ones.  I called and spoke with the owners of the company who were very friendly and helpful people!  But in the end the shipping on the tile (b/c they are so heavy) was what put it over the edge (aka out of our budget), and we decided that we could find something else we loved at a better price.

Here's a picture of that awesome tile:

Surf tile in aqua by Villa Lagoon Tile

 We really considered the age and style of our house and landed on an all natural slate look.  It's actually a charcoal honed slate that we picked up at Lowes (our favorite home improvement store!).  We put our own personal spin on it by doing it in a fun pattern and adding a little "bling".  We thought it would be fun to add some crushed glass pieces in a similar shade randomly so that it catches your eye and isn't too boring.  We definitely want our fireplace to be the focal point of the room!

Here are the Afters:

And not to worry we removed the old cement tile as carefully as we could and saved them.

Anyway, I hope you all like it.  I am really loving that the shape and material of the tile really give a nod to our Craftsman-style bungalow.  I love honoring and being inspired by our homes architectural details!  What do you think?!  Have you all taken on any small but permanent projects in your home lately?

I'm still here. Promise!

I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post.  We went on vacation to Fort Myers beach, more on that later.  The place we stayed at was cheap (a Groupon getaway) but super noisy!  So we left a day early.  The vacation overall was good though, I got lots of thrift store shopping done, which was fun for me, and Matt was able to get new drum heads for his custom drum that he just restored.  I will take pics of it and post about it soon.

Since I've been back from vacation I have been doing lots of little projects including:  finishing up the frame gallery behind the sofa (wahoo!), getting lamp shades for the lamps and customizing the lamps to fit the lampshades (or vice versa), and working on a Pinterest Challenge Project that's due next Wednesday!  I can't wait to show it to you (!!!) and just finish it.

All that to say there are a lots of blog posts to be written and not enough time to upload pics and write about them.  All of this will be coming in stages over the next couple of weeks,  as blogging has taken a back seat to projects and just plain old havin' fun with my hubby!  We're on vacation all week and intend to keep things pretty low key and relax a lot!!     I'll leave you with some pics of what we've been up to the past couple days! 

Thrift Store Finds: Clothing Edition!

One thing you need to know about me is that all of my clothing comes from either clearance racks or thrift stores.  I don't spend much money on any of my clothes.  And I wanted to share with you an outfit that I found today while rummaging around a new thrift store near my house in St Petersburg. 

Both pieces were only $2.50 each thanks to a 50% sale.  It's hard to see the details from this picture but the skirt is a green iridescent type fabric with navy flecks and the shirt is a button up navy with gold buttons.  I'm so happy with it and can't wait to wear it to work on Monday!!:)

The navy shirt is so versatile I can wear it with slacks/jeans/shorts anything.  Here's an example. 

Both the shorts and belt I also found at thrift stores and the shoes I got on Clearance. This entire outfit costs a whopping $20 including shoes! 

Okay, I'm done gushing about my deals.  I know this post seems super narcacistic but I can't help sharing a good deal!  Have you all been thrifting and found any good deals lately?  Please share!  I'd love to hear!!:)

steel blue, navy, and orange

steel blue, navy, and orange by brittru84 on polyvore.com

Arctic White Linen Cotton 84-inch Curtain Panel Pair | Overstock.com
$20 - overstock.com

Dakota 51 Bench
$599 - crateandbarrel.com

Stray Dog Side Table | west elm
$149 - westelm.com

Turned Table Lamp | west elm
$149 - westelm.com

Square Lacquer Trays | west elm
$0.99 - westelm.com

Burnt O! (O is for Out and Orange)

I went thrifting again today.  I can't help it, it's an addiction.  TSA(thrift-shoppers anonymous) anyone?  Not to be confused with those creepy people who pat you down at airports.  Anyway, moving on. 

I found yet another find that I wanted to share with you guys!!  So, way back in my early blogging days (like 2 months ago) I created a mood board for my dear sister Sarah that can be found here.  Do you see that lovely piece of velvet roundness in the upper right hand corner?  You do?  Do you love it?  Well I did too, but what I didn't love was the $34 price tag. 

Enter thrift store trip.  I found a similar vintage pillow at the thrift store today for...wait for it.....twwoooo.....dooolllarrss!  Okay, I needed to extend that unbelievable piece of info as long as I could to add drama and suspense!!  Did it work? 

Anyway, my pillow is a burnt orange color; just in time for fall!  And here are some pics!!

The actual color of the pillow is something in between both photos above.  But closer in color to the top photo; the bottom photo was taken with flash. 

And here are some pics of comparable pillows that I found on-line.  Including the one from urbanoutfitters for $34.

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/

 

 

 

 

http://svpply.com/item/633068/Vintage_Retro_Modern_Velvet_Round

 

 

 

 

 

Well I love to share a deal, as you know from my previous blog posts and I hope you all enjoyed.  I haven't been DIYing anything this weekend and have been feeling a little overwhelmed in that department.  It's great to have a thrift store item that I don't have to makeover and put a lot of work into.  I just gotta wash that puppy and set her in place. 


Disclaimer:  If you work for TSA or know someone who does I am deeply sorry for the remarks made earlier and would like to retract them.  Have a nice day!