THRIFT SHOP TREASURES

 Treasure picking was awesome today!! Besides hanging out with a great friend I managed to find a lot of unique items with a whole lot of personality and charm.       

Like this vintage picture frame from Paris! Something about it spoke to me and I just had to take it home. 

 And THIS, this large embroidered picture is the reason why I thrift shop! It has it all...art, bright colors, flowers its homemade and it's unique. All of those qualities or $2.99, now in days you can't find that anywhere but a good ole thrift store!!

Look at all those treasures!! There was a little bit of everything on that counter, & all of it came home with momma!! 

I also found these two skirts that had Nancy written all over them. The solid pink one is a silk mid calf pencil skirt from the 80s. The other one is a vintage maxi skirt with a beautiful paisley print on it. Let me just say that I have amazing plans for both of these beauties!  

And here it all goes, sitting on my counter waiting for what comes next. Every time I find new treasures I get so excited that it makes me want to deep clean my house, haha!! Maybe just maybe some of these babies will get lucky tomorrow and find a place and purpose somewhere around the Casa. What do you look for when you thrift shop? I would love to hear about your treasures!! 

XO, NANCY!!      

DIY STICK FLOWER POTS

Hey there!! Today I have a quick little thrifty DIY I whipped up for my front porch. For a couple of weeks now I've been doing a little gardening and a lot of learning on how to properly care for potted flowers and plants. I must say I'm extremely proud of  how far along I've came as a "Gardener" for once my plants and flowers are alive!  

Since I've managed to keep my Begonias alive for quite some time now. It was time for a cute makeover. These rustic stick flower pots did the job! This DIY is very simple and costs $0!! 

Suplies needed: Empty tuna cans, sticks, small flower pot measuring 4'' high & 3'' bottom, flowers,and hot glue gun. 

No instructions needed, all you need to do is glue sticks all around the tuna can until its completely covered all around.

Too easy yet so eye appealing, have a good one yall!! 

XO, Nancy!!

DIY STAINED GLASS BOTTLES

Ever wondered what to do with all those useless/ pretty shaped liquor bottles? I mean seriously, some of them are too cute to throw away. Lately I've been hoarding every single glass bottle and jar instead of dumping them in the trash bin. Just because the small city of Clarksville does not recycle glass and I feel horrible throwing it away. 

One way to repurpose glass bottles is by simply adding a splash of color. Today I'm going to show you how I transformed ordinary liquor bottles into awesome decorative pieces for my home. Supplies needed; glass bottles, alcohol ink, pieces of felt, foam brushes and Valspar Frosting Spay.      

 Painting with alcohol ink is so much fun , but can be extremely messy since it is very runny and will drip everywhere. My advice is to lay newspaper down and set a designated work area. Please be prepared for colorful fingers! First I poured a few drops of alcohol ink onto a piece of felt and began staining my glass bottle. After I did a first layer of color using the felt I dipped my foam brush into the ink and added a second layer. As I used the foam brush I pressed gently allowing the ink to run down the bottle. The ink will somewhat spread out evenly. I continued dipping and pressing the foam brush until my entire bottle was covered all around.  

Once all three of my bottles were stained I allowed them to dry for a couple of hours. 

When my stained bottles were completely dry I added a coat of Valspar Frosting Spray. Giving my bottles a gorgeous frosted finish. Then, I placed my bottles aside and allowed them to dry for about an hour.

Something as simple as stained glass bottles will add a huge pop of color into any room. The best thing about this DIY is that you can customize it however you want. You can ditch the solid colors and create a marbled effect by adding all sorts of colors. It can be used as a flower vase, candle holder, center piece, decorative bottles. Whatever the use, this effortless DIY is sure to brighten up your home. Also, the fact that you get to repurpose some of those useless bottles into something wonderful is a SCORE. Have fun creating! 

XO, Nancy!

A LITTLE TWEAK IN MY KITCHEN: PART 1

My home is always a work in progress. One day I can be completely happy with a certain room and another day I'm taking stuff down and putting stuff up. There's a lot of improvements and redecorating I plan to do since it seems like the Army will be keeping us in Clarksville for quite a while. Unfortunately our current home is just a rental...SO permanent renovations are out of the question. I'm always looking for ways to personalize my home without damaging its original state. Otherwise there would be a lot more crazy stuff going on! Today I want to share one of my on going projects. I've somewhat became obsessed with how funky and expressive this little corner looks. A bar area is something my husband and I have always tried to incorporate into our home. Weather its just a tray with wine glasses or a huge china cabinet filled with old liquor bottles and a collection of shot glasses. Every time we've moved around we have had to change it up according to the available room, floor plan,etc.   

This time I wanted to create a space that expressed who we are and where we come from. After lots of thinking and moving things around. I began to create a collage with postcards, ads, bottle caps and memories from our hometown. We love to entertain and have get together's with family and friends. I thought this would be a great way to express ourselves over laughs and drinks. 

 Like I said my home is always a work in progress...so stay tuned my beautiful people because my collage is not quite finished! There will be a lot more tweaking as my collection grows.
Have a good one everyone!

XO, Nancy!

WEEKEND THRIFT STORE FINDS

  Hello my beautiful people! This weekend besides spending lots of family time and dining out.  I finally did some much needed thrift shopping! For the longest, I have been on the lookout for wooden picture frames. I know what your thinking. How hard can it be finding wooden picture frames? Well Its not hard at all, but you see 30 bucks a piece at a department store does not set well with me. As you can see I was able to find a variety of sizes and border styles for a great price. I haven't yet figured out what to do with my rustic picture frames, but I have some fun ideas in mind.
   I am happy to share that I bought 15 frames for about $11.50 total. That my friends is what I call a awesome deal! The trick was to dig and pick out the ones that were 50% off. I really don't mind paying $ .74 or $ .37 a piece!  

   Moving on to my favorite thrift store pick. One of the best things about thrift shopping is that you never know what you'll find. This weekend I happened to come across a mint condition 1982 first edition "Entertaining" Martha Stewart book. From the moment I saw it I knew it had to be mine. The best part is that I only payed $1.48 for it!

 "Entertaining" 1982 Martha Stewart was the first book she ever wrote, launching the massive empire we  know today. This book gives you a glimpse of her heritage and life as a child. All while inviting you into her home the "Turkey Hill Farm". I think it is a fabulous, vintage guide on entertaining at home. Taking you step by step through hundreds of recipes and how to's for an expressive way of entertaining guests and family. I am ecstatic to own a copy of a book that revolutionized the way we entertain and turned Martha Stewart into the domestic advising wonder she is today.

Thrift store shopping has to be one of the things I enjoy doing the most. Not only do I usually find great stuff for my closet and home, it's also my go to spot for unique items. Do you like thrift shopping? What are some of your best thrift store finds?

XO, Nancy!

10 DAYS OF VALENTINES-DAY 9: VALENTINES DAY KABOBS

Still looking for some last minute gift ideas for the kiddos, coworkers, or friends? How about these super sweet Valentines Day Kabobs!?!  I literally put these together last minute. Procrastinator, yupp that's me! 

 This is what you'll need; 1 box brownie mix, bag of marshmallows, wooden skewers, strawberries and Bakers melting chocolate.

 Let me fill you in on the Kabob details. All I did was bake a box of Duncan Hines chewy fudge brownies, cut it into pieces and let it cool. While my brownies were baking I melted 4 squares of Bakers white chocolate dipped my strawberries in there and let them cool as well. I soaked my skewers in water for about 5 minutes until all my other ingredients were ready to use. Once everything was nice and cool I pulled out the marshmallows and began to stick everything together. I used the remaining white chocolate as a decorative drizzle for my finished kabobs. 

Next I wrapped my kabobs in these darling treat bags I picked up from Dollar tree. With decorative scissors I cut up small pieces of white card stock paper, added stickers and turned them into name tags(stickers were purchased at dollar tree as well). That's pretty much it my friends! I have to point out that not only is this extremely easy to make, it is also very inexpensive. 

I cant wait to see the look on my daughters face when she sees the fabulous treats I made her. Though I am not looking forward on tomorrows sugar rush! 

What did you get your kids for Valentines day? Did you go with store bought or homemade?

XO, Nancy!

10 DAYS OF VALENTINES- DAY 7: SEQUIN HEART PATCHES DIY

If you are anything like me, than your probably a sucker when it comes to shopping for your kids. I'm one of those mothers who can have a hole outfit picked out for myself , but God forbid I see something cute for my daughter because I will put my stuff down and walk out with children's clothes.

The other night I was flipping through the pages on Zulily drooling over all the adorable clothes they have for the upcoming season. Then I stumbled upon a pair of  heart leggings which I thought were perfect for valentines day. Until I saw their sales price! So, inspiration kicked in and I was determined to recreate the Zulily leggings with a sequined signature of my own. This is how I did it!

:Source

Supplies needed; leggings or pants,pen, 1 piece of card stock paper,scissors, Two pieces of pink felt, pink embroidery floss, large needle, two pins, pink sequins.

                                                     Getting Started

1. Mark your pants or leggings at the knees with a pen. 2. Create a heart template out of the card stock paper,I cut out two different hearts to see which one I liked better. 3. Trace and cut out your heart template onto the pink felt(I chose the rounder heart). 4. Pin the felt hearts over the marked area on your garment.

                                                       Starting to Sew

1. You will be doing a basting stitch from underneath the fabric back up to the top. 2. Attach the sequins to the garment as you sew. Bring the needle up from beneath the stitch and connect the sequin. 3. Push down the sequin through the thread and keep going with the pattern until you have sewn the heart all around. 4. You have officially mastered the art of patching and sewing sequins all in one!! 

   I made these sequin heart patches with my daughter in mind, but I also think they would look great on some of my clothes. I might have to come back and let you guys know how it goes. Would you add these on some of your clothes? How would you wear it? 

XO,Nancy

10 DAYS OF VALENTINES-DAY6: POMPOM & PHOTO CHANDELIER

The truth is, I'm not a big fan of the chandelier in my dining room area and I cant make any permanent renovations on it. For the fact that our current home is a rental. So, I'm always looking for something fun to give it some spunk.

 In combination to yesterdays post of my door wreath I decided to make a pompom photo chandelier. Influenced by the polka dotted pattern on the fabric and the quote on the wreath. Pompoms and pictures were the first to come to mind! What better way to display memorable moments with family and friends, than this thrifty DIY! 

Supplies needed: Medium sized cotton pom poms(dollar store buy), 16 yd's of embroidery floss, scissors, large sewing needle, 18 wallet sized BW photos printed in card stock paper, glue stick, hole puncher. 

                                              Stringing the Pompoms

1. Pick out your pompoms and 8 yd of embroidery floss. 2. Thread your needle with your embroidery floss. 3. Start to string in your pompoms in a desired pattern. 4. Spread out your pompoms giving a few inches of space between each pompom.

                                                   Hanging the Photos  

 1. Cut out your wallet sized photos. 2. Since the photos will be hanging you will glue two photos together creating double sided pictures. 3. Hole punch a hole at the top of every photo. 4. Cut 8 yd of embroidery floss into 9 pieces and string it through the hole on your photos. 

 Take your threaded pompoms and begin stringing them through the loops on your chandelier. Next start to hang your photos on the inner and outer loops of your chandelier. Adjust some of the photos to hang lower and some a little higher giving then an uneven look.

Today's craft was easy as pie and a little wacky. I chose to string my pompoms & photos on my chandelier, but you on the other hand can get as creative as you please. You can hang them on your wall, on your fireplace mantel, over a window or mirror, in your bedroom- pretty much anywhere. The possibilities are endless. The point is to let your imagination loose and make something you love and enjoy! 

XO, PEOPLE!!