Thrifty Thursday!

Alrighty, I’m going to try this out. Hopefully I will be able to post a Thrifty Thursday every Thursday.

What Thrifty Thursday is all about: I will post a before and after (if I remember to take them) of thrift store finds that I give a new life to. Some of the finds might be amazing without any revamping, if that is the case I’ll post them too. Most everything you will see on here will be less than $20. I’m cheap, I know. I’m going to start you out today with my favorite thing.

I’ll admit to you, I forgot to take a “before”, so I found this image on Etsy. This coaster and coaster holder is currently for sale for $18 on Etsy. I got mine at a thrift store for $1.50! We needed some cork coasters to absorb water from our cups, so our coffee table doesn’t get destroyed. Anyways, here is what I did to this outdated thingy.

So, I primed and then spray painted it Heirloom White. Then I paint each cork a different color to match our living room. I decided it’d be super cool to stamp an S for our last name on each one, so I just used a rubber stamp dipped in white paint. I really loved the medallion on the top, it looked like a tarnish brass, so I sanded some of the white paint off to let the natural beauty shine through (that sounded super corny). Lastly I lightly distressed it with a sanding block. I am sooooo happy. This is probably one of my favorite things I’ve made. When I saw it in the thrift store I bought it because we needed coasters, but I also could really see the potential. I know, I’m silly for raving over an old wooden box that your mother probably had in the 70’s. Oh well. I can’t believe someone has one for $18 on Etsy. I wonder how much I could charge for mine, not that I would ever sell it…

Here is another exciting item. I didn’t take a before, but imagine a plain ole’ Jane light wooden box. It is now a satin black on the inside and a hammered silver on the outside (I wanted a metal look). This boy is heavy. I guess he would be a plain ole’ Joe since I called him a boy. Oh well, back to the story.

I am all about organization in my new house. I want to keep everything clutter free. This item will be for sale on my facebook page, and maybe ebay if I so choose. Since I am lazy I did not pose him in multiple ways. What I mean by that is, I have a lot of ideas for him. (Why I keep referring to items with personal pronouns I do not know). Anyways, this boy (hehe) can be used to sit on your dining room table to store your cloth napkins and other linens, silverware, salt and pepper, and other miscellaneous items of your choosing. Another great idea I had for it (there we go) was to use it for craft supplies. It would look great storing all my or your paint brushes, paints, colored pencils, etc. I think this next picture is probably the original intended use.

I really like this shot. I don’t know why. You may notice some things I like to do while sitting in front of the telly. Read, (those are the Narnia books, for those of you interested), I also might read some magazines (I believe there are five of them rolled up in there). We also have our one million remote controls stored in it. You gotta have your Wii-motes, knitting needles, scissors, ruler, calculator, ya know whatever might suit your fancy and help you be lazy and not have to get up while your favorite show is on.

Also pictured is one of my glass jars from this post. I decided to just spray paint them a flat white. This one is obviously holding a rose from this rose bush. Which is well and thriving despite my black thumb.

Okay, I’m just going to share these two with you today. Stay tuned next week for some more thrifty finds!

Cheers!