Trash into treasure

Everyone loves a before and after so here you go. Our new house has a lot more space than our old one so we have been finding creative ways to furnish it without spending very much money. It doesn't require a ton of work, but the pieces can go from super ugly to modern quite quickly. Total cost of all these items = $42 (three of them were free). Here are a few of my projects from the last few weeks.

before headboard fit for a sea captain. This was my dad's from a set that he bought about 30 yrs ago and please note that he is still using the dressers.

after I removed the spindles, painted it (with leftover paint from our old mudroom) and made the cloth things out of the leftovers from some curtains i hemmed that we had at our old house. The panels are interchangeable depending on what you want them to match. just a little velcro switch out. Pretty sure my dad will barely recognize in our guest bedroom.

before got this at the Salvation Army by my work. It was in ok shape, but needed a lot of sanding, repainting and some new knobs. I liked the shape of it; very 40s. I am on the lookout for a matcher, so keep your eyes open everyone.

Now the side table in our bedroom (it's a light purple although you can't maybe tell). Got that little lamp at savers for $7, painted the ugly wood middle blue and gave it a new lampshade. i like the vintage hobnail milk glass.

before yeah this had seen better days. it is our friends becky and raymond's old dining room chandelier. they have been saving it for me for about 2 years and i knew i could put it to good use someday...

Although missing a few crystals (which we can easily replace) it looks like a new chandelier. We have it on the landing going upstairs and it sparkles with the light coming through the big bay window next to it. It looks brilliant!

Pretty sure this dates back to the 60s. Perhaps your grandparents have one in their basement? i really liked the shape of it (seems to be a theme here) and it's retro-ness. The color though, and brass base ... not so thrilled. also, I gave savers back the lampshade it came with to sell again. I should have taken a before pic at the store. It was giant, beaten up, dark green and heinous.

Also it should be noted that I got the shade at the Salvation Army today for $2 and it was new.

Steve found this the other day in the trash in our alley. The style isn't quite streamlined enough for our taste, but it will do for now. i am in the process of painting it so no after yet.

Work in progress

Here are a couple pictures of the house by popular demand (ok maybe only two of you asked). We got a new couch from craigslist that is in almost perfect condition, less than a year old. I know what you're thinking though. Used couches = grossness. It's fine though, really.

Coping mechanisms

I don't know about you, but, as an avid listener to MPR (not to mention NPR's #1 fan), the talk of the Franken/Coleman recount is growing unbelievably tiresome. I'm not sure if I can take another month of lengthy indepth coverage. That said, these quizzes about challenged ballots were kind of fun and interesting (or maybe just for news nerds, like myself).

Cupcake creatures

My friend Brigid just got a new dachshund puppy. so i attempted to make a cupcake in the wee pup's honor. It perhaps involves a bit of a stretch of the imagination, but you kind of get the idea.

This photo is out of focus, but you get the gist of it. we had a neighborhood progressive dinner this past weekend and we brought one of the desserts. many little owls. They were quite time consuming, but a hit!

Step ball change

We've been quite busy since moving into the new house. Sorry still no pics yet, after the weekend I think it will be ready for it's reveal. I finally feel like it is almost in order. We could not be happier in it and love the neighborhood. Still no living room furniture though... which provides more room for tap dancing, which is a nice segway into the picture above. Erin, ginny, kristen and I have been taking tap class through Community Ed. for the past 5 weeks. We love it! Last night we had a recital of sorts. We only know one dance though. Please note in the picture that everyone in the picture is doing one thing and I am doing another. also note: Be Thankfull [sic]. Our enthusiastic teacher is Joan, she took up tap a few years ago and now teaches it at a few places as a volunteer.

Dancing the hora at my friends Brian and Marie's wedding. Brian is a friend from grade school. A fun night was had by all.

The finished stained glass for Dean and Stacey's wedding present (2 years later). Here it is before. I really wanted to keep it when I was done.. but I am already thinking of windows to make for our house. The perfect winter project due to it's labor/time intensive nature.

NOVEMBER LINK OF THE MONTH
Obama wins! In honor of this historic election the LINK OF THE MONTH is all political comics. CHECK IT OUT!

Halloween - informercials theme

there is always a sacrifice in a group picture. and that person is me here. from left, michael phelps (with the rosetta stone), tony little (the gazelle), stock broker (not an infomercial), Billy Mays (with oxiclean), Chia pet and suzanne sommers (thighmaster)

another michael phelps helping me use the thighmaster. it can work more than your thighs you know. arms too. (see am i selling it to you right now??)

Tony little demonstrated the motion that the Gazelle makes.

5 sarah palins and a bristol.

3 michael phelps

so many uses for the thighmaster.