Swap It Like It’s Hot–Blue and White

April 5, 2016

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It’s an exciting day around these parts because I get to share two fun projects I worked on for Swap It Like It’s Hot.

If you’re not familiar with Swap It Like It’s Hot, let me tell you a little about it.

Charlotte from Ciburbanity had this brilliant idea a few years ago to get a group of bloggers to trade thrift store finds with each other and then transform the (in many cases not so pretty) treasures into something beautiful. It’s kind of like Cinderella’s transformation when she put on the glass slipper except in our case it involved our DIY skills. Each participating blogger was to spend between around $10 on whatever thrift store item(s) they wanted so our shopping skills were put to the test.

Before we jump into the makeovers, let me share what my swap partner, Christy from Our Southern Home sent me. I received an ice bucket with a wood grain vinyl cover and a top that was showing its wear plus two picture frames with images that were definitely not my style.

After looking at the items for a few days, I came up with a game plan on how I wanted to transform these pieces and give them a new life.

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DIY Monogram Notecards–Chinoiserie Style

March 30, 2016

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One of my favorite online stores is Zazzle. I discovered them a few years ago when I was looking for business cards. Boy was I amazed at the enormous offering of card designs and how great the prices were. Since then I’ve bought a variety of paper products from Zazzle including address labels and wrapping paper.

Most recently I ordered some monogram stickers so I could make my own monogram notecards.

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Blue and White Decor at Target

March 15, 2016

House Beautiful

When was the last time you went looking for something on a stores website only to find yourself going down a rabbit hole of endless surfing? It happens to me more times than not. The other day I went looking for a specific item on Target.com and an hour later I found myself looking at completely different things.

During my search I stumbled upon some fantastic blue and white decor pieces and knew I had to share them with you along with some design inspiration.

Tobi Fairley

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SHOPPING TARGET FOR BLUE and WHITE DECOR

@TARGET.com

Shop these items:

Dinner Plate—$1.49 ea / Ginger Jar–$22.95 / Blue Seersucker Pillow–$16.99 / Ceramic Lamp–$47.24

Kensington Rug–$229.99 / Sheer Curtains–$24.99 to $29.90 / Snowdrift Pillow--$47.50 / Paisley Rug–$79.99 and up

Floral Pillow—$47.50 / Solana Pouf–$216.00 / Ceramic Vase–$26.35 / Skyline Ottoman with Storage–$99.99 /

Parson Chair–$171.00 set of 2 / Natasha Ottoman—$649.99

House Beautiful

*** this is not a sponsored post, I’m just sharing the things I love

Chinoiserie Pillows–Best of Etsy

March 11, 2016

image via Jamie Meares

I’ve been quite obsessed with all things Chinoiserie of late in part because it’s a design style that is super popular right now and also because I just love the eclectic feel the style lends itself too.

Chinoiserie also speaks to my love of color, vintage and bold pattern work. The Jamie Meares image above just says fun to me and really represent a collected home filled with unique treasures.

The Ralph Lauren image below is another take on Chinoiserie with a more subdues color and pattern statement but with just as much personality and visual interest.

Some of my favorite Chinoiserie styled decorative elements include blue and white pottery, bamboo styled furniture, mirror and lighting and also Asian motif pillows.

image via Ralph Lauren

Recently I went on the hunt for some Chinoiserie pillows for our bedroom. I started my search on Etsy and was thrilled to see that there are lots of pillows available on the site.

One of the things I like about shopping on Etsy is that you can get handcrafted items in designer fabrics for a great price. I also like that shopping Etsy is a way to support independent artist and small businesses, many of which are run out of the home.

Here’s just a sampling of the pillows I found…

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Thrifting Finds–All About The Brass

February 17, 2016

On Valentine’s Day the hubs took me out for a day of thrifting. Lately when we’ve gone thrifting we’ve shopped at my favorite antique stores and flea markets so this time around we decided to stop by several of our local Goodwill stores.

Shopping Goodwill is definitely hit or miss experience. Sometimes you can score some great pieces but more often than not, the shelves are filled with undesirable pieces. I’ve also noticed that over the last year or two, Goodwill seems to be increasing their prices so the deals you once could find are harder to come across now.

The stars and planets must have aligned for Valentine’s Day because I found several awesome brass pieces and a few blue and white gems.

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This tulip shaped brass planter was in perfect condition and I’m thinking I’ll put a maiden hair fern or orchid in it.

I also found these brass containers and will most likely sell these in my Etsy shop.

Here’s some vintage brass inspiration for you…

via

These blue and white tea cups were too cute to pass up especially for less than $3.00.

I love this Chinoiserie blue and white flower frog/brick and can image it filled with tulips. After doing some research I discovered this piece was made in Portugal and was designed for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

And I scored these petite brass pots for .50 cents and think they’d be great for succulents.

a little something like this…

via

While I was thrifting, I also picked up a few pieces that I’m sending off to a fellow blogger as part of the Ciburbanity #SwapItLikeItsHot blog swap. I super excited to be participating along with a slew of other bloggers and can’t wait to share it all with you in April.

If you haven’t honed your thrifting skills yet, you can read my thrifting tips here and my flea market shopping tips here.

Happy hunting!

My Latest Thrifting Finds

January 26, 2016

It’s been months since I’ve gone to the Scott Antique Show or done any major thrift store shopping. I’ve been feeling the urge to do some shopping the last few weeks and decided to stop by one of my favorite thrift stores on Sunday. I wasn’t looking for anything specific but I always go into a store with the hopes of stumbling along a great bargain. I’m happy to say that my outing yielded some great finds. Here’s a look at my latest thrifting finds:

The first item I came across was a set of 4 signed and numbered watercolor art pieces. The artist, Joan Heflin Rankin lives in Alabama and specializing in floral art. I think these would be great as part of a gallery wall or having as a collection in a bathroom.

I found several blue and white pieces and this piece was definitely my favorite. It’s a hexagon plate with a domed lid and I have to tell you, it’s simply stunning. It The decision now is to keep it or sell it.

This cute little sugar canister caught my attention right away. I loved the floral design and the typography. This is another keep or sell item.

I also find this Chinoiserie designed hexagon shaped jar. The touches of pink with the blue and white are really charming and I can just imagine it filled with a pink roses.

I’ve got a thing for small dishes and couldn’t pass these up…they were only $1.00 each. I’m going to use these to hold jewelry on dresser.

I always sell these silver-plated toast racks when I put them in my Etsy shop. I style them as a desk accessory to hold notecards and stationery which gives them a whole new purpose. This one is really pretty because of the tray bottom and the beautiful scroll design. The pattern is also on the bottom of the tray.

And the last piece I bought was the adorable ceramic monkey holding a bowl. Isn’t he the cutest? Imagine him holding Meyer lemons or kumquat on a kitchen.

For my first outing of the year I’m pretty happy with my thrifting finds. I’m planning to go to the Scott Antique market next month and hope to find some more treasures for me and my Etsy shop.

I’m adding new items to the shop this week so stop by Friday and check it out.

p.s. anyone else have the thrifting fever??