Insert Fun & Captivating Title Here

 

I feel my creative juices flowing back in, but I still couldn’t manage a title….

On to the point of this post!

Itty Bitty Table, more like a display thingie for a whopping $1 from the Pacific Home Do-It Center.

 

Too really ugly gold candle sticks, a cute & tiny pewter mug and a nice cut glass carafe. Total?? $3

Lampshade $1, Ornaments 50 cents, a coffee carafe for when, notice I say when, ours breaks? Priceless at $1.

So we didn’t get this from the thrift store, but it was a great deal at PetSmart for $2.50. (When we bought him the ear wasn’t chewed yet)

MurphyGrace loves it. Now if I could just get him to stop throwing it around the house like a football, that would be really nice;)

Make sure you go and visit Leigh at Bloggaritaville and see all of the Thrifty Treasures that people have this week.

I Spray Painted a Brownie!

 

 

     No, I don’t mean that I painted one of those cute mini Girl Scouts. I was putting my Halloween stuff away the other day when I came across this in the trunk.

     This is a Brownie camera that was my grandfathers. I have many cameras that were his, but I am tired of displaying them. I am never going to sell them, because they were his, but I decided to snaz this one up a bit.

I taped and taped and taped. Then I sprayed it the new color that Art has decided he wants in our bedroom. (Yes, he has spoken up and now that means that I have to adapt)

So now, we have an avocado green Brownie! It still works, still makes me think of my grandfather and all that. It just is a cool, new, modernish looking thing to decorate with!

Have you ever painted something that deep down, you know was breaking all sorts of rules?

House Hunting is No Fun When You Need A Place.

     A month or so ago, one of my favorite hobbies was house hunting. I enjoyed reading the section in the paper on Saturdays and haunting Realtor.com, keeping an eye on what was available in our area and the prices as they went up and down.

     I could drive around our town and tell you the asking price on many of the homes, how long it had been on the market and if they had dropped the price lately. I liken my hobby to a guy that knows a lot of about cars that he will never own. You know that guy…the one that can tell you how many horsepower a Lamborghini has, but has never even seen one? That was me with homes.

     That has all changed now. The love is totally gone. Now that we need to move, I am finding nothing that I want and it is really frustrating. I have also lost my zest for decorating which is a darn shame if you ask me!

     It is hard to get excited about whipping the perfect something up to put on the wall when I don’t know how long it will be there or if it will fit the look of our new home.

     We are looking based on three scenarios, so you would think that we could find something. These are the ideas…

1. We find a new rental.
2. We buy a home on a modest budget that somehow we can qualify for even though banks hate me because I am self employed.
3. We eat crow and talk my parents into buying a nicer house, which we will then rent, maintain, rehab, etc. (and eventually buy from them)

     That is a lot of options, but there just aren’t many houses out there right now that fit our other criteria.

So, I am so sorry that I have been AWOL. I have just been in a royal funk.

The One Where My House is Killing Me…

 

     Most of my decorating projects have been put on hold lately because we realized something really earth shattering while on vacation.

     I have had allergies and asthma all of my life, so when they got worse earlier this year, I really didn’t notice much. At first I chalked it up to the season change, some other health issues, getting the beloved MurphyGrace, etc.

     Finally, last month it was getting so bad that I started a journal of sorts, recording what I ate, what time I started wheezing, if I worked in the yard, painted, all of the things that might effect my runny eyes, stuffed up nose and me reaching for the inhaler. I thought that I could find a pattern. I even tried to write down the times that I crawled around on the 30 plus year old carpet with MurphyGrace!

     We went to Chicago and it ALL STOPPED. I used maybe three tissues and didn’t have to take allergy meds or use my inhaler the entire time. (and they have three dogs)

     The only common denominator in all of my obsessive journaling was this…..

     The place we call Liberty Ranch is killing me! We looked in the obvious places for mold, like sinks and such, but didn’t really see anything. Then we walked around the house itself and found tons of mold on the stucco and the from the outside, you could see tons of black mold around the window frame in the bedroom. There was actual moss growing on the walls in some spots. (Like the stuff that you buy to decorate floral arrangements with!)

     Luckily, we rent. That is about the only time you will hear me say that I feel lucky for renting. That means all of this is not really our problem, but we have to move.

     So I have been busy scouring our little town for rentals or possibly a place for sale. We have a huge demand list and it is tough going, but I am sure that we will find a place. The thought of moving for the second time in a year is a huge blow and I really love the layout of this house, but I can’t tell you how good the prospect of not feeling so sick every day feels.

     Have you ever dealt with mold or another issue in a house that affects your health?

You Light Up My Life!

 

      The main reason that you seldom see pictures of the inside of my home is because I am in dire need of better lighting. Let’s just say that it is a cave and leave it at that.

     What this means to you, my dear thrifty minded readers, is that I am always on the look out for lamps of any kind. This week we found a pair of lamps that so reminded Art & I of our trip to Chicago that we found ourselves hugging them to our bodies as we wandered through Goodwill.

  $20 for two lamps that reminded us of the skyscrapers on our trip. They are really heavy, tall and just need some lamp shades. (Anyone have a good source?)

     Our next stop after Goodwill was the local library. Three or four times a year, they have a used book sale and I go a bit nuts. The last hour of the sale, you can get a paper grocery bag full of books for 50 cents.  If you read a lot, need some books to decorate with, or would like to expand your crafting/decorating book selection, this is the place for you. (I urge you to contact your library to see if and when they have sales)

     I came home with 5 bags of books. Yeah, I read a lot, but not all of it was for reading. I picked up these three because they were not only classics, but were pretty display books too.

     Next stop was Restore, where someone had bought the wrong size knobs for a desk. I am not going to say who, let’s just say that it wasn’t me;)

     We had a whopping $6.50 credit and I grabbed some paint and this cute little wall shelf. $5, maybe more than I would have paid at a garage sale, but it goes to a great cause, Habitat for Humanity.

     I am linking up to the very first “I’m a Flea Marketeer Party” at Flea Market Style, so make sure you go by there and see all of the great style makers!

 

A Genie of a Lamp and Things to Do with Burlap #4

    I have shared this lamp before that I picked up for peanuts…..    

     A bit brassy and I don’t mean the good kind of brassy. A simple spritz with spray paint and I know have this jobbie to light up my life.

     On to “Things to Do With Burlap”, California got hit with a major storm last week. I was gone, but thought that my stash of burlap would be safe under the patio cover. I was wrong! The stack got a bit damp so today I decided to cover part of my driveway in burlap.

     Okay, it isn’t really a burlap project, but it made me grateful that we have a really huge driveway!

 

Chicago Randomness

 

     I won’t bore you with the over 300 pictures of various buildings that made we weak in the knees in Chicago. There are some shots though that may make you laugh or at least smile.

     This was the view from our room…Um, no, this was actually a display at The Field Museum. They did have Sue, the largest, most complete and best preserved T. Rex in the world. (Yes, I just copied that sentence from the guide book)

     This is Rudy, one of three dogs that Art’s sister has. Rudy was a big help in keeping an eye on me while I climbed up the ladder on the Frank Lloyd Wright house.

     See what I mean? I don’t know if she thought that she would catch me or what, but she was on patrol.

     This was in the front yard of one of the beautiful homes in Oak Park. It made me giggle.

     A fountain, that seemed like it was designed more as an after thought. It was in a strange place, right next to the sidewalk. Cute, but sort of dangerous to passers by.

     The evil squirrel! Doesn’t he look possessed??

     Murphy Grace made it through at summer camp and was happy to see us. (I think) He has stuck pretty close ever since we got home.

     There was a big storm at home while we were gone. Big by California standards and the house was trashed when we got home. Yeah, I could have done without that.

    Still, there is no place like home and I find myself energized and ready to take on some new projects. Isn’t that what vacations are for?