Old to You. New to Me.

M and I (ok fine, it's been mainly me) have had a plan of making a farmhouse table for a while. The chairs from our old table were oversized, and I have endured sitting on them while eating meals, with my feet not being able to touch the floor, for 7 years now. (And I am pretty average height, just shy of 5'4") I was getting tired of the whole legs falling asleep thing but didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for new ones. Well, to be honest, I wanted to pay the least possible for chairs that would actually be sturdy enough to someone without collapsing.

SO.....I began my search.

I looked on Craigslist, yard sales, and local thrift stores. It actually took a lot longer than I thought. And I wasn't even very picky about the chairs since I was going for the whole not matching thing anyway. FINALLY, I found 2 matching chairs (I was aiming for 5 total, since we are going to make a bench for the other side) at a thrift store for $10 each! And I LOVE the shape of the back. So, I repainted, distressed and covered the chair cushions (which I IMMEDIATELY scotch-guarded as well. I failed to do this last time which was a BAD idea with two toddler boys and all their mess. Needless to say, I didn't want to ruin these).

I forgot to take a BEFORE picture, but here is the final product!

So, 2 down, only

Then, my mom called me one day and said she found 3 more chairs. One that looks almost identical to the one above for $7 and 2 (pictured below) for $9 each. Yes please!

Here is the before of the chairs. Again, very sturdy but not exactly the look I was going for.

And here is the AFTER picture. The green is actually the same green as the above chair, the yellow nighttime lighting just makes it look a little weird.

This style may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love the look and it was done for MUCH cheaper than buying them new or even used ones in great condition.

I have yet to paint the 5th chair, but I'll post a picture as soon as I do.

By the way, I used the same process of distressing as I did for the dresser in our living room (including the wax coat). It can be found HERE if you are interested.

{ SIDE NOTE: All of these projects have not been completed over the last couple of weeks. Rather, these are projects were completed as early as the beginning of the summer. Just FYI }

Frugal Finds

I usually don't seem to have a whole lot of luck finding things at the thrift store although I try and go pretty often HOPING it will be my lucky day. Lo and behold, Wednesday was that lucky day I had been waiting on!

I have been eying an over the shoulder handbag but didn't want to pay too much for it. I'd seen ones like these on Anthropologie's and Urban Outfitter's websites. I would never actually pay for one from these stores, but I've been looking on their websites recently and finding items I like, then searching for look-a-likes at either Target or the thrift store (I learned this trick from my lovely sister). It's kind of fun and it helps in the shopping process because you kind of know what you are looking for. (Another side note: My sister is ridiculous at finding clothes or using fabric and designing her own clothes - I'll have to convince her to post some of those outfits soon!)

I really like this purse from Urban Outfitters that retails for $58:

And this one from Anthropologie that retails for a whopping $198:

And this is the beauty I found. It was handmade in Italy with genuine leather and I paid a meager $9.99!! I think it bears a pretty striking resemblance and the price made it perfect.

Happy Thrifting everyone!