My Fab $3 Mirror

I needed a new mirror for the bathroom in our new house, and I'm cheap, so I didn't want to spend $25 on the Target one that I liked, so I decided to scour the thrift stores to find one that was more my taste, and cheaper.

Here she was- priced at $6 on sale for half off- that's what I'm talking about!  Don't you just love Music City Thrift in Madison?  All it took was a coat of black spray paint and she's as good as new. Not to mention the fact that I have the coolest bathroom mirror- ever!

Pillow-Makin' Fool

I don't know if I told you, but I found an old school Singer sewing machine at the Goodwill Outlet for $15- and yes it does work.  So after staring at it for 5 months, I decided that I would try my sewing skills.  Mind you, that I haven't sewn anything since Ms. McNeal's Home Ec class in high school.  Now what to sew...

Pillows seem easy enough- right?  I went to JoAnn's here in Nashville, and in the very back of the store they sell the special order fabric samples.  These are perfect for pillows- 18" square and with a finished edge...did I mention they are $2 a piece.  Just mix and match the patterns- since obviously they don't have more than one of the same fabric. 

Then I turned into a pillow-making machine.  All I did was put the squares together, sewed a hem around the edge, leaving about a 3 inch hole so I could stuff it, and voila!

Table dilemma at the new house

I saw this problem, thankfully, before we moved in.  Our current dining room table, a behemoth, is too big for our new dining room.  I'm on a tight budget, especially, since I'm not going back to work.  So, what's a girl to do?  If you remember the green table that I re-did a while back (see the $30 table that broke my heart), I decided to use that table with my current dining room chairs.  The fabric needed to be replaced, so it would match the green.

I found this awesome fabric at The Fabric House here in Nashville.  They have wonderful discounted designer fabric, in the best styles. I had to buy 2 yards of this fabric because of the pattern (I wanted the  circles to be centered on each of the chair cushions- I know, very anal).

Can't always find what you're looking for...so just make it

Originally, I needed a coffee table, and I couldn't find one that I liked, so I got a hair-brained idea to just make one. I got Home Depot to cut the MDF board to the right size because 1. I don't have a table saw and 2. the damn board wouldn't have fit into my car.

Materials:
- (1) 4x8 sheet of 3/4" MDF board, wood glue, wood screws
- (30) pieces of furring strips at 0.89 each and 3 tubes of liquid nails adhesive
- (1) can of fast-drying polyurethane and 3 foam brushes
- (1) bottle of acrylic black paint

I built the base using the wood screws and the MDF board, then covered the entire box with the furring strips. Then I put a coat of polyurethane over the wood, so it wouldn't soak up all of the paint.  Then I mixed 1 part black acrylic paint with 2 parts water and wiped the whole thing down.  It was still pretty black, so then I used steel wool to take off some of the paint and smooth it down.

After all of that, I think I'm going to use this as a bench at the end of our bed, rather than a coffee table.  This thing is HUGE- about 5ft. long x 18" wide and 18" tall- did I mention heavy- I can't move it by myself- oh well, you live and you learn, right?

What have you done with your life lately?

OK, so here's the deal, we had a baby on January 18.   You are not suppose to spray paint, or use any of the other crazy chemicals that I use when your pregnant- so that's the reason for the hiatus.  Have no fear, though- I HAVE BEEN WORKING! 

We have recently sold our house, and are moving to somewhat of a "fixer upper"- which is my dream come true!  I have been busy working on packing up our house, and finishing up projects before we move.  I'll be posting my projects shortly.

Before & After Baby Room

Baby Bed: Craigslist $15

Dresser: Craigslist FREE

Window Panels: FREE from a Friend

Paint: $20

The $2.99 Chair

Just when you thought the $5 chair was the least expensive chair you could find- ha!  I picked up these three from the Goodwill outlet store in Berry Hill.  $2.99 per chair + .99 for spray paint, and you've got yourself a pretty cute breakfast area.