Thrifty Finds

Well we made it through Monday, girls! There's a big ice and snow storm headed toward Wichita and I'm keepin' my fingers crossed for no work tomorrow ... ha in my dreams!

Anyway, I was inspired by this and this post by the fantastic Urban Farmgirl to do some extra-focused thrifting. I pop into my local thrift store once or twice a week but usually just breeze through in a hurry. After seeing the fabulous things she came upon, I was determined to look at my thrift store with new eyes. And I do believe I scored!


I came home with this big wicker basket I think I'll use as a trashcan or a holder for wrapping paper.


The canisters are quite new, but I paid a total of $4 for all three and I think they're gorgeous! Perfect for our bathroom someday. My mom said she saw a similar set from Restoration Hardware. There's no clue as to where they came from anywhere on the canisters, but I think they were a pretty great thrifting score!





And I fell absolutely in love with these three vintage books. That top one stole my heart with its gorgeous cover graphics, not to mention it's full of sweet poems and various readings. The middle one is a pretty pale blue and has an old inscription between friends written inside the cover. And the bottom book is a compilations of literary school readings printed in 1910!


I think I did pretty well, right? It just shows it pays to thrift...
- frequently
- carefully
- thinking outside the box

What have you found lately?

{live beautifully}
Courtney

I'm linking to Nifty Thrifty Tuesday on Coastal Charm, Twice Owned Tuesdays at House of Grace, Tuesdays Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia and Good Life Wednesdays at A Beach Cottage.

A Little Etsy Love

Hello lovies! How was your weekend? Mine has been absolutely fantastically amazing! Matt and I spent lots of time with friends and with each other and I just had a blast all weekend long!

{One of our engagement pics, just because I like to show them off : ) Photo by Lola Jo Photo Design}

So I've been thinking about my love for vintage goods and how hard it can be to find them sometimes. I don't know if you all have the same problem, but I've found a good solution is Etsy. Seriously, I think I'm addicted!

I know Etsy isn't new to anyone in the blog world, but to help us navigate the huge-ness that is Etsy, I'd like to do a weekly feature on recent finds from various shops. I know it can be kind of hard to find exactly what you're looking for on Etsy, or shops that are just your taste, so I thought I'd share a few of the things I "favorite" each week. Hopefully you'll discover new shops, new goodies and maybe make a purchase or two. Or just enjoy the eye candy! Here goes...

Etsy Favorites 1.30.11
{Disclaimer: All photos are from Etsy shops and are not my own. I'm also not paid to promote any of these items. I feature things I genuinely enjoy and hope you will too.}

Beautiful ring and earrings from InMostLight



I just discovered this shop and love the gorgeous jewelry and photography she offers. The prices are fabulous as well.

Apothecary Tea Towels from Teresa Sheeley


I'm a sucker for tea towels, but these are especially unique.

Starburst Zip and similar Starburst Pillows from Yorktownroad



Gorgeousness all wrapped in a purse/pillow.

Vintage White Scale from Sadie Olive


If you haven't discovered Sadie Olive's shop or blog yet, you're missing out! It's the best of the best!

French Linen Sachet from Bailiwick Designs


A gorgeous lavender sachet that will add a touch of French goodness to any room.

Etched Stemware by The Growers Daughter


The Growers Daughter has quickly become one of my new favorite shops and blogs. Go visit her!

Aqua Inspiration Tin from Faded Plains


Another of my all-time favorite bloggers. This pretty tin is the perfect start to a beautiful collection.

Ironstone Bowl from The Vintage Heiress


I love ironstone but the flowers on this bowl make it even more special. Love this shop too!

There you have it! I hope that gave you a new peek inside the vintage finds available on Etsy! Let me know if you like this feature and if I should continue to do it weekly!

{live beautifully}
Courtney

Join the Valentine's Fun!

Ladies! Have I got a party for you! My very best friend Meg (who is like one of those big time bloggers and basically the most amazing person on the planet) is having a Valentine's Day Swap!


All you have to do is head on over here and leave a comment with your name, e-mail and a list of some of your favorite things. Then she'll match everyone up with a partner and you two exchange a Valentine's care package. How fun is that?! Who doesn't love a few Valentine's goodies, not to mention making new friends!

Head on over to [Life of Meg] and join the paaartaaayy!

{live beautifully}
Courtney

Pretty Pink Paper Poms

Hello loves! How was your Wednesday? I spent all of my evening making those popular tissue paper pom poms. They are easy, but waaaay more time consuming than you think they're going to be.




Why was I making paper poms, you ask? Well my dear friend Karis and I are throwing a bit of a Valentine's Day soiree. More details to come but I wanted to make something festive to fit with our white and pink theme. Annnnd how could I not immediately do something crafty when I found a giant, gorgeous, pure white urn at the thrift store today?! It's amazing. And I knew just what I was going to do with it the moment I spotted it.






To make the Valentine's pom tree, I just clipped branches off trees in our yard, the followed Martha's instructions for making paper poms. Easy as that, if you have the time for endless paper fluffing.






Of course I had to include my favorite thrift store silver compote. I just added some pink and silver spools of thread to keep with the theme.




What do you think? Perfect for a pink and white themed Valentine's party right? Hooray!

{live beautifully}
Courtney

I'm linking to A Beach Cottage's Good Life Wednesday and Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia. Go check 'em out! They're my fave parties!

Decor Daydreaming

Happy Friday girls! Fridays to me mean FREEDOM! Not that I don't love my job, because I do, but the weekend is when I get to relax, read blogs, stalk etsy, head to flea markets and thrift stores and so much more. My idea of a good time!

Today I found myself daydreaming about ... what else ... our future home. Especially the living room. You see, we need a coffee table, and I have come up with a couple options that I think are pretty great. But I want your input!

I'll show you some I think would be good choices, but I'll save my favorite for last.

We have a couch that basically is the shape of an IKEA Ektorp sofa, which will be slipcovered in white, along with an oversized chair also in white (shocker!).

Keep in mind a couple of inspiration photos I shared a while ago. This is sorta what we're going for ...



Farmhouse/cottage/industrial/vintage/minimal/clean/white/chic... you know, something specific like that : )

On to the coffee table choices...

Linden Street Round Cocktail Table from JC Penny


I like this one, especially the curve of the legs, the fact that it's round, and the shelf on the bottom. I don't think we could go wrong here. Kimberley from Restoration House has a similar one here, and it looks great in her room.

Jamar Cocktail Ottoman from JC Penney


This is beautiful, especially for the price! $250 for a tufted velvet ottoman is unheard of! I would get it in the gray velvet in the picture, but I'm afraid it's almost too formal for the living room look I'm going for. And I'm afraid it would be a pain with food/drinks in front of the tv, even if we did have a tray on it. We might need a true coffee table to be more functional. But it is certainly beautiful!

And now, the one I've really fallen head over heels for .... Bricklayer Tables!

These can be super pricey (like $1200 at Sundance Catalog) but there are really similar options from Overstock.com for $115-200. Sounds good to me.

This first one is really what I had in mind because of the bottom shelf, but there's a problem. I think the bar that goes across the floor on the bottom makes it look too modern and cube-y.


The version above from Ballard doesn't have that, and I like it so much better that way, even though it may seem like a small thing. But it's $350, not $200, and when you're newlyweds, that's a big difference : )


There is also the table above that's similar but with no shelf on the bottom. I really like this one, and it's Matt's fave, but I was just dying for that bottom shelf. But you can't beat the price at $115!

Now I promise I fell in love with the table BEFORE I saw this, but Rie from Home and Harmony has the Ballard version and the whole look is JUST what I'm going for. Absolute perfection! (Sorry to just give you links to things, but it seems like it's bad blogging etiquette to take someone else's picture, even when you link back. I think it's silly but I would never want to offend any of my other fellow bloggers! So... go check out the links!!! : )

Well what do you think I should get? True bricklayers table, but with slight modern accent? Modified bricklayer but with no shelf? Classic cottage round table? Or the beautiful velvet tufted ottoman? I'm leaving it in your capable hands, ladies! : )

{live beautifully}

Courtney

Playing

At the risk of being redundant, I had some more fun playing with my new cabinet. I also found a cute little silver compote at the thrift store today for $1.50. All it took was some elbow grease to polish her up and she was as good as new. So here's what I did with all of it ...


Ok no more cabinet styling for a while, promise! But what else is there to do on a January night when it's 20 degrees out and raining ice? : )

{live beautifully}

Courtney

From Drab to Fab

I know, I know... I've been gone for way too long! For some reason the last week or so I've just been out of inspiration and creativity. I don't know where they went, but they were playing hide-and-seek! But this Sunday at church a friend mentioned to me that she loves reading my blog and told me I'm "so creative and artsy." I don't think she knew quite how much those words meant to me! I live to be creative and make things beautiful! And that was just the motivation I needed to jump start my inspiration.

This little cabinet had been waiting for me and my paintbrush to visit it for quite a while. I had had my eye on it hoping to make it look like Maria's antique pie safe-turned soap display case. But the coloring was not quite right, even though I loved the soft gray on the outside.

Here's the before (what were they thinking with the black shelf space???)


And here's the after! Ahhh much better. Light, bright and airy just like we like it! : )


My mom got a couple shots of me "in action."



Moving right along...

I simply painted the insides and wire door white, then lightly dry brushed white over the gray on the outside. I even like how the handles turned out with the dry brushing. It's definitely not perfect, but it's good enough for me!


Eventually, I want it to take up residence in my bathroom. But until then I had fun playing and styling with the few little "props" I have stored here at my parents' house. Not too bad huh?




I thought the finish went nicely with my antique Belgian pitch pots, which currently hold sprouting paperwhites.

Lavender and white tea soap from World Market.

I was pretty proud of this shot, since I was using my sister's big fancy camera and have no clue what I'm doing. I think they call this kind of thing depth of field, but who knows : )


I love this pretty little scallop at the bottom of the cabinet!


I hope your week has been full of inspiration and creativity! Thanks for stopping by!

{live beautifully}
Courtney

I'm linking to Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia and Good Life Wednesdays at A Beach Cottage.