Before & After: Nightstand

I've been working on my girls' bedroom updates for quite some time now, hampered by cold and then rainy weather which prohibited me from getting outside to do some painting. But with blue skies and warm temps, I have run out of excuses!

My older daughter has chosen a navy, hot pink, white, and gold color scheme for her sophisticated pre-teen bedroom. So far, we've painted the walls, changed out the curtains, purchased a contemporary style desk and pull-out loveseat for sleepovers, added a few accessories, and moved all the "baby" stuff out. That alone was a great improvement, but there were still a few essentials missing. A nightstand, for one.

So I made this for her:

I have to admit, I'm kind of proud of this transformation. You see, this piece started out looking like this:

I originally purchased this secondhand for a couple of bucks, hoping that it would become a repository for the explosion of American Girl doll clothing and accessories that continually threaten to take over our home. Nope. So rather than haul it back to a thrift store, I decided to have a go at transforming it into a nightstand for my daughter.

I painted the body of the piece hot pink (it photographs a little "hotter" than it actually is--a camera upgrade is on the priority list as I have grown tired of constantly apologizing for my poor photos!) and the top is an antique gold.

I used some more of my favorite antique gold Rub n Buff on the new drawer pulls, which were leftover from another project. A little distressing makes them look well-loved.

And finally, to add a little more pizzazz, I "chevroned" (can that please be a word?) the drawers in matching hot pink.

Not bad for a $5 investment, huh? I'm going to share this at Finding Silver Pennies.

Blue Ridge Pottery Finds & More

I treated myself to a whole day of treasure hunting yesterday, and it was just what the doctor ordered. I have been working so hard lately on a huge upcoming project (that I plan to reveal here next week--so excited!!) and it was nice to take a bit of a break while digging up some fun finds.

By far, my best score yesterday was this set of Blue Ridge Pottery dishes for my growing collection. This is a new pattern for me, and I had to look it up last night when I got home, but I think the pattern name is Bluebell Bouquet. One of the dinner plates has a chip and some very minor crazing, but the rest seem to be in near perfect condition. I finally pulled the trigger on a new china hutch after searching forever, and it should be arriving soon. I can't wait to tackle the overwhelming task of deciding which of my collections should be showcased in it! Luckily, I ordered a piece that has lots of glass front cabinets so that I can show off as much of my china as possible. And of course, I can always switch out patterns with the seasons, or whenever I feel like it.

I picked up this faux milk glass mirror for my daughter's room. It is similar in size and shape to the one that I picked up for my other daughter's room. That one, I removed the mirror and painted hot pink to go with her decor (I'm going to put her initial inside the opening), but this one I will keep as is. Room reveals are coming, I promise! There are still projects underway but lots of progress has been made.

I was delighted to find this set of mint condition BLUE Little House books! I had the yellow set growing up, and my daughter has the more recent plaid set, but I've always loved the blue ones.

Originally, I thought this next find was just a toy post office figurine. However, I discovered tiny drawers in the back--one for a roll of stamps and one with a miniature sponge inside to moisten the stamps. Remember lickable stamps on a roll?

I picked up this desk organizer for another before and after redo. These small projects are kind of my specialty. Maybe because I like the near instant gratification that comes when I complete them so quickly. Anyway, this one is slated to be bedazzled--stay tuned!

And the last find I will share today is this adorable red handled ice cream scoop I picked up. Perfect for summer ice cream parties, right? Linking up my mid-week treasures to Sir Thrift a Lot.

 

A Small Rummage Haul

A few days ago, I managed to steal a few moments to hit a church rummage sale. This particular sale is one of my favorites, but I must say, this time around the finds were fewer and farther between. I had fun and scored a few treasures, but let me put it this way: I didn't have to make two trips to the car or anything. (Always the sign of a great sale!)

Here's what I found: a precious vintage style baby's wool felt cap, with a label inside that states it is handcrafted by Canadian eskimos. A rather sweet find! Too bad my babies are too big to wear this darling little cap.

At the holiday table, I uncovered a ratty plastic bag with several vintage cookie cutters inside, yay!

These old fashioned paper cutouts were also hidden among the holiday treasures:

And I couldn't resist this old nativity scene with miscellaneous wisemen (but probably should have!):

I picked through an entire shoebox of uninteresting Christmas ornaments and came up with just one I wanted to take home:

The dishes and kitchenware table was woeful this year. All I found was this colorful vintage tin.

The toy table proved a little more rewarding. I found another old Monopoly game, with all the silver game pieces, houses, hotels and dice. Unfortunately, the board and paper pieces were musty and stained, but I really only wanted the hardware anyway. Nice find.

 

Someone had placed these vintage (c. 1980s) Wilton cake decorations among the toys, but I have a sharp eye and knew just what they were! 

And finally, I picked out these two pieces from the frame department. I have since removed the mirror from the scrolled piece and painted it a bright pink for my daughter's room. It looks so cute I am probably not going to replace the mirror--I bought a paper mache "C" at the crafts store and we are going to frame her initial instead. The second frame will probably be used in my own bedroom makeover...if I ever finish my children's rooms, that is!