Hurry, hurry!!

There are approximately 5 hours left to enter my giveaway.

This fabulous package could be yours!

Just leave a comment on the giveaway post (not this post).  Tell your bloggy friends!

Thrift Store Thursday—10/1

You have until 11:59 tonight (Thursday) to enter my giveaway.

The winner will be announced Friday. And how awesome is this…I found instructions here to automatically number comments! That will make giveaways so much easier!

Also, after today, I will be hosting TST on a monthly basis. The next opportunity to link up will be November 5.

I have an exciting idea, which is really just in the fledgling stages, but I’m thinking about opening a little Etsy store to sell some of my thrifting treasures. In fact, I have a few things already earmarked for that purpose. What do you think?

Now, on with the show…

A few weeks ago I threw out my 9” cake pans. They were rusting and I was fed up. The metal ones always get gross, except for aluminum, and I try not to use aluminum for health reasons. So, I was happy to find these two Pyrex cake pans for $1.49 each. Nice, inert glass.

At Goodwill I found these two Johnson Bros Ironstone bread and butter plates for $.50 each. Replacements lists them at $5.99 ea.

At a church thrift store I got this enormous frame for $4.99. I was thinking ‘cork board’, but this is kind of fun, don’t you think?

And at the same store, I scored this cream and sugar set. Research revealed that it is Bubble Milk Glass by Anchor-Hocking 1934-1965. I bought it for my future Etsy shop, but my love for it has grown exponentially ever since I got it home, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to part with it! I mean, I really love it!

MckLinky will be open until 11:59 pm Thursday. (The same deadline as my giveaway!)

1. Please link directly to your Thrift Store Thursday post, not your home page.

2. Please mention and link back to my Thrift Store Thursday post.

3. Please put my button in your post, and I'd really love it if you'd use the code to do so :)

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DIY Cake Plate

It’s DIY day at Kimba’s! So much creativity over there…check it out (when you’re done here, of course!).

Over the past year of thrifting I have amassed quite a collection of glassware.

Okay, wow. I didn’t realize I had that much. I have collected plates, cheese domes, and candle sticks for making mini cake plates. I grab the jars when I see them cheap for filling with decorative items. But what if I mixed it up a bit?

How about small round jars on the candlesticks?

How about matching jars at different heights for DIY apothecary jars? Ooohh, I really like this one! (My countertop doesn’t make the best backdrop, but it’s almost midnight and I’m not going to do it over now. Sorry.)

Today, though, I’m going to make a cake plate. For these projects, the best candlesticks have a decent flat surface area at the top edge so the glue has good contact. Also, it’s good to have a pretty wide base, especially for the tall ones.

A couple of months ago, I found this scallop-edged plate. I’m trying something new this time and using a dry-erase marker to mark the center of the plate (it will wipe right off).

Apply E-6000 glue to the top edge of your chosen candlestick and center the plate on top. I didn’t get a good picture of that—sorry again.

Allow it to dry, and set your cheese dome on top. How cute is that?!

For Skippy’s birthday I had several of these in varying heights with two or three cupcakes each, grouped as a center piece on the table. I didn’t get a photo of that either, but it was so stinkin’ cute!

They can also be used to display seasonal arrangements, decor, or other little treasures. It’s inexpensive (I usually pay between $.50-$2 per component), and so very easy. Give it a try!

Kmart? Really?

When I was growing up in Michigan and Ontario, Kmart was the only discount department store. We didn’t have Walmart or Target. In fact, I have fond memories of going to Kmart with my grandparents and getting a frozen Coke.

These days, though, I rarely go to Kmart. The stores just aren’t very nice, at least the ones by me. But Saturday we were in a different part of town and I ran in to look at shoes. I needed a ballet flat or something before church in the morning since it was time to put the sandals away.

You know, they had some cute shoes! They were also having a buy one/get one 50% off sale. The black flats and the cheetah print were on sale for $9.99, so I got those two pairs for $15. The orange and green ones were on clearance, which was take an additional 50% off, and still qualified for the BOGO. The first pair was $3.50, the second $1.75!

I’m not a big shoe person; I usually buy black or brown that will go with everything and don’t get much in the way of “cute”. So for me, these are fun and will spice up my wardrobe a little bit. Plus, I got all four pairs for just over $20!

Kmart! Who knew?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway!

Blog-iversary Giveaway!

It’s finally here, the day we’ve all been waiting for! In honor of my one year of blogging, I’m having a giveaway. Since you all know how much I love thrift stores, I decided to do some thrifting just for you. The giveaway items all came from thrift stores, are all things I would have purchased for myself, and with just 2 exceptions, were all chosen specifically for the giveaway.

Without further ado, I now reveal the fabulous prize package! Oh gosh, now I’m nervous! Maybe you won’t think it’s as cool as I do.

First, a chalkboard/bulletin board…you choose (more info here), and vinyl wall decals in a leafy vine pattern. Approximate retail value (ARV) of chalkboard $10, my cost (MC) $1.50. Vinyl decals ARV $12, MC $2.99.

Next, a milkglass planter and a place setting of sliverplate flatware. The flatware is the Ambassador pattern by 1847 Rogers Bros. original manufacture date 1919. ARV for the set $23, MC $1.15.

Milkglass is the teardrop pattern by Indiana Glass. ARV unknown ($5?), MC $.99.

Imagine the milkglass holding pencils at your desk, or with succulents planted in it. Use the silverware on a kitchen Christmas tree or display them in a shadow box.

Now we have a linen-ish lined basket and a Halloween dishtowel. (Psst...if you are somebody who doesn't do Halloween, today I found a winter-themed dishtowel at Goodwill that I will, at your option, give you instead if you are the winner!)I bought an almost identical, but larger, basket recently at Homegoods; I’m guessing the ARV at $4, MC $2. Towel ARV $3, MC $.50.

And lastly, a small silverplate compote, and the top of a milkglass hen-on-a-basket. Compote is marked “Wallingford Silver, Silver Plate, 598” but I can’t find any info about it. I’m not going to guess the ARV on these items, but MC was $1.29 for the compote and $.75 for the hen.

Think of the compote displaying small items like Scrabble tiles, marbles, or Christmas ornaments. I have an identical hen, which is a cute addition to a display of white dishes, or I’ve even had mine under a cheese dome “cloche” on a nest of craft moss.

Oh, boy. The best laid plans...I was going to use MckLinky just as a list keeper to keep track of the entries, but it's turned out to be too complicated because of the necessity of unique URLs. So, we're just going to go the regular comment route (I'll fix the entries I already have).

You will get one entry for commenting, an extra entry if you are a follower, and one if you blog about my giveaway.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

Giveaway will end at 11:59 pm October 1, with the winner being announced next Friday, Oct. 2. Good luck!

I'm joining Julia's Hooked on Friday party because I'm hooked on thrift stores and giveaways.

Joining Melissa's Beautiful Life because I want to share these little goodies to help make your home more beautiful!

Thrift Store Thursday—9/24

Be sure to come back tomorrow for my giveaway package of thrift store treasures!

Sorry I’m late with TST today…no excuses. However, I do have something I want to discuss with you. I’ve been debating with myself over the future of TST.

I enjoy showing off my finds, and seeing yours. I also know that I’m not going to stop going to thrift stores. But, I would like to try to move away from buying, and more toward doing something with what I already have, or at least buying with a purpose in mind. Whether or not that actually comes to fruition, we shall see…

My idea for right now is to make TST a monthly event. I’ll go with the first Thursday of the month, which means I’ll have one next week, Oct. 1, and then the next official TST will be Nov. 5.

I’m not promising that I won’t have any thrift store purchases to show you in between, but for me TST will be sort of a highlight reel. I’ll put a MckLinky up, and if you want to join me, that will be great. In the mean time, there are quite a few other thrifty show-off parties around blogland, so I’m certainly not leaving a void.

Now for this week: Dixie and I did some running around last Friday, and here’s what I got.

At Goodwill, this fabulous Gap down coat for Pinkerbelle was only $4. I think Dixie may have really wanted it, but graciously allowed me to have it.

At St. Vincent de Paul, there was a shelf of half-off items, and I got this apothecary jar for $2.50, and the small platter for $1.50. The platter is marked Shenango China by Interpace. I did a little sleuthing; Shenango apparently made diner china, and was acquired by Interpace in 1968. I can’t find any information about this specific platter, but it will look nice as part of my white collection.

1. Please link directly to your Thrift Store Thursday post, not your home page.

2. Please mention and link back to my Thrift Store Thursday post.

3. Please put my button in your post, and I'd really love it if you'd use the code to do so :)

<center><a href="http://www.homebodyholly.com/search/label/Thrift%20Store%20Thursday/"><img border="0" src="http://tinyurl.com/bs7lsj" /></a></center>

Since I got a late start today, I’ll leave MckLinky open until 11:59 Friday night. I am going to enforce the rules this time, and delete any posts that don’t link back to me.

Mini Chalkboard Makeover

Last week I headed to the thrift store with one goal in mind: to find a frame suitable for making a small chalkboard. When I got there, I was happy to find that all frames were 50% off that day!

Then I found this in the frame bin:

It was the right size (about 12”x18”) and already had a little tray perfect for holding chalk. At the sale price, it was only about $1.50. I figured I’d just remove the battered corkboard and replace it.

When I got it home and took it apart, I realized that the thin white board that backed the cork would work very well for painting with chalkboard paint.

Now I needed to use the cork as the backing to keep it thick enough for the cleats on the back to hold it in. So, I decided to make it dual purpose, and covered the cork with burlap.

Now you can decide which side you want facing forward. Yes, you! Well, if you win my giveaway, that is. This is one of the items in the prize package!

I’m going to reveal the whole package and start the giveaway on Friday, so be sure to come back!