Fun at Goodwill

Wow!  I really hit a nerve with yesterday’s post!  Let me just say, though, that I still love to look at the magazines and get ideas.  And really, if they were full of houses that looked like mine, or let’s just say the average American’s, I don’t think I’d be nearly as impressed.

They deliver what we expect:  beautiful, staged homes.  It’s like a builder’s display homes, the best of the best.  Everybody knows you don’t really live that way.  Just spare me the outrageously pretentious homeowner quotes!

Now, on with today’s post.  Yesterday I went to Goodwill and took my camera so we could have a little fun.  It wasn’t a great day at GW, but I found a few laughable items.

This interesting item was approximately 12” long.  It’s missing a band around the middle.  It says “made in the USSR” so for all I know that may have made it worth something.  GW wants $20 for it.  I’ll pass (I would have passed at $1!).

This is just your average cheese dome.  I often get them for a buck or maybe two at other thrift stores.  GW usually has them priced at $3-4.  This one is priced at $6.  Don’t ever pay $6 for a cheese dome.  There’s at least one in every thrift store you go to, and in my opinion, $2 is the most you should pay.

This particular GW seems to have the biggest reality problem with “art”.  It’s so way overpriced.

This little piece (about 8” square) really wasn’t terrible, but the price, $12, was way out of line.

They had $20 on this 8x10 foil number!

This mauve and country blue 3-D “art” piece was $50!  Wow.  Now the little paint-by-number below it was only $3, and I know people collect those.  It’s kinda kitchy-cool.

This was my segue to reminding everyone that tomorrow is Thrift Store Thursday.  Link up with your second-hand finds and join the party!  You know, you could even link up with a post like this, ridiculously overpriced thrift store items!  I’ll try to have the post up by late this evening.

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A Rant (Warning: Sarcasm Ahead)

I love decorating magazines. Better Homes and Gardens is my favorite “all-purpose” mag, and I love their Special Interests Publications which focus on specific subjects.

Lately, though, I’ve come across a couple of things that kinda rubbed me the wrong way. The first was in the Summer 2009 issue of BHGSIP Decorating magazine.

The lovely home below was featured:

Here is a quote from the homeowner:

“ ‘I wanted heavy-duty stools for [the] kitchen…so I was a bit nervous about going retail.’ But the inexpensive stools from Crate & Barrel ‘have held up beautifully’. ”

On the same page, a sidebar entitled Retail 101 says:

“Cathy kept costs down by mixing designer pieces with retail accessories from places such as Target, Crate & Barrel, and Pottery Barn. ‘It can definitely be hit or miss, but I’ve had very good luck with several retailers.’ ”

I’m sorry, but does that sound extremely snooty to anyone besides me? I realize that most of the homes in these mags are owned by people who can afford to hire a decorator/designer, including this one. But oh my, how do the rest of us survive, shopping at Tar-jay the way we do? Our homes must be full of shoddy things and rickety furniture.

I’ve regularly read bloggers (including me) who drool over the PB catalog and try to figure out ways they can recreate the look without paying PB’s high prices. My word, it’s a good thing we didn’t waste our money there after all, seeing as it’s so “hit or miss” and everything!

Then recently I was re-reading the September 2007 issue of BHG and this line jumped out at me:

“…Brenda is not afraid to play matchmaker, pairing furniture and accessories from different decades.”

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I’m pretty sure there are more homes in America with furniture and accessories from different decades than not. Whether or not we collect antique or vintage items, most of us probably have heirloom or hand-me-down pieces. And while we may not have a decorator to pull it all together for us, we try make it work and make our homes look good.

This is real life, folks. Couch: circa 1985, coffee table: IKEA circa 2008, windows as decor: circa 1940(?), dropleaf table: circa 1993, and reupholstering waiting room chairs with drop cloths. Family: right in the middle of it all.

Ordinary people with realistic budgets trying to make home a pretty, comfortable place. Like me. Like you. Getting creative with what we have and what we can make.

If you ask me, that’s worthy of a magazine article.

November Happenings

I know I say this every month, but I am seriously freaked out by how fast time is flying! November? That’s crazy!

On the plus side, I’ve got some big things coming up in November here at the little blog. I’m working on a new design, and to celebrate that, there will be a fantastic giveaway! Really, you won’t want to miss it!

Also, hopefully sometime this month I will get my Etsy shop up and running. I’ve got a nice little inventory collected; I just need to clean it up and get it photographed. Sneak peak: How cute is this vintage toy telephone? My kids can’t keep their hands off of it.

This Pyrex bowl is only 6” in diameter. Did you know the ones with the handles like this are called Cinderella bowls?

This little Anchor Hocking vinegar cruet is so adorable! Actually, I haven’t quite decided if I can part with it.

Speaking of the Etsy shop, I can’t decide on a name. I want it to start with Homebody and be non-specific so if I ever want to add handmade items, it still makes sense. So, for example, Homebody Vintage wouldn’t work.

Some ideas I’ve had: Homebody Emporium (probably the front-runner right now), Homebody Cottage, Homebody General Store. I’ll take suggestions, as long as it’s okay for me to use it if I like it. Any ideas?

Boo!

Just a reminder that next Thursday, November 5 is Thrift Store Thursday! It’s a linky party for everybody to join and show any treasures that you’ve found lately at the thrift or consignment store, garage sale or anything second hand.

It really doesn’t matter what it is: big, small, fabulous or funny. You know I love a bargain! I’ve found quite a few things in the past month, so I’ll just pick and choose some of my highlights.

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Grab my button and spread the word!

Thrift Store Marriage

It’s DIY day at Kimba’s!

I regularly show you my thrift store finds and tell you that I’m going to do this or that with it.  However, it is often so long before I do anything, if at all, that you may wonder if it ever gets done.  I’ll be honest, sometimes it doesn’t.  But sometimes it does, even if it is months later.

Back in February I found these Pottery Barn panels at Goodwill for $4/pr.  They were only 63”, so I said I’d do something to fix that. 

Then in September I got this fringed bedskirt for about $7, and said I had plans for it.

The two came together as one.  Here is the “before”.  (The thing on the wall which appears to be a large lizard is artwork made of leaves that Skippy gave Pinkerbelle for her birthday.)

And here is the “after”.

And yes, I’m only showing one side because that’s all I have done so far.  The point is, I did something.  So, $11 for what will be a pair of custom curtain panels.  I could make all kinds of excuses, like I know it looks a little heavy on the bottom, and I wanted to put the ruffled bedskirt part at the top but it was much, much easier this way, and that I know I should try to find some kind of fancy trim to put at the joining seam.

But you know what?  Sometimes it’s okay to be content with “good enough”.  I don’t call  myself a lazy seamstress for nothing!

Fun With Scrabble Tiles

If you ever come across a Scrabble game at a thrift store or garage sale for a couple bucks, be sure to grab it.  There are so many fun things to do with it besides just play the game.
When my sisters were here during the summer, we made Scrabble tile pendants.  Wendy had the idea  to make a bunch of them without the bail (the part that allows you to hang it from a chain), and just display them grouped in a bowl or apothecary jar.

That would be so cute, and fun to look through.  Here’s an idea I just came up with:  what if you saved some little scrap of pretty paper from every vacation or other special event and made a tile with it.  Then you could have a display of little mementos.  I love that idea!
Currently, I’ve made a message center with my game.  I glued two of the racks together and put them on a table along with a pretty milk glass bowl full of the tiles.  To begin, I spelled out ‘leave a message’, and we were off.  It’s hard for anyone to pass by it without changing the message.

Sometimes the message is fun, sometimes comical, sometimes encouraging, and to be honest, sometimes not so nice.  Yesterday I put “sing and be happy”, someone changed that to “be happy”, and someone (you know who you are) changed that to “be UNhappy”.  I’m trying to discourage that kind of thing, even if they are trying to be funny.
It’s getting the family communicating in a fun way, and that’s a good thing in my book!

Definite Maybe

I’m not sure where this picture originally comes from, but as soon as I saw it I thought of my new table. (Don't you just love the chair too, with the sweet little skirt?)

I really like the look, but I’m not sure about introducing yet another color into my collection of furniture finishes.