Tag: home decorating

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Shabby Chic Chandelier For Guest Bedroom Thrift Store Find

I have been decorating my guest bedroom at the lake with Shabby Chic decor. I’ve always wanted a shabby chic room and I am having so much fun with this one. I wrote another blog about the different pieces I have added. I’ll link it here: https://thethriftyjewell.com/2020/02/28/decorating-our-lake-house-on-a-budget-the-shabby-chic-guest-room/

I found the perfect chandelier for the bedroom! It was $2! It was missing a few of the teardrop crystals, no biggie, I found replacements on eBay. I added them and gave the chandelier a good cleaning.

This is when I brought it home. It was a hot mess, but I saw the potential.

My husband had to re-wire it. The original wire was cloth and brittle . We dated it back to the 50s to early 60s. It’s an antique, even the bulbs are old. The brass plate that attaches to the ceiling didn’t come with it, my husband found it in a thrift store but it looks like it was made for the chandelier.

I love it so much! It adds such character to the room.

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Up Cycled Vintage Train Case Suitcase

I found this avocado green vintage train case at a thrift shop for .50! I decided to shabby chic it and use it for storage inside my tv console.

I knew it’s not going to be heavily used so I decided to paint it.

Here’s the paint I used. I picked outdoor acrylic hoping it will have a little more lasting coverage, although I don’t mind if it gets nicked here and there at all. I picked daffodil yellow because it jumped out at me at the craft store.

First coat. I did two coats and a third touch up coat.

I used nail polish remover and a Q-tip to remove paint that I got on the hardware.

After it dried, I brushed chalk wax on it to help seal it.

I let it dry for a couple of days…

Then I made a vinyl sticker with my cricut and stuck it on.

I’m using it to store my grandsons games and controllers for the Xbox.

It looks so cheery and makes me smile every time I look at it.

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Painting Fabric DIY Vintage Ottoman Painted with Chalk Paint

This is the first time I have painted fabric furniture. I bought this ottom at a thrift store for $5 and I love it! It’s a cute style and it’s very sturdy. The gold color didn’t go to well with my decor and it had some stains on it but still! I decided to paint it. I figured if it didn’t work out, I could always reupholster it.

This was before I did anything to it.

My supplies:

  • Chalk paint
  • Chalk paint brushes
  • Spray bottle with water
  • Fine grit sandpaper

I started by spraying the fabric with water, one section at a time, saturating it.

Then with this round chalk paint brush: https://amzn.to/2yP8OEj

 “I applied the paint to the wet area in a circular pattern. When the chalk paint mixes with the water, it acts like a dye. I really worked it in. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite and white for the legs.

I covered the whole fabric area with one coat and let it dry, then I went around with a second coat.

I painted the legs white. It’s a bit of a contrast here but I applied dark wax over the two coats of white paint.

After the fabric dried, I took a fine grit sanding block and rubbed it lightly over the surface of the paint. This is what softens the fabric back up. I also scuffed the legs. I love a shabby chic look.

Here’s the final piece. It’s so adorable!

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Shabby Chic Vintage Window Farmhouse Decor

I love old windows! I have made several different home decor items with some that I have collected. I’ve had this old window in my collection for sometime now. I decided to use it in my guest room at our lake house.

Since we are in a “stay at home” order because of the corona virus and I can’t get to the stores for supplies, I used what I had in my craft stash.

I had this two pack of doilies from Dollar Tree. They have the perfect shabby chic look and they fit perfectly inside the window panes.

I used Modge Podge to glue the doilies to the glass. The glue goes on white but dries clear. I glued them to the back of the glass.

I used a wall decal sticker like the one above from Dollar Tree. Just peel and stick to the front of the glass.

To finish it off, I hot glued a flower to the front of the top window pane.

Sadly, this is my last window in my collection. I guess it’s time to hunt for some more! Thanks for stopping by!!

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Dollar Tree Diy Rope Tray Craft

We are in quarantine! Our state has called a Shelter in Place. We’re fighting the Corona Virus. Our household is thankfully ok. I hope whoever is reading this is doing well also. Hopefully we beat this global pandemic soon and it will be a thing of the past. I needed something to take my mind off of this stressful situation..

I needed to craft. Since I haven’t been out to Dollar Tree in a few weeks, I am low on craft supplies. I went through my craft stash and found some rope and decided to make this tray.

I used four 9ft rolls of rope from Dollar Tree and hot glue. That’s it.

I started by making a circle with the rope, gluing as I went.

I just keep going around and around.

The circle took 21ft (3 rolls), I know! It doesn’t look like that much. It ended up being 11” diameter.

Then I started the walls of the trays. I glued 9ft around the topside of the edge of the rope, cutting it to fit perfectly each layer.

I had a small piece left. I cut it in half and glued handles to the inside of the tray.

I will be putting this in my lake house because rope reminds me of nautical decor. It would be cool to have three different sizes, you could hang them on a wall. Hmmmm, I might just do that..

This satisfied my urge to craft during this stressful time. I hope you all stay safe!! We’ll get through this! God Bless!!

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Decorating Our Lake House on a Thrifty Budget: The Laundry Room

We have been slowly decorating our dream lake house room by room. The house was already beautiful and move in ready but I just want to put my own touches in each room. This will be our place to retire in a few years so it is a work in progress.

You can read my other posts about the other rooms I have done. I am a thrifty person. I love thrift stores and finding things on clearance. I hardly ever pay full price for anything.

This was our laundry room before. It was already nice before and has lots of storage but I wanted more functionality. I wanted to have an industrial shelf and we needed somewhere to hang clothes to dry and since we are on a lake, a place to hang wet swimsuits.

My handy husband made this shelf with some plumbing pipes and fittings. He cut the wood to fit, stained it then put it up. It’s decorative and functional. I think it fills the space in better and I have a place to sit some decorative things on. Before I had no surfaces to sit anything on.

He then made this industrial clothing rack out of a wood board, plumbing pipes and fittings. This wall was big and bare. This is a perfect spot to hang clothes to dry or swimsuits and towels.

This was a very quick, fun project. We got it done in one day. I’m very happy with how it turned out.

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Dollar Tree Faux Wood Blocks Made From Foam Dice Farmhouse Rustic

Here is my take on the faux wood letter blocks.

I see a lot of these with the word “HOME” or “LOVE” and I wanted to make one with the word “LAKE” since we have a place on the lake.

I used the foam blocks from Dollar Tree, painted them with Waverly chalk paint in Plaster, three coats. Then I took the color Truffle and brush on areas that I felt would show wear overtime.

I hand painted the letters because I didn’t have small enough stencils. I hot glued them all together in a square shape, then tied with a rustic ribbon.

Follow my blog for more dollar tree craft and decorating ideas

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Dollar Tree Throw Pillows Diy Boho Decor

I love throw pillows. I think they are great way to add a cozy feeling to any room. Throw pillows can be expensive! They are so easy to make. I picked up these throw rugs from Dollar Tree and decided that’s just what I would make from them.

I folded them over and sewed the edges, you could use hot glue but I just wanted them to be extra sturdy. I used the stuffing from an old pillow that I had. Then I used hot glue to seal all the edges. It seriously took me a half an hour to make one. The fringe gives them a cool boho vibe. These would also make great farmhouse decor.

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Shabby Chic Jewelry Picture Frame Craft Diy

We have been spending the week at our lake house and it is wintertime so there is not a lot of outside activities. Sure we have gone for walks on the frozen lake and had some success at ice fishing but it has warmed up enough for the lake to get slushy on top so now it is unsafe.

Walking on the Frozen Lake
Ice Fishing
My Crazy Dog Having a Blast!

We have had a lovely time and we were all ready to head back home but our Jeep wouldn’t start. It is currently in the shop and we are in a stuck in a waiting game. I mean if I were to choose to be stranded anywhere, it would be here.

Dinner View

I love to craft and felt the urge to hot glue something so I pulled out some costume jewelry I have been collecting from thrift stores and my hot glue gun and and old frame and got busy. My local thrift bundles up broken jewelry into baggies and sells them as craft jewelry. It’s a wonderful idea!

I used wire cutter pliers and broke all the posts of the earrings and pins of of brooches and took apart a few necklaces and laid it all out. I ended up using more jewelry pieces then what is pictured above.

I started gluing. I had some idea of how I wanted it. I knew for sure the giant rhinestone brooch would be on the top corner, then I went from there. This picture is with all the jewelry in the previous picture. It takes a lot of jewelry! I used a 5×7 frame. I picked this one up at the thrift store. The edge needs to be flat and wide enough to accommodate the jewelry. This one worked perfectly.

Here is the finished product. It is the first jewelry frame I have made. I think this one will go in my walk-in closet with my grand kids picture in it.

Now I want to start a collection of jewelry and frames for our guests that come to visit and like to craft and they can have a keepsake to take home.

Thanks for stopping by! Subscribe and comment below what you think! I’d love to hear from you.

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Dollar Tree Candlestick Topiary Craft Dupe Farmhouse Decor

I was browsing on Pinterest and I came across these candlestick topiaries and right away I knew I could make a dupe of them with Dollar Tree Supplies.

Here’s the ones I copied on Pinterest. Sorry not the clearest picture but you get the idea.

To make one, I glued together two glass candle holders from Dollar Tree with e6000 glue. Next I painted the bottom and top of the glass with acrylic metallic gold paint. I did three coats. I wanted the paint to look a little distressed.

Supplies I used

Then I took a styrofoam ball and hot glued green moss from Dollar Tree all over it. There were a few strays here and there so I gave it a little spray with hairspray. Then I glued them into the candle holders. I love how they came out!