Thrift Store Finds

This past weekend, J and I went to Ohio to celebrate his grandfather's 90th birthday. Despite the cold (we had frost one morning!), it was great getting to visit with everyone. I hope to make my thrifting rounds this week, but until then we will just enjoy pictures from last week's excursion.

This hutch(?) was $185, but I imagine someone could get a better deal since it was priced March 14. The ovals are so interesting, the drawers are dovetailed, and there were no funny odors. All those qualities plus being in great condition make this piece of furniture a great mid century thrift store find! I couldn't find much info on the company, but included a photo of the label.

This $15 chair has personality. The seat and back are small, so probably it would be good for a child's room assuming that child does not like to leap off elevated platforms. Otherwise, you may have injuries.

These matching end tables were $30 each but usually you can get $10 off the total price if you buy the pair. Not bad if you want something you won't feel bad spray painting.

This end table was quite large and heavy. Priced at $70, it is a bit more expensive than Habitat's normal end tables. However, the hardware and wood grain details make it more interesting than the average Habitat end table too.

Not sure if this really fits anyone's style, but the price tag says $40 which means you could snag that large piece of glass for another project and repurpose the base somehow. The lines of the base are actually not bad, so I bet you could update the whole look with a different color scheme.


Wow I love thrifting. So many good things! And even more fascinating/hilariously ugly things! Check out our other thrift store finds and stay tuned for more.

We're Lovin: World Market Summer Hats

I was checking out all the new arrivals last week for summer at some of my favorite online shops.  Top of my list was World Market for budget friendly buys for summer entertaining.  While looking at these fun straws, food domes, great napkins, and great beach chairs, I also spotted a really cute hat for the summer.

Natural Fedora Hat with Turquoise Piping
$19.99
Image Source: World Market

I love the pop of color and the style is great for when you just want to throw your hair in a low pony tail or braid and head out the door.  World Market sent me a 10% off coupon, so I decided to pop in to check it out.  I noticed that they had a lot of great hat options for summer.  Here are a few of my other favorites:

Ivory and Blue Sunhat with Brown Cord
$16.99
Image Source: World Market

Mint Fedora Hat with Suede Tie
$16.99
Image Source: World Market

Black and Ivory Tribal Fedora Hat
$16.99
Image Source: World Market

Black Ribbon Havana Hat
$19.99
Image Source: World Market

The hat fit great and looked sooooooo cute!  Of course, the price was great too, and if it had been $3 cheaper, it could have been a $15 Happiness post.

Love love love this hat! Glad I found it and for such a great price.  Anybody else love a good hat for summer?

Weekend Plans

Briana is off to Ohio to visit J's family for the weekend.  I think she plans on doing some thrift store shopping and also checking out some fabric stores (she informed me today that she is seriously lacking in options in her town).  Besides hittin' up zumba class and gettin' my hair did, I'm hoping to get over to Home Depot to grab some pots to plant mint, basil, and hot pepper plants for my summer "garden" on our patio.  I probably won't get around to planting this weekend, because I've got some ideas to spruce up your typical terracotta pots (stay tuned!).  I'm also planning on making my first angel food cake of the season in my new pan for Bible study on Sunday if I can find decent berries or peaches (yay for fruit season!).  I also have an urge to go thrifting, so I'm going to see what is close by in D.C. that might be worth checking out.  Other than that, I think my allergies have finally subsided enough for us to enjoy some outdoor weather and go for a walk or sit outside for dinner.  Hope you do the same!  Have a great weekend everyone!  Let us know what fun plans you have going on this weekend!

Nashville Shopping: Downtown Antique Mall

When Mr. 3 and I were in Nashville a couple of weeks ago, we stopped by the Downtown Antique Mall on 8th St near the Gulch.  I didn't take note of too many prices because there weren't what I would call thrift store goods, but they had a great selection of antique, vintage, and really interesting finds.  I think the store is set up as a booths with a different dealer responsible for setting up each space.  Lots of vendors set up little vignettes with different themes....which was great!  Overall, I loved getting to poke around another city's vintage finds since D.C. is so seriously lacking.  I'd love to go back and check out more of Nashville's stores someday!  Here's a few of my finds, starting of with a very interesting display of chemist beakers?

Great set of 12 demitasse cups with ornate metalwork.  These were in perfect condition from what I could tell.  I thought they were awesome but I can't imagine ever serving 12 cups of espresso or coffee...nor could I figure out how to travel with that many breakables.

This was one of the cool vignettes set up to look like a mid-century office space.

Really pretty china cabinet with hand painted detailing.

Absolutely beautiful pearl colored silk couch.  I believe it was $500.

These three chairs and side table caught my eye.  I liked the lines and the blue fabric on the seats.

I love love love the glamour of this chandelier!  Really great find.

There was an interesting selection of lamps.

Finally, this chair looked super comfortable and would go great in a man cave by making it a bit more upscale than your typical old recliner.

I spotted a lot of other great finds at this store and I'm kicking myself for not picking up a set of ceramic coasters and some red glass plates that would have gone great with my thrift store cocktail set...buuuut they were a little too expensive for my budget ($25 for the coasters and each plate was like $12 or $14).  Overall, if I find myself in Nashville again, I definitely would come back to the Downtown Antique Mall and probably spend more time in the area checking out the other antique and thrift stores in the area.

Downtown Antique Mall

612 8th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee

615-256-6616

Mon - Sat 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM

Sun 1:00 PM - 5 PM

My DIY Travel Bucket List Project

I've been wanting to create a travel bucket list for Mr. 3 and me.  I didn't want to make it into a google doc where it gets forgotten or slap it on the fridge where it will inevitably fall on the kitchen floor.  I also wanted to make something that would let us see it everyday to remind us of our goals so that we don't forget as the years go by.  Mr. 3 had a shadow box frame from Pottery Barn at his old bachelor pad that we hadn't found a use for just yet.  I decided to find map themed paper and write out each place that we want to travel to on our travel bucket list.  I found a few sheets of scrapbook paper with a travel theme for about 59 cents each at Michaels.

I used my paper cutter to make lots of strips of paper for each destination.

Mr. 3 and I had a marathon conversation one night about all the places we wanted to visit and I took a navy blue pen and wrote one destination on each paper strip.

I decided that I wanted them to look like little flags, so I found some small sewing scissors and cut a triangle out of each strip to make a flag.

I ordered a box of multi-colored map pins from Amazon and arranged them alphabetically for domestic and foreign travel.

I left a little bit of room on each flag so that I can go back and write the month and year we checked a destination off the list.  The shadow box has a stand which makes it easy to display in our living room.

This was a super cheap DIY for me, I think I invested maybe $5 in the project because I already had the shadow box, paper cutter, and markers.  Target has similar shadow boxes available if you would like to make your own travel bucket list display.  If you want to make a similar project, keep a few extra flags for future destinations.

I like looking over and figuring out where Mr. 3 and I might travel in the next few years.  Right after I finished this project, Mr. 3 and I decided we want to check Maine off of our list next summer.   While we are a young couple on a budget, it's fun to dream and make plans with each other for future adventures.  I really encourage everyone to find a way to tastefully display a travel bucket list somewhere in their home to remind them of their dreams.  Anyone else have a travel bucket list?  Are we missing any place spectacular?  Let me know!