"A New Day" Airs Tomorrow at 11 a.m. on Channel 9!

Tomorrow is almost here!

In fact, tomorrow is tomorrow!

If you missed last Thursday's post,
I had the opportunity to put my thrifting knowledge to good use. 

Phylicia of Black Girls Thrift Too and I took part in a five minute segment on thrifting in Cincinnati.

 And yes, she's as fun as she looks.

If you tune in Sunday she'll entertain your thrifted pants off!

"A New Day" airs Sunday morning  at 11 a.m. on WCPO channel 9 Cincinnati.

Don't they have a beautiful set?

 The lovely Jennifer Moore (middle) interviewed us.

Her easy-going nature helped me relax and hopefully made me avoid any deer-in-the-headlights faces.

I do know that at one point I scratched the right side of my face with about four fingers on my left hand.

Pretty sure it was as awkward as it sounds.

I guess we'll find out Sunday!

 

Getting miked on set by one of the crew members.

The same guy operated three cameras at once. Super impressive!

I must admit that I struggeled with outfit selection.

 

After an hour of trying outfits, I decided on a look that would be safe for TV.

Not that I have any real knowledge or experience on the matter....

Zara Blazer, thrifted at St. Vincent de Paul on Glenway, $5.99. 

Purple t-shirt, $3.99 Goodwill

J.Jill Jeans, St. Vincent de Paul on Glenway, $4.99

Purse, St. Vincent de Paul on Glenway, $4.99

Necklace, Blackberry Exchange in Columbia, MO $3

The shoes I bought at Target 10 years ago.

The embellishments are actually vintage clip-on earrings, a gift from my mother.

It's hard to tell from this angle if I made the right outfit call. What do you think?

Whatever the outcome, I had an amazing time! Thanks WCPO!

And thanks to my über supportive fiancé who played the part of entourage/photographer.

He captured all the shots above. Thanks Cory!

Don't forget to tune into Channel 9, ABC tomorrow at 11 a.m.! 

Are you as nervous to watch recorded me as I am?

AH!

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Coming to a TV Near You!

 

Teaser! Teaser!

This morning I filmed a short segment on thrifting for "A New Day" on WCPO Cincinnati.

 

As you can see it was very well lit. 

 It's me, hanging out in Studio B.

I love rhymes. 

Tune in this Sunday, September 1st to  at 11 a.m.
to watch "A New Day" on Cincinnati WCPO ABC Channel 9.

They'll be more behind the scenes photos soon. 

TEASE TEASE TEASE.

Kitchen Décor

I'm no chef. In fact, Cory does 99.99% of the cooking in our family.

I say 99.9% because he's tried the few meals I know and vetoed them all. Not that I'm complaining...

 But where I DO contribute is thrifty kitchen décor.

 

Matching glass canisters. $5 for a set of two at Goodwill.

 

Beer growler reused as a container for rice.  A glass vase ($2) re-purposed as a straw holder.

Straws are one of my favorite luxuries. Not to mention they make every drink more fun! You have have to hold onto some childhood wonder, right?

 

Paper towel holder. $.50 Goodwill. Coffee saver, $3, Burlington Thrift Store.

Set of four valances purchased from St.Vincent De Paul on Glenway. $2.50 

They perfectly match both the grey and the red wall colors.

 

Fell in love with this needle point the moment I saw it. So happy and '70s. $2.00 at Goodwill.

 

Obsessed with anything '60's and yellow. This potholder was in PERFECT condition. $1.99 at St. Vincent De Paul.

 

Speaking of yellow...

 Not to be dramatic, but this scalloped trim table cloth is EVERYTHING.  $3.00 at Goodwill.

Family artwork is always a great way to add to a space.

As a renter, we have to work with existing paint colors.
Luckily, this painting was the perfect fit.

All the artwork was created by Cory's grandmother, Nana.  Thanks Nana!

Until next time, Bon Nuit!

This is like Forwards for Blogs, Right?

You guys know I'm a little bit slow. 

So it took me a couple week to get on this "Five Things" business that's going around the blogs.  It sort of reminds me of chain letters or email forwards but what the heck.  Ally from Fever Thrift was kind enough to think of me, so I'll give it a shot.

Five things I'm passionate about?

1) Family (friends included!) You guys are swell. Keep it up.

2) Writing. Not to get cheeche (Cheesy + Cliche = Cheeche) but it's what I love.

3) Human Rights. Gay Rights. Lady Right. Rights of any kind.

4) Thrifting. Don't work all day just to blow your money on a mall t-shirt.

5) Joan of Arc, Helen Keller and Kanye West. They're my inspiration crew forever and for always.

Five things I want to do before I die?

1) Run a Marathon. I started training a couple years ago and three weeks in I fell roller skating and burst my bursa sack. Classic Amy.

2) Have a national writing presence. I don't even care which nation, just one of them.

3) Own a dog. Run with that dog.

4) Fall from the sky (on purpose).

5) Live to see gay marriage legalized in every state.

Five things I say a lot?

1) "So close."

2) "I feel..."

3) "Ouch!" - have I mentioned I'm clumsy?

4) "That's sexist." I enjoy a good rant

5) "BUT REALLY?"

Five favorite movies?

1) Midnight in Paris

2) Being John Malkovich

3) Rocket Science

4) Zoolander

5) Anchorman

Five favorite thrifted items?

1) Clarks sandals

2) Pressed flower frame

3) Faux pearl necklace with flowers.

4) YSL leather and brass belt

5) Our first couch. Bought at a Missouri Goodwill for $39.

It made the 4 mile trip from the store to our house like this.
And yes, everyone was pointing and laughing at us. :)

Bonne nuit de Cincinnati Thrift!

Curtains and all their Drama

We live in a beautiful old house built in 1912.

It has lovely features like a large foyer, high ceilings, and wide windows. They're not only large, they are some of the largest I have ever lived with, and are wonderfully blinds-free. Not since college I have lived without blinds, and my solution back then was buying an entire bolt of blue jersey for a dollar and using fabric ducktape (yes that's a real thing) to get them to stay.  It looked slightly better than it sounds.

So with Cory's blessing, I took the creative freedom reigns and began the hunt for curtains. Of course, I wanted to thrift them. I had previously purchased a brand new Target curtain to spice up my cubicle, so I figured I wouldn't have too much trouble. BOY WAS I WRONG.

The biggest obstacle of thrifting curtains was the need for four matching panels. The windows are very wide: they required 100 inches of fabric to be fully covered. Because of this I couldn't get away with one panel per window.

The stock that I did find was boring and overpriced. $20 for used beige Target curtains?
NO THANK YOU MA'AM.

Weeks of unsuccessful thrifting forced me to move on. Finding fabric and making my own panels came to mind until I discovered how  insanely expensive fabric is these days. For the amount of fabric I would need, the end cost would be $30 in fabric, plus all the time it takes to sew them. I've just recently gotten back into sewing ( formally an 8th grade pillow/purse/jeans-to-skirt maker). My skills are pretty dull and I knew if I was going to spend that kind of money, I wanted them done right.

TJ Maxx and similar stores had great prices ($12-$30 for a pair) but a terrible selection of colors. More beige curtains? THE WORST.  I had the urge to throw paint on them.  Color is a serious need in my life. If you have doubts of this ask anyone in my family about my middle school/highschool bedroom which was modeled after an Indian circus. My family just recently painted over the muti-colored stripes, and thus confessed how hideous they thougtht it was. Even my sweet grandma labled them "very unique," which in kindly South Dakota talk means "the worst color combination I've ever seen." :) Love you grammy!

I finally purchased panels from West Elm, a home furnishing company.

They are more gold than yellow, but look great with our decor so I'm happy.
Also Cory and I were tired of looking. ($39 per panel)
When I first started looking, that felt like an outrageous price
but similar curtains are selling between $50 - $100 per panel.

HERE COMES THE THRIFTY PART

With all this fabric cost, I wanted a super cheap way of tying them back.
Being a renter, I try to be mindful of marking up the walls. 

My solution: Curtain Ties!

Add caption

Remember 2 years ago when arm candy was raging? Well, I found a use for all those bracelets.

I think it's easiest to use bracelets with closures as opposed to ties.
Don't forget to be mindful if you're using delicate fabrics,
you don't want to snag beautiful curtains!

Bon Nuit!

Reuse, Redesign, Repurpose: A Desk Part II

 

 As you can recall from Reuse, Redesign, Repurpose...Part I 

I was making over this lovely desk.

 

 

Before:

After:

You may also recall, painting it turned out to be a bit of work.

 

So all that effort and there's still two large cracks that render the bottom unable to hold any real weight.
That makes it a little more difficult to use as a writing desk (I have many non-leather bound books).

So now what?

 

What if it was re-purposed for the hallway?

 

Above is a view of our foyer.  It's surprisingly large for the size of our house.
Before the desk, I had a bookshelf there, but it didn't quite fill up the space like I wanted.

Most of the accessories seen here are second hand. The frame (left) was $3.50 at Snooty Fox. The lamp was bought as part of a garage sale pair ($5 for the set) then spray painted sliver and given a new shade ($5 from Target). The mail sorter (right) was thrifted for a mere $.50. The thrifted white bowl for keys and what-not was $1. The middle photo in frame is actually our holiday postcard ($.30 each including postage) in a thrifted frame ($.25).  The bottom silver Target tray was $10 new and disguises the large crack.

I should mention that these items were not purchased during one shopping trip or even within one year. It takes time and energy to find useful, useful gems. If it wasn't challenging, everyone would do it. That's why mass production exists, for the ease of consumer access. And also, probably to make someone money. 
Sorry choir, I'll stop preaching now.

 

This knob is so cute. I'm also a big fan of wear-and-tear.  It says "Hello! I've been loved!" and I like that.

 

The final texture.

 

Someday, there will be a photo in this frame and its life mission will be fulfilled. Today is not that day.

 

Yes, those are real, tiny pressed flowers between glass.

 

This lamp used to be matte-brown. Adding a bit of shine really made it modern.

 

 Isn't this an adorable mail sorter? Cory found it, so I can't take credit.

The color/texture combo really helped warm up the stark white of the desk.

Until next time, Bon nuit!

 

Reuse, Redesign, Repurpose: A Desk Part I

 

I bought this desk at a neighbor's garage sale
shortly after moving into our new home.

 

I loved the carved out legs and the overall minimalistic feel of it:
the open shelves, the petite size. It would be the perfect writing desk.

The legs had some serious wear, but I wasn't concerned because I
was planning on painting it from the moment I saw it.

Desk: $10

What I hadn't noticed before were the two large cracks,
one on the top and one on the bottom shelf.

 

The top crack was noticeable but didn't damage the structure. 

However, the shelf crack was a different story.
Due to time and age, the wood had warped and refused to re-fuse with super glue.
So no heavy books on that shelf. :/

The makeover of the desk was not as breezy as I had anticipated.  

 

This day was the first without rain in a week and a half.
With storm clouds looming above, I opted for the quick-dry option of spray paint.

I went to Home Depot and bought a sanding sponge ($3) and one can of white spray paint with varnish ($5). I thought it would take me one, maybe two cans, but since we don't live that far from the old depot,
I only bought one. 

Here's the process: 

Sand until your paint level is even. I then washed the desk because it had been sitting outside all day at the garage sale. If you are going to wash an item made of wood, make sure it doesn't soak in. If you are diligent about this, it should only need about 5 minutes in the sun before you're ready to paint.

My first can was a dud. 

Most of the paint collected at the top of the can and dripped down the side. Yikes. So Cory went out and purchased another one. About halfway through that can, I realized I was going to run out of paint again, and he ran back out and bought me two more.

Are you keeping track? That's 4 cans of spray paint ($20!) and one priceless fiancé.

 Suffice to say, I should have just bought a can of paint and a brush.

Total cost of project:  $33  -  I was planning on spending about $20. 
Lesson learned, next time research different paint options.

A close-up of the painted desk. 

Check out Part II of this post to see it decked out and in action!

Bon Nuit!