Thrift Store Transformations Archives

September 17, 2018 By Yami Leave a Comment

5 Dollar Goodwill Challenge Fall Centerpiece 2018

So remember when I shared my last thrift store haul and I had purchased that obnoxiously red basket for $2.52?

Well, it was finally time to give it a facelift!

It was perfect timing too, because I was able to finish it just in time for the $5 Goodwill Seasonal Challenge hosted by Hillary at Old World Home. This challenge is always so fun because there are so many great videos on how to up-cycle thrift store items into beautiful pieces without spending more than $5 at the thrift store.

The best thing about this transformation is that it’s super easy and only required paint!

Paint I used:

some of the links are affiliate links

Here’s what I did:

So first, I used the Tilled Soil paint and gave the basket 2 coats, making sure the red was completely covered.

Then once the paint was fairly dry, I dry-brushed the Parisian Grey paint making light strokes all over the basket.I didn’t want the basket looking too brown.

By adding the gray throughout it gave it a more weathered look.

And finally I added my favorite paint, Linen White to give it that coastal driftwood feel.

I dry-brushed it on as well making sure to get both the inside and outside of the basket.

Then I had my little helper (aka 6 year old daughter, Natalia) help me decorate the basket with pumpkins I had from last year.

You can see her in the full tutorial below.

And that was basically it! Like my daughter says, “Easy peasy lemon squeezy!”

I love how it turned out and I am so happy that I was able to grab that basket before anyone else did. It was in perfect condition, it just needed a little TLC…

And it looks so good with my neutral pumpkins & fall decor this year.

Have you ever purchased a basket at Goodwill?

Let me know below!

July 19, 2018 By Yami 1 Comment

Pottery Barn Inspired Mirror DIY

Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links. For full disclosure, please go here

Hello dear friends! I am so excited because today is the first day of my new monthly Look for Less Challenge that I mentioned to you a couple of weeks ago. However, I must apologize right away because I only have the video tutorial ready for you (life happened this week and I am a little behind), but rest assured I will be updating this post in a couple of days in order to include the step by step blog post as well for those of you who prefer that method.

So…..I have been wanting to create a trellis mirror for a while now. They are not only gorgeous, but they are timeless as well. However, these mirrors can come with a hefty price tag.

I have been eyeing one particular mirror at Pottery Barn… the one below to be exact….

Isn’t she dreamy?

And while it’s currently on sale, it’s still too much for my budget!

So, I thought I would recreate it myself.

I headed off to my local Goodwill and with the help of some 3/8″ square dowels, a thrifted mirror that cost me $5.95, a hand saw (I recommend this one for dowels), some chalk paint in the color Linen White here is what I came up with…

and here is how I pulled it off!

Pottery Barn Inspired Mirror DIY – Video Tutorial

Don’t forget to make sure and check out the playlist of the other talented YouTubers who joined this challenge this month and see what amazing pieces they created!

Oh and my co-host Heidi Sonboul upholstered a thrifted chair to look like something you would buy at Pottery Barn as well. Definitely check her video out too!

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial above and I hope this inspired you to recreate something you have been eyeing that is totally out of your budget. Just because you can’t buy it doesn’t mean you can’t “have” it!

See you real soon!

June 28, 2018 By Yami 12 Comments

How to Sew a Basket Liner

Happy Thursday dear friends! I am so excited today because I am joining in again on another thrift store upcycle project along with some other talented bloggers. Last month, I shared my farmhouse box makeover and previously I shared my Goodwill lamp makeover, and while I am sharing another coastal farmhouse themed project, this one will not require paint.

One of my earliest sewing projects was my extra long table runner and I just shared some navy and white round chargers that turned amazing (to my surprise) so I am trying to incorporate more sewing tutorials on my blog. However, please note, I am not in any way shape or form a seamstress. I am mediocre at best, but it is something I enjoy and the more I do it the more I like to challenge myself.

You’ve been warned! 😉

So if you haven’t seen this monthly thrift store upcycle challenge before here is what it’s all about!

The Rules:

Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
There’s no monthly theme.
There’s no budget to stick to.

Meet this Month’s Hosts

Make sure you follow our board on Pinterest for more upcycled decor inspiration!

This post may contain affiliate links, please see full disclosure here.

My Project: How to Sew a Basket Liner (for my Goodwill Basket)

I recently shared my latest thrift store haul video and in it I scored a square basket at my local Goodwill for under $2.00. Click here to watch the video and see what else I scored.

Since I had a small amount of fabric from my craft room transformation I thought I would use it to create a liner. I was so happy I had just enough for it. Here’s a sneak peak!

I am sure there are better tutorials out there, but mine is a little different because I don’t use a tape measure. NOPE! I just eyeball everything, but it’s simple and it works every time. So here is how I do it.

First…

I take my fabric and cut the fabric for the sides of the basket. I make sure to leave about 1/2 inch allowance on the sides and that it will be tall enough to go over the sides of the basket. There is not exact measurement, just leave enough for however much fabric you want to come down and over the sides.

I cut the 2 longer sides first and then the 2 shorter sides.

Since I barely had any fabric left I had to use some leftover white denim from my last project for the base. I basically set the basket on top of it and cut around it leaving about another 1/2 inch seam allowance.

Then it was time to attach the sides to the base. I attached the shorter sides first. Make sure your fabric is facing in for this.

I sewed them together with my Singer (this is the one I own).

I attached the other short side.

Then it was time for the longer sides. Make sure to sew up until the shorter side seam (shown below). Not past.

You should have something that resembles a cross at this point.

Then it’s time to attach the sides. I do them all at once.

You will see that the bottom seam allowance (below) will be wider than the top. This is GOOD. This is what you want.

Go ahead and sew all 4 sides together. Once done, insert the liner and make sure it lines up nicely and make any adjustments if necessary.

Once I am happy with it, I run my serger on all of the seams, to prevent the fabric from fraying (here is the serger I use).

If you don’t have a serger you can use the zigzag stitch on your machine.

I even serge the boarder that goes over the basket.

Once I do this I decide how low I want my liner to come down on the basket and pin it.

Then I run it one last time through my machine.

And that’s it! Now I have a basket that looks like it came from Pottery Barn! 😉 And it has that perfect coastal farmhouse style I love so much!

I hope you like this thrift store transformation! The best thing about this, is that I can change the look of the fabric for different seasons and holidays just by changing the liner. I hope to get a lot of use out this little basket.

I will see you soon!

Shop this look!

And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

An InLinkz Link-up

March 22, 2018 By Yami 14 Comments

Thrift Store Lamp Transformation

Hello friends! I didn’t realize it had been this long since I wrote a new post. Yikes! Truth be told… many things have been going on in the background and these past few weeks have been a little overwhelming, however, I am glad to say I am back in the game and you will be seeing more of me and my projects. I have several in the works and will be sharing my ideas in the next few days.

I have been thinking about implementing some lifestyle changes recently and one of my newest (and most important) goals this year for me is to spend as little as possible when it comes to my home’s decor.

Our home is large….. 5,200 sq. ft. large and since I stay at home I cannot just go out and get whatever I want especially since I am really trying to implement my new style and make the best with what I have until I can do all the things I want with my home.

However, I still want a stylish home!!! Gah!

And I know, these things take time and I have been focused on the end goal instead of making the best of the journey and allowing it to properly feed my destination.

So…. that being said, it’s back to Goodwill Hunting as I like to call it and since I have completed my craft room I will be putting it to good use as I transform inexpensive finds to fit my needs and my style.

Related: $5 Goodwill Challenge

And what better way to start than with a thrift store challenge!

I joined several other bloggers to get my butt into gear and get me started on this journey. In today’s post I will be showing you what I did in my latest thrift store lamp transformation (that was almost a disaster).

It will be a monthly thing to so the details are below in case you wish to join along.

The Rules:

Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
There’s no monthly theme.
There’s no budget to stick to.

Meet the Hosts

Thrift Store Lamp Transformation

So I bought this lamp at my local Goodwill for $3.93. It was still in great working condition and it had a beautiful shape to it.

It was perfect, and I knew exactly what I was going to do with it.

My goal was to buy a linen drum shade (or at least one that looked like linen) and paint the base and distress it for that farmhouse look.

Here are the supplies I used:

White chalk paint (I used this one)
180 Grit Sandpaper Sheets
White wax (I used this one)
Wax brush – here is my favorite inexpensive one that I used in this tutorial and on these shelves
Old rag
Small brush
Clear adhesive bumper pads

To watch the tutorial you can click the video below as well…

Let’s get started……

First I cleaned off the lamp with a damp cloth.

Then I applied the white chalk paint.

I’m not gonna lie. It looked a hot mess and I freaked out a bit when I saw the first coat.

But I kept going…

After three coats, the lamp was better coated, but then the paint was so thick in some places it looked terrible.

However, I knew I wanted it to be distressed so I began sanding (and praying) that it would turn out okay. I was concerned about the brush strokes…

You can see them up close below.

What a nightmare…. but I kept going… I was determined to make this right!

And alas, it got better!

The brush strokes finally started fading away… but not without some serious elbow grease.

Then when I could not sand anymore I wiped it all down with a damp cloth and proceeded to apply the white wax. As soon as I was done applying it, I wiped the excess off.

I let the wax cure overnight for 24 hours and then added the shade and placed it on the side table in my keeping room.

It’s not “perfect” by any means, but I am really happy with it. The lamp looks so much better and I love how well the shade complements it. I added little clear adhesive tabs to the bottom so it would not scratch any of my furniture.

It’s got that farmhouse rustic charm but still light and airy for that coastal look I love so much.

Since I had all of the supplies at hand the cost for this project was only $19 since the lamp was $3.93 and the shade was $14.99.

Similar ones online go for waaaaay more… just check out this one below available right now! Yikes!

It’s gorgeous, but I would rather save my money and cherish the one I just transformed…. 😉

What did you think? How did you like this thrift store transformation? Would you like to see more projects like this? Leave your comments below and don’t forget to subscribe below as well!

And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

An InLinkz Link-up

*some of the links are affiliate links*

*Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links. For full disclosure, please go here*

Pottery Barn Inspired Mirror DIY – Video Tutorial

The Rules:

Meet this Month’s Hosts

This post may contain affiliate links, please see full disclosure here.

My Project: How to Sew a Basket Liner (for my Goodwill Basket)

And now for more thrifty goodness!

The Rules:

Meet the Hosts

Thrift Store Lamp Transformation

Here are the supplies I used:

To watch the tutorial you can click the video below as well…

Let’s get started……

Instagram

some of the links are affiliate links

Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links. For full disclosure, please go here