Tag Archives: Home Decor

Costco with a Cause

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Today was a day spent at Costco with hubby.. while perusing the many isles of shoppers delights I came across this stand with these beautiful baskets.. OMG!  I had not seen them before.  So, naturally I begin looking at them.. I’m studying the many design patterns salivating over their beauty and wondering which one of these babies is coming home with me.  Then I happen to pay attention to the little card/tag on it and saw they were hand-crafted by women in Africa.  The cause.. ALL ACROSS AFRICA – helping to serve the poor and impoverished.

            

All Across Africa is dedicated to improving the lives of the poor and marginalized with economic opportunity through job creation and educational programs.  They  work with more than 3000 weavers on a regular basis. Each basket made and sold means food and medicine, education, community, and security for their weavers— and each basket means new life.  Read more about this vital organization here.   By now the Hubs is rolling his eyes, waiting patiently for me to make my choice…Here I am trying to read all the cards and decide which one .. I just said “go ahead”  I’ll catch up.. and his reply “nah, nah – you’ll be here forever”.. Oh boy – darnnit..    now you tell me.. how can I choose one so quickly when they’re all so beautiful.. take a look at some of these.. basket      basket1     basket2

Do you see what I see… decisions, decisions…    I mean look at those patterns and colors…

basket4 basket6       basket8

Oh my, my, my.. I just can’t make up my mind… by now I’m hearing “WILL YOU COME On!!!!” and then I say  Uggghhhh… “Will you wait!!” .  You know how we women are.. we have to think first .. ok…..where is it going to go, what room, the colors in that room and the size & shape.. what are you going to do with it.. .

baskets9 baskets10 baskets13

Is your head spinning like mine with excitement????  chuckles…

In addition to these beauties.. they also had jewelry – get this – made out of recycled magazine paper..

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They also had handbags too!!

        

This was too much… ok,  now I’m realizing… I need to hurry up and make a decision..  

 This is the one that landed in my cart and came home

With this note from Jeanne:

I haven’t decided where or what I’m going to do with it.. but in the mean time, it’ll hang here reminding me that instead of shopping just “because” ……  I shopped with a “CAUSE”

          

So instead of me getting my 4 bags of brownie brittle and a few other goodies I normally get, I exchanged them for something more viable.. and knowing my purchase could help the Rwandans gives me a rewarding feeling.  If you’re not a Costco member, you can still make a purchase through their website.

Here are some of the pictures decorating using baskets from their website:

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Are you just as excited as I am???  now – go get your basket  🙂

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$2.00 Tuesday #6

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Well it’s that day of the week and so far so good… Your Vintage Girl is at it again.  My luck may be running thin on these items, but I managed to get something.  I re-visited the Goodwill (went back to check on the bean bag) and it was gone  🙁  oh well … but I came across this item.   Here I go… thinking .. hmmmmm…  maybe? maybe not? maybe?   Yes!   I’ll take it…  Here is what I brought home… I know you’re wondering what is it?   It’s a  wall vase… I clearly see why the owner got rid of it…pretty boring (well, unless you like black & silver together)..

The price….$2.50  —  that’ll work…   🙂

and I noticed something interesting.. it was made in the USA…. ok.. even better.. because I did’t think I’d ever see that tag

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Well, time to give this a refreshingly new look…..Paint is the first thing to do… I already have some latex paint left over from this project..

Much better – starting to look a bit more eye friendly  –  at least for me it is…   Time to fill the vase..  Since I’m going to use it outside, I’ll make a winter white theme.   Mother nature is my resource for those items.  Oh, and I also wanted to add a little decoration to it.. my feeble attempt failed.. but I did like the little silvery hearts (thanks to  Cassie- my neighbor-  gave a bag of them) so I decided to keep those on it.   (I’ve never been too crafty – but one day I’ll work on those skills).   I went outside to get a few tree branches and sprayed them silver (to match the little tip) and added them..

needs more nature to it..  these will work just fine

and here’s the finished product for my Winter White Arrangement

            

I think I really like this little arrangement….What’s your take???   Keep in mind – not bad for $2.50 “giggles”.

 

Joined at the Hip

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It’s been a week since I’ve been back from going home for Thanksgiving and I’m still reminiscing in the wonderful time I had visiting family.  I’d like to share my short story about the visit and staying with my twin.  It’s just amazing how even though we live hundreds of miles apart, when I go to her house – it’s like home away from home.. seriously.  Down to the point of when I look in her cabinet to cook something – we even have the same spices.. chuckles.. it’s really something to think about.  The week prior to my visit I had been playing a particular cd alot..”Caron Wheeler” the cd I used in my Lite as a Feather post.. I love the entire cd..well – I get to her house.. and guess what.. she has it playing in her kitchen (just like me).. now this is the odd part.. We were playing the same music in our homes not knowing it.  I gave her a copy of that cd at least a year ago and she said “Kim – I just put this cd in last week for the first time and love – every song!”  Inside I was perturbed because I thought “what took you so long”  but somehow she must have read my face and quickly said..”I know it took a long time, but I’ve been listening to so many cds our aunt Pookie (who is another music buff) had been giving her that she just hadn’t taken the time to listen.. but now she’s regretting it took so long because she loves it..)  That made me happy.  But moving along because I could write a book about us…chuckles..  My sister’s home is so lovely and she (like me) had to completely re-do her home.. I guess we’re just suckers for a good challenge -whereas some people prefer move-in ready to decorate… not us.   I’m just going to share a few snapshots I took of her home.  Her kitchen is just a warm friendly place to be in.  The color tones of yellow, red, black and white are just so welcoming.  When she asked me to make her curtains I was happy to do so, but to see that she still has them makes me smile.  They were simple to make and it’s a rewarding feeling to know that I helped add to her beautiful kitchen.  I adore this vignette around her table.  The picture you see above “Sisters” hugging.. well that was a birthday card I gave her at least 15 years ago.. she had it framed and you see where it hangs 🙂

The other pictures are a tasteful blend of vintage & modern prints

           

Her Dining Room is the crowned jewel of her home. The rich tone of chocolate brown and keylime walls trimmed in gold is absolutely gorgeous.   

              

Her artwork adds to the beauty of the room – with each piece custom framed to her selection

          

Pulling all her vintage furniture pieces together to create this fabulous look was truly tastefully accomplished.

The Living Room, which is equally stunning, was also completely redesigned.  Her old mantel was torn out and her husband  handcrafted a newly design mantel to her liking – and customizing a border around the art was another creative special touch.

           

This is the front view of her beautiful fireplace

Gorgeous!!  Isn’t it??

I also love the vintage desk and how she has it displayed with the exquisite artwork above it.

Mind you, every fabulous piece of furniture was found in thrift stores lovingly refinished – because that’s how we Vintage girls love to do it.  The song I chose for this post is called “Special”.. because that’s what she is to me.. and as the lyric says “sisterly bond is worth more than gold” and those words are never more true.   I know you’re probably wondering why I chose the name for this post.  Well,  it comes from my aunt who always says “we’re joined at the hips” and after hearing my short story I’m sure you can agree.

I hope you enjoyed your visit of my sister’s home, and I hope you enjoyed the “Special” tune I played for you.

$2.00 Tuesday #3

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Ok.. I wasn’t as successful with this week’s post, but I did manage to get a few items for $2.00.  I ventured into Hwy 121 Indoor Yard Sale here in Whitmire.  The lady there was very pleasant.  I found a whole bunch of items in that store for $2.00  –  I was like “WOW” ,  I could really stretch my buck here.. chuckles… But I couldn’t use a lot of the items I saw..(but, if I ever need any more glasses, I know where to go – they all were roughly $0.10-0.20 cents a piece)..     These are the items I came home with.   All for $2.00    —   not bad – again..

$2.00      

Even though I’m a dog person, I couldn’t resist the little kitty cat eyes on the little planter (not to mention the price)..   🙂   Although I don’t decorate for Christmas, I do like the decorations and the colors of the ornaments.  I’ll use them another way to add color around the house.    I cleaned the kitty and found her a place on the windowsill  for a coleus plant I’m rooting for next year..

She looks pretty cute perched  on the widow with the other plants..  🙂

As for the tree bulbs.. I like putting things inside my potted plats  (rocks are always the norm) but I thought I’d give them a try in this plant.. something to hide the big roots because they’re big and round.

I added the balls for some color in the pot..  and here is what it looks like..

not bad for some color in the pot- and unlike rocks – they don’t add extra weight (because it’s very heavy – every summer it goes outside for nature to take care of it) and I get the dreaded sigh from my son when he has to lift it to take it out..

And for the crystals.. I’m going to use those on a crafts project..   Will get back to you on that note..

So you see shopping with $2.00 is  not impossible.. practical but definitely not impossible..

Besides….This is getting kind of fun too!

Once upon a tray table

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There once was a life for this boring tray table.  But since the children are gone and we’ve become empty nesters.. there isn’t much use for it.  The kids used it for multiple purposes..so it just sits in a corner…that is until now..I’ve decided to make good use of it for myself.  So here’s a look at the poor old lifeless tray table.  Very ordinary right?  But.. it served its purpose for them and now it’s about to serve its purpose for me.

Time to get rid of the bland wood tone.  I’ve always wanted to try chalkboard paint so this would be my first project using it.  I painted the top with the chalkboard paint and painted the bottom with a hammered bronze paint.   So far so good, I like how it came out.

But it still needed something to hide the squareness of the boring table..    Remember my  $0.50 Sunday project ?  The picture frame is ready to be used

I measured the frame and the opening fits perfectly  on top of the table.  Soooo,  now the old tray table has a new look..It is now the guest bedroom “Welcome Station” .

I wrote a little note to let them know how welcomed they are.

The ribbon holds a spare key just in case I leave, they’ll still have access to the house.

It’s no longer sitting there to collect dust

Holla at your girl and let me know what you think?  Feel free to follow me on my Pinterest Make-MeOver board