Didn't get to do any thrifting this week, but a few weeks ago I went to a garage sale in the back of an antique store I love to frequent.  After I purchased a $12 lamp for my little sis out back, I made my way inside to drool over the good stuff.  I snapped a few pictures of some items that caught my eye.

Since school is out in two days (not that I'm counting down or anything), I thought I would take advantage of my one day a week alone and go thrifting on Tuesday.  I found a few things.

Starting with my favorite:

I bought this next item for two reasons:
1) it was $1.00
2) to remind me to practice patience with my children during summer break

Too bad I didn't find a black and white striped shirt and a whistle. I have a feeling that's what I'll really be needing as I attempt to play referee for the next ten weeks.


That's all folks!  Not sure how much thrifting I'll be doing over the summer.  One of my least favorite things to do, besides laundry, cleaning and cooking, is to take my children shopping with me.  I'll keep up with Thrifty Thursday, just might not be showcasing my own thrifty finds.

Oh and on another, completely off the subject, topic, did you watch Oprah today?  I've always been an Oprah fan and cried my eyes out tonight when I watched the finale.  I was trying to explain to my daughter that I've been watching Oprah since I was her age.  She was trying to comfort me and kept saying, "Oh, I feel so bad for you."  Meanwhile, she was crying because she's going to miss her third grade teacher.  I'm so thankful to have a little girl!  Love those boys too, but they were sword fighting around us while we were having our emotional breakdowns.

I am linking to:
Pink Postcard

Since I am so fickle when it comes to decor and fabric, I'm pleased with the outcome and the price tag ($0).  Like I said, the fabric was given to me and I had plenty of stuffing on hand.  If I change my mind about them in a few months, I won't feel bad.  For now, I'm loving them.

Completely off the subject of lumbar pillows:
We had a strange start to our weekend.  My parents came in town to watch the kiddos while my husband and I went away on Saturday to celebrate his birthday.  They brought along my 9 year old nephew and my 6 year old niece.  On Friday night, I suddenly woke up around 2:30 a.m.  I noticed quite a few lights on so I got up to check things out.  I heard water running in my boys' bathroom and when I went in there, the tub was running and was full of scalding hot water.  I immediately panicked and yelled for my husband.  We went to check on the kids and they were all sound asleep.  Apparently, my nephew and niece have a habit of sleep walking and one of them must have wanted to take a bath in the middle of the night.  Thank goodness he or she didn't actually get in the tub since the water was scalding hot.  I had a really hard time going back to sleep that night for fear that one of them would get up again.  The next morning, neither one of them had any recollection of this.  Scary!

I am linking to:

Savvy Southern Style
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
The Shabby Nest
The Shabby Chic Cottage
Somewhat Simple

I thought I would show you a few lamps I have picked up at thrift stores and antique stores recently.  Lighting is so important in a room and I love the ambiance a lighted lamp gives a room.  Overheard lights are often times a little too harsh for me (especially when not on a dimmer switch).

Funny story, a few years ago, my parents built a new house and we were visiting them over Thanksgiving weekend.  We were all sitting around the table playing cards and the light from the chandelier was so bright, my husband and I got out a box of sun visors and passed them out to everyone at the table to wear.  There may have been a few drinks involved and, of course, we thought it was hilarious.  Not sure my parents thought it was that funny! Needless to say, my father added a dimmer switch to the chandelier as soon as we left.

Wow, I really got off track from Thrifty Thursday.

Here's the first lamp. I bought this one at a Goodwill for $8.00 (including the shade).  I bought it right before I started blogging, so I did't take a before picture.  It was yellow glass.  I knew I wouldn't leave it yellow, but I loved the size, the shape and the shade.  I first tried painting the inside of the glass, didn't work so well.  Next up was spray paint.  I had some red on hand so I gave it a coat of red.  It was a little too bright so I sprayed on a light layer of black.



The next lamp came from the local St. Vincent DePaul thrift store.  I paid a whopping a $20.00 for this one .  A tad expensive for thrift store standards, but well worth it.  I saw it one day and walked on by. For some reason, I couldn't get the darn thing out of my head.  A week later, I went back thinking surely someone had snagged it up by then.  Fortunately for me, no one else saw the beauty in this lamp.



The last one was purchased at an antique store where my parents live.  I think I paid $12.00 for it.


The first place I normally go when I walk in a thrift store is the lamp section.  I'll just add lamps to my list of "issues".  I've already blogged about lamps here, here, and here.

It is taking the place of this table, which happens to belong to my sister-in-law.  She was loaning it to me while they had their house on the market.  It worked great there, but we really needed something with more storage.


I was pretty excited to stumble upon this treasure.


For the past two weeks, my friend and I have worked out with a trainer.  Last week, we worked on legs and I couldn't walk for three days.  This week, we worked on arms and I can't seem to straighten my arms because they hurt so badly.  Once I can, I'll get busy painting this piece. No pain, no gain, right!

I am linking to:
The Shabby Chic Cottage

I am introducing a new weekly feature, Thrifty Thursday.  Thrifting is somewhat of a hobby of mine.  I love scouring junk stores, thrift stores and antiques stores.  I normally only buy things I love or  I can use.  I see furniture all the time that I would love to buy and restore, but I really don't have room for any more furniture in my house right now.  So, I try to stick to small stuff.  Here are the treasures I found this week.

I picked up this stainless steel lamp this week for $8.00.  My seven year old and the lamp that used to sit on this desk had a little run in a few weeks ago.  Let's just say, the lamp ended up in the trash.  This lamp works much better on the desk and it provides more light.

Speaking of thrifty finds, I found this cute little desk and chair at an outdoor antique show last fall for just $15.00.  It's a great place for the kids to sit down and color or do homework.