Goodwill Jewels - Project #1

The other day my daughter and I (with 3 year old grandson in tow) decided to check out some of the local thrift stores. Let’s just say that going with a 3 year old - who has not yet had a nap - might NOT be the best time to scout out goodies all across the city! However, we couldn’t wait another minute (lest someone else buys the item we are looking for), so we began our quest.

At the first store I found a beautiful selection of various size/types of stemware. I remembered an item I had seen at Hobby Lobby, and thought that I could make some really pretty candles out of them. At anywhere from $0.25 to $0.95, I spent less than $5. Later that day I stopped by Hobby Lobby, picked up a bag of wax crystals and some wicks. Once home I placed the wick in the center of the glass and poured in the wax crystals.

They looked pretty – but rather bland. Since the only color of wax crystals they had at the time was white, I felt they needed something to add a little color.

The bag of colored crystals that I had picked up at the Dollar Tree was just the thing. I emptied the wax out of the glasses, added a few crystals to each glass, and then placed the wax crystals back in there. I thought they were quite cute and could be used in a lot of different areas that needed “a little something”.

So much for “Goodwill Treasures – Project #1”. That was another easy one, but was fun to get my mind thinking of creative new ways to use old things. Stay tuned for other Goodwill Treasures Projects. The next one was more difficult and had quite a transformation!!

Project "TP"

So when you first start out blogging, and you’re in the beginning stages of “making over” things, you need to start simple… right!!?? So how can something be simpler than “fancying up” a roll of toilet paper (TP) to put in your bathroom? I have been in the process of redoing a couple of bathrooms at my house (oh my, the stories behind those efforts – more on that later).  Anyway, one of the things you usually do is have a few extra rolls of TP available in a prominent place for guests (heaven’s you don’t want them scrounging through your cabinets do you?) – just in case the current roll happens to run out. So I put out several rolls and thought that they looked rather plain and naked. I got to thinking that perhaps I could decorate them a bit. I immediately thought about going to the Graphics Fairy (one of my new favorite places to visit - that I learned about from you gals on line), to see if there wasn’t something there that I could use. I came up with a couple of different designs that I thought would work nicely, and proceeded to design some bands and labels that would be wrapped around each roll of TP. I wanted to use my accent colors on each of them, so that was easily taken care of by replacing colors and tones. First I found this little birdie that was begging to be used. The “scroll” could even have words put on it.

I decided to add a few words (Extra Toilet Tissue, and “Scott” – which just happens to be our last name), added a frame and voila!!, ..I had a beautiful label. The perfect size seemed to be 2.5” x 1.75”. I copied it and pasted it multiple times and then printed them out on “Avery White Full Sheet Labels [5265]” so I could use them to fasten the band going around the roll.

Next I needed something for the band around the roll of TP. Although I’m sure I could have use ribbon or something, I opted for another graphic from The Graphics Fairy.

Of course the colors were not right on these images, so I adjusted them accordingly.  I created a graphic that was 1.25" x 16", put a boarder around it, copied and pasted enough copies to fill the page and then printed it out on 11” x 17” paper.

(Enlarged version)

I cut out the band, wrapped it around my TP, and secured with one of my labels. This took a plain roll of TP to a pretty thing to display.

Below are the labels and wrappers that I used in my master bathroom. With a few minor modifications I was able to come up with a suitable color. I like the way they look on the corner shelving unit (please disregard the lack of baseboards – still in the remodeling process).

Soooooo, that’s it for the TP project. Considering that I already had everything in house (including extra rolls of TP – which is rare!!), this little project cost me $0!!!! Not bad for just starting out. Somehow I’m thinking the rest of my projects will cost a bit more!!  Now I wonder… do I REALLY want my guests to USE these decorated rolls? Well, I DO have plenty of extra wrappers and labels, but I think the BEST solution is to make sure there is always a full roll on the dispenser for their use!!

This is my very first time of showing off something, but I'm linking to: 

In The Beginning...

So I guess everyone who starts out creating a blog has to jump in and start blogging at some point, so here I am. I am a "newbie" so please bear with me as I get the hang of this. Not only am I new to blogging, but I found a whole new world of decorating that I didn't even know existed!! All this because I clicked on "one little link" on my niece's blog "Design Intervention". Oh my, I could literally spend DAYS out there jumping from one site to another. Much to my husband's amusement, I all of a sudden started frequenting Goodwill, dollar stores, and other thrift stores in search of junk that I could transform into wonderful treasures. With my dear niece Amy in tow (who just happened to be here visiting her Mom) we scoped out all the various stores, and loaded up on some of the essentials – number one being Rustoleum American Accents (Heirloom White) Spray Paint, and of course Ralph Lauren Faux Technique Glaze (tinted smoke). Let’s just say that I have already caused our local Home Depot store to run out of the Heirloom White Spray Paint. (I’m wondering… can you have too many things painted and glazed???)

Anyway, for the time being, I know that this blog will be for my viewing enjoyment, and give me the opportunity to post pictures of projects I am doing. Perhaps a few friends and family members might drop by, but it should be fun to at least try my hand at blogging. If you happen upon this blog and have a notion to drop me a note, I would love to hear from you. I’m certainly open to all suggestions!! Maybe, just maybe, some day I will have a blog that others want to follow.