Bench Restore & Restyle

I think I have created a beauty here. Drew would "rain on my parade" by telling me I am not God and cannot create anything...

Just let me feel special, ok?!

This ugly bench was $2.99 ($2.99 People!) at my local Salvation Army. It didn't have a tag on it, so I ask someone working there how much it was. He ask me how much I wanted to pay for it. I just so happened to be getting a little end table that was sitting right beside this bench and informed him the end table was only marked $4.99, so I didn't think the bench would even be that much. I was trying to get a bargain here people! He ask how $2.99 sounded and I told him I would take it. You see, I had big dreams already for this bench!

I marched right over to their linen area and found this perfect pillow sham that I knew would perfectly cover the pad on the bench. It was $1.50

I didn't bother stripping the old paint off... simply just gave it a couple good coats of black paint. When I went to start on the slipcover... realized Nathan didn't have a nail gun. Whoever had covered it before simply nailed the fabric to the wood, so in my eagerness to get this project done, I did the same thing. The pad looked perfect... only was too thick to sit on the bench. Saturday rolled around and I threw the little bench in my trunk and did what any daughter would do... quickly drove to Dad's house to have him help me figure out what to do with the pad/cover. He, of course, was able to fix this for me and it looks perfect. I have this little bench at the end of our bed and I just love it.

Goodwill Party

I can't find the link at this very moment, but one of the crafty blogs I browse quite frequently is having a Goodwill Party today. She encouraged everyone to post a picture of something grand they got at Goodwill or any other resale type store. She has quite the vision to transform things once she gets home with them... I'm only learning to have this vision, but have LOTS of pending projects to develop it with :)

#1 - Shower curtain made from a sheet
I found a set of heavy sheets @ Goodwill. Felt like brand new material. I felt safe buying sheets there because and only because they felt new :) - Some things from Goodwill weird me out!! -
Anyhow...
My vision for this sheet was to convert it into a shower curtain for my hall bathroom. It just needed some sprucing up, I thought. I got the rings out of the curtain section @ Walmart and simply folded a border from the excess material of the sheet.

Sheet $7.50
Curtain Rings $5.00
Total price for new shower curtain = $12.50
I have this tan color throughout my house, so I was able to bring in other decor to finish decorating the bathroom without paying out any additional $ = :)

#2 - Arrangement
I previously showed you my bread box creation from a storage container I got from Goodwill. I wanted to make a little arrangement on my countertop and found this darling plate (yes, at Goodwill) to stand on top. Of course Nathan thinks it makes so much sense to put decorations on top of the bread box he is trying to get into... :)

#3 - Plates/Stand
I found this plate stand @ Goodwill and it was silver. Black would match my decor better, so I simply spray painted it. I saw it later @ Target (exact same one) in black as well. Only I paid $'s less! I used the stand @ the Church Mother/Daughter get-together that I hosted. The white plates are also from Goodwill. Yes, I wash them WELL!

This flower arrangement had a cream pot and I fancied it up my painting it black. The flash is doing something funky with the color... I just love the difference though. This was the centerpiece on my table for the get-together.

This is another serving dish I got at Goodwill. I realized when I started enteratining a little more recently that I didn't have many serving dishes. I just love this one.

... but I think this one is my favorite. I love the detail around the edges. Yes, it is also from Goodwill.

This is the food table before we got all of the food put out. Besides the stand on the right, everything on this table is from Goodwill :)
Might seem crazy to some, but I love finding unique items there and for pennies compared to what I'd spend if I were at an actual store!!!

I don't have pictures to show yet, but today @ the Salvation Army, I got a small bench and an end table for a total of .... $8.00. Mind you they need WORK, but they are sturdy pieces and I can't wait to get them done and put in my home!

Do you have any bargains to show?????