FINDS: Hand Painted Chinoiserie Tables

This past weekend I acquired a little sumpin' sumpin'....

These lovely side tables...with hand painted chinoiserie scenes!  

I squeal.

They are printed on the back that they were made in 1955.

Here is the closeup:

Can you stand how fabulous the greek key handles are?  The place that I rescued these beauties from had a WHOLE set.  Two large dressers, two desks, and these two side tables.  One of the handles was broken on one of the side tables so I convinced them to let me take a handle from one of the large dressers, which was major.

I also snagged a desk.  All of which are available for sale in my BOOTH.

I have tried to find comparable furniture on the internet, but I can't find any like it!  Instead I found some fab images which come from the same year these tables were made....

What do you think of the 1950's style?

Thrifted: Coffee Table and Accessories

I had posted two weeks ago about coffee tables and some general thoughts on them.  I also hinted that I had recently acquired a new coffee table and that I would be revealing my attempt at decorating it.

I got this brass and glass coffee table for $28!  A steal.  

One of my inspiration photos included this great, albeit expensive, Hermes tray:

I searched the thrift stores for something similar and the tray on my coffee table is a $1 find that I am in love with!  It's vinyl with lucite handles and is designed

 by famed barware designer Georges Briard.

I put some magazines in the bottom of the table a la this inspiration photo:

The elephant is available for sale in the Etsy shop.

Also, the orchid was purchased from Trader Joe's for $9.  

I'm pretty pleased with my budget coffee table transformation!

What have you decorated on a budget lately?

On The Cheap: Smoothie Ideas From Pinterest

Lately I have found myself more and more intrigued by things I find on Pinterest...I try to play it cool, but every time I get on the website it sucks.  me.  in.  Ok so I shared with you the DIY at home microdermabrasion that I found on the site, and now I'd like to share something else that I tested out and have found worthy.

This smoothie idea from the blog Lacey In Love is genius AND couldn't have come at a better time for me since my friend C and I are going head to head in a weight loss challenge (more on that later!).  

The idea is that she pre-proportioned and packaged smoothies so that all she had to do was pop them in the blender when she was ready to whip it up.  Smart AND economical.  

Like her, I froze tablespoon (loose measurement as it was not leveled off after scooping) portions of yogurt (I used Greek cause I love it), but unlike her method I used cupcake liners so I wouldn't have any cleanup or issues with getting the yogurt out of the mold:

Once those were frozen I added two "cubes" of the yogurt to freezer baggies along with roughly a cup and a half of frozen fruit.  My fruit selection equivalent was about 3 whole frozen strawberries and a handful of blueberries....also I popped in a half a banana, but that can be added when you make the smoothie without being frozen.

Since I'm a vegetarian and can always use more protein and I am trying to get the max benefits from all my toning and boot camp classes I also added whey protein to my smoothie (not to the freezer pack though).  I'm doing the smoothie as a meal replacement for one meal a day.  I'm not a dietician or a nutrition expert, so if there is something you have a question about the best thing to do is Google it!

When you are ready to make your smoothie, pop in the contents of your pre-proportioned freezer pack, add a splash of juice, milk, or water and you are ready to blend!  

So easy right?  Do you have a tried and true smoothie recipe?  Are you getting all sorts of awesome ideas from Pinterest too?  

Some other great ideas for things you could add to the smoothie:

Flax seed

Oatmeal

Spinach

Wheat Grass

The list goes on, really anything goes!

Before and After: Green Campaign Dresser

If you follow my booth, FINDS, on Facebook then you know that I've been hinting at a campaign re-do for two weeks now.  Well....it is finally done.  Of course I forgot to take a solid "before" picture.  I only have this from when I triumphantly hauled it home in my car.

There it is shyly peeking out from my back seat.  It had reason to be shy too.  The previous owner had tried to stain it and did a terrrrrrrrible job.  There were stain drips everywhere, there was stain all over the hardware, it was nasty.  There was a lot of work.  I sanded, I polished, I used lacquer thinner, then I used some rub n' buff to give the hardware it's luster back.  I taped, I primed, and thennnn

It was all worth it, because the ugly duckling turned into a swan...

I did a quick little photo shoot of the finished 3 drawer dresser.  A little bit of staging because I thought that it looked best in front of my white door.  I mean this will be dynamite with a white wall! 

I did have a little inspiration for this project, which came from Pinterest and what I started to call the "green campaign dresser campaign."  

I'm thinking I should add a little black tassel to the top dresser pull.

It will be available in my booth for $140!

Discount Headboard Source!

When I graduated from college, my parents sent me on my way to "adulthood" with a smattering of furniture and pots and pans that they had saved for me or no longer needed.  One of those pieces was a gorgeous wooden bed that was my bed in high school and a family heirloom that is at least 100 yrs. old.  It's beautiful, it's dramatic, it's finely carved, and it was falling to pieces.  I mean I would get on the bed and the slats would fall right out from beneath it, much to my frustration and the absolute horror of my dog who sleeps right beside my bed.

I knew I needed a new bed.  I would still keep the old one in storage but I needed something modern that wouldn't make me wince with fear that it would fall every time I sat on it.  

Ta-Da!

  I got this new hotness along with a new queen-sized mattress (finally!) for Christmas.  

A and I sat on it yesterday just to see how much more we could spread out on it, laughing at the insane amount of room compared to the old bed.

I love the grey velvet with brass nailhead trim.  

The headboard came from wayfair.com, and they shipped it unbelievably fast.  

They even sent me the wrong headboard at first and immediately sent me the correct one, and they aren't coming back for the first one saying that I can do whatever I want with it.  

It's just like mine, but only has one row of nailhead trim on the outside and the nail heads are silver.  

You better believe I will be selling it in the booth!

I am not being paid to advertise for Wayfair...they just have a whole bunch of awesome and reasonably priced headboards and you need to know about it...

2 Year Bloggiversary

The blog is 2 years old today.  I can't believe it.  Where has the time gone?  Let's look at some gratuitous pictures of cake, but not eat any because that would go straight to our hips.

Happy 2 years to all of my fabulous readers.  Y'all are the reason I keep blogging!

Happy Friday too.

On My Etsy Radar

I was going to post about world peace today, but instead let's go through some of my "favorites" on Etsy. Maybe we'll tackle world peace tomorrow.

Lovely print from artist Janet Hill. I spent about an hour looking through all of her work, in love.

$38

HERE

This needs to happen for this summer.  Custom fit.

$85

HERE

Vintage Nieman Marcus Monkey Glasses.  They are throwing popcorn, I can hardly stand it.

$50

HERE

Digging these retro chalkware lamps.  Matching bedside lamps maybe?

$68

HERE

Can't get enough trays.  This color is unbelievable.

$10

HERE

You have been told.

Chevron at Target?

I decided to pop into Target yesterday on my lunch break to see what sort of goodies were hanging around waiting for me to want to purchase them.  It seems that every time I go into Target I always come out spending around $100 on items that I had no intention of purchasing when I walked into the store.  It doesn't even matter what I buy it's somehow always flirting with $100....toothpaste and a dress:  $100, loaf of bread, some shoes, and some archer farms cereal (that stuff is soooo good): $100, some tampons and a feather down mattress topper:  $100.  Today was no different...but the goods were truly worth it:

A gold and white chevron lamp shade for $20, are you kidding me?  There were chevron pillows too, and this gold leather tufted ottoman... unreal.  Apparently they are selling out like hot cakes, get them while you can!!  They also had foo dogs...but in my opinion they were very poorly done.  

The ottoman, looks even better in person.

$49

HERE

They also had all sorts of great side tables.....

Like this mirrored number which would look soooo pretty with some colorful lamps and trays next to your bed.

$89

HERE

I was so excited to get my shades home and put them on my vintage elephant lamps beside my bed.  I have a pair but here is a photo of just one.  I was so excited I didn't even take the time to clear off my bedside table.  That's what it looks like every day folks, totally not styled at all.  Sorr.  But side note, the flowers in the milk glass vase are Freesias from Trader Joes and they were cheap and smell fantastic!

What do you think of this new Target collection?  Does the fact that Target is now doing chevron make you feel like the trend has reached it's pinnacle now that it can be purchased by the masses?  Or do you still love it just as much as ever?  I think I'm in the latter group, but tell me your thoughts on it!

Before and After: Peacock Chair

I have always had a thing for peacock chairs.  I have a print in my house with a lady sitting in one.  They are all drama drama drama....

I know, love them right?

I popped into one of my favorite thrift stores the other day and I was pleasantly surprised when I found this:

It was ALSO on sale...half off.  Booya.

Now it is painted a pretty white lacquer and is available in the booth.  I picture it with some high drama pillows.

$90

A Little Secret

I need to let y'all in on a little secret of mine.  It's like that time I told y'all about my Old English scratch remover secret....but maybe even a little bit better.  The secret has to do with Craigslist.  Love it or hate it, it is a great resource for people like me who are trying to find a great deal on a piece of furniture either to keep for yourself or to fix up and re-sell.  I get a lot of questions from people about where I find all of my furniture for the booth, and my answer is always estate sales, thrift stores, and Craigslist.  It's great to type in a search word and find a truly amazing piece, but it takes a LOT of looking to find that one diamond in the rough.  WELL, one website has made all of that easier....

Search Tempest.

Yes this website is my secret weapon.  You type in your zip code, set a mileage parameter (I usually do 200 miles because I'm willing to travel) and type in your search term.  It will bring up all of the relevant results from not only your local Craigslist, but all of those other towns around you, and its all on the same page.  GO CLICK IT!  Try for yourself.  It's amazing.  You're welcome.

The other question that I get is what search terms do I use?  So glad you asked...

BAMBOO:

My favorite search term.  It's great because even if you don't know that you have amazing chippendale chairs....you know that they have a bamboo look.  Lots of potential to find great items where people don't know what they have.

$150 for 3 chairs

HERE

ATOMIC:

An interesting search word that will usually turn up some interesting items.  A lot of times really unique mid-century pieces have this key word in their description.  I like this fantastic chandy that popped up in my search.  I think that if you shined the metal up a little bit and hung it in a more traditional or hollywood regency space.

$45

HERE

ASIAN:

A great search word, even the most unknowledgeable sellers will know that they have an "Asian" item.    This time I was able to find this fantastic red cabinet and some lamps for an unreal deal.  This term will turn up a lot of results and a lot of them fabulous.

$140

HERE

$40 for pair

HERE

A few other key words that I like to search for include:  BRASS HARDWARE (think campaign!), UPHOLSTERED CHAIR, ESTATE SALE, RETRO, and ELEPHANT(because I love them).

I usually do not use words like Hollywood Regency, Campaign, or any other term that someone in the know would use, the deals tend to be not as good, or you'll get a dealer who is advertising on Craigslist.

What are your favorite search terms?  Would Search Tempest help you?