Craft Shed Update

It has been so exciting to watch the conversion of my ugly garden shed into a useful crafting shed. While it is still not finished, we have been working hard on it. My awesome Hubby has been doing most of the hard stuff like nailing things and adding electrical outlets. He even put in the window that I bought at a garage sale years ago!I have a landscaper who will be leaving me soon for better things (I hope but will miss him!). He agreed to do this last job for me and add a retain wall and beautiful patio around the shed. Not only will I be able to craft but with a chair and table, it will be a great place to have a cup of coffee. I even have a folding wicker lawn chair that can easily be tucked away during the rain.

The weekend was spent going around to garage sales and doing various chores. Not much time or money for the shed. However, amazingly the neighborhood sale at my parents' community produced some great things for the shed, including a pair of Pottery Barn cafe curtains for $5. They looked like a sad pile when I came across them. The lady who laundered them didn't iron them. But they were clean and intact so I took them home and a simple ironing made them look as smart as new! I also picked up a task light that will clip on to my shelves. It is industrial looking, probably found at any hardware store but I paid 50 cents for it!

I was also on the hunt for cabinets, shelves, and drawers. I had little faith that I would find something in my price range (next to nothing!). I was pleasantly surprised then to find a Martha Stewart Spice shelve from when there was the fantastic Martha by Mail catalog. I wanted this spice rack then but had no money at the time. It was worth the 12 year wait (lol) because I paid $5 for it. It came with all the spice tins and they were nearly full. Unfortunately, the spices are probably as old as the shelves. However, it didn't buy it for a spice rack. I bought it for the shelves and tins. I will probably clean up the tins and use them for buttons, pin, and bee bobs! I did not take that beautiful picture of the spice rack below. But I did find it on a beautiful and delicious blog called Good Things by David.

Last but certainly not least, while I was out at the flea market, doing some afternoon browsing, on the way home, I decided to chase down a garage sale in my own development. The afternoon isn't the best time to garage sale and this one was tucked way back in the winding roads near my home. Knowing how difficult it is to find some of the farther reaches of this housing area, I hoped there might be a few goodies for me. On the way to the sale, I passed by a house on the corner with beautiful cabinets out front and a sale sign that said, "FREE!". Yes, you read that right! Free. Two cabinets that had formerly been part of a built in desk and a small set of overhead drawers were free. They are a bit scarred here and there because the owners had disassembled the desk and kept only the credenza part. They had barely put them out when I innocently came along and promptly left with them! How exciting!

Step by step, this thing is coming together! I have a list of things still left. Electrical, plumping for my sink, a table, wall shelves, and plenty of white bright paint. And that's not all! But in the meantime, doesn't it took great?

Garage Sale Finds of the Weekend! Mad Men Style

I have been in awe of the incredible Mad Men style. It took me several tries to get into the show but the sets and fashion are so impressive. I must have gone garage saling this weekend with that in mind because several of my scores had Mad Men style! I know on the east coast these sales are referred to as tag sales. My family and I go to all no them no matter what the name. Sometimes I find neat, interesting things and sometimes not. However, when I do find stylish fashionable items, I've decided to share. After all what's the fun of a score if I can't SHARE?  Ok, I liked show-and-tell in kindergarten!

I have an itsy bitsy martini shaker. It's really an individual size. Recently I had been thinking that if I wanted to make lavender cosmos for a party, it was going to take me awhile. But this weekend, I scored a party-sized martini shaker. A steal at $2.50, this martini shaker has a tilted pour spout with it's little removable lid and strainer. The top half is clear glass with a few minor imperfections such as a bubble in the glass. There are different sized silver stripes that match the shiny lid. The bottom is a textured glass so that gripping the shaker while preparing a drink won't be a dangerous experience!

Shot glass and wine bar set

Rarely do you go from sale to sale and find coordinating items but down the road at the next sale, I found a matching shot glass with a silver rim for 50 cents! And to complete my bar saga, later on in the day I found a wine opener, corkscrew, and stopper set for a quarter.

Add the cost of the crisp white linen that I photographed on and my total to update my bar was $4.25!  Now that's a thing of beauty!