Free Find: Mirror

My husband and I both love a great deal. When stores mark down their items to 50% off we generally don't rush to buy, but wait until things are lowered to 75%. One of the reasons I am in love with Hobby Lobby is sometimes we have purchased totally cute decor for 90%. But the best deals in life?

Free. 

I scored one such deal on Christmas Eve. While doing my regular scan of Craigslist I spied a free mirror that was only a few MINUTES down the road from us. A Christmas miracle! Since I have been wanting a mirror for over our electric fireplace in the bedroom, I jumped on it.

I love how it looks in our bedroom!

Does anyone else ever bargain hunt on Craigslist? Comment below and share your great deals and steals!

Vintage Ruffle Dress Refashion

When I spotted ruffles on the dress rack of our local Goodwill the other week I got excited. I headed over, hoping that the dress would be cute and in my size. I was disappointed when I spotted this instead:

With the vintage style and shoulder pads there was nothing to be excited about. Disappointed, I passed up the dress. A few weeks later I saw it still hanging there, unloved and unlovely. But those ruffles were calling my name, so, with an idea in my head, I tried it on and took it home to my sewing machine. It wasn't long enough for me to keep it as a dress, but I did think it wouldn't take much work to turn it into that adorable ruffly skirt I had been on the hunt for.
First, I made a cut straight across just below the sleeves.

I did not cut off what was meant to be the elastic drop waist. That would become the part to hold up the skirt around my hips (just a tad important). I then turned the garment inside out, folded over the fabric, pinned, and sewed two lines.

Since this part of the skirt won't be seen, I wasn't to worried about making things perfect, as you might be able to tell from the picture.
It really was as easy as one, two three. I don't even think it took an hour to do. I was thrilled with the finished project.

There you have it. A "new" totally cute ruffle skirt for only 5.00 and half an hour of time!

DIY Glittery Lantern

The lantern: no longer just an item to light your way, but the latest trend in home decor. Oh so cute, oh so classy...oh so out of my price range. I've browsed at them in Hobby Lobby, looked longingly at them on Pinterest, imagined how fabulous one would look in my kitchen, and then... I nearly passed up on this gem at a yard sale over the summer:

The picture does not do it justice. It was old, rusty, and in miserable shape. Not even yard sale worthy. I kept walking, but that old lantern was calling my name. "Take me home and fix me up! There's life still left in me yet," it called. And so we did. And, with a little of this...

and a little of that (beautiful weather and some free time), we found that you can indeed resurrect an old lantern.

Again, here is a picture that does not do it justice. It truly is a glittery wonder. And all for a few bucks (I think we paid a dollar for it). What is an item that someone else has tossed out that you have turned into a new treasure? Leave a comment and let me know!