Repurposing Vintage Rulers

Lately, any home goods, accessories, or crafting supplies with a sewing theme catches my eye. You can just image how I instantly fell in love with this vintage yardstick lampshade from Roost Living when I first saw it on Poppytalk.

At 320 GBP ($521), that puts it out of a price range for just about everyone I know.  But take a look at this cool DIY table also using vintage yardsticks from Country Living!  I’m sure you could apply similar principles from this tutorial to making the lampshade above.

-Lana 

Austin Texas - See and spend

I am headed to Austin, Texas this weekend.  I heart Austin.  It's fun, trendy, retro, and laid back.  Everywhere you look there's music, independently owned restaurants, fancy food trucks, second hand stores, small boutiques and can't forget the Tex Mex and cocktails.

For those that have never been I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite spots.  These are musts!

1. Austin is known for their fancy food trucks.  The array of food you can get off a truck is insane!  Check out this website for a list of great eats on four wheels.  Personally, I have tried Cutie Pies, Hey Cupcake!, Torchy Taco. 

2. Charming Charlie was introduced to me by my boyfriend's sister-in-law.  Think of it as Claire's Boutique on crack.  It's THE place to go for accessories - purses, shoes, scarves, jewelry, sunglasses.  It's a woman's dream, truly.  You can't purchase anything on their site (boooooo) nor do they have stores in Cali but let's hope that changes soon!

3. Bess Bistro on Pecan is a must!!  This restaurant owned by Sandra Bullock is amazing.  I have never had a fillet steak like the one served to me here.  It literally melted in my mouth and the glace.....oy!  The fried green tomatoes......to die for.  We had the best dinner and the wait staff and chef were super friendly.

4. Uncommon Objects is such a fun store.  You'll spend hours looking at the small stalls spilling over with antiques, tchotchkes, vintage finds, and more.  Every time I walk in here I walk out with something. 

6. Tesoros is fun.  All kinds of goodies from Latin America.  Great sterling jewelry, Dia de los Muertos goods, oil cloth bags, so much to list.  Super fun and expect to spend some time here!

This is just the very tipppy top of the iceberg as far as what Austin has to offer.  Get on the next plane and visit.  Oh, and a very cool, chic, and trendy place to stay is The Hotel San Jose.

- Tina

$3.00 (or free) cake stand - DIY

This entry will be short and sweet as I am feeling under the weather.  Weird saying....who is ever over the weather?  Ok, anyway, back to blogging.  I was decorating for a small shin dig at my work the other day and wanted to use cake stands for a cute display of cupcakes.  I sure didn't want to spend $20 bucks for a cake stand so I decided to make my own.  This DIY is super duper easy...........in fact, it's cake! Pun totally intended.

Hit up your dollar store for the following items....or use your own random bits around the house to make it for free.

Turn the glass upside down so the bottom is now the top, add super glue (or epoxy) to the top (what used to be the bottom), center the plate over the glue and secure.  Let dry per instructions and there you have it, your very own homemade $3 dollar (or free) cake stand!  You can also do this with a white dish, using a white bowl as the bottom.  It'll look clean and contemporary.  A tip, the taller the glass the smaller the plate should be as you don't want it to topple over.  Another tip, if your dollar store has it, use an ice cream dish (instead of a glass) like the one below.  It adds some curvature and looks phenom.

Well, that wasn't that short but it sure was sweet. 

- Tina

Craigslist finds for under $100..and CL tips.

This weekend I moved.  Moving sucks in case y'all didn't know.  There were a few great things about this move, however.  One, I now have a roommate.  His name is Dan.  He's my boyfriend. Two, our doggies now have a yard. They're super grateful. They thanked us.  Three, I finally get to put this awesome dresser I bough on Craigslist to use.  It had been sitting in my storage for over two months.  It's a lovely piece, very well made, wonderfully vintage, and was only $100.

A few of our dearest friends helped us move and during the move there were questions of "where did you get this?" "where did you get that?".  Most answers were "Craigslist".  Now to prove my point that you can find awesome pieces of furniture on CL I have scoured the site and come up with these beauties.  Can you even believe it!?!  Oh, and moving sucks in case I forgot to tell you.

Remember as you are searching.....

- Don't purchase Ikea items unless you know you'll be getting rid of them in the near future.  They aren't built to last. 

- Look for solid wood furniture.  Most pieces built before the 80's are solid wood.

- Don't let the hardware make your mind up, you can change it!  Simplest way to update an older piece is to change hardware and hardware is cheap!

- Minor scrapes and scratches...super easy to fix! 

- You can paint anything!  My go to site for all things about painting furniture is Centsational Girl.  She rocks!

- Never go alone to meet someone.  Bring a buddy!  Better safe than sorry.

- Make sure to get dimensions before you buy.  It may not fit in your ride (lesson learned the hard way and I drive an SUV) and it may not fit in the space at your home where you'd most like it.  Pictures can be deceiving.

 - If you won't be refinishing or painting the piece, make sure it comes from a smoke-free home.  I purchased a piece a while back and whew it stunk.  I am going to refinish it anyway (I will blog about the makeover in a later post) so it wasn't a big deal but you'd be surprised at how much wood can soak up smoke.

- Chairs - if they're well made and a great price, buy it!  You can reupholster with whatever fabric of your choice and it doesn't cost much!  Sometimes you can even do it yourself!

Happy thrifting!

- Tina

Kick arse shoes for less

I am no huge fan of Payless Shoes but right now, I can’t get enough!  Christian Siriano and Lela Rose are teaming up to produce some kick arse shoes for Payless!  You’ll spend more than what you normally would at Payless but much less than what you’d pay at Macy’s. 

So don’t snub your nose at Payless.  Go in for a peek at these beauties!

- Tina

Pretty Packaging - Chocolate Bars

I occasionally indulge myself with sweets and I would definitely like to try some of these artisan chocolates found on French Broad Chocolates.  I love the packaging for all of these.


Taza

Askinosie

Mast Brothers

Olive & Sinclair

-Lana

Fortune Cookie Coin Purse

Diana Eng's Fortune Cookie Coin Purse is the perfect marriage of whimsy and function.  At Covet Collective, we are big fans of reusing and upcycling items, so we love that these purses are made from leather remnants!  The numbers etched on these purses represent the leather's origin.  Purses come with a dust bag and a fortune.  See Diana's blog to learn more about her approach towards design.   


(found via Oh Joy!)


-Lana