Clock: From Blah to BEAUTIFUL!!!

Here's a fun and easy project that I made a while back and wanted to share with you! I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I'll try to explain it as well as I can without them!
To begin with my clock looked something like this...

Blah and boring is right! Enter: scrapbook paper and Cricut machine....

I took the clock apart and removed the circle part that had all the numbers on it in order to trace and cut out my scrapbook paper. I decided to just cut out 12, 3, 6, and 9 - and used flowers for all the numbers in between! I wanted to make sure everything was in the right spot, so I used a push pin to push holes through to the scrapbook paper (my new background) where each number was located on the original clock background.

So, I put it back together, and TA-DA - a beautiful clock for practically NO ADDITIONAL COST! :)

Sorry about the flash, but what do you think? :) Partying HERE!

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Heirloom White End Table

I picked up this little pretty end table at a garage sale for $5. I liked the style and knew I would like it even better white! So I picked up a can of RustOleum's Heirloom White (my new love)...and was carded while checking out...seriously!!!

It was easy because it was already not shiny, so I didn't worry about sanding or anything like that. I'm not a very good spray painter, but it just seemed like it would be so quick! However, I finished my can of spray paint when the table was about 75% complete, so it took me about another week to make it to the store to buy a new can...so it probably would have been faster to use normal paint in this case! I was surprised that it took about a can and a half of spray paint, but at least I have some left over now! :)

And here it is in it's new home! I didn't do much of anything special to it...but what are your thoughts? Is it good how it is? Does it need some distressing? Fake distressing like I did to our TV stand? Anything else?

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be linking up at some of my most favorite places and if you're visiting from one of them feel free to share the project you're showing off as well! I'd love to check it out!

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My Special Education Classroom

Update 10/18: This post has been moved to my *NEW* special ed blog, Breezy Special Ed. Head on over to see this post on My Special Education Classroom.

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TV stand - before & after

Finally! Remember on my "thrift store goodies" post, I said I picked up something for a project but was waiting to show you! Well, now it's ready so get excited!

We had been looking at TV stands but hadn't found one we really liked...and I had been looking around different blogs and kinda wanted to try to make something myself.

So, when I found a stand at Goodwill for $30, I just knew I had to try! Here's what it looked like...

So, what do you think? Improvement? :)

Here's a small overview of my process.

First I sanded it down a bit (not quite enough though, especially on the silver doors...which I had to re-sand and do later because they were peeling very badly!)

Next, I got ready to paint! I used some paint that my in-laws had left over from painting their walls - Behr Antique White - not sure if it was the best type of paint to use on this project...because of the peeling I experienced, but that also might be because of a poor sanding job. I taped the doors to paint them, see, still way too shiny...little did I know that would be a nightmare!!!

The paint started peeling off in stripes after in dried, so I had to sand the doors down and pretty much remove all of that silvery stuff...it was annoying! Lesson learned: sand WELL and use good paint!

Got some new hardware for the drawer and doors at Wal-mart for $11. My dear hubby helped me put them on as it was quite difficult since we needed to make new holes. But he was great at that!

Then, I started to distress it by adding some paint. I believe it was actually a rust primer spray paint that I used. I would spray it on a plastic bag first and then rub it on the edges and lightly across the entire thing. The plastic bag worked great because the paint didn't soak into it entirely, which gave me time to apply it to the TV stand.

I also took off those crazy looking feet! And, there you have it! Our new TV stand for $42!

I know it's not perfect, but I love it! And our TV (actually our friend's TV that we are currently borrowing) looks much nicer on a stand than sitting in the corner!

Linking up at some of these lovely parties!

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Organizing my Classrom

Update 10/18: This post has been moved to my *NEW* special ed blog, Breezy Special Ed. Head on over to see this post on Organizing my Classroom.

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Rita's White Rhino

My fantastic friend Rita just moved into a new apartment and has begun to blog about her designs! She is so cute and creative! She loved a $30 cardboard rhino she saw somewhere...BUT made one herself for just $3! Check out her blog and her rhino project at Rita in the City!

And, a quick snippet of my own life...I start, for the first time as a "real" teacher, teaching in less than 2 weeks! (start of a slight freakout here) Going to my classroom tomorrow to start getting things set up!!! Wish me luck (or give me advice), both are appreciated!!

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Thrift Store Goodies!

I am so excited! I love thrift stores, well, I actually have a love/hate relationship with them depending on my current luck, but right now, I LOVE THEM!

I just discovered a store called Savers - kinda like Goodwill, but has nicer things. (I love Goodwill, just stating a fact here.) Anyway, it's a chain, so you should see if they have one by you! I thought their clothing prices were high, but they have great purses and shoes at cheap great prices!

See what I got! Only 1 item pictured was not from Savers...I got a few other things today that I have some craft / DIY projects in mind for, but I'll make you wait to see them until I get those done!

I can't believe the prices on the Coach purses I found and the Louis Vuitton! I was so excited - I couldn't believe how cheap they were! All 3 of the purses I bought were brought in on the same day that I got them - so it just shows that thrift stores really are just dependent on when you go! As soon as something good goes in, it likely won't last long!

I saw the Bears jersey as I was walking out today, and was shocked to see it was only $2.99! Just in time for football season! It's a boys XL so it fits me pretty well. Here's some up close and personal pictures of my finds, just because I like them so much!

I'm so happy with my purchases! (As you can see, someone else likes my boots!) I wore the wedges all day today just to see if I could do it - what a good work out!

Hope you are finding some sweet thrift store finds as well!

O, and this was the sad part...when I don't fit into shoes I've fallen in love with... I found adorable B.O.C. sandals at Savers and Chacos at A Wise Penny - I've always wanted Chacos, but both pairs were about two sizes too small...I tried! Here's what I missed out on...

Only $5, and I'm pretty sure they still have these same sandals at DSW! So sad...

Ever since I was a camp counselor I have wanted Chacos but haven't wanted to spend $40 on flip flops... My heart almost skipped a beat when I saw these at the thrift store, and for only $4!!! Why couldn't the person who donated them have larger feet! :)

Have you had any thrift store luck lately?

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