Transforming Goodwill Plates

So, I have this silver colored plate rack.

It was one of the first items I ever bought full price for my home.

I have had it since my first apartment, and unfortunately,

it has been sitting in a corner for a few years.

I used to use it for 3 picture frames that are long past gone.

I saw it laying upstairs looking pathetic and thought to myself...

SELF, you need to do something with this or get rid of it.

The hoarder collector in me picked the first option.

Then, I was on a mission...

a mission to find three red plates of the same size...

 I found some lovely plates at WalMart, 

but at 7 bucks a pop, I gently put them back....

I was planning on painting words on them anyway.

I looked...

and looked...

and looked some more.

I was DETERMINED not to pay over a couple bucks each.

That meant I needed to get them used.

Well, red plates are hard to find.

Then I saw someone (wish I could remember who)

out in blog land who spray painted their plates.

Genius Move!

Especially since we weren't going to be eating off of them...

First, I found 3 plain plates at goodwill and paid .59 each.

Next, I got a dollar can of spray paint from WM.

Then, I went to town on those plates.

I could have SWORN I took pictures of this project, but...

EH, guess not. Use your imagination.

I wanted to put the plate rack in my 50's inspired kitchen,

so I thought a food inspired quote or saying was in order.

I came up with "eat, drink, and be merry".

I blew the words up to the size I needed and

printed them out on my home computer printer.

Then I traced around the letters with a pencil on the BACK SIDE

of the paper so that when I turned it over and smoothed it down really well, I had a very faint impression of the words to use as a guide to paint the words. I used a paint pen for precision.

Does that make sense? I hope so, 

I don't know how to explain it any better.

This is why I take pictures...ugh.

Well, I do have a picture of the finished product...

Wanna see?

In hindsight (always) I wish I'd placed the

"be merry" a little more centered.

But those words were very time consuming,

and I didn't want to repaint the whole plate.

I recommend using a stencil, not the way I did it.

It worked, but it was doing things the hard way.

Bargain Ring Bearer Pillow

We still needed a ring bearer pillow 

for a wedding that's in a month....yeah, 30 days from now.

Shudder

I found this for $2 at the Salvation Army.

Oh, and this was after I cut off the unsightly plastic "rings".

I could not figure out what all these ribbons were for...

So... I cut 'em off. Hehehe.

See? Isn't that better?

But....it's still a little lot plain, what to do with it now?

Next, I hunted for some pink ribbon.

I wanted something a little fancy.

I soon found something and decided to sew it in the middle, 

going all the way through to give it a "tufted" look.

I hand-sewed it...yes, I love her.

Then I tied it in a pretty bow and.....

Here she is!

All of that cuteness for a mere $2.


She will go so nicely with the flower girl basket I "made".

You can see that project here.


You can check out a couple of the other 
wedding projects here or here.

Flower Girl Basket on a Budget

I am helping my friend who is getting married soon.

I  {somehow} have adopted the role of:

wedding planner

decorator

coordinator

major stressor

We are trying to squeeze a big wedding

out of a tiny budget.

Her theme is a forest wonderland,

and her colors are light pink and deep brown.

We needed something for the flower girl to carry.

Traditional flower girl baskets are pretty blah...

So I decided to find one to compliment her decor.

I figured the cheapest way to go was second hand,

so I began my search at my local garage sales.

I soon found this beauty for .25

Once it was washed up it looked pretty good.

My friend liked it okay the way it was...

but I can never leave well enough alone.

I thought it needed a little polish.

Thats kind of the theme of this whole wedding...

Nature with a little sparkle.

I had these materials on hand...

The beige satin is from a baggie full of fabric I paid .25 for.

The ribbon is leftover from this project.

I warmed up my glue gun and placed my satin inside the 

basket to figure out how big to cut it.

I cut around the top edge of the basket,

leaving about an inch of excess fabric.

I then turned the excess fabric inside 

and hot glued it around the lip of the basket.

I "ruffled/pleated" the fabric as needed,

gluing as I went to ensure a secure hold.

Then I tied two simple pink bows on either side...

Ready to see it?

I know it's not perfect, but I 

adore it.

And to top off the cuteness,

it isn't being filled with flower petals...oh, no.

It is being filled with beautiful, pale pink, shimmery,

Butterflies