Thrifting, Yard Selling, and Crafting!!!

I've been a busy girl, along with the help of my mother.  What's the first thing a woman thinks of when moving into a new place?
How to decorate it, of course!!!!  So we've been doing a little planning and shopping.

Want to see what we've found?

Well, first things first.

Green Challenge #19:  Buy used furniture/goods/trinkets whenever possible.
 This saves in more ways than one.  It saves me $money$ and it saves the environment, by not purchasing new furniture which must be manufactured, shipped, etc.

I'll be showing you some of the treasures my mother and I have recently found.  Later, once I'm back in Tucson and moved in, I'll post a pic of a dining room table and 4 chairs the neighbors gave me, since they got a new set.

So...we recently went thrift store shopping and found this wooden box.

Pretty, huh?  Ok, no not really.  Also please don't mind the mess that is the garage table work station.
A little cleaning, sanding and a couple of coats of paint and ta da...

There is a layer of blue paint underneath the light ivory that covers the outside of the box.  We took a candle and smeared wax along the edges of the box and the handle, so when sanded lightly the ivory paint peels off showing the blue highlights underneath.  See below:

Then the word "laundry" cut out of black vinyl on my mom's cricut machine and wa la...the finished product that will sit on a shelf in my new laundry room.

Next up...we went yard sale shopping this weekend, hoping to find more treasures.  The buy of the day was these glass medicine bottles.  A quarter a piece!!!  We thought that was a steal.  They will likely sit atop a $0.75 shelf we also bought at the yard sales.

Last big find of our yard sale extravaganza was 2 lamps.  The tall one ($4) will likely go in my new living room and the smaller one ($1) (which is in the background) will go probably on a bed side table.

Again, don't mind the messy garage.  I know, I know those don't look like lamps I would pick out to decorate my new place.  Well, after you see the finished product (to be posted later) you may disagree.  My pocket book feels a little heavier and the planet a little greener!