Tag: shelf

Thrift Store Finds

Thrift store finds: Ballard End Tables

Jessica Smith

If you follow me on Facebook you saw a couple of weeks ago that I got an AMAZING deal on two Ballard Design end tables at a local thrift store. I’m talking ah-may-zing.

I paid $9.99 per table which retail for $199.00! At least brand new ones do. These had a 2011 sticker on them, so they aren’t brand spanking new, but still fabulous.

Holy smokes was I excited when I realized (actually, my thrift store buddy showed me the Ballard sticker) what I had found.

The tables were in really good shape, minus some gum stuck to the bottom and 12 or so missing screws. After scrubbing the heck out of the tables and replacing all of the screws, I decided that I was definitely keeping these tables for myself and not doing anything (yet) to refinish or alter them.

End Table

They don’t match perfectly with the couch, and I’m really liking the different styles paired together.

End Table

I also love the shelf on the bottom. I’ve got our scrapbooks proudly displayed on one and all of my BHG magazines on the other.

End Tables

Truthfully, I am just grateful to have finally found tables for this room and at such a steal. I’ve been looking for some time and am really happy with these babies.

Also, don’t judge my lack of shades — it’s a work in progress 🙂 And I’ve been dying to get these lamps out of my craft room for more than a year now.

Now I need to tackle that blank wall above the couch. I can’t decide between a huge mirror to reflect the light from our bay window or a gallery wall of photos. What would you do?

Craft Projects, Home Improvement, Quick and Easy Crafts

Chip Clip Storage Solution

Jessica Smith

{A Smith of All Trades} Chip Clip Storage

We’ve had amazingly beautiful weather this weekend and while I wanted to get outside and start on a few projects I’ve been planning, I had to do a little bit of spring cleaning first. I think we are going to have a yard sale this spring, so I spent my weekend going through clothes, shoes and stuff in general to start setting aside some goodies to get rid of.

I tackled my kitchen this morning, scrubbing it from head to toe. I also brought all of our cookbooks out of their home in the highest cabinet of our kitchen and found an easier-to-reach spot for yours truly. My hubby is 6’2″, but I’m only 5’5″ and can’t reach the tops of our cabinets too easily.

While I was tidying up our kitchen, I kept stumbling upon chip clips. Seriously, I think they are reproducing in our cabinets when we go to bed at night. We have a few that are magnets, but they fall off the fridge on a daily basis. We also have two sets of novelty clips — birds and moustaches 🙂 They are adorable, but they are ALWAYS in the way. So I took 10 minutes to create a creative solution to this ongoing problem that I am sure a lot of you have, too.

First of all, measure your cabinets from top to bottom.

{A Smith of All Trades} Cabinet Door

Mine were about 27.5 inches tall. I wanted to make a a strip of fabric to clips the clips to, but I had to be careful to make it the right length — if it was too short, I’d drill through the thin part of the cabinet. That wouldn’t be good.

{A Smith of All Trades} Measurements

After measuring, I popped into my craft room to find a fabric to use. I chose a navy fabric with hints of the green in our kitchen.

{A Smith of All Trades} Fabric

I cut the fabric a few inches longer than I needed, then ironed out all of the creases.

{A Smith of All Trades} Fabric 2

Next, I folded each side into the middle, creasing the two edges I planned to “hem.”

{A Smith of All Trades} Hem Tape

Once my creases were good and firmly in the fabric, I used hem tape to secure booth flaps of fabric down.

I ironed the finished strip and headed back upstairs.

{A Smith of All Trades} Hole

Next up — drilling holes! I was a little nervous about this since they are cabinets and would SUCK to mess up… but it worked great. I found four short screws and predrilled four holes in my cabinets.

{A Smith of All Trades} Screw

Then I added the screws. I started at the top and when I got to the bottom I had a few inches of extra fabric.

{A Smith of All Trades} Bottom

I cut the fabric so it was about a half an inch from the edge of the cabinet. Then I secured it to the cabinet door with two screws.

Time to add our ever-growing stash of clips!

{A Smith of All Trades} Chip Clip Storage 2

{A Smith of All Trades} Chip Clip Storage1

All in all, this took a whole ten minutes to do and will keep our cabinets shelves and drawers clear of clutter!

{A Smith of All Trades} Clean Cabinet Door

Craft Projects, Thrift Store Finds

Thrift Store Find: Hexagonal Wall Shelves

Jessica Smith

Have I mentioned lately how much I love thrift stores? Hmmm… I don’t think so.

Well, I love them. You can find the best things if you are willing to do a little searching. I haven’t been in a while and I’m itching to do a little thrifting soon…. but first I need to finish (ahem, start) a few projects I’ve already got planned with thrift store purchased.

A month or so ago, Carrie and I went to the thrift store by work to get items to craft for our second craft day. I picked up a set of three black hexagonal wall shelves for $6! These shelves range in price from $25 to $80, so I was happy to dish out a whole six buck to make them mine.

I didn’t want my shelves to be black, and they were a little beat up, so I painted them white. I also hung new hardware onto the back of each shelf because the preexisting hardware was placed in a weird spot. One was also missing… Since the shelves aren’t very heavy and I didn’t plan on hanging any boulders on them, I hung them with a simple picture bracket. They haven’t fallen down yet, so it looks like it will work just fine.

I didn’t do the worlds best job painting them, but I think they look adorable. They are hanging in our dining room right next to our kitchen walkway.

The hubby is gonna looooove that he’s in that picture doing the dishes haha. Let’s focus on the shelves — cute, huh? I haven’t totally figured out the accessories yet, especially since the shelves were much smaller than I originally remembered.

My new silver birds that I brought home from New York are definitely staying. I love them to pieces.

What awesome things have you found thrifting? And if you live in Maryland, what’s your favorite thrift store?