Great find= project time

Well, I know I said before that most of my great finds aren't items that I plan to fix up or make into something else, but I didn't say never...I just said most of the time. Yesterday, my mother and I stopped by one of my favorite thrift stores really quick and I came out with 3 awesome pieces. One of them definitely needs to be fixed, but I got a great deal on it.

Here it is-this beautiful picture I found was screaming at me from the corner of the picture section. Literally, I think I heard it say 'you have to buy me!' I love these flowers (stargazer lilies); I had them at my wedding and I just think they are beautiful. Well, I found this picture for $2 (!!!) and if you look closely, you can see why. The frame is a flimsy, cheap poster frame- about half of the the back brackets are gone, the plastic 'glass' is cracked, and it looks like the picture didn't even fit in the frame to begin with. BUT the picture is still beautiful and unharmed! This is my plan- take the picture out, cut out just the picture portion (aka-cut off the white part) and put it in a new frame. Ta-da! It will be just like new when I get finished. I promise I'll post a picture of the finished product.

Another one of my finds was this punch bowl for $5. I know you are probably thinking it looks a little weird with the holes and all but here is what you do. You string ribbon through the holes to match your decorations. You can change the ribbon for whatever season/celebration/room decor. My mother-in-law gave me a cake stand that this bowl matches (the reason I bought it) so now I can use both together- with coordinating ribbon of course. :)

My last find is actually going to be a birthday present for my mom (yes, she already knows about it because she was there with me when I bought it). It is a vintage plate from the year she was born (don't look close or you'll be able to figure out her age). The plate still had the 'yard sale price' for $5 but on the back was the price for the thrift store- only $2. I looked up similar plates on ebay that were listed for as much as $45.

I know I'm not a major one for finding items to fix up or re-purpose but I think I might need to become one- I'm not that great at thinking out of the box- I have to find ideas first. Check out these articles from Better Homes and Gardens for inspiration- I'm using them. :) I plan to try to do more with items that need a little TLC- we'll see if it's my 'thing'- if not, I'll just forget out it and leave it up to the experts. Just remember when buying items to fix up- make sure it's a good deal. My picture to fix up was a great find at $2 but if it would have been, say $10, I don't think it would have been such a great find. Also, consider the amount of work that needs to be done and make sure you want to invest the time and money. It won't take me that long to cut out the picture and find a frame (I'll probably wait until they are on sale from Hobby Lobby). I'm comfortable spending that amount of time/money. Just be sure you don't get in over your head. :)
Also, don't forget that thrift stores/yard sales are great places for finding unique gifts. Like the plate I found for my mother- you can't walk into Wal-Mart and find something like that.
Well, I'm off to try to cut the straightest lines I can. Hope you found this inspiring and good luck hunting for your own great finds. :)