This was a rocking chair from when I was a baby...my mom used to rock me in it. It had a 70's lattice back to it that had busted and was crumbing apart. I removed all of it, and started sanding so I could add a fresh coat of paint. As I began sanding, green was coming through, it was obvious my mom had painted it blue at some point. I loved the effect of the green coming through so I just left it like that! Found a cute oilcloth fabric and gingham trim. I stapled the fabric to the front and back, padding it in the middle to fill, and then glue gunned the trim to hide the staples. Now it lives in Maisy's room, and I get to sit on it and read her stories at bedtime.

Cookbook Shelf

I forgot to take a picture of this bookcase before I sanded. It looked so much worse than the picture, lots of cobwebs, and discoloration from being outside for a long period of time. I gave it a good sanding, filled some cracks with wood filler, and gave it 3 coats of white paint. I have painted a bookself before and put books on it, but noticed after time, the books end up sticking to the paint and the paint comes off when you would pull a book out. That's why I opted to cover the shelves with fabric. Just applied white glue with a paintbrush to the surface and slightly underneath (so I could wrap the fabric under the shelf). Beverly's fabric has a couple rolls of vintage looking fabrics that I could not resist. My books don't exactly fit the conventional way on it, but I made it work!
I am still probably going to add a cute quote from Julia Child to the front lip to make it more fun.

Repurposed Shutters

I found some nasty old outdoor shutters from LCM, they were $2 each. I considered just cleaning them up and sanding them more, but I still had some Chalkboard spray paint (which I am obsessed with at the moment). Sprayed them down, sanded the edges, added some cute scrap booking stickers, and voila! A new bulletin board!

Dollhouse table

So it's been a few weeks, but I finally am back to business! We had my husband's family out for a visit, and naturally after all the "talk" about my finds at LCM...my Mother-In-Law wanted to go check it out. She found for me this short little table that is perfect kid height. The legs were a nasty green, and the top was this unfinished plywood...someone obviously made it. I used the technique of Mod Podging fabric to the top (which I already had), spray painted the legs white, and voila! A new table for my daughter's doll house.

Sew Cute!

Whenever I find unfinished wood furniture, I get really excited because it is a blank canvas. I found this desk at LCM, it looked like it was in a boy's room. At first I was just going to make it a desk...but as I went through my house and saw my sewing machine and all my notions making a mess of my dining room table, I thought, this would make the perfect sewing table! I wanted to have a sewing "theme" to the piece, so I modge podged scrap fabrics I had to the fronts of the drawers. Found $.77 drawer pulls at Lowes, still waiting to find handles to match. Under the top fabric, I inserted a piece of batting under the fabric to make it a fixed pin cushion. I am really pleased with the result..the fabric application was so easy, I think you will see a lot more of my things with this affect soon!

Toy Kitchen

What a score this was! I have had this piece for about a month now...found it at LCM. It was way out in the back lot, I saw it, about ran over to it, and just grabbed it and starting walking towards the register. It is solid wood, and quite heavy for a long walk. But I was NOT going to put it down and risk loosing it. This lady took pity on me, she had an empty cart, and offered it to me, thankfully I accepted. Brought it to the register, they quoted it at $6, and I gladly paid that. Once I got it home, I realized that it was definitely hand made, there was a man signature on the bottom. After looking on line, I am pretty certain that it is made from the Amish, and I have found similar ones on the Internet for at least $150 - $199. With $14 in paint, and some scrap fabric I had, and a $1.29 for the rod to hold the fabric..Maisy has a new kitchen. I put it right in my kitchen so she feels like she's part of the action.

Last Weekend, LCM (Last Chance Mercantile) had an Open House, where we got a bus tour of the facilities at the Monterey County Waste Facility. People would question me: "you took a tour of the dump?" Sounds a little crazy, but I thought it was a very beneficial lesson for our kids. They may not have understood it like we do, but I think we are getting through a little because the other day, my son went to go play on a playground, and spent the first 5 minutes just cleaning up trash. He yelled out "I'm saving the earth!"

After the tour we went over to LCM and had a free lunch, and I found this treasure. Can you believe someone threw out this beautiful vintage green milk glass lamp in perfect condition! I paid $3 for it, added a lampshade from Walmart for $9.95, and voila! I collect milk glass (especially this hobnail pattern), it was so meant to be!

School Desk

This was my very first find at LCM...an old school desk reminding me of the ones I sat in at high school. I spray painted the metal and the plastic seat, and painted the top with a chalkboard paint. I never did take a before picture, but I am sure you could imagine it! Now my son Bradley sits in the kitchen with me and does his homework on it..he loves it.

Grab it while you can!

Whenever I get a hunch, or I feel like Last Chance Mercantile is calling my name, I jump in the car, and usually I am right! Last week I picked up this great heavy, clean dresser. It had just come in and was sitting in the main doorway. It was being admired by my fellow scavengers, so without hesitation, I dragged it over to the register. I paid the most I have ever paid for an item at L.C.M....$15!!! I know, I know, that's really good, but compared to the numerous items I get for under $5, it was a stretch for me. I decided it was going in our master bedroom, because up till now, I had all my undergarments and pajamas in a plastic drawer container in the closet. I painted it the same color as the queen headboard (so paint was free), bought some glass knobs and silver handles from Home Depot for $26. All in all, I love it and think it was a great deal!

Queen Headboard

So I went back to Last Chance Mercantile and there was a queen size headboard similar to the one I did for my daughter's room. It had some cracks that I filled with wood glue, and there was an applique on the front that really dated the piece. I ripped off the "cutsy" applique, gave it a good sanding, and a coat of taupe paint to stand out against our white base housing walls.

Maisy's Headboard

My most favorite place to shop for my projects is called Last Chance Mercantile in Marina, CA. I am not going to sugar coat it...the store is right next to the dump! But that is great because it keeps alot of people away from the good finds! I love it there, they are really into reusing and recycling, they go into the schools and help educate kids on how important it is to their future. I get so inspired by just being there.


You definately have to be a visionary, someone who can look beyond the dirt and smells, and realize how fabulous a piece can be with a little TLC. I picked up this twin headboard and thought it would be perfect for my little girl's room. It was in pretty good condition, just needed a little wood filler and glue, and a good sanding and paint job. I paid $3 for the headboard, and $15 for the paint (Behr "Moss Print" in Satin).