Containers Redeemed with a Hint of Spray Paint

Remember those thrift store containers? They are becoming flower pots. With just a little elbow grease, some well-placed holes and a metric boatload of spray paint, I'm hoping they can give us a little curb appeal. Or at least my neighbor will stop trying to kill me with her eyes.  It was also an easy way to test out a couple of new things.  I tried out plastic primer, as well as Zinsser's spray primer.

Blue is interested in helping out.  No project is complete without a flurry of fur to be picked out.

The three pots in the foreground are plastic, so I used the plastic primer first.
It had decent coverage and adherence.

My glorious brass spittoon.  Classy, no?  I probably should have deglossed /roughed up the surface.

The spittoon got the zinsser primer, which is kind of amazing.  It did make me high as a kite almost instantly.  The weird texture is a result of my poor technique.  However, it did mostly correct itself when I flipped and sprayed from the top.

The green pots are a lovely shade of aqua.  The white pots are drying (both the plastic primer and the zinsser primer have way longer drying times)

Everyone is blue!  Although the hanging pot gets Lagoon, vs Aqua.

So impatient.  I hate watching paint dry.

Tomorrow, you'll see these flower pots and the garden cart in their new home!

Thrift Store Scores

Oh man, I found a killer thrift store, that is filled with pure AWESOME.  It is a good size house with a huge fenced back yard.  All of it filled with beautiful and utterly random crap.

Forest of walkers.

Incredible statues out front. This is part of my goal in learning welding.

Other side of the elephant.  I'm a huge elephant fangirl.

I've decided this is a tapir.  It's the only possibility.

It seemed like a really good idea until we actually got on the road.

Oh, and we bought lots of awesome stuff.  New Coleman camping stove.
Killer purse ($3!). Toasting forks, a popup container, and a
bunch of containers (for my upcoming planting project)

I know it's more than a little silly, but yes, we are actually totally serious about the sign.
We're going to mount it with lights behind it.
I plan on adding onto the front of it for a giant well-lit clusterfuck.

A little better picture of my containers.  
The brass one was labeled as a spittoon.  MMM, yummy.

Things I have done...

So, there is no chance I will actually catch all the way up, since I've been neglecting my poor blog.  But I've been getting absolutely boatloads of things done and have so many projects to share!

I put up a bird feeder:

At first, the birds were having none of it.  But now I have a ton of birds
I am totally incapable of identifying.

Started my first spray paint projects.

Primer!  What I should have started with was sanding.
That would have been totes smarter.

You know what else I learned?  Large flat services are not the best choice for spray paint.
Also, my hand will curl up into an angry claw after about 2 coats of paint on something.  
I did acquire a nifty 'comfort grip'. Which promptly gave me a giant blister because I hold things weirdly.

But in the grand scheme of things, this sad cabinet is less tragic.

And this thrift store score is not hidden in a closet, hoping for a little attention.

This is not the actual end home of the mirror (it's going in my orange dining room).
And I still can't find the cabinet doors. Whoops.  Our living room still needs so much done to it.

Know why Blue looks so sad?
Because that poor settee could not possibly have an uglier fabric on it.
I'm considering an art deco/hollywood regency fabric.
I'm also considering just setting it on fire.

Thrift Store Scores!

So, last weekend, we went thrifting.  Well, we only went to one thrift store, and then checked out some of the insane pawn shops near us that we've always mean to check out, but never do.

I admit, I tend to stay away from pawn shops cause I imagine them populated entirely by tears and stolen goods.  What I discovered was that it's not just tears and hot goods, but also practically retail priced!  I was kind of surprised just how expensive some stuff was.  The video games were often more expensive than if I ordered them from Amazon.  They did have a small camping toilet for just $20. While I can get with reusing and thrifting almost anything, it turns out I have a boundary.  A butt-based boundary. No panties, no toilets.  I'm gonna price a few tools, but with the possible exception of the wet tile cutter, I suspect I'll stick with goods of known provenience.

But I totally scored at the thrift store!  For your viewing pleasure:

Big ole mirrow! Only $5.98! 
I had to corral panties in the hallway to take this picture.The things I do for this blog.
My current plan is to paint this an aqua/teal blue.  I think it's going to live in the hallway,
but it might also go in my very orange dining room.  I might also end up embellishing the frame,
or at least adding to it's silhouette.

Brass sconces. $1.19 ea.
Either a coat of spray paint or hitting it with brasso and trying to deplate it to a silver color. 
The candle holder parts are also sort of removable, so these might become
trays rather than sconces.  I keep wanting to type "scones".  MMMM baked goods.

Silver trays.  .69/.99 The circle is actually fairly heavy weight and in good shape.  The oval that I apparently failed to take a picture of is a little lighter weight and dinged up. The circle I dunno, but seriously, 69 cents? You knew I was gonna buy that mess.  The oval I'm considering turning into a chalkboard.

3 glass trays!  My pricey pieces at 1.98 ea.  I'm not sure what era they are but...

...I'm really hoping that's an ashtray and not a utensil rest.  Because seriously, that's funny.

And not a thrift store find, but how I like to close picture posts, my dog!

Blue edging into classic J dog position. 
Her thought bubble: Why do all of my naps get interrupted by bright lights?

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