Favorite Second Hand Finds

Those of you who know me and have followed me for awhile, know that I love getting the majority of my accessories and home decor second hand. I am an avid thrift store shopper and hit up flea markets and yard sales the minute the weather gets nice.

Church sales are actually my favorite places to shop because they often have the lowest prices, great hidden treasures…and sweet church volunteers who are happy to see you find good stuff! I occasionally shop on Craigslist as well and have scored some of my most loved pieces that way.

Here are some of my favorites along with the details of how I acquired them.

The Bedroom Switch

I mentioned last week that my husband and I just recently swapped our large master bedroom for the kids' small shared room. We live in a 1300 square foot, two bedroom and this has been a project I had been wanting to tackle for well over a year. Don't you love when you finally knock something big off of your "list to do"? Today, I am giving a little sneak peek of how I quickly pulled it together in the interim, before it gets a full on makeover.

With so much "stuff" upstairs, I stalled on this project for such a long time. What finally got me motivated was decluttering. We literally donated two to three minivans full!

Simplifying my decor has breathed new life into our home. I highly encourage it, if you feel stuck with pulling your home together. I donated a painful amount of belongings, but even months later, I don't miss ANY of it. In fact, I am relieved it is gone. It can't weigh me down anymore.

Vintage Eclectic Jewelry Display

If you love jewelry as much as I, today's post is for you! Especially if you love organizing it in creative and unique ways. Which is basically what I am all about around our home…

I have always loved jewelry and have grown quite a stash over the years. In high school I had four ear piercings on each ear, wore ten to twelve silver rings every day and doubled up on some fingers. I got my belly button pierced the day of my high school graduation party (much to my mother's chagrin) and always wore layers of necklaces and bracelets. Later, I got into vintage style and often wore costume jewelry and brooches. I would scour flea markets for really unique ones to add to my collection. I still love those pieces.

Nostalgic Christmas Tree & Making Memories

  Christmas is almost upon us! Which actually gets me a little sad that this magical time will soon be over, but before it is, I wanted to share more details of our nostalgic Christmas tree and some of the memories we have been making this holiday season. 

I shared my full holiday home tour last week, but our tree is pretty special to me since we received several of my grandparents' ornaments. Both of them passed away earlier this year (my grandmother in January and my grandfather in March), so it has been a time of loss and remembering. I am grateful to have these small mementos to keep their memory alive in our home.

Christmas in the Living Room & A $500 Raymour & Flanigan Giveaway!

I am proud to be partnering with Raymour & Flanigan for this post. I have previously received products featured in this post from them, and they are sponsoring this generous giveaway. All expressed opinions are 100% my own. Read my full disclosure.

Today, I am thrilled to be taking you inside our living room decked out for the season! Since I have yet to share a full holiday home tour, I hope you enjoy this "mini tour" to get a taste of how we are doing Christmas this year.

I am also very excited to be joining with four other bloggers, each with their own holiday inspiration, and giveaways for $500 to Raymour & Flanigan! You can find more details about that at the end of this post.

DIY Advent Calendar & Festive Holiday Mantel

I have been sponsored by Command Brand and received product for this post. All expressed opinions are 100% my own, and all additional products selected were chosen by me. This post also contains affiliate links*. Read my full disclosure. 

Decorating for Christmas has always been a favorite pastime of mine. Some years, however, I let the pressure to have a "perfect holiday home" get to me, and lose the joy the season brings trying to get it all done. This year, instead of trying to tackle decorating our entire home and going over the top everywhere, I decided to focus on what would bring my children joy and fill their little hearts with wonder. What better way than a homemade advent calendar?

Today, I hope you are inspired by how I made it with some simple materials and I'm also excited to give you a glimpse of our festive mantel.

Creating a Personal & Cozy Home for Fall

Fall is in all its glory here in Western New York right now. My favorite time of year! The leaves are reaching their peak colors and just enough of them are falling off for the kids to jump and play. I shared my fall home tour last month, but today, I wanted to share with you how I strive to make this season personal and cozy for my family. I am joining in with some of my best blogging friends for Seasons of Home: Fall Edition. Be sure to visit them at the end of this post to see what fall inspiration they have to share!

Even just as a hint of this season is in the air, my whole spirit is lifted in a way I can't describe in words. I become alive all over again…my senses are awakened and my focus shifts to what matters most…enjoying every minute of this fleeting time.

Natural Bohemian Fall Mantel

Last week, I showed my most recent mantel vignette in the second part of my fall home tour. Today, I am showing you more details of how I decorated it for fall this year. It has some similarities to last year's…natural with vintage finds, but this time around with more bohemian style thrown in.

Oh, hello fall {free printable}

Fall is is pretty much here in my book (except for the extremely hot weather we are experiencing right now in Western New York), so, for me, it's time to start bringing the warmth and beauty of autumn all throughout my home. Today, I am excited to usher in fall with several other talented bloggers as we share decorating vignettes, along with free printables, for you to enjoy all season long!

I love, love, love this time of year. I really can't say it enough. So much beauty to behold and comforts that bring me back to the best memories of childhood: jumping in leaves, going to pick out pumpkins, selecting a Halloween costume, good food, family get-togethers, the scent in the air. There is pretty much nothing that I don't love about fall expect maybe that it is too short. It always seems to go by in a flash. Oh if I could just hold onto it for a bit longer. 

Vintage Bohemian Fall Decor Ideas

Fall is my favorite time of year, and it's just around the corner. I am already getting excited to prep my home for the season and share my fall home tour with you next month! Until then, I thought I would share some simple ways to add vintage bohemian flavor to your fall decor from seasons past. I hope you enjoy these!

Click on the links at the end of each description, to check out the full posts with even more photos and inspiration!

25+ Ways to Decorate with Affordable Vintage Finds

I love decorating with vintage finds, mostly because they have charm and character but also because I am super thrifty. I love to find a bargain. Always have and likely always will. I scour thrift stores, flea markets, antique malls, garage sales and even the side of the road to find unique and affordable (or free!) pieces. Today, I am sharing a round-up of ways that I have decorated with and repurposed some of these vintage finds in my own home.

The majority of these images have appeared in previous blog posts, so be sure to click on the links beneath each for more details!

 

You’re a Hoot {Owl Lover’s Gift Guide}

This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission from any sales made through them, but the cost to you does not change. Full Disclosure.

We all know someone who loves owls don't we? I mean seriously…who doesn't? They are amazing creatures. I have quite a growing collection of owl decor around my own house. Today, I have a fun round-up of quirky products found online that would make awesome gifts for any owl lover. Or why not treat yourself if it's you?

Vintage Bohemian Wall Hanging

What happens when you take a thrift store doily, hang it from a branch, and add some feathers? You get a vintage inspired wall hanging with bohemian style! I've had this crocheted doily hanging in my upstairs gallery wall for several months but decided to give it a little tweak. It already had some boho flare with the fringe at the bottom, but I wanted to enhance it even more and finally did…

This was nothing too fancy, mind you, and 99% of the work was already done for me, which made putting it together super easy. I am always amazed by the skill and talent of people who can crochet like this. Such tiny, intricate detailing! Definitely not in my skill set. But embellishing? Now, that I can do.

How to Create a Rustic Bohemian Living Room {Source List & Inspiration}

Last April, I shared our living room redo with a new leather sofa. Overall the room has a rustic, vintage style with bohemian touches. Since I get a lot of questions about sources, I put together a list with several elements of the room, along with close alternatives for items that were vintage finds or not available online. I hope you enjoy this curated collection inspired by my own living room!

Note: Items are not shown to scale.

I am an avid thrift store, flea market and garage sale shopper, so many of the items that I decorate with are one of a kind or impossible to find online. This source list offers both items that I actually own, as well as close alternatives that have similar appeal.

July Dining Room Mantel Vignette

It's no secret that I like to change out my mantel decor…a lot. If you visit here regularly, your probably know this. Today, I am sharing how I just recently redid it for the month of July. I kept it fairly simple with a mixture of vintage and eclectic pieces, hints of black, potted succulents and fresh cut flowers from the yard.
We bought this old mantel from a local salvage shop and gave it a makeover a couple of years ago. It used to have very chippy brown paint. It has lived in our dining room for the past several years. Sometimes, I want to move it back to the living room where I first put it, since in my mind, it seems that is where a mantel is "supposed" to go. But whenever I look at it with our antique chandelier above it, I know this is really where it belongs.

Coastal Inspired Altered Bottles {Making Memories from the Sea}

With summer in full swing, many people are heading to beaches and lakes to get away, so today I am sharing a project to keep some of the memories alive from those trips, while adding a coastal touch to your decor. It only requires an old bottle, some embellishments and letting your creativity flow. You could embellish these bottles with nature collected along the shore, pieces saved from trips passed or items that remind you of a previous vacation.

I made these "Ocean Relic" altered bottles, as I affectionately named them, for my online shop back in 2009. I shared a glimpse of them last week in a vignette I decorated back then, before they were shipped off to their new owners.

Altering vintage bottles into works of art was a pastime I thoroughly enjoyed for a long time. Back when altered art was all the rage…I couldn't get enough. I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning creating. I sold a lot of my art pieces first on eBay and then Etsy and my own website. Mixed media and collage art are still huge passions, but I don't get a chance to do it as often now. Since these are still some of my favorite creations, I wanted to share how I went about making them and inspire you to create your own.

A Cottage Style Summer Vignette {a look back to 2009}

Since I haven't had a lot of time to decorate for summer lately (other than the small bit I did on our front porch recently), I thought I would share a vignette from our former townhouse that I set up the summer of 2009. Decorating was basically my life then. I lived for creating these vignettes. Not a whole lot of time (or space) for them these days…but it is still a passion.

Life was sure easy back then. It is very different now and a lot harder in some ways, but I wouldn't go back. I love spending my days with the little ones and even though that means less time doing the things I used to do regularly, it is worth it. I hope you enjoy this "look back" at my cottage style summer vignette…

Hazel’s Sheriff Callie Inspired Cowgirl Birthday Party

My daughter Hazel is coming up on her fourth birthday (hard to believe!) and if there is one thing I am terrible at as a blogger, it is getting my kids' birthday posts up around their actual birthday. Today, I am finally sharing Hazel's third birthday party which was a Sheriff Callie inspired cowgirl theme. Even though this post is near a year late, I hope you enjoy seeing how we celebrated and get some inspiration if you are planning a similar party soon!

When we were deciding on a theme, Hazel kept coming back to Sheriff Callie, an adorable show on Disney Junior that we would watch from time to time. She was fixated on being a cowgirl like the main character. 

Creative Bookshelf Styling

You might recall last week, when I talked about my obsession with shelf styling? I cannot get enough inspiration for it. I am constantly swooning over images I find on Pinterest and blogs, especially being fond of everything Emily Henderson and Joanna Gains do. I love the mixture of eclectic, flea market and one of a kind finds mixed in with inspiring reads.

I have a round up today will several examples of shelf styling ideas from my own blogging friends as well as some from my very own home. I hope you enjoy these!

Styling an Eclectic Bookshelf {in the living room}

Lately, I have been obsessed with bookshelf styling. So much so that I stole a shelf from my kids' room, just to decorate it in the living room. (Don't worry, I replaced it with something else that was even more kid friendly for them). I purchased this shelf at an antique store, long before having children, and while it isn't exactly "the look" I was going for, it had the space I wanted. I will be sharing the full living room refresh later this week, as I mentioned last Friday, but today, it's all about the shelf.

You might recall the rustic shelf that was in this space previously. It has been there for a long time, and even though I love it, I felt limited with how many things I could actually "style" on it.