I purchased a commercial baker’s four loaf pan at a yard sale for $2.50 last summer.  It sat in my basement stash for a long time…forgotten.  I was digging through the pile a few weeks ago and found this piece again.  It was like Christmas!  So, what do you do with a rusty loaf pan?  I’m not going to bake with it.  It also would take two people to get it out of the oven!  This sucker is heavy.  Knowing it would never hold hot loaves again, I thought of a few new uses for it.  New Use # 1: A unique buffet server.  This is the perfect shape and size to hold napkins, flatware, and condiments.  I can never resist an opportunity to showcase my Bakelite set and linen napkins.  I love the soft, crisp look of the linen against the rust and metal.  I did spray the loaf

It was time to pack away the pinecones and berries, so I moved some things around in my dining room and came up with this new buffet arrangement.  I went a little cloche happy, here, but I think it works.  I purchased these little cloches on silver pedestals at Salvation Army for $2.50 (for all three) or something crazy like that.  I found the cloches first and wasn’t too impressed, but at another location in the store I saw the pedestals.  “I think these go together…”  Sure enough.  Perfect fit.  I put a piece of my grandmother’s stone fruit on each pedestal. I matched up a large glass cloche from an antique store with a glass cake pedestal.  They were purchased years apart and look like they were made for each other.  I filled it with my mom’s china, a silver spoon rest, and one of my little silver bowl

There are over 60 Furniture Feature Friday entries so far…wow!  This is normally a pretty intimate party of about 40-50, so that is a big number.  The link party is open through Saturday at midnight, so it’s not too late to link up.   Anyway, I wanted to share my latest finds with you.  I can rarely resists a “pop-in” at my local thrift store and this visit did not disappoint.  I found this sweet aqua urn that’s the perfect color for my bedroom.  In addition, I found this 4 tiered metal and glass Étagère that looks great as-is.  It’s pretty rare that I buy something that doesn’t need a major makeover, so this is kind of a treat.  My 3 year old wanted to climb it within 24 hours of having it in the house, so despite the fact that I’ve always wanted one, I think this will end up

I shared about my love of stone fruit in a post a few months ago.  It’s marble that’s been carved and hand painted to look like real fruit and it’s pretty convincing.  It’s also usually very expensive.  One rare piece on E-bay can sell for $60 or more.  I was over-the-moon one day when I found stone fruit at Goodwill for $.68 a piece.  I snapped them right up and I was happy with my little collection.  What I really longed for, though, was my grandmother’s stone fruit collection. She had it sitting on her dining room table for as long as I can remember.  I never noticed it as a kid, but after I got married and learned more about decorating and antiques, I fell in love with her stone fruit.  When my grandfather passed away last fall, I really wanted to get the stone fruit.  It wasn’t about

I stopped by my local thrift store yesterday and found a beauty of a birdcage.  I have been looking for one for a while and I saw this one tucked up on a shelf.  Lately this thrift store has gotten a little pricey with certain items and this was $12.00, which is not dirt cheap, but I thought it was worth it.  It had a few nicks and dings and was filthy, but it was otherwise in great condition. I gave it a good scrub and rubbed some Dark Walnut stain on the dings.  So, now it looked good…what do I do with it?  Candles seemed like an easy and obvious choice. I set off my smoke alarm as I took this picture, but I love how it looks.  Great ambience…candles and a smoke alarm.  Very calming. Well, the snow is falling right now and it looks like we’re going to

I bought this Country Home book several years ago and it made me want a white, slipcovered French settee.  On a side note, does anyone else miss Country Home?  Family Circle was not the same at all and a ridiculous substitution for my subscription.  Anyway…I loved everything about this sofa and I just had to find one. Fast forward about seven years and I found my French Settee.  It was at a yard sale for $50.00. That’s a great price, but it had been used as a dog bed and was totally gross. I vacuumed up all of the dog hair, scrubbed it with upholstery cleaner, aired it out and sprayed it with lots of Febreeze. I then slipcovered it with a tied on cover to keep the wood details exposed.      The quilt is to protect it from my cats, who like to nestle in the down cushion.  A quilt is easier

I had a rough morning.  My 1 1/2 year old has been sick and either he’s crying or wants to be held.  This extra attention to the sick child has made my 3 year old demanding and fussy.  After being cooped up in the house for most of the week with this dynamic, I finally lost it.  My wonderful husband could hear that I was rapidly becoming the mommy monster and I needed a break.  He came home early and gave me 3 1/2 glorious hours to do whatever I wanted.  I decided to take a very long, very hot shower first.  Then, I headed out to hit a few thrift stores and pay a visit to Hobby Lobby.  Our Hobby Lobby is pretty new, so we don’t have much of a clearance section, yet.  Today, however, there was an entire aisle of clearance items.  I found this metal cloche

I treated myself by hitting Hobby Lobby and Goodwill last week and came home with a bunch of goodies.  I found this small ornate mirror for $2.97 at Goodwill.  It’s plastic, but I love the shape and the antiqued mirror. I can’t wait to paint it up…it’s going to be amazing. I bought 4 vintage hangers for $.97.  I also found this damask curtain panel and brown and aqua curtain topper, both brand new from Target. I’m not going to use them as curtains, but the fabric and trim are perfect for my bedroom. I hit the 90% off Christmas aisle at Hobby Lobby and bought 3 large bunches of silk poisnettias for $9.00(originally $75) and these mirrored snowflake ornaments for $.20 each.  Every mirror on every snowflake is broken, so I’m not sure if that’s how they are supposed to be or they are all broken.  Either way, I think