Well helloooo ladies! OK, the party is finally here! I am calling this a Goodwill party, but you can link to anything you've purchased "second hand," meaning you purchased it at a thrift store, consignment shop, garage sale, your grandma's attic, whatever!If you have read this blog for one minute, you know I love me some Goodwill! I have three pretty good ones within a five mile radius, and the best is right down the street. I have developed what I call my "Goodwill radar." I can sense a good deal waiting for me inside...you think I'm kidding! I have found some of my best deals with my sixth sense. Goodwill and I are like this. Tight, yo.
I know some of you have an aversion to Goodwill shops. (Ahem...Jennifer.) Whateva whateva people, you need to load yourself with a mask and some latex gloves and bare down. You can do it! You can bare it! You can walk past the elderly potty chairs and get through it. I believe in you. And if you do, maybe you'll find some treasures like I have. First some of my favorites...
My beautious $25 Goodwill coffee table:
With a bunch of $1.99 hardback books stacked on it: 
With the covers taken off of course, and they have to have titles I love. This table is one of my all time favorites. I think it was $30, I can't remember it's been so long. It was AWFUL, awful, blech, puke green. Awful. But I saw it's potential. My dad actually took it and refinished it for me as a gift and now it's one of my favorite pieces of furniture:
Gorg! It's actually an antique, if you can believe it! I had a marking underneath that I researched (I'm too lazy to get my butt off the couch to look now) and it is really old. This desk was also an awful throw up green (what's the deal with green?) and I painted it black and replaced the knobs. It was $20: 
Here's a few before and afters I've done in the past few months. I was looking for a little tray for the cat food and water, for, like EVER. I mean, I'm not paying $20 for a tray the cats eat off of. I mean, I love them and all, but really? This bed tray was $4 and falling apart: 
Here's a few before and afters I've done in the past few months. I was looking for a little tray for the cat food and water, for, like EVER. I mean, I'm not paying $20 for a tray the cats eat off of. I mean, I love them and all, but really? This bed tray was $4 and falling apart: With some glue and black spray paint, it turned out perfect:
Don't ask about the water fountain. Please. Just don't ask.Last fall, our son was starting to get into Thomas the Train, and I researched the train tables and about threw up in my mouth a little. The whole shebang would be $250. One day, my Goodwill radar was at high alert, so I popped in and found this for $25: 
It was in PERFECT condition, except where the tracks were glued down. I just turned over the table part and spray painted the table green:
I'm not kidding when I say I saved $225 on this thing! Now, if Hubby would quit buying train stuff, that would be great.
I showed you this last fall, it was $5 and I'm not really sure what it was originally:
I saw it as a little bookcase:
I love it! This little beauty was $2.99 and was OK in white:
But it needed some cleaning and I'm a black paint kind of girl anyway:
It still had a Crate and Barrel price tag on the bottom for $20ish. I've had a bit of an obsession with all things glass lately, and my Goodwill doesn't disappoint. I found both of these for $1.99 each:
Our dining room cabinet has collected quite a few, although I haven't figured out what I'm doing with them yet:
Remember the jute vases? Yep, they were Goodwill finds:
That gorg tall carafe is fantastic and was $4!
Our dining room cabinet has collected quite a few, although I haven't figured out what I'm doing with them yet: Remember the jute vases? Yep, they were Goodwill finds: That gorg tall carafe is fantastic and was $4! Of course, my laundry room update consisted of mostly Goodwill and consignment shop finds:
My little $3 mirror I made into a candlescape...I loved the detail!: 
I am loving our local consignment shop too -- I've made more than $200 by selling old stuff there over the past year. I find great little treasures there as well (that have completely blown the $200 I made. Huh.) My lamp that I transformed with spray paint and some ribbon:
My skeleton keys were $7 for five keys:
These candlesticks were on sale for $10 for both. I cut one down and glued the top back on so they weren't the same size:
This little doodad on my $20 sofa table is actually a $7 decorative shelf I turned upside down:
Sooooo...what have you transformed? Made your own? Made work for you? Do you need a mask and gloves or do you lurve Goodwill?
My little $3 mirror I made into a candlescape...I loved the detail!: I am loving our local consignment shop too -- I've made more than $200 by selling old stuff there over the past year. I find great little treasures there as well (that have completely blown the $200 I made. Huh.) My lamp that I transformed with spray paint and some ribbon: My skeleton keys were $7 for five keys: These candlesticks were on sale for $10 for both. I cut one down and glued the top back on so they weren't the same size: This little doodad on my $20 sofa table is actually a $7 decorative shelf I turned upside down: Sooooo...what have you transformed? Made your own? Made work for you? Do you need a mask and gloves or do you lurve Goodwill?I have to mention the purpose of Goodwill while I'm at it -- they are a fantastic organization that help to employ people with disabilities at all levels of the business. These are people may not be employed otherwise. Goodwill allows these folks to be productive members of society, and that is a very good thing. OK, onto the party!!
I have taken down the Linky because of issues it was causing with my site...I've tried just adding the links but it's not working...I'm going to try to get this to work! If you would like to add your post, please leave it in the comments! Thank you so much!
I saw this one months ago, and I've had everything for a loooong time to make it on my own. I mean, a LONG time. I kept hesitating because of my new found fear of mod podge. 
I had a ten foot MDF board cut down into one foot pieces at Lowe's:
Then spray adhesived (my made up word) the crap outta them -- the back of the paper and the front of the board. I let them both set up for about a minute, then just placed the paper on each board:
I nailed them right into the wall, instead of putting brackets on the back:
I don't know I don't know! Help! I've seen this done all over blogland, and I think most people use canvases. I was being cheap -- I think all the wood for this was less than $10. Total with the wood, paper and spray paint, this cost less than $25. The Ballard version is $200! 
I was just reallllly tired of it in that spot, and needed something new. I was going to take it to Goodwill but I think I'm going to use it outside -- fun eh? 
I know I've been talking about this space for a while, and today I realized I hadn't shown it to you yet! The playroom is our loft, and used to be just an adult space for watching TV, but we rarely used it for a number of reasons -- I'm not sure what those reasons are, but I'm sure there are a number of them. :)
The mirror was an extra -- I asked the builder not to install it in the powder room. They left it for us anyway and it was sitting in the mud room closet for five years. I hung it up just for fun:
