Who's a pretty Birdie? Cage.

When I tell you about treasures I bought on a recent shopping trip, and then the post about said treasures doesn't come up until a month after the shopping trip, I get a little miffed with myself.

But if it's all the same to you, we'll pretend that this all happened yesterday and just couldn't wait to share my finds with you....ahem.

Upon returning home 'yesterday', I had somehow acquired a boot full of bags.... It was probably one of the most successful shopping trips I have had in a while, with lots of things on my 'Need It' list being ticked off. You know the list right? The one that has all those things you keep forgetting to buy on your weekly shop, like nail files, or a new duster. Lucky me, I had managed to find everything from dusters, to Winter boots, to storage, to......Bird Cages?

Okay, so maybe they weren't on the list. But hey, in case you hadn't noticed, I love me some birds and cages!. $20 down from $30 for the large cage...

$10 for the small cage. I have never seen such cheap, beautiful cages, and I wasn't about to let them stay in a place called 'The Reject Shop'. How could any body reject these?!?!

I wasn't entirely sure what to do with them, but I was pretty sure they weren't going to be used for planters, as I'm not really a fan of creeping plants and couldn't imagine what other plant I could put in them. So I put them in the bedroom instead, and waited for an idea to hit me.

Within a few weeks hours ;o), I started to fill them up with some of my bedroom treasures!

Some of my girlier, frillier possessions had previously seemed lost in our fresh and vibrant bedroom...

Really, they were things that had no where else to go, and nothing better to do than perch on a blanket inside a magazine holder.

But now, they have their very own special home, and don't seem so lost anymore!

I don't have bookshelves per se as I don't own a lot of books, but I do have some super special books that need to be seen, so this was the perfect solution!

I have an extra special friend who buys me extra special books, and even lends me some of her precious's! So I am keeping them safely in here until I can bear to give them back!!

This little hat clip is a lovely gift from another beautiful friend! I am so lucky :oD

If you haven't heard of Michi Girl, get over to her site NOW. She is wonderfully blunt, artistically brilliant and ridiculously funny.  Her encyclopedia of fashion terms, 'What on earth are you wearing' contains such gems as "Box Pleat - A neatly folded Vagina" and "Handbag - A sack generally costing more than it's contents". Thank you Kirsti for entrusting some of your favourites to me, I promise you'll have them back soon!

So, is it time I stopped buying birds and cages? Really? Because I just can't seem to help it. There are a lot of them I have had to leave behind in shops, because they simply aren't budget friendly. But good things come to those who thrift, and I'm managing to feed my addiction without breaking the bank. Those of you with beady little eyes, and who enlarged the car boot image, may have seen more bird cage items....but you'll have to wait another month couple of days to see where I put those!

Birds, Branches, Butterflies...they've all been a favourite of mine at one time or another. Have you got an addiction to a particular object or image that you just can't resist?

xo Cassie

Blink and you'll miss it!

I am about to rush off to my mum's house for the day, with B4 in tow, so I really can't stay long!

I thought you might like to see one of the bird tags I showed you in this post, in it's new role as a label!

This is the woven basket that holds our small collection of cased DVD's (the rest are in a new box system which I'll share with you soon). I was pretty happy with the little 'chalkboard' look labels I had made, but on a natural texture like this basket, the shiny laminate label just didn't quite make me smile.

So the DVD basket was the first to get a new birdie label! I labeled with a subtle white pen, because it's not of great concern to me that the word stands out. It shows up nicely in person however, and I really love it!

It looks lovely on the basket, if I do say so myself, and I can't wait to find more perches for these birdie labels! This whole unit just got a switch around yesterday, so I'll be sure to post some pictures soon, it amazes me how quickly my house changes sometimes...

Have a lovely Thursday wherever you are in the world!

xo Cassie

A beautiful blue thrift!

I have been taking it easy over the weekend, recovering from my flu and resting up as much as possible. This has included staying away from the timesucker computer, so I'm sorry that the blog has been so quiet!

I had better show you a little thrift before you give up and She Thrifts gets lost in the depths of your bookmarked pages ;o)

I found these lovelies in an RSPCA op shop, and just couldn't leave them amongst the junk any longer!

Even on a day when funds were super low, I managed to thrift some new accessories!

The interesting etchings really sold them.

I wonder what they held? Some kind of oil perhaps...

They are such a gorgeous blue, and are the perfect weight for flowers.

I really wish I hadn't left this guy behind. For $5, he was in pretty good condition and certainly had project possibilities! Oh well, can't buy them all!

I love acquiring thrifty finds that I am unlikely to seen in just any home. I mean, we all love Ikea, but that's the problem isn't it?!? We ALL love it, so we all end up with the same things in our home. I think it's important to balance out generic items with your own treasures. Have fun with it!

Have you had any thrifty finds lately that you'd like to share?

Just a little purchase...

...and a little post, as I am quite under the weather today :o(

Recently Hubs and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary (love you more than ever Hubs Magee!), and to mark the occasion we traveled back to our honeymoon destination in the NSW hills. It was a lovely day, picking up beautiful local produce, dining at the organic restaurant we fell in love with, and dreaming of our return to the stunning honeymoon accommodation we stayed in last year.

On our drive through the hills I spotted a 'Huge Garage Sale' sign. I tried to let Hubs drive past unscathed, but within seconds I was telling him to TURN AROUND! See, the property holding the sale was a big beautful house with a huge garden, full of statues and ironwork. I figured somebody with a garden that lovely, would be bound to have an interesting collection of furniture and knick knacks. I was right.

There was shabby shic/antique furniture everywhere I looked! I couldn't even tell you how much of it I wanted to take home with me. But what really caught my eye was a pair of stools (perhaps even tables) that happened to have a very reasonable price tag.

$20 $10 !! OKAY! Done!

So with only a little pondering of where on earth I would put them, we had them in the back of the Suzi, ready to come home.

And here they sit! Aren't they just divine?!?! I love finding pieces that you can't get in just any store, and these stools will be timeless in my home.

So, they are in need of a little TLC, and when the weather fines up I plan on giving them a fresh coat of white paint (they seem to be two different shades of white), but can't you just imagine them in cheerful yellow, moody grey or vibrant turquoise?!?! I am sure they will see a number of paint jobs, and I will keep you posted on any changes :o) Oh, and if you were wondering, they are currently sitting under my floating shelves. I bought them with the intention of using them for seating on our front porch, but they have quickly become too precious to leave outside!

xo Cassie

Where the Keys Live...

That title really doesn't encompass all that my 'Key Station' does, it is quite the over achiever, and would probably be better described as the Multi-purpose Kitchen Trolley! But it does have my keys on it, and I was compelled to snap pics of the trolley, only because I was changing our key bowl. So you get to see the whole thing, thanks to my keys :o)

We purchased the timber trolley from Ikea for our new place, knowing that there wasn't going to be a whole lotta bench space to play with. We have gone from a kitchen this size:

Quite a fabulous kitchen, even if it was hideous!

I miss this oven. Oh, and the pantry.

To a kitchen this size:

Let me just say, no matter how much I disliked those blue tiles, it was definitely an adjustment to end up with a bench 1/3 of the size we were used to! It's not even so much the work space you need, but where on earth do all of the utensils go?!?!

So we bought the kitchen trolley, and it has been one of the best investments we've made! 

Everything on this trolley gets used frequently, so the open shelves work well.

All of the things that would have previously lived on our Blue bench, plus the keys, now have their own home.

Onto the key bowl swap: I mentioned that I have a newly discovered penchant for stripes, hence the blue bowl in my Makeup Station Make Over, and while I was grabbing the blue one, I nabbed a black one too!

 Kmart have an entire range including mugs, bowls and plates, in red, latte, black and blue stripes. At $2 a pop,I want to collect them all!

This was our old key 'jar', a pretty, mirrored candle holder. Unfortunately, my Suzi Q's key doesn't really fit, and you have to empty the contents of the jar to find anything on the bottom...

...much like this. But this time, they aren't going back!

Keys to keep were sorted..

...and random bits and bobs were removed, to be rehoused or binned.

Into their new home the keys go! Plenty of room for scrambling so Hub's won't whinge about his knuckles getting stuck anymore!

Me+stripes=LOVE!!

Here's what else you'll find on our trolley...

Top shelf: Ikea organisers, not listed on their website, but you can find other sizes here. The left box holds my little tool kit, hooks, screws, zip ties and other little handy house bits. The right box holds our sunglasses collection. We tend to go on a lot of beach holidays, so we have to have some rough pairs for that, plus back up pairs for each of us. It's a true testament to the fact that you can have a lot of stuff, but if it's in a pretty box, no one knows!!

Oh, and I almost forgot: Our spare dish rack lives on the bottom shelf. There are nights when we have a LOT of dishes to air dry, and one rack doesn't cut it, so we have a spare. My dishwasher is a great model: It's about 29 years old, cleans fairly well with only the odd re-wash needed, it provides for my family, and it snuggles with me on the couch at night. I wouldn't ever want to trade it in for a shiny new one ;o)

One of my beautiful friends brought me back this canister from Malaysia, and for the longest time, I couldn't think what to put in it. One day (probably when I was re-organising my kitchen) I discovered it was the perfect size for my straws! I love to use things in unexpected ways, it's what makes this house my home!

I did once have a Vinegar dispenser to match this Oil one, but my dishwasher husband broke it. I had intended to get a replacement, but I realised I didn't really need my vinegar to be that accessible. The laser-cut felt coaster is great for soaking up any oil drips before they get to the timber!
Fun Cassie Fact #1 - I have a love affair with Vinegar. From a young age, anything pickled or soaked in vinegar was rapidly depleted from my mum's pantry by moi. Currently in my kitchen, I have: White Balsamic, Balsamic, Rice Wine Vinegar, Malt Vinegar, Apple Cider Vinegar, White Vinegar, Household Cleaning Vinegar and Red Wine Vinegar. The enamel on my teeth is long gone.

This was a flower pot that my mum gave me when I came home from the hospital with baby B4. At the time it had lovely flowers in it, but they have long since perished. I had a packet of pretty transfers in my craft kit, and these flowers seemed fitting for a vase, so on they went. The pot now holds a thriving bush of Utensilatis. *Hopefully that sounded like a scientific flora name, and not a diease.

This canister lived on my mum's kitchen bench for most of my childhood, and when she was ready to get rid of it, I was not! Even though I have no idea what Sill is, I love this canister and the font, and it just fits a paper towel roll perfectly!

Next to old Sill, is 'The Cat with the Guitar'! I realised upon writing this post, that he has no quirky name,  and I would feel a little dishonest making one up purely for the entertainment of my readers. So, he is 'The Cat with the Guitar', because that's what we call him. Lovingly.

He's another piece that I pinched received from my dear mum, and I don't think I could ever part with him. He is one of those things that I would have paid a mint for in an antique store, but lucky me, I'm an only child!

He contains what might be a suprising collection - rubber bands! I can't remember what he held while at my mum's place, but it might have been the same...Mum?

So that was my kitchen trolley! Are there any other nooks in my house you'd love to see in detail? Head back to the Home Tour and have a look around. If you see something intriguing, let me know and I'll get a post up about it soon!

xo Cassie

Makeup Station Make Over!

Yesterday morning, I sat down at the computer, ready to bust out a multitude of posts to feed out over the next week. I was feeling pretty darn motivated, and knew that I had at least 5 uninterrupted hours to dedicate to She Thrifts before Hubs and B4 were back in the house, causing utter chaos me to be slightly distracted. So I got myself set up with a cuppa, and finally stopped Face Stalking Booking long enough to log into my Blogger account.

Blogger was down. Down and out for the WHOLE DAY. I know I'm not alone, everybody across the Blogspot world was in the exact same position. Maintenance had to be done, of course we want glitches fixed. But being unable to post anything new left me feeling particularly guilty, as I recently met some new Blog friends, and had suggested they drop by soon to see my latest projects. It's now been 4 days since my last post, and though it may not be the end of your world, I do like to post regularly. A stagnant blog does nothing for inspiration :o(

Anyway, I'm back! Blogspot is back to rights again, and although I may not be able to pump out more than one post today, I wanted to make sure it was one that you might have been waiting for...

I've been dropping little hints about a my makeup station needing a revamp, especially since my Wardrobe Overhaul, and I finally got it done! As always, I find my brain still ticking over today, pondering on ways to make it even better, but let's face it, if I made you all wait until I felt a project was completely done before sharing it, this blog would be empty.

So here's what I did to make over my makeup station!

You last saw it looking like this. Easy to see everything, and, well, easy to see everything. I am known to use the term 'aesthetically pleasing' at least once a day, and this set up was not pleasing my eyes at all. It was really easy to find everything and I really do like acrylic organisers, but it was just too much of a shamble visually.

After the relative success of my bathroom drawer liners, I wanted to experiment with a little 'wallpapering'. So again, I grabbed what I already had even if it wasn't perfect, and got to work.

These 'glue dots' (sticky dots, easy to remove) were left over from my wedding invitations, and I thought they would work well for this project. The little dispenser makes light work of any project, so I was glad I already had it on hand.

After measuring and cutting the paper, I ran the glue dots along the edges of my 'wall', and pressed the paper onto them, keeping the paper tight and smooth as I went along. It was easier than I had expected, and the glue dots held really well.

I Ummed and Ahhed over whether to do the back 'wall' for a while, and as you can see, I eventually decided it was definitely a must. I did wonder about the 'ceiling', but decided I might begin to experience some vertigo if there were any more dots in one small space. So it remains plain, but I'd like to add some push lights so that this shelf can be lit at night.

I told you I would try out some faux flowers, and I was pretty pleased with the effect.

I love these little glass jars for all of my bits and bobs. Funnily enough, the candle jars I bought for this project were quite hard to open and close on a regular basis. So I went hunting for some other jars in my collection, and found some that would loosely fit the lids from the candle jars. I got the same look, with a lot less frustration come time to grab a cotton bud!

Looking much less cluttered, but still missing that 'something'...

Seems like a big bowl for just a couple of hair elastics...

...but look now! I have been dying to get some stripes into my decor, and my wardrobe! So when I found these stripey bowls at Kmart, I was over the moon! You'll see the other one in a future post. How cute does the hairspray can look with the flowers and the bowl?!

The elastics are hidden from view, but easy to grab, and my flowers *Pop* even more with such a contrasting vessel.

Ta DA!!! Just looking at this pic right now, I want to put a strip of paper/fabric along the front of the acrylic organiser, to help the aesthetics even more. I'll let you know what I do ;o) But overall, I am super happy with the transformation!!!

I have three types of bobby pins I use daily, and they are perfectly corralled here with my other cosmetics and tools.

All of my daily make up fits in here, and you can see one of my THREE tubes of pawpaw ointment hiding up the back. Pawpaw ointment is like my Windex (My Big Fat Greek Wedding reference), so I have one in my bedside, my handbag and my makeup station, with an extra tub that gets moved around the place as needed. You know those, "If you were stuck on an island with only three items, what would would they be?" questions? Well, now you know my answer.

This glass vase has worked well for holding my brushes and headbands, so I kept it the same. If it were visible from the front, I might cover it with some paper too!

All of my Must Have bottles that look a little less pretty, got chucked into this basket. Easy to grab, easy on the eye!

 So a little Before vs. After action....

Blah.

Ta DA!!

My eyes are officially pleased!

How about yours? Can you see any more improvements I could make? I am addicted to improvements, and love to hear feedback on my projects!

I can't wait to share some more with you, so stay tuned for Painting Things, Thrifty Finds and heaps more to come!

xo Cassie