We LOVE Wisconsin beer!

We love Wisconsin

beer so much that we decided to

save some of our beer 

bottles (& bottles from friends) to

turn into these lovely

beer bottle soy candles!

The New Glarus coffee stout

bottle is scented with a hazelnut coffee!

It smells AMAZING!

I made over two dozen candles the other

day! I am excited for this

new venture with my husband!

Bill loves local beer 

as do I & now we 

can make something fun together!

All of our candles are made with 

a high quality soy wax, no dyes & high 

quality fragrance oil! 

If you have any bottles to donate we 

would love to take them off of

your hands! 

Our candles will soon be 

available at...

Blue Moon Emporium, downtown Appleton 

Anthology, State st. downtown Madison 

The Regal Find, Middleton

We will also have a nice selection 

at Fall in Love with handmade 

the urban craft fair we host

at the Downtown Oshkosh Convention Center

February 13 9-2

Enjoy! Michelle & Bill 

How to give a new look to an old desk!

Bill had a computer desk when we moved in 

together that had seen better days! 

We got the idea to

replace just the top of the desk, 

reusing the base.

We purchased a 2x4 which I believe was 

around $6 (be sure to buy a thick

one so that it doesn't warp). 

Ours is just shy of an inch thick.

We bought a dark mahogany 

stain to match other wood

items in our home & stained the wood. 

We also sanded the top just lightly 

to remove any rough areas on the

surface before applying

 the stain. 

(be sure to wear gloves or be very careful 

so you don't stain your hands) 

We let it sit overnight to dry &

then added a thin clear coat. 

This entire project cost under 

$20. It really gave our 

desk a new life &

we have more room

as the 2x4 is bigger then

the old desk top. 

Bill did attach the 2x4 to the 

base so it's not just resting on the base. 

This is an updated picture of the desk.

We did this project about 2 years ago

& I still love this desk!

We get compliments on it all of the time. 

It's unique, beautiful & stylish

not too mention a new desk even the 

cheap ones can cost over $100. 

The above photo is the before picture.

See what I mean!?!

Enjoy! :)

Bedroom makeover for our teenage daughter.

My daughter asked me

if I we could redo her room so I decided to 

make it part of her Christmas present. .

Here are a few before pics. It

was cute but simple & not really pulled together. 

She wanted a bohemian inspired room

so I went on pinterest & started 

pinning everything bohemian 

inspired until I think I figure out 

a look for her. 

I did this all while she was at her Dad's 

so she didn't know I was

redoing her room! ;)

I was able to reuse her bedspread..

I simply just flipped it over. Thankfully

it was reversible. I purchased only

two new items the rest was thrifted. 

The taspestry we found on ebay for 

under $10. The bed skirt was 

thrifted for $1 & I re sized it to fit her bed. 

I bought the lavender blanket at 

goodwill which was probably the most 

expensive thing at (but it was new) $20. 

I did buy some furry fabric to cover

one of the pillows so I used

the extra fur to throw over the chair

that was already in her room. 

The end table is vintage

& solid wood. I found that at a thrift 

store as well for under $10. 

I found lace curtains that don't match exactly

but unless you really look

at them you can't tell. I 

actually really love that they don't match &

they are so pretty! I love the pattern on them. 

I added white lights over both of her

 windows to give her room 

a cozy look. 

I also thrifted a bunch

of random baskets for storage

for the shelves that her tv sits on

(the stand was purchased at Aldi's &

it is 2 cubicles next to each other)

We re used her desk but found a beautiful

solid wood chair at a thrift store

for $7.

I got REALLY lucky & found

a bunch of like new throw

pillows at a local thrift store for $1 a piece

 that I covered with

thrifted scarves to give them a 

bohemian look.

I also found some cute accents like these gold

dishes that sit on her desk for 

pencils ect. 

I think they were maybe .75 cents each, 

& this "love" print on pinterest

as a free download & printable.

I printed it in black &

white then put it in a frame

that I wasn't currently using. 

I think her room turned out

so beautiful & perfect for

 my 16 year old daughter. It's cozy, 

stylish & she loves it! 

Her reaction was

pricless when she came home to her 

new room!

It's amazing what you can do 

with a small budget, inspiration &

an imagination! 

I am pretty sure I spent under $100 

on everything! 

Be sure to click on each photo

for a closer look. 

Enjoy! -Michelle 

Papasan chair redo!

We recently purchased a papasan

chair on Craig's list for $25 

(The entire chair with the cushion!!).

I have wanted one for a while &

we are always looking for creative seating..

but I guess I didn't realize that they

are very expensive. The chair new

would have cost us $150. for the frame

& faux fur cushion (that was with the 

cushion on sale).

(below is the photo I found via pinterest

for our inspiration)

I started searching on Craig's list &

found this one for $25 in great shape

& the family lives about 5 minutes from us. 

I was relieved it was a family selling it, they are 

making room for a new baby. 

(We live in a College town so you never know!)

(before)

The bamboo/wood is a bit worn

but the pad was in great shape although 

sage green is not exactly 

what I had in mind.

I ran to the fabric store & 

found some faux fur which happened to 

be 50% off (that stuff can be expensive).

I bought two yards & it cost about $15.

I also bought some elastic to use on the back. 

This fabric is not machine washable but

I gave it a quick run through the dryer

to get the access fur off

 (I plan on hand washing it when that time comes).

I hand stitched a slipcover using the pad

as my pattern. I also attached two 

pieces of elastic along the back in an x pattern to 

help keep the oval shape of the cushion.

(after photo)

I will be painting the frame black but for now it

is going to stay as shown above until the 

weather warms up. I will 

share again this Spring when I can

paint it. 

As you can see by our 

photos of Dexter our pug is extremely fond

of this chair from the second we brought it home! :)

It is a super comfy chair & for $40 total & 

maybe $5 for a can of black spray paint. 

I would say a pinterest success! 

I love our new chair!! Enjoy! 

(Be sure to click on photos for 

a closer look.

Our retro kitchen table & chair redo!

We picked up this beautiful retro dining room 

set at a garage sale for $20!

Yep, $20 for the entire set!!! 

It was in rough shape but the owner

was happy to sell it to us. It

had belonged to her husband's

Grandfather. 

It was in rough shape, a little dirty, 

rusty & needed some TLC. 

We took all of the chair seats off first &

scrubbed them with Bar Keepers cleaner. 

The vinyl is off white with gold flecks which

is hard to see in the pic. 

Bill took off

all of the metal & hardware

& soaked it overnight in Coca Cola. 

It came out so clean & beautiful!

(below is the before photo.)

We repainted all of the legs on the chairs

& table with black high gloss paint made 

specifically for metal.

(after photo)

We also bought new plastic 

stoppers for the legs of the chairs & table in black. 

The original set was white but 

many were missing. They are

super cheap to buy & a quick fix that 

adds so much to the set. 

Bill also redid the top of the table with

floor finish to give a nice shine

 to the dull top. (it is literally

floor polish) You will have to do this to

the top a few times a year to keep it shiny

as it dulls overtime. 

It has been almost 2 years since we bought

this table & finished it! We still

love it! The best part is we gave something

that was probably ready for the dumpster a 

new life! 

We invested about $20 in product 

to redo this project 

& a lot of elbow grease! :)

Enjoy! Michelle & Bill

Our DIY retro bar!

Our first ever DIY!

Bill found this AMAZING 

retro tv on Craiglist in Milwaukee

a few years ago. It

is a RCA Victor from the 

late 50's.

He took the tv tube out & removed all of

the wires. We bought a 

wood wax to shine it up a bit &

a custom piece of glass for the shelf.

(We also left the back on so you can't see through it.)

The original knobs had to be

glued in place so they didn't fall out

& we added rope lights under the

glass to light it up.

We have since installed wine glass racks for 

storage! It looks so awesome lit up!

The most expensive part was the tv & second

to that was the custom glass which has a special 

finish (it's not clear) to it to keep with 

it's vintage look. 

The doors are Mahogany & have a beautiful pattern

on them. There are a few scratches

but overall we lucked out 

as the cabinet is in beautiful condition!

Here it is shown with my late

Grandfathers record player on top 

& our pups stockings. :) 

It has been fun thrifting vintage

bar ware for it! We will have 

to share some of our finds soon! 

Enjoy! 

Hello....

Hello & welcome to our new space!

We created this blog to share one of our biggest 

passions/hobbies... thrifting!

We love to give new life to our finds

& most of all just the thrill of finding new

to us goods! 

"Why buy new?" is my husbands 

favorite saying! ;)

We also have 4 kids all together &

2 pug mixes so we need to save where we can!

We hope to share with you our thrifty ways,

how you can have what you want/need 

for a lot less & how a little

tlc can make a huge difference!

Stay tuned while I continue to set up

our new space! We 

hope you will follow along! 

-Michelle & Bill