Monday, August 23, 2010

Busy as a bee. A very poor bee.

Recently, I decided to "treat myself" a bit and splurge on some items to decorate the apartment (while searching for a new sewing machine to no avail so far). I'm moving out in January, so it seems silly to spend money to redecorate at this point, but I want it to be a very cozy last several months. Most of what I bought that has been put to use has ended up in the dining room/kitchen area. Anything else is sitting on my living room floor to await its fate...

Forgive the boring, blinding white walls in my pictures. As I said, this is a college student apartment, so nothing too glorious, but these ugly white walls keep me safe, warm, and dry.

I'll start off with the best part of my tag sale-athon Saturday morning - my new shelving unit. <3 It might seem silly, seeing as most of you already have lots of gorgeous shelves to put pretty prim decor on, but I've never had one until now. I always just hung stuff on my walls (I know, so boring!). I'm constantly changing the decorations on/in it, considering I don't have too many options right now.



I like that kettle a lot, for some reason. And that candle (Pilgrim Candle) is the most fragrant candle I have ever owned. It's clearly never been lit, and I can smell it from across my kitchen. It's amazing. Almost everything on these shelves is a recent thrift shop/flea market purchase. New stuff = happy Jess. And broke Jess.

Next is my little tin and sunflower setup. It's simple, but it's something very new to this apartment, and I'm quite pleased with how it looks. I'm not usually too big on sunflowers, but the night I put it up, it brought a smile to my face every time I saw it there. Until I whacked my head on it when I bent down to take the trash out.



Oh, so that banana holder I got? Yeah, it now has a purpose. An adorable, festive purpose.


I kept those corn cobs in the plastic wrapping for so long, but I finally decided to be brave and break them free after a few years. I am glad I did so. It's the little things in life. This is where I ended up putting my new cookie jar, as well. I want some nice fabric to put under it and hopefully some more autumn leaves tucked in the corner behind everything.



I borrowed a small table from my great grandmother's basement and tucked it in the corner for now. I'll hold off on a picture because I'm expecting some putka pods and rosehips with cinnamon sticks from Old Country Barn on ebay, and I'm sure I'll be dying to post new pictures of them. I can't wait!

I found this crafted sack of blueberries, wheat, cinnamon sticks, and some nut I'm unfamiliar with at a thrift shop and fell in love with it. The problem is, everything in my apartment is autumn. All year long. And this piece is very summer. But it's so beautiful and I love it so much, that I had to have it anyways. So I put it up in it's own special spot above my nightstand next to my bed. It makes me happy. Again, it's all about the little things in life.


Next is something I actually gasped aloud at when I saw it sitting on the floor at Salvation Army. I don't even know what it's called, but it's old, it's wood, and I like it. I have no idea what to do with it, but I like it. I want to take off the stenciled stuff with sandpaper, but for now, I present to you... my new box thing!


I also grabbed a neat new stand for a dollar from a tag sale. It's nothing special, but it's cute, and it sure beats what I had before...

Before




After


This one actually has four legs! I had that other piece of junk propped against the wall for a year, and no one ever noticed until I pointed it out. Yeah, I'm glad to see it gone. And this new one has cute moons and stars. <3

I put that other tiny shelf thingy from one of my earlier posts in my bathroom for now. It's boring and undecorated for the most part, but it's got an adorable, recently purchased little critter hanging from it. I absolutely fell in love with this owl when I saw it at Michael's. They had "bears" (which looked like rats to me), a green owl, and others. He's so cuuuute! *squeee*



Lastly, I bought another shelving unit thingy from a sweet elderly lady at the flea market today. I also decided to put a birdie here. Otherwise, he'd just be sitting around on some shelf in my bathroom, waiting to be cute somewhere else. I also bought this little guy at Michael's a few years ago. I got a couple chickens for my great grandmother, too, since she used to have several of them yeeeeears ago. Now that I mention it, I should grab a few for myself. They'd look good here...



Anywho, thank you to those who have taken a peek at my blog or been so brave as to step in and say hi. Sometimes I wonder if people in the prim blogosphere will be kind of weirded out because I look a bit different and I'm a young hooligan, but for the most part, I'm not too worried about it. I've already talked to a few super nice people, especially Gina from Cat Nap Inn Primitives. She's good to me. :D


I do have one question to anyone who may be reading at the moment: Where do you get your Sweet Annie? Would I be able to go to a Garden Barn and find some or is it an online-purchase sort of thing? I don't really want to grow my own. Seeing how much some people use in their prims makes me assume it's rather cheap and easy to come by, but I saw one little bunch on ebay for about $15 plus loads for shipping. Yeowch.

6 comments:

  1. Jessica~ that wooden thingee from salvation Army almost looks like one of those potato/onion bins, I love everything and that is the BEST use for a banana stand i have ever seen!!! Love your decor, and your nut in the blueberry basket is a chestnut (very fall like:)Your apt. looks very cozy to me!!!

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  2. You made your apartment look very comfy and cozy. Thanks for sharing.

    D

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  3. Thank you both! And now I've learned two things already today. :D

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  4. Hey there Jessica, I love how you are decorating up your cute little apt..it really is looking like home..and I love fall too..I love the warmer colors..they are cozy and inviting..;) your little bin is what Carmen said..and you could also use it for plastic/paper bags..recycling..or pet food when you get a pet..or loading it up with potatoes etc..do you mind me asking how old you are? and I would love to get your address (mailing) so email me at ginacoop@hotmail.com for it..
    the sweet annie is something you can grow and buy on ebay..I just checked on ebay and they want alot for shipping like you said..I have more then enough to share a bit with you..:) do you decorate in other colors or just autumn? personally I love the warm colors..I am just curious.:) have a good one.;)

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  5. My goodness, plastic bags is a great idea! I have a closet full of those things. You always have such good ideas, haha.

    I am 22 years old. It feels weird just seeing myself type that. Last I checked, I was 14.

    And my whole apartment is in autumn colors (minus my pretty blueberry thingy in my room now, heh) and Halloween decorations (not the tacky "scary" ones). Whenever people come in during the spring or something, they ask "Isn't it time to change the decor by now?" Nope! It's always autumn here. :)

    You're so sweet. It's like a breath of fresh air to find someone that's still nice enough to go out of their way to be kind to a complete stranger. It really is appreciated. Thank you. :]

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  6. ahh I always say you have to start somewhere...and us prim girls love to help out...another use for the "potato bin" could be for the poly fill !! always lots of use for those kinda of bins to hide things! I love fall and halloween too!

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