Saint Salvage

I was trolling the local thrift stores, and I bought this abused vintage Coach crossbody bag at a local Goodwill store. It was priced for $19.99, but it was 50% off, because green tags were the "special" color. It was "ridden hard and put away wet", so to speak. It's a Coach, for fashion's sake! No logos all over it. I really like the vintage Coach bags that don't have logos. It even had an ink mark on the underside of the flap. Ugh, so sad. But, it became a great candidate for a makeover! The creed (aka serial number) is 767-1839. So, I got some thin masking tape from the tool box.... I taped up everything that shouldn't get sprayed: the hardware, and a beaded tassel that was on an old bag that has passed on. I also took great care to get a can of Dupli-Color Vinyl & Fabric Coating in  HVP-107 Deep Red  to match the original purse color. I bought it for $1.39, at a local hardware store. I sprayed the...

I had a scratch on my "Blueberry" Dodge Caliber. Someone hit my car in a parking lot a few months back. Here's the scratch before attempting the repair.... Just above the passenger side rear wheel. I went to the local Walmart and spent $1.97 + tax for  Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Nail Polish 730 Frozen Glacier I had a four-sided nail buffing block already onhand. After sanding the rust off and blowing off the loosened rust, I painted on the paint. Not too bad...

I found this cute pair of vintage cone shaped pierced earrings at one of my favorite local thrift shops: Kathleen's Closet . Their sales support the  Community Food Bank of NJ . I love finding bargains that help the Food Bank and other helping organizations. I bought this pair with the plan of using this as part of a DIY. I had these fringe beads sitting in my stash... they turned to be perfect for this quickie DIY. I bought them last year on clearance from  Michaels . I selected the brown, black, red and silver fringe bead strands because they were the only duplicate colors. I took them off the chain, and separated them; one for each side. I took a gold tone head pin and threaded it through the top of each cone. I threaded the beaded strands onto each head pin. Then, I curled each wire and trimmed them. Last step... I bent the wire back up into the cone. Here I am, modeling my new creation. Not bad for about 10 minutes of...

Guess what? Mother's Day almost caught me by surprise this year. Ack! Panic mode... What to do? So, to get inspiration, I went to my local  Goodwill Store . I found this box of vintage "china" cups and saucers.  It was marked $5.99 for the whole box, but lucky for me, red tags were one of the two colors on the 50% off weekly sale. So, the whole box was $3, plus tax. Then, I went off to my local garden supply center... Yes, a mom and pop place! It's called  Bob's Garden Center . They close at 9 PM on Saturday nights, and I got there at 8:45. I scored three "Hens and Chicks" for $4.99 each, plus tax. They're great succulents! This is the "quickie" part. You pick a cup and saucer, and pick a plant. Depot it GENTLY, and remove enough soil over a paper bag or newspaper, etc... to keep the mess to a minimum. Place the succulent in the cup, and clean it up! Easy peasy! It was quick, affordable, environmentall...

I live in a two story townhouse, with next-to-no entryway. I had a small plastic organizer there before that became a messy area that my two cats would climb all over. They would knock things down, too. I also have books that I wanted to organize in my small place. So..... I called ahead to one of my favorite thrift stores,  Glassboro Thrift Village . Not only did they have "lots" of bookcases, but they were having a 30% off sale for furniture! Whoo hoo!!!! I drove the 45 minute ride, and settled on one that was $50 before the 30% off, which worked out to be $35, plus tax. It has five shelves, plus a nice top for the kitties. My son and I brought it home, moved the plastic organizer, and set up the bookcase. I cleaned it, filled it with my books, and put their bet bed on the bottom shelf, and a fuzzy blanket that they like on the top of the bookcase. My female cat, Sydney, approved of it! I also have plenty of room!!! 

I wanted to give myself a new gel polish manicure today, and I opened up my gel polish kit, and oops.... out of those lint-free wipes that are used with the gel cleanser (which is isopropyl alcohol). So, I looked around, and I found a 80 count package of "baby wipes", that I got at the local dollar store. After removing 2 wipes, I dried them with a blow dryer. I folded each one into thirds, and cut them along the fold lines. I folded those sections into thirds again, and cut them again. So, I have a total of 18 squares.... ready to be used! Here they are, in a mini zip-top bag. They are safe for more gel manicures.

I was bored one day, and decided to take on a "quickie" DIY. I pulled out scent reservoir. I used a standard, slotted screwdriver, and popped off the top that holds the wick in place. I decided to use some of this Victoria's Secret "Hazelnut Truffle" body mist that I hadn't used. I got it for $2. It was on a 50% off sale at a thrift store. I filled it up, and reattached the cap. I plugged it in, and enjoyed. Took me about 5 - 10 minutes.

 I was on a lunch break earlier this week, and I stumbled onto this vintage pair of screwback crystal earrings. They were marked $3.88, but I got them for 20% off, along with some other bargain goodies.  Anyway, I don't wear screwback or clip on earrings because they hurt my ears... but I turned them upside down (as shown in the photos). So....I put them over the tops of my ears, and twisted the screws until they stayed put. Gravity did the rest. Selfie time! Close up.... I got a lot of compliments at work from the other ladies. They loved my ear cuff, but they were annoyed that they were vintage.

 I went to my local CVS, with a coupon for saving $5, if the customer spends $15 on beauty on nail products. I'm a sucker for gel polish, and I found "Fuse Gelnamel" by Sensationail. I've tried their gel polish before, and I've enjoyed them. So, my curiosity was aroused, and I bought two "Gelnamel" colors. Lightning Jolt                                                               Gone Fission I used the gelnamel with a thin gel primer coat, a thin gel base coat, two THIN coats of the Lightning Jolt, and followed with a thin coat of gel top coat. I used it all with the original LED light. Here's what it looks like in "indoor" light.  By judging the color of the bottle, I was expecting an opaque hot pink color, with glitter. But, it's a transparent pink with lots of glitter. This is what ...