Thrift Store Finds

June 19, 2008

DIY - Making a lampshade is fucking hard!

     Have you ever wondered how in the hell other people's DIY projects always turn out so perfectly?  Do you spend countless $$ in materials only to produce an item strikingly similar to one you made in 3rd grade?  Relax, some of us suck too. In case you happen to also be DIY challenged, I thought I'd let you in on a little project of mine that turned out like shit.


Make the world's crappiest lampshade in

                only eleven easy steps!

Step One:  Buy an old funky lamp at your local thrift store. $15 is more than I'd have liked to spend but it's cool, dirty and I need a bedside light.

Lampbefore_2

 

Step Two:  Realize that the shade you had in mind is cheesy and think, "Hey, I write a design blog - I'll make one myself!"

Step Three:  Bask in the thought of your readers witnessing your mini-miracle of creation.

Step Four:  Get out the construction paper, wire hanger, elmer's glue and anything else you used in 2nd grade. Pour yourself a congratulatory glass of wine.

Step Five:   Attempt to bend the freakishly strong hanger into something mildly resembling a circle.

Step Six:  Keep pasting layers of cardstock on top of each other until it could pass for a shade.

Step Seven: Finally understand that one hanger and a bunch of paper do not make a lampshade. Dig around your house for anything else that holds shape. Have another glass.

Step Eight:  Attach old origami paper and janky metal strip to exterior of shade.

Step Nine:  Decide that metal and paper can not be held by .99 cent glue. Screw strip in place.


Diypolaroid2

 

Step Ten:  Take cute antler salt shaker you got for Christmas and rest it on the top like a finial.  This will fall off the second you breathe so don't.  Take Hipster Havens photos...........

 

                                   .............and, viola!


Hhdiyfinish

Step Eleven:  Drink 'til she's pretty.

It looks better from far away. Hope this helps the rest of you not feel like losers.  Maybe my mom will tape it to the fridge.

Diylamp

 


 

March 29, 2008

Vintage Resurrection- Praise Jesus!

Dscf4132

Interior designer Nicole and artist Kate invited me over for dinner and then pretended not to mind while I snooped through their house taking HH photos.  Now that is friendship. Pretty much everything you see is a thrift-store rescue, handmade by one of them or a vintage heirloom. 

Dscf4126

This Jesus coffee table is my favorite piece in the apartment. I always try to set my drink down around the halo but sometimes I get the face. Yet another reason you may see me in hell.

Dscf4118

You know how in elementary school there was always the one (strange) girl whose hair was too long, pants were too short and love of horses was a tad bit obsessive?  She's finally validated.

Dscf4119

Dscf4115

Matchbox cars instead of dried-out butterflies. Genius!

Dscf4144

Dscf4148

Hay, another horse!

Dscf4136

Even the closets are stylish. Do you feel bad yet?

January 29, 2008

The 'N Sync of Germany circa 1965

Gertjonnys

I love this album cover entirely too much. Back off, the hot one is mine.

January 22, 2008

Europe does it better

Picture_7
Every so often I go through a phase where I hate every single thing I own and yearn for the satisfaction of watching it all go up in a billowy cloud of smoke.  Instead, it's bagged and taken to the Goodwill where, rather than embracing the minimalist urge, I will undoubtedly return with an arsenal of entirely new crap. That's why I particularly love these images of Icelandic stylist Reineke Groters European apartment. Somehow she manages to turn hoarding and half-painted walls into an effortlessly chic statement. Pack Rats and Lazy Bones of the world rejoice! 

Picture_4

Picture_5

Picture_8

Picture_9

Picture_6


Picture_11

Picture_10

January 11, 2008

Heads and shoulders make great art! (I'm not talking about the shampoo.)

Hhframe

They're a little creppy, a little kitchy but more importantly - they only cost $10.  How could anyone let them get away?  Hand-crafted by "Dottie" in 1955 (at least that's what the proud artist etched on the back) this little ceramic couple brightens up my day.  I thought they'd be cute on a bathroom door - ya know - men's room/women's room. Get it?

Mybath