Interesting Ways to Decorate Your Walls

I am a BIG fan of textural - 3 dimensional - repurposed artwork.  When you are broke like me, you have to come up with some unique and thrifty ways to decorate.  Every time I am out thrifting I come across crochet pot holders, old plates, embroidery hoops and vintage fabrics.  These are usually pretty cheap too! Here are some of my most favorite wall decorating ideas!

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!  I did a tutorial awhile back.  Find it here.

This would be a great way to display some of grandma's old pot holders.

 I love the way the antlers take up the empty space because of the tall ceiling. 

 Perfect for a craft room and a wonderful way to add a splash of color!

Good use for old drawers.  They kind of remind me of shadow boxes.

Old license plates would be adorable in a little boys room.

Don't forget to check out my shops CLEARANCE section!  Use code: TWIGGYSAYSWOW  for 10% off your order of $10 or more!

 All images courtesy of Pinterest.  Please visit my "A2ndlife Blog Features" board for links!

Hoop Art How to

This past weekend I got a little crafty.  I don't usually get to do this type of crafting with a five year old, two cats and a dog running around.  Although, one of my cats did try to hinder the crafting by trying to lay on all supplies and work area.  But I persevered!

My little TV wall in the living room has been begging me for some new art to fill up all the empty space.  I had been avoiding putting anything up because my husband always nags me when I put up anything to distract his eyes from the TV.  Fishing shows are very important, you know!  Gotta learn some new skills!

 He went fishing on Sunday so while he was gone I made some wall decor on the cheap! I had found three vintage pillow cases with floral print and some wooden embroidery hoops on Saturday's thrifting adventure.  These supplies cost me under $10 to buy.  CHEAP!

You can use any fabric to match any decor!  Such a great inexpensive way to add color to your room as well!  This is the way the TV wall looked after I hung all the hoops and some other thrifted goodies.  

I love how everything turned out! 

 I found the green soldier dudes at a thrift store already painted.  They are so cute!  My husband keeps telling me that they are staring at him!

I found this TV tray stand, globe and fancy little glass dome.  I bought it with the intention to sell, but I think I am gonna keep it!

So excited!!! Wedding Season!

Something potentially great happened last week!  A fabulous photography company contacted me, requesting some of my coral upcycled vases for a photo shoot that will be featured on The Knot and Style Me Pretty.  These are both pretty awesome wedding websites, full of wedding ideas.  I am stoked!!  I am especially happy that something I love creating will get some recognition and love.  So sometime in the fall I will let ya'll know when A2ndlife is featured.

This picture above is from my sister in law's summer wedding.  Photograph courtesy of  TiffyShea Photography of Wills Point, TX.  These are vintage milk glass vases placed on a vintage mirror.  These centerpieces were so simple, yet beautiful and classy.  I have done quite a few custom orders for painted wedding vases.  It gives me so much joy knowing that something I made is part of someone's special day.  This wedding season I am going to be offering a few new colors.  I really love color!!

Insta Success

Ok, lets start off by saying that I am new to the world of Instagram.   I have tried selling on Craigslist, Ebay and of course Etsy. My most successful venue being my Etsy shop.   I am beyond amazed that there is yet another way to sell my items.  For the past week or so I have been browsing all the sales and even bought some cute Lucite deer.  I just can't pass up a cute deer!

I am trying to get to 100 followers before I have my first "Insta-Sale". Maybe I will even have a Giveaway!!
If any of my readers have an Instagram, please follow me (@a2ndlifevintage) I am hoping for some "Insta-Success"!

A Busy Week

I haven't done much thrifting this week.  Mostly because my husband and I have been redoing our hallway at home.  Here is a before and after picture....

You wouldn't think a little hallway would be hard to do, but it was actually harder than doing our whole bedroom!  I did take a quick trip to Thrift Town on Monday and found a few goodies.  I found some polka dot coffee mugs, some retro flower print coffee mugs and a gorgeous pink depression glass candy dish.

I probably need to lay off the thrifting for a while.  I have so much stuff that I haven't listed in my shop, that it is ridiculous! Lots of awesome vintage items are waiting to be found... if I would just make myself list them all!  So check out my shop over the next few days.  You might just find something that you have to have!

Bedroom Renovation

 We had a minor flood in our master bath last week.  It flowed out into our bedroom and further ruined the old and musty carpet that came with the house when we bought it.  We decided to check out the local discount builder's surplus store for some cheap flooring.  We scored some laminate wood flooring for $0.59 a square foot!! After tearing out the carpet, my husband discovered that our shower had also been leaking.  Long story short, he ended up having to tear out the Sheetrock to repair the shower, re-Sheetrock, and then mud and re-texture the walls.  I am so thankful to have a handy husband that knows how to do all this!

  I chose to paint the walls a soft gray color with bright white trim.  After a little lot of impatient banter on my part, we FINALLY were able to put down our beautiful flooring.  

After the flooring was installed, the fun part started.  I had been waiting for over a week to decorate!  On a thrift stop, that weekend I found some awesome vintage drapes in the softest shade of mint, a gold and cream patterned bed skirt and a gorgeous ornate mirror. It was so much fun putting together our "new" bedroom. It is so amazing what some new flooring and a new shade of paint can do for a room!  Before we renovated, I avoided our room at all cost, but now I want to be in there all the time.  I guess I just want to admire all the vintage treasures that we have pieced together over the past year to finally make our room feel like home. 

Minus the new lamp shades and some throw pillows everything in our room is either a thrift find, a hand me down or something we have had for years.  Pretty much everything is vintage as well! I am so proud of our thrifty little room!