me and my thrifty ways... part two

as i reported yesterday in 'thrilling' part one of my thrifty ways, my secondhand finds of late have been slim on the ground.

but i have not let that deter me, no sirree... our hallway needed 'brightening' up and 'brightening' i did.

armed with paint (not sure what i will do when my little cans run dry), some mirrors, an 'interesting' flower painting and my thrifty yarn, i set forth at the beginning of the week with my transformation.

my thrifty yarn was the starting point, which i came across last week... not in the thriftstore but in a rather lovely vintage store called Sisters, not too far from me.

my little eyes spied a glass bowl of vibrant colored yarn scraps... and as i thought the case maybe, they were for display. obviously i had desperation in my eyes, thus causing the lovely owner to take pity upon a 'handcrafted thrifty' mama such as i, and agreed to sell me some.

"hurrah" i thought as i drove home, glancing across to my glowing stash safely buckled in... wanting to hug my fabby yarn and show the world right there and then, it's wonderful colorful qualities.

later that night i sat upon my little couch in the kitchen and began a 'blankie of the utmost' kind.

after ten minutes my eyes began to itch... could it be?

after another ten minutes i was ready to rip my eyeballs from their sockets. yes, it could be... i had wool yarn in my hands.

this would never do for a doggie blankie, Miss W. Machine and her 'wayward ways' with laundry would have this thing felted in a jiffy.

so i unravelled and pondered.

me on my little sofa pondering, opposite little olive in her basket sleeping,

with garland above.

of course, it only stood to reason, if little olive had a crocheted garland then so should i...

i set about crafting a garland for our hallway, and if i may be so bold, let me give you a 'visual' of my front hall, so you may further 'see' my results.

as you step through the shed's front door, you have a wall less than six feet in front of you.

you've seen this wall many times before.

if you turn to the right, there is a cupboard for coats, the lounge area and just to the left of this picture is the stairs...

if you turn to the left, there is another cupboard and a through way to either my studio or the narrow corridor leading to the kitchen.

i love this little space.

the minute i stepped into mossy shed, the first time i viewed her, this little area felt like home. at the time the wood was dark and the area rather grim. but nothing a little paint couldn't fix.

originally i painted the doors a lovely french gray but as color has been creeping into the shed of late, the gray was begining to look rather flat and dull...

as you can see from the pictures above, the doors are now a glossy chartreuse (left over from our #3's closet doors)

on my wallpapered wall, i have retired two hooks to the kitchen drawer and kept one, giving him a coat of chartreuse.

next i hung a rather 'iffy' floral painting i picked up sometime ago, it looked rather sad in it's brown wood frame and so i made it feel much happier with 'scary pink' paint.

i'm still working on the little corridor that has very little light, leading to the kitchen. i have decided to collect mirrors, you know the sort, the plastic kitschy ones and give them a new lease of life with a coat of 'brightness'...

and the 'dernière touche de finition',

(okay we need to stop and pause just there. did you read what i wrote, are you now wondering if Tif is taking french lessons to brush up on her rather pathetic ten words she remembers from school. nope dearest readers, i have discovered the translate button on darren dictionary's website. i see a whole world of deep and relevant foreign 'quotes' appearing before me)

but back to my 'final finishing touch' in the hallway.

yep, the 'used' yarn... now a woolly garland

and of course, a few doilies were added in for good measure...

i am most happy with my little handcrafted hallway, i have practised coming in and out the front door several times and going "aaah, home sweet handcrafted home" as i cross the threshold to Mossy Shed.

next week the downstairs loo will get a 'spiffing up' when debbie comes to stay, with her little pot of wallpaper glue in hand, 'used and gifted' from across the pond.

she is thinking a handcrafted thrifty mama couldn't think of a better gift to be given ~ Tif

footynote: i forgot my manners, so excited was i about my garland. thank you kindly for the 'tutorial' words of support, i am so delighted to know my instructions were not 'iffy' in any way and you have been inspired to throw away your precision tools... have a 'peachy perfect' weekend my dears and see you monday for a 'whatnot' garland giveaway... hurrah!!!