#thriftstoreswap

I'm finally back! Excuse my sudden hiatus from everything. My computer caught some strange virus thing that kept me from being able to get online. And me, being very tech knowledge limited, had not a clue what to do to fix it. But all is well now. And just in time for this super awesome Thrift Store Swap!

I teamed up with 5 wonderful ladies in a fun exchange. We each were paired with another blogger and had a $10 spending limit to play with.

I was paired up to receive from MidMichigan Mom and to send something to At Home with Sweet T.

So this is what I got from MidMichigan Mom...

Opening the package was like Christmas and I was beyond excited with the treasures I got.

I am currently working on fixing up and decorating the indoor balcony that connects to my daughter's room and goes out into our sun/green room. I wanted her to have a cool "hideaway" just for her. So I knew I wanted to use these items to create some neat decorations for that space.

The color palette for the balcony.

I started with the candle sticks and "&". The "&" I didn't want to do too much with. I thought i was pretty cool already. But I did need to brighten it up with a coat of spray paint. I had some leftover from my DIY bird bath, so I just knocked it out quick.

Isn't it just so cute?! I couldn't bring myself to mess with it too much with all that beautiful detail. And it fits so perfectly on top of these cute little Winnie the Pooh board books I got from the Target Dollar Spot.

The candlesticks also needed some paint. So I took a can of baby pink to those suckers and made them all girly. I was inspired by this teacup bird feeder and thought what would go better with pink in a little girl's hideaway than tea cups?

I picked up a couple from the clearance section of Marshall's along with two porcelain birds with cut out details to sit inside of them. I then glued some pearls I found at Michael's around the bottom of the candlesticks and made a little nest of moss inside for the birds to sit on.

Are you ready for the magical bit? I noticed that the birds had holes on the underside. So I picked up LED color changing tea lights from the Dollar Tree to put inside to make them glow.

Next I tackled the weird box game thing. The bottom of this box actually pulls out to reveal a storage compartment. A secret hiding spot!

The best secret hiding spots are ones that look like something else. So I pulled out the little horse figurines I had glittered for Arlette's first birthday (I knew I would use those things again) and created a wild glitter pony scene.

I painted the box coral, glued some moss on top, and then picked out the best looking ponies to run free through the "grass".

I think this is my favorite piece out of the bunch.

I wish glitter ponies were real.

The hidden compartment.

All together everything looks so cute on the shelves.

Finally I had the 3 pieces of leather. I thought it would be cool to frame them with some sort of art. Following with the theme of nature and birds, I picked up some white feathers from Michaels. I painted the tip of them to match the color scheme and then colored the rest of each feather with a metallic gold sharpie. Then I just glued them to the leather and framed them with Dollar Store frames.

I am so in love with how everything turned out! It has added so much neat character to the balcony.

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I turned someone else's "junk" into little treasures for my daughter. What would you have done with all these goodies?

Now go check out how MidMichigan Mom and At Home With Sweet T did up their swap items! They're pretty amazing.

Or hop around amongst the other ladies who took part in the swap and see what they made:

CC McAfee Perspective
Five Kids, a Dog & a Blog
Happily Ever After, Etc.