Southern Scraps

Fall is coming soon so let's welcome it beginning on the outside. Here are six ways to decorate your fall porch using unique items you can find at the thrift or antique store or yard sales. Who doesn't love to save a few dollars on decor? Happy shopping and decorating! 1. Fill a tiered wire plant display with pumpkins, gourds, and fall foliage . via BHG   2.Use old shutters painted in fall themes for decor.     via Hoosier Homemade   3. Park an old wheelbarrow or wagon near the front door and fill it with fall flowers and pumpkins.     via BHG     Love the wagon display at Hoosier Homemade     4. Create a vignette by placing mums in old stacked suitcases .     via Staging by M   5. Display mums in an old canning pot.  .   via Debbiedoos   6. Throw an old blanket across a chair for warmth and texture.     via Ston...

Occassionally the house just gets to smelling yucky! There is only so much human, dog and food smell you can take before you want something fresher and cleaner smelling. This was the case for us recently and my hubby had discovered reed diffusers through a coworker. So we went to Pier One and purchased a couple. They are a bit pricey and one isn't enough for our large open floor plan. However, they do sell the refill oils and additional reeds, so I decided to search the thrift store for a unique bottle that would work to make my own with the refills and reeds. Luck was on my side and I found these with narrow openings. I've read that the narrow opening will make your oil and scent last longer as less can escape through the smaller opening.   A slightly more artistic shot: Obviously the before shots are before I washed them. A good cleaning and they were ready for adding a little decorative touch and some oil and reeds. I pulled out my stash of beads and jute an...

This isn't my normal type of post but when I find something I think is helpful, I want to share it with you. I just finished doing my taxes this afternoon. And what does that have to do with clutter? Well, ask my hubby. We spent a considerable amount of time looking for a 1098 that was misfiled, but that's another story. We all know one way to eliminate clutter is to sort and purge. Some of you like to make a little extra money by having yard or garage sales and I'll do in once per year(or two), but I prefer to donate clothes and household items we no longer need or use. When it comes time to do taxes, those donations can be taken as deductions. I haven't been paid to say this, but I use Tax Act to file my taxes. They have a calculator built in that helps you value your donations, but you've got to have a list of how many and what you donated. I used to make a generalization on my receipts and then estimate, and I've been cheating myself! Last...

Yep, you read that right. I got this dress at Salvation Army thrift for 99 cents! It's made from a suede like material, so it's perfect for fall. See more photos of it and more of my outfits over at Savvy Southern Style . Linking up with WIWW at The Pleated Poppy .

A couple more of the fall 2011 trends I've been able to thrift: Faux fur Source - Piperlime I didn't find a vest, but I did find this leather jacket with faux fur collar at the Goodwill for $6.49! Another cute fall trend is the bow blouse.  It's a very vintage look and something you may not like unless you work in an office. I work in an office, so I love it! Source- Piperlime My vintage thrift store find: Thanks for falling my thrifting fall trends series. Remember, you don't have to spend a fortune for fashion. Just find your nearest thrift store. In case you missed it, here's part one and part two.

A few more fall trends I've been able to pick up at the thrift store: Lace: Source Banana Republic Mad Men Collection Lace tank Thrifted lace tank- Goodwill $3.89 Jewel tones Source My finds: Blazers- Goodwill $6.49 Midi skirts Source My find: Skirt - Salvation Army Thrift $2.50 I'll have to shorten the skirt for it to be a midi on my shortie self, but that's do-able. And it rocks more jewel tone colors. Have you found any of the latest trends at your thrift store?

I've been reading up on fall's fashion trends for this year in all the magazines and blogs and I've been adding them to my wardrobe with thrift store and consignment purchases. If only it would get cool enought to wear my finds. It's been so easy to find all of the trends for $1.00- $7.00. I'll be sharing my finds in a three or more part series. Here's part one:

Last week Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy challenged everyone to wear something we never wear or something old in a new way. That's a good challenge that I try to do from time to time, and I still had some things in my closet that needed to be worn. Jacket and pants: Worthington/ JCPenny; shirt - Ross; shoes- TJMaxx; necklace-vintage/ ebay; bracelet- made by me

I went to the Salvation Army thrift shop here yesterday and thought I'd share my finds. You know how it is, sometimes you find great things you are just tickled over and sometimes nothing.

I've seen a couple of versions of the necktie necklace around, but the inspiration for this one came from Sewstylish Spring 2011 issue. I made mine loosely based on the instructions in the article, but changed a couple of things. I made a different flower and did not add a string of pearls to the ruffle like the one in the article.

I was really in the mood to put out some white decor after Christmas. Problem is- I don't really have any. I couldn't fill a very big area with stuff, but I knew this little corner in my dining room needed some love. Here is the before: This is my grandmother's sewing machine. Many, many quilts, aprons, and clothing items were made with love in her lifetime on this machine. Now it just sits in  my dining room. The photos are my mom and grandparents and I love vintage photos but those frames are really too big for the space on the machine, so I decided I would redo. I found a pretty little cream/white pitcher at the thrift store for $1.50. I thought it would be lovely there. When I got home with it and started my arranging, I decided it was too small and the other things I had with it really weren't working. So... I did some more thrift store and discount store looking and found the fake book and ceramic bird cage at Ross. I got both for less than $10.  I pulled some...

I created this with thrift items and stash  for very little cost. Back during Christmas I saw these felt heart ornaments at Target. They have glitter on them. I immediately thought "Valentine's Day project." I took my chances and waited for the after Christmas clearance. I got lucky! I got them at 50% off and got three of them! (50 cents each) A couple of weeks ago I went to the Habitat Home store and found the perfect frame for $1.50. You must see the before shot to appreciate this. The mat inside has some yucky brown stains.  I removed the glass and mat. I cleaned the frame, lightly sanded it and painted it with some acrylic paint from Michael's and foam brush (both purchased on sale- paint 3 for $1 or  33 cents and brush 14 for 1.00 or .07 cents). When it dried, the finish was really flat, almost chalk like. Not what I wanted. So it had to have a top coat. I searched my stash and found some Triple Thick. This stuff creates a very shiny thick, ep...