Garage sale - before/after projects

This weekend we saw that a neighbor was having a garage sale, so we stopped by to see if they had anything I couldn't live without. I found a couple of things...both are things that I'd been searching high and low for, but never wanted to pay full price. Patience paid off.

First I found this set of nesting wrought iron outdoor side tables. Aren't they cute? They match my patio furniture PERFECTLY. And at $10, I couldn't leave them behind. However, they were the wrong color and the paint was a bit rusted.



After a little bit of black spray paint, they now are the perfect partner to my patio furniture! (the morning light is not great for these pictures, but you'll get an idea of how they look)



I've also been on the hunt for a pair of chunky funky candlesticks. This is something that can be very pricey, and because I'm frugal, I haven't wanted to pay full price. Besides, I change my mind on decor so often, it doesn't make sense for me to pay full price for anything. And because I worked in advertising for so many years for a major retailer, I saw the enormous amount of mark-ups that were given, I just can't bring myself to pay for anything at full price EVER. ;)

So that same garage sale had this pair of chunky funky candlesticks that I've been dreaming of. They were a really tacky gold/brass/patina color. I love a nice patina as much as the next girl, but I am not much into the gold/brass look. At $4, these were a steal. It would have been a sin to leave them behind!



I couldn't decide if I wanted to paint them black or brushed nickel, but since I had the black paint already out for the tables, I just went ahead and painted them black. I also bought two pillar candles for 50% off at Hobby Lobby. Then I added these really funky beaded garlands. I've been saving these for a long time, just waiting for the right project.







Unfortunately, the pictures aren't great. The lighting in my house is terrible for picture taking. I wish I could get a good picture of these, because they turned out really cute.

I found the garlands in Salado, TX at one of the many cute shops. They were only $6.50 a strand. I bought one green, one "topaz" and one pearl. I decided to save the pearl for another project. Those shops in Salado have these in every color imaginable, and they use them in such cool ways. They string them on anything you can think of. The best way I saw was on a chandelier. I wish I'd gotten a picture of it to show you all. Here in my town, I did see a couple of strands of these garlands at a boutique on the square, but they only had one or two color choices, and they were $14 each! Insane!

I'm pretty pleased. I wish the photos would do them justice. But then I never claimed to be a photographer. ;)