You guys know about some of the bigger things I've rescued from the abandoned house (like...furniture!).

But there are a lot of smaller things I've put to use too. So...I thought it'd be fun to do a round-up of those.

little glass bluebirds

I found these because I was trying to open a window at the abandoned house (for some fresh air!) and in the process, I knocked down a curtain.

This was a good thing because hiding behind the curtain were these two little round bluebirds.

I took them back to my house and washed them off:

And then I put these guys in my front window. They look so cute there, and I love how the light shines through the blue glass.

two glass paperweights

In that same window, I found these little glass paperweights.

They were dirty (of course), so I gave them a good cleaning.

 And I put them in my front window, next to the bluebirds.

I particularly like the purple one!

a penguin salt shaker

I spied a little penguin figurine at the house, and I knew that Lisey would love him.

In the process of washing him up, I realized: he's actually a salt shaker! He was so dirty, though, I could not even see the holes in his head until I scrubbed him down.

I got him all clean, filled him with salt, and Lisey named him Gepetto.

It's so perfect that I found him because previously, I was salt-shaker-less.

And it's no problem that he doesn't have his mate (these originally came in a pair) because I use a pepper grinder in place of a pepper shaker.

a small plant table

When I saw this at the house, I immediately thought of Sonia and I texted her, "Do you want it?"

After receiving an enthusiastic yes, I put it in my van.

It was super wobbly, and after some tinkering, I figured out that two of the legs needed to be swapped. I unscrewed and exchanged them, and then the table was much more stable.

I gave it a cleaning and now it's plant-ready.

small plates = plant water-catchers

These four little flowered plates are probably way too old to be safe for eating off of (who knows what's in the paint and glaze??), so when I realized this little pot needed a base, I grabbed one of them.

And I'm giving the rest to Sonia, because she is much more of a plant mom than I am. 😉

Trifari bangle bracelet

I spied this little snap bracelet and picked it up because it seemed heavy and well-made.

The coating was peeling:

There was no fixing the coating, so I scrubbed it off, and now it's just a gold bracelet.

It looks like it's this 1960s Trifari bracelet.

But now that the white enamel part is gone, it looks like this one, also a Trifari piece.

It's a tiny bracelet, so it's too snug on me. But it fits Zoe perfectly, and she was delighted to have it.

I like to imagine that the lady who owned this house would be so happy to see her treasures at my house, all cleaned up and appreciated. 🙂

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On another note, you know what's wild? We have taken so, so much stuff out of this little house already...a lot of it is at my house. But there is so much more outside the treasure house.

And the inside of the house still looks like we barely made a dent!

This house truly held an impressive amount of stuff!

The post A collection of small abandoned-house treasures appeared first on The Frugal Girl.

I recently read Garbology, by Edward Humes (Laura Vanderkam recommended it to me), and I thought it was a really, really excellent book.

In a nutshell, it's a book about the study of garbage...how much we produce (102 tons per person per lifetime on average!), where it goes, how other countries in the world are handling their trash problems, and what we can do about it here in the U.S.

For the moment, though, I wanted to talk about one concept in the book that really stuck out to me.

Andy Keller, the owner of Chico bag (a reusable bag company) is quoted as saying that we should be looking at the kinds of things we purchase and ask:

"Is this thing I'm buying going to be in the trash in a year or two? Or is it going to be useful and treasured for many years to come?"

And:

"If you're buying something and thinking it could be an heirloom someday, then you're on the right track."

Trash is a complicated problem, yes, and there are aspects of our trash problem that we can't personally do anything about.

But we are not doomed to produce 102 tons of trash before our lives are over. We make choices every day about what we will buy and what we will not buy.

When we buy products that are made to last, we're decreasing demand for disposable, junky products and increasing demand for well-made items.

Do heirloom items cost more?

Yup, they do, at least up front.

But I am not necessarily convinced that they're more expensive over the long haul.

For example, I own two Vollrath cookie sheets.

At nearly $21 apiece, they're not cheap.

But they are incredibly heavy-duty, they don't have a non-stick finish that will wear out, and I cannot imagine that they will ever warp. In short, these two cookie sheets should last me the rest of my life, and my descendants will probably still be able to use them.

Before I got the Vollrath sheets, I owned flimsier sheets (airbake sheets, nonstick sheets) and they didn't last.

They warped, the nonstick finish chipped, the edges bent, and they are no longer in my kitchen drawer.

If I kept buying cookie sheets like that, I'd easily spend more than $42 over my lifetime, and I'd produce a fair amount of cookie sheet trash.

So the more expensive, heirloom-ish option reduces my trash output and ends up being less expensive after all.

This is especially true if you can find a high-quality used item.

The bed I bought for Zoe is almost all wood and it cost me $50. When the new white paint finish wears out, I can fix it.

Or if we get tired of the white, I can change it. There's no reason that bed can't be in our family for a really, really long time.

On the flip side, I recently saw a bed frame that was made of particle board with a sort of wood-look vinyl coating on it.

This is not the sort of thing Keller would encourage us to buy...the finish on that bed frame won't hold up, and there's no fixing it when it wears out.

Refinishing particle board furniture is normally not a successful endeavor, and trying to repair broken pieces is a nightmare. Once it begins to wear out (and it will in fairly short order), it will be no good to anyone.

If only a handful of us adopt an heirloom mindset as we shop, we won't make a very big difference. But many handfuls of people can effect huge cultural change.

Obviously, not everything we buy can be an heirloom...you won't hand your toothbrushes down to your grandchildren (although you can buy compostable toothbrushes!) and food won't be in my will. 😉

But whenever possible, before you buy something that's supposed to last, join me in asking, "Will this be useful and treasured for years to come?"

If the answer to that question is no, then maybe you don't need the item.

Or perhaps there's a better quality item out there that you can save up for.

And maybe you can even find that high-quality item on the used market.

We can do this, people! Let's buy things that last...the planet and our bank accounts will be happier for it.
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How do you manage to buy heirloom quality items on a budget? And what do you think about the whole concept of shopping with heirloom quality in mind?

The post "Could this be an heirloom someday?" appeared first on The Frugal Girl.

I got this nightstand from freecycle for exactly $0.

(it IS freecycle, after all!)

Zoe already had a nightstand from freecycle, which I'd painted white:

but it didn't really match her dresser (uh, also from freecycle!) that well.

The lines of this one were much more similar.

This new one was a little rough looking, but I knew it would be fine with some paint.

If you'd like a summary, here are all the details on how to paint wooden furniture.

Let's walk through the process!

I sanded it first.

(Here's the sander I use.)

The actual wood parts sanded up very nicely.

The top and sides were more of a plasticky veneer, so I could only scuff those. But that's fine; as long as the shiny finish is removed, the primer will stick.

I sprayed some primer on next.

Why did I use gray primer instead of white?

Umm, I don't know. I should have used white primer.

Once the primer dried, I brushed on two coats of paint.

Since this was missing a knob, I obviously had to replace the hardware.

I poked around in the toolbox and lo and behold, there were two silver knobs that matched the two silver knobs on the larger dresser!

I had to do a little caulking to fill in some gaps. See the dark area on the left side, right below the top?

I filled it with caulk, let it dry, brushed some paint over it, and then it looked much better.

As a reminder, here's what it looked like before.

After sanding, priming, and painting(and also a bit of caulking), here's what it looks like now.

Here's what the old nightstand looked like in her room.

And here's what the new one looks like.

Just to show how surprisingly well they match...

Happily, this project cost me nothing out of pocket.

Nightstand: $0

Sandpaper, primer, and paint, already had on hand: $0

Hardware, extras from the toolbox: $0

Never fear: the old nightstand went to a good home! It was part of a set I'd gotten from freecycle, and I'd painted the dresser to give to my sister in law.

So, now that we didn't need the nightstand, I sent it off to her and now she has a matching set.

Updates!

Here's what Zoe's room looked like once I added a craiglist bed (which I painted white, of course).

That room now belongs to Lisey (it's redecorated, but still has the white painted furniture.)

Before and afters from us turning it into a teen room are all right here.

P.S. Here's the painting method I used on this nightstand.

And here's the more updated method I now use on furniture.

The post A Freecycle Nightstand | Before and After appeared first on The Frugal Girl.