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Hi there.  Hope you are having a good day!
I won a box of books for a snip at my local auction last week. Among them was this dictionary from 1867. I bought the books for collage and upcycling, but I can't bring myself to chop into this one. Look at the marbling on the edge...

...gorgeous isn't it?
In the pile was a very tatty Hawes' Bible volume 1 from some time in the 1700s.

So old..amazing. But as I say...rather tatty, so I won't feel too bad chopping it up.

But it is a privilege to handle something of that age and wonder about all the people that have read this before me...in a way it is good that it is so scruffy, because it means it has been well read and appreciated. I just love old books. Do you?

Thrifty Thursday- In the Picture

We've recently finished decorating our hall. In fact the carpet has just been laid - yippeee!  It's a very long hallway and now needs some artwork. But my budget for it is pretty much zero, so I have been busy with the paintbrush recolouring some frames I already had so that they would fit in better. This horse picture was £1 a long time agon in a charity shop. The frame is really nasty cheap pine, and it has acrylic instead of glass, but with the black paint it suddenly looks quite classy.

I usually use artists acrylic black paint on my frames as I like the matt black finish and adhesion is good with this paint. Two coats is usually enough although I sometimes do three. Give the frame a light sand first and then clean it with a cleaning wipe, or some sugar soap and a lint free cloth before painting to make sure there is no grease on the frame. 

This frame came from Lidls in a sale bin and was only £3. But it was a silver colour. I thought I'd be smart and use some blackboard paint that I had bought a long while ago, BIG mistake. The paint was oil based and had separated really badly, I did my best to mix it and afer three coats with a days drying time in between, it still looked bad and some bits just weren't going to dry properly, and so I had to wipe off what I could with some White Spirit and then used my usual artists acrylic paint. I'll know next time! The three chairs came from the wonderful graphics fairy. I printed them out the right size onto some lovely pearlised paper and stuck them in the frame. I think the finished effect looks much more expensive than £3 don't you?

I didn't have the heart to paint the frame for this one. It is a beautifully embroidered picture I bought at my local auction for £8. I really love it just as it is so the frame will have to not quite go!

Thrifty Thursday

Here is my hall table. I bought it at my local auction a few years ago for about £10. It was brown and drab and had an ugly plastic handle. I gave it a good sand down, primed it and gave it a few coats of Dulux Black Satinwood and gave it a lovely new handle - a £1 bargain from B&Q, and now I love it. I wish I'd thought to take a before shot!!!

The lamp was also from auction - a Laura Ashley lamp. Two for £10. I'll give it a paint job one of these days. Haven't decided if I want to go white or black, but I think it might involve a number and possible a map shade.
The clock was on sale for a couple of pounds at Tesco a year or so ago, and I bought the bird from either Poundstretcher or Au Naturale - I can't remember, but it only cost me about £1.

The bowl was another auction purchase. I paid £6 for it, but again it is Laura Ashley, and I really liked it.

So that is my thrifty hall table decor. Now I need some pictures for the hall. Something that doesn't cost much. Hmm...