I Heart D.I.

I'm not ashamed of my love for perusing second-hand stores. Here in Utah we have Savers, D.I. (Deseret Industries) and a variety of others, including the best vintage store ever... Decades. I have so much love for Decades that I could write and write on it. But there's just something about seeing something old, used, worn out, outdated and rejected by someone else that makes my pulse race.  I can see its potential. What it CAN be. The old ratty cardigan becoming bejeweled and embellished, the outdated bakers rack turning into a mini desk for my office. The list goes on and on. It's a sick sort of gift, but I'm grateful for it. I became obsessed with refurbishing furniture and home decor with spray paint years ago. I did an entire bedroom set in a weekend and got a sinus infection to beat the band for not using a mask. It's kinda obvious what I do now when I am on a roll, which I was this last weekend.  Oh, and lets not forget to talk about the best spray paint ever, which is Krylon. I like to do projects fast and furious, so I usually see a piece of furniture and sand the rough spots, prime it with spray paint primer if needed, and then spray like crazy. I never even waste my time with another spray paint. Too many botched projects to count from dollar store spray paint. Now I am wondering if there could be some brain damage that happened to me from inhaling all of the paint, because I am actually blogging about spray paint brands.
  

But back to my original thought of taking every spare minute when I am not at work or with my kids, to hang out at second-hand or vintage stores and buy stuff. My goal is to take Black Crow and turn it into a real brick & mortar store. I think teaching classes in re-purposing would be a riot as well as selling the stuff. So after celebrating my birthday with a great lunch, I went out with my buddy Michelle and my oldest daughter Emma (22), and I saw this little wall mount votive holder. Before I get into what did with the little votive holder, I need to say that I think that since it is the new year, (or maybe I am just antsy) I have this strong desire to de-clutter the entire house. But I am particularly annoyed and bugged by the chaos that is my teenagers bedroom and bathroom. Lucy (17) and Hannah (14) seem to be oblivious to the fact that live in a place where FEMA could be called in at any moment. HAZMAT suits should be worn at all times while going into their bedroom and bathroom. I have only begun to slightly deal with their bedroom, but to alleviate much stress I decided to start the big-gun organizing with their bathroom. No words for it. It's just...awful. I am not obsessed with a perfectly clean house, but I close the door when I see the bathroom. Walk away, I tell myself. Just. Walk. Away.

     The main part of the counter clutter seems to be headbands. All sizes, shapes, colors, and textures. Huge clusters of flowers, gems, beads, etc. embellish these hefty monsters, unlike the headbands of the 70's that I got to wear. Some cheap plastic arch that clung to my head with little death spikes. So I was at D.I. and found this little wall mount votive holder that I had an Ah-ha moment about. I liked the color, which meant no spray painting needed. So I touched up the beads with some fingernail polish (c'mon, they needed to match the bathroom!) and hung it up with one of their huge flower ponytail holders on top. I threw the headbands and there and am loving life. They can hang necklaces on there, ponytail holders, barrettes, etc. It's a dang handy catch-all, I have to admit, and there are officially 15 less things on their little counter of terror now.