Frugal Fun: Get Down Tonight!

What kind of flatware should you use at a  Solid Gold Disco? Gilded flatware! Why not? Michael Quinn tipped me off to this he found at  The Sweetest Occasion  when I was planning Veli's monumental birthday bash several weeks ago.

If first required that I hit the thrift shops and pick up all the odd forks and spoons that I could find for a few cents. Then I bought painters tape, a can of gold metallic Krylon spray paint and a can of clear Krylon coating, which would preserve the finish.

I taped the surfaces of the utensils that would touch the mouth so that the paint wouldn't get on them.

Then I took all my tools into the park across the street, laid my flatware out on a flattened cardboard box and got to putting on the gold! I sprayed each side twice, allowing them to dry between applications, and then did the same with the clear Krylon.

Once they dried, I removed the tape, and here's what they looked like.

For the dessert buffet, Melissa Cacha of Dough and Batter created a mouthwatering selection of finger-sized sweets. Since we didn't need the spoons to dig into these goodies, Melissa used the gilded spoons to accent the gold dusted mini-cupcakes

And just for fun, the forks encircled the shimmering disco ball, prodding it along to dance the night away.

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous,

The Elegant Thrifter

Reuse & Repurpose: On a Roll

Photograph by Stan Williams

Put your fine crystal on a skateboard?  That's what they did in the windows of the Parisian department store Le Bon Marché. Let's just hope the skater doesn't take this shimmering piece on one of the  cobblestone sidewalks of the Marais or try to pull off a kick flip on the banks of the Seine. Now that could be a crashing disaster. Mon dieu!

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous,

The Elegant Thrifter

Frugal Fun: Sailing Along

Photograph by Stan Williams

I love loafing around, especially if it's in Paris, one of my favorite places in the world. The French have a word for someone who likes to loaf about -- one that sounds less lazy than the term we use here in the States. Le flâneur is the term that in French refers to someone who wanders aimlessly in a daze of wonder and awe, pleasantly biding his time wherever his path may lead. That describes me in Paris.

When I'm at home, I'm usually running around with a mission. But not in the City of Light. Oh, its Métro is convenient, reliable and wonderfully clean, but you'll most likely find me, instead, on foot, taking in the winding streets of the Marais or making my way, park bench to park bench, through the gardens of the Tuileries, adjacent to the Louvre palace.

And why rush? More often than not during my visits to Paris, I'm in no hurry to reach a destination, should I even have one planned, leaving my mind open to chance discoveries that I might otherwise miss if I were racing to get from point "A" to points "B," "C" and "D."

I had just ambled over from a lounge chair (much like the one you see in this photo) across the way, admiring the spring flowers. Before that, I was parked on a long concrete bench from which  I watched a young mother and father maneuver a see-saw for their squawking tot.

Take this cart piled high with sailboats, for example. Many times I have witnessed them bobbing gleefully in this pond in the Tuileries garden, but I've never actually seen them being collected by their caretaker at days' end. Stacked carefully on a wooden cart, the boats' time-honored patina is proof of their beloved status among the children who over the years have prodded them along through the water.

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous,

The Elegant Thrifter

The Find: A Post from the Past

I ran a version of this post close to the date The Find launched four years ago. Enjoy!

The Birmingham, Alabama, home  Southern Living's Heather Chadduck, is a prime example of delving into imaginative uses for what might have been cast off by someone else.

Her bedroom alone, which is featured in The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating With Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details, and photographed by Jim Franco, has several brain-sparking stories to tell. 

Heather loves anything that is numbered, so when she discovered what she believes to be a key box at a flea market, she bought it, and then transformed it into a handy, yet appealing organizer for her collection of vintage jewelry. 

One of her prized possessions in the room is the toile drapery that she saved from the garage bin of a San Francisco hotel. She got the call from a friend who found out that the toile was being tossed, and Heather came to its rescue! Not only does it elegantly cover her windows, but it also adds charm to a headboard she fashioned out of the fabric and coordinating ribbons. 

Dreaming of finding my own cache of brown toile!

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous,

The Elegant Thrifter

The Object of My Desire: Shake It!

Photograph by Stan Williams

You'd have to be made of stone to not let this scenario allow you to crack a smile. Wigs: I cannot get enough, especially this mixture of a Cleopatra style, crazy clown curls, a neon pink do and a Cher banged number, all perched on a shelf at Hollywood's costume and vintage shop Ozzie Dots.  If that weren't enough, just raise your gaze up to the hula girl in a grass skirt, a sequined bikini top and a sunflower headband. Oh, and let's not overlook the tiki god. He's hiding out behind a Hairspray-style bouffant.

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous,

The Elegant Thrifter

The Gift of Thrift: Dolly, Dolly, Dolly

I ran this post a while back, but since we're on the theme of party planning this week, here's an idea for a fun hostess gift. 

When Michael Quinn and Heather Kerr hosted an indoor tailgate party to be photographed in The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating With Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details, I found out in the planning process of our shared adoration of Dolly Parton.

So when it came time to give them a hostess gift, I used my country music muse as inspiration to craft separate host and hostess gifts that didn't cost much, that I would enjoy making and that they would like receiving!

For both, I found two jelly jars that I would pack with candy, and put some sort of Dolly memento of which I have plenty. For Heather, I chose this pendant that was once part of a key chain I bought at Dolly's "Alive and Well. " I chose this for Heather since she is a fabulous jewelry designer and might be able to refashion it into a Dolly-riffic piece to wear once she finished off the Hot Tamales that filled the container.

As for Michael, I made a photocopy of the cover of Dolly's "Jolene" album, and placed it among multi-colored Mike and Ike's. Since Michael is such a fashion plate, I found a coordinating bow tie in my closet and wrapped it around the container like a ribbon -- one that Dolly herself might have tied around one of her wigs in her younger years.

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!

The Elegant Thrifter

Reuse & Repurpose: Nuts to You!

Photograph by Jim Franco for The Find

Repurposing what you have on hand can help you create party one-of-a-kind party decorations that guests will talk about for years to come. Here's one of my favorite images from The Find -- one that Michael Quinn crafted for an indoor vintage tailgate party. Here, an illuminated globe and a garden ornament transform into a whimsical centerpiece that delights the eye and accents an evening full of fun.

Today, you can win a personalized event-planning consultation from Michael and me. Tonight, The Sustainable Classroom Project, is auctioning off our services to help raise funds for the Advancement for Rural Kids, an organization that promotes getting kids get back to school in developing parts of the world. You can buy a ticket to the event, here, or join in on the silent auction to win Michael and me for a few hours and receive a signed copy of The Find.

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous,

The Elegant Thrifter