If you haven't guessed yet, rub-on transfers have become my new favorite craft supply. No matter what kind of art I'm trying to create or thrift store item I'm trying to recreate, using transfers always seems to be on the top of my creative idea list. Transfers are extremely versatile, you can use them on any surface from  wooden furniture  and glass makeovers to paper garlands . They're readily available online and in local stores. And best of all, they're budget friendly.

Decorating with bold colors and patterns has always been my passion. However, several years ago, I suddenly felt the need for a change in my small hall bath. So I painted everything white. Or close to it. The formerly crimson walls were coated with Benjamin Moore's Chantilly Lace . The dark wooden vanity received a muted, cottage style makeover. Even the artwork was neutral.

We grew pumpkins in our small suburban yard and so can you. It doesn't take a lot of room to create your own pumpkin patches, you just need to get creative in your existing garden. And keep those vines in line.  I live in a charming beach community, filled with homes that were built in the 1920s for summer fun at the shore. They're mostly tiny homes, on tiny lots, in a neighborhood where life has always centered around sand and surf. Not farming. So this spring, when my husband showed up with a bunch of seeds, proclaiming that we were going to grow pumpkins and gourds in our shoebox of a yard, I laughed. You know you need a lot of room for that, right? I mean the vines get nuts and take over. We don't have that kind of wide open space... Where you going to plant them? By the pond?

Thrift stores are amazing places to find home decor treasure, but let's face it, if something can be sourced for free that's even better. I'm definitely one of those girls who should have a bumper sticker that says I brake for trash. Honestly, some of my most unique pieces were either found at the curb. Or given to me, by a family member or friend. And this month's round up of my latest acquisitions was a big mix of all three.

I adore thrift shopping, but I'll admit, it can be a dangerous game. I walk into stores, see something I absolutely love, but totally do not need...or have the room for...and decide I have to have it. Immediately. Luckily, my one saving grace is that I was raised to be a very frugal girl. My mother and father were both depression era babies. Born in the 1920's and 1930's, they grew up smack in the middle of it, and while they were never cheap, they did teach us the value of a dollar. That's usually what saves me from walking out of second hand shops with an armful . My latest case in point, happened last weekend.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I adore summer. Without question, it's my favorite season. I'm a born and bred island girl who lives for hazy, hot and humid days spent on the beach and in the pool. Unfortunately though, in my neck of the woods, summer is very short . It doesn't really warm up around here until mid to late June. And sometimes, Mother Nature starts reminding of us that fall isn't far off sometime in August. Clearly, she doesn't sympathize with me...

I have a pretty large collection of thrifted items...as I'm sure you can imagine. Sometimes, I know exactly what I'm going to do with an item the minute I spot it in the store.  Other times, I have no idea what they'll become. I fall in love at first sight, with a buy now and figure it out later mentality . Then there are times when I think I know what I'm going to do a new treasure, but it doesn't end up that way. At all. Today, I have one such story to share. You may remember this $1.99 print from a few months ago. It was of a famous lab in my town and I was going to mount it to a board and hang it in my newly updated basement . Well, that didn't happen.