On The Fly and On The Cheap!

I haven't slowed down one bit since arriving here in Arizona.  I'm kind of out in the country, so it's a drive to just about everywhere, meaning I'm on the fly from one end of Tucson to the other.  Not a city of high rises, it's spread out like syrup on pancakes.  Along with those crazy 45 mph speed limits and schools, it's a slow 40 minute drive ANYWHERE unless you hit the freeway!

My first stop was an accident.  I got rather lost since many of the roads follow wagon trails, curving around and around before becoming a dead end.  When I saw the ANTIQUES sign, I hit the brakes.  You see, I was born in the wrong time period.  Maybe I'm a Railroad Baron's wife reincarnated, because I'm crazy about everything late 1800's.

I would LOVE to live in an 1800's mansion with beautiful furniture like this piece, even if it meant carrying water from the well.  I found this beauty for half of what it would have cost in California.  It's perfect to cover up those pesky television cables with cactus on the end that I keep stepping on.

The print is a Marie Powell original I picked up in Illwaco last summer.  Although hard to see here, it's a flower vase full of hydrangeas, similar to what I have in the picture below.  I'm going to have to get creative there too, since my framing estimate so far is $250.  YIKES!!!

Having removed all the old roller shades and scarves from the bedroom windows, I filled in the eight huge holes in the wall.  I had been looking for some kind of drapery.  Vintage is hard to find when it comes to drapes.  Bed Bath and Beyond had some nice ones with a price tag of $50 each panel.  I needed eight.  Yeah, that didn't come out to a suitable number for me either.

Even Walmart panels, which I hated, came to a total of $250.  That's when I accidentally found the Home Goods Store.  Kind of like a Thrift Store, they collect lots of high end stuff and sell it on the cheap. When I saw two of these panels, I thought they would work just fine ... IF (and that was a BIG if) I could find six more the same size and color.  I dug through an entire wall of fabric.

It was my lucky day.  The drapes for all three windows (one being a double wide) came to $75.  Not wanting to be wasteful with the scarf material the previous owner had up, I put them back up too, giving the room a little bit of Victorian vibe, kinda sort of.  Okay, maybe more 1940's!!

Anyway, it took me an entire day to repair the walls and install the drapery rods, another steal at $10 each.  There's still some things needed to make it a little more Victorian, but it's getting there.

Unfortunately for me, all that decorating didn't help me sleep any better.  I got on a "counting trains" kick, just for the fun of it.  I'll post some train images tomorrow and you'll see why.  Yawn .......

HEY ... it's Super Bowl Sunday!!!  Time for some good living-room tailgating snacks to take to the Chance residence.  I can't mess up a 7-layer dip, right????