Trash to Treasures~

I am a shop-a-holic when it comes to Goodwill, Salvation Army and any other junk or second hand shop I can find!  I inherited my trained eye from my dad; he was an auctioner and sold antiques back in the day.  He still loves to find a gem and sell it on eBay.  I can't seem to part with much of my finds just yet, so I put them to good use.  No sense of having them if you don't use them, right?  I can't tell you how many dramas/plays, fundraiser dinners and weddings where I've used my treasures as props and decorations!   I've been collecting since I was a young teen.  It's my stress reliever once or twice a month I run into my favorite shop, do a once over scan, then if I have time I walk around again and dig a little deeper!   Nothing like finding a hidden green Forstoria sugar bowl for .97 cents!~

I try to budget myself to $5.00- $10.00 per visit and love when I come out spending less, which I do most times!   

The following is a collection of things I've accumulated over the years, that recently I used in a "vintage" styled wedding.  I'll post the inventory first and then pictures of the wedding. 

The Theme was Vintage, the colors were pale pinks, creams and lots of gold!

I'm a junkie when it comes to white wares!

Gotta love that gaudy candelabra!

I love tea cups!

Now look at what I did with most of the above!  

I used octagon mirrors on every table in order to really make all the extra candles sparkle!
Most of the frames from my inventory above were used for the table numbers and here is one of those very cool metal candle sticks with a lantern globe as all candles needed to be contained.  I loved this!!

I spray painted a bunch of large pinecones which a friend gathered for me on her vacation, and it was just enough to accent the beautiful white pitcher and with gold ting ting's coming out of the hydrangea and pink sweetheart roses.

This was a very cool "present" box that I found just a few days before the wedding and was so excited to use it!  The small candle sticks behind it held votive holders meant for candle sticks, again everything needed to be contained.  I found those at the Goodwill for .47 cents each!  

This sweet little sled and these cute little cherubim were last minute finds too.  This is probably my favorite table that day.  They didn't want it to be a Christmas Theme as much as a Winter Vintage.  They LOVED it!!

Here is another one of those pitchers with white hypericum berries, spray roses, babies breath, and some ivory sweet heart roses.  We used a lot of votives and all different kinds mostly with ivory candles, however I ran out and needed to use some pale pink I had left over from another wedding. 

This was a pretty little sugar bowl I had and it was the perfect match for that beautiful Cymbidium Orchid!

Here is that tacky candelabra!   Love it!  The brides bouquet sat in front of it, but I left after I decorated the reception site, so I missed getting a shot of that.  I didn't want to add flowers around that, as her bouquet was (if I do say so myself) stunning!   Simplicity is a beautiful thing!

Here is another metal candle stick that I picked up at the Salvation Army, it was  a green color and I sprayed it a rose gold, again added a lantern globe and some really pretty gold and glittery fruit candle ring...it was perfect!   I also used a sweet little limoge tea cup and saucer with some babies breath, spray roses and small little gold Christmas balls.   

This wire present box was making the mother of the bride a little nervous, she could not envision what I was telling her and was afraid it was going to look silly.  I mean it was only $1.97 at the Goodwill and it needed a coat of gold paint, but when all was said and done, she said this was one of her favorite tables.

Close up of those sweet cherubs!

I did manage to grab a shot with the grooms dress blues cover!  Sweet!

My large white pitcher became the perfect vase for a "wrong color" dark pink Stock flower arrangement which sat on the gift table in the foyer.  Sometimes Plan B is so fun!