Wishful Thinking: Sad Ending

I never got the treasure I was talking about on the last post. So allow to me just tell you what is this treasure I am lusting over last week.






I was walking downtown last week when I saw a vintage-looking wrought iron display. It was ornate with two birds perched on each end of a vine and leaf design. Much like the picture below.

Really, really beautiful AND, as it turned out, very much expensive!!! Argh.
It was really sad but of course I wouldn’t buy something that:

a.)I decided will need a fresh turquoise paint (see, I  already have a plan for it?) and,
b.) will probably cost me more to send back to Manila (this though, I do not have a plan yet. hehe)

for a maddening price of 7,500 pesos!
Really, that price is the saddest part. So I decided (with convincing from roommate) that it’s not worth it. It is way, way, way, above the budget, and this is all about salvaging almost forgotten things to a thing of beauty at almost no cost at all.
I will just have to move on and find other treasures friendly to my wallet.
“If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”
And, as part of moving on and letting go, I can’t help but put here a compilation of lovely vintage bird decors I found online. Forgive me, and enjoy!


the pinay bargainista


P.S.: I have a feeling these vintage birds are going to be my perk me up-inspiration/obsession for quite a while.

If you love what you see here, you can check out more photos at my Pinterest Vintage Bird collection here.

Wishful Thinking

I saw a piece of treasure while in town the other day. And for the last couple of days kept thinking whether to buy or not to buy it. I will sure be sorry not to have it. I have to admit I am obsessed. I can’t tell yet what it is. Element of surprise for next post.
I talked to my roommate and beg her to come with me to check back this afternoon. Hope it’s within my budget (cross fingers here). I also hope that the store I described to her was the one owned by her good friend.
I’m so excited. Here, a picture as clue/inspiration.

I’ll blog the soonest I got the treasure.

the pinay bargainista

Pleasant Surprise: Black Clutch / Wristlet

Don’t you just love surprises? I went to this local “shopping center” in town yesterday and boy I was blown away, first by the giant electric fan by the entrance and second, by this beautiful black clutch/wristlet.





The studs caught my eye, it’s leathery and it does not help that it has lots of pockets and card slots. It is just the right to hold my plane ticket and boarding pass on travel. And, when I looked inside one of the pockets look what I found:



Aldo? Could it be? Di siguro pero kebs.
Buying it, I said.
I checked for the price pero walang price na nakalagay. But I saw the wallet beside it that looks tacky and plastic but the same size as it is and the price tag is 120. So I thought baka same same lang ang price. Not bad so I decided to go to the cashier and pay. Gulat ko nung sabihin ng cashier na “one-three-one po lahat”. Maygahd! I even asked kung one-three as in one thousand 3 hundred pesos and she said 131 only. HUWAT?! including all the other stuff I bought which is impossible to be just 11 pesos (The kabuki brush was already 70 e)? So I brought out the clutch and asked the girl how much is it. And it is..wait for it..wait for it..(gosh.barney!)…legendary 20.
20. Bente. Manuel L. Quezon.
Say whaaaat!
Yes. Yes it is. Wow. I had the impulse to buy the nude colored one as well but decided out of it in the spirit of pagtitipid. Pamasahe din un. :)
Happiness.
Aldo or not Aldo, I really don’t care. Aldo with it! (nyenyenye..showtime!)

The Organized Life Part 2: The Closet Queen

That was a mouthful! Anyway, this post is dedicated to my loooooong search for the most coveted hanging closet organizer. Play song here: The search is over…you were with me all the while…tananan tananan…
As I was saying, I was in a long search for these hanging closet organizers (paulit-ulit?). I saw them first at Daiso some years back and though I found it cool I really don’t have any use for them at the time so I did not buy, just admire. hehe
But when I started living at the staff dorm at work, given the limited space for my things and clothes, the benefits of having a hanging closet organizer dawned on me. And that’s when I knew I have to get one.


And so, everytime I was on vacation in Manila, we’ll scour the malls, Daiso Festival, Daiso Galleria, Daiso Greenhills, Japan Home, Ace Hardware, True Value, Robinson’s Department Store and so on…but to no avail were we able to find one. Ubos na. Tagal na kasi nun.


Then last Christmas ( I gave you my heart..joke), we saw one in Festival Mall at one of the kiosks near the food court. Silly me, I told bf that we’ll just return  the next day to buy it, and the next day it was gone.


Another month passed and I was back again in Manila, and again in Festival Mall (sorry, it’s near our place and I miss going to the mall after a month of being stuck in a far far away island) when lo and behold, the rare closet organizer, there hang in the air. I told bf that we should get it to which he replied “let’s just return tomorrow”. I had to look at him to “are you freakin’ serious?” him. haha. No.He.Is.Not.Serious. Buti na lang.





And so, above are some of the photos of my closet before and after the organized life ( I keep on taking pictures of my closet even without finding the hanging organizer yet, somehow I always knew I will find one.) and below is how I was able to organize it to make Pinky teddy happy.

I originally wanted one without the plastic cover/enclosure but when I got this one I realized it is better with cover than without. It’s a really good way to organize my undies, socks, hankies and towels. I also used one of the nooks/shelves for my accessories. I put them on the nook just between the chest and eye level (based on my height, as pictured) so I can easily browse through everything.
And oh, trivia, Pinky teddy is actually a pencil case or something. She has a zipper at the back. (in case you want to know, that is.)
So there you go. One organized closet. I had fun sa pag-aayos d’yan and with this post din. Hope you had fun too.


the pinay bargainista

Hanging Closet Organizer, 260 pesos. Festival Mall, Alabang ; Hanger with clips, 69.75 pesos. Ace Hardware.

The Organized Life: A Bag Special

Have you ever been lost in the jungle that is your bag? Check out this solution from Bag Org. and no, it’s not a map.


“What’s in her bag?” is one of my top favorite sections of beauty/fashion magazines: celebrities sharing what items they can’t leave home without, letting us peek into their bags. Curious lang kung ano laman ng mga bags nila, di ba?
Here I  tried to take a “what’s in her bag?”-picture. It looks easy in the magazines. Kahirap pala gawin in real life!





Come to think of it, even si Dora the Explorer may “what’s in her bag?” section din. (sing: backpack, backpack, backpack, backpack…)
Pero, have you ever wondered how these celebs (yes, including Dora.) put all these stuff they show in the magazine without their bag looking like a jungle?
I don’t know about them, but for me, it’s my long time struggle with my bags since time immemorial. I feel lost when looking for something that I just put inside the bag a minute ago. (Buti pa si Dora, may map.)
Then came: Bag Organizers. One of the best secrets a girl could ever keep. As in keep. Secret lang kasi you don’t have to show everyone you have one but it’s there. And it’s such a joy to have.





So, why is it good to have one?


It multiplies the space in your bag with lots of pockets and compartments.
There’s a place for your phone, wallet, journal, comb, make-up, lip gloss, pens, etc. Where in a regular bag you would have one zip pocket on the inside and maybe two compartments for your things, the bag organizers gives you spaces to stash your things times over. My bag organizer (shown above) has 8 pockets + 4 penholders. Plus, the pockets are of different sizes so it’s easier to decide where which of which and this and that will fit.


It keeps the shape of your bag so your square bag would not have a bulging tummy and bilbil.
This is inevitable lalo na if your bag is made of soft material or cloth. It sure doesn’t look good if you’re bag ended up shaped like patrick starfish when it’s supposed to be as square as spongebob. With your bag organizer holding your stuff inside neatly, you can be sure na walang transformation na mangyayari sa bag mo.


It organizes your things so you can find stuff easily.
Dahil marami ka ng lalagyan ng gamit, it’s easier to organize your stuff. The beauty of bag organizers is that it holds your things in place that once you open your bag you can immediately see where your things are. Di nagkakapatong-patong.
I love the penholders on the side. It’s very useful, malay mo manghiram ng ballpen si crush, ang bilis mo bumunot! :)


You can change bag in seconds!
Specially for those on the go, the bag organizer is a breeze. Simply lift the bag organizer and lipat sa kabilang bag. You don’t have to go through the tedious pag-aarrange ng gamit sa bag, we know how OC you are. Lift and lipat lang, go na! Mababawasan pa ang  chance na may makalimutan ka.


It’s very affordable.
150 lang. San ka pa?
Gusto na n’ya ‘yan..yiheee.. I got mine at Festival Mall. Meron din sa Landmark (in different sizes, prints and fun colors.)
Sa susunod ulit. Abangan: The Organized Life Part 2: The Closet Queen
the pinay bargainista

Cheap Find: Mason Jars equals Mcdo Burger Meal + 25 Pesos

Pinay Bargainista Tip: In lieu of vintage mason jars, use old jars or similarly tinted glasses as vases for a cheap way to inject that vintage country feel to your home. Here, I used a coca-cola glass from Mcdo. Story below:

Mason jars are a big hit right now on both home décor and wedding blogs. It’s no wonder because aside from being pretty, these jars are very versatile. They can be used as vase to hold flowers, can be hanged with candles as lanterns or as rustic cute drinks container. It’s good and affordable way to inject that vintage country feel for those on a tight budget for their wedding or home decor. Plus, reusing / repurposing these jars helps Mother Nature.

Here are some of my inspirations:

Mason jars with lots of flower found on weddingbee.com.

Hanging mason jar lanterns from thesweetestoccasion.com

mason jars as drinking glass

dressing up a window sill found on nauticalcottageblog.com

I am not sure if we have these same jars around here. But we can still use the idea with old glass bottles that we have at home. They will look great once cleaned and can be repurposed to be part of a wedding centerpiece or as home décor. It’s a win-win since you can upcycle these jars and at the same time save money on expensive décor.  Nakatulong ka na, nakatipid ka pa.

And if you are in love with the turquoise tint of those mason jars like I do, I’ve found a tutorial on how you can put color on those old glass bottles here.

As for me I have used a different glass here. Remember the coca-cola glasses that comes for 25 pesos with every McDonald’s value meal?

I noticed the other day that they look quite like mason jars: with decidedly embossed letters on its face and tinted glass. Inspired as I am, I cut some blooms and put them in my coca-cola glass and snap some pictures.

Bougainvillea is cute on vases. Don’t forget to put water so the flowers can stay fresh longer.

I set this on top of our table near our dorm window. These tinted glass vases instantly prettifies a window sill.

I also want a doily for my “new-found” vase but there isn’t any so I just used a paper snowflake my roommate and I made out of this tutorial from Martha Stewart.

That’s what kept me busy last weekend. Hope you got inspired to upcycle your old jars at home.

It’s another week. Hope everyone have a nice one. Will be busy with work again. ‘Til next time.

the pinay bargainista

Makeover: Stackable Rustic Cabinets

I love furniture makeovers. This one was done by Kuya (my sister’s hubby).
I saw this cabinet of drawers in our front porch when I went home for Christmas break and immediately fell in love with it. Don’t you think it has this vintage / country feel? How I wish it was mine.

They got these from a Japan surplus shop near Alabang for 2,000 pesos. Not bad.
I love most the drawer pulls and the metals at the sides which I learnt was for fixing the drawers in place once they are stacked on top of the other. One can even use both drawers separately as a low console table or can be put at the foot of the bed for additional storage.

 

My kuya painted the drawers with fresh white paint and distressed it a bit with sandpaper in true abeachcottage-fashion.

Easy right? I can’t wait to do my own furniture makeovers. Here’s my list of favorite furniture makeovers found online:

I am so in love with these seats from switcheroom. Read her article on these here.

table with parisian letter

pop of color piano

vanity straight out of a storybook

room candy as seen on bellemaison23.com

Inspired by these? Drop me a message of what you’re planning to do this weekend. Upholster some old chairs maybe? :)
the pinay bargainista