Madame Crow and More Refurbished Finds

Madame Crow was, at one time in her life, just a simple maid in an understated dress. One day, two fairy godmothers found her lying neglected at a yard sale and saw she could be so much more. With a wave of a paint brush and a daring new look she transformed into a bewitching lady of the night. Gone is the shy maiden and in her place our Madame Crow presides as queen of Halloween festivities. Quite a find for just $10!

Of course, her place among my Halloween decor would not be complete without surrounding her with other yard sale veterans. 

She sits atop one of my most prize finds, my beautiful buffet. 2 years ago, I spotted this piece of furniture at, you guessed it, a yard sale. The wood was worn, a door was missing and I know most people quickly passed by it when they saw the paint-can ring stains. But, I saw a diamond in the rough, and was amazed that the owner let me me have it for just $35. After much sanding, priming and paint, as well as a new matching door, she is one of our favorite pieces. Altogether it cost me about $90 to buy and refinish thanks to some hard work done by my dad and step-mom (I was pregnant and not allowed to be around paint fumes.)

This Halloween look was brought together by some other cheap finds, including these spooky cherub vases that look straight out of a haunted mansion. We paid $1.00 for the pair, seeing past their original hideous green and gold colors. My go-to $0.99 black Wal-Mart spray paint came to the rescue again. Add some fall leaves and a black glitter skull from Dollar Tree and you have a truly sinister pair. 

To complete the look I cut some persimmon silk fabric 40% off at JoAnn's - gotta love my JoAnn's coupon app! Since I do not sew, I just folded it and laid it across the top of the buffet with my fall garland I scored for cheap at an after-Halloween sale a couple of years ago. 

I annually get great prices on holiday decorations by waiting until the week-after to shop the clearance sales. Michael's, JoAnne's, Hobby Lobby and Target have all turned up some great finds for 75-90% off. 

I found this awesome Hamlet-esque skull-on-a-pillow marked 90% off for just $1.50 at Michael's a couple of years ago! I loved him so much I elevated him on a candle holder and placed him under a glass dome my sister gave me for my birthday. He adds just the right macabre touch to my Halloween look.