A Full Cottage

So Many Interests

2012-02-05T16:14:00.001-05:00

I find it so hard to post sometimes. For many reasons, I am so super busy and have a lot of different things on my plate, I can’t take pictures because I lost my battery charger and don’t have batteries for my point and shoot, I lack focus and don’t know where to start, and I am bummed because who will want to read this anyway? Well no more excuses! I have now decided no matter what I can post something to make this a document of who I am and where I am at.

So today I am going to just list ten favorite things that from around the web.

Here is my favorite local consignment shop Eco Chic located in Syracuse, New York. A fabulous place to find unique high quality fashions.

I am saving my pennies in hopes to have these by summer!

Etsy is always a favorite. Like this black and white mod beauty from Let's Gab about Vintage

After seeing this really cool inspiration photo from one of my favorite blogs Off Of Broadway. I just had to try it and I love how it looks!

When I saw this idea on pintrest I just knew I would like to try it.

Speaking of Pintrest check me out over there!

I can just see this cute outfit on my little princess.

I am in love with my LL Bean boat and tote bags and am still amazed that I was able to find the large and the small for .25 cents each!

I am currently contemplating this hairs style and color.

And lastly I have just lost 2o pounds!!! I did it by using a valuable online resource my calorie counter by Everyday Health

Food and Fitness Journal

Black Friday Success

2011-11-26T08:44:00.001-05:00

The past few months have flown by in a blur. While it has mostly been good, however I have felt like I really have slipped in the organization department. So on Thanksgiving, since it is just the hubby, the kids and I, I started the day catching up a little. While the food cooked and the kids watched the parade I cleaned out my dining room of the treasures I had brought home during the thrifting season that had yet to find a home. While it is not perfect, it is definitely a better start.

With this done we were able to sit down to a RELAXNG meal, and I was mentally ready for the Christmas season to begin! While we cleaned up I put on the Christmas music and planned my Black Friday.

My husband volunteered to go into work on Friday (he starts work at 6am) and I saw a few things in the AC Moore sale flyer that I knew would be great gifts for my girls. One of my girls has wanted something that was in the special deal that started at 5am. So we woke up at 3:50am and left here at 5:15, him in his car and me in my truck. The mall was a lot less crowded than I thought it would be and the people were really nice and friendly ( both the shoppers and the store employees). I found everything that I wanted and was back home by 8am. We live 25 minutes from the mall so I was really happy with this. I got in and checked to see what kids where up and where they were at and brought in the stuff for the sleepy heads. Since I was ~~pretty tired and being lazy~~ going to be super organized this season, I decided to wrap the gifts rather than just hide them. This also would mean if they were out in the open I didn’t need to worry who was looking at what.

Over the summer I went to a yard sale and picked this up for $5.00.

It was filled with this.

There is also ribbon, bows and tags in there!

So over the course of the day I brought things in and wrapped.

I now have all the presents that we currently home wrapped! Now just to keep up with it!

So did you go out yesterday? How were the crowds in your area?

Michelle

Some Fall Decorating

2011-11-04T12:09:00.001-04:00

Since starting school I have been so super busy. Tami had asked what I was going to school for. I am going to school for cosmetology. I love it! We started last week and I have already learned so much. I feel so alive.

However with that my part part time job, homeschooling number two and just keeping the house running, I have not done much of anything else! I love the fall, the temps have been beautiful around here and the colors are amazing. So I finally managed to get a little of that into our décor. This is in our entryway. The shutters act as a room divider so you don’t walk straight into the living room. I LOOOVE them. I bought them at a local antique store last year for $5.00 each and my husband added hinges to them.

I wish I had taken a before picture, but I thought that I had one…..nope. Everything we already had. The wreath I made has been up there since last year, I just keep moving her around and adding different “accessories”.

The Easter one came out especially well but, UGH, there is no picture!

The plates are vintage ones that I embellished using vinyl and my Cricut.

The apothecary jar has some potpourri and a Chinese lantern that I saved from a bunch that I had found years ago.

The boa is from a garage sale from years ago.

This is how the compote looked before it was redressed for fall. The books are my husbands, he found them last year at an antique shop. This compote is one of my favorites, I use it a lot to hold various things for decorating. It originally came from the thrift store and was less than $2.00.

Well now that fall is almost over, I have been planning what I am going to do for Christmas. I am hoping to get an early start, so we can enjoy it longer. Have you switched gears and started thinking of Christmas decorating?

Michelle

Finding Me

2011-10-21T20:16:00.001-04:00

My personal style has change a lot over the past several months. For the better and it has really done an overhaul on how I am thinking and feeling. I should start by giving you a little back story though. Over the course of the last 12 years I have had 6 children. Now I love and cherish each of them and really love having a big family. However because time was at a premium and I stopped working and I am sure many other things, I stopped doing things for my appearance. I stopped doing my hair, I would wash it, comb it and cut it but that was it. I wore loose clothes with socks and sneakers. Even jeans were saved when I went out in public. I gained weight. I stopped wearing makeup. This all was gradual and I was not sad or depressed, just lazy. I wasn’t working outside of the house, I had a husband, my life was fine. I not really sure what happened to me to change this. But this past spring I was in a funk. I was unhappy and miserable. So I made an appointment with my hair dresser, in secret, went in with a picture of pink and told her I wanted it cut like that. I also said I wanted a two step color. I thought when I told her that I wanted red with blonde highlights and showed her the red swatch she was going to fall over. I promptly went home and put on makeup.

This did a world of good for my self esteem.

My dad then had a stroke a couple of weeks later. I was traveling up to see him and help my mom. My parents are very into appearances so I made sure to have my hair done, makeup on and dressed just right. I didn’t want to make them feel worse, did I. This also got me into the habit of getting it done.

This also had a ripple affect. I went through my closet and pitched everything that didn’t make me feel good. All the dowdy and matronly clothes, even if they fit. That gave me a good reason to head to the thrift and pick up a couple of “new” pieces.

It has been several months and I feel wonderful! As simple as it sounds this cut and color have changed my whole outlook and given me new confidence. I have since bought some new make-up and started wearing it differently. I have also decided to go back to school and Monday I will be starting classes. I can’t wait!

Do you ever do anything just for you?

Michelle

Church Rummage Sales in September

2011-09-26T12:50:00.001-04:00

I certainly didn’t want to miss the last Thrifty Treasures over at Southern Hospitality, even if I am late to the party. Yard sale season is starting to wane around here, but thanks to a bout of Indian summer, there were still plenty to keep me busy this weekend. So many in fact that I am going to just share a few of my favorites now (or you may get really bored). Friday I went to a church rummage sale that was fantastic! I got there about a hour after it started but there were still so many things to choose and the prices were amazing.

I picked up a boat load of purses, they were .25 cents each.

This is leather.

This is Gap.

Little change purses for .10 cents.

Belts, hats, clothes also .25 cents.

Boys tap shoes.

A bag of hangers for .10 cents…..for the whole bag!

There were 10 wooden hangers a funky vintage metal and velour one and 2 plastic ones.

These were .50 cents each.

These were .25 cents each.

And this was .10 cents.

Then on Saturday I went to another church sale. This sale was not as good, there was not very much stuff and it was priced kinda high. All clothes and shoes were $2.00 each no matter what it was. Faded Glory t-shirt $2. men’s snow pants $2. So I bought my hubby the snow pants which I forgot to take a picture of, left the t-shirt and then found this in the bottom of a pile.

It is a genuine Chanel purse!!!!! For $2.00!!!!! I would normally think it was a fake except the leather on the inside is so soft and lush.

It needs a cleaning, but I did my happy dance out of there!

So are you ready for yard sale season to be over or are you still out on the hunt?

Linking up to:

Thrifty Treasures

Vintage Fun at the Thrift Store

2011-09-18T23:50:00.002-04:00

Things have been super busy at our house since school has started……….mostly for me! Trying to get everyone where they need to be and getting everything done is always such a challenge. A good one but a challenge never the less. So Friday after dinner I decided to take a little break and hit up the two thrift stores in our town on my way to Wal-Mart for some necessities.
My first stop was to the Salvation Army. I arrived 15 minutes before they closed. Well I found some great stuff in less than 15 minutes!

This great vintage purse was just $2.99. I love it so much!

It has such subtle detail and looks even better in person.

This great vintage London Fog raincoat was 1/2 price….just $3.50! I have wanted on of these for so long! This one fits like it was made for me!

I also picked up this vintage plaid coat. It was also 1/2 price it was $3.00. It is starting to get cooler here and I thought it would be just perfect for fall. I already wore it on Saturday!
Then it was off to the Thrifty Shopper, I had an hour till closing here.
I got a few scarves to add to my collection. They were $1.00 each.

This one was brand new!

I have a ~~problem ,addiction~~ collection of vintage scarves.

When I am not wearing them around my neck or on my head I like to tie them to my purse.
I think I my need to find an additional drawer to store them in. This is BEFORE I added my new ones!

These shoes aren’t vintage and at $5.00 were more than I like to pay, but they are oh so cute!

This cute belt was $1.00, I wore it with my new coat and red purse on Saturday.

This one was also $1.00.

These necklaces were $1.99 each except for the silver one and one other but I am not sure which one. Those were .99cents each.
The blue one is 5 feet long and the black one is made in Austria.

The silver one is actually a belt, but it is to small for me so now it is a necklace!

This is the only thing I picked up for the house. At $1.99 I could not resist it! What is not to love? Red and white POLKA DOTS!
Well when I was checking out I found out they were having a sale the very next day for 40% off the entire store!
So the next day I headed over with Miss A.
She picked up 3 pairs of jeans for $4.19 each and a t-shit she loves. It has Elmo on it and NYC.
I picked up this neat bracelet.

I am really loving plaid right now. Over the summer I found this great vintage bag that I never blogged about.

It was $1.00!!!!
Well back to Saturday. I got this great bag!

Ralph Lauren tweed for $2.99. It is apparently vintage from the 80’s. I found a similar one on Etsy for $85.00!
Well how have you done this past weekend? Are yard sales in your area starting to fade?

Linking up to:
Southern Hospitality Thrifty Treasures

Apron Thrift Girl Thrifty Monday

My Style: Shopping

2011-09-06T10:58:00.001-04:00

I haven’t really touched upon my fashion style and what I wear here and thought that it might be fun. This time I thought I would show you a few “new” pieces that I picked up and then in future posts show you how I put those pieces together. I definitely have my own sense of style and tend to be eclectic. However I get many compliments on my outfits so I figure I must be doing something right. There are some key points that I need to make first. One I am extremely ~~cheap~~ thrifty. Two I like really nice and sometimes expensive stuff. Keeping this in mind I find that shopping second hand is the best choice for me. Last week I felt that I needed to get some “new” clothes so I headed to our local Salvation Army on quarter day. Quarter day is an unadvertised sale, in fact there were several people shopping there that day that did not even realize that one of the color tickets were a quarter. They were not my size so I let them in on the secret while we were waiting for the changing room! On this trip I only paid “full” price for two pairs of shoes, everything else was either 1/2 price or .25 cents. So are you ready? Here is what I got!

This is one of the pairs of shoes that I paid full price for. I got them because I really needed a pair of black flats and they were soooooo comfortable.

As you can see they were $4.99.

This vintage pair of Hush Puppies was the other pair that I paid full price for.

They were $3.99 and I think that may be the date the original owner my have gotten them. What do you think?

I also got two more pairs of shoes. They were both a quarter.

I found the Penaljo ones on EBay, they are vintage from the 60’s. They are soooo very comfortable.

These are the clothes I bought for 1/2 price. I will list what I paid.

$2.50

This jacket has a velvet like texture. I love the detail.

$2.00

This picture does not do this sweater justice. It is a very pretty light purple with rhinestones.

It was $2.00.

This shirt/jacket I am wearing today. $1.50

You can never have to many white tanks. This one is spandex/lycra like. $.99 cents

This is a great top. The material has a wonderful feel and flow.

$1.50

Everything else I bought was a quarter.

Two piece set. I will probably end up using these as separates.

I seriously love this t-shirt. I wore it last week and really wish I had gotten a picture in it!

Leggings!! I have worn these also and can’t wash them fast enough! They are wonderful for layering under outfits.

I was actually on the lookout for a pair of black leggings and was just finishing my shopping when I found these in my size for a quarter, OH YEA!!!!

So do you like to mix pieces from different era’s and styles or do you stick to just one?

Stay tuned to see some of my style staples!

linking to:

The Thrifty Home Penny Pinching Party

Tales from Bloggeritaville Thrifty Thursday Party]

Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday

$2.00 Estate Sale Tea Cart Finished

2011-09-03T18:04:00.001-04:00

This post has actually been in the works for a while, we got a virus on our computer and have been out of commission while it was being worked on. Then once we got it back I just could not get back into the groove. Well here goes at a post I started about two weeks ago.

I am not sure if that is what this is called or not. Do you know? But it sounds good to me for now so that is what I am going with

This is the sturdy little cart that I picked up at an estate sale on Friday. You can read more about it here.

Well it was disgusting. I found it in the garage and it was in sad shape.

I wish I would have taken a picture with out the tin foil on. The second shelf was in great condition after taking off several layers of dirt. The bottom shelf however looked just like this one. The rust is just on the surface even though it is pretty bad. I really liked the chrome and it is in nice vintage condition. So me and Miss A taped it all off including the beautiful wheels. It was supposed to storm and I was not about to bring this into my house till it was done so I have absolutely no during pictures. At the time it didn’t seem like a big deal…….now I am kicking myself! Oh and the other motivating factor to get it done was my husband. I could just hear him if he saw this, it wouldn’t matter how cheap it was he would say “why did you buy that nasty thing!”

So I worked in hyper speed. Of course I broke a few rules along the way. I didn’t prime. This was a mistake! Why didn’t I prime! Well I was out of primer and didn’t want to go buy any. Mistake!

I did find two cans of pretty soft yellow in the basement to that is what I painted with.

I love the color, but because I didn’t sand or prime the paint bubbled up a bit. So to protect it from being damaged, I placed some vintage tea towels on the shelves. This actually looks really great and adds to the look that I was going for.

On the shelves I put items that I we use everyday.

To keep it from looking to messy or cluttered I used an old wooden box with a great graphic that I had picked up for a couple of bucks a few years back. It holds extra bowls and dishes.

Behind the bowl that I use everyday for dinner I put this little vintage metal basket from an estate sale, inside are some of my vintage hot pads.

On top is the microwave and some essentials.

The vintage file box is for my recipes. I love this box, it was bought for $2.00 at a garage sale a few years ago.

The lady bug is special, my son who was 5 at the time, bought it for me at a yard sale when we went out together just the two of us.

The lemons my husband got from work, I love the way they look. The basket I won from Leslie at Goodbye House Hello Home.

This is an ironstone plate I thrifted with a cheese dome also thrifted on top inside are some of my salt and pepper shakers and a fortune cookie fortune that I like.

These canisters were from a garage sale, they were a quarter for the set!

The lamp was from an estate sale, you can read more about it here.

On a side note the microwave is “new”. Our son put a metal fork in our other one and fried it! We found this one the next day at a garage sale as I was picking my husband up from work for $10.00.

So what do you think? Do you ever just stumble on what you need?

linking to:

A Family Run Estate Sale….Yes I Broke my own rule.

2011-08-22T00:20:00.001-04:00

I decided since I have made some sales on Etsy, thank you to everyone that has bought from me, that I would reward myself and go to an estate sale on Friday morning. Estate sales are my favorite and I thought that this one was being run by the family based on the ad. I am so glad that I did. I was early and figured I would sign in if need be and wait and read a magazine. Well when I pulled up I saw people already going in. Nothing was priced and that is usually a bad thing. Not here. They had fabulous prices and awesome stuff. On my first run through I bought:

I got everything here for $30.00 The basket in the back is full of linens, mostly large tablecloths. I will have to show them off on a future post. The two tins are full of hankies, most of which had never been used and still have the tags on them.

There were 64 hankies in the two tins. My favorite are the ones with the roses.

I also got a little tin filled with buttons and misc. sewing supplies.

Then after paying for that I went back in a found this.

It was in rough shape but it is sturdy and for $2.00 it is just what I needed.

I have already given it a little makeover and I love it.

Then I went back in after lugging everything to the car. On round three I found:

I loooove this!!!! I have already switched it out with another lamp shade in my living room.

ALL OF IT was $5.00!!!!

Then I went into the basement, they thought it was empty(I found that out after the fact), when I did I noticed the curtains(the basement was finished). So I went to ask about them….$3.00

There are six panels this size!

If that was not enough I found a pile of vintage cards and pictures that were being thrown away! They were on the top and it was all just clean garbage sooooo, yea I got those too!!

So what do you prefer yard sales or estate sales?

Linking to:

Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality

My Little Baby Turned Two Today

2011-08-19T00:13:00.001-04:00

My youngest turned two today. He has grown and developed so much over the last couple of months. I can’t believe he is not a baby anymore. He is so cuddly and cute I can’t be sad that he has gotten bigger. He has the nicest personality he is such a joy to be around, he makes everyone smile.

His sister Miss A, who is 12 baked the cake. It was the first time she had made one. She called up her grandma and got her recipe. It was delicious!

He really liked his presents!

But it seams like just yesterday………

Happy Birthday Baby!!!!

Do any of you wish your babies were babies again?

Linking up to:

My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday

Thrifting with Mom

2011-08-15T00:16:00.001-04:00

Well I broke down and spent this weekend. My parents live an hour away from us, so I don’t usually see them all that often. Probably about once a month usually. Up until last year my mom worked full time. Now because of a bad back she can’t do the drive back and forth in one day. However last month my dad had a stroke. So now I am traveling up there three days a week. Mostly to see and spend time with my dad at the hospital, but my mom is lonely so I am spending time with her as well. Well this week she asked me if I could come up and spend Saturday with her and then we would go see my dad. So after my husband came home from work I traveled up to spend time with my mom. We had a wonderful time. We passed a couple of garage sales and stopped and we went to the thrift store. She also made me a fantastic dinner. If that wasn’t enough she gifted me a box of groceries! We then sat and talked for hours. I finally left at 11:00 pm. We always talk on the phone each day ( always have) and she is already plotting when we will be able to do this again.

So here is what I splurged on.

This was the end of a three day sale and they wanted the stuff gone. The lady said if I was interested in these I could have them all for a quarter.

At this sale they had bunches of interesting things, but you could tell that the wife didn’t want to part with anything. She originally wanted $5.00 a piece for the beaded greenery and the candelabra. I walked away from the greenery and her husband said “three dollars”. With the candelabra there is a small chip on it so I pointed it out and she said “you make me an offer” mind you it was after three by this time. I said “ how about $1.00” Yes I low balled her, she kinda got on my nerves by this point. She said how “about two” “ok two”.

Then I thought that the thrift store was going to be a bust too. We went down several aisles, and I found nothing. Finally in the back of the store I found a few things.

It seemed like they had really marked up their prices since the last time I had been there. I think that I found stuff that had been priced before. Most of the purses were $4.99. This one is an Ann Taylor Loft and it was $1.99. The Thermos mug was .99 cents. The milk glass compote was also .99 cents.

Then I found this Gymboree jacket for my baby for $4.99.

Perfect for fall.

The best find of the day.

This adorable little seersucker Gymboree jacket. It was on clearance for $1.59!

But that’s not all folks. Our Rescue Mission Thrifty Shopper in my town is part of the same company as the one near my mom. They have a frequent shopper card. I had $5.15 cents on my card, so I got all this stuff for $5.99 including tax!

Linking up to:

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/another-thrifty-treasures/

A Wonderful gift from my mom! And a Good Friend!

2011-08-12T17:31:00.001-04:00

I have been doing so good this month not spending any money. I even passed by a bunch of yard sales on Friday…and didn’t even stop at one!

So tonight when I was visiting my mom she tells me she has something for me.

So she pulls this huge bag out. Full of LINENS !!!!! Yea! She thinks that I am going to just take the bag and be done with it. Oh no, I LOVE LINENS, I open them up and go through each one. I am so glad that I did because there was a story with many of the pieces.

Most of these were made by my grandma.

There were small plain white ones.

Large plain white ones. I so love the one on top!

Hot Pads.

Colored ones. I remember that flowered one throughout my childhood.

Rectangle ones.

One with a rooster.

Hankies.

Fabulous embroidery.

Eight brand new pillowcases. My mom said that my grandma was saving these just in case. Grandma died in 1983. They were not my moms style, so they never got used. I am going to use them!

They were crocheted by my grandma. This pair she embroidered.

The detail is amazing.

I love these, I think they used to be used as dresser scarfs. I use them all over the place!

More beautiful embroidery.

Then this huge full sized table cloth. I have wanted one like this forever. This one is better than any I could have bought. It was made by my grandma and given to me by my mom!

With a matching runner for my buffet. All it needs is a little pressing!

And if all that wasn’t enough she also gave me grandma’s hand forged aluminum server!

On top of all this the next day I get a call from a good friend who wants to know if we would like two tickets to the Cortland Repertory Theater. This is a wonderful opportunity to see excellent summer theater. So me and my oldest went to see Agatha Christie’s A Murder is Announced. It was so good!

Well all these linens have prompted me to do a little fluffing.

Linking up to:

Sunday Blog Love at Cherished Treasures

Quick Crafts From My Stash

2011-08-05T00:19:00.001-04:00

Well I am still not spending any money, I even passed by a yard sale today and didn’t stop. I may go through withdrawal this weekend so I think that I will not leave the house till after the garage sales are all closed up for the day!

So yesterday I showed you the area over and to the right of my stove. You may remember that it looked like this.

Well even though I liked it a lot better the are right above the stove needed something more. So I thought about it for a while and was going to use a little silver tray to make a chalkboard, but the more I thought about it the more I didn’t like the idea. Mainly because I am short and it would be hard to write on. Also I had visions of my six year old climbing on a chair to write on it….while the stove was on! So in the end I decided to make a sign.

So I remembered that I had gotten a small shelf at the dollar store. It was supposed to sit on brackets and was made of wood. I spray painted it white. and then took a piece of red with white polka dot scrap book paper and broke out the handy dandy Mod Podge. For some reason I only took one before or during photo. One of the shelf and paper and one of the fabric that I used as an embellishment. I don’t know what I was thinking?

The fabric came from a supply swap that I did last year with Jill from Bucks County Folk Art. Jill is a real artist unlike me so it was a little intimidating. But she sent me this wonderful stack of fabric squares in my favorite colors.

So I picked out four that I thought would work for this project and used this fabulous You Tube video to try to make some vintagy looking fabric yo yos. It was made by Kim and Kris of The DIY Dish. If you have not been to their website go now……well after my post . This is now my new favorite thing I could make yo yos all day long. Anyway I also went back to my ribbon and trim stash. When everything was done this is what I had come up with.

The letters I printed out of vinyl on my Cricut. I used vinyl for two reasons 1. I wanted to be able to change what it says and 2. I wanted black lettering and did not have any black scrapbook paper.

The yellow rick rack was exactly that length when I found it in my stash.

Here is a close up of the yo yos. I used vintage buttons for the centers. My mom found them for me at our school bazaar last November on the white elephant table. She bought me a small mason jar full for .50 cents!

I really love how this has turned out!

MY next project for today was this area.

The first part was easy I just needed to get rid of the clutter and neaten the top of the bread box.

It looks better in person. My daughter painted the bread box. It is one of my favorite things in the kitchen. She did it a couple of years ago. I had originally found the bread box at a yard sale for $1.00. Someone had already painted it white.

Next up this little baby. I like it but it is much to dark for my liking. I have wanted to paint it since picking it up last year at a yard sale, I could just never decide how I wanted to paint it. I was going back and forth between white and red. Well today I decided to make it red. So I went down to the basement to my spray paint stash and………..not a single can of red paint. So white it is!

Well after painting it just as I expected it was a little to plain for my bright cottage kitchen. So I added some little red pom pom trim to the trays.

I then added some vintage trim I picked up this past weekend ( it was still July)to the handle and used some more to make a little bow.

And here she is all decked out. I made a couple of fabric scrap balls to go with it.

Here is how this all looks now as you are entering the kitchen.

We have no dishwasher so the drain board pretty much stays put!

Next up getting the snowman off the front of the cabinet

Linking to:

Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt it Friday

Finding Fabulous Frugalicious Friday

Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday

Fingerprints on the Fridge Feature Yourself Friday

August the month not to spend money.

2011-08-03T21:56:00.002-04:00

I have been inspired by other bloggers who have either not spent any money or limited the amount that they spent for either a month or some for a WHOLE YEAR! Most recently Sarah from Thrifty Décor Chick used July not to buy anything for her home and instead tackled her stash instead.
So I have decided to try to do the same. No spending! I will need to get the kids some stuff for school and we need some car work. But I am going to go through my stash of stuff first, make a list and have a plan.
The last time we went out to eat it cost us $86.00 plus a tip! So that won’t be happening. I am going to go through my cookbooks and recipes pantry and freezer. I am going to plan menus and have a list before going to the store.
Of course I am going to keep collecting Swagbucks. Last month I was able to purchase 6 bottles of Mrs. Meyer's Clean dish soap for .79 cents, for all 6. I turned my points in for Amazon gift cards.
So how am I doing here on day three? Well pretty good. Saturday is my marketing day, so we are making do with what we have in the house for food. Last night was spaghetti and ditalini pasta with pizza sauce over it and a can of veggies ( the kids kept asking where the meatballs were). Tonight was frozen corn dogs, tossed salad (made with the remnants of veggies in the crisper) and pretzels. Tomorrow we will have BBQ chicken, rice and frozen corn.
Also to keep my creative juices flowing ~~keep myself from going completely bored~~ I tweaked my kitchen just a little using what I had in the house.

Here is the counter next to the stove before (I wish I had noticed the side of the fridge before, but no).

This vintage canister of which I have a complete set is the inspriation for my kitchen. So working with these colors I decided to add a little and make this area more me.

So I grabbed this cake stand and played around with my stuff that I use over here.
I knew I wanted to keep my kitchen tools, my sugar bowl, salt and pepper shakers, the vintage scale with the juice glasses, the coffee mugs and cutlery holder. There was also a green depression glass tray that was there that you could not see.

Other than the cake stand all I added was a little red Pyrex refrigerator dish with my Equal packets that I use everyday.
Next up was to change the ribbon in the cake stand. So off to my stash I went.

This is only a small portion of that stash. But I found what I wanted and quit looking!

I though about gluing them together but in the end it worked just fine leaving them separate.

So starting in the back I weaved them in and out.

All done!

On to the next spot!

My stove area. The other burner cover was in the sink, we do have two!
Take the stuff off of the shelf. Reposition the children’s plates and make the black salt and pepper shakers not look so not me.
So after removing everything I decide to tackle the salt and pepper shakers.

I remembered that there was a link to print free Cath Kidston labels. I love Cath Kidston stuff it has a wonderful vintage feel. and went in search of it. You can find it here. There were several to choose from and they have the instructions with them on what to do. So I picked the one that I liked and saved it to my computer as a Jpeg and was then able to edit it in Piknik.
You right click and save.

Once you are in Picasa you can then edit in Picnik. They are both free to download.

In create I picked add text. Then picked the font I liked. Typed the word and changed the color and size.

I then saved it to Picasa selected print and chose the size I wanted. I chose wallet size.

I then cut out the images and grabbed the Mod Podge and set out to work.

I liked how they turned out so well I decided to make one for our cinnamon sugar shaker. The only difference was that I remembered that I had read somewhere to spray clear spray paint on the printed image before using the Mod Podge. Well I had some so I tried it out and will be redoing these using that method.

I am also going to add a little ribbon to the toothpick holder.

I took some double sided tape and stuck the little plate to the shelf and the bigger one to the stove. I used the stove tonight and so far so good.

I also took a vintage muffin tin and added some votive candles to it. Tomorrow I will finish tackling the next counter, and fix the side of the fridge .
So stay tuned to see how the rest of the month goes.

Linking up to:
Beyond the Picket Fence
The Shabby Chic Cottage
Tales from Bloggeritaville
Somewhat Simple
No Minimalist here.
Designer Garden

Fifty Miles of Garage Sales! A Great Weekend!

2011-07-31T23:50:00.001-04:00

I have been looking forward to the annual Route 90 garage sales for at least a month now. It is 50 miles of garage sales from the village of Homer(5 minutes from my house) to Montezuma. I never make it more than 1 of the 50 miles, before I am A. to tired and B. broke. You may remember some of my finds from last year.

You can read more about it here.

Well this year did not disappoint. My husbands class reunion was the night before so I did not get up as early as I wanted. We arrived at the start at 8:05 am. Already by this point there was no place to park, so we drove up about half way and parked on a side street. This actually worked to our advantage. We were able to stop half way through and drop stuff off. Next year I am bringing a cart!

Well here are my finds! Get ready because this is a long post.

Vintage Thermos with the glass liner still intact.

This quilt has some damage but it was $3.00. Yes just THREE!

This one which has “From Mother 1932” embroidered on it is slightly more damaged but it was only $2.00…Yes just TWO! I am now doing my happy dance!

More vintage linens for my ~~addiction~~ stash. This whole pile (113 pieces) was $7.00.

Vintage sheet music. This is going to make it’s way into my Etsy shop.

My daughter found me this great heavy tray in a free box!

This box for a dollar.

Filled with vintage cards from the thirties through the fifties.

Love this….for only .50 cents.

Love this too, but it was $2.00. A little more than I like to spend, but it reminded me of a nautical look and so much cheaper than retail.

A 1924 and a 1932 National Geographic.

This milk glass basket was such a steal at $3.00. The glasses were .50 cents each.

This was not a steal, I don’t think. It is an old milk bottle holder and was $5.00.

I thought that this would make good jar filler……for only a quarter.

MORE DISHES! I was going to put these in my Etsy shop, but my daughter loves them.

Six napkins.

This is for my little girl.

More DISHES.

These sweet little cards have never been used. They will also be making their way to my shop.

more linens

Stamps $1.00.

I love this little talcum powder tin.

Hankies $1.00

This is hand painted milk glass. Does anyone know anything about this?

Cute vintage purse with matching change purse.

I got another one too, but used it today.

Four bags of stamps. I thought these would be neat in altered art.

Buttons in a neat old container and an old crayon box. Can’t resist me a cute old box!

Finally for $1.00 I got all these vintage cake decorating things. Aren’t the crowns cute? So there you have it my weekend in a nutshell. I hope you stayed till the end and were not to bored. If so I would love for you to leave me a comment. Thanks have a great week!

Linking to:

Southern Hospitality Thrifty Treasures

Thrifty Summer Decorating for the Dining Table

2011-07-13T01:28:00.001-04:00

For the past several weeks my dining table has looked like this.

All decked out for the Fourth of July. Since these are some of my favorite colors I wasn’t in any hurry to change it out, but when I found this at a yard sale this weekend I knew now was the time.

You can read more about it here.
The first thing I did was to remove the “extrras”.

Once that was done I was ready to roll! I went around the house and gathered up bunches of bits and baubles to add to my crate.

Then I was ready. I kept the table runner that I was already using. I picked it up at the Christmas Tree Shop last winter for $1.00. Yes $1.00, they announced 90% off on all their clearance while I was shopping. It is Waverly and double sided, I love the other side as well.

Here is what I came up with.

I knew I wanted to use my large ironstone pitcher that I had picked up about a month ago at a church rummage sale. It came with the bowl and was $10.00 for the set.

I also knew that I wanted to use my vintage primitive sail boat that I got two weeks ago from an estate sale for $1.00.

I love vintage post cards and pick them up when ever I can get them. This is one of the cigar boxes that I have them stashed in. I dug around and found a few that would work.

The two that I ultimately chose were this one, which is a scene just about a mile from my house.

And this one of a man fly fishing in Virginia.

This French mason jar was in a free box along with the candle. The sand was left over from my daughter’s graduation party last year. It originally came from the dollar store. I pick up shells at yard sales when I find them, this time I mixed them with a few light blue marbles that reminded me of sea glass. About a month ago I found a whole plastic shoe box filled with those decorative marbles, in all different colors, at a yard sale for $2.00.

The vintage sea fans were in a box lot at an estate sale a few years ago for $6.00 for the whole box, this is just a small sampling of what was in there.

More shells in a zinc topped blue mason jar that I found at an antique mall several years ago for $2.00.

I wanted this to look good from every angle.

I love vintage linens, so I dug through my stash and found this sweet little number that reminds me of a pennant banner.

Finally I added a vintage flash card I bought in a lot of 12 from Eccentricity on Etsy. They are circa 1953 and were $1.50 for the lot plus shipping.

The dictionary definition

berth (bûrth)

1. Sufficient space for a ship to maneuver; sea room: kept a clear berth of the reefs.

2. A space for a ship to dock or anchor: a steamship moored to its berth at the pier.

a. Employment on a ship: sought an officer's berth in the merchant marine.

I thought that was perfect for my little maritime vignette.

Of course all the stuff I used to add height to it all was also thrifted. The dictionary is also vintage and was $1.00. The blue mason is sitting on a German to English book and was in a free box. As was the matching French mason jar that the other one is sitting on.

The only thing that wasn’t really thrifty is the vintage sign holder. It was a present from me to me. It came via Huntwood Antiques on Etsy. I received three of them for $41.00 plus $8.00 shipping. I love them and wish I had more. They are great for holding vintage postcards and you can see one more here.

So finally in case you have not been keeping track the breakdown.

Vintage Pepsi crate $3.00
Table Runner $1.00
Large Vintage Ironstone Pitcher $5.00
Primitive Sailboat $1.00
Blue Mason Jar $2.00
Small French Mason Jars free
Candle free
Sand $1.00
Postcards .50 cents
Sea Fans $1.00
Marbles 2.00
Shells $1.00
Flower Frog .10 cents
Linen Doily .50 cents
Flash card .27 cents
Books $1.00
Sing Holder $16.33

For a grand total of $35.70, not bad if I do say so myself.

Linking up to:

Beyond the Picket Fence Under $100 Linky Party

Colorado Lady Vintage Thingy Thursday

Shabby Chic Cottage Transformation Thursday

Tales From Bloggeritaville Thrifty Thursday

Saturday Sales and Estate Sale in the Smallest House.

2011-07-11T20:51:00.001-04:00

Well I told you about the goodies-I picked up on Friday, but I went out for a couple of hours on Saturday as well. I had to be home by 1oam because my husband needed my truck for a surprise that he had planned. More to come on that later. So I left at 7:45 am and was back by 10:15. Not a lot of time, but I did manage to find some great stuff and even hit an estate sale in the smallest house I have ever seen. It was 4 rooms and a detached garage. A living room, kitchen, bedroom and a bathroom. The sale started at 9am and I got there about 8:40 to sign in on the list. When I got there they had already opened the garage. In there I found.

This great cabinet for $7.00. It is about 6 feet tall. I plan to use it in my upstairs bathroom.

I also found a mirror that I forgot to photograph.

Finally in the garage I found this.

Yea an air conditioner! Can I hear a woo hoo! Best of all not only does it work, but………

Yes that’s right it was free. I know hate me! I am finally cool and comfy. Hopefully I will feel the same way when the electric bill arrives

Then on into the little house.

Another scale for my collection.

All three of these sets of children’s tea sets were in a little shoe box $4.00 for the lot.

And finally a small stack of old books for $1.00 each.

On my way to the estate sale I stopped at two sales. At the first I found.

At the second one I found.

A huge bag of curtain ring clips for yes that is right .25 cents. There are over 30 rings in the bag.

At that same sale I also got the cards for the kids and a little green candle also for.10 cents.

Finally just before I got home I stopped at one more. This was a really good sale. Not that much was marked, but the lady said “most everything is a quarter.”

Stride Rite shoes for my son $1.00

Gymboree slippers .25 cents.

Vintage shoe stretchers .25 cents.

Tea bag holder .10 cents.

William and Sonoma measuring spoons .25 cents for both.

Sterling silver candle stick……………..25 cents.

.25 cents.

Vintage milk glass salt and pepper shakers .25 cents.

A heavy linen runner .25 cents. The hole does not matter to me. Stay tuned to see what I have planned for it.

Finally a set of Corning mugs for yup you guessed it .25 cents each. These are great, they look like vintage milk glass. Hope you had a fun and thrifty weekend too !

Linking up to:Nifty Thrifty Treasures at Coastal charm

A Little Bit of Yard Sailing

2011-07-10T22:15:00.005-04:00

I was only able to do a little fast yard sailing(mine own spelling) this past weekend, but that did not stop me. Oh no sir.
Friday after the kids got done with their swim lessons at NOON we stopped at two.
The first one was just we just happened to pass by and stopped.

I got these two lamp shades for $1.00. I am going to give them a makeover and use them on a set of lamps for my bedroom.

I also got these cute shoes both are from American Eagle. The sandals I wore this morning to church and loooove them. However I didn’t look at the size of the flats, and well they are to small(size 9) so they are going to be listed on Ebay. Oh well. I paid $4.00 for the shoes.

The next sale we went to was pretty far out, but I was ready for a little drive. I didn’t know it by the add but it was a sweet little old lady that was having a barn sale. I am not sure if it was because it was so far out or what but she still had a lot left when I got there and she had priced everything really really well.

I collect these pins it was .10 cents!

This set of books were .50 cents. They are a little worn, but I like the character it gives them.

A book worm had apparently been here at one time…….thank goodness he is now gone!

This set of hot pads and placemats was .80 cents.

This really cute circus tin.

Some cute molds.

Some Tupperware.

Cool retro canisters.

Some stuff for the kiddies.

For my collection.. This was .05 cents…….yes five cents.
Then after my husband came home from work at 4pm, I went to “run errands” and stopped at a couple more.
First stop.

A set of twelve wine glasses for $3.00.
Stop number two was an antique dealer that I know. She was participating in a neighborhood sale.

This was the first thing I saw when I walked up the driveway. A cute little stool for on top of my Hoosier cabinet. $1.50. I was so excited, I have been on the lookout for something like this. The best part is it is RED!

A jewelry holder.

A box of postcards and cancelled stamps.

Transferware!

This is just the top. It was .25 cents.

Some tea towels. Two were .50 cents each the other was .25 cents.

A sweet red and white checked apron.

This was $2.00
Then finally I stopped in a little antique shop on my way home. I picked up the cutest bouquet of vintage millinery flowers for $4.00.

They have the nicest velvety texture!

Then I was on my way to the bank, but wait they are now closed. Oh well there is a sale on the next street over. OK this really is the last one……..for today!

I find this rigged up, broken Pepsi crate wagon. The only parts that are broken are the rigged up ones. No problem nothing a screwdriver can’t fix. He says “$5.00” I say “how about $3.00”. He says “sure”. Sold! Wait to you see what I have planned for this!

Linking up to:
Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday's at Coastal Charm
Yard Sale Linky Party at Censational Girl

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-04T23:34:00.001-04:00

I hope that everyone had a happy and safe holiday. We are so lucky we live only 20 minutes from an amazing area. Ithaca New York, home of Cornell University (go Big Red!). Not only is there a famous ivy league school in Ithaca, but it is home to some of the prettiest and nicest scenery. Right on one of the Finger Lakes, Ithaca has beautiful gorges as well. This area was carved out millions of years ago by the melting glaciers.

So today we packed up and went to Robert Treaman State Park for a picnic.

All the parks in our area are carry in carry out. Meaning you take your trash with you. So in an effort to bee more green and not lug back stinky garbage we use some cute vintage dishes I picked up a couple of years ago at a yard sale.

We also have these little covers for our food, that were also found at a yard sale years ago. We like to picnic but are not fond of bugs in our food!

It was so peaceful out in the woods. There were no other people around we only saw a few hikers passing by.

I really love this park, I feel connected with nature and going there is like taking a step back in time.

It is breathtaking! We didn’t hike today, but there are wonderful hiking trails. The views are awesome.

Today I did go into The Old Mill for the first time. I said to my husband we have come to the park so many times and never been inside.

Inside there is a history lesson of how the park came to be.

The park sits on the former rural village of Enfeild Falls.

Now I know why I felt connected to the past. These were discovered on an archaeological dig. The buildings had been torn down in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Only the mill and the millers cottage remain.

Well then we got home and I got ready for the next picnic.

My handy checklist that I keep in the basket, with my nice clean plates.

I still need to put away the rest of the silverware. It is all dry and then I can pack away the baskets. Well I am off to do that now. We have to get up early tomorrow for our first day of summer swim lessons! Yea!

Linking up to:

Holiday Weekend and a Neighborhood Sale.

2011-07-04T00:06:00.003-04:00

Usually with the holidays the garage sale scene is a bust. This weekend however was AWESOME! First of all my husband usually has to work on Saturday. This weekend however he had off since they exceeded quota for June, it is a holiday weekend and it is the beginning of the month. Yea! So Friday night, he asked me what I wanted to do on Saturday. ~~Well let me think~~ YARDSALE…..did you really have to ask. So we got the kids up at the crack of dawn and headed out to a neighborhood sale in our area. It was great.

For my collection of cream pottery.

This was a quarter and is getting a makeover.

These were each a dollar.

This sale had a table where everything was .50 cents of 5 for $1.00, I found 5 things.

This stuff was actually from a barn sale we went to after the neighborhood sale. The napkins were .25 cents each, I got 12 and the bracelet was $1.00, the earrings .50 cents each and the swizzle sticks were $2.00.
I love the swizzle sticks.

Back to the neighborhood sale.

When I saw these I ran up the driveway hoping there wasn’t a sold sign on them. I was in luck. Of course my husband came up behind me wondering why I wanted such “ugly” chairs. What ugly, these are vintage 1940’s chairs. Well I paid for them and went back for them later.
Then in the evening I found a picture in country living of “my” chairs. He likes them a lot better now. It doesn’t hurt either that they are oh so comfortable.

We are probably going to paint them, even though the ones in Country Living are chippy.
I decided to stop at one more sale when I was going back for the chairs.

All this was $2.00

This was $1.50
Another find right before finding the chairs is this.

This great tole lamp that was made in Italy. I may sell it, even though it matches my living room and it is oh so pretty. The details on it are amazing. It even has the original shade. I have never seen a shade so well made.
I also have a couple of more things that I wasn’t able to get photographed. Mostly the kids stuff.
Well I hope that your long weekend has been fun and have a great day tomorrow. We just got back from the fireworks tonight and we are going to go on a picnic tomorrow.
Linking up to:
Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm

Living Room Reveal

2011-06-29T13:57:00.001-04:00

I just can’t wait any longer. I still have about five projects left to really complete my living room, however I thought since it has taken me since November I would show you my progress to date. Get ready and grab a cup of coffee this is probably the longest post in history with way to many pictures.

This room was assembled over a significant period of time and and on a super tight budget. As I collected stuff, as I could afford it, I put it away until after we were able to get the couch and and assemble the room.

Well this is how the far wall looked before.

Here is the after.

You can see more about my gallery wall in this post here. As I have mentioned about 1000 times before. the couch is from Ikea. Since we live 4 hours from the nearest one, we decided to plan our vacation around getting a couch. So we rented a U-Haul for $100 to get her home.

We have a hitch on our truck already. Also since we were already 4 hours away we splurged and drove an extra 10 miles to NJ, where the tax rate is 3.5 % versus the 8.5% in NY. The Couch was $399. plus $14 for tax. The tax in NY would be $34. so we saved $20. Even with the U-Haul I don’t think that I could have done better locally on a couch and we looove it! Not to mention we had such a great time we can’t wait to do it again next year(minus a new couch).

Three of the pillows are new and from pier one. The two solid blue were on sale and the bird pillow was on clearance. The cream color pillows are from a garage sale and were $3 for the pair. The dark brown ones(there are two) are from the thrift store, thy were .99 cents each. I made the other two and you can read about them here and here. The blue table in the corner was one I had. I simply took a can of Krylon blue ocean breeze to it. The lamp that is sitting on it came from a consignment shop, it was $25……way more than what I usually send when buying second hand. I even left it in the store and went back the next day with my daughter to ask her opinion. She said you will never find anything else like it, you love it and it’s cool. SOLD!!!

On the coffee table I have a large vase from the thrift store. I filled it with thrifted shells and the flowers are from the dollar store and Wal-Mart. The vase was $2.99 and the flowerers were $4.00 for all of them. The tray was $1.00 from a rummage sale and the mirror was .99 cents from the thrift store. I had everything else.

I remade the lampshade with one I got at a rummage sale for $1.00. That is the third lampshade the lamp has had. I even tried to buy a brand new shade and hated them all, including the one that is currently in my trunk waiting to be returned.

One of the projects that I have left is a trefoil design that I saw at the DIY Newlyweds.

This is what the coffee table looked like when we got it.

This is the left side of the room. The shelf was bought a few years ago at an auction. It was on the other side of the room and I my husband moved it. I had everything on it except the milk glass cake stand and the clock that is sitting on it. The clock came from an estate sale for $5.00 and the stand was $1.99 from the thrift store.

Our entertainment center armoire…….a craigslist find from a couple of years ago for $100.

This cabinet holds some of our toys. I picked it up at the antique shop for $75.00.

This is directly across the room from where we were. The window and shutters separate our entry from our living room. The cabinet also from the fabulous Craig was $20. The chair on the right is a wing chair from the thrift store for $15.00, it is a Broyhill the blue on is a swivel rocker it came with it’s mate and matching ottoman for $50.00 also via craigslist.

Inside the cabinet.

We would have a lot more room without the children’s table and chairs, but there is no other place for them and they use it everyday. This room is very multifunctional. There are 8 of us in 1100 square feet of space! That is total for the whole house.

The floor lamp is from Marshalls and was $39.99 on clearance.

The small brown rug was on clearance for $24.00

I really do live how it has turned out. It is so peaceful to just go in there in the evening and hang out, surrounded by stuff that makes me smile. I am also really happy that it came together for such a small price.

On a side note because I love to shop.way to much and I need to clear out some stuff. So I can buy more. I have decided to open an Etsy shop, to pass along some of my treasures. So stay tuned to see what I have in store and if you see something in my home that you may like just ask it may be for sale. Here is the link to my new Etsy shop.

Well I hope that you like my living room as much as we do!

Linking up to:

The Thrifty Home -Penny Pinching Party

Somewhat Simple-Strut Your Stuff Thursday

Tales from Bloggeritaville- Thrifty Thursday

My Thrifty Gallery Wall

2011-06-15T23:49:00.003-04:00

Well as I have said ~~over and over again without showing you~~ before, I have re-done our living room on the CHEAP! One area I am very happy with is my gallery wall. This is a room that has many functions and requires a lot of furniture so there is not a lot of wall space left for my pretties. So after seeing all the beautiful displays at The Inspired Room gallery wall party and at Nester's, I decided to take the plunge.

Everything up here has meaning to me. It was also all bought very inexpensively, I made it or it was something that I had that I re-did.
The large mirror was from an auction at a mansion that was built by Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary of war. It was originally gold. I paid $7.50 for it. It was especially nice because my husband and I went to the auction for our anniversary……without the kids!

This was a frame that I picked up at a yard sale for .50 cents that I painted. It had no back so I cut a piece of cardboard to fit it and cut a piece of a worn vintage tablecloth for the inside. The mirrored bird came in a set of three with three words as well for $7.50 they were on clearance at Marshalls.

The vintage postcard is of Thousands Islands. My husband and I had our honeymoon there. I made the rope ball. The shelf used to be gold, it came from the thrift store. I got a pair of them for .99 cents.

This is a quote from my favorite author, Jane Austin. The frame is from the thrift store. It was 2.99.

The clock was the one we had. I took a vintage history book I bought at an estate sale for $1.00 and decoupaged a few of the pages to it. The ironstone platter was $2.00 at a yard sale and I cut out the vinyl with my Cricut.

The vintage letter “B” came in a set of 3 (another larger B and a R) for $5.00. It came from the flea market in Brooklyn that Nate Berkus mentions here. I made the small mirror with a thrift store mirror, some paint and a stencil. All the framed pictures of my children I have bought at yard sales for under a dollar each and then painted.

More vintage postcards. These are of New York City. Our favorite vacation destination. The quilt was $15.00 at a estate sale. They are hanging from an old crib rail. You can read more about what I did with the rest of the crib here and here.

This is the page of a map of Europe that I got in an atlas for $1.00.
Well I hope you like my gallery wall as much as I do.
Linking up to:
Thrfty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville

http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/2011/06/my-office-and-guest-house-sneak-peek.html

Beyond the Picket Fence under $100 party

Some Of My Best Yard Sale Finds Ever!

2011-06-15T12:15:00.001-04:00

When Nester announced that she was going to have a linky party for the best yard sales ever, I thought all right I am going to get right on that and be all ready to link up. After all I have a week to write my post. Well here we are the day of the party and the link has been up for over 3 hours and I am just starting my post now!

Oh well, I love to yard sale so let’s get on with the show and no more complaining!

First of all I would like to share some information about how I got started going to yard sales. My first experience going to yard sales was in my early 20’s. I was dating a guy whose mom was an immigrant to this country from Poland. She was the nicest and generous lady, but she came here with NOTHING as many immigrants do. Her and her husband spoke no English when they came here. However with hard work and by being thrifty they made a life for themselves and their two children. They owned not one but two houses, had two cars and were able to go on vacation.

Since I saw this as all good I was open to the idea of going to yard sales, even though it was contrary to the way I was raised. I am still trying to convert my mom and dad!

Fast forward a couple of years. New boyfriend who would become the husband, and like me he was raised that other peoples used stuff was inferior. In fact his two favorite comments were: “IF it were any good they would keep it” and “I am not going to wear other peoples used stuff”. Well when we were expecting our first child money was tight. Due to health reasons I had to stop working early. I needed stuff for the baby and I like expensive things. So knowing I could get nicer things that were gently used I started yard sailing again. He was very against this, but I was not easily deterred. I would come home and make him look at all my treasures and show him how nice they were. He could not argue with the “new” looking baby clothes and stuff. I would sometimes find something for myself or the house(this was before my DIY days). He would say that’s fine but don’t buy anything for me. Well one day I was at a huge neighborhood sale and I found a pair of men's shoes in his size barely used in the box for $3.00. I brought them home and presented them to him and he put them aside for about a month. Then he needed a pair of shoes and brought them out. They ended up being his favorite shoes. He wore them into the ground and I had won him over in the process!!!!!! Now he is my greatest yard sale buddy and has actually taken time off from work to go to a big sale that we know will not disappoint.

Which brings me to some of my favorite finds. Bet you didn’t think I was ever going to get there!

I bought this vintage 1920’s set of suitcases last year for $5.00 for the set. They are worth over $250 dollars.

I love red transferware and I found this huge set last year for $20.00 It is worth get this, over $1000!!!!!

The corner cabinet that they are displayed in is also a favorite of mine. It was $25.00. My husband found it 4 years ago.

I just love this little guy. He now holds office supplies. He was just a quarter. You can read more about him here.

This typewritter was $2.00 and you can read more about how I got it here.

OHHH and I love vintage jewelry! This was $2.00 including the box.

My chandelier was $5.00 and the shades were .99 cents each ( the shades were from the thrift store though).

The buffet was $30.00.

Our coffee table was $25.00. More on that in a future post to come soon.

This étagère was $30.00. It is made of cast iron, it is a vintage piece that the previous owners redid.

These hutches were also $30.00 for both and have a little desk in between that connects them and a chair.

Well this is just a sampling of my favorite finds. My favorite I don’t have a picture of and it is long gone. It is those shoes and all that they represent for me. Well I can’t wait to see what you all have found!

My Favorite Find of the Week…How could I Forget You !

2011-06-08T23:29:00.001-04:00

Sunday night when I posted my thrifty finds from the past weekend I left some out. Not because I didn’t want to share, but because I had put them away and did not what to go get them for pictures…….once it is away I am so done ~~I am lazy~~ oh so organized like that. However I though about it and really could not let the week pass with out sharing my favorite find of the week.

On Friday my oldest(19 year old) and I headed to a couple of sales with the babies before she had to go to work. There was an estate sale I had to go to about 15 miles away out in the boon docks. I wanted to go just to get one thing… a box of vintage postcards. They had pictures of them online and they looked YUMMY! Well after the longest drive in history I my kids have no patience, we finally arrive. I had to get the other kids to school and the sale started at 8am, as a result it had already been going strong for over 2 hours. However when we pull up there are tons of people still there. OH NO! I was hoping it was so far out nobody would want to drive out there. Rotten luck! Everything was outside under several tents and in some outbuildings. I searched and searched….then finally right as I was giving up there they were in the last tent….all the way in the back of the tent. Man these people making me work for my treasures. Well then I see the price. $30.00. Thirty dollars. Well I really want them. But $30. So I count them. Each one. I stop at 100 postcards. They are from the turn of the last century through the 1920’s there may be some from a little later that aren’t postmarked, maybe.

Well I still don’t want to pay$30. As if. So I ask the dealer running the sale if he can do better. “The first day.” UM YEA. “The best I can do is $25.” SOLD!

So you may be wondering where is the fabulous find. Well wait no longer here they are.

I would love more info. on this political cartoon.

When I saw these picture postcards of Paris made in France I had to have them!

Well I hope you like my find as much as I do. I can’t wait to go out again this weekend and see what new treasures I will find. Are you looking forward to it too?

Linking up to:

Thrifty Treasures from Tales at Bloggeritaville

Vintage Thingy Thursday at Colorado Lady

Living Room Before.

2011-06-06T23:49:00.001-04:00

As I said yesterday, we just got our first very first new couch ever!!!!!!!! This of course spurred on a complete living room makeover. However I never really ever posted before pictures. So here are just a few.

Here is the beast that started it all. We were able to give the couch away on freecyle. It went to a man who didn't care how it looked.

As you look into the room this is the far left side. Everything in this photo stayed in the room except the window, it no longer fits(size wise). I still have it though and plan to use it some place in the house. Some of the other stuff got a makeover of it’s own. Everything has been moved.

Here is another shot of the trunk we use for an end table. The little ottoman my grandfather made for my grandmother to keep her sewing supplies in. My daughter now keeps her special toys in it. It got a new fabric cover. My vintage tool box with the books stayed. Everyone, read my husband, thought that I was crazy when I brought it home. That was until I filled it with the books. Now who is crazy……..? Crazy like a fox…….humph! It was $3.00 at a yard sale.

This is further down on the left side. The piece on the right is our TV armoire and the one on the left holds the kids toys.

This is the right side of the room.

The shutters act as a room divider………they definitely stayed!

The shutters were an amazing deal at a local antique shop. Main Street Antiques in Homer, NY. It is an awesome shop. The day I bought the shutters I went looking for shutters. As I pulled in there was a pile of them outside the shop with a sign that read $5.00 each. WHAT THE @#%#! SHUT UP. Well I could not run up the two flights of stairs fast enough. I’ll take four please.

My husband was then given the job of cleaning and rigging it so they would be hooked together. He used hinges to secure three of them and we are using the fourth in another spot.

Here is the far right corner.

Here is the overall look of the room. We did a lot of decluttering, and rearranged all the furniture. The large green Volkswagen is gone as well as the couch. We also got new new curtains. I still have about 5 more projects to complete before the room is done done, but they are minor cosmetic things and should not take me ~~my husband~~ long to complete them.

Here is a sneak peak as to how the room looks today.

Linking up to:

I’m back and a great week of yard sales.

2011-06-05T23:11:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe it has been so long since my last post. I had a lot on my plate in March and April and didn’t feel like I could take the time out to blog. Then when things got easier in May, I wasn’t sure where to start.

We had our first vacation in 13 years the end of April and beginning of May. It was great we went to New York City……and yes we took all the kiddos. We all loved it! Our 4 year old summed it up well when as she was skipping down 5th Avenue she said “this is my kinda town!”

On our way back home we stopped at Ikea in Elizabeth,NJ and bought our new couch. That is the closest Ikea to us and it is 4 hours away. So I had never been before. Since going all I can think about is how I am going to get back. I seriously love that store! Pink Puffy Heart love!

We also got a new camera right before we went. It is a Cannon rebel, and I just love it. I can’t wait to spend some time reading the manual and actually find out what it can do. Maybe by next year I will have it done.

Four days after we got back from vacation my second son made his First Communion. I know what was I thinking. Luckily we didn’t have the party at our house.

It was an absolutely glorious day with friends and family.

Well after our busy beginning things slowed down some. Now we are into June and are looking forward to sixth grade graduation, kindergarten graduation and the end of school.

In the meantime I have managed to squeeze in some yard sales. This weekend was particularly nice because my husband was able to come with me and we took the kids and made an outing out of it. Everyone found treasures and finished very happy. It was also good because there were a ton of sales this weekend including a big neighborhood sale.

Here are some of my finds.

This vintage case was a quarter. The top has some damage, I am going to try a magic eraser. If that doesn’t work I my decoupage over it.

I got these shoes for .50 cents a pair.

This was also .50 cents. It is headed for a makeover.

Nine West purse for $1.00

These are matching milk glass candle holders. Bought on the same day at two different sales. One was .50 cents the other .25 cents. LOVE!

This great vintage mirror was $1.00……I could not believe it. Here is a picture of the back.

All these vintage buttons were $2.00

This box chucked full of goodies was $5.00

Here is what is inside.

Some of it will be getting a makeover and some will be staying as is. There is a bunch of vintage stuff including three hats.

All the stuff from this sale was $3.25 and includes the two vintage silhouettes which are cross stich.

Lastly I picked up this box of vintage photos from and estate sale for $30. Not as thrifty as I like, but there are close to 50 pictures in there. Most from turn of the last century, several are dated!

Well thanks for stopping by, and as I mentioned we got a new couch. The first one we ever bought brand new. That spurred on a living room makeover. So stay tunned for that to come……….I promise!

Linking up to:

Southern Hospitality

And the winner is………………..

2011-02-23T16:21:00.001-05:00

Christie of Three Pixie Lane.

If you haven’t been to Christie’s blog you will definitely want to visit. She has such great ideas and takes absolutely amazing pictures.

Here is an example:

This is such a great laundry room. It makes me want to go re-do mine and get some laundry done right now…..well maybe. You can find the link here.

Don’t you just love this????????

And she was the “brains” behind this post.

Christie is also the mom to these three beautiful ~~kids~~ pixies.

Also a big thank you to everyone who left a comment and blogged about my giveaway, as well as everyone who looked backed through my archives and became followers. I wish I could give each and everyone of you a prize. You are all such great gifts to me.

And a big big thank you to Debbie of Simply Debbie who gave me the award.

There are some “rules” with this award and I will blog about that later, but for now I wanted to give you a preview of Debbie’s blog and say thank you for thinking of me.

Debbie has a particularly wonderful blog.

WELCOME TO SIMPLY DEBBIE. IT IS MY DESIRE THAT
YOU WILL FEEL AND SEE THE HAND OF GOD THROUGH
ARTWORK, CRAFT PROJECTS, RECIPES, AND THE SHEER
LAUGHTER OF ME LEARNING TO SEW ON MY NEW
SEWING MACHINE. THIS IS A PRAYING BLOG AND
A BLOG THAT LOVES TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS.
WON'T YOU JOIN ME AS WE GREET 2011 AND ITS'
BLESSINGS, CHALLENGES, AND SMELLING THE ROSES
EVERY DAY. I'LL BE YOUR UMBRELLA WHEN STORM
CLOUDS COME YOUR WAY AND ASSURE YOU THERE
WILL BE A RAINBOW COME AGAIN.

This is Debbie’s header and I think these words speak volumes for themselves. A visit to Debbie’s blog always brings me such happiness.

Thanks so much for being there.

Michelle

Banner Oats!

2011-02-10T06:01:00.001-05:00

Don’t forget to visit this post and leave a comment THERE for your chance to win this.

I don’t think that I have mentioned before one of my addictions. I just looooove old shipping crates. I have seven in just my living room. I use them for everything.

To hold my husbands record albums.

For toys.

For holding collections. You name it. When the price is right I never never pass one up.

So when I went to one of the first yard sales of the season last year and spotted this baby.

Which you can read about here. I had to have it and I knew just what I wanted to do with it.

It is one of the end tables in our living room. It is a great piece. I have the kids baby books and yearbooks stored inside. On the top I added some more formal refined things to offset the rustic, rugged box.

Here is another shot of the great logo. Please ignore the beat up couch, it is leaving in 37 days. Hey but whose counting? You can read about it’s replacement here.

Back to the ~~box~~ end table.

I love that little milk glass plate. It was .99 cents at the thrift store. The black and white balls are from Pier 1. I bought them when I went shopping with my mom before Christmas. They were only $1.00 each. The silver tray is actually an award from 1928 it was also .99 cents from the thrift store. The baby pictures are priceless, but the frames are thrifted!

That is the same baby in both pictures. He is now 6. His big bother who is 8 is in the football pic.

I really like the detail of the leather straps used as hinges on the box.

That little white dot is a tack!

I finally figured out how to take a decent close up. It’s NOT blurry yea!

Her is a final shot of that section of the room. Lots more changes to this room to come. Thanks for visiting!

I’m linking up to:

Copy Me Challenge at Funky Junk Interiors

Beyond The Picket Fence under $100 linky party

Vintage Thingy Thursday at Colorodo Lady

Thrifty Thursday at Bloggeritaville

Crib Spring Memo Board

2011-02-05T08:41:00.001-05:00

I was so excited when I went to visit one of my favorite blogs last night Funky Junk Interiors. Donna is having an awesome contest. Copy Me Challenge. With the fabulous Marion of Miss Mustard Seed picking the final winner! Oh man two of the best style gurus out there. Oh and I was so happy to see them Both on the same page(10) of the January issue of Romantic Homes.

Well I am always trying to “copy” Donna she has the most amazing style. Anyhoo back in June, we had this spring from an old crib that was literally headed to the dump. You can read about it’s transformation here.

However it was just not quite right. Then a few weeks later I found this little gem at an estate sale for……..25 cents!!!!!

It was the second day of the sale and my second day going to it. I couldn’t believe that I missed it the first time around and that everyone else had too!!!!

I also added some scrabble tiles to the front of the holder. You will notice my eraser missing from the middle cup. I believe a blonde sprite may have walked off with it! Oh well I am sure it will turn up soon. See the chalk holder…..it is a vintage Grand Union MUSTARD tin. Wink Wink .

I keep some supplies in the first aid kit. The vintage band-aid tin holds band-aids. New ones .

Well here is how she looks now.

This is one of my favorite pieces we have. It is Funky Junky and Functional! So Please oh please pick me pick me!!!

Oh and be sure to check out my giveaway here. For a chance to win this.

Cute and Easy

2011-02-04T22:41:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite magazines is Country Living. I get a lot of inspiration from it and I find that they have some neat crafts that are pretty easy.

This is one of those crafts.

I just love how these flowers looked.

My only problem with this is that they wanted you to buy a special tool to make the pom poms.

No problem, I knew I had seen a tutorial on one of my favorite blogs. The pleasure of homemaking today. Manuela actually made a wreath with here pom poms for Christmas back in 2009 and you can find her tutorial here.

Well this was very easy. I could whip up one of these babies during a commercial break of Glee. After making a few I just hot glued them to some sticks I ~~ripped~~ got off our tree in the front yard.

And here is the little trio I did for the top of the TV armoire.

I have already moved this around……a little. The duck is gone.

Oh and be sure to check out my post here fore a chance to win this.

Thanks for stopping by. I am linking up to:

Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie

Being Intentional. Make do and a CAUTE Pillow!

2011-02-02T20:19:00.001-05:00

Don’t forget to check out my giveaway HERE!!!!

Today I thought I would talk a little about a goal that I listed for 2011. Well actually several of my goals for this year seam to overlap. The one goal that I was originally thinking of for this post was what I listed as “be more intentional”. For me here in this context it means to think and plan before doing or BUYING. Goal number two is to declutter and goal number 6 is to put $50. dollars a week into savings and goal number 8 is to pay down debit.

By remembering to be more intentional I can begin to work towards these goals.

You may also remember that goal number 4 is to ~~start~~ finish my living room redo.

So the first thing that I have begun to do is to take inventory of what we have and what we would like to replace. As I have begun to do this I am trying to be more intentional as to what with some changes could work in the new space.

So today I began to go through my stash of fabric. I have wanted new pillows for the couch and have planned to recover some others. In fact the only reason that I have not come home with any new ones yet is that I am waiting till we are able to get the new couch. Well while going through the fabric I came across some things that I thought would be a good start.

This is a dollar store dish towel that I got at the thrift store a while back for .50 cents. It was brand new. I just loved the little pom pom trim and the red color. Red is one of my accent colors for the living room.

Of course I did not want a pillow or a towel or anything else that said “naughty”.

I also found this small scrap of a sweater that was left over from several other projects. It was originally given to me and never fit right.

I also had this tank top that either came from a yard sale for .25-.50 cents or was given to us. I love the print but it is not the right size for me and is not the right cut for my girls.

The teal/turquoise/blue color is my other accent color in the living room.

So I used a paper cup and traced a circle onto the sweater. The top of the cup made big circles/flowers and the bottom made small. I found a great tutorial that used felt here. At a new blog that I just found yesterday called Life in the Thrifty Lane.

For the print fabric flowers I used the tutorial here. After adding the flowers and playing around with their placement I added some white rick rack “stems”. This was from my stash but I originally got it from our church rummage sale last year.

I felt that the brown flowers were still a little bland so I got into my stash of vintage buttons.

This is still before I glued it all down.

I started on the left and with the rick rack. After getting the first two pieces of rick rack glued down I added the flowers that went with them.

Here it is all glued down. I then added red pom pom fringe to the sides, but forgot to take a picture .

Well here she is from naughty to NICE.

I really love it and I stuck to my goals YEA!

I’m linking up to:

Beyond the Picket Fence under $100 linky party

Tales from Bloggeritaville Thrifty Thursdays

Somewhat Simple Strut your stuff Thursday