I Heart Garage Sales!

I was unsure. I want a chandalier for the area above my kitchen table. I like this one, but think it may be too big. If you look closely you will see it still has the tag on it. The people bought a new home and changed this light out that was in the home. They had $20 and marked it down to $10. I went to pay for other items and the man said I could take it for $5. So, I brought it home to try. If it doesn't work I will sell it for a profit. I could even Craigslist it.
Same chandalier. I didn't get THAT lucky to get two for $5. I am just showing the shade and then the in the sun version. The finish looks totally different.

Funky green color clip light- $2

DVDs - $2 each

books -$1 each

yellow basket that I told my husband I wanted one of when we went camping to put my flatware in to carry to the outside table-$.50

Pampered Chef stone with carrying handles -$2

The most awesome turquoise fish napkin rings with price tags still on them for $4.95 each- $3 for set

This picture doesn't show it. Seven mens shirts. All Dockers, Clairborne, Geoffrey Beene and in perfect condition and were even pressed from the cleaners before I got them wrinkled in the car- You are not going to believe it- really, you aren't- ready? $3.50 for all seven.

2 pair girls Levi jeans -$1 each

Aeropostole pink and white seersucker shorts- $1

Pink top with green and white insert at neck -$1

I bought these two dresses for $1 each and will consign them at Kids Mart next year- unless I run out of fabric and cut them up for my crafting or something.

Still in the bag women's XL flannel pajamas. Don't know if these are for wearing or cutting up for the material-$1

These are German. The woman was a very friendly German lady. There are strings on the back and when you pull them the arms and dogs tail and head move. I asked how much and she questioningly answered $1. She said they were from her childhood, so over 40 years old. They are wooden if it doesn't show. I love them. They would be so cute on a wall. Anyone want to buy them for $40? They are probably worth a fortune, I will have to see. It was cute, a lady asked her a price and then was going on without it and she said, "Oh, you are afraid to pay $1 for that item? I will sell it for $.50." Afraid to pay $1- the garage sale police are coming- Whooee! Whooee!

Rhoda at Southern Hospitality is having a link up to all your garage sale finds, so check out her site to see other great deals or join in the fun!

Look at these shoes!

How

How crazy is it that I am now considering trying to make a pair of these? These are around $110.00. Are they not adorable? You can find them here.

Look at this Lilly stash!

If I were rich this is where some of my money would go. I just love Lilly Pulitzer. I am a preppy girl at heart and love the colors and the retro style of her clothing. If you are not familiar with Lilly you can read her story here. It is really interesting and a fun bit of information to know. Now, her clothes are rediculously expensive. Dresses shown are in the $200 range. A pair of pants are near $100. We lived in Destin, FL area for 13 years and this is what everyone coming to vacation wore while visiting the resorts. Well, today on a blog I read Miss Janice went to the home of a friend and photographed her closet. You HAVE to go see how much Lilly this lady has. Her WHOLE closet is filled with Lilly. Lilly dresses, Lilly tops, Lilly skirts, Lilly shoes, Lilly scarves. It is just beyond my mind. Enjoy all the eye candy. I think I can use some Amy Butler and Ginger Blossom fabric and copy some of these when I lose weight. And, did you all have the Burmuda purse in the 80's? I did, and I loved it. I had the belts and the watch bands. Total preppy girl.

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Spending money to save money

Do you calculate the cost long term of items or look at the monthly charge? I made a blurb on my face book page about joining a gym and got many suggestions of alternate gyms in our area. My comment was that I had to wait to get paid again to have the money for the down payment. Well, it is a huge amount upfront and I can go to another gym and only have to pay $35 or $50 a month and not have to put out a chunk of change upfront. The only thing is that when you figure the monthly cost after paying upfront for two years I will be paying $20 a month. I save $340 to $700 over the monthly fees offered by the other gyms.

This is not the only area I am willing to pay more to save long term. I pay bills yearly to save additional charges when you pay monthly. I buy bulk items when it is a better price per unit. When purchasing cars and campers I don't look at a monthly payment, I look at the cost. I pay more for wrinkle resistant shirts for my husband over the other shirts that wear quicker and require a lot more ironing. I purchased a canner so I can save by canning my vegetables that I grow or that I find a great deal on.

It comes in to bite me when we go out to eat. I compare the cost of paying $5 for a chicken breast that would cost me less than $1 to buy at the store. Hard to enjoy it when that is going through your mind.

What are some areas that you spend more on upfront? Are there things you purchase monthly that you know if you had a chunk of money to pay annually that it would save you?

My pillow top

I pieced this together quickly. I am making a large pillow for the bed in our camper. I won this fabric in a blog giveaway. I love the colors and to mix them all together. I am using a white chenelle bedspread and then bright pillows for a punch of color. We put a piece of mock beadboard on the back wall and are going to paint over all the wallpaper. That will help with a cottage look.

This is just a short wall in my sewing nook. My daughter didn't want the desk and I need to paint it if it is going to stay here. Right now I have just added things we had to the shelves. The Effanby dolls are my daughter's that she didn't want in her room. I don't know if I will keep them or sell them.
The Holly Hobbie and Raggedy Ann dolls were mine when I was little. The hand print was done when I was 5.

Lamps Party

Nester is having a lamp party and I thought I would join in. These two lamps in our entry were $3 each at a garage sale.
This first one is the chandalier we bought to replace a very plain one that was here before.

This is a lamp in my daughter's room- notice the letters or notes or whatever on the wall. I didn't clean and stage for you.

This lamp was bought at a garage sale for $3! It is perfect for adding light on that side of the sectional.

I found this lamp at a thrift store. It is the most uniquely fabulous shade of brown. I think I paid $4 for it.

My son has two of these on his nightstand. They are leather bases and I thought fit well for a teen boy.

These are in our family room. I showed here how I repurposed them.

I got this lamp at a garage sale and am using it on the computer desk in my sewing nook. It was marked $5 but I paid $3.

I bought these for our first house in 1989. We had a victorian style bedroom. I do not decorate in that style anymore but have found a way to blend these in to my new style. I just can't seem to part with them.

This is just funny. Until I was taking photos I did not know about this one. It is the base that "had" a cute hot pink trim on the shade. The beaded "shade" hangs from the ceiling. Well, Miss "I am almost 13 and can't have anything little girl looking" made her own design. The icing on the cake is the compact bulb sticking out of the top.

This is in my other daughter's room on her nightstand.

This is in daughter's room. I guess you all can tell that I don't say too much about their rooms. I let them do things that may seem strange or different.

After all this I realize that my lamps are booooring. Sorry. Thanks for coming by.

Fabric stash

A friend of mine was selling fabric because she is moving and closing her purse making business. She put the fabric, by piece, on her facebook page to sell it. This is all fabric that is high quality cotton that I paid $1 a yard and $.50 per half yard. Then I bought the ribbon for $1 and $.50 per roll. This is not all the ribbon, I bought about 30 more rolls, but removed them because the photot looked jumbled.

So what am I planning to do with all this fabric, plus my large drawer full that is in my sewing desk? I want to make some crayon rolls. I want to make some pillowcase dresses or shirt and short sets for my nieces. I want to make some Amy Butler purses and totes. I want to try my hand at a quilt. I can't wait to find some spare moments to hide away in my room!

Camping at Monte Sano

These are all wonky, but I do not feel like adjusting photos around. We went about 15 minutes from our house up to Monte Sano for the weekend. We are really die hard campers and even came home one time. You know, we needed things. We also went to Walmart, the Huntsville library, and a special place I will show you later. I am adjusting, People! I grew up vacationing in resorts and spent a lot of time at Hilton Head and other luxury places. We didn't camp so I totally understand my teens requests to go to the mall. My 16 year old made some comment about not being seen with us, but .... whatever!

My husband insisted we buy this because our kids could not camp without trying camp food. He is a Marine so he is used to prepackaged, yucky food that "you are grateful for" when living in the Saudi desert for weeks on end. I didn't try it. It is deviled ham. What is deviled? Looks like dog food but some of my kids tried it and won a lot of points with Marine husband. I am still considered a sissy wife.

Why waste your tonge on yuck when this is at the bottom of the mountain? Yes, we went to Krispy Kreme. I am so sorry for you people who don't have a KK near by or especially for those who thing other doughnuts are good. One you go Krispy you never go back. When all the people who visit Destin have to go to the Donut Hole, you know the truth- Krispy Kreme is on the other end and is so much better. We got them hot and they melted in our mouths. So good!

This is how we usually see our son. We didn't have reception so he must be playing games.

King of the Fire. We had people coming to ask us how to get a fire going.