Thrify Thursday

I have been wanting to hit the thrift stores lately in the worst way, I just haven't been able to find the time until this morning.  My intent was to get a good start on Halloween (I think my kids have finally decided what they want to be) but I didn't have any luck with that.  I think I may have to drag out the old sewing machine and actually "make make" the costumes this year as opposed to just putting them together.

 

Oh Valueland!  How I love thee!  I found a cute pink fleecy sweatshirt for me.  Since I have to be seen in public at the bus stop every morning I find myself needing some new casual threads.  I got Hailey a pink and sparkly silver striped top for fifty cents.  I was super excited about this fleecy jacket/sweatshirt I found.  I initially thought it would be for Evan, but it would probably fit Spencer as well.  I will have to see which one is in need of a fall jacket.  It was even half off so $1.50 for something my boys will fight over.

At Goodwill number two I found two polo shirts for Spencer.  One an actual Polo brand - $2.00 each.  I found Hailey a cute little ruffled Old Navy shirt that I think will match perfectly with a super cute skirt my sister bought her that I love, but have a hard time matching tops to.

 I really scored at Goodwill number one.  I spent twenty five dollars which is probably a thrift store record for me.    I found Spencer this gray and black lightweight sweater.  The boy lacks in dressy clothes.  I found this dress for Hailey at the last minute which was kind of a impromptu buy.  It is actually brown and turquoise though it looks black in the photo.  It is a size six so it should fit her next summer.  I guess for three dollars you can't really go wrong with a cute summer dress.  Whether she really needs it or not.

At the same Goodwill I found this shirt with an eight on it for Evan that I thought he would get a kick out of since it is his age.   I also nabbed up this cat frame which is going in the pile of Christmas gifts.  Once I slap a photo of Dickens in there - a nice $1.50 gift for my cat loving boy.

One of my giant scores of the day was this red wool GAP coat that I found for Hailey.  It was three dollars at Goodwill number one.  It was a size too big for her, but I could not pass it up.  A name brand wool coat for three dollars! It is a classic that will never go out of style!

 

 Look how cute the back is with the little buttons!  I was so excited!

 

Another great find was at the Rescue Mission store where I grabbed this frame for three dollars.  I like the "when I am an old woman I will wear purple" quote, but in cleaning my office I found many pieces of my kids artwork that I want to hang.  I was going to make a list and wait for a great Hobby Lobby sale but now I can cross one of those frames off.  Even on sale I would have paid three times what I did for a frame like that.

And last but not least, our new beach chair.  This was ten dollars at the Goodwill, but I knew it was worth it because I bought my mom the exact same chair for her birthday last month and paid almost three times  the cost of this one!  It will have to sit on the shelf for a few months, but will get plenty of use next summer!

No Halloween costumes, but a great day of bargain hunting!

The last Tuesday of the month

Hailey and I were sitting home this afternoon trying to think of something to do. Since our summer weather has turned into more seasonal temperatures, our daily beach treks are out for a while. I remembered that Valueland always has a sale where the whole store is fifty percent off on the last Tuesday of the month. Luckily, it just happened to be that Tuesday. Off to hunt for bargains we went.

The first thing I grabbed were these embroidery hoops. I am not sure what I am going to do with them yet, but I bought a small one about a month ago to make a cute little embroidered heart Valentine's Day decoration. I see them on blogs and Pinterest all the time with cute crafty ideas. Even buying some coordinating fabrics and stretching them on the frames and making a wall scape is always an option. I think I paid about two dollars for all of them.

I found this fleece jacket for Spencer. His coat situation is far worse than his pants situation has ever been if you can believe that. I don't know what the boy does to his coats but I am embarrassed to even have him wear them. It is even reversible - two dollars and fifty cents.

I got this dress for Hailey for ninety nine cents. It has a couple of pen marks on it, but they are in the fold of the dress so not too noticeable. I don't even know where she will wear this, but she loved it and for ninety nine cents, it was a no brainer.

A suit vest for Evan. Seventy five cents and he is the happiest little guy on Earth. He already wants to wear it to school.

A pair of gray jeans for Spencer and pink pants for Hailey. I think these were like a dollar a piece.

A nice heavy sweatshirt hoodie for Hailey for 1.50 - big enough to fit her for a couple years. I thought this would be great for spring baseball games and soccer practices.

And finally, two cute little dresses for Hailey's doll. She was so excited to put these little numbers on Baby Lila. They were fifty cents each.

In total I spent fourteen dollars and some change. I also got two shirts for me, but forgot to take a photo of them. I would say our bargains were worth the trip.

Thrifty Thursday

I am thinking that Thursday might become my day to head to all my favorite thrift shops. Of course on Thursdays I have Hailey with me and that leads to some unfortunate impulse buys.

Our first stop this morning was Meijer. I had to pay my credit card bill and pick up a few things. I caved and spent the dollar to let Hailey ride in the "movie" cart so I puttered around a bit to give her some extra fancy cart riding time. I found her a dress for next summer for four dollars. I got a pair of shorts for Evan for three dollars. Pajamas for both her and Evan (three piece sets) for six dollars. I still haven't decided whether or not I am going to save these for Christmas. I always get my kids pajamas for Christmas. They certainly could use them now though. How do pajamas get so ratty so fast?

Our next stop was the Goodwill closest to our house. I found two pairs of jeans for one of the boys - whichever they will fit best. Three dollars a pair. Also a cute little dress for Hailey. I think that was three dollars as well. Oh and an impulse buy - that little flower bucket she had to have. At least it matches with her room decor.

Next stop was back to Valueland where we had scored the awesome deals last week. We didn't do quite as well as last week, but not bad at all.

A suade leather coat for Spencer for Halloween. Honestly it is nice enough for him to wear out on dressy occasions. It cost me a dollar fifty. Hailey wanted the Tinkerbell dress to wear to her daddy's play this fall. How could I resist for two dollars. Plus another quarter for the wings.

One of the main reasons I went was to find a Bundt pan. I found this Nordic Ware one and got it half off. A dollar fifty. I was so happy!

I am starting to think I have some sort of obsession with buying little girl shoes. Each pair was two dollars, how could I resist?

Finally, three sweaters for myself. I am so tired of my clothes lately it is nice to have some new options, especially when they cost about two dollars a piece.

I am loving my thrify Thursdays!

New material

Hailey and I went to the craft store today. I love the craft store. I get so inspired walking through the aisles. There are so many cool things that I want to buy, or try to do - it is like brain overload - inspiring and completely overwhelming at the same time.

Today our mission was some fabric. I love looking at fabric. It is soothing to my soul. I know that in the seamstress department, calling me "so so" is a complement. Also a pretty funny pun. But I like to try, and sometimes I even come up with something I am proud of.

Fat quarters. So cheap and endless possibilities. These babies are going to become headbands and camera straps. If you have any requests Da, let me know!

I have another project that I am going to try with these. I love them. I think they look springy and kind of nautical (which makes me think summer) at the same time.

I love looking at my fabric set up in a nice little pile, but actually starting the sewing is going to be the tough part. For one, my dining room where I usually set everything up is still in a Def con 5 disaster state with no timeline in site for normalcy. Heaven forbid I sew at one of the two craft areas that I set up in my house. That would just be too easy.

We had fun at the craft store and didn't go crazy at all. We wound up spending about twenty bucks on the material, some paints and a ceramic paint project for Hailey. I bought full yards of the terry cloth and the two cotton prints. The tutorial I am looking at only calls for 5/8 of a yard. But since I am bad at math and have no idea how to figure out 5/8 of a yard and I lack enough confidence in my sewing abilities to always feel the need for extra - I purchased a full yard of each. That way I will have plenty left to make another "one" when this turns out awesome. Look at my confidence! At least I think I will have enough. See kids - this is where your math works in the real world.

When we left we headed over to the Goodwill because it has been a few weeks and I have been feeling the bargain hunting urge. Mainly because I have a new favorite show -American Pickers. If you have never seen this show, look it up. It is on the history channel. It is about these two guys who travel all over the country looking for antiques and collectibles that they can resell in peoples junk. You would not believe the amount of stuff some of the people they "pick" have. It is a really cool show and I am not even kidding when I say that if makes me want to drive out into the country and start digging through people's barns and out buildings.

We were pretty successful at Goodwill. Some of our "picks" of the day were:

Three pairs of pants for Spencer. The two pairs of cords are Lands End. The cargos are GAP. Eight dollars for the three pairs.

You might think by looking at what I bought today and bought in the past that Spence must have pants coming out of his ears, but that is not the case. That kid is so rough on his pants. I swear they only last a few months at the most before they have holes in the knees. Trent told me that his biggest source of stress during last years school year was trying to find pants for Spencer in the morning. All of his pants had holes - he looked like a cute little hobo boy. So this year, I have made it a point to remedy the pants situation. Not to mention I pick out the kids clothes the night before school and lay them out for them. Just so much easier all around.

I found this dress for Hailey. I am not sure about it. Maybe out of style? I still thought it was cute. It is from the GAP and was two dollars so I figured for that price I would give it a shot.

Black short sleeve Children's Place sweater. Two dollars. I am putty for a short sleeve sweater on a little girl.

Another dress for Hailey that I wasn't sure about. I like the "shirt dress" style of it. I think it will look cute on her.

My favorite "pick" of the day. Old Navy jean jacket. I love the sweater collar on this thing. I am not sure if it is a boys or girls jacket. It was in the girls section. It really doesn't matter either way because I still think she is going to look so cute in this thing. It was four dollars and is in great shape.

In total we spent eighteen dollars at the Goodwill and got some great brand names at super bargain prices. We looked through the "stuff" there, but didn't buy anything. I had a wooden tray in my hands for a while that I put back. Also some wooden memory type block game that seemed kind of cute but maybe too young for my kids. I was trying to think of something else creative to use them for but came up with nothing. I am sure I will regret not purchasing those two things in a couple days when I see something awesome that I could have done with them.

Deals of the day

After a long weekend and then a snow day with everyone around all the time, I was really feeling the need to get out of the house today. I had a remote control spider that I had to return to Toys R Us, so I packed up Hailey and we headed out to the sprawl.

We arrived at TRU at nine fifty and a glance at the sign on the door told us that they didn't open until ten. Never fear, there is a Goodwill a block down the road - let's go see if we can find any bargains.

Two pairs of pants for Spencer, one from GAP and one from Old Navy. They cost me 1.99 each. I can't stress enough how much I love buying pants on the cheap. My boys go through pants like they are made of tissue paper.

We changed around the furniture in the boys' rooms and Evan's desk is now in a corner with no light whatsoever. I told him we would look for a cute desk lamp for him.

Wish granted. One cute desk lamp. It even has the bendy neck so he can position it any way he desires. It looks brand new. Four dollars.

I spotted this light up globe on the top shelf. I am always drawn to globes - I think it has to do with my mom's collection of them. Either one of my boys would live for this. Since I had a lamp for Evan I decided that for now it will go in Spencer's room. Maybe eventually the office. I was a little bummed when I got home and noticed a crack in it off the coast of Argentina. It is slight - I didn't notice it at the store or I maybe would have thought twice. Or at least asked for half price. I paid four dollars for it, not too bad for something that will probably be cracked worse after spending a few months in a little boys room.

My best bargain was this PlayDoh set. Brand new in the box with a price tag of ten dollars right on it. I got it for four bucks. Evan and Hailey will LOVE this. They spend hours playing with Hailey's cake making station and the other PlayDoh stuff. I put it away to give to them as a Valentines Day gift.

A pretty good waste of ten minutes huh?

Stuff and Nonsense

I went shopping this morning while Hailey was in school. I finished up what I had intended to do and was headed home for an hour of relaxation before I had to pick her up. I thought to myself that as long as I was near, I might as well check out the Goodwill before I went home. Then I thought that I would rather just go home and relax. I went back and forth in my head for a half a minute or so before the urge to search out some bargains won out.

I am so glad it did.

The first thing I spotted was this super cute nativity scene. Two dollars. It needs a little bit of TLC in the form of a good dusting but I just love it. The rod coming out of the top makes it spin - I am guessing with the four candle holders that it was one of those things with the "blades" that spin from the heat - you know the thing Cousin Eddie broke in Christmas Vacation. I wish it had the blades because that would be so cool, but I figure I can just put a knob or a wooden star up there.

I am now on the hunt for vintage looking ball ornaments. I saw this post and am totally inspired. These packs were two dollars each - which I think was a little pricey - I should have waited until after Christmas and could have scored them for fifty cents a piece. But I liked the colors, they were not traditional Christmas colors. Heck, you could even use these for a baby shower.

I got out all the gifts for my kids the other day and noticed that Evan seemed a bit short changed. One of the reasons I was out today was to get him the "giant cupcake maker" that he longs for from Bed, Bath and Beyond. I have been wracking my brain trying to think of something else for him. He is already getting LEGOS. He doesn't need any more Nerf type weapons. We have so many games and he is getting more for Christmas already. I couldn't come up with anything. As I was leaving Goodwill with my nativity, the two packs of ornaments and a ceramic crock for my mom, I spotted this....

I may have done a little happy dance right there in the store. A dinosaur chalkboard for four dollars! It is in good shape - I think a magic eraser will get rid of the few marks on it. I wish it was magnetic and I am tempted to repaint it with magnetic chalkboard paint. I just don't know if I dare do it before Christmas or give it to him and fix it up after the holidays. I just don't know where I could work on it without him seeing it. Either way - I am so happy I found that. Evan is going to LOVE it!

It was such a good day for bargains. Not to mention that I went to Kohl's looking for a Christmas dress for Hailey. I had a thirty percent off coupon that I got in the mail. The girls dresses were marked fifty percent off already - so add in my coupon and we are talking eighty percent. I left with three different dresses because I couldn't pick my favorite. Three dresses - one that came with a coat, two pairs of girls tights - sixty dollars and ten dollars back in Kohl's cash. Nice! She can wear a different dress to each celebration - total holiday diva because her mom can't resist the girl clothes!

There is always time for bargains

I feel like I have so much to post and yet the time to do it is eluding me. So compromise - here is a short one.

After I picked up Hailey at school we drove across town to the meat store. The meat store sells the world's best chicken breasts - I am super particular about meat and these chicken breasts are the only ones that I really like to eat. On the way to the store, we pass by three different thrift stores. After we had purchased a box of poultry deliciousness, we started driving back down the same road and I couldn't resist the tractor beam of the bargains any longer.

I should have had a clue that something was going on when we couldn't find a parking space in the whole lot - even at the back of the store. I contemplated giving up - but the lure was too strong. We waited for someone to leave and we went in.

I bought this muffin tin for one dollar. It is for a project that I am working on in my head. I found this pretty moose magazine/file holder. It will be getting a coat of paint soon and finding a home in my newly organized office. First I have to organize the office though. Priorities.

Hailey and Spencer each got a new pair of pants. Two bucks a piece for Old Navy pants. I wish Hailey's came in my size - aren't they the cutest? Spencer has a hole in the knee of every pair of pants he owns. Is this true with all boys? I swear that kid is hard on his clothes.

Two ninety nine a piece - a hoodie for Spencer with his school logo on it and sweater for Hailey that I wish I could fit into. It is a size 6, but doesn't seem that big. Plus I figure she can wear it as a longer sweater - maybe with her new jeans.

I was pretty stoked about my finds. Oh and all the cars in the lot were on account of the fact that it was senior day. When I found that out I was wishing I had my mom along to score me and even better deal!

After that little stop, I have a few more projects brewing in me and I have some sewing that I am jonesing to do. There are just not enough hours in the day! Now to get back to work on editing - I had two photo shoots over the weekend. I almost have the first one done and now need to start on the second. They were for one of my mom friends and I saw her at school this morning - she is super excited to see them and already talking about how she is spreading my name around to all of her friends. Yea! So I need to get crackin' on them and do a fabulous job.

Fashionista

One of my newest hobbies is thrifting. Goodwill. Garage Sales. Consignment shops. I don't get much of an opportunity to engage in it, but when I do, I love to see what I can come home with for a bargain.

A lot of Hailey's clothes are thrifted. Which is so funny when I think back on how much money I spent on Spencer's clothes from department stores, Old Navy or the GAP. What a waste of money and creativity. I remember getting Christmas cards when Spencer was little and seeing all the cute little smiling boy faces all dressed in the same red snowflake GAP sweater that Spencer was wearing on our card. Don't get me wrong, I do still purchase clothes for my kids that have not been previously owned but they are mostly from Meijer, Walmart or TJ Maxx.

Poor Hailey is forced to model her new duds when we throw an outfit together because I always think she looks so cute.

A two dollar Goodwill find. GAP leopard print sweater. When we got home I realized it was missing a button. The buttons are sort of diamond-y looking. Click on the photo and it will make it big and then really look at the buttons. I found some at the craft store but when I got them home realized they were just a little bigger than the ones on the sweater. Because I have a sickness, I thought a big button in the middle of the sweater would look goofy. So I cut the button off of the top and moved it to the missing spot and sewed the big button as the first button of the sweater. That is my kind of crazy. Sew on two buttons instead of one. Make MORE work for yourself. It is so cute though - and a size 6/7 so it should fit her for at least another year.

Don't miss the "hands on your hip and your finger on your lip" pose. Or the shocking red fingernail polish she picked out. I love this white peasant-y blouse. One dollar at Goodwill.

Black GAP poncho. Two dollars at Goodwill. I am a sucker for a poncho. I don't know what was up with the light in that photo. If you knew how many tries it took me to get a picture where her face wasn't completely washed out you would never believe me. I must have had something set wrong on the camera. Good grief.

Finally, it takes a pretty stylish little girl to rock out her brothers outgrown camo pants. She calls them her hunting pants and claims she can wear them out geocaching with Daddy. I don't dress her like a boy very often. I already have two boys to dress - I like her to be girly. But I think the flowers on the shirt and hat accomplish that. The shoes are another story - sometimes you just have to pick your battles.

On a totally unrelated note: One of my favorite drink mix makers - The Frozen Slushie company is having a giveaway. If you have a blog and mention them on your blog - they will send you one of their yum-o drink mixes for free. They are amazingly delicious and the little dotted bags they come in are the cutest! Go check them out!

Sunday bargain hunting

I wanted to do a lot of garage-saleing this summer. But summer is crazy and summer gets so busy - I managed to get out once while my sister was in town early in July. We hit some good ones and found lots of bargains. It was fun to have someone to go with that enjoyed the hunt like I do.

Sunday is not a very popular garage-saleing day, but my Mom and I read about a big moving sale being held in a pretty affluent neighborhood on a Sunday. We thought that we might as well check it out. The sale was held on Saturday too, but since it POURED here on Saturday, we figured they wouldn't have been very busy so there would be lots of stuff left.

We were wrong.

When we drove by at first we thought we had the wrong house because it looked like they had nothing left. After checking the address and determining that this house was in fact the correct house - we ventured in to see what we could find.

They didn't have too much, but most of what they had was pretty good stuff.


Hailey spotted these boots right away and was hooked. They were three dollars. The seller probably would have taken two for them but I need to work on my bargaining assertiveness. They were in good shape. They were a couple of sizes too big, but all the better to grow into my dear. Plus we all know how my Hailey loves her a good pair of boots!

Three Scooby Doo DVD's and five Magic Schoolbus DVD's - six dollars. These were all bundled together, but it couldn't have been a more perfect bundle. My boys LOVE Scooby Doo movies.
They are also fascinated by the Magic Schoolbus series and I can't find it on TV anymore. I always loved those because they were so educational. I learned things I didn't know watching that show.

The seller gave Hailey this cute pair of shades and a case just because she thought she was cute. I guess I need to take her with me more often.

Last but certainly not least, our girl has her first big girl bike as of today. It was marked at thirty dollars and I knew it was worth the price especially with a helmet included, but I was still hemming and hawing because I knew she didn't really NEED it yet and we usually get the kids a bike for their fourth birthday. But then I thought - here is a perfectly good bike for cheap when the one we will buy in January will be well over fifty dollars and plus - IT WILL BE JANUARY! She won't get to ride her birthday present for months! What kind of a gift is that? My hesitation paid off because the seller walked over and told me that she didn't want to pack it back up and would take twenty five for it. SOLD!

I was pretty happy with my purchases today. Maybe Hailey and I will start going to some sales on Friday mornings while the boys are at school. Because that is what we need - more STUFF around here!

Searching for deals one garage at a time

I have had the bee in my bonnet to go garage saleing for a while. Especially since I missed our neighborhood garage sale a couple weeks ago because we were out of town. I like to browse my neighbor's sales to see what they are getting rid of and I love to have my own garage sale and see what people actually buy. Garage sales are cheap entertainment - with hopefully a bit of money to boot.

I read a blog where the author is an avid garage saler and every Saturday she posts her finds and how much she spent. I don't know if my purchases are interesting to anyone, but I figured I would give it a try.

$5.50 - Two pairs of footwear, shelves, ceramic turkey and a crock. I am hoping the suede boots will fit Hailey next fall. They are so darn cute and look like brand new. If not new, at least only worn once - probably for a family photo shoot or something. (Come on - we all know we have done that!) I got the crock for fifty cents for my Mom. She makes homemade cheese spread around the holidays and is always looking for receptacles. I spotted the ceramic turkey at a garage sale where nothing was priced. Seriously - how annoying is that? I commented to Trent that I wondered how much it was because I kind of liked it for my turkey collection. He looked at me completely dumbfounded and said "Turkey collection? Since when do you have a turkey collection?". I told him that I only had four turkeys so it really wasn't much of a collection YET - but this would help. I only have it on display between Halloween and Thanksgiving - the time of year that he is gone every minute with play stuff. While I was carrying around the turkey to ask how much it was, I spotted these pink crocs in a box full of soccer cleats. They were in good shape (a little dirty, but they are crocs - soap and water - good as new) and would most likely fit Hailey in a year or two. I picked them up with my turkey and walked over to the couple to ask how much the things were. Turkey - fifty cents. Sold. Crocs - fifty cents. SOLD! The man who was holding the sale with his wife had to ask the "Grama" to make sure that they were not his Granddaughter's shoes. The Grama told him that she didn't think they fit her anymore. I was hoping that I wouldn't get chased out to my car because Grama just sold her Granddaughter's shoes to me for two quarters. Shoes that you can buy in the store currently for 24.99. Not to mention she had about eight dollars worth of Jibbetz on them. You would think that the crocs were my deal of the day, but at the last house we stopped at I saw these shelves (also not priced - seriously!), I asked the seller how much she wanted and she told me a dollar. I asked her if she meant a dollar a piece. No, just one dollar for all three. SOLD! I figure I can spray paint them black and hang them in my den with my new black shelves.

We also gave the boys each a dollar to spend on whatever they wanted. Spencer got two books at a quarter each and a Batman puzzle for fifty cents. He put together the puzzle already and it is missing a piece so that pretty much stinks. I was proud of his choices though - no annoying crappy toys that he didn't need.

Evan spent his whole dollar on a recorder. He is still young and didn't quite understand the concept of why Spence got money back when he purchased his first book but when he paid for his recorder he didn't get change. They loved buying their own stuff though so we figured it is the perfect time to figure out a chore chart and start giving them some sort of allowance to spend on days like today.

And the worst deal of the day award goes to Trent. He bought this game (at Spencer's urging) for $4.00. I think it was new in the box, but still - SO not worth that. I told him that he should have told the people he would give them two bucks for it. (This was the same house that sold me their Granddaughter's crocs ;)) He will definitely have to work on his garage saleing techniques!

We had a lot of fun and got some good deals. Anyone up for garage saleing next weekend?