Thrifty Tuesday

I found myself drawn into the Goodwill on Tuesday and was glad I listened to the Siren's call. 

 

I found Evan a great pair of Merrell shoes in his size.  Perfect for the Spring and early Summer.

 

 

I found Hailey a size 7/8 jacket that she can use as a "play coat".  One that is darker than the pastel ones she currently owns and can stand up to a bit of mud.  (That post to follow at a later date...)

 

That afternoon Spencer had an orthodontist appointment across town.  He finished up pretty quickly and since he was done with school for the day and we had some time to kill before the Littles came home, we stopped at another Goodwill.  Spencer was thrilled.  Insert almost teenage eye roll.

I found Hailey this cute sweater.  It looks red but is actually more coral colored.  I thought it would be perfect for between seasons.

I also found her these cute skorts for summer.  They are not as hot pink as they look.  My phone camera is lacking for accurate color representation I guess.   She will live in these this summer.

I found a metal water bottle for one dollar.  We go through water bottles like crazy around here.  I also picked up this calculator for one dollar.  The one that I currently use I have to bend the screen to get the numbers to show up without missing some of their "lines".  It makes balancing the checkbook quite an adventure.

By far my best purchase of the day was this brass mirror for Hailey's bedroom.  It is so "mirror, mirror on the wall". It was fifteen dollars but solid brass and I couldn't pass it up.  I think I am going to paint it either white or hot pink.  I can't get over how much I love that thing.  Hailey does too.  When Evan saw it he thought it made perfect sense for Hailey's room.  His reasoning - she already has a chandelier now with this it is almost like her room is a castle.  Soon she will be like a real princess or a wicked queen.

It was a very successful day of thrifting.  I only wish I had my mom with me so I could have cashed in on her senior discount!

He likes it. He really likes it.

It's kind of late for an old lady like me and I am tired and ready to go to bed, but I knew I had uploaded these pictures earlier this week.  The days ahead of me look even more busy so I see more tiredness in my future.  I figured I better get these on here while I have a chance.

 

Spencer participated in his second year of theatre camp last week.  To say he loves it would be a gross understatement.  I am a bit mad at myself because this is the last year that he is in the age range to do it.  He may even have exceeded the age range, but since he went to DK he was all right as far as grade level.  I had first heard of this camp when he was in Kindergarten from a fellow classmates mom.  I tried to get him in, but in those days the camp wasn't super popular so they only did it for one week of the summer and by the time I called it was filled.  I am fairly certain they held it in the years that followed and it must have grown in popularity because now they fill three sessions a summer - but I never enrolled him until last year.  I never wanted to commit to a week long "school" type scenario thing for him during the summer because what fun would that be? 

 

Apparently to him?  A ton of fun.  And really when you think about it, a week of fun classes sure beats sitting in front of the TV or computer.  If you miss out on a couple of beach or pool days, what is the big deal?  There are lots of beach days in a typical summer. 

 

 

This year the show they put on was 101 Dalmatians and Spencer had the role of one of Cruella DeVille's bumbling henchmen.  Cruella was definitely the lead, but Spencer was way up there.  He had lots of lines and the three of them were on stage almost the whole show. 

 

By the way if you wonder if the old adage of "girls mature faster than boys" is true.  The girl playing Cruella turned ten years old that week of camp.  Spencer will be twelve in a few days.  Two years apart.  Holy cow!

Trying to lure the puppies away with Kanine Krunchies.

The three of them had a lot of choreography to learn as well.   They did a great job.

Our little henchman glowing with pride after the show.

I am thinking that something to do with the theatre will end up to be his "thing".

On Friday morning before drop off at the theatre I asked him if he was tired of the show and glad it would be done later that day.  His reply was that he wished it went on longer because he was having so much fun.

Later that evening as we were getting ready for lights out he told me he wished the play wasn't over because every night before bed he got to look forward to something the next day.   So yeah - I think he really likes it.

Let them buy cake!

The boys had their Cub Scout father and son cake bake last week.   The pack does it every two years as a fundraiser.  The boys get to bid on the cakes that are made and then the highest bidder walks away with a fabulous cake and the knowledge that you just did a little bit of good for the pack.  

Two years ago, my boys did a lot of good by purchasing three cakes between them.   I walked out of the school gym sixty dollars poorer.  I told the boys that was not going to happen this year.  At the most we were only going to purchase two cakes and not go over twenty dollars per cake. 

Evan and Dad whipped up this campfire cake that turned out pretty cute.  I think his cake fetched almost thirty dollars in bids. 

Spencer wanted to fashion a Minecraft sword.  Honestly, it looked a little rough.  Fondant would have been a much better option for frosting, but when you are under a time crunch, you do the best with what you've got.  As with most things in his life, he didn't put much effort into it.  I don't remember what Spencer's cake went for, but I know it took a bit to get the bidding going and then it went for pretty cheap.

At the auction, Evan bid a couple of times on different cakes but was always outbid.  Finally he decided he wasn't letting this Phillies cake get away from him. (The Phillies is the baseball team he plays for this year).  He looked to me for permission to go over his twenty dollar limit and snatched it for twenty three dollars.  He was pretty stoked.

Spencer had his eye on the last cake that was auctioned off.  It was a pretty elaborate cake of a camping scene with fondant people and the works.  He was quickly outbid at his twenty five dollar max.   

So this year we got out of the cake bake for only twenty three dollars.  Pretty good in my opinion.  The boys were great.  They knew their limits and stuck to them for the most part.  They didn't get mad or disappointed if they were outbid.  It couldn't have gone better. 

Of course when we got home and cut into the Phillies cake, we discovered it was a strawberry flavored cake and none of the kids wanted to eat it.

Oh well,  at least we can write it off as a contribution.

Memory Lane

Hailey and her daddy are going to the Father Daughter Dance at school on Friday night.  To say that she is excited is an understatement.  She wakes up every morning and asks me how many more days until the dance. 

 

We have her dress, shoes, tights and even a real tiara for her to wear.  (The theme of the dance this year is Princess Ball.)  The only thing she was lacking was a sweater or something to wear with the dress - it's sleeveless and the weather isn't supposed to be much warmer this weekend.

 

But alas, a sweater isn't very princess like...why not make her a little fur stole to wear?  Oh, me and my big ideas...

 

First I had to make myself a pattern with a little help from my princess/pin girl.

 

 

 

Once I got the pattern figured out it was really very easy.  It turned out super cute and I am thrilled with it.   Plus for the first time I got to sew snaps on to something.

 



Of course, since I never have any confidence in my sewing abilities I always go overboard on my fabric.  I figure if I mess up I will have extra instead of having to go back to the store.  So I have enough left over fake fur to make at least two, maybe three more stoles.  I am thinking I should just make them and sell them on Etsy or something. 

I have to admit that I am pretty excited about the dance as well.  It brings back memories of the Father and Daughter banquets that my dad took my sister and I to at the Elks Lodge.   I remember hardly being able to concentrate in school because I was so excited to get home and take a bath and put on my fancy dress.  My mom would put my hair in hot rollers so it would have pretty curl instead of the pin straight hang down look that I usually wore.

My nostalgia got the better of me and I went through my old scrapbooks and found some photos.  The quality is really bad due to how old these gems are and the fact that I can't figure out how to scan so I just took a picture of a picture. 

I don't know which one of these is older.  It appears I am wearing the same dress.  I think in the first one my look of unhappiness may be due to those hideous shoes I am wearing.  They look like white loafers.

This one is my favorite.  We are wearing cute sandals, we are carrying purses, we are wearing ribbon barrettes and my dad looks like he just came from a mafia hit.  You gotta love the eighties!

I still don't know what is up with my grouchy face!

I remember I loved that pink dress.   I think I got it at The Cradle Shop which was the most expensive kids store in town back in the day.

Same dresses different year.  I told you I loved that thing.  I think this was the first banquet where I had my ears pierced.  I don't know about my dad's suit.  I really like the sport coat and wish Trent had one like it to wear, but with the pants it may be a little too much.

The year of the afro.  Apparently we had discovered the power of the permanent.  Sister gets to wear the pink dress and I get a new pink polka dotted number.

Oh those awkward teenage years!  Mouths full of braces and a hideous green bubble dress that I LOVED at the time.  The balance just seems off.  Sister looks like she is going to the one room school house and I look like I am going to prom.  In all honesty, sister's dress was probably more appropriate.   Look at those hair bows.  I will tell you what though, I would kill for my collarbone to stick out like that now!  I wish I had that sportcoat of my dad's and shirt and tie - it would match Hailey's ensemble perfectly.  Can you tell I have no idea what Trent is going to wear?

Just think, twenty years from now, Hailey will be looking back at her pictures from the Father Daughter dances and laughing at her hair and dresses (or her dad's clothes) and remembering with fondness how special those nights were.

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!