Crafty with Old Leather (with tutorial link)

One of my good friends asked me to make some leather cuff bracelets for her nieces for Christmas gifts.  They are made out of old leather belts.  It was so much fun to do.  One of my favorite things to do is getting crafty and creative!  Now I just hope she loves them as much as I do! ;)

Beauty Full

Joy & Love

Edited to add:  I am far too lazy,  I mean, busy to do a tutorial so I will just show you the one that got me started. It is by a friend of mine from high school who is super talented and crafty.  Alicia does a great tutorial HERE  if you want to learn how to do this.  I look for cheap leather belts at yard sales and at the Goodwill, there are so many awesome ones that you can get for like a couple bucks or less (50 cents is my typical yard sale price).  I have advanced to the stage where now I try new things like the stamping of metal accessories, etc.  Yep, so advanced.  haha  

If you try it, let me know how it goes!

Good Will Hunting

When the weather starts getting colder, and the sales go away I start GoodWill Hunting.  You can find some great deals at your local Goodwill.  This past weekend I was on the hunt for some blouses that I can wear with sweaters rather than the usual tshirts I wear all the time.  Part of it was inspired when I read THIS BLOG.  Part of it came from looking at my wardrobe.  Anyway, I was off to check it out and this is what I found...

I found this Old Navy blouse that was a red tag special .. whoohoo... that means it was HALF OFF.  

So I paid $2.00 for it.

This Banana Republic blouse was $3.99

This blouse was Ann Taylor for $3.99

And this Merona sweater (that's a Target brand) was just $4.49

Now garage sales can make me kind of a cheapskate and I will think, man, I could get that for a buck at a yard sale.  But then I remind myself of how much it would cost at the retail store and I am like, oh yes, this is good.  Especially when they all look brand new and the total was under $15! I love a deal. :)

Garage Sale'n

This is my favorite season.  The weather this year has been amazing.  I am embracing it.  This also happens to be my favorite time of the year for garage sales.  I get kind of giddy about it, yeah I know, some may think I am weird... don't me judging me and my thriftiness.  I am going to share with you some of my favorite finds, but not now.  Today I would like to share with you my garage sale pet peeves.  There are many . . . it happens when you hit as many as sales as I do, I could probably write a book on it.

Please go to some garage sales before you have one yourself.  See what the average prices are for garage sale basics, then try to price yours accordingly.  I mean, that is, if you would like people to buy your stuff. ;)  Because some sales I go to, I honestly think they must not want to sell their stuff.  Surely you don't think I am going to pay $4 for a pair of your stinky old shoes?  This fall I have seen shoes marked for $10-$20.  No, not brand new shoes . . . old beat up shoes.  Seriously people?  I rarely buy shoes... unless they are brand new and/or are like a quarter.  On average nice shoes go for about a buck where we live.  Last week I saw a pair of old nasty black Chuck Taylor's for $4 . . . then about two sales later I saw some almost brand black Chuck Taylor's for 75cents.  I snatched those puppies up and went home to give them to a happy camper.

Overpricing makes me crazy.  When you have a garage sale, realize you are selling your junk that you don't want anymore . . . if you don't sell it here you will most likely be giving it away or putting it back in your house.  Take an offer if it is fair and reasonable, just do it.  Otherwise you will be looking at that thing the rest of the weekend wishing you had.

Nothing makes me want to leave a sale faster than those pre-marked stickers.  I get it.  Pricing is a pain, and you are tired, it's late, you just want to be done, yada yada.... but I can't tell you how crazy it makes me when people price things based on what stickers they have left.  Don't deny it, you know you have done this if you use those pre-marked stickers.  You say to yourself, "Self, I have this $2 sticker left, hmm, what can I use it on?  Oh that t shirt, yeah, that is nice enough to be $2"... deep down you know that tshirt should be 50cents so stop being crazy like that.  It always makes me laugh when I am at a sale and see those so I say, "will you take less" and they respond, "Oh yeah, I just ran out of ___ stickers".  Yes, it happens, often.  If you are feeling tired just do what I call the lazy price method.  You know lazy pricing . . . where you stick a sign on the front of a table that says, "$1" or whatever.

There are times when I will pay more for something ... it is becoming rarer now a days because I typically know that I can find what I am looking for at another sale since I am out enough.  But there are times where I am looking for something specific and if I don't find it here then I will have to pay full price at a retail store.  So then when I find it, if I may an offer and they say no, I will consider paying their asking price.  That is just the bargainer in me.

So there you have it.  My garage sale rant for the day.  What do you think?  Do you love/hate garage sales?  Do you even notice those pre-priced stickers?  Find any good deals lately?

Black Friday version 2.010

It's the most wonderful time of the year.  The weather is getting winter-like and after a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving, I am ready for what comes next . . . Black Friday.  I actually considered not going out this year (gasp!) until my little sister asked me to go with her on a hunt for a Black Friday deal (on a laptop).  So, with that adventure in mind . . . I am off.  Generally happy crowds everywhere, Christmas music playing, and a peppermint hot cocoa in hand.  Now that sounds like a great day.  Hope you have a good one, too!

Free Food and Finds

Yesterday my husband dressed up the kids + friends to go get some free chick-fil-a.   I got to stay home with the kid that is stuck with peanut allergies.  Our poor little birdie.  Poor me, too.  I didn't even get a peach shake.     

     

He is pretty cute though, isn't he?

~Garage Sale Fun~

Last week I only got to go to one garage sale.  Apparently people don't think of pulling all their junk out of the basement to sit outside during the weekend where we celebrate the independence of our country, what is wrong with people?  Priorities, people!!  Anyway... at the one sale I went to, guess what I found?

This fabulous goodie for just $2!  I think it will go great displayed in my (someday) art studio.

So then this week I went out with much more success.  A few sneak peeks of my finds . . .

A great assortment of ribbon for a quarter each, and cloth napkins (also a quarter each).  I have quit buying paper towels (I know, I know, soo hard to give up!!) so I pick up cloth napkins when I find them and they are in great condition.  I also got some vintage ribbon that was very snazzy.  Yes, vintage just means it is old but hey, I prefer to think of it as "vintage", it just sounds so much cooler.  Total cost:  $2.50

Sewing basket= .50 cents

I loved these sweet pictures to put in either my (someday) art studio or in Birdie's room.  $1 each.

And this seriously cute ring for a splurge (wink)  . . . $2

Oh, and I picked up some clothes.  This hoodie that Ava is modeling was .25 cents (price tag still on in picture), and the seersucker skirt with green sequin trim was .50 cents.  The cool thing at that sale was, it was later in the day and they had a "Buy 5, get 5 free" so I spent $2.50 on 5 clothing items, then got 5 more items (mostly shirts for Spencer this fall, but I did get myself an nice Eddie Bauer shirt too) for free.  Free is my favorite price.

SCORE!

Okay, just one more thing I wanted to share, speaking of free.  After I got that camera last week, I was talking to my momma about it, and she told me that she had a camera that was my grandfather's that I can have.  My sis Vanessa and I went on a treasure hunt at my parent's house.  I ended up going home with two from her -- the bonus of having sentimental value, too!  Yay for hoarders!

Isn't it fabulous?? 

My weekly addiction

Last weekend we had a great time hitting some garage sales, as I always love to do.  My personal find was some clothes including a pair of brand new Gap jeans in my size for $1.  Ava is showing off her treasures here:

We got a whole box of random, twisted and tangled jewelry for $1.50.  It was actually $3 but we split the cost with Tracy and shared the jewelry.  Not sure if she actually took anything out of the box though (did you Trac??) because when we got home and sorted it out there was 21 necklaces, and a pair of sunglasses.  Mostly gaudy ... which of course is Ava's favorite style!

Ava, modeling the sunglasses and necklace.

... and the adorable Gap dress we got for $1

Yes, it looks like she is praising Jesus in this photo.  In actuality, she is shouting, "I'm gonna rule the world!"  Niiiice.

BFF-- aka, Black Friday Fever!

I am in complete Christmas shopping/Black Friday mode. This year we are (who am I kidding, I mean I am) doing cash only shopping, so hopefully this will reign in my spontanteous shopping-- you know the things that are really not for gifts but "Hey, we needed that anyway!" And "But it's so cheap!" I am staying on point this year, making my lists and checking them twice. Spending too much time on this site looking for where the best deals will be. There are a ton of websites that I want to shop at ---Etsy for one. Another site I am loving is Instructables, it can give you the info on how to make all kinds of snazzy gifts, among other things.  Oh, and I also love this place for fun gifts and inspiration.

This week is Thanksgiving already, wow. We are going to Neil's parents house on Thursday, and we will put up our Christmas decor and perhaps go to a movie. It was tradition in PA to go to the movies (except for the years we went to NYC for the parade). Last year we went and saw the Plaza Lights, but we may not do that again. Decisions, decisions! Then on Sunday we will go to my parents house for our Thanksgiving celebration.

So, will you be out with the crazies on Friday morning??

Mission: Yard Sale!

Yard Sales. I love them. It is so much fun to find fabulous treasures, and things we need. Like yesterday when I found Evan a 20" Mongoose bike like he has been neeeding at a yard sale for $15. I am finding that here in Kansas yard sales go much later, some are open until 5PM! Do people have nothing better to do than to sit outside for the entire day?! Not that I am complaining, because I totally benefit. So does my family. I am like that Proverbs woman who wakes up early to, well, okay, maybe she didn't yardsale. But I am getting good deals on stuff we need (no junk allowed) and saving tons of money. That's good for something, isn't it?? I really love a deal.

BTW, our church has Garage Sales going on as a fundraiser for Cachi, Argentina. So if you want to get rid of some stuff and help out (oh, and if you are local to us), too ... just let me know. Thanks :)

Deal of the Day!

Ice Beam, Jr. Defroster Item# 77001 Only $4.99

I just ordered this and I am so excited. I constantly forget to take the meat out of the freezer and start thinking about it around 4ish! Someone recommended this on another blog I read and when I bought it the price was under $5, which includes shipping! Awesome!

Black Friday!

So yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year. I love shopping for my family, and I really love getting DEALS! So I woke up in the wee hours of the morning (3:15 am) and got to Walmart by 4am. Crazy I know! I shopped with my friend Blanca and we had an awesome time! I was pleasantly surprised at how fast we got in and out of Walmart, Kohl's, and KMart.

Target was not so quick, a little more insane to say the least. It seemed to get worse as the day went on, in fact we went back to Kohl's later and it was a nightmare . . . it really paid to go early! The only downfall is that afterwards I was exhuasted and my feet were killing me. I got home at about 2pm and pretty much didn't get off the couch the rest of the night.

I feel so good about what I got accomplished. I wish I could tell you the deals I got, but B&E are old enough now that they will read this so . . . my lips are sealed. But I am so excited for the holidays, giving is so much fun. What I am beginning to realize that the older our kids get, the more expensive they get!! Hence, why I always need to wake up early on Black Friday!