thrifty projects and gifts...

It's graduation gift season...

and as is the case every year, I have a hard time trying to decide what to give for gifts.

Because I'm on a tight budget, I always try to find something creative and inexpensive

and at the same time usable...

So this is what I came up with this year...

A little bit of this

 {most of which was already on hand}

A little cutting and gluing...

 more cutting and gluing...

Add a white board marker...

Simple, but usable gifts...

And since I had several frames sitting around the house that I've been waiting to use,

I decided to make two more for myself...

One for the kitchen to use for a calendar/memo board...

And one in the bathroom for quotes and notes...

 I've picked up both of the frames at Goodwill for a couple of dollars over the last year.  The paper backing was gift wrap- purchased a while ago at Target. And I bought white board markers at the Dollar store.  It's a cheap and easy way to pass a little encouragement to your family...

we've all been having a good time posting notes to each other.  

This morning I was greeted with 

"Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful" from my daughter.

Tomorrow she'll probably find something like 

"True beauty starts deep within your soul"...

This week at Goodwill...

Someone picked up THIS:

  {he also had to take a trip to Guitar Center for 12 strings}

 But, he was proud of his $14 purchase

And it really is quite entertaining watching him play

 I picked up these three sweeties

 The inside of the Vintage train case is in perfect condition.  

I didn't need it, but for $.97 how can you not purchase it for storage?!?

 The two plaid cases made their way to my oldest son's basement bedroom.

I'll have to wait until he's back from college to find out what he will store in them....

{his room offers a large amount of options to choose from-

shoes, magazines, books, cd's, junk, dirty laundry, etc etc}

 Anytime I find something old and well-loved, 

I wonder about its history...

Where did it come from?  

Where has it been?

Who used it?  

What secrets does it hold?

These two came home with me on a different Goodwill trip.

They were just the right color and just the right price

They are a little overly loved

but their flaws are somewhat comforting.

"Frugality without creativity is deprivation."

-Amy Dacyczyn

If you're looking for a freebie, 

head over HERE to one of my favorite blogs for a chance to win a brand new pair of running shoes!

And while you're there, 

scroll down for a peek at the sweetest dog EV-er!

Christmas bargains...and remembering the Gift.

We're always on a budget around here, and Christmas time is no different.  So, to kick things off this season, I unwrapped my decorations to see what was needed.  We're in a bigger house this year, so it was almost necessary to add a few more things to stretch what I already had...

Of course, I had to stop here:

{Print a $10 OFF coupon HERE}

and here:

{They posted a few Holiday budget tips you might want to read HERE}

Merry Christmas sign $2.99

Pink Christmas tree $2.99

Silver glitter electric candles $1.99-$2.99

{Silver and Green Christmas trees unwrapped from last year...}

{7' Fraser Fir- Costco $33.99}

Silver glitter words $1-$2.99

 Silver tinsel wreath from last year

{Made with a Dollar Tree wreath and balls}

Goodwill Christmas ball wreath  $3

"Joy"- free

Glitter birds- $1

Blue mercury glass votives - $1

I found a few non-Christmas items on one of my recent Goodwill trips...

LOVE these pink veggie dishes. 

 I paid $4 for both!

I spied these beauties hiding in a corner but couldn't think of a reason to buy them for myself, so I picked them up for a photographer friend to use in her photoshoots...

there was a bonus cosmetic bag inside the small one!

Aren't they sweet!?!  

I can't wait to see how she uses them..

{I'm sure she'll put them to good use!}

www.amberjacobyphotography.com

23 more days until Christmas...in case you've lost track.

Take a moment to reflect on the Greatness of this season.

Stop here:

have one or two of these:

 *

 And 

RELAX.

I mean, at this time 

NEXT year will your family 

remember the gifts you were so 

stressed over finding and wrapping THIS 

year?  And, in TEN years will they even remember

 ANY of the gifts you've stressed over all these years???

Doubtful.

Remember the original Gift...and don't stress over the imitations....

table dreams and rescued chairs...

In August I blogged here about an empty spot in my sunroom that needed a small table.  In my mind's eye I had the exact table picked out.  I don't know where I'd seen it before, but I had the scalloped edges and twisty legs all dreamed up...all that was left was to actually locate it.  So, the space remained empty and an amount of $100 was put aside that I was allowing myself to spend on it.  After many repeated trips to all my local "Thrifty spots", I finally discovered THE table...the EXACT one that was in my mind. 

Funny thing is, it was owned by a friend of mine, Vern, who hosts several large Barn Sales a year...

and apparently she had been trying to sell it for quite some time. 

{Duh, probably saw it in her barn and overlooked it at a time I wasn't looking for it!} Vern had given her a great paint finish-which was even MORE appealing to me.  Better yet, by the time I found her, she was marked down to $35 dollars! 

So here she is, in my sunroom on the day I brought her home.

Her scalloped edges were exactly as I "remembered" her....

I added a set of plank-bottom chairs I've had for about 20 years.  I've never really loved them, but I already owned them so I wasn't about to purchase more.  Unfortunately, they made the table look dingy and lifeless.

...So, they got a paint job, too...

Paired with a chandelier, I think they look alot better...although they are still awaiting a coat of glaze that will darken and age them just a bit. 

For the price of about $50 my space is filled and it works.

Another recent thrifty purchase is this chair...

she's a little shabby...but sturdy, and with a paint job I love...

So, for $5 and the addition of a chairpad I bought years ago for about $2 at Goodwill...

...it was the perfect piece to accompany this...

a little re-do...

With our recent move has come many projects.  Sometimes those projects create more projects.  I'm always trying to save a dollar, so I try to either reuse what I have or redo something I find to fit both my style and my budget.  If you recall, I've been on the hunt for a table for my family room. 

 I wrote about it here. 

The search has taken me on several trips to different Thrift shops, Second-hand stores and yard sales.  I try to go in with only this purchase in mind...but sometimes I get distracted from the goal and find another project in the making. 

Like this little beauty I found recently at Goodwill for $5.

It reminded me of a frame I fell in love with recently at IKEA.

 I stood beside it and struggled over buying it, but ended up leaving it

 there because I couldn't justify the price.  {$24.99}

I had a mirror that has sat for years in my attic because I loathed the goldish finish, so I decided both would get the same makeover and be used in separate rooms.  I've struggled to find just a couple of touches of turquois in both my family room and my half bath and these were the perfect inexpensive solution.

The frame joined an ongoing collection of mirrors...

And the mirror covered up an empty wall in the family room...

I already had the can of paint, so this project ended up costing only $5...which is my kind of makeover!

As for the table I was originally looking for...I finally found it. 

But I'll save that story for another day.

"The best way for a person to have happy thoughts is to count his blessings and not his cash."

--Author Unknown

MIA...

but I'm back now.  Between weeks of packing and getting ready for a move and then a week of vacation, this summer has been somewhat of a blur.  But, now that the suitcases are unpacked, it's time to get down to the business of settling in and making this house our home. 

I don't have to tell you I'm thrifty {not to be confused with cheap}.  I love the thrill of a bargain-especially an unexpected one.  Which, of course, is why my latest Goodwill purchase made my heart pump doubletime.  I stopped in because I had walked away from a steal of a cupboard the day before that  I should have purchased for a mere $19...but I didn't.  Upon further consideration, I decided the next day to go back and find it...of course, it was gone. BUT...as "luck" would have it, someone had just slid the sweetest bench out the back door- it wasn't even priced yet!  You can believe that I drug that thing with me all the way across the room to ask someone to price it for me!  Shallow, I know, but I couldn't just let her sit there and risk her being taken to someone else's home, now could I? 

Besides, there was no need to justify this purchase, since she was priced at $12.99 MINUS the 20% discount I pulled from the basket at the register. 
CHA-ching!

I had some help from my mom and my daughter {she looks thrilled, doesn't she?} dragging her out to the backseat of my car....

She now graces the end of my bed. 

she's not in perfect condition- you can see the small tear on the left side- but, she's been well-preserved by someone.  I'd love to know her story- she's quite old- stuffed with horsehair or something similar {making her less than comfortable to sit on, but that's not really why I bought her, is it?!}. I imagine she graced the home of an older woman for many years, then was donated when the woman passed on- the family seeing her as just an old piece of junk, rather than the story-teller that she is.

I have a dozen more projects that involve paint...but I'm on a painting sabatical...not sure when I'll return. 

This piece was finally finished just before the move. 

 It's amazing how a can of paint can transform something. 

Remember when it looked like THIS?

I think it needs clear glass knobs now- the original ones might be a little too dark, but I'm waiting for a sale.

The sideboard sits in my diningroom now- along with a miss-matched table and chair set that also got a white paint job.  I already had all of those pieces, so it cost me the balance of the can of paint.  The chandelier came from the old house, too.  I have a large empty wall that needs something {like the cupboard I passed up!}, but I'm willing to wait till the right bargain shows up.

I have another large space in need of a bargain.  I've got my eye peeled for a small scalloped edge table that seats about four.  I know exactly what I'm looking for, but haven't found it yet on the thrify-circuit.  I thought I found it the other day at an antique shop for $40, but it was too worn and warped.  I'll be stopping by all my local thrift shops often until I find her...and I will find her! 

She looks something like this...only not so "la-de-da"...mine has the same shape but probably needs a good coat of paint. 

I'll probably be back from paint sabatical right about the time I find her...