Button, button, whos' got the button?

v I found this jar a couple weeks ago at a Yard Sale for...$1.  Isn't it cute?  It's so vintage, and so GREAT!  So what do I do with such a great jar?  Use it for my newly found obsession...Button collecting.  Vintage Button collecting to be exact. The Handy Husband's Cousin and Cousin-in-law got me hooked and now I can't stop!

Won't this be the PERFECT little jar to hold them all?

This was the very first button in my jar.  It is from the HH's Grandma.  Isn't it cute?

These are some that HH's Mom (BEST mother-in-law on the planet!) gave me.  She has quite the collection herself.  It felt like Christmas digging through all of her many buttons.  Some are even from her Grandma's.  That is so cool!

While we were digging through her boxes and bags of buttons she sat and told me the back stories of some of them.  This cute little blue, round one was used on a dress that her and her mother made after she saw it in a magazine and begged her Mom to help her make it.  She was in the 9th grade.  How fun for her to remember that story and share it with me.  I was eating it up!  Loved hearing the back stories of the buttons and wish that I could hear all the stories that go along with each and every button.  Because you know EVERY button has a STORY. :)

So this is my collection thus far.  Pretty good start.

But I still have a long way to go to fill my jar with those amazing, little, vintage, story buttons. :)

Miss J and Mister C have gotten into my BUTTON LOVE as well.  They carried around their jars of buttons for two days and even had to sleep with them.  LOL.  Miss J loved sitting and threading her buttons for hours.  It was so incredibly precious!

Mister C said the only thing he wanted from the Easter Bunny was a little bit of candy and BUTTONS.  How cute is that?  Here are the 'special' buttons the Easter Bunny brought to Miss J and Mister C.

SKILLZ!

I'm going to to a workshop on Saturday and am SO EXCITED to learn a new skill.  Because who doesn't want skills like this?  I know I do! :)  Nunchuck skills would be equally as sweet, as proven on Napoleon Dynamite.  But for now I think I'll stick with re-upholstery skills.   Anyone want to join me?  Also, work has begun with the desk, and lots of my other projects.  Sanding and priming hopefully will be done by the end of the day!  Woot, woot!

Here is the info on the workshop...

for any or all of our upcoming ... WORKSHOPS and Q&A SESSIONS Below is a list of upcoming workshops which will be hosted by our store in Orem. For EACH workshop you wish to attend, click the    button to the right of the workshop's date; a web page will be opened for you to provide the necessary information to request registration for the workshop. Unless otherwise shown, all of these workshops are being offered at no charge, however each workshop is restricted to the number of participants shown. All participants will also have the opportunity to spend time with our experienced staff design consultants!

Upholstery Workshop and Q&A Session Date: Saturday, April 30, 11am Reupholstering can be a great alternative to buying new furniture for your dining room, living room, or bedroom. You can reupholster almost any type of furniture that has been covered in fabric, and, if you are up to the challenge, you can save a lot of money by doing it yourself. Many people decide to take up the challenge of reupholstering because it: saves time spent on ordering custom furniture allows you to choose the exact type of fabric and cushioning you want in your piece allows you to salvage antique furniture or furniture that has sentimental value So, before you kick that old chair or couch to the curb, consider renewing that old furniture with some brand new upholstery. Like sanding and refinishing, reupholstering an old chair, couch, or cushion can really give new life to some of your older pieces. And, it can give you a chance to express some of your own creativity, in a hands-on fashion! Workshop Location: In Store This workshop will be limited to 50 participants

*Go  HERE to sign-up for the class!  Hope to see you there! :)

Pep-talk For My Brain.

So yesterday I logged on to my blog and glanced over to my countdown, and was caught off guard that I only have 4 more days until my 'Year of Thrift' kicks off.  I'm starting to get anxiety about it.  Why?  I'm not sure?  I'm basically already doing it, but there is something about being all "official"  about it and all.  Can I really do this?....HECK YES!  I know at times I'm going to wish I NEVER did it and wonder what possessed me to do it in the first place. It kind of reminds me of my thought process when I was giving birth to my son...natural, no epidural(What was I thinking? and why would anyone ever want to do such a thing!).  I'm hoping it is like giving birth, in that after it is over and I have had time to process I will think: "How AWESOME and AMAZING it was and that I am pretty much a modern day SUPERHERO.  The outcome was incredible, and if asked if I would do it again, I'd say: "PROBABLY" (but more yes then no;)).  The pay-off vs. the pain was well worth it.  I'm so sorry for the birthing analogy, but this is a Pep-talk for my brain, so I'm going with what works for me.  I can DO this!  I can go one whole year, 365 days, 1 Christmas, 1 Easter, 1 Mother's Day, Father's Day, and a ca-gillion birthdays.  I can do this right?  Well WHEN I do, do this I'm going to need ALL the HELP I can get.  So please drop by often and leave any helpful hints you might have.  I'm especially going to need A LOT of ideas for gifts.  Thanks for staying and playing along with me.  And if all else fails, this should make for an interesting year. ;)  Plus, look how cute we all look in our second-hand finds...

 The BOYZ in their second-hand outfits. 

Mister E.- Babystyle outfit= .50

Mister C-Old Navy Top= $2, Children's Place jeans= $5.99

Us girlies in our Second-hand finds. :)

Miss J-Old Navy top and skirt= $7, Old Navy Hat=1.99

Yours Truly- Down East Jacket=5.99

Layers white cap sleeve top=FREE

American Eagle Jeans=6.99

*The Handy Husband is sadly lacking in second-hand clothing.  Soon that will change and I'll post pictures of thee Handsome Hubby. :)  Apologies for the blurry pictures; my camera is on it's last leg and is struggling right now. :(  Maybe... ... just maybe, I'll find one at this weeks Yard Sales. ;)

**Thanks for all that voted on my paint dilemma.  Looks like the yes' won!  Oh happy day for me. :) 

Weekend Finds.

This weekend was not the greatest for Yard Sales I completely struck out on Friday but  still managed to get a few little goodies on Saturday.

I picked up this cute little Princess Party Set for $1.  It is brand new in an unopened box.  Love it when I find brand new items second-hand!

Ended up using it for a b-day gift for my niece.  PERFECT! 
*Even though she doesn't look thrilled (it was more about me taking her picture and less about the gift), she really did love the gift and so did all the other little girls.  They had it opened up in 2.5 sec. and the b-day girl was so nice to share her new gift with all her cousins. :) $ well spent!

Couple weekends ago I mentioned to the HH that I wanted to find a wooden step stool and low and behold I find this for $3! SCORE!

Note it: Eddie Bauer brand.

Kid's BYU Jersey $2!

At one Yard Sale a lady had over 600 beanie babies that she'd been collecting for years.  they were in mint condition with the tags still on.  I had a hay-day digging through all of them.  In the end I only came home with these nine.  They are SO cute!  They're going to make great gifts. :)

Hedgehog (which was given to Mr. E for Easter), Robin, and a Goat.  We LOVE goats around here and actually own two live ones.  Couldn't pass that one up.

4 ADORABLE little puppies.  My nieces are going to go CRAZY for these little guys.

A Pig, and A Elephant.

I also got HOOKED-UP with these two treasures by a cousin.   She found this 'Little House On The Prairie' set for $4 and the card game 'Bohnanza' for $1(looks brand new)!!!!  She already owned both so shared the love with me!!!  THANKS NATALIE!!!!  I've had my eye on this game for a good six months but couldn't bring myself to spend the $20 on it.  I'm glad I waited and have to say that the phrase, "Good things come to those who wait" must be true. :)

Even though it was a somewhat slow Yard Sale weekend I still had a BLAST waking up @ 6:30am and hanging with my Mom and Sister-in-law who got some great things of their own including a grocery bag filled with 13 pairs of shorts and 2 sweaters for $1, and a Pampered Chef mini-loaf pan for $2!  Good times, good times!

Peace vs Pieces?

Never spend money before you have it. The rule which I wish to see you governed by through your whole life, of never buying anything which you have not the money in your pocket to pay for. Be assured that it gives much more pain to the mind to be in debt, than to do without any article whatever which we may seem to want."
-Thomas Jefferson   

How? How?  Is the question I am asked when out shopping with friends/family.  How can you not buy things?  How can you be so strong?  This quote sums it up perfect for me.  I finally got to the point where I would rather have PEACE in my life then PIECES of clothing(or whatever).  Yes I like to look good, but you know what I like even more then that?  Feeling good.  I love the feeling I get when I DON'T buy that item and I DON'T put it on a credit card, and I DON'T pay interest on it.  I LOVE the feeling I get when I can say "You don't own me!" to whatever item is there taunting me to buy it.  I LOVE IT!  I can be strong!  I can make the choice whether to buy or not to buy.  Whether I have PEACE in my life or not.  So go out make your choice and BE strong!!!!

Dilemma

So I've been thinking and discussing with the Handy Husband (HH) what to do about buying paint when my YEAR OF THRIFT starts.  I'm not sure if I could even find 2nd hand paint and the HH said NO WAY on buying it from Yard Sales.  Which makes sense because if we are going to go to all the work to fix up these second-hand items then we don't want to put 'crappy' paint on them and  just have to re-do it.  So what is "kosher"?  Can I buy paint from the store?  What about fabric glue or thread to fix clothing and such?   What are your thoughts?  Should we have a vote?  Go to my side bar and cast your vote there.  Vote YES if you think I should be able to buy new things if only doing it to 'fix-up' a second-hand buy.  Vote NO if  you think I should have to buy all those things second-hand.

The Goods.

Left my house at 7:30 am on Friday morning with $21 and some change.  Came back at 10:00 am with $11 to spare and all this great stuff.

Kid's bench and chair ($3 for the pair), Shirt for Miss J (.50), Stride Rite Shoes for Mr. E (.50) Leather toolbelt ($3), leather work gloves (.50), Book (.50), Mr, Potato Head ($1), MY LAMP!($2), School Desk (FREE), Snow Suit for Mr. C ($1), storm trooper costume ($1)

All this needs is a little tightening of the screws and some paint and it will be as good as NEW. :)  Can't wait!

Stride Rite shoes .50!

Saturday.  What a great day for Yard Sales.  I think we hit about 20 that day.  This is what I found...

Garden/hose organizer ($4)

Spent a total of  $5.25 on this group.

All this cost me $17.80!  WOW!  I love yard sales!  Yes those are the old school lunch trays.  I had to buy them!  5 trays for $1, yes please.

The kids think they are so COOL.  We had to eat off of them that night. :)

NOW ON TO MY ALL TIME FAVORITE FIND FOR THE WEEKEND...

This was my first find of the day and I can't even tell you how much I LOVE it.  The woman selling it said that it was hers growing up and then her girls used it through their childhood.  This desk had a lot of history and sentimental value to her.   So glad that I was able to buy this from this nice family and I promised that I would take great care of it and that my daughter would use it and love it for all her many, many projects. Oh, by the way I spent a whopping $5 on it!  Worth every last cent!

I'm SO excited about this desk that I hope to have it all painted and pretty in the next couple weeks.  Although I'm trying to wait for my daughters birthday (November) to give it to her. Not sure if that will happen or not. ;)

Show and Tell: Check out THIS BLOG to see the great finds Natalie got this weekend.  I WANT the chairs!  You'll also want to check out her other posts.  She has some really GREAT re-do projects.  Her Laundry room is one of my favorites.  She is SO great!  I might be biased because we're family ;) but I think you'll LOVE what you see.

Favorite Friday Find!

 Fell in love with this desk lamp today. Why?  It's a great design.  Pure and simple.  Adjusts in three different places so I can get the light just where I want it!   Picked it up at a local Yard Sale for $2!  Looks close to these Pottery Barn lamps that are $120!  I think I got a good great AMAZING deal!

 

10 Min. and $0 Later

 

I had a need for one of these this week.  We were headed out of town for spring break to THIS AMAZING place. . .

It was over a 2 hour drive and with a baby who is now into throwing his binky across the room/car.  A binky clip was a must!  I didn't realize until 10:00 the night before the trip that I didn't have one.  So I whipped me one up by using a combination of  3 tutorials I found HERE, HERE and HERE. 

Items I used were: Name badge clip, ribbon, button, and flax cord.  

I love that I didn't have to spend $.01 on it, but was able to just use items I already had in my own home.  Things like that make me SMILE! :)  I heart being THRIFTY!

P.S.  I'll be at Yard Sales ALL weekend, hope you will be too.  Send me pictures of any great finds you get and I'll post them here on the blog.  I LOVE SHOW AND TELL!  Happy Yard Saling!

Sew CUTE!

While the handy husband was gone this weekend.  I made this.  Isn't it ADORABLE!  I was told about this great site Cluck. Cluck. Sew. from a friend (thanks Stacy!) and had to give this pillow a try.  I have so many toss pillows hanging around my house that this was the perfect thing to give one of them a quick update.  It was really, really easy.  You can get it done in less then 2 hours!  I'm not a great seamstress, I know the basics and that's all.  If I can make this anyone can!  Give it a try.  It cost me under $6 to make!  I think I might have to make me another one with a smaller flower in one the the corners.  Anyone know where I can get me some second-hand material? Preferably in coordinating colors to this pillow. :)  I also want to make some of these. It would be a great way to use up all my scraps.  I'd just use some of my old pillows I already have and take the stuffing out of them.  'Sew' super cute!