The Great Debate

What a F.U.N. weekend I just had.  Spent it in Mesquite, NV with the hubby and some friends.  What do you do in Mesquite you ask?  NOTHING!.. and that is exactly what we did.  We lounged around the pool in 90 degree weather, went to Thor (which was surprisingly good), ate at a most delicious Japanese Restaurant (had sushi for the first time), slept in, played games, and hit up a few Yard Sales (of course) :)    

I have to give credit to April and Shannon for dragging me to the Yard Sales on saturday which is where I found all of these treasures.  Drag me to a Yard Sale?  What's that about?  Well Friday we hit up a couple local yard sales and they were HUGE disappointments.  They were smoke filled, Sante Fe style, so not for me, stuff.  So I was having  a debate with myself whether to sleep in (which I NEVER get to do), or get up and go to Yard Sales that turn out to be flops.  What to do, what to do.  The girlies convinced me to suck it up and go Yard Selling, and so I did! :)  Thanks ladies for kicking me in the butt, otherwise I would have missed out on all this...

 My .50 frame that just needs a coat of paint and a fresh new picture in it.

 Vintage 1968 World of Barbie Doll case~

Ended up getting these for such a stealer deal.  She started out at $20 for the pair and then $10 and down she went to where I got them for $3.75 FOR THE PAIR!!!  I honestly couldn't believe it! 

Ended up getting this precious hand-held mirror for .50.  I LOVE IT SO MUCH!

Spent a whopping .45 cents on these two items plus a pizza cuter that is NOT in the picture. That's 45 cents total for ALL 3 items!  LOL!  Watch out I'm a BIG spender. :) 

Isn't this the cutest vintage lunch box?

  I had to have it!

Oh, and it was full of ROCKS. :) The teenage girl selling it said she started collecting rocks as a little girl and this was her collection.  How cute!  Most of these rocks came from North Dakota.  I knew my kids would be pumped about a rock collection.  I was right, they loved it and have been searching for special rocks to add to the collection themselves.

Now on to the prized find of the day.  We hit the jack-pot when we found a Yard Sale at some storage units.  There were so many people selling some really great stuff.  That is actually where I found the vintage Barbie cases.  But I also bought this sweet little table... 

Yes we are posing with the table because it was somewhat of a fight on who was going home with it.  April spotted it firs,t showed it to me and 'said' she 'wanted' ME to buy it. ;)  After I picked it up to purchase it she started having second thoughts and we had a back and forth teasing match on the table the rest of the trip.  It was funny though because I had to borrow money from Shannon to purchase it because I didn't have enough cash, so then Shannon got in on it saying it was hers because she is the one that actually paid for it. LOL. It was funny. :) When this picture was taken we were still in the 'great debate' on who's table it actually was.

But I WON (although I did try to make April take it) and it's in my possession paid for and all.  This is how I rode home with it loving under my legs for 4 HOURS!  I think I earned the right to the table. ;)  We'll see where it ends up though because I'm not quite sure were it will go.  As promised if I can't find a place for it on it will go to April  for her future house.  

Love you girls had a B-L-A-S-T!

Buyer Beware!

When I found this booster seat this last weekend I was psyched! I have been looking for one for a couple months now.  Miss J had requested a pink, girl seat...this fit the description.  It looked in pretty good condition especially the back of it.  The bottom was slightly dirty but I thought some Oxy Clean could do the trick on it.  Then they told be their asking price, $5...SOLD!  She showed me how to put it together and take it apart, I bought it and loaded it in my car.  Oh, HAPPY DAY!  Or so I thought.  Stopped at another Yard Sale and as I was loading my finds in the trunk when I smelt...SWAMP.  What the!  I poked around inside to find the cause of that AWFUL smell and found the bottom pad (or cover) sopping wet with swampy water! The bottom part of the seat had been laying sideways on top of it. Oh, my disgusting.  I did some more investigating and realized that the two cup holders had been full of water and had a ring of green moss around them.  WHY DID I NOT CHECK THAT OUT?  I am usually really good about giving things a thorough once-over. I guess I was blinded by the find on this one. When I got it home I stripped the pads off took the top and bottom apart and sprayed them down with a hose.  That was NOT doing the job good enough for me so I took them in the house and threw them in the tub so I could soak and scrub them.  When I put the bottom base in and started feeling the tub with water all this junk started coming out of it...including a spider, some rocks, 2 quaters (hey I made some $ back!  But it wasn't $5 worth!), and wood chips.  I was so GROSSED OUT!!!!  More then once I thought about just dumping it in the garbage (I'm still kinda wondering why I didn't). Instead, I soaked it three times and one more time for a two hour stretch in bleach.  FINALLY gunk stopped coming out of it.  FINALLY it looked usable.  I washed the pads 3 times and they look pretty good although there are still a few stains I couldn't get out of the bottom pad.  All in all though it looks great.

I'm sure you all know the morale of the story... 

CHECK THINGS OUT THOROUGHLY BEFORE BUYING! 

(yes I am shouting this).

Notable Finds

 This little piggie...came home with ME!

 My Grandma collects pigs and I could NOT pass this up!  PERFECT Mother's Day gift for her.  How adorable is that face?  I paid .50 for him and there was a dollar inside it...lol.  But I gave the dollar back. :)  But I could have made .50 profit on this here Piggie.  Pays to be honest though.  Karma will pay me back for that one. ;) 

 Paid .50 for 2 butterfly catchers.  1 blue, 1 purple.  The kids are LOVING them.  They played outside all afternoon and even caught 2 butterflies with them. :)  SO worth the .50 paid!

 Does anyone else have a child that spills her drink at EVERY meal?  I've been eying these cups at good ol' Wal Mart for some time now but couldn't justify buying them at $8 for a set.  Well I got a set of 16 of these (princess and solid color) for $2!!! Came home, washed them up and Miss J enjoyed a beverage.

GOT SHOES?

 A pair for Miss J-.25

A Pair for Mister C (Think I'll save these for school next year).

And a pair for ME! 

Bought these from a friend who was having a Yard Sale this week.  So glad you have such great taste Stacy! :)

These are normally $50.  I paid $5!  My kids are going to eat this up!

$4...Where to put it?  Bathroom or Bedroom? What color to pant it???  I don't know but I LOVE it!

I have a little weakness for books.  Old or new.  Doesn't this have such a great cover?

This is one of my favorite finds.  How cute is Miss J going to look in this, this fall?

All these clothes cost a total of $10! Pile for Mister C, Miss J, and Mister E.  Many of these will be put away for school clothes. SCORE!

Here is Miss J in one of her favorites...a Minnie Mouse Night Gown.  She loved it and kept saying "Look at me!  It's SO pretty!"

  Bought this off of another friend at her yard Sale.  Thanks Jodi for buying your kids such cute clothes!!!!

What a fun, FUN weekend.  I also got a few gifts that I can't show yet (I don't want to give away any surprises), and my $10 cedar chest that I'm going to wait to show you until we refinish it.  It's going to be so great!  We have the paint  and are ready to paint about 10 things just need life to slow down for 2 seconds so we can get them all painted.  They'll be worth the wait! ;)

Show and Tell

This week was so much fun.  Yard Sales were practically around every corner...IT WAS AWESOME!  It was also so much fun to bump into a few of you out getting great deals yourselves or even having your own yard sales.  I loved that!  I love hearing that people are actually reading my blog and getting inspired from it.  SO FUN!  Anywho(I know this is not a real word, but it is now. :))...Amber was one of the wonderful people that I ran into this weekend.  I asked her to send me pictures of all her great finds.  Check it out...

Love this clock!  Wish I would've beat her to it. ;)

Cute little cowboy hat cost her "10 stinking cents"!

Spent $3.75 for ALL of this.

All this cost her a whopping $8! 

 Grand total for all her finds for the weekend $37! Look at all that stuff! 

I asked Amber if she was hooked and her reply was, " I am hooked! All I wanted to do when I got home was go back out!" LOL!

I have a crazy busy day today playing catch-up from being at Yard Sales all weekend so I'll try and get 'my finds' posted SOON, but for now here is one little picture of what me and my Yard Sale Posse bought at 'Fleaology' (what's fleaology? Check it out HERE) on Saturday.  Loved it so much and could have stayed there all day examining all the fun finds there.  Can't wait for it to come again in July.

SUPER cute orange chair perfect for my photographer friend, Ashley.  Jewelry box for me to give to someone as a gift.  Not sure who yet...anybody need one.  This was too cute to pass up! Rustic tin bucket perfect for Liz to plant flowers in. CUTNESS all around, don't ya think? Thanks girls for the oh, so fun weekend! I got some REALLY GREAT STUFF!  Including a cedar chest for $10 and they delivered it!  

*Anybody else want to show off what they found?  Send me some pictures!

Button Heaven

Is there such a place?  I'm pretty sure there is and I'm pretty sure I was there last Saturday.  After posting about my 'Vintage Button' obsession (haven't read it? Read it HERE) I received a message on Facebook from a certain someone (MARCIE I LOVE YOU!) who reads my blog. She said she'd been cleaning out a ladies house who had passed away and that there were bottles, and bottles of buttons that she didn't know what to do with -- until she read my blog.  She said I was welcome to have them ALL!  Can you believe how AWESOME that is?!  That was Friday, and all that night I was thinking and talking about those buttons while on a couples date with the HH and some friends.  They pretty much all (minus one who loves buttons as much as I do) thought I was nuts-o and I pretty much am. ;)  I mean really, is a button suppose to bring this much happiness to a person?  Saturday I (of course) was up bright and early out at  yard sales when I got a call from my "button angel" saying I could meet her to pick them up. Which I did.  And "Oh", the pure joy of all those buttons! There were SIX bottles plus 3 small bags full of wonderful, magnificent, gorgeous, one-of-a-kind, story BUTTONS!!!!  I was TRULY in button heaven while digging through them, carefully examining each and everyone.  When I found an especially great one I would scream and giggle with joy and run to show the HH, he humored me but was CLEARLY not as enthusiastic about it as I was. (RUDE!;)) Thankfully I had called in two of my fellow button lovers to come share in the BLISS with me (It's always more fun to share!).  Oh the fun we had when they arrived...hours of fun!  We ooed and awed at all of them, and laughed at how many times we were saying the word "LOVE", it was AWESOME!   While digging through them we felt sad that we didn't  know the sweet little lady's name who owned them.  I have since found out that her name was Nadine and that she was a sweetheart.   I really hope that Nadine knows how much I  CHERISH her buttons.  Now my jar is 3/4 full and I have some really, really great buttons in it.  Thank you Marcie and Nadine you are truly my BUTTON ANGELS!   

3 Crazy button ladies swimming in button love!

Sorting of the buttons...

Some of my very favorites from the bottles.  The picture does NOT do them justice though!

My new pile mound of buttons.

My jar in all it's glory! 3/4 full and loving it.  Almost time to find me a new vintage bottle. :)

*This is going to be a great weekend for Yard Sales!  The weather is FINALLY going to be warm. There are dozens of them in practically ever city throughout Utah.  So get out there and make me PROUD. :)  Send me pic.s of any great finds you get.  I'd love to share it here on the blog!

A blessing or a curse.

"I am having an out of money experience." ~Author Unknown

I have to admit that I have not always been a THRIFTY girl.  I've always liked getting a good deal , but I wouldn't say I was exactly "THRIFTY". GASP...I know right!  But like many of you out there, this recession has forced me to face reality.   Before, I would buy all my kids clothes at  Name Brand stores, and wouldn't necessarily wait for them to go on sale first.  I'd buy what I wanted, when I wanted it.  Why wait? We would eat out more often then not, or, we would eat out of a box.  I'm embarrassed to say that in the first 5 years of marriage we didn't even go through a 5lb bag of flour.  I can't believe I just admitted that.  But it's true.  Thankfully I've come a LOOOOONG way in the last 4 years.  Because of the recession I have been, not so gently, pushed in the right direction as far as finances go.  I use to think: "Why me?  Why do I have to go through this?  Why? Why? Why?"  Then one day (or maybe more gradually then I thought) I woke up.  I had my light bulb moment!  Why NOT me?  Instead I started thinking "What should I be getting out of all this and what was I suppose to be learning?"  I learned to tell the difference between a "want" and a "need".  I learned how to cook.  I mean really cook!  From scratch!  I'm talking, home made bread and rolls, noodles, and soups (not from the can!).  I learned what is truly important in life.  I learned that it actually was, and is, possible to be poor and happy.  I learned that there is so much more out there that is more important then money.  I learned the JOY of being truly "THRIFTY".   Life is good people!  Life is good!  I am SO HAPPY to have gone through the struggles that I have gone through.  Otherwise we would still be eating from a box; we would be living off our credit cards and wonder why we still weren't as happy as we could be.   I'm not saying that everyone needs to be like me or go through what I went through to learn these lessons.  You are all probably much smarter than I am in the first place.  I'm just saying that I have an AMAZING Heavenly Father who knows what I need, and knows what lessons I need to learn, so that I can become the best version of myself.  So not having money has become a blessing to me, not a curse.   It is funny (and slightly sad) that it took me a good two years to figure it out.  But I can honestly say that I know Someone is watching over me and even though I can't see the "BIG PICTURE" of my life, I know that they can, and I need to trust in that. So this "curse" became exactly what I needed to bless me for the rest of my life.

Weekend spelled...J.O.Y!

Two 'no kid' dates with the Handsome Husband, Yard Sales, upholstery class, some sweet deals, a baby blessing, BOTTLES, and BOTTLES, of BUTTONS, and lots of friend and family time.  This weekend was defiantly a JOY! Here are some of my great finds at Saturday's Yard Sales.

My favorite find was this SUPER CUTE shower curtain, complete with the cute hooks and a shower curtain liner.  You can pick this all up at Target today for $48+tax.  Guess what I paid though?  A mere $10 :)  Love this shower curtain so much and have been wanting one for our upstairs bathroom for (literally) years.  That bathroom doesn't get used much so it was hard to justify spending a lot of money on one.  I'll do it for 10 bucks though and especially when it's this cute and matches my wall color perfectly.  JOY!

 Here it is up in the bathroom!  Isn't it PERFECT!  Oh and the shower curtain rod was one my in-laws had an extra of so they passed the love to me!  THANKS GUYS!

At one Yard Sale they were selling a bunch of girlie BBC movies on DVD. The discs looked new, no big scratches which is usually the case when there are DVDs at yard sales.  BBC movies are the best!  If you love period films and old fashioned life then these are the shows for you. ROMANCE, DRAMA, and LOVE.  These are as big of a chick-flick as they come.  Can you say 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Sense and Sensibility', 'North and South'.  The best of the best of BBC movies.  Here are the ones I picked up.  For $1 each. Cha-ching!  JOY!

 I also picked up 'Little House on the Prairie' seasons 1 & 2 on DVD for $1. :)  Thought they would make a great companion for the book set I got two weekends ago.  JOY! 

First yard sale of the morning was a JACK-POT! That is where I picked up the shower curtain and I also got these clothes (some of them brand new with tags still on!) and a very cute ALDO bag. All this plus one more shirt that I happened to be wearing when I took the pictures. ;)  It's comfy and so perfect for weekend lounging! JOY!

 3 Shirts for the HH (which will be part of his Father's Day gift.), 4 shirts for me (Mother's Day! Am I the only one who shops for her own gifts?), 1 sweater jacket, 1 vest with hood, and the cutest yellow dress, and of course the ALDO bag.  Spent $3 for the bag and an average of $1 on each of the clothing pieces!  How can you NOT love Yard Sales?  JOY!

Here are some close-up pictures of the loot...

 This dress is going to be so cute with some leggings and a little shirt under or even a light cardigan over it. I heart cardigans!

 Love the big collar on this sweater.  The picture makes it brighter then it really is, it's more of a mossy color rather then avocado color you see here.

 This was the shirt I was wearing.  I decided to take it off for you.  It has a cute little hood even, and wide arms.  So COMFY!

Now for the ULTIMATE JOY of the weekend...BOTTLES AND BOTTLES OF BUTTONS!!  This deserves a post all on it's own so I'm going to post more on my 'Leaning Tower of Buttons' later.  I really can't believe this happened to me.  Somebody L-O-V-E-S me!  JOY! and JOY!

*Did anyone else go and brave the cold and snow this weekend?   What was your favorite find?