Who Doesn't Like a Little Cash

This is a Birthday gift that I made for Mr. C's cousin.  I got the idea from a friend (thanks Abby).  I usually make capes, but had already made 2 that month and struck -out at the Thrift Stores when trying to find more material so i had to get creative.  Who doesn't like cash though, right? 

Everything used was already stuff that I had at my house. 

Don't you just L.O.V.E. Mason jars?  I do!  Pinterest is full of really great ideas of ways to use them. 

Here are just a few that I loved.

Put an APRON in a jar with a recipe. Such a cute gift!

Mason Jar cup! Kids (well anyone) would love this!

i want one of these...but where?  Ew! Above a tub!  That's Dreamy!

I need to make me some of these!

Tempted!

My Sister-in-law is getting married on WEDNESDAY, and I have been SO very tempted to buy us some new attire for the special occasion.

It has been killing me! 

My sweet Mother-in-law bought Miss J and her cousin matching dresses for it, and also bought the boys their ties so there wasn't much more I needed, but Miss J needed some new shoes in a bad way to go with the dress she's wearing.

I broke down and bought her some from Payless!!!!

We had them for a week in the box and the guilt got to me so I was determined to take them back, and prayed I'd be able to find something that would work.

I stopped by Kid to Kid and struck 'gold'!

Payless Shoes for 14.99, but I had a 20% off coupon and ended up getting them for around $12.  Just look how shinny and new they look!  How long would they stay that way though, right?

Found these for $2.99 and they are the exact same color as the Payless ones and with a little cleaning up will look FABULOUS with her dress!!

Also found these!  They are the exact same pair as her Payless ones just a different color.  They cost me $3.99.  This pic doesn't make them look that great, but they really are cute.  The ribbon and the shoes are actually the same color.

I was able to take the Payless ones back and get 2 pairs of shoes for less then the NEW ones.  I'm really excited about it!  I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't hard taking those cute little gold flats back, but hey, I CAN DO HARD THINGS! :)

Princess Mulan

This is probably one of my favorite finds of the year.  Miss J has wanted a Mulan dress for a very long time, but even used ones are $50, and I couldn't justify it.  Then one sunny, happy day we were Thrifting and we were on our way to the check-out when I saw this little beauty hanging on the rack by the dressing rooms.  I couldn't believe it!  Then I about died when I saw the price of $2.99!!!!  I was convinced that it had a big tear or stain on it for that price, but it had neither and looked practically NEW.  What a steal!!!  We gave it to her for Valentines Day and she absolutely loves it!!!!!  So glad I was patient and didn't buy the $50 one. :)

Another Second-hand Birthday

 Mr C had a Birthday and got HOOKED-UP in the gift department.  How much did I spend you ask? A big whopping 18.50. SWEET!

  He woke up to balloons (can you get balloons second-hand that actually float?), a hand-made cape that he has been begging for since the first one I made for his friend, and 4 secret presents that he had to wait to open until after breakfast.  TORTURE!

He went for the biggest one first, of course.  I even got the wrapping paper at a Thrift store. :)

GOLF CLUBS! Him and his Dad are going to have a blast this summer! Picked up the golf clubs, with the bag and extra balls and tees for a whopping $10 from a Yard Sale!

He has been wanting a "big" back-pack since he started 1st grade because he says that the other kids tease him that he has a "baby back-pack".  We told him to just 'own that baby back-pack'  and if he thinks it's cool then it is.  He didn't like that answer but we made him deal with it (it was actually his perfect size, not a baby one) until now.  He was so happy!  He took it everywhere and even wore it all day at school on Monday.  I've had this for years, but had forgotten about it.  Glad I organized and found it again. :)

New(for him) bike helmet. $2

Agent P t-shirt.  Miss J was Thrifting with me and came across it.  She had to get for him.  I didn't think it was worth $3.49, it looked pretty worn. She was convincing though and we came home with it.

She was right he loved it! She got a big hug for it too.  I guess it was worth it after all.

He LOVES that cape.  I got the fabric at a thrift store and from my Mom. Spent about $3 on it.  the sweet mask was a Yard Sale find from last Summer. $1.

I would say that he had a great Birthday! Yes?  Love this kid and ALL of his energy. :)

31 Days and Counting

Can you believe it? I have 31 days left until my "Year of Thrift" is complete!  I can ALMOST taste it!  I am so glad that I did it and I know that we have saved SOOOOOOOOOOO much money, but I am REALLY excited to be done. 

How nice will it be not to hand-make birthday presents anymore? For the receiver, as much as me. ;) How nice will it be to not take a whole day hunting for something that I couldn't even find, so my whole day was a waste?   How nice will it be to have at least one nice NEW pair of shoes, or pants, or shirt, or well...anything.

Am I just going to go back to buying $30 jeans for my 1 year old then? NO. NO.  And NO!!

I have LOVED learning what I have and being able to re-use things.  It's so awesome, and now I know I can do it if I have to. I'll just be doing it because it's fun and I 100% WANT to.  Not just because my project is holding me to it. 

I'm still going to be a Yard Sale Queen, and a Thrift Store Junky, and it's going to be so much fun, but I will start shopping at Target again (oh TARGET!! ).  :) I will 'splurge' every once in a while and spend a whole $20 on a shirt! GASP! I know right?  I'm getting a little crazy here! Even as I type this my heart is starting to race just thinking about it! Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Oh, the JOYS!

In CELEBRATION of my last month I am going to, and I say this with hesitation because I know my track record, have a NEW blog post everyday through-out April. :)  

That is one regret that I do have, I didn't blog even half as much as I wished I would have.  I could've shared SO many more things with you all. Oh, it makes me sad, but hey, this will help make up for it right?

So.... 

....here is to one more month of Second-Hand buys!

My Swagger Wagon...

Here are  few pictures of my SWEET Van!  I should've taken more, especially of the inside.  what was I thinking?!  

Mr E feeling pretty "POSH" in the Van. I know how you feel buddy, I really, really do. :)

One of my most favorite things about it.  I don't know why I love this so much, but I do.  Hooks! To hold your bags so they are not rolling around, so that everything stays nice and tidy and your bread, and fruit doesn't get smashed. !!!! :)  LOVE!

There are so many other things I love about this Van! SO MANY! Did I mention that it has a back-up camera?  It does...and...I love it!


**Mr C had a Birthday!  His big day coming up next with all the Second hand goods!  We spent a total of $15.00 for all of his presents and he got some really great stuff people!  I'll post soon.  Well, let's be honest you know me....I'll post as soon as I can. ;)

Oh, and if you're still not convinced that my van is truly the best maybe this will convince you.

WHY. WHY, WHY!

For some reason blogger will NOT up load my pictures. WHY?! I think because I am such a blog slacker and it hates me.  REALLY?!  Do you think that is going to get me to blog more often? PROBABLY NOT!!

I'm going to stick-it to blogger and blog anyways...that should show 'em, right? HA!

Any who sorry about the rant. :) 

I was REALLY EXCITED to post pictures of my most FAVORITE second-hand buy, and Christmas present.  MY VAN!!!!!!!!  That's right folks, I am rockin' the Mini-van and proud of it! :) I love this thing so much! 

You see we had a Lexus (car) and it was wonderful, but we were squishing 3 kids, with car seats mind you, in the back seat of that amazing car.  No bueno! We sold the Lexus and got a Toyota Sienna.  Some people might consider this 'down grading' but I am feeling like royalty in this baby!  It has it ALL, leather (and heated) seats, navigation, DVD, lasers for cruise control(the HH's favorite), hooks in the trunk space to hang your bags(MY FAVORITE), back up camera(also my favorite), and soooo much more.  Honestly I could live in this thing. Oh, and the older kids can put on their seat belts by themselves.  LOVE THAT! They are not on top of each other so it's 'slightly' more peaceful too.  LOOOOVE!

The HH says that it is going to save me 5 swear words a day...at least!  Now I'm not a big swearer people but try packing 3 kids into a CAR and have to seat belt all of them because they can't reach it because they are so squished.  Then at least one of them is crying because they got their head kicked or hand smashed from someone else trying to get packed in the car. It was Aw-SOME! :) NOTE: These swear words were 'mostly' in my head so not to offend little ears. ;)  Really it has helped in a BIG way, in every possible way.  Who new?

Like I said this is a second-hand van.  We bought it from a dealer who got it from an auction who took it from an older lady so she could transport her dog. ;0  She kept this thing so clean though, and paid for the whole thing to be sprayed with scotch guard.  It looks brand new, but is a 2005.  we got a SMOKIN' deal on it and were even able to pay cash for it! LOVE!!!! 

I was determined to not go in to debt for a car.  We've done debt, and me no likey!  So we were looking at A LOT of vans with fewer upgrades and leather was an absolute no.  Then the day before the guy was buying our car we found this one,  it was slightly higher in price, but we thought we could talk him down and juggle some more of our money to make it work.  We got there to look at it and fell in LOVE, and fell HARD, but were ONLY going to do it, if the price was right.  

We took it to a mechanic and they checked it out for us and it needed to have the CV-boots changed on it, so the Dealer came down $200. The guy buying our car agreed to do a trade through the dealer which saved us another $600, and since we had cash the dealer came down another $1000!  BLEEEEESSED!

We have squished 3 kids into the back of a car for 18 months and now we were finally able to reap the reward of our sacrifice!  I am so glad we waited to find this one and that we stuck to our guns and didn't go into debt! BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!