Another "Frugal" Post

Here is my shopping trip this morning that I was so excited about and just had to post because I'm lame like that.  

I bought 55 items, saved $115.63 (72% savings) and only spent $47.50.  Needless to say I was a little excited about this.  I told you I was lame.

Since I'm doing another post about my frugal "adventures" if you can call them that, I thought I'd show you some of my thrifting trips lately as well.  I have always enjoyed thrift store shopping or "dumpster diving" as my dad so lovingly would call it.  Even as a teenager I thought it was tons of fun to go and by clothes and try to transform them into something else.  Lots of fond memories.  But, once I got married and was in college I felt like I didn't have time to go and really kinda forgot all about it.  Then once we started having munchkins the thought never even occurred to me to check out the thrift store.  I'll be honest, I sorta thought you couldn't by stain-free, still in decent shape, used munchkin clothes.  But holy cow, have I been wrong.  Of course with one child it didn't really phase me to go by clothes for her, but then the second came along and I started feeling that sense of dread when I had to buy clothes for both munchkins, it suddenly seemed very expensive and then of course with a third it's a whole new ballgame.  So I've started scouring the thrift store as often as I can to find super cute, name brand, clean clothes for my munchkins.  Now admittedly you have to dig through a lot of crap to get the goods, but when you do, it's totally worth it.  And now I don't feel like having a stroke when Miss Ella decides to drag her feet along the concrete scuffing her shoes to death while I'm thinking that I just spent $20 last week on those shoes, they're already yucky looking and they're never going to make it to Missy Ashlynn.  Of course, I still hate when she does that, but at least now I've only spent $2 on them.

 $11.00

 $20.00

 $3.00

 $8.50

This was bought at a consignment store during one of those sales where they give you a bag and everything you can fit in that bag from certain bins is only $8.50.  The total consignment store price for everything would have been $50.00 so I can only imagine what the original retail price was.

 My little model... this shirt was also from the above loot.

$21.00

The cute Osh Kosh jacket was $5, everything else was $2 a piece including all four brand new boys jeans from Kohl's.

It's definitely worth taking the time to scour the thrift stores in my opinion.

A Few Thrifty Finds

It's rare that I visit our thrift store because of the prices and usually it's just a lot of junk, but I will occasionally find something worth getting.  Today was one of those days.  I've really been in the mood lately to find some good deals and I'm finally getting some energy to get going on some home projects I've had on the back burner, so I've been stopping whenever I'm out and about but nothing has turned up until this morning.  I was thrilled with my finds and the prices weren't that bad either, especially for our DI.    

This great little bookcase was $10.  I know for some places that is a rip off, but like I said it was a great deal for our DI.  I love the shape and I have the perfect spot for it.  Now what color should I paint it?

The back is pressboard of course, but I still love the bead board grooves.

Yes, I bought a gun cabinet.  I do live in UT after all.  Do I plan on using it as a gun cabinet?  Oh heck no!  I have big plans for this baby.  You'll just have to wait and see what I have in store...

A lovely stained and disgusting red carpet.

My plastic salad tongs got left at a get together several years ago and I still haven't replace them, until now that is.  These gorgeous silver ones were a whole $1.

Look at the gorgeous detail.  I need to get out the silver polish now.

I've been wanting a blue mason jar forever, but can only find them at antique stores for $10 each.  This was .50 cents.

I thought these justice scales were kinda cool for my husbands bookshelf.  They go quite nice with his gavel.  Now I just need to figure out something for that hole.

My other great find this week was from Target.  Oh how I love you Target.

Isn't she pretty?  I've been looking for an end table for the front room since we moved in and just hadn't found anything until I was standing in line at Target and a woman in front of me had one of these and I saw it ring up at 19.98.  I of course quickly got out of line and just about ran to grab one.  I had seen these on clearance, but the sticker said 55.98 (which I was not going to pay).  I was so excited since it was originally $80.  It was also the last one, so you can imagine the happy dance I was doing when I got home and it went perfectly in its new home.  Now I just need to accessorize it.  That chest just isn't doing it.  A little too dark if you ask me.

Thrifty Finds

I'm sorry I've been a slacker blogger the last week and a half.  But I have been extremely busy with life at home.  Two of my sisters, niece and nephew came to visit last weekend and so we were too busy having fun, which of course means my munchkins routine was completely messed up, laundry was backed up, cleaning was non-existent and all my money is now gone.  We shopped for two days straight and hit up every thrift store within a 30 mile radius.  So for the last few days I've been trying to get caught up at home while attempting to get the munchkins back onto their schedule (I'm meeting this challenge with minimal success).  Of course Mr. Handsome is teething as well and both kids are getting over runny noses (sorry again about that Brittany), so factor in some extra crankiness on top of refusing to nap and sleep at night and it makes for some rough days.  Anywho, I thought I would at least share my thrifty loot with you.  We went with the intention of finding deals on kids clothes, which I don't usually go to thrift stores for that since you have to sort through so much junk and my kids aren't that patient, but since my sisters wanted to go I thought what the heck.  We had a great time (although the munchkins didn't - Ella Bella started crying that she wanted to go home and sleep when she saw me pull into another parking lot) and I managed to find several great finds.  So here are a few pics of my steals.

I ended up finding a few things for myself.

I'm not loyal to certain brands (I will easily wear off brands if they fit, are cute and affordable), but I do love a good name brand especially when I can get such a great deal.  These sweaters were $1.50 each.

I love love love all these shoes.  Can you believe I only paid $7 for those boots?  And they fit perfectly.  I've looked for boots for years and have never found any that fit me.  Needless to say I was thrilled!

Super cute sweater... Thanks again Brittany.

An adorable zip up hoodie... it had a couple of very light stains that were hardly noticable, but that just makes it perfect for playing outdoors and camping.

I love Target's Cherokee brand for kids.  They always fit so well.

How cute is this "future heart breaker" shirt!?!

$2 for a pair of sandals that she can ruin playing in the yard...

I didn't find nearly as much for Mr. Handsome, but I am really picky about boy clothes.  After sorting through his "grow into" clothing bucket today, it looks like he is already good on 12 & 18 month clothing anyways.  

How cute is this sweater for next winter?  I love argyle!

One of my secret addictions: buying baby girl clothes... hopefully I'll have another girl someday and she can wear these things.  Oh they were just too adorable to pass up, especially this white Old Navy dress that still had the tags on it.

4 women's sweaters

1 maternity sweater (no, I'm not pregnant, but will be again someday)

1 corduroy jacket

2 women's shirts

2 bermuda shorts

1 tweed skirt

3 women's shoes (boots, heals and flats)

4 toddler girl zip/button up sweaters

1 toddler girl corduroy jacket

1 toddler girl light jacket

11 toddler girl t-shirts

1 pair of toddler girls sandals

2 toddler girls shorts

1 toddler girl pants

4 toddler girl skirts

8 baby boy shirts

1 baby boy fleece sweatshirt

1 baby boy sweater

1 baby boy jean

1 baby boy shortalls

1 baby girl dress

2 baby girl skirts

1 baby girl fleece hoodie

All of this for a grand total of $120

Finally... I'm finished with one of many ledges

Since I've been quarantined at home with both kids I've been able to be really productive and get some projects done around the house.  When we moved in I posted about how many ledges we have in this house.  I've never really known what to do with them.  I've always considered them to be "dust collectors".  But, I've slowly been collecting things that I thought might work and some things I had planned for other spaces.  On Tuesday when both kids were napping I started going through the stuff I had been collecting, mostly from thrift stores, and realized I had a lot of stuff.  So I pulled everything out and got to work.  Out of five ledges I now have one decorated and I have to say that I am thrilled with the finished product.  It's not too cluttered, but it also has just enough stuff.  Here I've been keeping an eye out for stuff to buy just for this spot when all I really had to do was shop my craft closets.

This was before when we first moved in.

And the beautious after! I love it!

The star is from Tai Pan Trading, the pumpkins are from the dollar bins at Target, the lanterns are from Wal-Mart and look just like Pottery Barn's lanterns and the frame was $3 at the thrift store.

I was so excited to find these vintage samsonite suitcases at the thrift store for $8.  The silver and glass urn was a wedding present and the filler balls were just a couple dollars at the thrift store.

I found this urn planter at the thrift store for $8.  The tree branches are from our back yard and the moss is from a project that I did years ago.  The bird was just a couple dollars on clearance at Michael's.

For a total of about $60 I was able to totally transform and decorate this ledge that has been driving me crazy since we moved in.  The best part too is that Andrew loved it.  He was almost as excited about it as I was.  I said almost.  Now if I could just replace the light fixture hanging in the entryway.  One thing at a time I guess.

DIY Chair Makeover

I found these chairs at our local thrift store for $6 a piece.  I love a good deal!  They were so ugly, but I loved the shape and saw their potential.  They were in great shape and just needed some new upholstery and paint.  After hauling them home I got to work sanding, painting and re-upholstering the cushions.  In the end I only spent about $35 for the chairs, spray paint and fabric.  The pillows were free since I already had the fabric and pillow forms from other projects. 

I love a fresh coat of Heirloom White spray paint

This is nice, but it's still missing something

Ahh... much better.

I love the look of ruffles and wanted to add a little feminine touch to the chairs and our bedroom so I followed kelly + olive's tutorial on making a ruffled pillow.  They turned out so cute and it adds just enough girliness without being too much for dear hubby.

I'm not sure if this table will be permanent here, but I've been wanting something in between the chairs.  Since I already had this downstairs, we'll try it out for a while.  It's a great little place to read now.