Yard Sale Finds

I love yard sales, second hand stores, and hand me downs.  I even keep an eye out as we're driving down the street for a good Roadkill Rescue!

Here are a few recent yard sale finds...

I was thrilled to find this dresser.  I was on the lookout for just the right piece for my family room, and this was it!  It's solid wood, and gorgeous.  Unfortunately the color wasn't right, and the top needed a lot of work, it had chunks missing and bubbled up areas.  The back was falling off as well...but it had great bones and was only $25! 

My sweet husband went to go get the car for it while I practically sat on it waiting for him, hehe!  Then I tried to help him lift it, and couldn't, so he picked the dresser up by himself and carried it to the car!  What a man! 

I'll write up a new post just for this baby to show you what I did to it.

Scored this desk for the girls' play room.  It was $5.  FIVE DOLLARS!  I might end up painting it for them, but for now it's in there as is.  Pardon the mess on it.  If something is hanging out in my garage I end up using it to set stuff on. 

This little candle holder with a beaded lamp shade was $2.  I picked it up, then put it back and walked around more.  Then I picked it up again.  And put it down again.  Then I was chatting with the people running the yard sale and they mentioned all the proceeds go to charity, and this particular yard sale was funding a mission trip.  I picked it up again brought it home.  I figured if I picked it up twice, $2 was worth it and it's a good solid candle holder, the price sticker was still on it from Kohl's and if I recall correctly it was $20.99.

The frames were .50 each.  Great deal for 8x10 frames.  They each got a coat of white spray paint.  One is now in my living room and the other in my daughter's room.

Isn't it pretty?  The beaded lamp shade is just the right color for my kitchen.

I picked up this framed picture for $3!  The price tag on the back read $49.99!  The frame is very heavy. 

Those baskets were 2/$1.  The gentleman selling them actually offered to sell me ALL of his baskets for $3.  There were quite a lot, but I was walking and just couldn't carry that many so I declined.

The wooden tray on a pedestal was TEN CENTS.

That shelf was fifty cents.  My mom had one just like it when I was growing up.  When she saw it, she said she still has it somewhere.  She said it was Home Interiors. 

I picked up the pink lampshade for my daughter's room...it was just .25!

Great bargains, I think!

Here is a peek at where I put the framed wine bottle photo and the little candle lamp I couldn't make up my mind on.  Love them both!  That space on the wall sat empty for months and I knew it just needed something, this worked out great!

Under the Sea - Little Mermaid Birthday Party

So, I already showed you these adorable Octo-Pops here...but I thought I'd share a few more pictures from my big girls 6th birthday party!  She chose a Little Mermaid theme, and we're big Disney fans here so I was all over that! 

Decor was bought mostly at The Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Party City! 

I did order the lei's (the blue and purple, shown above) from Oriental Trading, when they were having a sale and free shipping a few months ago.  I also got some bubbles for the treat bags from there too.  I still have tons left over for future parties or Halloween!

Pin the tiara on Ariel, and of course we had to have The Little Mermaid on in the living room, turned down super low.

I set out some Little Mermaid books for the kids to look at, and some puzzles to play with as well.

I was so happy with how the cupcakes turned out!  They were SO easy!

I made food labels with paint sample cards, and stickers!

"Clams" were simply vanilla wafers, with strawberry frosting and a pearl sprinkle!

Fish 'n' Chips!

(that empty bowl there, was filled with dip before the party, I just didn't want it sitting out any longer than needed)

Ahhh, the cupcakes.  I actually just used boxed cake mix.  Vanilla and Devil's Food Chocolate.  Yum!

I frosted them with three different colors of frosting, to sort of mimic the ocean. 

I used the new Duncan Hines Frosting Creations, in Caramel, Mint Chocolate, and Cotton Candy.   The colors were PERFECT!  I crushed up graham crackers to put on top of the caramel frosting to be "sand."  On the green and blue frostings, I put green and blue sugar crystal sprinkles to add a little sparkle, and added some pearl sprinkles as well.  My daugher LOVED those, she couldn't believe you could eat them.  To make them extra yummy, I also used a seashell mold I had on hand and poured melted white chocolate into, to make the starfish and sea shells.  I was only going to put them on random cupcakes, but thought that might cause a problem with the kiddies, so I put them on every single one.  I made 48 cupcakes, and they were ALL gone by the next morning.  There were only 2 left and my kids ate them for breakfast, haha!

When we went to Party City to check out their mermaid selection, my daughters wanted to go see the Halloween area.  My husband took them over and they came running back to me with that trident.  They were SO excited that it looked like King Triton's, except that it was black and red.  No problem a little spray paint couldn't fix!  I already had some Rustoleum hammered finish in gold that worked perfectly!

Happy birthday, big girl!

For activities during the party, we had a water table set up outside.  We purchased a few bags of fish/sea creatures from the Dollar Tree, and some 2-packs of mermaid dolls from there as well.

We also filled a small, clam shell shaped pool with play sand.  I put some treasures in the sand and supplied shovels and sifters so the kids could dig for buried treasure.  Pirate coins, jewels, etc. 

Inside, we had some green pipe cleaner "sea weed" and beads to make bracelets!

Octo-Pops

We made these fun little favors for my daughter's Little Mermaid themed birthday party!

All you need is a bag of tootsie pops (I figured parents might not appreciate blow pops, haha!), tissue paper, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes (you could totally just use little cut out circles and put a black dot on them with a marker too, I'm thinking the circle left being from hole punches would be perfect!)

We just cut the tissue paper into squares, and used two squares on each tootsie pop so you couldn't see the wrapper through.  Wrapped it around the pop.

Then I took pipe cleaners in the same color, and cut them in half.  You'll want four halves.  Take three and wrap one around them to hold them all together. 

Then, just wrap two of the "arms" you just created around the tootsie pop to secure the tissue paper.  Glue on two eyes, and you're done!

I wrapped the lid of a shoe box with more tissue paper, and poked holes in the top to stick the Octo Pops in for "display," and so they didn't get knocked around and the eyes fall off. 

Lemon, Rosemary, Vanilla

I am obsessed with smells.  Seriously, I am.  I love candles, potpourii (I have NO idea how you spell that, ha!), room sprays, body sprays, perfume... as long as the scent appeals to me, of course.  I like light and fresh scents, with the occasional floral, and in the fall of course I like more spicy scents.

So, I was hanging out on Pinterest awhile back, and saw a pin that said "Make Your House Smell Like Williams Sonoma."  Well...I have to admit, I've never even BEEN in a Williams Sonoma...but I saw lemons in the picture so I was sold. 

I had to try it!

I already had all of the ingredients, so I just threw them in my mini crock pot.  The recipe said to put them on the stove, and next time I do this, I'm going to try that because the scent was a little weak in the crock pot...maybe the stove will work better. 

All you need is one sliced lemon, a few sprigs of rosemary, two teaspoons of vanilla, and water.  Add it all to a pot and simmer! 

It does smell lovely! 

Gas Points!

Just had to share...

I did some shopping at Giant yesterday, and really focused on the gas deals.

This week, was mostly junk food...which I wasn't crazy about, but I stocked up on candy for Halloween, party favors, and little lunchbox treats, as well as some fruit snacks, and the snack pack cups for lunch boxes and car trips.

I spent right about $83 (also bought milk, several cans of tuna fish, and a pound of cheese, which were not part of the "gas deals," we just decided to make tuna melts for dinner), but I got 3300 gas points.  On 30 gallons of gas, which is the limit, is worth $99! We will be able to fill up our car for very cheap, or free! Woohoo! :o)

This was my husband's total for gas earlier this week, thanks to gas deals I had done earlier in the month.  He didn't realize he could get a whole 30 gallons or he said he would have brought his gas can too, haha...but hey, still, a tank of gas for ONE CENT!

I realize I spent $83 on stuff I probably wouldn't have bought otherwise, but when you get $99 in free gas, and you HAVE to buy gas and spend the money either way, you might as well spend $83 on food to get $99 of gas for free!

So, Sewing is Not My Strong Point

I like pillows.  They're fluffy and comfortably and make couches and beds look so cozy and inviting.

When I saw this post over at Brassy Apple for DIY Sweater Pillows, I knew I had to try them.

Only problem?  I am BAD at sewing!  I can fix a small tear in clothing, but I can't use a sewing machine to save my life.  I *want* to be able to, but I just can't seem to figure it out.  My mother in law bought me a great machine for Christmas a few years back, and I've broken so many needles trying to figure that thing out.  I did try to use it on these pillows, but eventually gave up and did them by hand.  You can really tell, they're SO uneven!  I'm just going to pretend that it gives them character, haha!

I didn't have any pillow forms either, so I opened up an old (bed) pillow and pulled the fluff out of it to stuff these with.  I was in a DIY without going to the store for supplies first kinda mood (in other words, DIY on the CHEAP).

I made the green pillows too.  But I cheated and used the strips that you iron.  Which wasnt really my best idea ever because we USE our pillows.  The kids really beat them up and they would hold up way better sewn with a machine. 

Maybe one day I'll get the hang of it?  It seems so EASY for everyone who has shown me how to use them...but I can't even get the hang of threading it correctly. 

Project = Fail

Ever have a great idea for a project, and you know exactly how to pull it off, and you even have all of the supplies on hand?  It's like FATE!

I was so excited to start this project.  I wanted a letter M for my family room, and I wanted it wrapped in twine.  I didn't have any twine, but I did have a nice big unopened roll of hemp cord.  Close enough!

So I traced a letter M onto an old cardboard box. 

Cut it out.

Started to spray paint the M brown, so if the cord didn't cover perfectly it was okay.

But I ran out of brown.  So I had to use black.  Minor setback.

So, let's get started!

Squeeeeee!  I love this!  It's gonna be so purty!

Hmm...letters are a little tricky to wrap.  And this is taking a lot more cord than I thought.

And then I run out of cord. 

And I can't find anymore of this cord at the store.  :o(

Hmph!

Project = Fail.

Eventually I unwrapped the letter and decided maybe I'll try it on a smaller letter.

I'm still too grumpy with my fail to do that though.

Baby Wipe Tub Organization

I am long past the days of diaper changing, but still have plenty of empty baby wipes tubs floating around my house. 

They are awesome for storing small toys, and just for organization in general.

I have been using a few in my kitchen to corral small items for years, but when I was organizing my pantry recently, I purchased a few larger baskets to keep similar items contained.  They were all black, and my kitchen has a lot of black in it (decor and appliances), so I just knew it was going to bug me every time I opened my pantry and saw the black baskets and the Winnie the Pooh or bright yellow and red baby wipe tubs. 

Yeah.  I roll my eyes at myself.  It's okay if you want to roll yours at me too!  :o)  I'm fully well aware that this probably only bothered me. 

Soooo, what's a girl to do?  The tubs work so well (oatmeal packets, granola bars, poptarts, small bags of pancake or muffin mixes, spice packets, and bags of unpopped popcorn fit perfectly!), I didn't want to just go out and buy more baskets when I already had these on hand.

My love affair with spray paint came to the rescue.  I sprayed these little monsters with some Oil Rubbed Bronze.  I would have used plain black, but I was all out.  And the ORB is just so PRETTY!  Nothing wrong with a little sparkle in your pantry!

One of these days, I am going to make my pantry all pretty like some of the others in blog land.  Take out the wire shelves and put in some nice wooden ones, maybe some wallpaper or paint and stenciling.  Who knows!  But for now, I'm happy with my tubs being uniform and not screaming "Huggies Was Here" everytime I go to grab a granola bar.