Holy Cow..........where did the rest of the summer go?

Between camping trips, family reunions, canning, and a baby shower, somehow the rest of the summer just FLEW by! With being so busy, I didn't get to as many garage sales as I did the first half of the summer. Still a few good finds here and there and I'll try to play catch-up!

First I'll post a few baby shower pictures from August. Little Ethan Robert is due any day now!

Our cute tables..........the old canning jars worked out great for centerpieces! It's hard to see from the picture but the jars on either side of the flowers have little tealights in them and cute little blue diaper pins tied with blue ribbon around the top. We got the flowers at Sam's, the blue gingham fabric at JoAnn's (with a coupon of course!). The little diaper pin tie-ons came from either Oriental Trading or Dollar General (can't remember which). Let me just say that plain white tablecloths from Sam's are a great investment! We've used these for numerous family celebrations including 2 weddings, an Eagle scout ceremony, and now we'll add a baby shower to the list!

I had to show you the chicken that dh cooked. YUMMY!! The chicken cooker was a good investment too.........it holds 40 pounds of chicken and comes apart for transporting. There's an Amish business near us that makes them. Pretty cool!

The 2 "uncles to be" playing horseshoes :)

The parents-to-be opening some of their many gifts! You can't see from the pic but the little blocks on the gift table spell out E-T-H-A-N :)

The beyond yummy cake and cupcakes! The little bear picks in the cupcakes came from Dollar General and the tiny blue baby bottles behind the cakes came from OTC. We put lifesavers in them and then gave them away to the younger kids.

Shower attendees trying their hand at the games. We had a baby picture guessing game, a candy guessing game (candy was in a big blue baby bottle), and a raffle of sorts to guess Ethan's birthdate. Prizes for the winners (and a couple for the losers! ha ha) were awarded!

It was a beautiful summer day and such a blessing to share it with family and friends.

Deb

4th of July goodies...........

I wasn't expecting too many garage sales on Saturday but there were quite a few. One of my fave Amish salvage stores was having their annual yard sale and had about 20 vendors. Some Amish, some not, a lady selling Tupperware, lots of good food including home made donuts........YUM! Here are some of the treasures I found:

I love this candle! I'm going to change out the candle and get rid of the potpourri. I have some crackle finish paint (that I got for FREE) so I think I'll spray paint the metal stand too. Pretty nifty for a buck!

A cute little patriotic sign will fit right in with my other patriotic decor. Another $1 well spent :)

This little basket of stars is really cute too. I think I paid 50 cents for it. Love that!

I think this sign about sums it up! The weeds in my garden have loved the sun and rain of late. How is everyone else's gardens doing?

This sign is SO me! LOVE the old boards. Another lady was sort of looking at it and I was so hoping she didn't take it. I didn't want things to get ugly but it was MINE! LOL

These valances are so pretty! They're nice fabric and lined. Love the tab tops and the detail! I got 2 of them and they were only 50 cents each! I did a little looking around online and discovered this pattern is called Nantucket Ticking. One website listed them for $28 each! Ummm...........sure...........NOT!

HOW cute is this bag holder? Okay........only cute if you like cows I guess but it will suit DD's decor very well :)

These mugs will be great for our camper. I have a border in it that has moose and bear on it and I have it decorated in a cabin theme. At 25 cents each, the price was right!

LOVE these old jars! They're missing the lids but we're going to use them for dd's baby shower to hold flowers on the tables so lids will not be necessary. At 75 cents each, they were a great find!

What fun! Six Good Housekeeping magazines from the '60's for 10 cents!! I'm sure there will be some interesting articles in them :)

I'm not entirely crazy about either of these designs but they're new kits and I can change the design to something I like better. At 50 cents each (were $11 each), they were worth it for the materials.

Stamps anyone?? Some of these have never been used! I got 16 for $1. The majority of them have a $1.49 price tag on the back. Nothing will be safe from my stamping! bahahahaha

I was SO excited to find this nifty little gadget for 25 cents! It's from Pampered Chef and makes crustless sealed sandwiches (like Smuckers Uncrustables!). I have one and I love it! Having a spare (especially for a quarter) will be even better!

I hope you enjoyed my treasures. If so, leave me a comment and tell me so :) Until next time............

Happy Thrifting!

Deb

Hope you all had a great 4th of July..........

It was gorgeous here! Mid 70's at most, sun, a breeze...........what more could we ask for? We got together with family at a park for an event called Freedomfest, ate some good food, played Washers (kind of like horseshoes) and Yahtzee (found a cool travel edition at Dollar General) and saw some fantastic fireworks in the evening.

Here's a pic of the cute cupcakes I made :) Those gummy bears proudly waved the flag! I also made the little jar lamps. LOVE those LED candle lights from The Dollar Tree that flicker!

And patriotic brownies...........nothing was safe from me and a flag pick yesterday! LOL The brownies had a Rolo candy in the center and of course red/white/blue sprinkles :)

And our pretty centerpiece. I must confess I did not make this. We had gone to a big yard sale at one of my fave Amish salvage stores and they had these for $4! I simply added the flags and we took it along for our picnic. How could I go wrong for 4 bucks??? The flower colors are amazing!

Dear son Zach (aka Bud) cooking up burgers and dogs :) The corn is roasting on the other grill. YUMMY ! You can't see but our grill tools are Craftsman! I found them on clearance on Sears Ebay site last year. I got DSIL a set too. EVERY man needs Craftsman grill tools!

A ruthless game of Washers! This is DD Mandy and DSIL Robby. She teamed up with me and he was with our son J.

And here we are. The team of Mandy & Deb were victorious! WOOT! Take that BOYS! I have to be honest and thank Mandy for the win........she used to be a pitcher back when she played slow-pitch softball and she has pretty good aim.


At one point, Robby thought he needed his helmet! That's actually the lid to his grill (Eagles grill obviously!) AND they found that grill at a yard sale earlier this season for $5!



And after the food, games, and other fun came................

LOTS of them. The show was over 30 minutes long!

And during the grand finale.............Old Glory was raised by a HUGE crane! I thought this picture was really cool with the fireworks showing through the flag (thanks to dh and his photography skills!)

And later the servicemen who were honored earlier in the program posed in front of the flag. One of them even proposed to his girlfriend on stage (YES, he got down on one knee! ahhhhh!). She said YES! It was SO sweet!

We couldn't have asked for a better day. Family, food, remembering WHY we celebrate the 4th of July, thanking some servicemen, thanking God that we live in this country, gorgeous weather. SO much to be thankful for!

I hope all of you had a fab day!

Deb

A few more treasures............

Okay I hinted at some other finds in my last post. Pottery Barn to be exact..........let me just say while I do like some of their stuff, I would NEVER pay their prices! We even have an outlet near us and pfffffffffttttttt.......I wouldn't pay those prices either!! However, when I see something I like and it's at yard sale prices (I mean REAL yard sale prices.........not the sales where the folks want half of new price) then I take advantage of it!

Our first item up is this cool brushed metal light. It had a $149 PB price tag on it. Not a chance! But for $10 (yes 10 little buckaroonies) it was mine! I think it will go in dh's office but we'll see :)

We had to get this for dh! In case I haven't mentioned it before, he is a part-time photographer and has been in love with photography almost his whole life. This Pottery Barn tri-pod lamp was just perfect for his office! It didn't have the PB price tag on it still but a similar lamp on the PB site listed for $299. We got it for a mere $10! Whoo-hoo! We were on a roll!

Not pictured (because dh didn't take a pic yet!) is a Pottery Barn red silk Roman shade. It still had the $119 price tag on it and we got it for $8! Once the office re-do is done, I'll take a picture of it once it's hung. It came with all the hardware, instructions, etc. Another whoo-hoo!



At a different sale, we found this cute little sidetable. It doesn't show in the picture but the top is leather. I think it will go really well with the free wingback chair we got a few weeks back (yes, FREE!). I don't remember what it was marked at but we got it for $10! Another whoo-hoo!

We don't always do this well at yard sales but it sure is a whoo-hoo weekend when we do! Anyone can go to Pottery Barn (or your store of choice) and buy something off the shelf. It takes more time and effort to find stuff you love at yard sales and thrift stores. Of course we save a lot of money but it's more than that.......it's the thrill of the hunt! And then more fun bringing the stuff home and figuring out where it's going to go, what color to paint it, how to re-do it to suit your decor, etc.

I hope all of you had some whoo-hoo finds this week!

Deb

Yard Sale Bonanza Weekend.................

Loads of yard sales again this weekend. We saw some people we knew, some cute pets, and loads of goodies (well some good and some not! LOL) Here are some highlights of our finds:

How cute is this piggy? He'll look great above my kitchen cabinets with my vintage kitchen utensils. And for $1, the price was right :) I probably shouldn't hang it near any items that cut. LOL

Another cute tin. I love those little Bon Ami chicks! For a quarter, they're even cuter!

A pretty brushed frame for a $1.

Another pretty frame. Also a $1.

And yet another pretty frame. I'll give this one to DD and DSIL.

A pretty new Martha Stewart snowflake table set for $3! There is a tablecloth, runner, and 2 napkins. Original prices on the pieces was $34. I remember seeing this set last Christmas but didn't want to pay those prices. "Good things come to those who wait" comes to mind :)

A pretty Christmas towel for 25 cents. More snowmen are always a good thing :) Isn't the red gingham border just adorable?

An adorable Christmas garland for 25 cents. How cute is that little red cardinal? Oh and another snowman of course!

I thought these placemats were just adorable! Looks like one of Santa's reindeer wanted to borrow his hat? There are only 2 of them so they will go perfectly in our camper as the table only seats 2 :) And at 25 cents for both, the price was right!

These jewelry kits are new and cost me 25 cents each. One is marked $7.95 and the other is $9.95. If I don't like the outcome, I can always take them apart and use the pieces for another project.

This cute little shoe book was 25 cents. Even the little bookmark has a pair of gold shoes on the ribbon! This will be a gift but I don't want to say for who as she will probably read this!

And on the more practical side.........a Williams Sonoma aspragus cooker. New in box for $1.

A Pampered Chef cheese knife for $1. I have one of these and I love it!

One of my favorite things of the day! A Fiskars paper cutter for $15! It still has the $73.99 price sticker on it from AC Moore. We have one of these and there are times it would be nice to have 2.....like when we were making baby shower invitations last week! I can't believe I found one at a yard sale! Whoo-hoo!

Not a bad haul if I say so myself! I have a few other treasures to post about once I have dh take the pictures. They're larger items than will fit in my little picture taking area that dh made for me so I'll let him take those. Here's a teaser.............3 Pottery Barn items and a Calphalon hanging pot rack and none of the pieces were over $10!

Happy bargain hunting!

Deb

Goodwill Finds..........

My daughter and I went to visit JoAnn's yesterday to get some paper and other materials for baby shower invitations. There is a GW in the same shopping center so of course we had to spend some time there. They had LOADS of name brand clothing. The only thing I dislike about GW is they group their clothing by color so you have to go through all of it. I did manage to find a navy tank top (from Old Navy) and a pair of brown flip flops that are really thick and cushy. DD found a pair of maternity shorts for $4 (from Motherhood Maternity) and a pair of animal print slip on shoes for $3 (they were new). I didn't take pictures of any of that stuff. Unless it's vintage or baby stuff, clothes and shoes just aren't all that exciting! LOL


For the more exciting stuff..........
This interesting muffin/tart pan for $1.97. I have other molds/pans hanging above my kitchen cabinets so this will join them.

I thought this candle holder was neat. It was also $1.97. It will get a coat of paint eventually.

For 97 cents, this cute little tin will fit in with my vintage kitchen utensils :)

I couldn't find a name on these mugs but I thought the flowers were just so pretty. They were on 1/2 price so at 49 cents each, they made their way into my basket. They may become gifts with some tea or hot cocoa mix.

An interesting little jar for 47 cents. I'm sure it will find a home eventually!

Another nice family frame. No need to pay full price for frames when there is an abundance of them at yard sales and thrift stores!


A nice little assortment of items that were just the perfect pick-me-up for the dreary rainy week we've been having!

Deb