Happy Halloween!

Candy, fun costumes, cute kids, spooky decorations..........what's not to love??  Here's a couple of cute crafts I did this year.

First, is my take on ghost poop soup............a fun inexpensive little gift for family and friends.  I found the black mugs I was looking for at Dollar Tree........gotta LOVE that!  The little die cut stickers were also from there.  I had actually bought them for another craft and then a light bulb went off and I realized they would work for this as well (and it sure beats cutting my own when I got a whole pack for a buck!).  Gotta love those light bulb moments!  Some hot chocolate packets, mini-marshmallows, and a cute tag and I had a nice little seasonal gift for under $1.50 :) 

The next craft is just TOO adorable for words!  Using my adorable grandson Bud's handprint, we made really CUTE ghosts!  I used black cardstock cut to size, some white acrylic paint and Dollar Tree frames. Oh and a silver sharpie to write his name and the year.  Thankfully his Mommy was on hand to help as we made 3 of them and he's only a year old so we had to work quickly :)  Here's the adorable results............sorry about the flash spot on the glass.  I tried without the flash and it wasn't better.  Unfortunately my photographer (aka hubby) wasn't around when I needed the picture.  Still TOO cute :)

What's Halloween without some adorable pumpkins?


Here's Elmo..............

And Tigger....................



And THE most adorable pumpkin of all......................

Happy Halloween everyone!


Deb









Happy Fall !

I'm SO excited that fall is here! The cooler weather, the changing leaves, pumpkins, mums, apple cider, hayrides, fairs, fair food..........I could go on and on! I'm still in the midst of decorating but here are a few goodies.  More to come........

My daughter and I made these last year. There's a yummy smelling vanilla candle in the middle of the mini Indian corns. Festive and cute! The clear plate and mirror are Dollar Tree finds. The cute spider web mat is from KP Creek (LOVE KP Creek!)

I found this cute candle holder at a yard sale early this spring (it pays to think "off season" when attending yard sales). It's hard to see but I have a little LED candle in it. LOVE those LED candles........no worries about flames and if I forget and leave it on, I'm only out a little battery. By the way, you can find those little button batteries MUCH cheaper on Ebay! The cute little vintage looking ghost and candy corn are from KP Creek.........LOVE, LOVE, LOVE KP Creek! The fabric is one of those pre-finished squares......probably from AC Moore (another LOVE of mine!)

 

I LOVE Longaberger baskets (went on a bus trip there this past spring............heaven!) This basket is one my faves! For some reason it didn't photograph well but the weave is green and orange and the liner that goes over the side is OH so cute for Halloween! Right now it has dum dum lollipops in it :) Bud has "discovered" them and knows exactly what they are for!

This is another yard sale find.........

I think I paid a buck for it! It's fun to fill with all sorts of fun items. These little gourds and pumpkins (Dollar Tree finds) fit the bill for fall very nicely.

Here is my greatest fall "decoration".........my sweet grandson Ethan (aka Bud). Here he is enjoying a french fry at a local fair :) Hard to believe he celebrates his first birthday later this month! SO precious!

Happy Fall everyone!
Deb

Michael's coupon!

I'm sure there is something that most of you "need" at Michael's this week........50% off one non-sale item at this link: http://http//mic.michaels.com/20100912SLUSLP.aspx (with the usual restrictions of course). Come on.............you KNOW all that fall stuff is calling ya :) Speaking of fall, here's a pic of my house from last fall. I'll put a new pic as soon as I'm done decorating for this year. Happy decorating!

Deb

Trying to get back to this.............

I can't believe I let this go for almost a year! It's not that I haven't been thrifting and hitting garage sales, flea markets, etc. but I just didn't take time to write about it. Perhaps welcoming our first grandchild last October had something to do with that? Just a tad?? LOL We lost my father-in-law last year as well, younger DS graduated from college this past spring and while he still "technically" lives at home, we don't see much of him so DH and I are sort of empty nesters these days. Let's just say our lives have had some big changes in the last year and a half and call it a day :)

I need to work on pictures of some of the exciting stuff I've found this year so for now, I'll leave you with a pic of one of my most treasured possessions...........my grandson Ethan (aka Bud). I've never found anything this cute while thrifting :) His chair in this picture did come from a garage sale! Isn't it adorable??? It's Osh Kosh and oh so cute..........I just couldn't pass it up! Oh and the "fencing" in the background.........DD found that at one of our infamous spring "mud sales" for a buck! It has 6 panels and comes in quite handy for keeping Bud away from the tv and her elliptical! LOL We saw another one listed on Craig's list earlier this summer as "rare" and they wanted $75 for it!

Until next time (and I promise it won't be as long!),

Deb

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