Save big for kids!

I had a great response from my last post, so I thought I would take it a step further and show you the huge deal I got on kids items this week.
Some of you know I work with a local children's consignment sale that happens twice a year. I shopped this week for my daughter and man, did I rack up!
I got 12 tops, 9 pants, 5 dresses, 3 pairs of PJs, 4 hairbows, 1 pair of shoes, a big wagon, a DVD and a small toy castle. The last 3 items will be put away for Christmas. Many of the items were name brand like Gymboree or Children's Place and one of the dresses was a smocked dress (translation: for Southern girls, these are must have for church and special occasions and can be very pricey!)
How much do you think I paid for all that????
$250?
$200?
$180?
$150?
Nope, nope and nope! I Paid $140 for all 37 items!!!

Outfits for less than $20

If you've visited here before, you probably know I like to save a few bucks. This is a particularly helpful habit since I am now unemployed and living off an allowance from the hubby, but that's a whole 'nother post.
It kills me everytime I see on the Today show or in a magazine, "Get the Look for Less!" and the outfit still cost $250!
"Wow, Brandi, you got that dress for $150?," asks goofy Ann Curry. "My goodness! And those shoes are an absolute steal at $160!"
I don't think so... I realize that is a markdown from the original price tag of $9999, but come one peeps! Who really shops like that? (don't answer that if your answer is "me")
I thought I would show you a few deals from some of my past shopping trips. They may not be the height of fashion or the latest trend, but who wants to look like the Kardashian sisters, anyway?
Necklace- $6 - from Cato's (cheaper women's store, usually next to a Wal-Mart)
Polo shirt- $1 - from a thrift store
New York & Co. capris - $3 from Goodwill
Shoes - $8 - clearance from Belk (Southern department store)
Total- $18

Top - $9 - from Cato's
Old Navy linen skirt - $1 - from thrift store
wooden bangle - $1 - from thrift store
shoes - free- I helped with a yard sale and got to keep these
Total - $11

dress- $7 - clearance at Kmart
Gap monogrammed bag - $1.50 from thrift store
shoes (made in Italy) - $1.50 from thrift store
total - $10

Gap top- $2.25 - from Goodwill
Talbot shorts- $2.25 - from Goodwill
beaded necklace - $1 - from yard sale
Born shoes - $3 - from thrift store
total - $8.50

And the best for last...
top - $2 - clearance from Belk
tank - free - promotional giveaway
Ann Taylor Loft capris - $3 - from Goodwill
shoes - $1 - from Goodwill
purse - $.25 - clearance from Shoe Carnival
total - $6. 25

And these are just complete outfits. I have lots of other tops, bags, shoes, etc. Now, who wants to go shopping?!

This post was brought to you by Writer's Workshop.

Good clean fun!

I just finished making Christmas sercys for Savannah class tomorrow and they are cu-ute! I don't have a finished project photo, but I will share the directions here. Basically, you shred Ivory soap and mold it into snowballs, adding a surprise in the middle. If you're like me and you haven't had experience with Ivory soap since you were 5, the soap is surprisingly soft and grated nicely in my mom's 1970's food processor.
I was not as crafty with the teacher gifts, but I did get 65% off what I got them at Kohl's so there ya go.

Welcome to our new home!

Hey! How are you? Glad you could stop by our little virtual-housewarming party! Did you have any trouble finding us? Oh, good. You knew to look for the rock. Grab a drink and let me show you around...
Yes, the grass is still patchy, but it's coming along nicely. We're going to hold off on landscaping until the fall when it's cooler.
The bookshelves in the living room are still a little "busy" but I think I put together some nice displays of family photos and items I had. I love my print above the fireplace. Can you believe the whole thing only cost me $100?!

Here's the kitchen. I'm happy with how it turned out. We have so much space now! But look, I told Steve to move his junk off the counter!

And here's our dining area. I never wanted a formal dining room. Here's the made over table and chairs I got off of Craigslist for $100!

Here's our bedroom. I still want to get something to put on the walls, but I don't know what just yet. This is the only "brand new" furniture we bought.

I've only taken time to use the big tub once so far, but I will use it! Notice the lack of mirrors...I STILL haven't found what I am looking for! We may just have them made at this point.

Here is Savannah's room. She loves to sit and play in here (thank goodness!) Her furniture was bought second-hand as well.

The hall/kids' bathroom. The ceilings throughout are 10', except for the living room which is 12'.

Oh, don't look in the guest room/craft room! That's the room that still needs a lot of attention!

Here is the FROG: aka the man-room. Yes, Steve HAD to HAVE a huge screen and his weights up there!

Here's my favorite place: sitting on the back porch at night. So peaceful! It's needs a little decorating, but I'll get there eventually.

Here's the damn, pain in the ass pool. It's been a hassle from day one, but at least we can use it now. Of course, it's raining today so we'll just have to admire it from the porch.

Well, that's about it. Thanks for coming! Ya'll come back now!

Let's make a deal

Ya'll know I love a good bargain and I got 2 for you this week. AND pictures! I know, pull yourself up off the floor already so you can see!
Saturday we were in the mountains and stopped at this new thrift store that benefits the local hospice program. Love that. The hospice ladies that cared for my grandaddy were awesome! Anyway... I got a Gap bag that was monogrammed (except it wasn't my monogram so I had to pick out 2 of the 3 letters. I don't recommend this but it is possible), a pair of Born shoes, a pair Italian nude sandals, and a little milk glass bowl to go with my collection. all for $7! Deal!

I told ya'll I shopped the big consignment sale last night. While I didn't find a super-duper deal or a "must have," I did get 2 pair of shoes, a pack of onsies (gift), 2 movies, 1 CD, 1 coat, 11 tops, 12 pants/jeans, 4 dresses and 1 pair of socks. Most were name brand like Gymboree or Old Navy. all that for $155! Deal!
Add in a few basic pieces from Tar-jay and Walmart and Miss Savannah is all set for the fall!
P.S.- I use Blogger. Can anyone tell me how to write a post and then schedule it to publish later??

I smell...

...a bargain! I had another day of deals this past Saturday and was waiting until I had my photo to write the post. And wouldn't you know that Rhoda at Southern Hospitality is having a Mr. Linky yard-sale-a-pa-looza!?! I love Rhoda. She is very sweet and has a beautiful home with lots of great decorating advice.
So mama and I hit the big highway-long yard sale that started in one little town and ended several towns over. We didn't make it the whole way, but let's say we made it far enough! We started at 7:00 and I left Steve and Savannah home in bed! Whiny husbands and 3 year-olds do not make good yard sale companions.
I took a "group pic" of my finds because I'm too lazy to take a pic of every little thing and then upload it. Sue me! I got a small Christmas tree, an old table runner, an old basket, a vintage pair of Mr. & Mrs. Claus salt & pepper shakers, a Pottery Barn Kids step stool, two small paintings, a striped storage bin, a milk-glass vase and a Southern Living at Home plate all for $15.50! Yeah, baby! Mama got several things including a $5 chair, plant stand, a few dishes/pottery and a braided rug.

After mama drops me off back home, she calls me about 20 minutes later. She's stopped at a few more sale on the way home and finds a bedroom suit that would be good for Savannah's room. So, me and Savannah load up and check it out. 30 minutes later and I have bedroom furniture for Savannah for $300. It's a little more than I would normally pay for used furniture, but it was in good shape and it was a chest of drawers, dresser with mirror, nightstand, twin headboard and mattress. Here's the chest of drawers with one little ding on the bottom that daddy can fix.


Wow! I'd say that was a good yard sale day! Some of you had asked about the furniture I got last week for the thrift stores. I don't have before pics. We got to scrubbing and painting before I could get a pic!
Here's my $7.50 chair after some serious TLC. That's my $6/yard fabic on that seat. I feel like I "rescued" this one because someone had "inscribed" on the back of the top: Weed, 2008 and drew a marijuana leaf. Nice.
Here's the chandelier. Before, it was your typical 1989 shade of brass. I'm holding out for finding some shades, Rhoda!
Here is the table I bought a while back on Craigslist. I got a table and 6 chairs for $100!!! The top was scratched and stained but we sanded the crap out of it and stained and finished the top. The chairs will be recovered in the same fabric as above.

Here's my $7.50 mirror. Before, it had a weird grey-ish paint wash on it. We scraped 90% of it off with our fingernails. The rest took a little more muscle, but wiped it down afterwards with some wood oil and it looks great!

Detail of the top of the mirror.

So there you have it!!! Soon, I will be moved into our new house and take all my yard sale and His House junk with me. I love it!

from His House to my house

Savannah is fine. I haven't really been able to talk to her, but everyone that she is staying with assures me that all is well. Just as long as she doesn't come home with her aunt's accent and a taste for Old Style beer...

I have totally been enjoying my time. Monday I packed a little bit, went out on the boat that afternoon and later had dinner with my family (left-over wedding food). I don't think I told you Savannah was the flower girl. She did so well!

Tuesday I went to work and had the most productive day I've had in weeks. Things just fell into place and I was kicking butt and taking names! Figuratively speaking, of course. No children were harmed that day.

Then I had a super, amazing, fun, successful shopping trip with mama on Wednesday. I hadn't had a shopping day like that since before Savannah was born. I got a mirror, a chandelier, a chair, 2 shirts, fabric to recover 7 chair seats and a few other little things all for about $65! How did I manage that? Most of it came from thrift stores. I don't have any before pics, however, because I worked like a dog all day! My parents helped me recover 7 seats, sand down the table, I cleaned and painted a chair, painted the chandelier and STILL managed to come home, clean up and go out with the girls!
Downtown they have a Thursday afternoon concert series and 7 of us lovely ladies made a night of it. Only one injury, one lost piece of jewelry and a $200 bar/food tab so I'd say it was a successful night.
Today I'm finishing up the thrift store projects and having dinner with some friends. And I still have 2 days before they get home!!

Do you copy?

I was going to play a cute little Q&A meme, but I couldn't copy and paste the questions. Then, I had an awesome post in the works that I was going to finish, but I couldn't copy and paste that either! Crap!
Know those "sell you stuff" parties where you invite all your "closest" friends (aka anybody with a wallet and an address) hoping they will buy lots of overpriced junk so that you can earn $50 in free over-priced junk? Well, I went to one of those the other night. I was really glad to go b/c it was more like a girls' night out and because the hostess WAS the product rep, there was no obligation to buy anything. And because she was the rep, she let everyone put their name in the hat to be the "mystery hostess" (aka winner of the free stuff). That's right. I won the free junk! Whoo-hoo! Now, would any of you lovely ladies like to host a party so I can earn MORE free stuff???
I am so kidding...

Friday the 13th?

Normally that means bad luck. Or at least an uber-cheesy horror tale at some summer camp for large-breasted girls.....
It's been a good day here. I got up this morning and volunteered for the big consignment sale. It's part of the agreement so I can get in early and buy up all the good stuff get the best deals. But I am so excited! I spent $76 and already I have made over $100. The sale has 2 more days left!
If any of you are confused, there is a big children's consignment sale in my area twice a year. I sell stuff and buy stuff. I always do well as far as the things I buy and things I sell. This year has just been great. I think part due to the economy, of course, but I also know I had my things priced well.
For example: I bought a beautiful smocked dress for $8 and another smocked dress for $14. Each of these would retail for $30-70. Most of my things sold were in the $6 range.
All that and Savannah is crashing with grandma tonight.

Your'e gonna be jealous...

...of the deal I got today! Savannah and I hit the town this morning. I had a haircut at 10:00 and then we roamed around town after that. I checked out Steinmart and TJ Maxx and saw some good stuff, but the only thing I felt I needed to buy was a quilt that may go on Savannah's bed in the new house. It's apple green with embroidered polka dots and a scalloped edge- very cute! But that's not my bargain purchase.
One of our last stops was at this thrift store I've only been at once. My girlfriend finds deals there all the time so I decided to check it out. First impression: it's very junky! Most of their stuff is in tents for goodness sake! Like tarps draped over a metal frame kinda tent. There is a little house, too. So after perusing I picked up a patchwork backpack that looks like it's never been used, a Vera Bradley cosmetic bag, a mini Christmas tree with ornaments, a gold frame, an antique table runner (not pictured) and 2 pieces of fabric. One piece is definitely vintage- maybe 1960s and the other is from 1982. How do I know? It still had the original ticket pinned to it!

I was kinda worried that I didn't have enough cash, but that was not a problem. How much do you think I paid? $10? $7? Howabout $5? Nope. Got all that good stuff for only $2! DEAL!

edited to add: I thought I got the deal of the day and then Steve comes in last night from Lowes with 2 Christmas tree stands, regularly priced $17.99 and $11.99, that he got for free! With all these bargains I decided to add a label to the right aptly named, "bargains."

Monday Musings

It's a holiday so that means no school for me. What have I been up to? I've been commenting like a good SITS girl, catching up with all your blogs.
We also met some friends for lunch at the craziness that is McDonald's on a day when school is out. So many kids all yelling and shoving. We got out in the nick of time! It felt kinda like in that movie where Indiana Jones just rolls under the huge stone door that is a bout to crush him. I know...some of you are asking, "then how do you work with kids?" Easy. When they're "my" school kids I can say, "Hey! You are being too loud," and give rewards to the ones who are being good :)
After that we headed to Kmart where Savannah almost had a meltdown over some girly make-up that was on clearance (at least I'll give her credit for that), but I was not buying that today. Next we headed to Goodwill. Here is what I scored:

Two cute gingerbread men and four melamine (I think that's how you spell it) plates for the grand total of $6. I see both of these having a home in the new kitchen. Speaking of which, I have a house update soon, but not until I can take some pics. Both batteries in both cameras were dead when I was there last time.

I'm also in the market for a blog make-over. Does anyone have any good suggestions for free stuff? I'd also be willing to pay someone for a reasonable fee ($50 is not reasonable). I like what I have, but I just feel like I need to "freshen up."

edited to add: OK. Obviousley I've been screwing around with the look already. What do you think? However, I'm kinda hesitant to ditch the header. It was custom made, but then I am tired of looking at it. I need a cute replacement. Must look into it further...

Chic Cheap Chick

...Say that 5 times fast.
If there were a reality show for people who could put together the best look with the least amount of money, I would sign up to be contestant in a heartbeat and quite possibly win the $2000 and Saturn Vue!
Now, when I say, "cheap," I don't mean that I save ketchup packets from Wendy's to refill my bottle at home and I don't mean that I dumpster dive for lawn furniture. I don't have a Vera-wanna-be purse and I don't only shop at Wal-mart. And it's not that I can't afford nice things, like when we were first married. At that time, Steve was in the Navy, I was unemployed and we lived in a 1 bedroom apartment. Buying a new shirt for $20 was an occasional splurge. Even a few years later, I was the "bread-winner" on a case manager's salary while Steve was in college. Now days, I just can't bear to pay retail for this stuff and to be perfectly honest, it's more fun when you can find that fabulous deal like a Strasburg dress for $1.
One of my favorite ways to find a deal is to shop consignments sales. Just the other night I bought 24 pieces of clothes (including pajamas, corduroy pants, a Gymboree dress and jeans) and 3 pair of shoes for Savannah all for $76. Deal! I'm also a consignor for this sale so I expect to make at least half- if not all- of that back.
Another place for deals: yard sales. Now you have to be willing to dig and sometimes you don't find anything but old Barney PJs, but I have also found smocked dresses for $1, a Ralph Lauren dress for 25 cents and Lilly Pulitzer overalls for 50 cents. Just be sure an wash them as soon as you get home.
Goodwill and thrift stores are usually not quite as cheap as yard sales, but they also have potential. I have bought a Lilly skirt for $2, a Kelly's Kids dress for $2 and Ralph Lauren pants for $1.25. One of our lastest finds: a Lucky Ducks game for 50 cents and those of you in the pre-school set know how much they love that annoying game.
It's usually easier to find kids stuff, but I have an $8 outfit I proudly wore this past spring ($2 knit top, $3 Loft capris, and $3 metallic flats). And my mom (see, I get it honestly) loaded up at a department store sale last year and got several things for $1.98 each.
Oh, I still pay good money for stuff sometimes, but even then, it's usually not full price. Trips to the grocery mean I take my coupons and I always check the sale rack at high-end stores.
To the few of you out there who may be turning your nose up at me, I say, "Go ahead. Pay full price. That just leaves more deals for me."

chic cheap chick

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a brand snob nor do I think it's worth paying the the extra $ for high end most of the time. I grew up with conservative parents who lived within their means, so I just am not a big spender. In fact, I was "bragging" the other day that my outfit cost all of $8 (crop pants, flats, tank and shirt). How 'boutcha, now!?
Similarly, Steve is rather stingy. I used to say cheap, but he WILL spend money on nice vacations, "toys" for himself and ususally presents for me and Savannah. But let's not go there right now...
As mentioned, we are wanting to build a house this year. Now I am pretty clueless about the whole thing but know many people who have a very nice home and paid a reasonable price for it. We haven't been able to sit down with anyone yet b/c we've had to cancel 2 meetings b/c Steve had the flu! Apparently, he got some of the 60% of flu virus that was NOT hindered by the flu shot he got this year. Anyway, he talks to some lady today who is with a building company and she says off hand that what we are looking at may cost twice as much or more than we had in mind. So now it's got Steve in a little bit of a tizzy.
I don't think what we have in mind will actually be that much. We're not getting all the frills, granite counter-tops, and double-box ceilings that can push the price tag that high. But dang it, we have been saving $ forever and he he gets a good paycheck and I just feel like we should get whatever it is we want. Within reason, of course.

P.S. Still lovin' the Zumba! That crap is FUN!