ThriftyAnnabellainla

Goodwill before Christmas

2011-12-27T15:19:00.005-06:00

Christmas has had us very busy, but not too busy for a stop by Goodwill. I walked all over the store and except for finding 3 shirts for myself - one which didn't fit after I got home - I had given up on finding anything that day when DH walked up to me holding an old box. Normally, this is something that I wouldn't have given a second glance but DH is a lot more curious than me and found something great inside.

I tried to find out more about this interesting mosaic ornament on eBay but so far haven't found anything that looks like it yet.

While walking back to the rear of the store to return something we had picked up earlier but decided not to buy we saw something new that had just been brought in from the back. DH quickly grabbed it and ran to the register to check out.

I've seen these chair on eBay and other blogs before but have never been fortunate enough to come across one at a decent price - until now. For $9.99 DH made a great buy.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Goodwill Before Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T17:30:00.005-06:00

Today DH and I decided we didn't want to sit around the house all day so I suggested we go check out the Habitat for Humanity Restore in town. I read everyone's adventures at these stores and see pictures of all the great furniture and cabinets that they sell. We finally found it and went inside to see what great treasures we could find only to find disappointment instead. Our store is small and doesn't have nothing in the line of furniture.

So since we live a good piece out of town we decided to go check out the two Goodwill stores so our trip wouldn't be in vain.

Apparently the Goodwill stores in town have started a new program. Using this card you can get items with a certain color tag for 50% off - today's color was purple.

I just may be tempted to stop at Goodwill more often to take advantage of the savings. At the first Goodwill I found nothing. My kids were with us and they each found a book - our total - $3.25.

The second Goodwill store brought better pickings. I've been wanting one of these for a while and am so excited to finally have one.

What is it you ask?

A shoe organizer - I wonder if I can use the fact that I have more space to store shoes as a viable excuse to buy more. I don't know if DH will buy that excuse - hehe. For a total of $19.99 it was mine. Priced a little high I know but that's the only drawback of our Goodwill stores around here are that they are very high priced. I searched online after I got home to see if I'd gotten a good price and realized that I have the shoes in there upside-down so I've got to rearrange them now.

My only other purchase was this book. I haven't seen the movie yet and may wait to watch it until after I've read the book.

I'd like to wish everyone a safe and a HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Goodwill 50% day

2011-11-12T21:26:00.003-06:00

Today while dropping off a box of items at Goodwill we noticed they had a sign that said 50%

Unfortunately, it was only 50% green tag items and everything we found didn't have a green tag. We left with a couple items for the kids.

DD found this great dress for $6.99

DS insisted he needed this pajama top to stay warm this winter - $1.99

My only item of the day was this great Valentine M&M mug - perfect for hot chocolate - .99

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

New Thrift Store

2011-11-04T17:57:00.006-05:00

WOW - has it really been that long since I posted. I haven't been going to any garage sales or flea markets lately which is why I haven't had anything to share.

My mom and I were out together recently and decided to stop by a new thrift store that opened in town. She found a lighthouse sun catcher and purchased something for me also. Growing up I always had a thing for anything with peace signs on it so when we saw this we knew it had to come home with me.

Sorry about the dirt in his lap. I was so excited to share that I didn't take the time to clean him up before taking the picture.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Dragonfly and First Day of School

2011-08-18T10:22:00.003-05:00

I can't believe summer vacation is already over and school is back in session for our area of the country. This summer has flown by and believe it or not I've gone to very few garage sales this year.

As many of you know I have a love of dragonflies and yesterday while playing with the kids after school we got a visit from this guy. He sat and watched the kids play for the longest time and as much as I tried to get a picture of the way he had his head turned sideways, I couldn't.

Miss Sugar sure was glad to see the kids back home and they had a blast playing "Catch the String" with her. I love the expression on her face in this picture as she tries to catch it.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

SuperPoints

2011-08-11T12:14:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone - I know I haven't posted any garage sale finds lately. Truthfully, I haven't been to any garage sales but hope to start back soon.

In the meantime I found a program that is like Swagbucks. You earn points and cash them in for Gift Cards. It is invite only so I'd like to extend an invitation to anyone interested.

The site is SuperPoints.com and here are some invite codes. Please post a comment if you use one so everyone will know it's taken. Thanks

knk5ij
5qwdh8
5n2g8d
dfmo3y

These expire in 2 days.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

My Latest Garage Sale Finds

2011-07-18T08:12:00.004-05:00

I'm also going to be joining Rhoda this week at Southern Hospitality

I cannot believe I haven't posted since the first of June. Then again I haven't time to go to any more garage sales so far this summer. I'm hoping things slow down for us soon and we can start taking the time to go again.

Truthfully, we had been going to the sales in DH's truck which was only a single cab. Two adults and four kids crammed into a truck that small and it being as hot as it has been lately is one of the reasons we backed off of going to the sales. Problem solved - DH now has an extended cab truck with a nice roomy back seat for the kids to ride in. However, that brings up a new problem in that it doesn't have an air conditioner so until he gets it repaired we won't be going in his new truck to any sales.

I did notice in one weekly newspaper that there was an ad announcing that DH's cousin was having one of her monthly storage building garage sales. As I've mentioned in previous posts she goes to storage building auctions like you see on the show "Storage Wars" and then sells what she finds at garage sales. Always finding great stuff at her sales the kids and I loaded up in the car to see what we could find. I had exactly $18 in my pocket and spent every dime of it on these great things.

This table was my most expensive purchase of the day at $16 - but being a Broyhill table I felt it was worth every dime I paid for it. It's very solid and hopefully will last us for years. It's going to get a white paint job and join my other nightstand in the bedroom. Now I just need to find a couple more dressers and a bedframe and my bedroom remodel will be complete.

This pan was $1 and looked to be brand new.

This great top wasn't marked so she let me have it for .25 :)

I paid .50 for this great magazine. I'm a sucker for any type of home improvement or home decor books or magazines I find at garage sales.

Hopefully, I will be posting pictures of my little table all painted and pretty soon but with 100 degree weather in our area I've been putting off taking it outside and painting it just yet.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

First Weekend in June Sales

2011-06-04T22:33:00.007-05:00

I'm also going to be joining Rhoda this week at Southern Hospitality

The first weekend of June and the garage sales were everywhere. Before I bought anything new this weekend I was determined to finish that nightstand I bought a few weeks ago for $10. Okay, maybe DH was a little more determined for me to finish it so he put me to work. :)

I took a screwdriver and pried all the leaves and vines off of the drawers then gave the whole thing a coat of Antique White. The handles also got a new look thanks to a can of black spray pain. I can't wait to find a new lamp to go with my new bedside table.

Saturday morning we had a long list of sales we wanted to visit. However, by 9:30 it had already gotten so hot outside many people were closing their garage sales down early. Thanks to the heat though I did manage to score some great buys. At one sale we were told everything is priced 25 cents. They were already starting to close their sale down and was trying to get rid of everything quickly. I managed to pick up three skirts at this sale.

I also found another sale with a large table full of ladies tops, most of them in my size, for only .50 each. I came away with a grocery bag full of new tops for summer, some with price tags still on them.

We only found one Estate Sale this morning and the house was packed full of stuff. My only purchase from this sale was this Cosco stool for $5. I have to say that I love Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. The top of this stool was brown and dingy and looked to have a few stains but after a little scrubbing with Mr. Clean it looks as good as new.

Some of my garage sale finds of the day . . .

I fell in love with this little purple piggy bank. It's missing it's stopper on the bottom but for .25 it makes a great decoration.

I thought the little reindeer on this were so cute. It has a battery compartment on the bottom and I can't wait to try it out and see what it does.

At two different sales I found this great purse and two DVD's - my total for all three - $3.

Hope you found some great buys this weekend.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Last Garage Sales for May

2011-05-21T16:43:00.008-05:00

I'm also going to be joining Rhoda this week at Southern Hospitality

This morning I woke up around 5:30 a.m. and sat around for a little while debating with myself on whether to get everyone up for the sales today or not. Earlier a storm had passed through and there was still the threat for more rain. However, after watching the weather on TV I decided we would probably be safe.

There were many indoor and under the back porch or in the garage sales this morning since everyone didn't know whether the rain was over yet. Plus, there were many other sales that had been sitting out overnight and everything was wet and ruined.

Our first stop of the day was at one of these sales where everything was wet. I decided to pass looking at the clothes since they were all still pretty wet and went to see what they had managed to keep dry by keeping it on the porch. For $5 I picked up this lamp and these two Sterlite Snap Lock containers. I absolutely love Snap Lock and pick it up every chance I get for extra kitchen storage.

We didn't find much at the rest of the garage sales on our list. There was a lot of furniture and other items marked SOLD at many sales and a lot of baby items at the others. I did find DS four t-shirts and DH found himself a couple of t-shirts along with a .50 DVD (Alien VS Predator Requim)and a few VHS cartoons for the kids. At a couple of sales along the way I did find these items.

These two will help to complete my Christmas Village - I paid $5 for the pair.

At another sale I picked up this great pink garland with pink pinecones and pink presents on it. They also had several boxes of ornaments but these are the only ones that really caught my eye. I paid $1.25 for all of this.

On our way to the next town over we saw a sign advertising an Estate Sale. DH and I both love Estate Sales and was not even aware that there was one in town this weekend due to it not being advertised in the paper. I'm so glad we happened to be driving around in that area.

I purchased this great chair for $5 and it works perfectly at our computer desk. Also this great stool cost us $6.

The next town over we only managed to stop at a couple of sales because by this time I had come down with a bad migraine and couldn't stand to garage sale anymore. I was ready to be home with a couple of Excedrin Migraines (this stuff works great) and a nice comfy couch. So my last purchase of the day was this purse for $2.

So that was my day at the sales and believe it or not we only got rained on once. Since next weekend is a holiday we'll probably take a break from the sales and hit them again in June.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Two Days of Mega Sales

2011-05-20T12:39:00.005-05:00

Another weekend is almost here and it sure has been a busy week. I am looking forward to the garage sales this weekend and sure hope the rain holds off.

Wednesday morning I made a quick run to Kroger to take advantage of the Wisk deal. Wisk is on sale this week for $3.99 a bottle. However, at the register a $2 Catalina will print out for every bottle that you purchase. Then using the $2 coupon that was in last Sunday's paper makes for free laundry detergent. My total for all this was $34.34 and the register printed out $12 in Catalina's to be used for my next order.

Thursday, DH decided that he wanted to go back to town to hit the Albertson's Mega Sale. However, our Albertson's is bad about not restocking the shelves so everything we went for was out of stock. So we decided since we were already in town we would stop by Kroger again and use the $12 in Catalina's that were printed out Wednesday. Our grand total for day two was $40.91 for all of this.

Day one had 68% savings and day two brought 63% savings. Unfortunately, we don't have stores around here that do unlimited doubles up to $1 like they show on "That Show." Trust me, if you've ever watched it you know what show I'm talking about. So for the land of limited doubles up to .50 I'm always thrilled to get 60-70% savings.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Patio Furniture and Angel

2011-05-16T07:59:00.007-05:00

I'm also going to be joining Rhoda this week at Southern Hospitality

This weekend my DH finally got a Saturday off to go into the city with me to hit the garage sales.

Our first stop was at the many Estate Sales being hosted in our area this weekend. I found a beautiful set of Wedgewood China but couldn't bring myself to cough up the $200 asking price. The only thing I did find at the Estate Sales was this beautiful angel for $25. She stands over 2 feet tall. The lady had three of them sitting on her back patio. I decided one would be enough and snatched her up.

Next on our list was to hit the many garage sales we found listed in the paper. DH took the kids and went shopping with them at one sale and came back with a toy organizer and several toys. I also found several pairs of pants for my DS which is great since he is growing so much. At one sale I came across this light up schoolhouse for $2 which will go great with our Christmas village this year.

At our last stop of the day DH found several sets of Craftsman tools for $5 to $10 a set. He was so happy he was floating on Cloud 9 the rest of the day. While he was packing up all of his tools I happened to see a sign that said table set $20. Curiosity got the best of me so I decided to check it out and this ended up being my final purchase of the day.

Only one of the chairs has gotten rusty and broke in a couple of places but I figured the table with three chairs for $20 was still a great price and a great addition to our back patio.

I love this picture because my little Fred is standing back there looking at me probably wondering what on Earth I'm taking a picture of. He's such a cutie. :)

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

I Went After All

2011-05-07T12:50:00.009-05:00

I'm also going to be joining Rhoda this week at Southern Hospitality

This weekend was great because I actually got to go to the garage sales after all. DH did have to work and I know he hated missing all the fun but he encouraged me to go without him and bring someone along with me. Who was that someone? My sweet dear grandma.

She always hears me tell of my garage sale stories and asks to come along sometimes so I grabbed her up this morning and away we went. Grandma found some great pictures, a tablecloth and some coasters and was so excited about her finds.

So what did I find. Well here goes . . .

Friday morning after dropping my kids off I stopped at a couple of sales down the road from my house. One was being hosted by a dear friend of mine. The only thing I found at her sale was a book but she did give me a goodie that I picked up and commented on how cute it was. What was it? Such a cute little bear magnet.

She was a little dusty so as soon as I got home I got a can of compressed air and blew the dust off of her hat and cut off a long pink feather that was beyond hope.

Next garage sale was one of those that advertised antiques and definitely had antique prices. I did find one thing that had to come home with me though.

For $5 this great hen on nest bowl is a great addition to my hutch.

Saturday morning with DH's encouragement my grandma and I hit some sales in my hometown. The first sale we stopped at had mostly baby clothes. Everything had been picked through but I could tell that both ladies hosting the sale were Coca-Cola collectors who were selling their collections. I love Coca-Cola and have a lot of it in my dining room. Today I found one item I didn't have. This great napkin holder cost me $2 and it looks like a trip to Sam's Club is in my future to get napkins for it.

At the end of the day we stopped by my dear friend Tina's flea market. During the Spring months she hosts Junkin' on Main in our hometown. She has a great blog and would love a visit from you at Junkin' on Main

It was hard to look around with both kids with us because we were scared they would break something. I did find one thing that's on my list for the summer. This nightstand was $10 and I can see a great remodel in it's future. I can't wait to slap some white paint on it and bring out it's inner beauty.

I can't wait to see everyone else's goodies from this weekend. Happy Mother's Day to all mother's.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Kroger Mega Sale 5/5

2011-05-05T15:42:00.003-05:00

I had plans. Big Plans. I planned on going to the garage sales this weekend but DH's boss has decided they should work Saturday and Sunday. Not wanting to fight with two kids in town by myself I've decided that unless his boss changes his mind there will be no garage sales for me. Boo-hoo.

DD and I did hit the Kroger Mega Sale today. I didn't do as well as I had hoped. The coupon values in our area aren't that great right now and there weren't too many things you could get free with coupons during this sale. However, for $34.34 this is our haul.

2 Philadelphia Cooking Cream - Mega Sale Price $2.19 minus 1 $1.50/1 and 1 Free Coupon = .69 for both
1 Jello Temptations - Mega Sale Price $2.19 minus $1/1 Q = $1.19 (not free but DH loves these)
2 Driscolls Strawberries - on sale $1.48 each minus 2 .50/1 Q's doubled = .48 each
4 Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta - Mega Sale Price .49 each minus 2 .50/2 Q's doubled = Free
4 Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pasta - Mega Sale Price .49 each minus 2 .50/1 Q's doubled = Free
3 Propel Waters - Mega Sale Price .50 each - no Q's just purchased for filler item
2 Ragu Sauce - Mega Sale Price $1.35 each minus 1 1/2 Q = .85 each
1 Suave Hairspray - Free with Coupon
3 Dawn Detergents - Priced $1.49 each minus 3 .50/1 Q's doubled - .49 each
3 Mahatma Rice - Priced $1.99 each minus 3 .50/1 Q's doubled - .99 each
3 Captain Crunch Cereals - Mega Sale Price $1.99 each minus 1 $2/3 coupon basically gave me one free box
1 Charmin Bath Tissue - Mega Sale Price $5.99 each minus 1 $1/1 Q and one loadable .25 Q = $4.74
3 Diet Rite and 1 Pepsi 12 Pack = Sale 4 for $11 - No coupons but a needed item

I was so disappointed that I wasn't able to get any more Ivory bodywash since they were sold out. I might check back this weekend to see if they've restocked.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Today's Grocery Trips with Coupons

2011-04-28T13:28:00.006-05:00

Today DD and I set out to do a little "Extreme Couponing" as it's now referred to since the new TLC show came out. Personally, I don't like the show but I do admit I watch it for motivation.

Store #1 - Albertsons. My total savings for today at Albertson's was $72.44 and my grand total was $37.12 for all this.

9 Totino's Pizza - Sale price .88 each minus .50/3 coupon doubled = .55 each
2 Marie Calendar's dinners - Sale price $2 each minus $1/1 coupon - $1 each
1 Red Baron Pizza - Free after Instant Win Coupon
10 Honeysuckle Ground Turkey - Sale price 10 for $10
2 Young Chickens - on sale for $2.16 and $2.17 each
4 Mezetta Napa Valley Sauces - on sale 2 for $5 minus $2/1 coupons = .50 each
8 Luxury Pasta - Price $1.09 each minus $1/2 coupons = .59 each
2 Little Debbie Snack cakes for DH - on sale .88 each
1 Hunts Spaghetti Sauce - on sale for .88
1 Lip Smackers on clearance for 2.89 for DD for being patient with me while I shopped

Store #2 - Kroger. Total spent $6.55 - Total Savings $53.31

2 Ziploc Freezer Bags - $2.89 each minus two Free coupons = Free
2 Ivory Body Wash - sale $1 each minus $1/1 coupons = Free
4 Purina Dog Foods - sale $1 each minus Free coupons = Free
4 Crest Kids Toothpastes - sale $1 each minus $1/1 coupons = Free
2 Crest Mint Toothpastes - sale $1 each minus $1/1 coupons = Free
4 Nesquik Milks - sale $1 each minus .35/1 coupon tripled = Free
2 Purex Laundry - priced 2 for $5 minus $1/1 coupon = $1.50 each
1 Suave Shampoo - priced .88 minus .50/1 coupon doubled = Free
2 Mahatma Rice - priced $1.99 each minus .50/1 coupon doubled = .99 each
2 Kraft Cheese - priced $1.79 each minus $1/1 coupon = .79 each

Hope everyone found good deals at the grocery store this week.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Easter Sales

2011-04-24T17:14:00.005-05:00

I am so glad to be back joining Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for Today's Thrifty Treasures party. Southern Hospitality

I really look forward to seeing everyone's treasures every year when the weather starts warming up and garage sales start popping up everywhere.

Saturday we had to return a pair of shoes we had purchased for DD that were too big. I decided to stop by Sears to see if I could find some shoes for DS for Easter. Unfortunately, he didn't find any he wanted but I found something great for myself.

My jaw almost hit the floor when I saw the original price and the marked down price. Even the cashiers were in awe at how low it was marked down. I think I was even doing a little happy dance as I left the store.

Our next store was Target where I found this great Wizard of Oz magnet on clearance.

I love Wizard of Oz and would probably buy anything and everything Wizard of Oz. However, I limit myself to only Wizard of Oz magnets. I fell in love with this one because not only is it Wizard of Oz but it's pink and glittery which is a double bonus.

Here's hoping everyone had a safe and Happy Easter. My poor house looks like an Easter factory exploded everywhere in it but everyone had so much fun today.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Garage Sales and Remodel

2011-04-16T19:15:00.009-05:00

It has been so crazy lately. DH and I have been busy hosting a garage sale and working on the master bedroom. I decided to go ahead and share on the blog even though the walls are still bare. I haven't been able to convince DH to help me hang up pictures in the bedroom yet.

Day two and DH decided to make a big nasty mess by sanding down the drywall to get the room ready to paint. Unfortunately, he didn't warn me before he got started so, as you can see, all our clothes and blankets got covered.

A few days later the bedroom was done. Knowing it would cost too much to replace the outdated paneling on the other three walls we decided to paint them instead.

While painting DH made the ultimate decision to do the ever so popular accent wall instead of painting the whole room. The other three walls were left white and the back wall where the bed sits got a few coats of "Willow." We made the decision to sell our old waterbed headboard and two end tables in our garage sale. When we start visiting the yard sales next month we'll be on the lookout for replacements, preferably in white or to be painted white. In the meantime we're making temporary use of a plastic three drawer bin and my stool from the kitchen.

Also on the list - a bin long enough to properly store all that gift wrap. We had old bi-fold doors on our closets. They took up so much room when opened and didn't allow access to the back of the closets so we made the decision to remove them. After comparing the prices of sheets verses curtains I finally decided to use curtains in place of the doors. I found these curtains and rods at Wal-Mart and fell in love. Please excuse the wrinkles - I was so excited to share with everyone that I didn't even take the time to iron the curtains before I took the picture.

The only thing we weren't able to replace was the outdated carpet but hopefully soon it can be done. I'm thinking I may also be shopping for a new comforter set to match the Willow wall color.

Sorry for the blurry pics - I seem to be having problems with my camera lately and am thinking that I may be in the market for a new one soon.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Bedroom Update

2011-04-14T21:06:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone. Just wanted to post an update. The bedroom remodel is finally finished and as soon as I can talk my sweet hubby into helping me hang my pictures up I will be posting pics.

Also my garage sale is over and I am so thankful. I am so tired from the past couple of weeks and even though DH is itching to get started on another project I am taking a couple weeks break.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Bedroom Remodel

2011-03-31T08:24:00.010-05:00

My sweet DH and I have been busy over the past couple of weeks.

It all started when I told DH that I was bored with the way the house is decorated and would really like to scrap everything and start over. I know most people would probably cringe at that idea but since most of my decor comes from garage sales and thrift stores I'll basically be coming out even by selling it in my own sale. I think as the years go by that my taste for home decor is starting to change and the things I used to like just don't suit my taste anymore.

So we decided to get ready to hold a huge garage sale the second weekend of April. So for two weeks I've been decluttering and piling stuff up to get ready. This pile of items has actually tripled since I took this photo and has actually taken over the living room.

We've been working on remodeling our home a little at a time since we got married 10 years ago. So far we've completed a bathroom remodel and have been slowly working on some of the other rooms. So while sorting through the master bedroom yesterday my sweet DH decided that since he had a few days off we should go ahead and remodel the master bedroom. Who would have knew the surprises we had in store. Since we moved in there has always been this ugly duck paneling on the back wall along with an air conditioner actually stuck into the wall instead of a window. We've always wanted to jerk the air conditioner out and get rid of the paneling so yesterday we got started. As you can see our bedroom looks like a tornado ripped through it and made a big mess. Even the poor nightstands became a catch-all. First thing we did was to trash the old waterbed headboard and start ripping down paneling.

What we found behind the paneling would make anybody cringe with fear.

We started out trying to use bleach to get it all out but ultimately decided to rip it all out and put all new drywall up.

Much better :)

Today we start the painting and decorating and I can't wait to share the final results. Actually if you look closely you can actually see a sneak peak of the color we're using painted on the right side of the drywall.

In all this craziness and chaos we did find time to stop at one garage sale though. As you may remember from earlier posts DH has a cousin who buys storage lockers that haven't been paid for and then resells the contents. If you watch Storage Wars on A&E then you know exactly what I'm talking about. She has her sales once a month and we usually go check them out. So when we heard she was having one last week we couldn't resist. The pickings were slim this time but I did manage to find a nice wallet for $1.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Has It Really?

2011-03-18T16:02:00.007-05:00

Has it really been that long since I posted? Life has been kind of crazy lately but is starting to get back to normal. Another fire hit close to home again this time setting the woods and field behind our house on fire. This was two days after the last fire I blogged about. Thankfully our house has finally aired out and doesn't smell like smoke anymore.

I managed to snap a photo of a couple of the fire trucks. All of the others were back behind the trees fighting the flames.

Thankfully, a few days later we got some much needed rain to put out all the fires in the area.

There has only been one trip made to Goodwill since I last posted and unfortunately, it wasn't by me. My sweet hubby stopped by there on an outing with his parents and thought to bring me a few little surprise gifts.

So, how did he do?

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Goodwill and Forest Fires

2011-03-02T08:05:00.006-06:00

Linking up for these two parties this week.

Pink Saturday

Thrifting hasn't gone quite as well as I would have wanted this week. I've been looking forward to a big storage sale that DH's cousin is hosting for a few weeks now. Unfortunately, I found out she's going to be hosting it in a small town about an hour away from our home. That's a little too far for me to travel for just one sale so I've decided to pass on it.

I did, however, make my first trip to Goodwill for the year. Along with three skirts, one of them being a Levi's denim skirt, I came home with these four beauties.

I didn't really look them over too good though, just put them in the cart and brought them home. However, when I got home and unwrapped them and took the $1.99 price tags off I noticed that they said on the bottom "Made Exclusively for Dollar Tree stores." Ugh, Goodwill did it to me again. I was a little frustrated that I had paid $1 more than what they originally cost brand new but since they're pretty I'll still enjoy them. I especially love the ones in the blue and purple dresses.

I don't know about anyone else but this is the second time I've had this happen to me. Once while at a flea market I bought two plates for $2 a piece to use in a wall hanging. I thought I had gotten a really good bargain, that is until I visited the Everything is $1 store and saw a huge stack of my plates selling for $1 a piece. Disappointment reigned that weekend.

On another note yesterday afternoon I got in my car and left to go get my kids from school. Upon getting down the driveway I noticed a huge mass of black smoke rising in the air from across the road. Since we live in the country we're pretty much surrounded by woods so I knew it probably wasn't someone's house. Apparently the fire in the woods got out of control fast. Before I made it down the road a little piece I was met by fire trucks coming from every direction. By the time I got the kids and tried to get back home all the highways were closed. We did manage to make it to our house and sat on the porch most of the afternoon watching fire trucks and cop cars flying up and down the highway. I wish I had had my camera with me to take a picture of the big mass of black smoke. I'm sure you could see it for miles. Unfortunately, last night all the smoke came down to ground level and we seriously thought we were going to have to leave our house and find somewhere to stay for the night. There was smoke so thick outside and it was coming in the house. So today I plan on trying to air the house out if the smoke lifts. This is what it looked like outside my house this morning - still smokey but not quite as thick as it was last night.

Until next time...

ThriftyAnnabella

Pink Saturday 2/25

2011-02-25T21:00:00.005-06:00

Pink Saturday

I wanted to share a picture from my sweet daughter's recent birthday party for Pink Saturday. She's such a girly girl like her mom and her absolute favorite color is no surprise - Pink. Recently she has decided that her new favorite cartoon character is Hello Kitty so that was the theme for her birthday party.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Pink Saturday 2/19

2011-02-18T19:56:00.004-06:00

Pink Saturday

This is first Saturday I've joined How Sweet the Sound's Pink Saturday party in a few months. I am so excited about rejoining the party now that I have the time to start posting to my blog again.

So this Saturday I've decided to share with you four of my favorite pink items from around the house.

1) I purchased a set of these plates at a garage sale last spring and out of the four I think this pink one has to be my favorite.

2) I absolutely love the little pink flowers on this cross that hangs in my dining room.

3) My newest favorite drink. Not only are these things delicious but 0 calories.

4) I actually purchased two of these Betty Boop magnets off the internet a few years ago but this one is my favorite out of the two. Love the pink background.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Dining Room Redesign

2011-02-15T18:24:00.006-06:00

I've been meaning to share this for a while now. I'm sitting here feeling horrible and the rest of the household is down with the crud, so I figure what better time to catch up on my posts. We still haven't been to Goodwill or any garage sales lately because of the weather. Who would have guessed snow and ice in Louisiana two weeks in a row.

This was the only picture I took of the ice storm because I couldn't work up the courage to actually go outside in 20 degree temps to take anymore. Needless to say I'm not a cold weather person.

While cooped up indoors though I did do a little redecorating in the dining room. Last year I had come across a whole lot of crosses at a garage sale and had created a cross wall in my dining room. This is the picture I had shared with everyone at the time.

As much as I loved my cross collection I decided that the room was in order for a little Spring redecorating. So I took two of my window pane mirrors, added a couple of swags that I found for $1.75 on clearance, and placed a couple of carefully selected crosses in the middle. Here are the results.

Sorry for the close up shot. I did not think anyone would want to see my poor dining room right now. It along with the rest of the house is showing signs of "When momma, daddy and everyone else is sick nothing gets done" syndrome. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me when I get back on my feet.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

I haven't Disappeared

2011-01-20T10:46:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone. Just wanted to update everyone to let you know I'm still here. It's that time of year that I focus on getting my coupons updated for the new year. Plus, this is also the time of year when I don't thrift much due to DH's job slowing down in the winter. There have been a few garage sales in our area but I'm a big chicken when it comes to getting out in the cold to garage sale - I just can't bring myself to do it. I'm really looking forward to the start of Spring and warmer weather and also the start of Ms. Rhoda's 2011 Thrifting Party to start back up.

Here's to the start of a new year - Happy 2011 from my family to yours.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Christmas Tour of My Home

2010-12-12T17:19:00.009-06:00

So rumor has it there is going to be a Christmas 2010 Tour of Homes hosted by The Nester. Also joining the tour at Kelly's Korner.

So I decided to give you a Christmas tour of our Home Sweet Home.

Hello there, I'm Santa Claus, a new addition to the household. ThriftyAnnabella picked me up this past Spring on a Dollar General Clearance aisle. You'll have to excuse my price tag showing. My owner forgot to clip it off in all her busy-ness. Come on in and let me show you around a bit.

Here I am dressed in my red suit, posing alongside my wife. We are standing in the curio cabinet giving it a little Christmas cheer.

Sitting beside us are some of our little Elf friends. The owner of the house loves picking my friends up any time she sees one at a garage sale and we're so glad she gives them a new home.

If you look around you'll also see some of our Angel friends in various places. The newest Angel to join to household is the one dressed in burlap.

The dining room hutch is also adorned in it's Christmas finest. Sitting in front of the homeowners holiday plates is the start of her Christmas village collection and we can't wait to see how it grows. You'll have to excuse the crooked picture, my owner is still learning how to take straight ones. :D

Of course, there are lots of little fun goodies for the kids lying around. The homeowner picked these fun snowglobes up at clearance sales a few years back and the kids love to see them blowing snow.

Last, but not least, is the Christmas tree, all adorned and sitting in front of the dining room window for all to enjoy. This was taken just after she finished decorating it so she had not had a chance to move the boxes yet.

Well, I sure hope you enjoyed my tour of Annabella's place. I'm looking forward to the start of Garage Sale season and all the clearance sales to see what new friends and decor will be joining me for next year.

Until next time. . .

Santa for ThriftyAnnabella

Another Birthday Party

2010-12-12T15:43:00.003-06:00

December is not only the month we celebrate Jesus' birthday but also my baby girl, Clair's birthday. Happy Birthday Clair!!!

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Attention all Couponers

2010-12-11T16:20:00.003-06:00

I was in line at Dollar General the other day and happened to be glancing at the cover of First for Women and was surprised to see it said $102.30 worth of coupons at the top. So I picked one up and was pleasantly surprised at the selection of coupons inside.

Breyer's YoCrunch Parfait $1/1 - expires 2/28/2011
Kernel Seasons $1/1 - expires 12/31/2011
Jimmy Dean Fully Cooked Product .75/1 - expires 4/30/2011
McCormick Spice, Herb, etc .75/1 - expires 1/10/2011
Welch's Fruit Snacks .50/1 - expires 1/18/2011
Crystal Light Candy .75/2 - expires 2/28/2011
Oregon Chai Product $1/1 - expires 6/01/2011
Snikiddy Fries $1/1 - expires 3/31/2011
Any Vicks Product $1/1 - expires 3/31/2011
Crest Rinse $1/1 - expires 3/31/2011
Rohto hydra $1/1 - expires 2/28/2011
Bed Buddy Hot and Cold Pack - $2.75/1 - expires 4/30/2011
Perdue Whole Grain Frozen Chicken Nuggets, Tenders, or Strips $1.00/1 - expires 3/31/2011
Amy’s Bowls .75/1 - expires 6/30/2011
Wholly Guacamole Salsa or Queso $2.00/1 - expires 3/31/2011
Green and Blacks Organic Chocolate $1.00/1 - expires 4/30/2011
Veet hair removal $3/1 - expires 3/31/2011
You Curl and You Style products $5/1 - expires 12/31/2010
Footpetals $5 off all orders over $25
K-Y Brand Intense $5/1 - expires 2/28/2011
Turkey Hill Egg Nog Ice Cream $1/1 - 4/30/2011
Turkey Hill Egg Nog .75/1 - expires 4/30/2011
Natrol Product $2/1 - expires 2/28/2011
Johnsonville products .55/1 - expires 1/15/2011
Dr. Kracker Products .75/1
Smart and Delicious 100 Calorie Products $1/2 - expires 12/30/2011
Pedia-Lax Fiber Gummies $1/1 - expires 3/31/2011
Rayovac Batteries $1/1 - expires 1/31/2011
Pur Flavor Options System $4/1 - expires 3/31/2011
Duck brand packaging tape $1/1 - expires 1/31/2011
Kiss Nail or Toenail kit $1/1 - expires 2/28/2011
$12 off 60 or more Organize It Order
$5 off next Overstock.com
$25 off First Order Nutrisystem
$10 off $50 purchase Wendell August
Midnight or Midnight PM $1/1 - expires 5/31/2011

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Christmas Decor

2010-11-21T21:19:00.003-06:00

Here in Louisiana we have some of the craziest weather during the Fall months. One days is freezing cold and then the next it's in the 80's. Due to all the changes in the weather we know these as the sick months. Unfortunately, sickness did not skip our house this year. This past week the little guy had Bronchitis, I was down with a bad case of the flu and DH and DD are coughing up a storm.

We did manage, however, to get the tree and curio cabinet decorated before Mr. Sickness came to visit.

During one of my "I'm tired of looking at clutter and it all needs to go to Goodwill" sessions a few years ago I lost the cord to my digital camera. I've since replaced the camera but never got rid of the old one because I had some pictures on there I didn't want to loose. My sweet DH was digging through a box of old cords the other day and actually found a cord that would work with my old camera so I could transfer my pictures to my computer.

I always thought this was the cutest picture. You can guess we had just finished watch the movie Signs and my kids were in desperate need to protect their thoughts LOL. You'll have to excuse my dirty kitchen please - I tried to camoflauge it :)

Birthdays and Holidays

2010-11-09T10:03:00.003-06:00

Ahh, the Holidays. One of the busiest time of the year for most people, myself included. Last weekend we had a big birthday party for my little guy who turned 7. He loves dinosaurs so we had a dinosaur themed party. It turned out great.

Today has me busy taking down all the fall decor. DH and I decided to go ahead and decorate for Christmas early since it takes so long to put it all up. So I've got the Christmas music going in the background and hopefully will have lots of pics to share soon.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Fall Decor

2010-10-28T09:41:00.005-05:00

Ahh, Fall is here and procrastination has reared it's ugly head. I've been meaning to share my Fall decor with everyone since the first of October. However, every time I start to do it something else comes up and it gets put off again. I actually can't believe I only have two whole posts for October. I've been procrastinating big time :)

Today I was going to share with you some of my finds from Dollar General's 90% off rack yesterday. However, as soon as I went to take the pictures my camera decided that it's batteries were dead. Glad I found this out before my little guys birthday party Saturday, but, since I don't have any batteries in the house it will have to wait until I go shopping tomorrow.

So, instead I'm going to share my long post-poned Fall decor photos.

Here's my scarecrow couple standing by the door greeting people. That is along with Miss. Sugar. She's always there to great passers-by. This may be the last year for my scarecrow couple though because the cats are having too much fun with them.

Here's my Goodwill candy dish. It's sitting next to me on the couch and is now full of Nerds for a TV viewing snack. :)

My hutch is all adorned for Fall with all my various pumpkins and scarecrows purchased last year at the end of Fall clearance sales.

Lastly, here's my dining table all adorned for Fall. A good friend of mine gave me this candle holder a couple years ago and it makes the perfect Fall accessory.

I haven't got everything photographed though. Also I have a candy dish sitting on the counter full of Mallow-Creme Pumpkins (my favorite). Then there is the scarecrow wreath that I purchased at an earlier garage sale hanging on the door. Funny thing about that is that I'm not used to having a wreath on the door and every time I peek out the peephole I get a good scare - that is until I realize what's there.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Garage Sales Oh MY!

2010-10-03T14:07:00.006-05:00

Earlier this week DH and I had discussed whether we wanted to go to garage sales this week. However, the closer it got to weekend the more tired I got and decided I really didn't want to hear the alarm clock going off at 6 a.m. so we decided to sleep in. After getting up around 9:00 we decided to head into town to pay a bill. We never made it to town though before we had to go back home to unload the car. There were garage sales everywhere.

As I pulled into the first one the lady hosting the garage sale came up to me and said everything is $1 unless marked otherwise. Something I always like to hear. She had a leather top end table with a hinged lid on top for $10. I thought about it long and hard but finally decided I didn't have anywhere to put it. I did end up purchasing a hat and a couple things for DH. My single purchase for myself at this sale was this double heart jar filled with oil for $1.

The next garage sale was hosted in a small porch with barely any room to walk. I was getting really aggravated trying to get around people to look at items and finally decided to give up. The homeowners prices were a little high anyway so I figured I wasn't missing much. The kids were with us and they were the only ones that ended up finding anything. DS got a stuffed Bullwinkle for .50 and DD found a Disney Princess clock bath set for $4. I was tempted not to purchase it though because it was in a box full of Christmas gift sets with a sign to say 1/2 off original price. DH and I both figure that someone purchased all that stuff when WalMart had it 75% and was trying to make a little money off of it. DD also got 2 dresses at this one.

The next two sales were being hosted together. It was already after 10:00 and I did not figure that anything good would be left but decided to stop and look anyway. I was so glad I did. Here's a preview of my purchases.

I actually had this exact same washbasin and stand when I was married to my first husband. He took it when we were getting divorced and I've always missed my stand. So imagine my surprise when I saw this yesterday. I told DH I wonder if this is the same one I had before because I found out later my ex sold everything he got out of our old house. For $20 it came home with me - maybe even again :)

For $2 I fell in love with this vase. I actually thought it was an antique until I got home and noticed the Made in China sticker on the bottom. Oh well, it's still beautiful.

My last garage sale purchase of the day was this Burberry purse for $1.

When we did finally make it to town we made a stop by Goodwill to drop off a few things and while in there I found this beauty for $1.99

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Dress for Less

2010-09-18T08:49:00.004-05:00

I didn't make it to any garage sales this week. I did find out the DH's cousin was having another storage building sale Wednesday and Thursday but I had already promised another family member that I would help them with a project so I wasn't able to make it. :*(

Last night we made a stop by K-Mart to pick up some Christmas items from Layaway. While there I browsed through the clearance racks set up throughout the entire store. They are having their end of summer clearance right now and the prices are great. If you have a K-Mart store near you I'd definitely recommend checking it out.

These 4 dresses were marked at $4.99 each but imagine my surprise when at the register they rang up $2.99 each. Even DH was encouraging me to go get some more for that price.

You can see I don't like to wear sleeveless dresses so I always pair them up with a turtleneck underneath and they work out great. I paired them with a black one for the pictures but I'm thinking a couple of them would look better with a white one.

Next stop was the purse racks. They had several with purses marked down to $3.99 each. The only one I found that caught my eye was this blue beauty. Okay I do have to admit I was tempted to buy a Betty Boop purse but DD convinced me not to do it.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

2010-09-11T09:21:00.003-05:00

I'm a couple days late in posting though. I always have the best intentions to get online and make a post or do something one day and procrastination rears it's ugly head and it doesn't get done. However, I did take a picture of my delicious strawberry cheesecake to share with everyone.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Vintage Donald Duck

2010-09-02T10:46:00.003-05:00

Curiosity got the best of DH and I this morning and as mentioned in yesterday's post we decided to go back to his cousin's garage sale to see what other treasures she had unpacked. However, when we got there we realized that she had not got a chance to unpack much of anything else because of being so busy with customers. There was one item that was new and it caught my eye and ended up coming home with us.

This Vintage Donald Duck bank was only marked $1. I absolutely love Donald and love watching cartoons of Chip and Dale fighting with him over their tree. Upon getting home with him though we realized that due to sitting out in the sun too long his feet are a little warped which causes him to keep falling forward. Hopefully, once we put some coins in him that will balance him out and he'll quit being so tipsy LOL.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Water Fountain Lamp

2010-09-01T17:00:00.004-05:00

Today DH and I decided to go visit his cousin. As mentioned in an earlier post she is having one of her monthly storage building sales this week. The sale doesn't start until tomorrow, however, she doesn't mind too much when family comes and snoops around the day before. Her sales are very popular and most of the time that is the only way to get the goodies before they're gone.

Today I learned one valuable lesson though - don't ever sit anything down regardless of whether the garage sale is open yet or not. I picked up a bottle of perfume priced at $1 that smelled so good. I set it down on the stand of my purchase that I'm about to show below and this lady stopped by to take an early peek also and that was the first thing she went for. I played nice and went ahead and let her have it without saying anything and later told DH I was glad I did because the scent faded really fast and didn't last any time.

My only purchase today was this 5 foot tall water fountain/lamp. She was wanting $40 but let us have it for $30 since the pump on the fountain wasn't working. I told DH that it didn't really bother me that the pump wasn't working because I would have never used it as a fountain anyway. Water fountains in the house + kids = TROUBLE.

Here's a close up shot of the inside. I absolutely fell in love with this. I spotted it from far off and practically ran to it. LOL

DH's cousin showed us the inside of her house and a couple of other spots that were stacked with boxes still waiting to be unpacked and we're very tempted to go back tomorrow to see what other treasures she has.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

American Pickers and more

2010-08-31T10:16:00.005-05:00

Sunday there was a marathon of a show I had been hearing a little about but had never seen. So, curiosity got the best of me and I scheduled my DVR to record it. I spent hours yesterday watching and even got the hubby to watch with me. We both loved it.

The show is called American Pickers and it airs on History Channel. For anybody who loves junking and flea markets you have got to check this show out. You will be hooked. To find out more about it visit their site at the History Channel by clicking the link below.

American Pickers

As I mentioned in earlier posts I am on a mission right now to get my home organized. I may even make room for more goodies. LOL, I know, typical junker always thinking about the next find. I did complete one project this week that I had been putting off. I was hoping to find one of those nice three drawer plastic bins at a garage sale this summer but alas it didn't happen. So, instead, I finally broke down and picked one up at WalMart and now my leftover linens that I had stacked on the bench at the end of my bed now have a place to call home. Now, my bench is cleaned off and we can sit down when putting our shoes on again. Yah!!

With the start of September coming up this week I'm also contemplating getting all the Fall decor out of the attic and getting busy putting it all up. In a way I'm actually excited and looking foward to Fall and all the things that go along with it. I noticed the other day while driving my kids to school that the leaves are starting to change colors. However, I'm not looking forward to the freezing cold days of Winter.

Sorry this wasn't the best shot I could get. Hopefully, I'll get some better ones later.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Goodwill

2010-08-28T20:19:00.005-05:00

Sorry all. I got a little trigger happy and realized I had deleted my blog. Thankfully, all is restored before it was too late.

I haven't made too many trips to garage sales lately because we've been so busy getting ready for back to school and such. However, I felt a trip to Goodwill was in store Wednesday. DD found plenty. However, I only found one thing. This Alf brings back lots of memories. Alf was one of my favorite shows growing up and he only cost 99 cents. He will now sit in my DVD cabinet.

I also have a trip planned for DH's cousin's monthly storage building sale next week so hopefully I will have more goodies to share.

DH brought home a friend from work the other day and we now have a new family member. His name is Fred after one of my favorite movies Smokey and the Bandit.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

More Rain and Garage Sales

2010-07-18T17:34:00.004-05:00

We weren't even sure there were going to be any garage sales this weekend. Rain was in the forecast and most of Friday evening that's exactly what it did. However, Saturday morning, even though the skies were cloudy, the rain held off until 9:00. Since most garage sales around here start at 7:00 we managed to hit a few before it started.

Today's finds not pictured are 4 bags of Shock N Swim for $1 each and a few little toys and a Spiderman mug for DS.

Steve Madden heels - $5

Tommy Hilfiger sandals - $1

Guess purse - $5

Coach purse - $5

This is DH's purchase of the day. . .

DH actually picks these up every time he sees one at a garage sale. During hurricane season if the power goes out he'd much rather use these coal oil lanterns than the propane ones. $3

I also had a bag of stuff to drop off at Goodwill and I just couldn't resist going in for a quick peek. I love glass canisters for storage and I found these three for .99 a piece.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Garage Sale Fever Cooled

2010-07-10T16:34:00.006-05:00

Sigh :( It's raining again. After three weeks of rain every day I was getting some serious garage sale fever. However, today the skies were pretty - well at least until after noon. As a result the newspaper was full of garage sale ads and DH and I decided to get out of the house and go see what we could find.

I always make it a priority to stop at the estate sales first. There was one advertised and it was being hosted by a company we're familiar with for having pretty good prices. Another thing I like about this company is that they always have boxes outside for you to bring inside with the hopes of you filling them up. :) There was a cabinet with a lot of Pyrex in it. However, they were $4 a piece and since I was on a tight garage sale budget this week I limited myself to only one. I love the blue Pyrex better than the autumn colors so this is the one I grabbed. I also found this muffin pan for $1 and this bag of toys for $1.

There's a reason I wanted the toy bag and if you're familiar with my earlier posts you can see why. Can you see it in there? Maybe this will help. . .

A ceramic Brainy Smurf. Happy Dance. The rest of the items in the bag weren't any good so in the trash they went while Brainy joined all my other smurfs.

Next we hit the garage sales. We managed to finish filling the box up with all our finds. I found a Kirby vacuum for my brother for $5 and DS found a BMX style bicycle for $5. Also I found the kiddos some more clothes. Our other finds are below.

I have a thing for magnets that are different. I picked these two up for .10 a piece. I love the cute little kitty laying beneath the stove.

I manage to talk the homeowner down to $2 on the Autumn wreath. The purple basket with Easter decor in it was .50. I'm going to trash the Easter decor and maybe replace it with some Spring flowers for the front door.

All this stuff came from different garage sales. I found the Sims 2 Nightlife for $1. I'm so happy because this is one of the expansion packs I had been wanting. DD found all the hair bows for .50 a piece. The homeowner originally wanted $3 for the shoe but she let me have it for $2. I picked up the ornament for .10 cents. I didn't like the bow hot glued on it but it easily peeled off.

I found these at a garage sale hosted by a teacher. The books were .50 a piece and the months of the year signs were $1. I'm going to used the signs for my Sunday School class.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to make it to DH's cousins storage building sale this past week. When she has it at her house in town I usually don't go if I have both of the kids with me. Taking an 8 year old and a 6 year old to a garage sale by myself if just asking for trouble. LOL. However, when she has her sales at her mom's house in the country it's not as bad because they normally play around the front yard with all the puppies.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Garage Sale No No's

2010-07-07T12:23:00.004-05:00

I've spent the past couple days doing a little Spring cleaning - although I'm a few months late to actually call it Spring cleaning. While cleaning up and cleaning out I thought about a comment from a fellow blog reader asking for garage sale pointers. After loading stuff up for Goodwill I do have my list of Garage Sale no no's.

1) I know many of us read other blogs posting garage sale finds. However, one person's taste is never the same as the others. So be wary when purchasing items at garage sales. Are you buying this because it's the popular item that everyone is searching for in blog-land or are you buying it because it's something you truly want. If you're purchasing it because it's the popular thing you may just end up with something that you don't really like after all and then you're stuck with something you need to get rid of yourself. Trust me I've done this more than once.

2) Remember the size of your home when making purchases. It is possible to purchase too many big items making it impossible to walk around comfortably in your home without breaking toes. Trust me been there, done that and my toes still hurt from it.

3) If you're purchasing something that needs to be repaired or renovated please consider your schedule and how many other projects you have going. It may just sit collecting dust for years.

My last pointer isn't actually about garage sale purchases but about all the lovely free items that people love to give away. I know it's hard to say no because you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. However, sometimes it's better to take the chance of hurting their feelings than to end up with a lot of stuff that you didn't really want or like.

As I've been Spring (actually Summer) cleaning this week I've realized that I've made many of the mistakes I'm pointing out. My #1 example is the two scarecrow people purchased at Kroger this past Christmas. They're so cute - however, they've been standing in my dining room since I purchased them because they're too big to fit in my small attic and I have no where else to store them.

Then there's the free items that I've been given that I just couldn't say no to. Now I have a broken coffee table, a broken curio cabinet, a glass shelf that looks as though it belongs in a dorm room or college apartment, a rocking chair and several other smaller items that I didn't really like but couldn't bring myself to say no to. However, in my defense it is hard to say no to grandmothers sometimes. :)

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Remodeling while no sales

2010-07-04T14:18:00.004-05:00

I realized today that I haven't posted since June 21 so I thought I would update the blog a little bit. Unfortunately, there are no garage sale finds to share. For the past two weeks rain has set in over the whole state. Fortunately, though, we are no longer in a drought. We are hoping that the rain will leave and we can get back to the garage sales this next weekend.

While we have had so much extra time on our hands being cooped up indoors and all we have started working on some renovation projects. First thing DH did was rip the indoor/outdoor carpet that was in our back bathroom up. Carpet in the bathroom is never a good idea and I'm so glad it's gone. It was in the house when I moved in and the whole time I never realized that there was linoleum underneath it.

It looked pretty good from a distance and I was so excited when I first saw it, that is until we kept uncovering it and found this . . .

Please excuse the mess. I snapped the picture right after the carpet came up and hadn't had a chance to sweep yet.

Hmmm . . . poorly installed linoleum. So we bought some new linoleum but decided not to place it down yet because now a bathroom renovation is in the works with new tub, sinks and all.

Now you see what happens when it rains, we get into trouble because we start a lot of projects. LOL :)

Rumor has it DH's cousin bought two more storage buildings full of goodies and is going to be having another one of her enormous garage sales this week so hopefully this weekend I will have a lot of newly found treasures to share.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Blue Monday

2010-06-21T08:32:00.003-05:00

I'm going to rejoin Blue Monday. I've been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to participate.

My blues I want to share today . . .

Two kids enjoying summer in their new blue swimming pool.

There is a cloud up in the beautiful blue sky that looks just like a kids drawing of a girl smiling down on us. It's hard for a camera to capture what it really looked like but in real life that's exactly what it looked like.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Father's Day Weekend Sales

2010-06-20T12:59:00.007-05:00

First thing I want to wish any daddy's reading this a Happy Father's Day.

This Saturday was a usual garage sale Saturday, nothing exciting. Most of the garage sales did have fair prices with the exception of one which was outrageous. At one garage sale we stopped at there was a couple selling their extensive DVD collection. There were bins full of DVD's - probably around 500 or more. Unfortunately, the prices on most of them was $5 a piece so I passed.

I found one thing for my front porch this weekend. This cute little mosaic table was $4.

Most of what we found this weekend was clothes for the kids.

However, I found this little Christmas cottage that lights up for $1. Also, I found this little bag of arts and crafts supplies for $1 for my Sunday School class.

After the garage sales we also made a stop at Goodwill. I found a lot of clothes for DS and DD which is a good thing because DS is growing like a weed and we can't keep him in pants that are long enough.

My total for this weekend $23

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

80% off at Hobby Lobby

2010-06-16T16:18:00.008-05:00

Today my mom and I made a trip into town to take DD to the dentist. While we were there we stopped at Hobby Lobby. I normally don't go here much because DH doesn't like Hobby Lobby as much as going to the garage sales. Don't get me wrong, he loves to shop and loves going to Target or places that have a little bit of a manly atmosphere but he's out on Hobby Lobby. So me and my mom take special trips there every so often.

I picked up two things from the 80% Home Decor isle. I've been wanting a new container for my utensils since my old one broke but haven't been able to find what I was looking for at garage sales. Today I found two options. The silver one was $4.40 and the chef one was $7.

Boy you don't realize how dirty the areas of your stove that you don't see everyday are until you see them in a picture :)

When I got home I tried both of them out to see which one worked the best. So which one won out over the other?

The rose patterned on had my utensils lifted so high that they hit the bottom of the cabinet. Trust me I'll find some other use for it because it's so pretty.

Next stop was Micheal's Art store since my mom couldn't find what she was looking for at Hobby Lobby. On the outside they had all sorts of baskets 50% off. I've been wanting one to put my cereal on top of the refrigerator and found the perfect one. It was $9.99 after the 50% was taken off.

Now if I can just find some more goodies to organize my house this summer at the garage sales. That's number one on my list of things to look for this garage sale season is stuff to organize our house.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Not So Good Garage Sale Day

2010-06-12T15:45:00.006-05:00

This morning should have been a sign of how today was going to turn out. First thing we left the house and got a few miles down the road just to realize that I had forgotten the garage sale address list. So back we went. Then to the store to pick up DH's morning Coca-Cola (fortunately, I've kicked my Cola habit). When we get there the register isn't working and after about 10 minutes of standing there waiting patiently I give up and put the Coke down and walk off. After all the early bird gets the good deals and I can't waste half an hour waiting for them to get the register working.

We didn't stop at a couple garage sales on the outskirts of town because they both said 8 a.m. and no early birds (most garage sales around here start at 7 a.m.). I didn't want to waste time waiting on them to start and not have anything I'm looking for and then possibly miss a good deal in town so on past them we went.

Today was one of those disappointing garage sale days. There were many overpriced sales. There were 4 sales listed in the paper that when we got to the address we realized they had changed their minds apparently and weren't even having a sale. There was a neighborhood sale in a church building that consisted mainly of new purse booths and people selling jewelry. Then to end the day we left town with two car sick children. They haven't gotten car sick in a year but this morning car sickness reared it's ugly head.

There was one garage sale today that was so overpriced a Trivial Pursuit game was $100. Then when I started to leave the man hosting the sale hollered at me to come back because he had something in his back yard he wanted to show me. Um, Dude, I really don't want to go into your back yard with you by myself. :(

We did find a few things though.

-I've really been wanting to try one of these dryer lint removers and found this one for $1
-This set of blinds to replace the broke ones in DS's room - $1
-I picked up these two math owls for the kiddos since they're both needing to work on their math skills - $2 for both
-The Rubbermaid container was .25 and the Sterlite pitcher was .50
-Crystal Lewis CD - .25
-Pair of School Pants for DS - $1
-The last garage sale of the day DH and the kids scoured by themselves while I was cleaning a mess DS made in the car (car sickness need I say more :). DH picked up the window mirror for $3 and the kids found the toys for $4.25. DS loves playing with Barbie styling heads but wasn't sure she wanted the blonde because someone had colored on her face and messed her hair up pretty good. However, the lady was selling them as a set so we're going to try Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on her face and see if we can tame her wild hair.

Today's total - $18.25 - (not pictured a Butane burner that DH found at the last garage sale for $5).

While sitting here typing this up I realize that apparently I signed up for Pink Saturday again this week. Seriously, does anybody know of a way to get your mind functioning again. Mine seems to be on a break lately because I keep forgetting stuff like crazy. I apologize for forgetting to share my Pinkness again this week - can the Barbie heads count LOL.

Until next time . . .

ThrifyAnnabella

Summer Goodwill Trips

2010-06-09T12:30:00.006-05:00

Summer is my favorite season of the year. I love swimming outside, popsicles, lemonade, garage sales and everything else summer has to offer. One thing I don't like about summer.

Giant horseflies. This is the biggest one I've seen so far this year and he decided to visit my porch this morning.

Yesterday we had to run into town to take care of an errand and DH and I decided to check out the Goodwill store. I'm so glad we did. I've been wanting one of these Stainless Steel Hide and Step trash cans for years but couldn't bring myself to pay $50 or more for one. Yesterday I found one at GW brand new still in the box for $6.99. Happy Dance :)

The kids have been busy this morning drawing pictures of themselves and putting that along with their piggy bank money in their wallets they got yesterday at the GW. It's so cute! DS actually asked me this morning if he could have a credit card to put in the CC slot. I might have to make him a fake one. They are now garage sale ready as they call it and thankfully the rain chances have been lowered to 10% for Saturday so Garage sales here we come. Happy Dance #2 :)

DS also found a twin sheet at GW yesterday that matches his Spongebob Comforter that he found at a garage sale last year and DD found a brand new pair of tights for school next year. DH found himself a HBO glass. I'll never understand his fascination for picking up glasses that totally don't match anything else we have and are too big to store anywhere.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Reunions and Rainy Sales

2010-06-06T16:27:00.005-05:00

This weekend we had every intention of going to the garage sales in town. However, Mother Nature had other plans and it rained most of the week and most of the day Saturday! Ugh! I did manage to make it to one garage sale Friday hosted by DH's cousin who sells the stuff from storage buildings. DH was with me so we ended up with a lot more than I usually do. He picked out two jars of homemade jelly and a window for his shed he's building. His total was $22. Then I found DH two pairs of jeans, DS a pair of jeans and a shirt and DD found a shirt and a pair of rain boots. Plus when the kiddos are with us they always finds toys. My total for Friday was $33.25 so I guess that made up for everything we missed Saturday :)

DD's $2 rain boots.

Today was our yearly family reunion. The kids love it because it means swimming in the big pool plus a super water slide. It was so hot that I was tempted to jump over in there clothes and all myself. Here's pics of the kids having fun.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Explanations!

2010-05-29T20:56:00.004-05:00

Oops! I'm sitting here relaxing and realizing that I forgot I was supposed to participate in Pink Saturday at Beverly's. So embarrassed but I do have an explanation. We've been so busy picking up the pieces from a bad storm that blew through here Wednesday and made a mess that I completely forgot. Today was a busy day rebuilding our shed that houses our water well and boy are we wore out.

Again my apologies but to Ms. Beverly Happy 2nd Anniversary!!

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Summer Fun

2010-05-25T13:01:00.002-05:00

I didn't participate in Today's Thrifty Treasures at Ms. Rhoda's yesterday. I did go to Goodwill but didn't find anything worth picturing. I picked up a Point of Grace Greatest Hits CD set for .99 - which leads me back to my earlier discussion on Goodwill's prices. A 2 CD set was .99 - on down the rack was another of their CD's with only 10 songs on it for 3.99 ???????

I also found a jumbo box of Pampers Kandoo wipes for $6.99. There were 350 wipes and a wipes case inside. The box was beat to heck and back but everything was inside and unopened. DS uses a lot of these so hopefully these will last him a while.

DS went with us that day and also found himself a book and a pair of Rustler blue jeans and DH found some brand new Napa Auto Parts caps for .99 each.

Hopefully, I'm going to have some pictures of the kiddos playing in their newest surprise posted on the blog this week. I finally traded in some of those Amazon GC's I've been earning from Swagbucks and bought the family a pool. The kids are so excited and Mr. UPS man should be delivering it today.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Goodwill Saturday

2010-05-16T15:13:00.003-05:00

This Saturday was a sleep in late kind of day. After all the busyness of the past week I was exhausted and looked forward to sleeping in. So instead of garage sales we went to Goodwill instead since I had a box of things to donate. The kids picked up some new clothes and mommy found a few things myself.

The pair of shoes in the middle and on the left were both Goodwill purchases. Brand new Cato shoes with tags still on one pair of them. I never will understand Goodwill's prices though. One pair was $6.99 and one pair was $3.99. I was almost tempted not to get the pair for $6.99 because you can just about find them on clearance at Cato for the same price.

The pair on the right was a Wal-Mart purchase - only $5. I thought these were so adorable.

This little trinket box reminded me of a Wedgewood piece although I don't believe it is. I did a little research on ebay and it resembles an InColay piece more. However, I thought it was pretty and only cost $1.99.

This angel is actually a tree topper. I have a feeling that she's not going to fit on top of a tree too well though because she's pretty tall and heavy. For $1.98 though she'll be a welcome addition to my Christmas decor.

I don't know about anyone else but I love Minnie Mouse. This cup is just screaming hot chocolate.

Last but not least I found this great Rubbermaid container. I love picking these up at garage sales and thrift stores. They're great for storage or to keep your cereal from getting stale. My price - $3.99.

I will be hitting the garage sales again soon though. I love browsing Goodwill but they're prices around here are a bit high. Unfortunately, we don't have any half price days anymore either. Sometimes, as mentioned in an earlier post, I just don't understand Goodwill's prices. I noticed yesterday our Goodwill was trying to sell DVD's for $3.99 that were so horribly scratched up that I had my serious doubts that they would even play.

Until next time Happy Thrifting!!

ThriftyAnnabella

Garages Sales 5/8

2010-05-08T22:03:00.004-05:00

Today we were up and out early trying to hit all the garage sales on a list I had made yesterday. There were over 20 on the list though and some we just had to skip. Here are some of today's highlights.

Our second stop this morning was at an estate sale. The prices were great, not high at all. I found an oil painting I fell in love with to find out it had already been sold for $10. Sniff. However, I did find this great antique looking bowl for $3 and this set of flower petal bowls for $5. The pink poodle bank came from another sale down the road and cost $2.

After we left the estate sale we went down the street where I found all this. I've been wanting something to hang from my bathroom wall cabinet that I shared in an earlier post. These cats and heart should do the job. They cost .50. I fell in love with these dragonfly glasses and this table runner will work great this next Christmas.

At another garage sale later I came across these Santa's with Mrs. Claus. The trio only cost $1.

I also came across these books and DVD's. Not pictured is Charlotte's Web 1 (it's presently in the car DVD player being enjoyed by DS & DD). The Southern Living cookbooks were .50 each. The HeeHaw DVD's were $1 each and never opened and the two Charlotte's Webs were $2 each and the other DVD was .75. They all came from various garage sales.

I found this nice jacket at one sale today for $5. A little more than I usually like to spend but I like having nice coats for church and figured this one was worth it.

I got a kick out of one gentleman at a sale being given by him and his wife today. He kept following me around trying to get me to buy something. His last effort was in trying to get me to buy some of her clothes she had for sale. I politely told him I definitely would have if I were only a size 2 which was all he had for sale. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a size 2 in my closet since my Junior High days. LOL.

Not shown is a stack of children's books given to DS & DD by two ladies hosting a garage sale together. They said they were ready to call it a day already at 9:30 a.m. and was willing to start giving stuff away free just to get rid of it. Also DS & DD at another garage sale picked up a diva door hanger and a puppy notebook with google eyes. DD also picked up the craziest hat at one sale and DH decided to give everyone in town something to laugh at by modeling it.

Overall it was a pretty good day with lots of great stories to tell and treasures to show off.

Until next time . . .

Wednesday Garage Sale

2010-05-05T09:23:00.005-05:00

As mentioned in an earlier post I went to DH's cousin's storage building sale today. Normally I tend to find more but I believe she got hit hard yesterday by a certain family member of DH. However, I'm not disappointed in what I did find. For $5 I found all of this.

I've actually been wanting a set of these hot rollers and was debating on whether to order some online. However, for $2 I can always clean these up (if they were ever even used) and save money. Also, I love these knives and it only cost me $1. I've seen these selling brand new for over $30. The magazines were thrown in free.

I also picked up these two decorating books for $1 a piece. Here are pics of the insides to show what they are.

Until next time . . .

Garage Sales the First of May

2010-05-01T14:03:00.016-05:00

So I know a lot of you have wondered did we make it to the garage sales or did the rain get us? Thankfully, the rain has held off long enough that we did get to make it out this morning. There were not many sales though due to the threat of impending bad weather.

The first sale we stopped at this morning had tables full of baby clothes. Since I have no babies anymore on down the road we went. On the outskirts of the city there were a couple garage sales. The first one I stopped at didn't have much on the outside but I decided to get out and give it a glance anyway. When I got out of the car a little black poodle ran at me carrying on quite a commotion. I wasn't sure if it was going to bite me but when I realized that it was all bark and no bite I got quite a laugh at it's boldness. At this sale I did find one thing.

This purse cost me $1.

At the next garage sale there were two adorable little Shih-tzu puppies. Growing up we owned a Shih-tzu named Fifi and seeing this lady's two babies brought back a lot of memories. From this garage sale I purchased two things.

I took a chance on this purple tablecloth. It was wrapped in plastic and you couldn't really size it up or see it too good. For $1 I figured it was worth taking the chance.

Also I found this little side table for $5. I'm going to give it a good coat of white paint and also DH is going to trim the bottom (about 1/2 inch) of the legs off a little due to some bad damage.

Next we went into the city to a few garage sales. Unfortunately, it was mostly a lot of baby stuff. I did, however, find this pair of shoes at one garage sales. Unfortunately, I need to start trying shoes on before purchase. They were marked 9 but when I got home and tried them on they felt more like a size 8. Oh well, for $1.50 I wasn't out much money and I'm sure I can find someone in the family they'll fit. They were brand new, never worn.

Until next time . . .

Pink Saturday May 1

2010-04-30T19:49:00.003-05:00

Pink Saturday

Rain, rain go away. That's my theme song for tomorrow. The first day of May and our plans are to hit the city garage sales. However, there's 60% chance of rain tomorrow also so we're playing it by ear.

Also, Wednesday DH's cousin is going to have another of her storage building sales. I'm hoping the weather cooperates and we find some great deals.

On to my Pink Saturday post. It's been a couple weeks since I've participated and I figured I had better jump back on the bandwagon. For this week I'd like to share my mirror that I picked up at a garage sale this past summer for $1. I know a lot of people would have probably painted it right away but I loved it just the way it is. It now hangs in our middle bathroom.

Sorry for the sideways picture. I was trying to find a way to picture it without getting myself in the shot.

Until next time. . .

My First Blog Award

2010-04-28T10:13:00.001-05:00

I received an e-mail this morning letting me know that my blog won a blog award and was featured at the following site.

Beads Jewelry Supply

Until next time . . .

My Firsts

2010-04-26T10:16:00.005-05:00

Hi all - sorry I've been too quiet lately. DH and I haven't been garage saling much because we've been getting projects done around the house. We have decided to start going into the city to the garage sales there the first of May (actually after posting this it dawned on me that the first of May is this Saturday - where does the time go). In the meantime I decided to show off one of my first garage sale finds, back when we first got together. This cost me $30 - unfortunately, I couldn't get her to budge on the price. However, it's been one of my favorite pieces.

Right now I have it hanging in the bathroom for storage. Yes, as soon as possible this room will be getting a major overhaul and the horrible 70's wood paneling will be gone. :)

This guy didn't come from a garage sale but since he's always being cute I'm always taking pictures of him.

Until next time . . .

Scarecrow at Goodwill

2010-04-19T13:12:00.004-05:00

A while back I posted some of my Goodwill finds and forgot to post my cute little friend. For only $1.99 he's going to be a great addition to my fall decor. I fell in love with the little crow on his head looking down at him (and unfortunately when taking the picture I chopped him off but trust me he's up there). My little scare-crow has been through a lot since coming home with me. While sitting on the dining room table DD accidentally knocked him to the floor breaking poor Mr. Crow right off of his head and into pieces. Thankfully, my dear,sweet DH searched high and low on the floor until he found all the pieces to Mr. Crow and thoughtfully glued him back together and back where he belongs. You can hardly tell he was ever broken.

Speaking of fall we finally have the majority of the leaves that fell this past year raked off the ground. I'm blessed to have two helpers who love to help mamma rake. I snapped off a few shots of them busy at work helping me.

Even Ms. Sugar had to get in on the fun playfully chasing leaves around the yard.

Until next time . . .

Community Garage Sale

2010-04-10T10:13:00.006-05:00

For everyone visiting for Pink Saturday my PS post is right below this one. I decided to go ahead and post this since I knew I probably wouldn't get a chance to later.

Don't forget to visit Southern Hospitality for their Thrifty Treasure's Monday party.

Southern Hospitality

This weekend was probably one of the last weekends we hang around the house hitting garage sales nearby. The first of May DH and I have decided to start venturing into the city again since it will be warm and there will be garage sales by the dozens.

We woke up this morning and headed out to the Community Garage Sale that I mentioned in my last post. As usual this community never fails to have lots of garage sales. There were at least 10 if not more. I found lots of things, a good bit of it being for the children.

There are a couple houses on this route that have a garage sale every year and I know I can count on them to have Christian CD's. This year was no exception. I paid $2.75 for all of these.

For $7 I picked up these DVD's for the kiddos (except Scorpion King for me). There was one garage sale along the route that still thinks used DVD's are worth $5 each. Only at WalMart brand new. Then there was another house charging $2 a piece for DVD's that were horribly scratched - I passed. My kids are big Alvin & the Chipmunks fans and that DVD ended up in the DVD player first thing when we got home.

One garage sale along the route always has pretty Christmas ornaments for sale. This year I found these two boxes there. As you can see $1.50 got me these.

For $4 I found me and DD each a new pair of summer shoes.

For $2 DD got two new dresses also.

I found this cross to add to my wall of crosses for $1.

Since the kids were behaving and not giving DH a hard time today I rewarded them with some books to look at in the car while they waited on mommy to look around the sales. $1.50 got all of these.

Then on the way home we saw another garage sale. The lady and gentleman having this sale are actually the parents of DH's boss. Unfortunately, his dad got hurt real bad last month and I'm sure they were probably having their garage sale to help with some of the expenses.

I picked up these beautiful salad plates from her for $3 and plan on using them to line up on my hutch for display.

I also bought all these puzzles from her for the kids. They were never opened and she charged me $1 a piece for them. Since it his bosses mom and I knew it was probably for a good cause I went ahead and bought them for the kids since they're such puzzle lovers.

So my grand total for today $27.75. I actually went over my $20 a week budget but it was all worth it LOL.

Until next time . . .

Pink Saturday 4/10

2010-04-09T21:07:00.003-05:00

Pink Saturday

DD and I broke away from the guys the other day for some mother/daughter time. I had some stuff to drop off at Goodwill so we went in and took a peek. I didn't find anything, however, DD found a must have purchase for herself. How could I say no?

DD is into Barbie. Just when I think she's turning into a tomboy on me, climbing trees and such, out come the Barbie's. A girl after my own heart.

I did find something for myself - a solid wood desk. I would have loved to brought it home and sanded it down followed by a coat of white paint. However, $149 was way too steep for me. Goodwill can be ridiculous on their prices sometimes. Or maybe it's just me???

Tomorrow is a big community garage sale at a town about 10 minutes from where we live. This will be the 8th year they've had it and so far every year it's been great with lots of nice finds. Hopefully, I'll some interesting finds to share tomorrow evening.

Until next time. . .

Happy Easter!!!!

2010-04-04T17:22:00.005-05:00

The past week has been wildly busy and right now my poor house looks like a herd of elephants ran through it. It will probably take me two days to get it back in order. Unfortunately, there has been little thrifty-ness this week. First thing that happened was that I sat in poor DH's recliner and it broke, never to be fixed. So I broke down and did something I've never done before. I bought a new sofa. I'm so excited because it's the first new couch I've ever owned. Now DH's recliner problem is solved and since it's got a recliner on both ends I have a place to prop my feet up also.

I did, however, make one trip to Goodwill this week but since it was Good Friday the place was a madhouse and the only thing I found is this. DH says "Oh, it would make a good candy dish." He knows me well.

From my family to yours I'm wishing you all a Happy Easter!!

Until next time . . .

Friday at Goodwill and Kroger

2010-03-26T22:27:00.004-05:00

Pink Saturday

Don't forget to visit Southern Hospitality for their Thrifty Treasure's Monday party.

Southern Hospitality

I actually have two posts that can be classified as Pink Saturday posts this week. The one right below this one also has goodies to share.

Friday morning DH and I woke up and decided to hit the Mega Sale at Kroger. On the way there we figured a trip to Goodwill was in order also since I had a couple of bags in the trunk of things that needed to be donated. Of course, you just can't go to Goodwill to make a donation and not want to peek inside (at least I can't help myself.) I sure was glad I did because I found a few great things.

DH's neice gasped when she saw me with this purse. She asked where I had gotten it and I told her Goodwill. Then she asked how much I had paid and I told her $3.99. She couldn't believe it. She said she buys purses from this designer all the time and they're normally sold at Dillard's for around $80.

I picked up this dress for DD. The picture doesn't do it justice though, especially not with my indoor/outdoor carpet background. That's what happens when you have to take a picture in a hurry :) LOL.

All these items were in a big bag together for .99 - I've been wanting to start a Christmas village for decorating this next Christmas and saw these little buildings in the bag and grabbed it up. At the time I didn't know what else was in the bag but here are all the contents spread out minus a stuffed snowman that hangs on the wall.

Then it was off to Kroger. I'm not going to list what all we got because it would take up a lot of space but here's the receipt. Our total was $22.91 after coupons.

Gotta love the Mega Sales.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Thrifty Thursday at the Garage Sale

2010-03-26T22:16:00.004-05:00

Pink Saturday

Also joining Southern Hospitality for Today's Thrifty Treasures Monday's
Southern Hospitality.

Thursday morning was the day of the garage sale I had mentioned in an earlier post. DH's cousin purchases storage buildings that haven't been paid for and resells the items in monthly garage sales. DH and I went to see what treasures she had to be found this time around and for $5.50 we came home with these goodies.

More Pyrex for my ever growing collection. I've been hoping to get my hands on some of the illusive pink and white Pyrex I've seen floating around and was so glad to find one.

This little pot was scratched some on the outside but the Teflon on the inside looks as though it was never used before.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Crazy Busy Weekend

2010-03-20T22:24:00.007-05:00

Don't forget to visit Southern Hospitality for their Thrifty Treasure's Monday party.

Southern Hospitality

So far this weekend I have not made it to Kroger's Mega Sale. Hopefully, this week sometime I will finally make it there. Plus out of all the garage sales they had this weekend, unfortunately, I only made it to one. DH and the kiddos have had me crazy, busy. Tonight it's supposed to get cold again. I guess this is what they call the Easter Snap. However, Rocky (my little Chihuahua) and Socks (my sweet kitty) have keeping warm under control.

Isn't that just the cutest thing how they snuggle together like that.

Yesterday, I went into a little town not far from us to pick up milk and stuff at WalMart. While there I did come across one deal - three bags of cat food marked down to $2 a bag on clearance and minus $1 off coupons I snagged three bags for $3.

On the way home I saw something. Oh, my - BALLOONS!!! What could it be? BALLOONS attached to a white sign that said GARAGE SALE!! Woohoo. Happy dance!!! What's better? A garage sale at a Pentecostal church. Since we're Pentecostal also I'm always looking for denim skirts for me and DD. When I drove up they had a sign on the door that said "All clothes 1/2 off Friday." That made me even more excited but then I got to thinking about it being the last day of the sale and it was late in the afternoon. What were the chances of finding anything at all. Well, as luck would have it I found just what I was looking for and for a whole $2.65 I got all these.

Then this morning it was up and off to the local fair. DH and I are so tired about now but the kids had a blast as you can see.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Pink Saturday Cupcake Magnets

2010-03-16T13:35:00.003-05:00

Pink Saturday

What a crazy couple of days it has been lately. Yesterday, I stopped by a pharmacy that I typically never use because it's further away from my home. However, it was the only place that carried what I needed so to it I went. While there I found the cutest things and purchased one. I love it and thought it would be great to share for Pink Saturday.

Cupcake Magnets. There were so many it was hard to choose - especially since they only cost $2.50 each. I finally picked this one, I love the flower on top. They also had some magnets that looked like chocolate covered strawberries - yummy.

I also got word today that my DH's cousin is having one of her storage building garage sales next week. Wonder what treasures there will be to find this time. That on top of the promise of a few garage sales this weekend, to go along with a big Nursery festival we have this time of year, and a mega-sale at Kroger and it looks like a productive week of thrifting and planting rose-bushes and all sorts of other fun times I have ahead of me. More to come . . .

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Pink Saturday & Daylight Savings

2010-03-13T08:23:00.006-06:00

Pink Saturday

I feel like the White Bunny in Alice in Wonderland - I'm late, I'm late, really, really late.

Unfortunately, my DH had an accident Wednesday. Thankfully, he's not hurt but sore everywhere and has had me on my toes helping him around the house.

Ms. Tina has some pictures posted on her new blog so please stop by and give her a visit at . . .

Screen Doors and Spindles

On to Pink Saturday. Today I decided to share two things with you . . .

This clock I picked up at a garage sale a couple years ago for $1

My lamps (I have two) that I saw online and just had to have. They did have shades with pink hearts on them but they were so damaged in the shipping that I just purchased these shades and threw on them. At night you can turn just the bottom nightlight part on and little hearts will shine all through the room.

I took this picture this week. I always wonder what games my children are playing and personally I was wondering why DS's gun was dressed up in Moxie girl pants. ???

I did hit one garage sale this week but since it was so late in the day I found nothing. Oh well, that's the way it goes sometimes.

Also, Daylight savings tonight - don't forget to set your clocks ahead. Bring on the long, lazy days of summer. Woohoo.

Until next time.

ThriftyAnnabella

Saturday Morning Garage Sales

2010-03-06T09:49:00.005-06:00

My Pink Saturday post is below this one.

This morning DH tapped me on the shoulder at 6:30 and said "Let's go to the Garage Sales." Last night I thought we had decided not to go because it was still a little cool outside so I guess he had a change of heart.

The first one I wanted to hit was in a small town not far from us. I'm leaving the city garage sales until the weather gets warmer and there's one on just about every block. The ad had advertised First Annual Garage Sale at a Senior Citizen Complex. My eyes lit up when I saw the ad because I was thinking Senior Citizens = Antiques. Boy was I wrong when we got there and saw that it was mostly their children or grandchildren having the garage sales and it was mostly toys and clothes. I did end up with two things - a Nintendo tape for 5 cents and this for $1

The lady's son (I assume that's who he was) was hosting her garage sale for her and I felt kind of bad for him because she didn't seem to be in a good mood if you know what I mean. He said it was because she woke up late.

The next garage sale was at another small town on down the road. I felt like I hit the jackpot of Christian wall art because she had two tables full of it. I ended up with all of this. . .

Our Lord and Savior was actually sitting on a table marked free.

This sweet kitty was 10 cents.

I paid $2.75 for all these crosses.

My total for today was $3.90 - not a bad day if I do say so myself.

Now I have enough crosses to start my wall of crosses. So far this is how it looks.

Introducing A New Blogger

2010-03-04T09:14:00.003-06:00

Pink Saturday

Bloggeritaville

I just want to introduce everyone to a new blogger from my hometown. Her name is Ms. Tina and she runs the greatest flea market in town. Some of my finds that I have posted in previous posts were actually acquired at her place. She is very inventive and creative and I love the way her flea market is always decorated. She hasn't posted her first post yet, she just set up her blog, but has promised lots of great flea marketing posts coming real soon. So please stop by and show her some support.

Screen Doors and Spindles

I'm also going to share my Thrifty Thursday and Pink Saturday post. I picked up this flag at Lowe's. See the price. Now I've got to buy a new flagpole and hang it up. Unfortunately, my poor flag pole didn't make it through the winter.

Please forgive my horrible picture taking - I'm still learning how to work this thing LOL :)

Until next time

ThriftyAnnabella

Blue Monday - 1st day of March

2010-03-01T10:44:00.002-06:00

http://smilingsally.blogspot.com

Happy 1st day of March. Bring on Spring. Today I'm going to link up with Smiling Sally for Blue Monday. The other day we saw something we haven't seen much of lately. What is it you ask.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

BLUE SKIES!!!

Unfortunately, that is not the case today. Dreary, cold and rainy again. However, there is hope for the end of the week with temperatures expected to get in the upper 60's. Woohoo. It isn't as warm as I'd like but after all the nasty temps we've had this winter I'll take it.

Until next time
Happy Blue Monday!

ThriftyAnnabella

Pink Saturday 2/27

2010-02-26T22:17:00.005-06:00

Pink Saturday

Yawn! What a night. Three stores, three sales and one tired me. Had to do some couponing though. Managed to get out of Kroger with 58% savings, got DD a blue jean skirt and some church shoes free with GC at Sears, and saved $29 (50%) at Super One.

I did see two things I wanted to take pictures of but didn't have my camera with me. I would have loved to shared them for Pink Saturday. I wouldn't mind having one in my front yard. What are they? Pink dumpsters of all things. Even the garbage companies are going pink.

Before I go to bed though I had one last thing to do. Tomorrow is another blessed Pink Saturday at Beverly's. So decisions had to be made. What to share? Hmmm. . .

How about . . .

A pretty angel showing off her various shades of pink or . . .

my son's artwork sitting next to me on the desk.

As I went out on my errands this evening I saw a site I haven't seen in a while. A GARAGE SALE!! It's been too cold down here in the South for anyone to want to have one this winter. Any other time Winter wouldn't slow anything down around here. However, we've had an unusually cold one this year. I'll do a lot of things, but I'm not much on braving the cold to shop a garage sale. So until it warms up some more the garage sales will have to wait and I'll pass my time at the Goodwill store where it's nice and warm.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

A trip to Goodwill

2010-02-23T12:48:00.003-06:00

So today I took a car load of stuff to Goodwill this morning - still working on that Spring cleaning. While there I couldn't resist the urge to peek inside and see if I could find anything special.

Sorry for using the washer for background - everything else is covered with stuff to go through. More Spring cleaning to do so looks like this isn't my last trip to Goodwill.

What are these? I don't really know what their true identity is but what I see are Mini-Cloche's.

I tried to use this saucer as an example but it's too big. However, you get the idea I'm sure. I did find some saucers that worked perfectly at Goodwill but didn't like the pattern on them so the search is on.

I picked up these 4 goblets for $3.99. I'm in a goblet phase right now and figured they'd work great in a future tablescape. There was a lone blue one which I left there, although now I'm wondering if I shouldn't have gotten it. There were also some beautiful clear goblets with flowers on them but they only had three so I passed. My new goblets actually look very similar to the ones I bought this past summer at a garage sale for .25 a piece as pictured below. . .

However, there were only three and I didn't really think about it until I got home. So now I'm wondering if I should keep them and try to find the match or send them to a new home. Decisions, decisions . . .

Until Next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Pink Saturday!!

2010-02-19T21:32:00.005-06:00

Pink Saturday

Today I decided to share some pinks from my bedroom. However, I'm not going to take wide angle shots. Why? My bedroom right now is a work in process and DH has already devised another one. He's decided to knock the back wall off the house and add another 8 feet which is going to make our room huge. All I can tell him is go for it and hope it all looks great when it's finally finished.

However, here are some of my little pinks floating around our bedroom.

Daughter piggie helping mom out.

Little bear on the potty.

My bowling ball - somebody please take me bowling (hopefully DH is reading this and getting the hint). I actually used to bowl in a league but haven't had the opportunities to bowl much anymore.

My pajamas I have on while taking these pictures. My grandma bought me these when I was pregnant with DD and I absolutely love them. Gotta love anything with cute little bears on it.

Little boy piggie helping his daddy.

Last but certainly not least a cute little kitty with a pink nose. You may remember Socks my little "Chicken" from earlier posts. DH brought him home a few months ago when he was just a wee little squirt. Boy has he grown to be such a handsome little fellow.

Gummi Bears

2010-02-17T10:55:00.002-06:00

No - I don't mean the candy either. We've been talking on Hot Coupon World about some of the shows we all miss from growing up. A favorite cartoon so far has been the Gummi Bears. Now everyone has the song stuck in their heads so I just had to share for anyone wanting to reminisce . . .

By the way - I got my first $5 Amazon GC this morning from Swagbucks. This is a great site to earn money for GC's. It didn't even take me a month to earn my first one. I'd definitely recommend it.

Until next time. . .

ThriftyAnnabella

100th Post and Spring Cleaning

2010-02-16T10:01:00.003-06:00

First off, the is my 100TH POST. Woohoo - Happy Dance. It's been great sharing my thrifting and garage sale adventures with all of you the past few months. Here's to 100 more.

So I decided to start my Spring Cleaning today in hopes that maybe it will bring Spring on. Bring on the sunshine, warm air, flowers and all the other great things that accompany Spring. Well, I guess I can hope anyway but it's still cold outside. So since I'm cooped up indoors I've decided to start going through the house gathering up some stuff for Goodwill.

It's a start. Hopefully, I'll be able to get more done tomorrow when the kids are back at school from their break. It's a lot easier when no one is digging anything out of the Goodwill box as my little loves sometimes do. My big love does that also. You can put something in a Goodwill box that hasn't been touched in years and the phrase "Hey, I might need that someday" all of a sudden comes into play. Also, there's the famous "Hey, I play with that" even though they haven't touched it in a month of Sunday's.

Well, back to work I go.

Until next time.

ThriftyAnnabella

Snowy Weekend

2010-02-15T14:00:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to share pictures of this batch of snow - it's unusual for us to get snow more than once ever 10 years or so. However, two years in a row and twice this year we've seen the white stuff. Trust me, though, anybody that knows me can tell you I'm ready for summer. Snow is pretty to look at but just too cold for me.

I love the way the snow rippled on this view of the rooftop from the hospital.

passers-by.

Snowmen on the side of the road waving at people passing by.

Snow on my favorite vehicles - Mercedes Benz.

Snow falling from the sky near our house.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

A Snowy Pink Saturday

2010-02-11T09:45:00.002-06:00

Pink Saturday

Ugh, more snow. I'm going to try to get out of the house this weekend and hit the Daytona sale at Kroger. Can't miss good deals.

For my Pink Saturday this week we're supposed to share something about Valentine's Day. So I decided to share my kids Valentine's boxes that we made last night and some cute little card we had left over from last year. These were so neat because the kids can color them themselves.

Until next time . . . Happy Pink Saturday

ThriftyAnnabella

Coupons and Updates

2010-02-10T09:08:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still working on the couponing. I've received several more coupons this past week - just been bad about posting. This time of year has me really busy because it's Mega Sale and Daytona Sale time at Kroger. My last week Mega Sale total was $17.04 with over $54 or 75% savings. Now I'm preparing to hit the Daytona Sale this weekend. If you're interested in learning how to save money through couponing I really recommend this site - they'll teach you everything you need to know.

Hot Coupon World

So far I've sent e-mails to 170 companies and I'm still sending when I get the chance. I'll try to post some more results later.

Until next time - Happy Thrifting and Happy Couponing.

ThriftyAnnabella

Blue Monday & Superbowl 44

2010-02-08T08:42:00.003-06:00

http://smilingsally.blogspot.com

First of all this morning I've got to give a big congratulations to our very own New Orleans Saints - Superbowl 44 Champs. We here in Louisiana have been waiting a long time for this day.

Today for Blue Monday I decided to show off Blue Dolphins on a Blue Jean background. I picked these guys up at a little shop a few years back and thought they were the cutest dolphins I'd ever seen.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Pink Saturday

2010-02-06T09:17:00.003-06:00

Pink Saturday

I am so sorry everyone. I was sitting here this morning thinking there was something I was supposed to do. Then it dawned on me - Pink Saturday. My FIL has been in the hospital all week and DH has had me up there every day. I knew I'd forget something. LOL

My pink was rushed and thrown together this week but here it is. . .

My kids weekend project - addressing their Valentine's for school.

My Kleenex I bought last night at the Kroger mega sale. Even the Kleenex boxes need to be pink - LOL.

Until next time . . .

Happy Pink Saturday
ThriftyAnnabella

Pink Saturday 1/31/2010

2010-01-29T19:29:00.005-06:00

Pink Saturday

Last day of January. Another month has flown by. Lately I've been discussing a past time of mine, couponing. I can't remember how to shop without using coupons - LOL. One of my favorite magazines to purchase when couponing is AllYou. You can find this magazine at the check out counter at most WalMart stores. They're usually packed with coupons.

Speaking of couponing I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I e-mail companies about this time of year to let them know how much I love their products. Normally for doing this they will send you a token of their gratification. Lately I've gotten . . .

Bar S - VIP Certificate and 4 .25 Q's
Lance - 3 Frees
Brawny - 3 .55 Q's
Starkist - 2 $1 off 3 cans
Alouette - 1 Free and 2 $1 off Q's
Domino - 1 $1 off Q
Scott - 2 $1 off Q's
Polident - 1 $2 off Q
Promised Land Milk - 4 different coupons
Seapak - 3 different coupons
Fresh Express - 2 FE coupons and 2 Chiquita coupons
Energizer - 3 $1 off coupons
Tennessee Pride - 2 .55 coupons
Johnsonville - 2 $1 off coupons
Bruce's Yams - 3 $1 off coupons
JollyTime - 3 various coupons
Tai Pei - 2 $1 off coupons
White Castle - 2 $1 off coupons
Minute Rice - 1 Free and 2 .50 Q's

This goes to show that it pays to talk to companies and let them know what a great job they're doing.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

WalMart & Coupons

2010-01-26T09:49:00.003-06:00

Today I had to go pick up DS's glasses so I made a stop by WalMart since I was out of headache pills. Here's what all you can get at WalMart with $14 and a lot of coupons.

Two bar packs of Ivory Soap - $1.18 each - $1 coupons = .18 a pack
4 (3) roll packs of Rolaids - $1.98 each - $4 off 2 coupons - FREE
1 jar Mt. Olive pickles - $2.28 - .75 coupon = $1.53
Multi-pack Equate Headache pills - $4
Pepsi (I was thirsty) - $1.38
4 packs Post-It notes - $1.50 each - $1 coupons = .50 each
T.G.I Fridays Mozzerella Sticks - $3.12 - .75 coupon = $2.37

Here's what happens when you e-mail companies to let them know how much you enjoy their products. Yesterday's mail netted. . .

2 coupons from Blue Bunny - $1 and .50
4 coupons from DelMonte - .50 each
2 Michelina's coupons - Both Free Products
1 Mt. Olive coupon - .75
3 Welch's Coupons - .50 each
4 Contessa Coupons - (2) .50 and (2) .75
2 Malt-O-Meal Coupons - $1 each
4 Boston Market Coupons - .75 each and a coupon for a free Smart One
1 John Morrell Coupon - $1
4 Sweet Baby Rays Coupons - 1 Free and 3 $1 each
2 Smuckers Coupons - .55 each

So see - it really pays to let food companies know how much you enjoy their products.

Until next time - Happy Thrifting!

ThriftyAnnabella

Garage Sales Tracker

2010-01-25T11:50:00.002-06:00

I've recently been asked to do a review for a Garage Sale Website. The link is

http://www.garagesalestracker.com

I'm not really good at doing reviews but wanted to mention to everyone that I added their link to my non-blogspot blogroll. At their site you can post your garage sale or search for garage sales in your area.

Until next time

Happy Thrifting!

Blue Monday

2010-01-25T08:09:00.004-06:00

http://smilingsally.blogspot.com

I'm back - still working on my coupon books but decided I better get back to blogging too before you all give up on me LOL.

These are some figurines that I've gotten over the years through garage sales and such.

I purchased this girl with unicorn at a community wide garage sale last year for I believe $1

This little girl came from PoshPoints. I don't know how many of you remember PoshPoints but it was a program like ebay where you sell stuff to others for points and then use your points to purchase something yourself.

I fell in love with this couple a few years ago at a garage sale. I think I may have given $5 for them. How romantic are they.

Until next time - Happy Thrifting.

I'm still here

2010-01-23T16:59:00.004-06:00

I know, I've been kind of quiet this week. Wonder why? This is the time of year when I take the time to e-mail companies to check on the availability of coupons. Normally, December 31 my coupon boxes go empty with expired coupons. Unfortunately, sometimes you just can't get a good deal on something no matter what coupon you have so you have to pass.

So it's that time to fill them back up. I'm at around 96 companies and counting. To learn more about what I'm doing there's a forum that I visit all the time that explains a little more on couponing. Please visit
Hot Coupon World to learn more.

Until next time, Happy Thrifting.

Swagbucks

2010-01-22T10:31:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to share with you a new way to earn Gift Certificates. It's Swagbucks and they pay you to do the simplest things - such as making searches. Check it out.

Thanks for looking and as usual Happy Thrifting!

Target 75% Clearance

2010-01-19T13:18:00.003-06:00

Sorry no pictures today everyone. Been a little busy this week and haven't even had a chance to participate in Blue Monday but hopefully will slow down a little after this weekend. I did want to share with you my great buys at the Target 75% Toy Clearance. I always hit these sales to buy presents for the kids for next year. November and December are always bad months for us so this helps.

Crayola Crayon Town - $2.48
Disney Snow White's Kitchen Set w/doll - $6.24
High School Musical 3 doll with microphone - $5.74
Batman car with two little figures - $5.48
Little red hot wheels type car - $.62
Hot Wheels over the door storage - $3.24
300 Piece Picktureka Puzzle - $1.74
500 Piece Cars Puzzle - $3.24
Spongebob Sorry Game - $4.48

Until next time - Happy Thrifting!

Pink Saturday 1/16/2010

2010-01-15T22:39:00.002-06:00

Pink Saturday

So this week I decided to share some pink from around the dining room. Once in there though I realized that besides my purse sitting on the table I don't have much pink in there. Shame on me LOL. However, I did find a little pink to share.

A little cross we made in Sunday School.

This little plate I picked up at a garage sale a couple years ago for $1 I think it was.

Until next time Happy Pink Saturday

White Wednesday

2010-01-13T10:29:00.004-06:00

I'm Joining White Wednesday over at Faded Charm.

It starts with the story of Kris Kringle *aka Santa Claus.* While I was at the Dollar General Monday I saw him just standing there, looking all lonely and in the 70% Clearance Section at that. I couldn't believe he was still there and that nobody wanted him. So to the register he came with me and now he has a part in my Christmas Decor next year.

This will be my first Santa dressed in white.

Also while at WalMart Monday morning I couldn't believe my luck. All of last years crocs were marked down to $1 a pair. I grabbed up all the ones they had in DD and DS's sizes and hopefully they'll last them through summer.

Happy White Wednesday!

Kroger and Target Clearance

2010-01-09T16:39:00.005-06:00

I'm dreaming of summer. Seriously!! This crazy weather has got me bummed. We woke up this morning to all frozen pipes. We finally got water running again by noon. Trust me we left the pipes dripping but that didn't help. I'm definitely a summer person and not a 17 degree weather person. However, that didn't stop DH and I from venturing out the other night to pick up a few groceries and check out the Target 90% clearance. I was really wanting to find more than one roll of these great ornaments from Target but was thankful that there was at least one left. I saw these on another blog and thought they were absolutely beautiful. Here's what we did get and our totals.

Slots Game $2.48
Grinch Ornament .59
2 boxes Ornaments .25 each
Roll of Ornaments .50
Big Ornament .39

From Kroger
4 Plates .63 each
4 Glasses .31 each
Santa with Girl 3.75
Bird Ornament .75
These little cars came from Target $1.99

This Santa and Little Girl is my find of the night.

This red bird ornament was DH's pick.

I'm joining Smiling Sally for Blue Monday.

I'm joining Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday.

It's a Very Cherry World

Until next time Happy Thrifting.

Pink Saturday 1/9/2010

2010-01-06T11:13:00.007-06:00

Pink Saturday

This week Pink Saturday hosted by Beverly is back to Pink and I wanted to share some of the pink you see floating around my living room. To tell you the truth I could probably share my whole living room with you for pink Saturday because well it's . . .

PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!! As you can see though the ceiling in the back of the room is another one of those home repairs needing to be done and is that a toy hiding under my end table LOL. Wonder if DH would let me paint the whole house PINK. He probably would. I know a lot of women say the hubby's would never let them decorate their house girly. My DH is opposite - as long as he's got his recliner and big TV he doesn't care how the rest of the house looks. God bless him!!

To share some of my favorite pinks from around the room. . .

This mirror came from a community garage sale this past summer $5. I may eventually paint the frame white but not sure right now.

This cloche was given to me. It was brown so I gave it an overhaul. The teacup inside came from a garage sale this season $1.

This was the first picture DH and I bought together. Not a garage sale find though - this one was full price.

Until next time Happy Pink Saturday!

My 2010 Projects

2010-01-06T10:23:00.006-06:00

I'm also joining Ms. Rhonda at Southern Hospitality for Top Projects of 2009 - http://southernhospitalityblog.com/? - since I was a new blogger in 2009 I didn't have any project pictures but want to share some of my top projects starting 2010. Hope everyone doesn't mind.

Beverly had asked us to share our 2010 projects for Pink Saturday last week but due to kids running around and Christmas messes still abound I hadn't gotten a chance to take pictures but wanted to share some today.

This curio cabinet that was given to us is going to become a shelf. Most of the glass is broken and since it might be costly to get all new glass we're going to take the doors off, cut out the center piece and paint it white.

This coffee table was also given to us and it's also getting a new life with a coat of white paint and a new piece of glass cut where the one is broken and missing.

I'm going to try to get my Pink Saturday post posted today also because we have some really bad weather coming in tomorrow in the form of an arctic front so just in case there is no power and I don't log in for a couple days I wanted to go ahead and join in. They're talking possible snow - this crazy Louisiana weather this year has me freezing and longing for summer.

Happy Thrifting!

Pink Saturday 1/2/2010

2010-01-01T18:11:00.005-06:00

Pink Saturday

It's hard to believe another year has passed. Last night we said goodbye to 2009 and hello to 2010 and the start of a new decade. So many memories from the past decade, new births, loss of loved ones. To everyone that reads my blog I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year.

Beverly wanted us to share some of our projects for the upcoming year but since I haven't had a chance to get pictures taken yet I'll just tell you. There are three projects I'd like to get accomplished this year. My coffee table I had given to me I would like to finally sand it, paint it white and get a new glass cut for it. My curio cabinet I also had given to me (as you may have seen in an earlier photo with my Christmas collection in it) is going to get a big overhaul. All the glass is broken except for the shelves and one door so instead of getting glass cut which will probably be costly, DH and I have decided to take the doors off, cut the center piece out and paint it white. Give it a whole new purpose you may say.

Lastly, and a project that I'm not sure will get done or not is my kitchen. I'd like to finally get new cabinet doors and get all the cabinets painted white. Also the cabinet under the sink that is rotten from a leak that occurred before we moved in I would like to get replaced. Time will tell.

Next, to share my pink this week. I decided this week to show off some of my favorite pink bath products along with a new air freshener that DH and I discovered that has become one of our favorites.

As you can tell from the above picture I love the smell of pomegranate.

Happy Pink Saturday!!

White Wednesday

2009-12-30T09:50:00.005-06:00

I'm joining in White Wednesday at Faded Charm again today. Today I'm going to share some more of my pictures of Snow here in Louisiana of all places.

Please join in over at http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com

Work ahead of Me

2009-12-29T13:29:00.003-06:00

Looks like I've got a lot of work ahead of me next week when the kiddos go back to school. Taking down all the decorations in the house and finding room to store the new ones purchased this winter. Does it always seem like taking them down isn't near as fun and putting them up - sigh? Also I get to look forward to sorting through all this and decided what to keep and what not to.

See DH's mom decided that she's not going to decorate her house anymore. I hope I never get to the point when I'm older that I don't feel like decorating for Christmas anymore since it's my favorite time of the year. So DH comes home one night with this in tow - his family decorations - we're going to sort through and see what all is in here.

Now that Christmas is over am I the only one that's starting to get the garage sale fever again. I know, I know - it's cold outside. Still apparently I'm not the only one because DH was talking last night about all the things he's hoping we'll find this garage sale season.

Until next time. . .

1/2 off Christmas

2009-12-27T13:51:00.004-06:00

http://smilingsally.blogspot.com

I hadn't planned on hitting any of the day after Christmas sales. Normally I tend to wait until everything goes to 75% off. However, I had two sick men both with a bad stomach virus and a shortage of medicine which required a trip to the Dollar General. I've had my eye on this but couldn't bring myself to pay $5 for it so I was pleased to see it still there Saturday evening. $2.50 I could bring myself to pay.

While there I also spotted these adorable snowman plates and picked up 4 to use in a future tablescape. .75 each

Christmas with Thrifty Annabella

2009-12-26T15:37:00.005-06:00

Christmas went great this year - with the exception of a missing present which was found and DH and DS ending up catching a virus and being sick Christmas night. Thankfully, though we were finished with all family get togethers. Just wanted to share a few pictures.

This kitty kept meowing at me for days, even wrapped it knew every time I walked by.

Posing in their new pajamas

Christmas is in full swing

2009-12-22T10:43:00.004-06:00

Sorry been a little quiet lately but as many of you know Christmas season is in full swing and it's the most crazy busy time of the year. Beverly asked us not too long ago to share holiday traditions and ours usually begins the last day of school with the school Christmas program. DD this year was the wind in the song Do You Hear What I Hear? DS was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. They both did great.

Giving their praise to baby Jesus - he is what Christmas is all about.

What a way to top off the Christmas production than with a visit from Dear Ole St. Nick himself.

Then it was off to the church Christmas program. DD was a camel and DS was a wise man.

Cleaning up after the program and can you believe it!! - DH vacuums after all. I always knew he had it in him.

I actually managed to get my hair put up for this event which is always a big deal for me since my hair is so thick. I actually get excited when it all goes into place.

Until next time Merry Christmas to all and remember Jesus is the reason!

Holiday Traditions

2009-12-17T19:55:00.003-06:00

Pink Saturday at - Pink Saturday

While posting this I realized that most of my pictures from last years Christmas got lost when I restored my computer. WAAAHHH!! But the show must go on. Beverly wanted us to post our Christmas traditions for this week. Christmas is normally a busy time of the year for us. It starts with school plays on the last day before break. Then it's time for the church play and banquet. Then comes Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Normally spent with my family we always make sure to spend Christmas with my grandparents. Christmas Eve finds us over there opening presents and then Christmas Day finds us all over there cooking and eating. Here are some pictures from Christmas' past for your enjoyment.

Opening presents at Nana's house - look at all that paper everywhere - LOL

Looks like Santa made a stop by Grandma's that year.

At the church Christmas Banquet last year. The only photo of Christmas I had left from last year.

White Wednesday

2009-12-15T21:10:00.003-06:00

I'm gonna throw up a quick White Wednesday post - the next two weeks are uber busy. Two Christmas programs, one Christmas Sunday at church and of course Christmas - it's the most Wonderful, busy time of the year

I love my two end tables - only one is shown here - DH took me to the furniture store one day and told me I could pick out two new end tables but I only could spend $100 each. Yeah, right. I looked all over that store but my heart was set on these two cottage style tables and he finally gave in. Gotta love him for it.

My two ladies - I picked the angel up at a garage sale for $5 and the lady holding the flowers I found at Hobby Lobby on sale for 90% off.

Until next time . . .

Michelle Dugger Delivers #19

2009-12-12T11:20:00.002-06:00

Please keep this baby and family in your prayers. I love the Duggar family and am a big fan of their show. She is so tiny. Here's the story

MSNBC Link

5 New Members

2009-12-11T16:30:00.002-06:00

http://smilingsally.blogspot.com

Thanks to Shopgoodwill my Smurf collection has grown by 5. Let me introduce our newest family members . . .

First we have a smurf that's a grouch and a smurf with an ouch . . .

. . . a Smurf that likes to play Tennis . . .

. . . a Smurf that likes Bikes . . .

and last but certainly not least Nurse Smurfette.

Until next time - Happy Thrifting