American Pickers and more

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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