Frugal Friday on Saturday

Frugal Friday

My fabulously frugal finds this week. Unforetunately I was hit with the flu on Friday so this week it's Frugal Friday on Saturday.

My lovely auntie has a beautiful rose garden. Whenever someone she knows is sick or in the hospital during the summer months she brings them a little vase with some of her roses. So, when I come across a good deal on a pretty little vase I pick them up for her. She has MS so getting out to shop is getting harder for her.

.25 cents 

The perfect size basket (.75 cents) to fill with a pot of flowers on my old chair plus a second covered basket (.25 cents)

that looks like it was made to match. They may or may not get painted. The nest on the chair is the robins 3rd attempt to build a nest on my porch light. They got this one mudded before I discovered it.

I have an open back 8x10 frame that I needed a piece of non-glare glass for. And who knows what I might do to the dreary little sampler to make it usable. I've already started picking it apart with a seam ripper.

.50 cents

I have been looking for quite a while for a staight sided, cut glass vessel with pretty design to make some colonial shortbread cookies that I came across while surfing blogs.

http://thepastoraldollmaker.blogspot.com/2009/12/dear-heartes-pressed-glass-shortbread.html

$1.99

I thought these little pieces might also make some pretty cookies. I just love this 1st one.

.25 cents

.25 cents

A little copper colored lantern in need of a makeover

.99 cents

And of coarse some more clothing for my wool collection. From the white one down, I got them all cut apart. Everything above still needs pulling apart.

.49 - $1.50 each

Monday Make-Over's

Monday Make-Over's

It's that time of year when the weather is warming up, the snow is gone, the garage sales are beginning, and I am itching to get out for some re-sale shopping and country auctions. Warmer weather is also the time for some messy make-over jobs that are better done out of doors. My big plan was to start posting a new make-over every Monday. Then, don't ya know, the batteries in the camera needed a re-charge and I couldn't find the battery charger. Hard to post a make-over post with no pics. Luckily I found it the charger while cleaning some drawers this week and now I am back on track. So, this week I am sharing my bedroom make-over.

We have been in this house for 3 years now. Before we moved in hubby promised we could take out an inconvenient bedroom window. So, I have been waiting and waiting for that window to go away before I stenciled. I have finally given up and found a new solution to work around that window.

"Before Pictures"

"After Picture's"

The bedroom make-over also includes a gorgeous new Drexel Heritage 4 poster rice bed from Craig's List for $350 and I got them to throw in the night stand for free.

As for that window that has been holding up the stenciling? It is right behind the left side of the headboard - out of sight. I bought new window treatments for the other window but not for this one since I "believed" it was going to be gone soon. Well, that will be another Monday, hopefully sooner than later. A cliff-hanger to be answered by summer's end - finger's crossed.

Easter Egg Hunt

THE GREAT EASTER EGG HUNT

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Planning outdoor activities for Easter in Michigan is always tricky. You just never know until the morning of what the weather will be. I think our weatherman changed the holiday forecast 5 times in 7 days. First sunny and dry, and then rain. Then cloudy and dry and then windy with rain. Then cloudy and dry. Surprise! It was 60 degree's and dry and partly cloudy. Thats about the best you can ask for in these parts this time of year and, believe me, I was asking Jesus on a twice daily basis for good weather. So, prayers were answered and the grand babes had a terrific egg hunt! They are such wonderful fun at this age.

Miss Ava - age 19 months

It was a trick keeping her interested in the eggs once she found the flowers. And of coarse Mr Bean is always right there to help. Ava is his favorite person on the planet.

 Big sister Sienna, age 3 1/2.

A little teamwork.

Time to open all those eggs and see whats inside.

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! The pay-off. A Russell Stover chocolate covered marshmellow bunny.

Make-over Monday - the Sampler

For a month I have been fighting colds and coughs and bronchitis. Luckily I got 4 good days in between fevers just in time to hit some big sales at my favorite re-sale shops. First up was an end of season bag sale. For $5.00  you got as many clothes as you could manage to squeeze into a paper grocery sack and $4.00 for each additional sack. I, of coarse, went in the day before the sale and cased the joint. I knew right where all the best wools were. I was first in the door and filled my cart in record time - wool slacks, skirts, jumpers, and blazers - 28 items for $17.00.

3 days later was my favorite re-sale sale where the last Tuesday of every month is 1/2 price day store wide. Another cart full of wool clothing at only .50 cents each. I literally doubled the wool collection I had been working on all winter.

My Wool Haul

The Entire Collection

I love hunting down wool. Some days are more successful than others but this was by far the most successful week ever. But as excited as I get finding a great color wool it doesn't compare to my next find.

For just $2.50 I found a wonderful sampler. It was stitched by someone named Leora Peterson in 1982. Unforetunately it was framed in a very modern, narrow, copper metal poster frame. The sampler is huge and was going to cost a fortune to have a custom frame made but I remembered seeing a very large frame in the other re-sale store 3 days before I thought might work. As it turned out it was an inch too narrow and about 5 inches too tall. Luckily my hubby was able to cut down the height to proper size. I had to remove the sampler from it's original frame and cut down it's very generous border. Then cut down the acid free board it was mounted on and re-stretch  and mount it. It was sooo worth all the effort. Definately one of my favorite re-sale finds of all time.

Sampler as found

Sampler Re-framed

I just wish the beauty of the wood in the frame showed here. It's a gorgeous pecan color with little worm holes. The gold border is far less shiny than the flash shows and picks up the camels and golds in the needlework just beautifully.