Super Savings Saturday 10-25-08

This week has been a so-so week with bargains. I will be making a trek to CVS and the grocery store later on Saturday. However I am still finding great buys at the my favorite thrift store.

This past week my husband and I went to the store and found more awesome things for our sons and my husband. They had more great Ralph Lauren Polo brand shirts: a long sleeved polo, an awesome plaid long sleeved dress shirt, two more short sleeved standard polos, and two red sweaters by RL. But I think my husbands favorite buy was buy one pair of sunglasses get TWO free! They were one dollar a pair. One of those sunglass kiosks at the mall had gone out of business and the glasses were donated to the thrift store. I don't know about your kids but ours go through sunglasses like crazy. Of course they are picky but when the boys mow their customers lawns they don't have to always be stylin' and profilin'! LOL!

The shirts were anywhere from 5.00 to 7.00. We spent around 30.00. Once again one of the shirts had NEVER been worn! Still had the 65.00 tag on it.

We have not been to CVS in quite awhile. I am pretty stocked up and see no sense in getting more right now. I have a list for this next week so I am ready to hit the stores.

I am hoping to find canned beans, chicken broth, and veggies on sale this week at the grocery store. We are getting very low in our various types of beans we keep on hand. However, since we buy them by the caseloads they have lasted us for MONTHS. It should be about time for them to be on sale again. Let's hope so because it is now chili season and I use lots of beans in the winter.

For more Super Saving Saturday ideas head over to Money Saving Mom.

Super Saving Saturday 8-2-08

Wow! Today has been an awesome day! We are having a tax free weekend in Oklahoma. It would have been great if school supplies were included, but I guess we can't have everything. At Dillards all the items already on sale from 50% up to 75% off you can get another 30% off of that! Today we found some great bargains for back to school.

My hubby and I first started the day off at TJMaxx. We found a backpack (for a student we are helping at church). We also found football gloves for one of our boys that at Academy would have cost 50.00---we would not have purchased them at that price anywhere but today we found them for 19.99-Underarmour linemen gloves...the cheap ones at Academy last year cost us 19.99 and they tore up before the season was over. This brand is the best and now we don't have to worry about his hands getting torn up by cleats. We also found underarmour shirts for the boys to wear under their football uniform for 5.00, four dresses for our daughter, four pairs of shorts for the boys (each pair was ten bucks), my favorite perfume, and a jacket for me. There was a lot of stuff and we both thought it would be around 200.00 but was well underneath that total and we only had to pay 2.89 in tax!!! The only things taxed were the perfume and the gloves.

On to Dillards...we found shirts for the boys, my husband, and several (8 pieces) work items for me. I found a darling 3/4 length jacket marked down to 22.00 and I got another 30% off of that price! The jacket was originally over 100.00!! WOO HOO! My husband found an Austin Reed shirt that was originally 95.00 marked down to 17.47. We think it was a mistake because the other shirts just like were 37.47. Needless to say it rang up 10.47! We love Austin Reed shirts because of their quality. We were thrilled with the purchase! We found two collard polo shirts for our sons first day back to school. They were originally over 60.00 but we paid just 10.68 for the shirts!

All in all today was very productive and something that we only do twice a year....at the end of winter and again summer. It pays to watch the sales and hit the large chains when they are trying to rid the store of last seasons clothing. It really pays off for a large family.

Five years ago they had a huge sale at Dillards. Everything was marked incredibly low...I mean Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren shirts for under ten bucks. We loaded up on things for each of the kids and shirts for my husband. In the end the total value for all the items that we purchased was over 3200.00 but the kicker was we did not pay but 250.00 for these items. 200.00 that clothed our entire family of six for more than one year. The shirts my husband bought still look brand new and the boys still wear some of the Polo shirts we purchased.

I still prefer great consignment and thrift stores but when I can find first quality, never worn merchandise at an incredible savings I am all for it. Today was awesome and my husband and I are worn out. For more Super Savings check out Money Saving Mom.

Super Saving Saturday 7-19-08

Today has been the BEST savings day!!!! I just can't wait to share about it!

My husband last night scoped out some ads for garage and estate sales. It was so sweet. He had it all planned out. One place in particular was a antique dealer moving to Dallas from Edmond and she was selling things from her darling store in OKC. I found some French Country items that I adore. I found a beautiful red and white chenille bedspread that is gorgeous. I am going to use the fabric to cover an ottoman that I have. An old watering can with the spout...you know the awesome, big aluminum ones. I am going to put sunflowers inside it. I found a very old blue willow plate, an awesome long wire basket that I can put my old mason jars inside and then use it as a vase for fresh flowers. Waverly toile fabric was in the bottom of this big box and I grabbed it too. There was also some chicken wire that was brand new plus two cans of Rustoleum paint in a flat black plus an apple red paint. The total for everything was 23.00! SCORE! The most expensive item was the bedspread at 10.00!

We stopped at an estate sale in our neighborhood and I found a Peterboro large Picnic basket from the 50s for 2.00!!!!!! Everything was still inside the basket. It is AWESOME! I also found a milk glass hobnail dish..that is very small with a lid. I think it was for jam. Very cute!

But the biggest find of the day....was at Goodwill. A brand new in the box, still taped down with instructions and warranty....a 2008 Cuisinart 12 Cup Coffee Maker.




Okay my fine frugal friends....I paid 5.00!!!! FIVE DOLLARS! The girl asked me if I had a discount card....I have never heard of Goodwill having one but I was about to jump out of my skin paying only 5.00 for this 100.00 coffee maker that was BRAND NEW!!!!! Thank you Jesus!!

The Lord is so good. I had a wonderful day and we did not spend over 40.00! WONDERFUL!

I hope ya'll had a great productive day too!

For more Super Saving Saturdays check out Money Saving Mom.

WFMW 7-16-08

Back to School Madness

It is that time of year when families begin thinking about back to school. It is my favorite time of the year. I remember the long, hot days of summer when my Mom would bring me the back to school issues of Teen and Seventeen magazine so I could pour over the pages of fashion and get my ideas and plans together. I loved school supply shopping and look forward to it each year.

This is the TIME to buy your school supplies. Also if you have grown children now is the time to purchase those supplies for your own office or better yet buy a bunch and donate to your church or charitable organization. Donate to a single parent that you know to help ease their struggle. How about your neighbor that has been laid off from work? There are so many wonderful things you can do with these very inexpensive supplies!

For several years my church has had a back to school drive to help those single parents and others that were struggling. This year one of our pastors has felt the call to extend it to our community. We are hoping to reach 1000 families. Check out WeNeedSchoolSupplies.com. What a fantabulous idea to help those that are in a crisis right now.

Now is the time for me to stock up my supply closet and replenish those items that we have used in the past year. This is also the year that we buy a new backpack for our daughter entering high school. We buy Janzsport backpacks and they have a lifetime warranty. Our sons are still carrying the ones from middle school. You can usually find them on sale at Kohls and other stores for under 20.00. Many times we have found them on sale for under 10.00 at TJMaxx.

These ideas all work for our family. For more ideas check out Rocks in My Dryer. Thanks for stopping by!

Super Saving Saturday 5-24-08

This has been the most amazing week for savings in our family!!! I have no pictures but will tomorrow. Last week I had a couple of great CVS runs.

Tonight I just got back from getting three nail polish from Revlon, 2 Addidas deoderants and gave 12.00 in ECBs, 3/1.00 off of 1 coupons for the nail polish, and I had a free Addidas deoderant coupon. I paid 1.31 OOP and earned back 18.98 in ECBS! We now have a grand total of nearly 80.00 in ECBS from the past week of shopping! Last Saturday I had purchases that totaled 75.00 but when it was all said and done with coupons, ECBs I paid a little more OOP than normally 16.00 but earned back nearly 50.00 in ECBS! I will post pictures tomorrow morning! I have not had the 3/15.00 coupons to use but did have 10.00 ECBs from answering a couple of surveys.

This morning we hit the garage sales in our area. We were up and out early. We found some amazing deals! I had been wanting this tin sign at Hobby Lobby for my kitchen but was too frugal to pay 10.00 bucks for it. I looked at it each time it was half off but never bought it. Today at the first garage sale we went to I found it for .50 cents!!!!! Brand new!!!!! WOO HOO!!!! They also had an adorable tin bucket to plant my herbs in, a cute black bear yard ornament that I adore, a Red Rooster iron planter that I have seen at Hobby Lobby for 29.99 (paid 2.00 for it), and my husband bought a garden tool for a buck. We headed over to our next place and I found a great pine TV cabinet for 25.00, an old croquet set, plus the basket that picks up tennis balls, some picture frames (.50 cents each...nice heavy wood frames I am going to paint), and a blue and white child's tea set and we spent only around 33.00!

Oh and my husband found a brand new Brinkman Smoker for get this.....ONE DOLLAR at a garage sale!!!! Yea, we were excited!!!!!

Today our total at the garage sales was 36.00 and I earned 18.98 in ECBs...I'd say this week was a great time of savings!

For more savings head over to Money Saving Mom.

Frugal Friday 5-16-2008

I seems as if it has been AGES since I posted a frugal friday post. I have been so busy with year-end activities, plays, musicals, birthdays, work, etc. My teenagers and college student have taken over the computer time lately with school projects. I am thankful to have the chance at a decent hour to create a post!

This is the time of year that I absolutely love! I love spring time/summer for many reasons but for my life of simplicity and frugality it is the time of year for wonderful garage sales and estate sales! I love, love, love them!

Last weekend my daughter and I hit the road early Saturday morning and after a Starbucks run for her we hit our first garage sale. My husband and three sons love to hunt. However, hunting is expensive to get outfitted with all the gear. Imagine my delight when I saw two familiar looking camo items at our first stop. The zippered bag/container had the expensive earphones that you see people using that shoot skeet or sporting clays. The zippered bag also had two full boxes of Remington 20 gauge shotgun shells. Then there was this vest thing that had big pouches on the front that were FULL of shotgun shells! I asked how much and the lady told me 10.00. I thought that was kinda high so I called my husband. When I told him what all it contained he kept saying, "BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT!" He told me later that the headphones alone are 40.00 at Academy and the bag is around 30.00...I did not pay much attention after that because I was so excited!! Ka Ching! Can you say SCORE!

Our next stop we found a few cute items my daughter liked. A beautiful framed picture and a couple of cute rooster prints for my kitchen. We scored again when we came across three black wrought iron bar stools with a cute curved back and red padded seats. They were so cute and would fit right in our kitchen. They wanted 40.00 for all three and I asked if they would take 30.00. SCORE! They are VERY nice quality and very sturdy. My husband could not believe it when he saw them. They look brand new!!

On another frugal note....One of my boys wanted to donate books for a leadership opportunity at school. They were to be childrens books new or gently used. Of course he told me at the LAST minute that he wanted to donate 50! Yes, let me repeat that for you....I said 50 books. He really wanted to do this and was going to pay for the books. I promised him I would take him to Dollar Tree in between dropping his sister off early for her performing arts night and our attending her last middle school performance. I had a total of FIFTEEN minute to do all of this.

We ran into Dollar Tree and I began counting out childrens books until I saw them....three books to a package and two books to a package! My frugal mind went nuts. I asked him if they could be any size of book and he told me that they could. I then told him that we were going to buy the groups of books. We began to count by two's and three's until we got to 50 total. We raced up front and he paid for them.....23.00! That was a savings of 27.00!!!! WOO HOO! We had the fifty books he really wanted to donate and they were perfect for small hands plus he learned a POWERFUL lesson on saving money in the midst of giving! I love it!!! Now it would have been awesome if he had not procrastinated and we could have gone to Goodwill or asked family members for any old books but he really wanted to give new ones. Thank you Lord for Dollar Tree!!!

For more Frugal Friday posts head over to Biblical Womanhood.

Super Saving Saturday - 2-2-08

I can't believe I have waited until this weekend to make this post! I have been SO excited since Tuesday night but I guess having the flu has made me forget a little about wanting to post my savings so badly!

Tuesday evening I had to drive across the other side of town to take our 15 year old to watch the varsity play basketball against one of the other high schools in our school district. I realized that I was near two CVS stores that are about two miles apart. I decided to try and find some of the items that I have had trouble locating. This was going to be my third attempt at CVSing, as I call it.

I gathered up my coupons and my list and entered the store. They had some slim pickings but I did find a few things that I needed. They also had one of those scanners where you can scan your card....I had never seen one. I kept going over and over things on my calculator and in my head. I waited until no one was around at the checkout since my first two times were humilating with my not knowing what to do and people waiting around for me to finish.

I began my transaction and at first seeing the amount on the little display screen I was freaking out because I began to think I had miscalculated and was already mentally beating myself up and really felt like giving up this whole CVS thing. I handed over my coupons, which I wished I had printed a coupon for 50.00, I can' t remember if it is 5/50 or not but I gave my 5/30 coupon and then all my manufacturers coupons. Finally, I handed the cashier my ECBs that I had been collecting from my previous two transactions. I was nervous because I felt like I had made a mistake when suddenly I heard the cashier say, "Ma'am, I can't pay you and right now I owe you .87 cents" I suddenly remembered fillers....I grabbed two King Sized candy bars and when I gave them to the cashier the crowd that had gathered behind me began to cheer! I was red-faced again but this time with total shock and amazement!

The sweetest little old lady ever behind me said, "Honey, do you want me to take your picture?" It was hysterical and I was so excited. I told her "No thanks" and went on to tell her that I could not believe what had just happened! She and her little friends all had their baskets loaded up and their EasyCare Cards in hand. They told me that they were Coupon Freaks! COUPON FREAKS I say! It was so cute.

So I ended up paying 2.56 for 56.00 value of items AND earned around 20 ECBs. I was so pumped that I called my sisters and my Mom. I would have called my sweetheart but he was asleep since he was working an all nighter later on. I then drove to the next CVS and bought some more shampoo, cereal, Garnier Fructis Skincare and some food items that have already been eaten at my house plus the Soy Joys. I wanted to hang on to my ECBS since I am just starting this and do not have a lot to spend plus I had just earned the most ever! I paid out of pocket 29.00 (I know, I know probably not the best idea) and then the manager went crazy...in a good way....he said, "Oh my goodness look at all the ECBs that are printing out!" He counted them all for me before he ever handed them over...almost 26.00 worth of ECBs printed out!

People, I am pumped! I love the Soyjoys, my daughter is in heaven with the shampoo, the boys love all the candy that I never ever buy, and my husband is so proud of me.

Don't give up you newbies out there! I still feel a little unsure of myself but Crystal gave me very wise advice when I emailed her early on in this adventure. She told me to start small. If you look back at my pictures some of them are mighty slim. This picture does not have that much item wise and it is the culmination of two trips but I am getting there!

If you want to see more Super Savings Saturday head over to Money Saving Mom!

Super Savings Saturday - 1-26-08

This week has been so busy for me that I was not able to get my act together to head out to CVS and Walgreens early. I have determined that the early bird does indeed get the worm and I hope to have my plan together after Crystal posts her CVS and Walgreens online tonight.



All was not lost and since this is only my second time to do this CVS shopping I felt like I did okay but not as good as I would have if 1) I was not last minute in getting it done; and 2) I was not running a fever and feel like a Mack truck was rumbling in my head. This is what I did at both places and one product I received in the mail for free this week minus a few products:



Okay now for the list:
Last night at Walgreens I purchased two boxes of Hershey Sticks (not shown...eaten by three teenage boys). Each box was marked 1.99 and I had 2 $1.00 off coupons, which made the final for each box .99 cents. I purchased a Garnier Fructis curling gel, which is not shown, 3.99 original price plus I had a 1.00 manufacturer coupon plus a 1.50 coupon from the Easy Saver catalog at Walgreens, which made the gel 1.49. One Rimmel mascara for 2.99. Purchased Jane Mineral Make up BOGO free with the original price being 6.99. I did not see alot of markdown Jane products at our Walgreens. I puchased a markdown lipstick by Jane for 2.59. We also purchased two Snicker eggs for a 1.00.


I have discovered at my Walgreens they are not careful about coupons. I was shorted a 1.50 but they would not correct since the manager quickly gathered up my coupons and put them away. I was very frustrated but thought next time I would go to another store. All in all the total value of products were:
28.53 before tax
10.00 in coupons, 6.99 free item
Total before tax 11.54; Total out of pocket this trip 13.21


I was disappointed with how much out of pocket I had spent but they were items we needed and the price of the gel was better than Walmart so I felt good after I reviewed my receipt.


CVS - this morinng. I was miserable (getting sick) and looked it. My daughter went with me and this is what we were able to find in stock....most things I wanted like the deoderant, Sambucol, and a few other things were sold out.
3 large Hershey Bars in Dark Chocolate
8 Soy Joys - all they had left
4 M and Ms - all they had left Dark Chocolate which is what I wanted in the first place.
1 Cotton Balls, 1 Cotton Pads
34.13 value - free M&Ms 6.98= 27.15, should have added more to up it to 30.00 but was not feeling well at all and ready to get home.
I used:
my 7.00 ECBs - first to ever use
4/20.00
3/15.00
2/10.00
My OOP ended up being 9.21 w/tax
I Earned 16.00 ECBs


I was excited that I earned 16.00 ECBs and look forward to doing better next time. I never buy candy and I am going to have to dole this out or my boys will eat this all today! They burn so many calories working out but we really limit sugar intake in our home. It was exciting to purchase this for them and two bags are for their Valentine's.


I welcome any comments on how I can work this better. I still feel that I am not doing it quite right and really relish reading each of your posts to get a better handle on how to work this to our family's advantage.


Oh and one item in the picture is a free Contact solution we received free in the mail after I sent off a request for it weeks ago when my husband received his new contacts. Woo Hoo, I love free!


My daughter and I also used two coupons at Chick Fil A today and received two free chicken sandwiches with the purchase of medium fries/medium drinks. Savings: 5.18


Total OOP this weekend: 27.51 Total value of items: 67.84

Check out Super Saving Saturday at Money Saving Mom for more great ideas!

Frugal Fridays - 1-18-08

Being frugal to me also means that when one needs something or even desires something you find another way to have it for the least amount of money spent. If it is free, that is even better. So began the room I call my free room at my home.

Moving into our home three years ago was filled with great emotion. I have mentioned before on my blog that this was the home I grew up in. It was very exciting to have the chance to buy the home from the woman who bought it from my parents thirteen years prior. While we were very excited to have the home, I knew that buying new furniture was out and that meant a couple of rooms would be empty. I began to pray.

I went ahead and planned how I wanted the rooms to look and had them painted. I love french country style and I am a bit eclectic. The front of the house has the typical 70s style of a formal living/formal dining combination. I wanted red walls and a yellow ceiling. My reproduction oak table that was over 20 years old looked great as did my 100 year old buffet I had purchased in the early 80s. I prayed for more furniture.

About this time, my youngest sister advised me that she was going to re-decorate and would I like her french country couch? Oh my goodness of course I would! This is the beginning of my frugal streak taking hold. I never dreamed how well it would match my scheme. Soon my parents gave me two french chairs to add to the mix. They were perfect! One day our neighbors were having a garage sale and I saw the cutest yellow furniture. I quickly recognized it as 1970s Ethan Allen furniture. I asked how much for all the pieces and about fell over. I knew the hutch/bookcase alone sells on eBay for around 1500.00 and they were 0nly asking 150.00 for four pieces of furniture in excellent shape. The coffee table came from a thrift store that had half price day and I snagged the oak table for 12.50! I soon pulled out all my blue and white plates that I had been collecting for years, never paying more than 4.00 for a single plate, and my dream room took shape.

I am so glad that I did not feel pressure to run out an charge up a card in order to furnish this room. It is my favorite room in our home. It is SO me. It is not formal but homey and comfortable. My sweet sister later gave me the balloon shades as well and the room was complete.

In your quest to be frugal, never overlook the possibility that you may have friends or family that will want to re-decorate or give away furniture. Never give up looking at garage sales or thrift stores for great finds.

That is my Frugal Friday tip. For more Frugal Friday ideas go to Biblical Womanhood.

Here is my frugal/free room:

Super Saving Saturday - 1-12-08

Update:

I have made my first CVS run and went to Walgreens too. You ladies rock that can do this so efficiently and save so much more than I did today. But I am getting there!
The total value of all items is: 122.58
Out of my pocket tonight: 31.34
ECBs earned 7.00
ECBs spent tonight (beginner) 2.00
Expecting rebate of: 19.99
earned register rewards 3.50
I am not sure how you ladies work the final tally. I am choosing to take my total spent: 31.34 - 19.99 rebate - 7.00 ECBs - 3.50 RR = .85 cents will be my final out of pocket once all is completed OR 31.34 spent tonight - 19.99 rebate = 11.35 with 10.50 in earnings to use later. However, you choose to look at it....this rocks! I have had alot of stress trying to figure this out but now that I have gotten over the first hurdle of actually going through the process, I know I made it too hard on myself!

I have two One Touch Ultra blood sugar monitors, two Arm and Hammer detergent (my children love this and how it smells - a consumer reports pick for laundry detergent); 4 Reeses Whips; 2 Pro Vive Shampoos; 2 Garnier Fructis Shampoos; One Garnier Curly Spray; 4 Orbit gum packs; 2 Mentos gum packs; 4 boxes of General Mills cereals, and one Colgate toothpaste.







I will be heading out later on today for my weekly shopping and hope to post pictures upon my return. However, I am very excited about the One Touch Ultra monitor that I was able to purchase for 'free' today! I am sending off the rebate later today. I am curious to see what takes place and if the company actually sends the rebate.

I went to a different Hobby Lobby this week and found three more ornaments to match the previous ones purchased last week at 80 percent off. I also found a star for the top of our tree that matches our stocking, tree skirt, ribbon, etc. Our Colorado lodge look is now complete.

I purchased three items for Valentines Day gifts for my teenagers friends. They had picked them out last week but I told my children I was sure they would start pricing the items 50 percent off soon. Sure enough, the Sunday paper confirmed my theory and I went and snagged the cute items for 50% off.

I also have been waiting for the decorative wood sayings to be on sale. I wanted one that said CREATE for my craft room. I never pay full price at Hobby Lobby because they have a regular sale schedule and you can pretty much get whatever you are needing/wanting on sale if you are patient. They had the decorative words on sale for 50% off. Total worth of items purchased: 49.00 My cost: 16.00.

Check back later today for more bargain updates! Check out Crystal's site for more Super Saving Saturday.

Super Saving Saturday - Hobby Lobby Bargains

Update: Just got back from SuperTarget where all Christmas items were 90% off. Not much left, however, we did pick up Christmas gift tags at .09 cents per package of 100! We also picked up two 2008 calendars for two of our boys that love Dale Earnhart, Jr. for .99 cents down from 9.99! Bags of bows - silver and white ones and a bag of gold bows for .18 cents a bag of I think 25 bows in a bag. We also picked up the last of the gingerbread cookies and a shortbread cookie and they were all under .45 cents a box. We hardly ever buy sugary snacks so this was a real treat for the kids. All in all it was a great last minute stop on our date night.

Robin and Shannon both call my favorite store the same thing: the Mother Ship. I think anyone that loves to decorate, craft, or scrapbook knows exactly the store I am talking about: Hobby Lobby!

Today was my fifth or sixth time to hit H.L. during the last two weeks! I have bought things at half off, 66% off and today 80%! Granted the groovy red glass bowls that I was really wanting I missed out on. Even at 66% off they were not frugal enough for me to part with my cash. Besides, right now I'm not sure where I would put them. Honestly they were more of a want than a need so it is a moot point.

I did pick up the most awesome ornaments, more curly bows, a few more gift bags, several awesome larger Christmas items. To give you an idea of what I found ornament wise...I bought three silver and glass tea pot ornaments for ornament exchange gifts next year. Each were regularly 4.99. I bought all three for 2.99! Two dollars and ninety-nine cents people! Less than what one cost regularly! The average original cost of the other ornaments, which were the old fashion, mercury glass type ornaments, was around 5.99 - 7.99 apiece. I got them for 80% off!!!

The six packages of curly bows that I bought were 2.99 a pack. They have I think four or six bows on each pack. They are darling bows that I can use for birthday gifts since they are not Christmas colors. So let's assume there were four bows on each package that would make 24 bows total. The original price was 17.94 for six packages; 8.97 at 50%; 6.10 at 66%; and at 80% 3.59. So since I love numbers, to break it down further: I bought a total of 24 of the cutest curly bows in hot pink, lime green, silver and white, blue, pink, and I can't remember the other color and they equal out to .14 cents a bow!

The smaller gift bags cost me around .20 cents! Better than Dollar Store prices!

The Edmond Hobby Lobby is getting sparse on the East side of Edmond but there are still a couple of aisles of great items. I would check out your local Hobby Lobby.

So in closing I bought: 15 ornaments, six packages of speciality bows, ten gift bags, a wooden 3 foot tree, a large Christmas lodge look Moose and Bear with the same red and black buffalo print that my tree skirt and stockings are made from. Also four photo boxes for my new craft room, Christmas scrapbook stickers, two silk candle rings, and a stamp set with embellishments and cardstock for my daughter to make her cards next year all for around 38.00! The only things not 80% off were the photo boxes and they were 50%.

After coming home and looking at the original prices of just two of the larger items they totaled more than all the items together that I purchased today.

The lesson is hit those after Christmas sales. I have not had to pay regular price for wrapping paper, bows, ribbon, gift bags, etc., for over seven years! It is of great benefit to my family. So tonight my gift wrap area is now re-stocked, the gift drawer is full too and I am ready when one of my children have a party to attend.

Found Space

I am taking the plunge. I am turning a room into my craft/sewing/computer/quiet time room. I am so excited! My camera battery is charging or I would post a picture. Maybe tomorrow.

We bought the home my parents built in my hometown in 1970. We have lived here now three years. It is a really cool story. They sold it in 1993 and I wrote the owner a letter in 2005 and let them know if they were to ever sell the home, we would be interested. The owner called the next day and shazam we have the home! It raised four children (three girls and a boy) and it is now raising four more (three boys and a girl). I love being back in my old neighborhood with the beautiful trees and it is so close to everything. WE can walk to Starbucks if we want! Love it!!

I digress...my Dad did income taxes on the side. When the home was built he had an office built into a wasted space in the garage. It has two built in desks with one having a large bookcase built in above it. It has a window and is on the heating/air conditioning system of the home. It is tucked away and near a door going outside of the garage and right next to the door going into the house. This is where all the blogging takes place currently.

We were never really allowed out here when I was growing up but it was one of my favorite places to sneak off to and think. So yesterday I decided it would be the perfect spot to craft/scrapbook/sew/and basically have my own spot to do my own thing with my daughter. I already come out here for quiet times. I am so excited! I can't believe it has taken me this long to figure this out! Maybe since I have not had this much time, nearly two weeks, to just hang out and relax. My creative juices are flowing and I am ready to hit Hobby Lobby tomorrow and pick up a few things that are on clearance!

I hope to have some pictures to post real soon of the progress.

Look what I found today at TJMaxx!

Look at the cute candle holder I bought at TJMaxx today. I need to buy tea lights to place in each bird but my daughter added the red candles for now. There are six little birds and they are 'talkin' to each other. If you look closely you can see the second bird turning to jabber to the first. It is so cute. I have never been a big fan of bird things but I saw this last night and it was so unique looking. I then woke up at 4 this morning thinking I should have purchased it since I thought it would look great on the mantel with my blue and white urns, plates, and our great painting of Texas bluebonnets.



I tend to do this each time I take the Christmas decorations down. I want to re-do everything. Re-purpose items from other areas of the house. There must be a message there. All I know is that I am ready for a change. I am hoping to head to Canton, Texas to the big flea market in the spring. I have never been and today I was thinking it was time to take a little trip down there to load up on some goodies!

My den needs help. It is the only room that we did not do anything major to when we bought our home two years ago. This home my parents built when I was ten. They sold it in 1993. Two years ago I wrote the woman they sold it to a letter and asked if she ever wanted to sell it to contact us first. She called the next day! It is awesome living in this great home that my parents so lovingly built. It is spacious and in a great location. The kids attend the high school near our home that I also attended. It is close to our church, shopping, events, and it is in a beautiful neighborhood filled with huge oak trees. We remodeled most every room but the den. It still has the paneling! I have a vision in my head but have not had the time or money to get it done. I love the cottage look. Hopefully in 2008 we can begin to work on this great room.