Hurry to The Children's Place Online

Go HERE.

Only shop for pajamas - everything else is overpriced (even the clearanced items). Type "Stretchie" in the search box and you will find an endless supply of pjs for less than $4.00.

Then go HERE and snag the 20% off your total order promotion code and watch those $3.50 and $4.50 pjs drop even lower in price! The code is only good until 1/18 and supplies are dwindling fast...you have to hurry!

I buy almost all of Ty's pajamas from TCP because they hold up so nice in the wash (we wash our pjs after every wear), but I never pay more than $4 for them. The second best place for pjs is Salvation Army. They are always $1.99 and it's pretty easy to find ones in good shape!

Ah...There's my pajama model, now.

We don't pay more than $4.00 for any of our pjs - it would be a crime!

Get to Old Navy!!!

Old Navy (it looked to be across the country) is running their 40% off already clearanced items sale. I hit this sale hard every season for Ty's next year. You've gotta get there by the 17th because it only runs through the holiday weekend. I came home with a full-packed back for $30!! I didn't pay more than $3 for any of Ty's 2T shirts (and a number of t-shirts were only $.50 -.70) and I found him a hefty winter coat for $7 with matching gloves and hat for $2. You just can't beat the prices - it's the only way to shop.

Let me know about what kind of goodies you find, if you go!!

Ty's Thrifty Christmas: Part 2

Well it's a little after the fact, but I wanted to post the rest of Ty's Christmas! In case you're wondering...he LOVED every item he received. The tool bench, box, and apron were a huge hit. From the time he wakes up in the morning until the time he goes to bed, he wants to wear his tool belt :). It warms my heart to know that he loves something that I made him...and it only cost me a buck! Yesterday, someone at work was cleaning out an old closet and was getting ready to scrap a small box of wood. It looked like the wood was meant to be name plaques or something - each piece was smooth, with a natural finish. I knew Ty would put them to good use and surprised him with the box, when I got home. A good thrift-er is always on the look out!

Ty received three gifts from us, the first being the tool work station. The second gift he received was this wonderful road carpet for his cars. I found it last summer at a garage sale for $5.00! It has a little something spilled on it, which, of course, came right out when I took it home to scrub and vacuum.  I had it laying on the floor Christmas morning, with all of his cars laid out on the roads. He already owns so many cars, I thought it was silly to buy more. Such a great new play item. I see many hours of car crashes and traffic jams in our future.

Notice the tool belt remains in place.

Ty's third gift was an amazing, Salvation Army, discovery. The good old fashioned paper roller! I snagged it for $3 at our local store and purchased the paper roll online for $9. I did give the roller a face lift. The balls that attach the paper roll were in primary colors. I sanded them down, painted them chocolate and it was as good as new! I had a bunch of coloring items on hand, so I stocked the shelf in the back of the roller with all the new-to-Ty crayons and markers and he was thrilled!

I was actually (pleasantly) surprised to see just how much Ty enjoys creating. I figured his attention span would be much too short, but he asks to sit and "Cull" multiple times a day. My uncle made him the handy-dandy stool he's sitting at. Ty pretty much thinks he's big stuff now, with everything at his level!

Ty, of course, got many other things from family and friends, but it felt really good to keep things simple on our end. My form of frugality is more than just pinching pennies. It's an experience that combines money savings, with a pleasing-to-God way of life. I don't want to just save money, I want to give money. The more money we save, the more money we have to give.

We want Ty to grow up with a tender heart and large world view. He needs to know that his simple Christmas allowed us to supply sweet Baraka (our sponsored child) with food and water for not just his family, but his village!

For me, it goes much deeper than money. I spent the entire year thinking, exploring, and saving for this year's Christmas. Not only did I make 80% of our gifts, but I cut our entire Christmas budget by more than half. When I watched each person open their gift, a fullness filled my heart. Nothing was given in thoughtlessness.

And that feels good.

I refrained from blogging all my projects because I didn't want to spoil surprises. But, now that Christmas is over....I'll share them all, so that you can start planning your 2011. It's never too early to start...

Ty's Thrifty Christmas: Part 1

I'm going to have to do this in parts because I don't quite have everything together or done, yet.  But, I'm excited to show you my progress, so far.

This is the first year we've purchased gifts for Tyrus and although it's been hard not to go gift crazy for the kid, Ben and I are really committed to keeping Christmas meaningful, gifts simple and heartfelt, and expenses down. My goal, this year, was to cut our Christmas budget in half...and I came through with flying colors!

THIS is the gift I'm most excited to give Ty, this year.

Ty's own little handyman spot. 

I'm going to break this gift into four pieces and tell you how I got everything pictured for $28.00.

Piece #1 : The Little Tikes Workbench

Complete with a vibrating sander, tools, build-able bird house, saw, phone, and hard hat.

The key to being thoughtful, yet, frugal is being prepared. If you wait until the week before Christmas to start making your lists, you'll find yourself wandering aimlessly around the mall, stuck buying all the overpriced leftovers. Think ahead. I keep a small pocket notebook in my purse (all year) and every time someone mentions something they wish they had or hopes to buy, I write it down. This serves two purposes. 1) It eliminates the guess work - I always know what to buy everyone on my list and  2) I am free to shop all year round.

[Sidenote: We budget money each month for Christmas and slide it into a savings account. It's a beautiful thing when you can buy gifts in cash and rest easy come January.]

I knew I wanted Ty to have a work bench so I kept my eyes peeled all summer at garage sales and perused Craigslist every week. Because I had time on my side, I waited for the deal to come to me. And it did. I picked up the Little Tikes Workbench several weeks ago for a whopping $15 and I met the fellow mom 2 minutes from my house. You can't beat it. Everything was gently used and in good, clean working order. I was pumped!

A week later, I just happened to find this beauty at Salvation Army:

Piece #2 : The Personalized Tool Box

I scour the nearest 'Army at least twice a month. The key is to go often, with notebook (gift ideas) and creativity at hand. This little gem was $4, but had a 1/2 off sticker. Yup. I paid $2.

I painted the entire box bright blue to match the Little Tikes workbench; dry brushed 5 more colors to replicate an old, weathered look; and free-handed Ty's name and a token hammer.

The last step is to sand the heck out of it to tone the colors down a bit.

I had all the paint, so this bad boy's price was only the initial $2.

Piece #3 : Home Depot Play Tool Set

We didn't want to spend more than $50 on Ty, so I had to wait for a really good deal (as you'll see in the coming days, I had many more gift ideas!)

 
I watched Toys 'R Us ads for weeks waiting for this kit to go on sale...and it did! As soon as it went 1/2 off, we drove to the store and picked up two (one for Ty's best bud). The tool kit is normally $20 - we splurged and bought it for $10. The working drill had Ben at hello.

Next, Ty needed a tool belt.

Piece #4 : Tool Belt

 I only had a few dollars left in the $50 budget, so making it myself was the only option.

I went back to our local Salvation Army, picked up 2 place-mats for $0.99, and spent about 15 minutes whipping this together.

All you need is one place-mat and a roll of twill tape (I had it on hand).

I laid everything out and pinned it before sewing. I used 1 inch twill tape and folded the place-mat over the twill tape and sewed along the edge. I then sewed the ends and two seams to form a 3 pocket tool belt. It's a little big for Ty, but he'll grow into it! I didn't cut it up because I wanted the finished edges (the sewing went faster that way).

The last step was to fold the twill tape ends twice to form a nice, fray-free seam.

What a simple project! I made two. One for Ty and one for his best bud.

It looks so cute all rolled up and full of tools.

So that's that! Can you believe we pulled it off for $28?  One other idea that i haven't gotten too, yet, is to take some scrap wood (we have that on hand, too), sand it down, and add it to the tool drawer on the work-bench, so that Ty has some real wood to bang around.

I have a couple other gift ideas to bring you, but this is my favorite! I can't wait to see Ty's glee on Christmas morning....

Garages Sales, Thrift Stores, and Occasional Trash Heaps

I love me a good deal. Every girl does, right?

A true thrifty heart always has her eyes peeled, ideas in mind, and the ability to see treasure in the trash. I'm going to give you a little insight to how I shop, today.

Retail deals are good...but they're not my favorite. A true "deal" in my book is marked by an extraordinary find that cost me less than $5.00. Take these totally rad, vintage pottery jugs. Aren't they amazing? 

Ben finds them atrocious, but I'm used to dismissing his eye for design. I ran into these bad boys at a local garage sale. Grown kids selling off their mother's junk totally priceless antique pieces. I paid a buck for each of them....a buck! Want to know what the sugar pot goes for on eBay? Forty. My dear husband would prefer I sell such treasures, but unfortunately they've already won over my heart and found a perfect resting place in my cozy kitchen (and they do, in fact, house their namesake).

The Garage Sale is not a new concept for the frugal female, but here's a tip you may or may not utilize. I'm not the drive around aimlessly, you've-only-got-about-an-hour-before-kid-gets-cranky type. I'm more of a purposeful planner. Every Thursday I check these two sites for sales:  craigslist.org and estatesales.net. I only go out if I can find multiple sales in an area and if the list of items/pictures sounds promising.

Fortunately for me, hubby loves sale-ing as much as I do and it's a family event. Utilizing those two sites, you'll quickly find that garage sales don't have to be seasonal and you can get your shop on all year round!

I found these gorgeous vases at an estate sale a few months ago and get this...each one was a quarter or less!

My plan for their future is to have ready-to-go fabric floral arrangements. Perfect for any last minute hostess or birthday gift. Tutorial to come.

I cannot talk about favorite shopping venues without mentioning the one and only - Salvation Army. I go nearly every other week to scope out the deals. Ours is right up the road, so it's really convenient for me to pop in after Ty goes to sleep, for 20-30 minutes. I have found a great deal of my Christmas gifts there this year...and don't worry Aunt Betty isn't getting holey, used underwear! Take this gem, for example:

$2 originally, but since I typically only shop the 50% off tags, I got it for $1! I took it home, taped off the mirror for protection, and gave it a solid coat of chrome spray paint.

Today, it adds the perfect amount of lovely to my office door, at work.

As much as I love garage sales and shopping at "the army", nothing compares to snagging a side-of-the-road freebie. Trash day is one of my favorites. You never know what's lurking under that chaotic mingle of bags and boxes. I have no shame and will stop for most things. What's the worst that happens? Someone sees you trash picking? You get the item home and upon inspection trash it yourself? When I first got into the gig, I did it in the cover of night. That's okay! Eventually you'll come to see the light (smile).

Here's my latest:

 

I only wish I had taken a picture of it before I started sanding. It was nasty. Dark and stained and covered in blue paint. But, here's the thing. It's solid wood, has great shape, and is quality craftsmanship (Ethan Allan actually). My honey tightened up the legs and I spent about an hour sanding the heck out of it. My original plan was to paint it a distressed red and sell it...but I'm a sucker for beaten wood. Painting and parting with it were not in my future.

It's end table perfection.

It, literally, only cost me an hour of time. Once it was all sanded, I took some wood oil and gave it a good rub down...and voila! Isn't it gorgeous? The only trick to trash picking is a dose of pride swallowing. Be inventive and open the door to creativity...your budget will thank you.

Coming up next...Ty's thrifty Christmas. You won't believe what I've done for under $50.

I'm Still Here!

Crazy how four months just slip by without a thought. I didn't forget about our space here and I haven't stopped being thrifty...I have over a dozen projects ready for posting - pictures and all. You'll see them like rapid fire, starting this week, as life has finally slowed. I have been a very busy bee making nearly all of this year's Christmas gifts. Just wait until you see what I've done with trash-picked and Salvation Army thrift treasures...Check back, later this week.

Until then, one of my bloggy friends is giving away some kiddo cookbooks. Just in time for the holidays. Enter to win, here: White Sugar, Brown Sugar.

Gold = Cash

We've all seen the commercials, heard the advertisements. Trading in my gold jewelry has been a summer to-do item that I was dragging my feet on for no reason other than sheer laziness.  I finally took the time this past weekend to clean out my jewelry box. I had a few necklaces from old boyfriends, a pair of earrings, and a few rings that I tossed in a ziploc before heading to work yesterday.

When I walked into our local jeweler's shop, I explained that I needed the stones out of the rings (heirlooms for our daughter one day???), but that I was ready to part with everything else.  During the weighing process I heard a four and a nine and was on the fence about whether it was worth the trade. I quickly decided that $50 in my pocket was better than leaving the pieces in my closet to collect dust.

The lady behind the counter must have seen my hesitation because she said she could bump up the price a bit because the price of gold just dipped over the weekend. She gave me last week's value.

I handed over my license and perused the store while she went and cut a check. When I got to my car and glanced at the amount I nearly fell to the pavement. The check was for $500!

I had no idea I had that much money in junk gold!  Why didn't I do this earlier?  You better believe I plan to scour the house this weekend for any other miscellaneous nuggets. If you haven't done the same, I suggest you do so SOON.