Tuesday treasures

Today marks a special day in the Bowers' household. Today is our Texa-versary! We have lived in Texas for 8 years now, and I have grown to love it here. I still miss having family nearby; all of my family is on the west coast, and all of my husband's family leaves on the east coast! There are many things that scream "TEXAS!!" to me, and I love almost all of them! A few off the top of my head are BBQ, TexMex, (diet) Dr. Pepper,  bluebonnets, Rangers Baseball, swimming 8 months out of the year, and one of my all time favorite things: garage sales!

I am fully aware that there are garage sales in every state (or maybe most states...), but here in Texas is where I learned to embrace the treasure hunt that is "garaging". We've already talked about the fabulous thrift stores that are available in my area, but garage sales are a whole different ball game. They can be found almost year round, and as always some will be duds, some will be like a mini Walgreen's in someones garage, and some (the best ones) will be hosted by a sweet little old lady trying to make a buck off her house full of goods.

Those are where you find the treasures. Estate sales being the best of those. (Tangent. Estate sales are bittersweet. Something so heartbreaking about hunting through a house full of someone unknown persons things. Anyone else get those sad pangs when hunting estate sales? Just me? Ok, then.) Anywho, on any given weekend you can hop in the car, follow the neon signs, and start hunting.

I haven't been able to go in a long time, summer has been busy and hot, and it just hasn't been in the cards. There are few things more painful to a die hard thrifter than driving past a million garage sale signs and not being able to pull over! Ha! This weekend I put my foot down and said, we are going! So me and my oldest hit the road. Only to find that no one was having a sale! Murphy's law of course. After finding a few duds (you know what I'm talking about, very few items or mostly clothes) we stumbled upon an estate sale. Jackpot. We had a good time searching the house, commenting on the layout and rooms (one of our favorite things, my girl and I love different houses in all the different styles and shapes), and digging through piles of Christmas decorations to find the hidden gems.

We didn't find as many things this week as we have in the past, but each thing we found is special. (That's also a key in garaging, don't bring home more junk, or you'll just clutter up your house! I try to be very intentional in what I bring home.) Without further ado, this weeks finds.

A handful of wooden spools in some fantastic colors. {$2.50}

A huge jar chock full of brand new "everything" nails for my husband {$2.00} He loved it! And this was only one jar of maybe 50. Each filled with a different type of nail or screw that some man had carefully collected and organized.

 This last purchase just confirms that when you hunt you have to look everywhere! I was shuffling through a stack of frames propped in a closet and when I happened to look up I saw a plastic bin marked "hangers $1". My heart skipped a little because it was full of wooden hangers! I know these bad boys go for at least 5-6 bucks a piece and I can't justify spending that on a hanger. $1 is much more my price language! I ended up getting 12 of these clasp ones, and 2 regular wooden hangers for Keith's suits. I won't keep them all, but what a fun gift it will be to give a cute piece of art and a fun wooden hanger to hang it up. Best part? Easy to store!

These wooden hangers came in a variety of shapes and colors, all vintage and all wonderfully crafted. {$1 each!}

I've already put my favorite hanger to use. I loved the dark wood of this, and I can't wait to hang it up.

I can't wait for the next free Saturday when I can head out again! And when school starts up, I can be a true die hard and head out Friday mornings. I love garaging!

Crafty Couponing

Many of us are familiar with couponing to lower our grocery bills but how many are familiar with couponing to lower your crafting bill?  We LOVE to craft, clearly, but what we love even more is to get a great deal!  I hate to pay full price for anything because I know I can usually find a better deal somewhere else.  So today I would love to give some tips and tricks we use to save on our crafting budget.

Know Your Stores
First, it's important to know your crafting stores.  Depending on where you live will depend on what stores are available to you.  If you are fortunate enough to live near at least 2 craft stores, than get to know them.  Don't be shy about walking around, knowing what product they carry, the prices, etc.  We are super fortunate that we have Hobby Lobby, Joanns, Hancocks and Michaels within a 30 mile radius of each other.  Each store may carry many similar items but they each have their unique products that they focus on.  If I am primarily looking for fabric I will head to Joanns, but if I need wood products my focus would be Hobby Lobby or Michaels for Scrapbooking.  And Hancocks would be for more specialty fabric.

Coupons
Next, make sure you are on their mailing list, if they have one.  Joanns will mail you their flyer every week which is usually loaded with at least 3 coupons.  They also run Coupon Commotion a few times  a year where their flyer is loaded with 2 full pages of coupons!!  Let's say you make it all the way to the store and you forget your coupons...not to worry!  Download their app and they will all be available at the touch of a finger.  Joanns and Michaels will not only accept their own coupons but those from other companies, like Hobby Lobby.  Last but not least, you can also have coupons texted to you, usually weekly or bi-monthly.  Sometimes you can even stack coupons.  Let's say you have 40% off one regular priced item coupon, everything else you are buying is already on sale AND you have a 15% off your total purchase coupon!  SHUT UP!  Most stores will not allow you to do that with sale or other coupons but Joanns and Michaels will let you do that.  Hobby Lobby will not honor other stores coupons but you can also find their coupon on online.

Pay Attention to Sales
Thanks to technology we can find out in an instant if what we are looking for is on sale.  Before taking that trek to the store look at the sale ad first.  Most of the time I plan my visits around what's on sale and when my coupons can be used.  If what I am looking for is not on sale this week, chances are it will be next week.  If my coupons will be better utilized next week, like I have a percent off of my total purchase, I will most likely wait and purchase my items the following week.

Internet
Last but not least, the internet can be your most valuable tool.  If you need to buy in bulk, search online for your item first before going out and buying 10 little bags of the item you need.  Make sure that your price will be cheaper than that of buying from the box stores.  Also, never hesitate to search for a coupon to that website before checking out.  Retailmenot.com is a great resource for looking for any coupon to any online store.

Remember, NEVER pay full price unless you absolutely have to!  There's nothing better than seeing that you saved way more than you spent.
Happy shopping!
~Shellie

DIY - Lamp: A Right Bright Deal - Updated

I purchased this amazing lamp and lamp shade for $3!  What a steal of a deal, right!?!

I knew I couldn't pass this up so I bought it not knowing what I might use it for.  My sister, closest in age to myself, is redoing her room and I knew exactly what needed to be added to her decor!  With a few scraps of fabric left over from making curtains, I added some pizzaz to the lamp shade.

First, lay the lamp shade on the fabric and cut out around it leaving about 1/4" allowance.

 Next lay the fabric onto the lamp shade.  To make it easier, I did sides 1 and 3 first.  You will see why later.

 And then, using hot glue, glue the fabric to the top and bottom of the lamp shade.

 Pull the corners tight and glue into place.

 Then lightly glue the sides down.  No need to use a lot of glue, just enough to tack it down.  There is no need to hide the unfinished sides because sign 2 and 4 will hide them.

Now take sides 2 and 4 and tack down the top and bottom.   Do not glue the entire top and bottom.  First you want to fold under the extra allowance on the side, tack it in the middle and then glue the rest from top to bottom.  You will be gluing onto the unfinished sides of 1 and 3.  Once you have done that on both side, then finish glueing the top and bottom.  Don't forget about the corners.  This will make the edges look finished.

 And viola!  A finished lamp shade!

With the base, I picked a bright pink spray paint, that I already happened to have, to match the theme of her room.  Make sure and cover up all of the areas that you do not want to be painted.

Then go to town and spray away!  If you have a lamp that requires a finial, spray the finial to match the base color to tie it all in.

And there you have it!  A new lamp for $4!