Thrifty Cent$

Stationery card

2011-11-20T20:42:00.001-05:00

Snowflakes Ribbon Christmas Card

Browse Shutterfly's unique Christmas card designs.

View the entire collection of cards.

Summer means Blackberries!

2011-07-11T22:47:00.001-04:00

I think I may be addicted to picking blackberries from the gargantuous bramble bushes at the farm across the road from us. These bushes have been there for years and are very overgrown which poses a challenge. But it's a simple summer pleasure!

Hi All! I'm still here ;)

2011-05-10T22:28:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to take a minute to let everyone know that I am still planning to add all of my thrifty goodness to my blog when I can make time. I have been so busy lately and I'll tell you why...
So, my husband and I were on a weekend trip in the cute little town of Smithfield, VA. We visited The Ham Shoppe there (Smithfield hams come from here). As I walked out of the store (with bacon popcorn, bacon chocolate, bacon this, bacon that, and ham), I said to my husband, "They have everything bacon, even bacon lip balm...but NO BACON SOAP!". While walking around town, I came up with the name "Hog Wash Soaps" in "What's Shakin' Bacon" scent. We were jokin' around with the idea and when I got home, I got to work on a soap label to put in my file of a million gajillion things to do "one day". Well, I printed it out and showed it a little bit and people thought it was a great idea. I figured out the packaging would be little muslin bags with red gingham wrapped around them and the hogs with bubbles image wrapped around that. So, I decided to try it out and when I showed one of my good friends, she LOVED the idea. We decided to be business partners and to really DO THIS THANG! Well, it's been two months and here we are with 10 "farm fresh" scents... www.RuralRevolutionLLC.com and we are also on Facebook , so PLEASE "like" us!

Metamorphasis Monday: Small Table

2011-02-14T11:23:00.004-05:00

Here is a very simple paint project, but it shows what a difference paint can make.

"What I Wore" Wednesday

2011-02-09T09:36:00.001-05:00

So these pics are from a quick jaunt to our 2 local thrift stores back in October...I have so much catching up to do! One of these stores, sadly, only lasted 6 months. I'm not sure why because they had great stuff for a great price, but possibly it was that the other store is a couple hundred yards away and they are much bigger and even cheaper...I mean like yard sale prices.

I love this fleece, although I think it's a deep pink and everyone tells me it's actually red.

Fleece - Thrift Store - $1

I love this sweater, as well. I was lucky to find the necklace in the same hue.

Sweater - Thrift Store - $1.50

Necklace - Goodwill - $3.00

Tank - Kohls - $2.00

I love the ruffles on this sweater. This was from the store that closed :(

Sweater - Thrift Store - $3.00

Tank - Kohls - $2.00

I have tons of jeans (all from yard sales, thrift stores, and Goodwill) because they are what I prefer to wear whenever I can't wear my fleece pajama pants :) Anybody buy any Pajama Jeans yet? I'm SO not kidding when I say that I want some Pajama Jeans...only I'm not paying $48!

I know, Christmas is SO over

2011-02-02T11:54:00.001-05:00

but I just had to do a lil' braggin' about my Christmas deals. And btw, I apologize for being gone so long...for some reason, I had blogger's block for a coupla months!

Anyway, a few weeks after Christmas, I found all of the wrapping paper below for .80 total at CVS! Gotta love Christmas clearance! And who doesn't need wrapping paper?

More goodies from CVS: tissue paper, loads of labels, bags of bows, 2 cans of cranberry sauce, and the wrapping paper all for $4!!!!

Just take a look at all of these cute CWD clothes that I found at Goodwill! My kiddos were able to wear all of these for Christmas this past year. Every piece was brand spankin' new! This lot was well worth $200 if bought at the boutique, but the total for all 10 pieces came to $20!!! Now that's a deal! When we were at Disney World for Christmas, they wore all of these outfits and received so many compliments!

Thanks for lettin' me brag a lil' bit!

Bringin' Back the Jello Mold

2010-11-29T23:07:00.001-05:00

So, I started out making cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and it turned into something more like jello, so I rolled with it. It ended up being de-lish and I will definitely be making it again!

This pic looks like a picture from a 1970's cookbook, don't 'ya think?

I took out my thrifted Tupperware jello mold with the interchangeable tops that I bought 3 years ago and was scared to use...reminded me a lil' of "Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation".

I ended up whipping up some sour cream and cream cheese to make a topping for it and it made for a nice dessert.

It's not picture-perfect by any means, but it was DE-LISH!
CRANBERRY JELLO MOLD
1 lb. fresh cranberries
2 packages black cherry Jello
1 can mandarin oranges
1 c. walnuts
1 c. sugar
Using a food processor, crush fresh cranberries until fine. Add 1 cup of sugar and mix well and set aside for 30 mins. Grind nuts and oranges in food processor and put in large bowl. Mix black cherry Jello using ONLY 1 cup of hot boiling water per package (no cold water). Pour jello into nut and orange mixture. Add cranberries. Mix all ingredients together and pour into jello mold. Refrigerate overnight.
If desired, whip cream cheese and sour cream together for topping when ready to serve.
Enjoy!

Frugal Friday

2010-11-26T13:40:00.000-05:00

Here are my second pair of FREE prescription eyeglasses just from being a fan of CoastalContacts on Facebook! There are so many good deals to get by being on Facebook! These pleased me just as much as my other pair from EyeBuyDirect. The total for shipping was $12, but then I get $5 back from my card that I use for online purchases! So my total was really $7 PLUS they sent me a gift card for ANOTHER FREE pair! Yay Me!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING BLOG FRIENDS!

2010-11-24T22:23:00.000-05:00

I will not be cooking the turkey for our feast because it would end up like the above scenario!

I hope that all of you have a fantastic Thanksgiving Day!

"What I Wore" Wednesday

2010-11-24T07:06:00.000-05:00

CHICKEN PANTS!

(well, rooster pants if you want to get technical)

One of my girlfriends found these for me while we were shopping @ our favorite resale shop, Giggle Me Green & Bargain Boutique! Since, I am always talking about getting chickens, she thought these would be perfect. The thermal shirt, she also found for me on the same day @ the Gap.

Chicken pants by J Crew - resale shop - $9

rose thermal shirt - Gap - $5 after Groupon certificate

Total = $14

I wore these to our local poultry show (4H chicken show). Such fun CHICKEN PANTS!

Couponing 101 with Carmen Coupon

2010-11-20T18:56:00.002-05:00

I got to mark another thing off my "bucket list" last week. Everyone that knows me, knows that I DO. NOT. SPEAK. IN. FRONT. OF. GROUPS! No public speaking for me. NEVER! EVER! JUST CAN'T DO IT! So, I decided that it would go on my bucket list of things to do at some point in my life...just not in the near future. Sooooo, when one of my friends found out that she needed a speaker for our church's woman's group because of a cancelation, another friend of mine said to her, "I know who you can get! You should ask the thriftiest chick in all of the universe to do a workshop on couponing. The one who can out-thrift anyone. We all want to be like her, so why not have her come and give a little lesson on how she has learned to be so dang thrifty. Carmen Coupon!". Ok, so that's how I imagined the conversation going, anyway. Just let me live in my fantasy world, people! Long story short, I was asked, and with my mind jumping to my bucket list...I agreed...this is my opportunity...a lil' (lot) sooner than I had planned, but this is about something that I LOVE! That's when the sweating started. I got together a Powerpoint to use as my guideline, so as not to lose what I was saying, as I always do when I'm talking...what was I saying?...brain fog is what another friend calls it. I just knew my mind would go absolutely blank. Also, having a slideshow up on a big screen is another way to divert the attention elsewhere...the audience can look at the screen instead of me. So, I had my Powerpoint presentation, props, 3 layers of deodorant, and the shakes and headed off to the church. After a few technical snafus, we were able to get the show on the road...and because of such a great interactive audience, went on for an hour and forty-five minutes! Whew! I lived through it people, and I don't even care if I didn't do a good job, I'm marking something else off my bucket list and I actually had a good time doing it :)

One Man's Trash...

2010-11-10T22:31:00.048-05:00

After reading this, you'll be trying to beat your man to taking the trash so that you can check out the goods at the dump (aka convenience center :)! It's amazing how many things I have found while taking the trash to the dump. Ok, well sometimes I just stop in "for the fun of it" but there is usually something there waiting for me under the donation pavilion or in the book closet screaming my name and pleading with me to take it home, whether it's another piece of furniture, a magazine, or a lightbulb...lol. My very understanding man says that he didn't know he was marrying Fred Sanford.

Pull up a barstool and let me tell you about the best "deal" I've found at the dump thus far. These two babies were destined to be tossed into the dumpster...TOSSED.INTO.THE.DUMPSTER.PEOPLE...as in NEVER.TO.BE.USED.AGAIN! These are POTTERY BARN! Do you KNOW how much these cost?!? $250 EACH is what they cost!

So, I pull up just as this ~~crazy as a loon~~ giving man is getting ready to heave the BRAND NEW POTTERY BARN barstools into the dumpster! I park, jump out, and yell to the man to STOP because I couldn't bear to see them thrown into the dumpster only to be CRUSHED TO BITS and at the time I didn't even know they were POTTERY BARN! This guy proceeds to tell me that the two barstools each have a small scratch on the back of them. His wife had ordered them from Pottery Barn and when they were delivered, they had these scratches (we're talking 1" or less scratches). She called Pottery Barn and they told her to keep the 4 that she had and they would send four more. So, of course, what do you do with the first four? You take them to the dump, is what you do...seriously? Well, lucky for me they did, right?! After I had gotten home with these is when it occurred to me that he was saying he had 2 more to take to the dump! This was truly a slapping the forehead moment. So, what I want to know is if anybody got the other 2 or were they really tossed into the dumpster never to be seen again?

Moral of the story: One woman's trash is this woman's treasure!

I <3 old books, especially when they are from the 1800's to early 1900's. The old farm stool, we sold at our shop as well as the table below. We kept the stool as is, but painted the lil' table.

I'm always finding good books in the book closet, whether they are for me or someone else. Sometimes I will donate them to the library. And I love to find current issues of magazines!

So, some of you probably wouldn't have taken the lightbulbs...but hey, these are worth about $6 each, so I figured it was worth it to me to see if they worked...they did!

Who's ready to take the trash to the dump?

Sausage Saturday

2010-11-06T12:01:00.000-04:00

This is such a simple but delicious recipe that makes for a great breakfast or brunch dish. Start with a refrigerated pie crust if you're like me and don't make homemade pie crusts. Poke some holes with a fork in the pie crust before baking it for 10 mins. Brown the sausage, drain, and place as the bottom layer of the sausage quiche. Add a layer of provolone (or your choice of cheese), fresh tomatoes,basil, choice of seasoning or salt & pepper. Beat 3 eggs with a little milk and pour over other ingredients. Bake @ 350 for about an hour or until eggs have set. Mmmmmmm.

Thrifty Thursday

2010-11-04T08:16:00.013-04:00

This Thrifty Thursday is made up of yard sale deals around our river place.

My mom and I both found matching chandeliers that we want to make into candle chandeliers. These babies were $5...what a deal! They have all of the scrolly designs that I love in a chandelier. I may have to add crystals too. These came with the 3 glass domes that we won't use.

The green shirt was .50 and the vintage sundress was $1!

dome light fixture $1, wire basket (sold) .25, roll of wrapping paper .25,

flower pots .25, spindles (for future project) .25, packs of gift wrap (who doesn't need that) .25 each

I am wishing that I got a better picture of all of these drawer pulls and knobs...55 of them to be exact for $6! (replay) That's 55 drawer pulls and knobs for $6...seriously! I already used some of the white porcelain knobs on my shabbily beautiful yellow dresser that I found for $10 at a church sale. They were an exact match to the few that were on it originally.

Total = $20.00
Happy Thrifty Thursday!

I SO LoVe HALLOWEEN!

2010-10-31T22:33:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween to each and every one of you!

"What I Wore" Wednesday

2010-10-27T23:29:00.001-04:00

I'll eventually get to my fall clothes :)

This is a vintage dress that I LOVE and I found it on eBay for $5!

love this applique!

Bowl of cherries dress - eBay $5 + $4 ship

white & red shoes - Goodwill $4

_______________________________

Total = $13 with shoes

white tee w/ ruffle trim - Walmart $5

vintage red skirt - thrift store .10 (filled a bag for $1)

flip flops given to me by a friend

___________________________

Total = $5.10 with shoes

pink tee w/ ruffle trim - Walmart $5

patchwork skirt (reminds me of Lilly Pulitzer) - Goodwill $3

teal sandals - Goodwill $4

____________________________

Total = $12 with shoes

red shirt - Goodwill $3

red polk-a-dot skirt - Goodwill $3

red & white shoes - Goodwill $4

________________________

Total = $10 with shoes

This '60's dress was found at a church yard sale...couldn't pass it up for some strange reason...I could SO see this as one of the dresses on the blog, New Dress a Day!

dress - yard sale $1

______________________________

Total = $1 without shoes

This black shirt is so adorable, but this pic doesn't do it justice. It has rosettes all around the neckline.

black top w/ rosettes - Kohls $4

black & white skirt w/ black tulle underlay - Goodwill $3

black sandals - Goodwill $4

_____________________________

Total = $11 with shoes

Frugal Friday

2010-10-22T08:44:00.001-04:00

My frugal Friday purchase was a pair of PRESCRIPTION glasses that cost me $17.00 plus my card that I use for online purchases gave me back $5 for shipping! I bought these online through Eyebuydirect and was a little skeptical about the prescription part at this price. They came in the mail a week after I ordered them and the prescription is just as good as my $300 glasses from Lenscrafters. I would like for them to be a little smaller in the lens area, but they will do me fine for $12! Make sure that you look for a coupon code because they usually have one.

Happy Frugal Friday!

"What I Wore" Wednesday

2010-10-20T10:22:00.004-04:00

I've got a lot of catching up to do on my new "What I Wore" Wednesday posts. I've taken pictures for over a year now of outfits that I've bought on the cheap. BTW, I only wear thrifty outfits...I very rarely spend more than $25 on a whole outfit and try to stay below $12 from top to bottom. So, I'm gonna start with some summer clothes and on Wednesdays, I'll post my outfits and work my way up to fall :)

black sweater - yard sale $1

vintage 50's skirt - Goodwill $3

black sandals - Goodwill $4

(necklace - yard sale .50)

________________________

Total = $8 with shoes

cropped jacket - Peebles marked down from $45 to $3 with extra 20% off

black tank - yard sale .10

white pants - yard sale .50

pink shoes - Goodwill - $4

________________________

Total = $7 with shoes

(this was a no make-up day apparently)

wrap around dress - Goodwill $6

(fyi- don't wear a wrap around dress in front of an

industrial sized fan when at an auction...

in a Marilyn Monroe kinda way,

it throws the auction all out of whack)

___________________________

Total = $6 without shoes

This is the skirt that I found at Goodwill and actually squealed out-loud (I got some strange looks) because not only was it vintage, but it was pink & green AND had frogs all over it...what more could I ask for...oh, for it to be cheap!

So the Aeropostale shirt (I couldn't find a fitted white polo anywhere else) and LL Bean flipflops threw off the thriftiness a lil' bit, but still a good deal!

white polo shirt - Aeropostale $20, but had a $10 coupon, so = $10

vintage frog skirt - Goodwill $3

flip flops - L.L. Bean $19, had $10 coupon + free shipping ;)

______________________________

Total = $22 with shoes

dress (has matching cropped jacket) - Goodwill $6

black shoes - Goodwill $4

__________________________

Total = $10 with shoes

I can't remember where this top came from, but I assure you, it was cheap :)

vintage strawberries skirt - Goodwill $3

white sandals - Goodwill $4

__________________________________

Total = under $10 with shoes

I have to show you this adorable charm necklace that I ordered from Cherry Hill Cottage. It came with a picture of Gidget on one side and I put a picture of my adorable hubby and girls in it...one of my favorite things and it cost only $19. I'm wearing it with the outfit above.

teal top - Goodwill $3

ribbon skirt - Goodwill $3

pink shoes - Goodwill $4

________________________

Total = $10 with shoes

Happy Wednesday!

A Halloween Birthday Party!

2010-10-14T16:10:00.004-04:00

Well, once again, I've been away for awhile, but this time no excuses...life happens. So, I thought this would be the perfect time to share pictures of my oldest daughter's costume birthday party last October. I was told by quite a few of the kids that it was the coolest party they've ever been to :-) If you are thinking of having a Halloween party, I'm hoping that these pics will give you some ideas. We are lucky enough to have a nice local Ruritan club/Firefighter Union facility near us and they rent their place for parties...which was perfect for this one esp. since we had 12 costumed girls! We made jello worms ahead of time...these were pretty gross and the kids loved them. The white chocolate spiderweb cupcakes went over well and so did the spice cake that we decorated like a pumpkin. We decorated old bottles with labels printed from the internet and put gross things in the bottles for decoration...tomato juice for blood, rubber snakes, spiders, rubber body parts, etc. We found many of our decorations at the Dollar Tree. We had karaoke and dancing on the stage complete with fog and a strobe light, tombstone shaped cookie eating contest (cookies hung from a string), watched Casper and an old Nancy Drew movie, and we slept in tents (but weren't quite prepared for the 50 degree temp). For dinner we had a "Monster Mash"ed potato bar and for dessert, an "I Scream Bar". Oh, and I found the huge inflatable pumpkin/ghost decoration for $5 at a church yard sale! That was definitely a good deal. Tons of fun was had!

I think the birthday girl overdosed on fun!

I'm back... and with GRANOLA!

2010-02-08T16:20:00.079-05:00

Sorry I have been away for so long. Just needed a lil' break from blogging, although I have kept up with all of your blogs during my break! Well, it's been very snowy around here and I have been craving really good, but really bad for me food. Here is a recipe from my sis-in-law, Corine. It's the most scrumptious granola ev-ah!

Heat about 2 Tbs. olive oil on med. heat in an iron skillet if possible, if not any old skillet will do.

Pour in 2 1/2 cups of oats and 1/2 cup of shredded coconut. Stir for 5-8 mins. until lightly toasted...keep it moving. Pour mixture onto baking sheet/jelly roll pan.

Put in 1/2 cup butter (REAL BUTTER),

1/3 cups brown sugar, and 2 Tbs. honey, and if you'd like you can add a handful of your favorite chopped nuts at this time or you can mix them in at the end which is what I did this time.

When mixture starts to bubble,

pour oat mixture back into skillet and cook for 3-5 more minutes, stirring constantly.

Pour mixture back onto baking sheet/jelly roll pan . Go ahead and add whatever you'd like...this time I used a mixture of dried cherries, blueberries, and cranberries, sliced almonds and pecan pieces.

Mix it all together.

Eat the whole dang thing now or put in a cute container to munch on later or give away (yeah, right).

Scrumptious Granola

2 1/2 c. old fashioned oats

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/3 c. real butter

1/2 c. coconut

2 Tbs. honey

1/3 C. packed brown sugar

1 c. nuts of choice (1/2 c. each of 2)

1/2 c. dried berries of choice

(could add choc. chips, banana chips, etc.)

*Heat iron skillet on med-high. Add olive oil then add oats and coconut.

*Cook, stirring frequently for about 5-8 mins. just to toast.

*Remove oats from the skillet and pour them one a baking sheet/jelly roll pan.

*Melt the butter, brown sugar, and honey in the skillet on the stove until it's bubbly.

*Add the oat mixture and nuts back into the skillet and mix with the butter mixture.

*Cook 3-5 mins., stirring frequently.

*Pour back on the baking sheet/jelly roll pan.

*Add the rest of the ingredients and cool.

*Store in air tight container.

Enjoy!

Better Late than Never...Halloween Decor around my Cottage Home

2009-11-05T08:35:00.000-05:00

I SO LOVE Halloween! I hope everyone had a fantastic one!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T20:48:00.002-04:00

For your viewing pleasure (btw, see if you can spot the celebrity that we adopted into our family ;o)...

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

I promise I'll get back to more blogging soon!

Metamorphasis Monday: Tennis Ball Basket Makeover

2009-09-28T16:55:00.002-04:00

Wow, I love the fall-ish weather of today! It is about 80 degrees and windy enough to dry 3 loads of laundry in 2 hours! Love it!

I thought I'd share this $10 tennis ball basket that I found at a thrift store. I decided to use it on my porch for the kid's balls, so I painted it red to match the other things that I'm painting on the porch and used chalkboard paint and a wonderful chalkboard marker so that if I want to use it for something else, I can just erase it and re-write!

Thanks for stopping by!