Welcome to another Show & Tell Saturday!!!

Here is Shelbie with her Cedar Chest Redo. 

My mom gave me her old cedar chest while we were in St. George for Easter. I was so excited to bring it home! I have been looking for a bench to put at the end of my bed for so long and haven't found one that I love and that was a good price. When I got this chest I was ecstatic and totally knew what I was going to do with it and where it was going to go! I added some extra cushioning and recovered the fabric. Then I painted and distressed the wood and handles and it sits at the end of my bed!

Love what you did with it girl! Thanks for send this over to me! I would love to feature one of your thrifty projects! Email me at Garagesalesrusblog@gmail.com if you would like me to feature you!

September Week to Week

This month I was only able to get out garage saleing twice. One Saturday my husband had his first Olympic Triathlon and another weekend we had a funeral to go to. Since I have a lot of catching up to do I will just do a simple catch up post highlighting the most interesting things I saw and bought. 

Month of September Garage Sales

 I picked this up for $12 dollars. Its a shelf made of old barn wood. I had originally planned to put it in my laundry room but it is too big! I am going to try to out it in my guest bedroom instead.

 I also found two more rolls of paintable wall paper for $4.50! I got them for $2.25 a piece! These are about $20 dollar in the store!

 I bought all these clothes for Jaysa for $2.50!

 I also bought a friend these cute little boy clothes for $2.50

I bought this cool old towel rack that I will paint gold and put in my Master bath when we are ready to redo it. I absolutely love it! I only paid $2 dollars for it!

I also got the chance to take a bunch of friends out garage saleing with me. We had a group of about 5 girls and we had a lot of fun. 

Aubrey got this really cute patio set with two chairs and a table for $15 dollars. She is planning on painting it and I can't wait to see what it looks like when she is done!

Jess got these cute little boys cowboy boots for $1 a piece! I LOVE the little blue ones!

 

I didn't get pictures of everyone else's finds so I am so sad! BUT here are some other good deals I saw

This cute light fixture had never been hung. The guy wanted $15 for it. I actually just saw it at Lowes the other day for $99!

Talk about Halloween costumes galore!!!!! I never buy Halloween costumes at the store!

This cute rug was $10

 These black and crystal wall decorations were $10 dollars for all 4 of them.

This bedroom set came with a headboard (which you can see in the background), a long dresser with a mirror and two night stands for $80 dollars!

Of course it was already sold but someone got an AWESOME deal!!

This coffee table was only $5 dollars!!!!

This desk was also only $5 dollars!!! Great for that college student!

What I Never Buy in Stores

 As an avid garage saler there are some things that I almost never buy in stores. I know that there are people out there that are grossed out by buying used things. If you are one of those people garage saleing may not be for you. Here is what I would say. Give it a try. I know that when you say the word garage sale you are thinking about peoples nasty, dirty used items but to be honest most of the time it's really not that way! There have only been a few garage sales I have been to where I have just been so grossed out I haven't wanted to touch anything. If you find one of those DON'T GO!  I have a sister-in-law that was a serious germaphobe but because of a tight budget, she was forced to start garage saleing. Let me tell you all a little secret.... she is still alive! She actually really enjoys getting out there and scoring some awesome deals! You can also find a lot of unopened products out there. There are a lot of Couponers that either get tired of storing so much stuff or decide that for whatever reason they don't like a certain product that they stocked up on. To get rid of their excess a lot of these people will sell it at their garage sale! Score for you!

I have compiled a list of the things I never and almost never buy in stores. Now some of you might think, oh my gosh, that's gross but remember if it grosses you out DON'T BUY IT! A lot of times whether I buy an item at a garage sale really depends on the atmosphere of the garage sale. Is it clean? Is it organized? Was it taken well care of? Who is the seller? These questions will make the difference of you feeling comfortable buying a certain item. Also keep in mind that you can sterilize most of the things you buy! 

What I NEVER buy in stores:

• DVD's- Kids/ Mom&Dad movies
• Kid's toys
• nail polish remover 
• little swimmer's diapers
• Pots and pans
• Dishes
• silverware 
• baby bottles- I only use Avent. When I had my oldest I bought a bunch of used ones off Ebay but I have found plenty of Avent bottles at garage sales since then.
• children's sippies
• Kid's books
• Little girl dress ups
• Baby safety outlet plugs and cabinet latches
• Pack n play
• baby swings and bouncers
• Car seats- You need to be VERY careful buying car seats at garage sales or any second hand store. Most people might actually prefer to buy new car seats but there are lots of people that buy them used. If your going to do this look for stickers that state the expiration date. If the seat is expired DON'T buy it. Also ask if the car seat has ever been in a wreck. You don't want a car seat that has been in any sort of accident.
• Strollers
• Coloring books
• Halloween costumes
• bikes
• weed eater
• lawn mower
• garden tools
• BBQ grill 
• Water hose
• camping gear
• Life vests
• Plastic storage bins
• mattresses- I will admit that our first mattress we ever had was bought at a garage sale. We were dirt poor and didn't have a few hundred dollars to spend on a mattress. We found one that looked like it had hardly been used and I went and bought a plastic cover and a fabric cover so there were more layers between me and the mattress. My daughters mattress is also from a garage sale. She was still potty training when we put her into a big girl bed and I did not want to have to go spend money on a mattress that she was going to have accidents on. Again some people are ok with this and others are not. If it grosses you out DON'T do it!

Things I almost never buy in stores:

• Kid's clothes- I shop the sales when ever I can but for the most part I stick to garage sales
• Kid's shoes- the only time I will buy kids shoes in stores is if I am looking for something really specific for a family picture or something.
• My clothes- again unless it is something very specific
• eyeshadows- you would be surprised at how many people sell unopened makeup! 
• Crafting supplies
• Cleaners
• Dish soap
• dish scrubbers
• cotton balls
• Q-tips
• Aloe Vera
• Shampoo for my kids

These last few are usually items I find unopened at a couponers garage sale.

**updated 10/4/12**
I thought I would start this list for people to see what I don't buy at garage sale

Things I NEVER buy at garage sales

• underwear
• Adult swimsuits

I will be adding to this as more thoughts come to my mind. 

Fashion on a Dime with Cambric

By now I am sure that some of you have noticed the blogging leave I have taken over the last few weeks. Life in our home has been incredibly chaotic. With my husbands busy season for work, starting his own catering business and going back to school to get a masters degree I have not been able to find the emotional energy I need to blog.  After about two solid weeks of not even looking at my own blog I am feeling much better!

 Here is a Fashion on a Dime I was planning on getting up several weeks ago. I know that it is technically now fall but I am here in Pheonix this week and it is still 100+ degrees! Since it's still so hot here I decided it was ok to still post these summer outfits. I found the cutest girl to model my shorter outfits for me! Meet Cambric. You are going to love/hate how cute she is!

 Financial stats for this outfit are:

Teal shorts- $3 dollars at a garage sale

Pink loose fit tank top- $2.99 at Savers

White Lace Blazer- $21 from the Orange County Swap Meet

Gold shoes- $12.50 from Buffalo Exchange

Gold necklace- $4.50 from a Rue 21 clearance sale

Total outfit cost is $44 with a DPWF of $4.40!

  Financial Stats for this outfit are:

White lace long sleeve shirt- 1.50 from a garage sale

Blue shorts- $5.00 from D.I.

Nude open toe shoes- $5 from a garage sale

Yellow purse- $1.00 at a garage sale

Yellow Necklace- $2 dollars from a Rue 21 clearance sale

Total outfit cost is $14.50 with a DPWF of $1.45!

 

Financial stats for this outfit are:

Gray cardigan -$4.50 from Savers

Mustard shirt-$2 dollars from a garage sale

Navy blue American Eagle shorts- $3.99 at Savers

white belt- $1 dollar at D.I.

White heels- estimated at 12.00 dollars bought on a buy one get one half off  sale at Charlotte Russe  

Total outfit cost is $23.50 with a DPWF of $2.35!

 

Financial Stats for this outfit are:

White shirt- 3.99 at Savers 

Brown shorts- $3.99 at Savers

Brown belt- $1 from D.I.

White and brown flats- $4 at D.I.

Brown hat- .50 cents at a garage sale

Total outfit cost is $13.50 with a DPWF of $1.35!

 Financial stats for this outfit are:

White shorts- $5.99 at Savers

Teal dress shirt- $3 dollars at D.I.

Navy blue blazer- $21 at the Orange County Swap Meet

Nude shoes- $3 dollars

Necklace- FREE! To be honest I think I borrowed and never returned/stole this from my little sister. OOPS! I guess I should give it back now.... na! Thats what sisters are for right?!

My total outfit cost is $33 with a DPWF of $3.30!

Financial stats for this outfit are:

Pink loose fitted tank top- $2.99 at Savers

Black ostrich feature Steve Madden Skirt that still had tags on it!- $1 dollar at a garage sale!

Black strappy heels- $5 dollars at D.I.

Necklace and earrings- Free!- gifted

Total outfit cost is- $9!!!! thats a .90 cent DPWF! Thats my cheapest outfit to date!

Show & Tell Saturday

I haven't had a whole lot of time to blog this week! I am still working on my week to week post! For Show & Tell Saturday here is a dresser that my incredible crafty neighbor and friend did.

She totally spaced the before picture! (sound familiar?) She bought this dresser for $25 off craigslist. It was your typical brown dresser. She painted it what and added colored chevron strips. I LOVE it! 

The white paint she used was paint we got at the free court of paint day from Ace hardware and all her beautiful colored chevron strips were painted with paint she already had so she didn't spend a dime on paint!!! I seriously gasped when I say this dresser! I love it and it looks so cute in her girls bedroom! Thanks Iva!

Fashion on a Dime

I think I have missed the last two weeks of my Fashion on a Dime series! I am so sorry! Life for me gets so overwhelming at times and I have been trying to cut back on some things and pay attention to my family a little bit more. I do however have some really cute outfits for future posts that I am so excited about!  

 Also please tell me you can tell I have a personality!  Here is a little fact you did not know about me. I can actually make some incredibly goofy and ugly faces. I think I have more muscles in my face than normal people... HA! jk. I HATE taking pictures though! When that camera comes out and I know I have to take a serious picture, I freeze up and I am not myself. So here is the first of many funny faces to help me get a little more comfortable in front of my camera! 

This is my "hurry up and take the dang picture because I am sick of smiling" face

 Financial stats for this outfit are:

Hot pink blazer: $5 dollars at D.I.

Miss Me jean shorts: $7.50 from Savers
Cream lace shirt- $1.50 at a garage sale
Hot pink belt- $2 dollars at D.I.
Nude shoes- $3 dollars at a garage sale
Total outfit cost is $19 dollars with a DPWF of $1.90!

Show & Tell Saturday

I hope you all are enjoying seeing everyone else's thrifted projects! Here is another one that I LOVE! 

Here is Revi from Revisionary Life to share with us her chair makeover.

*****************

I realized something about myself today.

I already knew it, I just didn't know how

hard core I am about it. Blogging is so good for that.

I am a Plain Jane. I WANT to be more blingy.

But I just can't do it. It's not me.

Case in point:

I found this great chair for three bucks.

It has nice details - carved legs, 

a lovely arched design on top of the back, 

and the perfect place to put a design.

I started thinking about what I might do

the minute I put her in the car. 

A number? Which one? I already have a 7.

A graphic from the Graphic Fairy?

What kind? A French label? Something

industrial looking? Vintage? Choices, choices.

Then, I had a great idea! 

An ampersand. You know - the "and" sign.

&

I found a lovely font and enlarged it. 

I even looked up the history of the ampersand.

It's quite interesting. And it's French. 

"Perfect," I thought. 

And I even went so far as to name this chair.

Annie. 

Annie would be a new companion to Martha.

It made perfect sense. She has a new 

coat of Annie Sloan Old White on her.

And she'll soon have an ampersand on her back.

So I taped the ampersand on the chair, 

to try and find the perfect placement.

I wanted it visually centered in the space.

When I stepped back to look at the placement,

I hated it.

Well, hate may be too strong a word.

It didn't feel right. So I took it off.

And I gently distressed her

to show off her curves.

Did you notice those legs?

As I sanded, I kept wondering what else I might

put in the center of that virtual blank canvas.

And I drew a blank. 

If not the chair back, 

then what about the seat cover?

A patterned fabric? 

A transfer on canvas?

Nope. Plain old solid drop cloth.

Sorry. 

If I have disappointed any of you

who wanted to see a number or graphic, 

please forgive me.

I just like plain stuff. At least the BIG stuff.

Walls and furniture - I like them plain. 

I don't think I have problems with commitment,

it's just that I like to change things around a lot.

And plain things allow me to do that with the 

least amount of work possible.

Now, pillows or lampshades or artwork...

THAT'S a different story altogether!

***********************

Revi! I can't believe this chair was only $3 dollars!!!! what a great find and I love the plain jane look it so elegant and so perfectly simple all at the same time! Great job on this one!