Eight Tee-Shirt Pants, Coming Right Up

Today I heard the most beautiful eleven words to ever come out of my husband's mouth. No, not "honey, I think you're the most beautiful woman on the planet." Although that would have been nice too. But not as nice as, "I want to go to a thrift store with you sometime." Yes that's right ladies, he said that; he's taken so you better keep your grubby little hands off! (Of course, after he said those magic 11 words, he also said that his buddy found a computer at a thrift store for ten bucks, and that's really all he wants to find, but alas, baby steps, baby steps).

Speaking of thrift stores....

Earlier this year I was inspired by Queen of Fifty Cents to keep a log of all my thrifty finds and their prices. My husband helped me set up an excel spreadsheet with the following headers: crafting, work, kitchen/homegoods, Joel, Gifts, Decor, and Apparel. Before today's jaunt I had spent just under a hundred dollars so far this year. Eek. I hadn't realized I spent that much. But on the flip side, I would have spent hundreds upon hundreds of dollars if I had purchased all this stuff first-hand. Also on the positive, half of that cost was stuff for Joel. So really it's like I only spent about fifty bucks. The stuff for Joel doesn't count, right?

Since I've become a part of blogland, I've been good at avoiding the purchases of vintage home decor types of objects. My house is cluttered the way it is, and now with an infant, I need to pare down what I already have. But oh how I long to add more plates, teacups, and platters to my stash, find some more vintage linens, and bring home old chippy chairs. Tole trays call my name, as do anything painted with pretty florals. Enamelware, crocks, rolling pins, collanders, Wagner ware... I want, I want, I want!

Today I could not help myself.

I was reading blogs about vintage finds, especially this one, and I got the itch again. It had been months since I last purchased something vintage (well, with the exception of the vintage red thermos I bought a few weeks ago). Lately, almost all my thrifty finds were either crafty or for my son. And many of my finds were new items rather than vintage.

So there I was, on the internet, drooling over Freshvintage's finds. I told myself that I would allow myself to bring home a vintage find or two. And boy am I glad I did.

(Rolls up sleeves) Ok, are you ready?
(cue the auctioneer so he can read through this stuff in a jiffy)

Eight mens' t-shirts to cut up and make pants for Joel ($3.50), a fish towel to make a bib out of (59c), a bag of vintage sewing notions (woohoo! $1), two new Valentines Napkins out of which I will probably make these pants (59c), two brand new blue and brown 11x17 mats for framing some photos of our newly created family ($1), a children's book about sneezing (25c), a pillow cover for our Boppy ($1), a new Valentines Placemat for Joel who will be a messy eater when he turns one year old ($1), a wooden shield that goes with the Renaissance fabric I got a few weeks ago (I forget how much it was- under a buck though); baby bottle nipples, new in the package obviously (69c), another Tonka Truck plastic plate to match the ones I picked up last week (50c), bedskirt that will match Joel's cowboy themed room ($1), the following clothes for Joel: a light toddler jacket (50c), white dress shirt and vest (50c), maroon Gap pants (50c), Oshkosh toddler pants (50c), an orange onesie (20c), striped PJs (40c), two pairs striped pants (65c), blue patchwork bibs (50c), white dress shirt (35c); St. Patty's Day t-shirt for moi (50c), and drumroll please....

a red handled rolling pin for $2 and a red tablecloth with beautiful roses on it for $3. Yay :)

I won't inundate you with photos today (there's eighteen waiting in the wings). I'll just show you a few and save some for the days to come. Up first: tee-shirts destined to become pants using this tutorial.

I thought this t-shirt was neat since it's a map of where we live. Every baby needs a pair of map pants, right? I believe in teaching geography at a young age.

What could be more cute than a kid who wants to kick your @ss?

This one has a hint of "beer advertisement" to it, however it clearly states it is a carbonated beverage.

How could I pass up a tee of my husband's favorite restaurant?

I like the vintage look of this one. I had to look up what Proverbs 22:6 is. Now the shirt makes sense: "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." I am clearly going to train my child in the ways of green, thrify living. And when he's a little bigger, he'll have a constant reminder of this philosophy across his butt whenever he wears these cute little pants.

Oh Little Lotus Bowl

Oh little lotus bowl,
How beautiful are thee.
I'd love to purchase you right now
And take you home with me.

My eye caught you on e-bay
You only cost a buck.
And then I saw the shipping
and I exclaimed "WTF?!"

Forty nine dollars for shipping?! Did I read that right? Seriously. Um, I'll pass. But if you have fifty dollars to spend on this little beauty, her item number is 260373793212. I'll take my chances with a thrift store. With fifty dollars, I would expect to be able to buy one hundred lotus bowls.

I certainly don't need any more dishes, especially not smallish ones, however I really want a set of lotus bowls. We tend to be what you call "pigs" in my house, so small bowls are a waste. Small bowls mean we have go back to fill up on cereal (or um, ice cream) ten times because we can't fit enough in.

But lotus bowls are so cute.

I was wondering why they're called lotus bowls, so I looked them up in Merriam Webster. This is what I found:

Lotus: a fruit eaten by lotus-eaters

Um, okay. Is that like a banana: a fruit eaten by banana eaters? And a kiwi is a fruit eaten by kiwi eaters? Isn't there a rule that says you're not allowed to use the word that is being defined in its own definition? I'm pretty sure my middle school language arts teacher beat that into us. Tisk, tisk, Merriam Webster.

Actually, the definition continues to say that ingesting lotuses cause indolence and dreamy contentment. I guess I've got to get me some of those. "Dreamy contentment" sounds kind of nice when I have a three-week old screaming bloody murder. I wonder if I can grind up some of the petals and slip some in his milk? Probably not.

Lamenting the Lost Sewing Pixies

Hello Sunday Stash follower(s):
(is there more than one of you out there?!)

I found some fabrics at my Wednesday thrifting trip. I also found some during my thrifting trip two days later, however I decided to put Friday's finds back at the last minute. Fabric is so abundant that I've decided that if it's not cheap-cheap, then I'll pass. So what is cheap-cheap? Well, I passed on the bags of fabric at the Alum Creek Ohio Thrift, and each large bag was $2.99, so apparently that's not cheap enough. A dollar is cheap. Under a dollar is cheap-cheap.

What I don't like about the bags of fabric is that you can't tell how much yardage is in there. Also, just like with any thrift store grab-bag, you get lots of different fabrics (some awesome, some "what-were-you-smoking-when-you-designed-this-fabric?"). It's kind of like Christmas when you open those grab bags because there's prints hidden in the center that you can't see until you open it up. Unfortunately, many times it's like Christmas when you're Ralphie opening up an unwanted pink bunny suit from a well-meaning, yet apparently delusional, auntie.

So alas, I passed. The more I'm thinking about it though, the more I am kicking myself for walking away. Three dollars is still pretty cheap I guess, it just depends how much usable fabric is in the bag.

But damn, there was some cool prints in those bags. One bag had a fabric with a button print. Too cute. Another bag had this blue and white fabric that had little pixies sitting atop spools of thread. Do you think Joel would like wearing an outfit with sewing pixies on it? The fabric is blue after all, so it's not that feminine.

Oh Thrift-Store-Powers-That-Be, why couldn't you have put both the sewing-themed fabrics in the same bag? I totally would have swooped in and bought it if that was the case ... ok enough whining. I sincerely apologize.

I'll focus on the positive. I did find some cool fabrics last Wednesday that I can share with you today. Up first, for 99c, this primary color, great-for-toddlers polka dotted sheet which I will cut up into many things for Joel. A clown outfit perhaps? My sister-in-law is deathly afraid of clowns. That would send her over the edge.


Here we have a few pillowcases to cut up for fabric. One of them was 59c, but was 75% off so in the end, it was 15 whole cents. I splurged. The other pillowcase (50c) had two different fabrics, so I folded it over to show you both. The non-blue side has a chess pattern on it that's pretty cool. Not that I want my son to follow in my hubby's footsteps and be on the fifth grade chess team or anything. Sorry if I've offended anyone out there who's really into chess, it's just that I have big plans for my son. Since I'm a band director, I want him to be in the band. That's way cooler than the chess club, right? Being in band isn't nerdy at all. The next item on my sewing agenda is a pocket protector for the little man. He doesn't stand a chance.


A close-up of the chess print


And last but not least, some pillowcases that I fell in love with. I think I just might leave them as pillowcases to use on the bed rather than cutting them up for the fabric. The little flowers are so sweet. I have a bit of a pillowcase fetish, you see, and I need more pillowcases like I need another hole in my head. But at 59c apiece, I couldn't walk on by. I realize I have no more room in my hall closet for any more pillowcases, but I purchased them none-the-less. I can get rid of something in the closet to make room... hubby's fraying orange towels perhaps?

Warmer Weather Brings Thrifted Treasures

That title has a bit of a poetic ring to it, don't you think?

Joel likes car rides, thank heavens. His incessant screaming can be calmed by getting settled in his carseat and taking a little thrifting trip. He doesn't make a peep while we're in the car or while we're in the stores. Even at not-quite-three-weeks, he knows that thrifting is a good thing and is able to drift off to a peaceful sleep knowing that Mommy is saving money :)

I was still on the hunt for a white sheet to use as a back drop for photography, and so off we went. I hadn't posted anything yet about Wednesday's finds, but I did find one white sheet for a whopping quarter (remember I need two though!). It was a buck but it was 75% off. Cha-ching! I also found a few more children's books (including one on composer Verdi), and four greeting cards for a quarter each. I've been on a roll with the cards lately, haven't I? One of the cards I found is a belated birthday card for someday when I forget someone's birthday. I may have to forget someone's birthday on purpose just so I can send them this card! We all know I'm perfect so I wouldn't forget a birthday accidentally! Ahem. But this card was too cute to pass up. It has a sheep on the front that says, "I'm feeling sheepish," and on the inside it says, "Because I forgot your birthday. Wool you forgive me?" Adorable, I tell you.

I still needed another sheet for my photograph project, so off we went into the thrifting wild blue yonder. I did find something that fits the bill, however it wasn't a sheet; it was a plain white fabric shower curtain with grommets at the top. It was 75% off too, and it cost me 75c. I, of course, walked away with some other goodies which I have photographed below. (Also, not photographed is some fabric I found. You'll have to wait until Sunday Stash time to see it. Stay tuned...)


You can see the "3" I found the other day. I'm really glad I found that! It makes me happy.


Here's a close-up of one of the cards I found for a quarter. I love the row of buttons along the bottom edge :) No surprise that I have little boys on the brain, huh? Do I know of anyone who's having a little boy? Nope. But surely someday I will!

Here are the plastic dishes that I got Joel (50c each) and a changing pad (also 50c) for when we're on the road, and we need to change a diaper. Just a sidenote: I think it's cute that people from other countries (Britain, Australia, or both?) call diapers "Nappies." It's funny because in the US, "nappy" is an adjective. And a not-very-nice-one at that. If someone calls you "nappy," you've just been dissed.


Some things for Joel's future toddler room. This little nightlight ($1.91) goes perfectly with Jason's childhood sheriff badge collection! I was also very excited to find this little plastic plate (90c). I can't decide if Joel will actually eat off of it, or if it will be a piece of artwork in his room. Nothing screams "little boy" like a hanging plate collection. No?


And last but not least, more baptism invitations (50c) because I realized I did not have enough, some stackable blocks that won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio "Best Toy Award" (90c) and some goodie bags for Joel's first birthday (50c). I realize the goodie bags aren't very "green," and that I could have made some out of things from around the house, however their cuteness caused my judgement to be temporarily compromised. Don't make me feel worse about it than I already do! Cut me some slack! A girl makes mistakes sometimes. Sheesh.


A close-up of the blocks. Roses are red, Violets are Blue. Blueberries are sweet, and so are you!

Thrifty Knives

My son has been a naughty boy all day today. The temperature finally warmed up to a balmy 50-something, and I really wanted to take him out, however he had other plans. He wanted to scream all the live long day and had no interest in going thrifting. Perhaps he got his fill yesterday. Yes I took him thrifting yesterday but I thought we could hit a different one today. No such luck. Maybe tomorrow then.

Anyway, to get my thrifting fix, I was reading Thrift Store Adventures today, and let me just say that this dude is my hero. Seriously. You should totally check him out. Apparently once he encountered a psycho waving a gun in the Salvation Army parking lot. Reminds me of the time my dad was working on his car near the OSU campus, and some homeless guy walked by, waving a gun, shouting off drunken nonsense. My dad had a drill in his hand and started acting like it was a gun right back at the guy. The guy was too drunk to know the difference and then wandered off. True story.

Anyway, Thrift Store Adventure's encounter with the Salvation Army gun-waver reminded me of my own thrift-store-worries. It seems to me that the steak knife section should be kept under lock and key rather than just sitting out in the kitchen aisle, free for the grabbing by any random psycho. Forks? They're fine. Spoons? They're safe too unless you're Alan Rickman from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. He tells his cousin he's going to cut someone's heart out with a spoon "because it hurts more, you twit!" But for most of us, spoons don't pose too much of a risk.

But steak knives?

I always feel a little unsafe when I'm in that aisle. It's a shame too, because I enjoy perusing the kitchen aisle. I have many, many collections and a great deal of them are kitchen-related. Take my red-wood-handled vintage kitchen utensils for example. They're always located in the same bins as the steak knives. If I want to dig for my treasures, I have to risk my life. I enjoy adding to my collection, but is it worth dying for?

Would you trust these people with a steak knife? That weird guy standing a few paces away... You know, the one who keeps eyeing you? Creep. Or what about the woman screaming bloody murder because you stole that pyrex dish right from under her nose, and she had her eye on it first. Oh no she didn't. And then there's the lady hoarding all the ceramic cat figurines.

Yep, they should lock up the knives.

Happy 206th Birthday, Ohio!

Dear Ohio,
I am so sorry, my beloved state of mine. I knew it was your birthday yesterday, however I just too pooped to take pictures and blog about it. Today though, I am refreshed after napping from about 7:45 until about 11 last night (during which time hubby took care of the little man), and then some short bursts of sleep throughout the night. I like it when Joel sleeps for three hours, like he did after his 4:50 am feeding. Yay. In honor of your birthday, enjoy some photos.

Love,
Jodie

P.S. I would have made you some cookies with the above Ohio-shaped cookie cutter, however I am on a diet. Pay no attention to the cheesy hashbrowns at the bottom of this post. I really am on a diet.

P.P.S. All this talk about cookies is making me change my mind. I just might bake you some cookies after all.

A little crafty barn I painted when Ohio turned the big 2-0-0. If you're not from Ohio, you probably don't know this, so let me share it with you! Some guy went around to each of the 88 counties and painted one barn in each county with our bicentennial logo. Phew! I can't even imagine how much work that would have been! This little crafty barn took enough time!

Here's part of my little flag collection. Did you know that Ohio's flag is the only flag in the union that isn't a boring old rectangle? You can't tell it from this shot, however Ohio's flag has a little V cutout at the end, so it's five-sided. Also in this picture: some thrifted items! I had this little doggie when I was little and was totally stoked when I found it at a thrift store while on vacation last summer in Piqua, Ohio. (What?! Who the hell vacations in Piqua, Ohio? Long story. Let's just say we were on a cemetery-hunting vacation...) I found the little turn-of-the-century ruby red souvenir glass pitcher for a mere couple bucks. I was so afraid that when the cashier rang me up, she was going to exclaim, "Wait a cotton-pickin' minute! This has been priced wrong!" and make me pay twenty bucks. But alas, she said nothing and off I went, happy as a clam! I just checked on ebay; there's one just like it (with a different name on it though) with twelve bids currently, going for 18 bucks. Woohoo!

And let me leave you with a shot of breakfast. On the menu today: cheesy hashbrown casserole (I should be back down to my prepregnancy weight in no time, don't you think?) and chai in my can-you-tell-I'm-a-music-teacher mug. It's sitting on my bent wood chair next to the bunny night light lamp that we use since Joel has been sleeping in our room. Yes, my bedside table is crammed with so much crap on it, that I now have been reduced to using the seat of the chair as tablespace...

Binkie Clips and Kiddie Wallet Finished!

Joel spent a lot of time sleeping today, which afforded me the opportunity to sew, sew, sew! There was two tutorials that I was just dying to make: these binkie clips and this wallet for Joel. I thought the wallet would be cute in brown so that Joel's wallet would match daddy's. I didn't make Joel's out of leather, of course, but I did have a nice, sturdy brown fabric that worked out well.

Like always, I strayed from the tutorial. I opted to use steam-n-seam to close the hole after turning the wallet right-side-out rather than topstitching around the perimeter of the wallet. I also left out the button in favor of a sewn snap. I think it turned out very cute, especially after I put in those fake credit cards that come in the mail.
Cost: absolutely F.R.E.E.


These binkie clips were super easy to make, and the tutorial was very thorough and easy to understand :) I decided to use hot glue to attach the velcro to the ribbon because I could not find my liquid stitch, but other than that I followed the tutorial (I think). Unfortunately though, I realized that out the three pacifers that we have, none of them will work with these binkie clips because there's no way to attach them! *Sigh* I guess we'll have to go buy some more binkies!

You know what's really awesome about these clips? I didn't even have to buy the ribbons! They came free on gifts we received, so of course I saved them. I just knew there would be a project on down the line when these little lovelies would come in handy. I was right!

Ribbon: free.
Metal clips: two dollars.
Not having to bend over and pick up dropped pacifiers one million times a day: priceless.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Today we're celebrating Dr. Suess's 105th birthday! My husband's cousin's wife told me about his upcoming birthday a few days ago; she said that _____ (I forget which store she said... Babies R Us maybe??) was having a half off sale on all Dr. Suess books, so she picked one up for her little tot who was turning one. Well I think I did one better - I thrifted a Dr. Seuss book yesterday at Goodwill for a quarter :)



Originally I ran out to the Pickerington Goodwill to look for two white sheets. We had done a photo shoot at T-3's place earlier in the day for her portfolio, and tacking up a sheet to the ceiling yielded very professional looking results. We also took a couple shots of the hubby, little man, and me, however we weren't really dressed for the occasion, so I'd like a do-over. The only problem: I don't own a single plain white sheet.

Easy solution: go get a couple at a thrift store! The P'town Goodwill only had two solid color sheets, one in a light green, and the other a light blue. I really need two sheets to match (one to hang on the ceiling, and the other to lay on the floor), and since they only had one of each, I passed.

I did, however, find several things for Joel. I was stoked to find a whole stack of Halloween iron-on transfers, new in the packaging. Each package contained two transfers; there was a total of six different designs, however I just purchased one package (79c). I was also very excited to find a very large, furry "3" applique for 99c; it will look smashing on a shirt for his third birthday. I also picked up three kiddie holiday VHS tapes for a buck each (Christmas, Valentines Day, and Easter), so they will make nice gifts for him when he's a toddler (VHS?! Am I living in the 20th century or what?! Hey, they were only a dollar so give me a break!) Last but not least, three books for a quarter apiece, including the one by Dr. Seuss.

I would also be remiss if I failed to mention that T-3 gave me some goodies yesterday! She found two darling iron-on cowboy appliques on clearance for 75c apiece, and she gave me a bunch of bobbins. The funny thing is, the day before she told me about the bobbins, I was at Joanns staring at the bobbins, kicking myself for forgetting to check and see what kind my sewing machine took. There are two types of the clear plastic kind that look the same to me, and I wasn't sure which ones to get, so I left empty handed (well not completely empty handed... I used my 40% off coupon to purchase clips so that I can make these binkie clips. I also found a cross cake topper for Joel's baptism; it was on clearance for a dollar). By the way, T-3 if you're reading this, I discovered that some of the bobbins work but some jam my machine. At least I got a few new bobbins out of it! :)

Birthday Bunting and Sunday Stash

I finished the bunting today. Since there are so many different fabrics in it (14), I decided that it could double as my Sunday Stash post.

H: a thrifted cherry print skirt
A: a curtain that was in the house when I bought it
P: a remnant from a shower curtain I bought at Walmart to use in the basement


P: a bandana that was my grandpa's
Y: a shower curtain sample that I got when I worked at Kohls
hearts: purchased new at Joanns


The next three fabrics were part of my great-grandma's stash. My great-aunt gave me her stash after she passed away.


T: a remnant left over from a project for a friend
H: a sample given to me by my ex's mother
D: part of great-grandma's stash


A: a remnant I purchased second hand
Y: part of great-grandma's stash

And now... the Rest of the Story

The radio legend Paul Harvey passed away today :( He was 90 years old. I will greatly miss your 6 o'clock biographical/historical chat, Mr. Harvey. No one can do pauses like you!

In other news, we went to my husband's cousin's daughter's first birthday party today. So when I got home, I did what any mother of a 2-week-old would do... I started to make a birthday bunting for my son! Yes, I have fifty weeks until he turns one. So?

There's lots of blog entries out there dedicated to creating birthday buntings; I liked this one, although I'm not exactly following it. I did use it as a jumping off point, though.

I liked that she sewed the fronts and backs with right sides together and then turned them right side out so that the seams are on the inside. Many of the buntings out there are made with a single piece of fabric with the edges trimmed with pinking shears. That look is nice too, however I'd be afraid that it would fray over time. Since I plan on using this bunting forever, I just can't have frayed edges. Joel will be in his sixties, and I in my nineties, and I'll still be dragging the darn thing out...

I can't free hand letters very well, as evidenced by the baby blocks that I made. So instead of freehanding the letters, I found a font I liked in Microsoft Word, made it large enough, and then traced around the letters onto paper right off the computer screen. I then pinned the letters onto the felt and cut them out. Voila! Much better looking!

I haven't sewed the fronts to the backs yet, nor have I sewed the felt letters onto the fabric, however I decided to photograph a few of the little flags for your viewing pleasure. Notice the word that the chosen flags spell out... "DIRTY." That was a total coincidence! They even came out in that exact order! I think the sewing gods are trying to tell me something. Tear yourself away from your sewing machine for a little while so you can clean your house, damnit!




I had to use some heart fabric since my son was born on Valentine's Day!
Here's the same fabric I used for the the NY Rangers bib the other day.

Update: I finished the bunting today. Let me just say that bias tape is the devil. I thrifted a whole bag of it several weeks ago, so I figured now would be a nice time to use some of it. I planned on folding it over the top edge and sewing it down, however that wasn't working out for me. Instead, I ripped out the seam I had begun and started over with steam-a-seam. I decided to not fold the bias tape over, and instead used two strips of bias tape, one for the front and one for the back, held in place with steam-a-seam. I then stitched the top to keep the bias tapes connected together. That probably made no sense ... sorry. If you want to know more, I can try to explain it better. Right now I am sleep deprived from having a 15-day-old!

And now you know ... the rest of the story! Update: here's the bunting in use at his first birthday party :)

Relaxation Sounds

I totally love this website. It's a site that lets you choose up to five different relaxation sounds to play simultaneously. My favorite combination is wind chimes, flute song, creek, and bird sounds. Try it! I'm trying it out on my son right now. It doesn't seem to be working.

Greeting Card Mathematics

Well I haven't been thrifting for several days since my mom has been here. I'm starting to get the itch. We did, however, go to the mall yesterday, discovered and was saddened that my coveted Chick-fil-A went out of business, figured out how to use the stroller, and scored some awesome greeting cards for 90% off from a soon-to-be-out-of-business Carlton Cards. I got over thirty dollars worth of cards for a mere $3-something! I got a rabbit thank you card for my mom for all the help that she's been this past week, birthday cards for tons of family members... the list goes on and on! I now have two years worth of birthday cards for my parents, husband, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and husband's cousin's daughter, and am covered for 2009 for just about everyone else. Does anyone else do that? I like to buy up cards when they're really cheap and save them in a little drawer so I don't have to run out and spend full price when the time comes. If you do the math, the amount I'm saving is quite staggering. Now if I could just get my husband to think ahead and buy my cards cheaply. Or maybe I should just start buying my own cards to give to him to give to me...

My husband comes from a big family. There's two parents, a sister, brother-in-law, two nephews, a grandma, two aunts, two uncles, three cousins, a cousin's spouse, and a cousin's child, plus my husband and our son. And that's just his mom's side of the family. We're not very close to his dad's side, so we don't send cards or gifts to them.

Then for my side of the family, I send cards to my parents, brother, aunt, and grandma. That's 23 birthdays I have to buy for. That's not to mention the three friends I send birthday cards too, so now we're up to 26. There's also graduations, weddings, showers, get-well-soons, thank-yous, sympathies, etc. for which I keep cards on hand, but since the number of those fluctuate each year, I will leave them out of my count. Plus there's mother's day and father's day, for a grand total of at least 31 cards I buy each year. If you figure that most cards cost somewhere between 2.99 and 3.99, we'll take the average and multiply times 31, and we get $77.50. In actuality, however, I usually spend 50c on greeting cards (and my haul at Carlton Cards yielded cards for even less than that!). If you multiply 31 by 50 cents, we see that I'm spending only about $15.50 on cards per year. Yay :)

My favorite place to get greeting cards is The Book Loft in German Village. For those of you who live in Columbus, you should totally check it out. It's 32 rooms of book-buying wonderment. Down in the basement of one of the wings is the 50c card room. They have greeting cards throughout the store in many of the 32 rooms, but when they get new inventory and have to pull older cards off the shelves, they get priced with a dot-sticker and then go to the basement. I can spend F.O.R.E.V.E.R in that little room, looking at each card, filling up my basket with cards for cheap. I feel sad for these cards that have been banished to the basement... a greeting card graveyard of sorts. But it makes me happy that I am able to purchase them and give them a good home!

Now I know that dollar stores sell cards two for a dollar, so why is buying from The Book Loft better? Well first of all because it's not a chain. The Book Loft is an independent book store, owned and operated here in Columbus. Second, the cards at the Book Loft are not the same kind of cards you would get at the Dollar Store. They're not Hallmark or American Greetings either... they're unique and unusual! No offense if you buy Dollar Store cards... truth be told, we do sometimes too!

Speaking of greeting cards, does anyone else recycle them to extend their life? I have a large basket full of cards that sits upon my Hoosier Cabinet. I am getting into scrapbooking, so I have been dismantling my old cards to use in a scrapbook for my son. I also cut up Christmas cards and make tags for Christmas gifts with them. I have a stamp somewhere that says "to" and "from" which I will place on the back of these little recycled goodies. I'll leave you with some pics.

Potty Like a Rock Star Iron-on Transfer

'Nuff said!

Some Thrifty Finds

Here are my finds from the other day. First up are those magazine holders I picked up back before Valentines Day (59c each). Actually, two were marked 99c and the other two were marked 59c, and the cashier said she could give them to me for all 59c. Yippee!

I like how one of them is a different color than the others. I plan on spray painting them, however I think I'll still make one of them a different color than the others. I have red and orange spray paint. I think I'll do three red and one orange just for a punch of color. I think I also may decoupage "J O E L" on them. Another idea I had was to use chalkboard paint... I can't decide!

And below we have an opened package of Christmas letter paper (50c), an unopened baby footprint kit still in the shrinkwrap ($2.92), and a children's book of Mozart's The Magic Flute (50c). The music teacher in me can't pass up books on music! The binding was pretty bad, but my friend said just a little elmers glue (even could be watered down elmers glue) would fix it right up. She was right! I put some elmers glue in the binding, and then wedged it between a few objects so that it would stand upright, binding side down, until it dried. Voila! It's fixed!

Some Kitchen-y Stuff

The baby is sleeping, so hubby and I are just sitting around watching "Cash Cab." How exciting. I have some thrifted stuff to photograph still sitting in the trunk of my car, but it's just too cold for me to venture out into the garage. In the meantime, we can enjoy some photos of things in my kitchen.
Here's a vintage thrifted scale that I rarely use but had to have it
A pyrex bowl I found at a garage sale for probably a buck or less. I don't remember for sure how much it cost because I found it several years ago, but I know it was cheap or I wouldn't have gotten it!
A place to store my knives. I found this beauty at a flea market for a buck or so.
About a third of my collander collection. All thrifted and garage sale finds! I love the little one :) It had a broken handle when I bought it, so my then-boyfriend fixed it for me
I found this little wooden thingie at a thrift store years ago, painted the recycling sign onto the lid, and now use it for my recycling (duh)
Last but not least, here are two of the three reusable lunch sacks I sewed a few weeks ago. I used this tutorial and a thrifted vinyl tablecloth that cost me a buck. I used them for several weeks before I stopped working and went on maternity leave. They are holding up well!