Garage sale Finds

So, each week I try to link up at Debbiedoos garage salen' party each week. Back when I lived in Indiana, garage sales started on Thursdays. Around here, they start on Friday. Oh, how I miss two weekdays of garage sales! Anyway, these are some of my finds from today.


I have desperately wanted a dress form for ages now. I found this gem from a nice old lady who said she barely used it, but it is in pristine condition, even had the box and receipt (for nearly $200) attached! She sold it to me for $10!
I like to name the things I use (my cars name is Thelma), so I racked my brain for a name for my new dress form, because lets be honest, she needs one. There is an old old old Theodore Gisel book called Hooper Humperdink-Not Him that I have been reading to the kids for years now. In it, there is a party and the kid invites all kinds of people but not Hooper Humperdink...because he's a party pooper. Anyway, one of the people that he does invite is Olivetta Oppabeam (but he's going to have to order more ice cream!), and so I think this lady is going to be called Olive. I can't wait to use her!
I've already gotten grumblings from my hubby about this little end table. At $7 though, I couldn't pass it up. It seems pretty sturdy, definitely more like Pottery Bran than Target. I love it and hope I can keep it around until we move because I think it would be perfect in the new house!

I spotted this cabinet door from the road and knew I had to have it. It's got an amazing glaze on it and it's solid. Won't it look cool hung sideways with some vinyl? Now if only I can figure out how to do that...I think I am the last person alive who doesn't know how to make vinyl lettering. Cricut? Etsy? Who knows?! For $1, I couldn't pass this guy up!

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Ocean Shores

We just returned from our trip to Ocean Shores on the Washington Coast. It's never as warm as I would like, but it was a fun family trip nonetheless.

We stopped at our families favorite candy shop.

Built fires on the beach
Ate smores
Went Go Cart Racing
And spent time on the beach meeting new friends. Do you see the sign on the lower right side of this picture? It says, Caution Horses May Bite. Look at how all of my kids lined up anyway!
I know what this horse is thinking about my little Owen's arm....mmmm, tasty! Back off horse!
We spent time at the playground
Did over a dozen geocaches
Took long walks
And spotted lots of deer (45 to be exact). Do you see the one in this picture?
We even found tee pees to play in
But like any good trip, we are thankful to be home and sleeping in our own beds.

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Heading to the Beach

For the second year in a row our family is heading to the Washington coast for nearly a week for some good old fashioned family time!

We are going to explore the beach...

Spend time climbing rocks...

Geocache in the area...

Have picnics on the beach...

And spend some quality time together.

Enjoy your week! See you when we get back!

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Creative juices

I have jumped on the headband making bandwagon and think that I am going to start selling these bad boys. Only problem is, I need a name.

If you aren't familiar with the bands, they are fitness/sports headbands that are no slip. They have ribbon on one side and velvet (to make them no slip) on the other. I am going to use the name Hot Mess as the main name, but need a name for the actual band itself.

Here are the ideas so far:

Head Banger

Bang Band

Baby Got Band

Gym Chic Band

Slip Ups

Fly Away Band

Hair jackers

Please leave a comment with the name you like best (or even a write in) and the price you would pay for a headband (the retail price for the original sweaty bands is $18) and you may just win yourself a nice new headband!

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What I wore Wednesday

Welcome to week three of What I Wore Wednesday garage sale edition. I'm joining Lindsay again over at The Pleated Poppy . The past few weeks I have documented what I wore here and here but have added my own little twist and showcased my garage sale clothing finds. Garage sales aren't just for picking up toys and cool knick knacks, so hopefully, I am inspiring you to see that you don't have to spend a lot to dress well...

Except day one doesn't do much to prove my point! I spent the morning with the kids at the beach so I popped on this little Abercrombie and Fitch loungewear option over my bathing suit.

Shirt-Abercrombie and Fitch: 50 cents

Pants (or are they capri's?)-Abercrombie: 50 cents

Total: $1

Friday was garage sale day and boy did we hit a cold snap! I like to layer shirts especially when it's cold...I just didn't realize how much. I think I did it three times this week!

Red shirt-Nordstrom: $2

Grey shirt-50 cents

Pants-Hollister: $1

Total: $3.50

On Saturday I hit a few more garage sales before heading to a women's luncheon at church.

Jeans-$1

White shirt-J Crew: 50 cents

Grey shirt: $1

Total: $2.50

Sunday was church day. Don't you just love the fact that while everyone else is dying in the 90 degree heat, we still need to wear sweaters?

Sweater-Hollister: $1

Green shirt-Gap: 25 cents

Jeans-!it: 50 cents

Necklace-25 cents

Total: $2

Monday was errands and taking my younger two kids to VBS.

Grey striped shirt-Hollister: $1

White shirt-J Crew (yep, same as above): 50 cents

Jeans-YMI: 50 cents

Scarf tutorial here : free

Total: $2

Tuesday, again errands...gotta get some stuff done while the kids are having fun at VBS. Isn't it amazing how much you can do in a few hours?

Shirt: 50 cents

Pants-Hollister: $1

Belt-Express (as seen above):I bought it in college about 13 years ago

Total: $1.50

Wednesday I finished cat sitting for some neighbors so I was changing kitty litter and running errands (again!)...Joann's isn't going to shop itself!

Shirt-Piace: $1

Pants-Gap:$1

Necklace: 50 cents

Total: $2.50

Linking up here

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Sweaty Bands knock off tutorial

I run, but I don't like to call myself a runner. The way I see it is, I'm not a nudist just because I walk around naked in my house, so just because I log a dozen or so miles a week doesn't make me a runner. I think there has to be enjoyment in the act to claim the title.

I do work out 5 days a week for about an hour and a half a day. Part of my "gear" is a no slip pony tail holder and a black scrunci hair band. So when a friend of mine from college e-mailed me and told me about Sweaty Bands , I knew I had to try them out. Only problem...I'm cheap! Those bad boys are pricey and from what I am told, looked easy enough to replicate. So that's what I did.

I thought I would try making two so below you will see the materials for making two sweaty bands. You will need: 3/8" elastic (I used black)

1" thick ribbon

Velvet ribbon (I think this was 5/8" thick)

Cut your elastic to 6 1/2" long and cut both ribbons to 15 1/2"

I singed the ends of the ribbons to keep them from fraying, just be careful when playing with fire!

I didn't pin anything, just tucked the elastic between the two layers of ribbon, backstitched several times over the short end to keep the elastic sturdy, and then continued to sew all the way around the ribbon making sure to catch the velvet ribbon into place, but sewing as close to the edge as possible. Don't forget to tuck the other end of the elastic in when you get to the other short side.

That's it!



Here's my typical hairdo for the gym. I wore it today for my workout and couldn't believe that it really does stay put. I didn't have to readjust it once. Don't believe me? Make one, put it on and go get sweaty!

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Lego birthday invites

It's hard to believe that my baby boy is turning 5 in just a few short weeks. I guess that's why I was in denial about planning his birthday party until now! Nothing like the last minute! I had lots of ideas for invites, but in the end, simple and cheap won out.

I just took primary colored card stock cut it down to make the card, and then used a 1" circle hole punch and mounted them with sticky dots.

I think they pass as a Lego brick, don't you?

Check that off the list...now onto the actual party planning. Can't I just be in denial forever?

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More garage sale finds

I had even more garage sale finds today from my trip out this morning that I just had to share.

I found these cool old pipe valve thingies (yep, that's the technical term). I picked up three of them for $1 and hope to use them to make a really cool towel hook for the kids bathroom. I'm going to need hubby's help though, not sure how to mount them.

I got four of these black buckets for 50 cents and think they would be really cool with some numbers on them. I did a little experiment and found that chalk works on these so I could use that too. Aren't they cool?

And my favorite find of the day, this old beaten up croquet set. Once I brought it home, the kids played with the set for nearly an hour (totally worth the 50cents)! I actually bought it to take the balls out and use to decorate in a little bowl or something.

See, aren't they fun finds? Don't you think that's worth two posts?! I do!

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garage sale finds

I spent the morning hitting some garage sales with the kids. Here are a few of my finds.

This cool little bird cage for $5

This tray that's going to get a coat of paint and some decoupage (yep, 25 cents)

And check out this crazy thing. The guy had about a dozen of these wooden frames ($2 each) that had been specially made for his matchbox collection. I'm going to toss the matches and use the frame for something else...stay tuned!

What did you find at garage sales?

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What I wore Wednesday

So, for the second week I am joining Lindsay at The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday. But I put my own spin on it, and call my version the garage sale edition.

Our weather is still so screwy, last week we hit highs in the 90's, but this week, we had some overcast mornings where the weather didn't warm up into the 60's until late afternoon. I find that I change my clothes quite often. I was thinking that I did 2 loads of laundry a day because I have three kids, but nope, it's because mama changes four times a day!

Let's start with Thursday. It was in the 90's by late afternoon, and we don't have air conditioning, so it was literally cooler outside than it was inside. So, a few friends threw together a last minute beach picnic to get us all out of our houses in the evening. It was wonderful!

I wore my MacGyver Dress that I made from a free box pillowcase, and a 50 cent Hollister tank top.

Total cost for the outfit: 50 cents

On Friday, I totally forgot to take a picture, but everything I wore was from a garage sale, and I am sure you will see it next week.

Saturday was a lovely day that we spent at the beach and on the boat.

Tank top-Banana Republic-50 cents

Skirt: Free! Made from my hubby's old t-shirts-tutorial here

Total cost for the outfit: 50 cents

On Sunday we headed to church and it was a little chilly in the morning

Top-TJ Maxx-$14.99 Two years ago (see I don't buy EVERYTHING at garage sales!)

Jeans-See Thru Soul-$2

Shoes-Old Navy black cork wedges $1

Sunday afternoon was spent on the boat and at the beach again for my nieces third birthday.

Top: American Eagle 25 cents

Skirt: Hollister 50 cents

Total cost for the outfit: 75 cents

Monday was spent cleaning the house after carting kids to swimming lessons and baseball camp

Top-American Eagle: $1

Jeans-Target 5 years ago

Tuesday I took the kids to swimming again, then to the park and home for a playdate before going to a focus group meeting I had at Starbucks. This was a four outfit day, but I only have two pictured-the others were workout gear for my A.M. workout, and different gear for mowing the grass.

Cardigan-American Eagle $1

Tank top (same as above)-Banana Republic 50 cents
Jeans-See Through Soul $2

Total outfit cost-$3.50

I wore this outfit in the afternoon to the focus group.

Shirt-DKNY $1

Jeans-Same as above

Shoes: Old Navy peep toe $2

Total outfit cost-$5

Wednesday was spent shuttling kids, going to the CSA farm co-op and then off to the park with some friends for a picnic

Top-Nordstrom 50 cents

Capri's-Old Navy $1

Black flip flops-J. Crew $1

Total outfit:$2.50

And that's a week folks! Let's see what I can come up with next week. See you then!

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