From Brass to Class....

I woke up this morning & decided that i was going to hit the Goodwill. I had not been to the Goodwill in years even though there is one about 5 minutes away from us! I have seen on several blogs i have been following that they take old, brassy lamps & completely spruce them up with a good coat of spray paint (what else, right??)

In no time, i spotted these "beauties".... and prompty decided they would work. I needed one to put on the newly refurbished side table in the living room and i needed 2 matching ones for the nightstands in our bedroom. I have several lamps in the house already, but none of them are what i needed or big enough, matched well enough etc. So "new" ones it was. And at $4 a pop, i liked the idea even better!!

Here they are before i got started on them. They all three look very similar, but the two on the left have a matching center "swirl" on them. The one on the right does not & is a tad bit taller.
This will be the one in the living room.... and i spray painted it "brushed nickel"....And the two like this are going in the bedroom.... and they were painted "oil rubbed bronze"...Here they are in "process".....Of course, while i was doing this, Eli was napping & Jackson was at school. But that still left the most active one of all....
But i have to admit... he was a good little boy while i worked in the garage. He stayed right on the (nasty, i'll admit) rug in the garage while i worked. He wasn't on a leash & stayed right there & out of trouble (he had plenty of blown in leaves to keep him occupied, i guess!). Anyway.. back to the projects at hand!! Here is the taller one for the living room. The table it is sitting on, i finished on Saturday. It was a $10 find on craigslist that was in perfectly good shape as it was ( a cherry finish) aside from a few stripped spots on the top, but i had other plans. I painted it to match the bookcase i finished the weekend before. So now it is Randy's new side table & it has a pretty new lamp on top! yay!

And the ones for the bedroom?? Check them out!
I am officially a grown woman... i have matching lamps in my bedroom... it only took 30 years! Ha!

My newest obsession

Before we moved into our new house, i knew there were certain things i wanted differently in terms of furniture. I wanted a lot of new furniture but wasn't willing to pay full price for something new. So over the last month or so, i have slowly worked my way up to refinishing a few peices of furniture! I started with something i already had.... our nightstand. I sanded, primed, then painted it a pretty light green from leftover paint we had from painting our old kitchen. Then i sanded the edges & went back over it with a quick rub of some stain we already had. Then i decided i needed another nightstand. So i got a cheap $25 nightstand off of craigslist & started all over doing the exact same thing to it. Plus i added a layer of polyurethane on top to protect it. (i took no pictures of these, can you believe that?)

Anyway, then i started searching Craigslist again for several things i have been wanting... side tables & some sort of storage space in the living room. Our TV is now in an alcove so i needed a place to store all the DVD's etc out of sight as well as some shelving space for books/pictures. I stumbled across this bookshelf (actual bookshelves aren't pictured) for $75, but i talked the guy down to $50. It was pretty beat up & even had a few hand cut holes in the back of the unit where the previous owner apparently wanted to plug in something. It also had a built in light up top that we removed.Over the course of a long weekend, i turned it into this..... I primed, sprayed 2 coats of Rustoleum paint in Black Satin & then sanded the edges with 80 grit sandpaper. Then i went back over those exposed edges with Ralph Lauren Glaze tinted to "smoke" color (got at Home Depot). Don't think i got all this on my own. I have been following a blog for awhile called www.shanty2chic.blogspot.com that has lots of great information!

I haven't added any hardware back on because i haven't decided just what i want yet. In this photo you can also see those holes pretty well. I did cut down a small peice of black scrapbooking paper to cover it up from the back of the unit. I was going to make a whole new backing, but decided that 1) i didn't want to put that effort into it right now 2) the books will most likely cover most of that up and 3) i might actually want those holes some time myself! So i just went with the paper method!
Here she is all set up in the living room! And i did it all with out any help! I am so proud of myself!
And i already have another project primed in the garage ready for a first coat of spray paint.... stay tuned!

Creative Bargain

Eli & i were in Michael's a couple of weeks ago & i stumbled upon a great bargain i couldn't pass up! They had marked down all the large valentine boxes of foam stickers. Not only do my kids wreak havoc on the "craft cabinet" on a daily basis, but i use these all the time with my kids at work. So i bought 4 boxes! I couldn't help myself- they were .79 a box! Well, except for the sparkly ones, which were a little over a buck! The kids have been stickerin' it up around here! I even took a box to Mema's for them to use there with Kaleb too......

Nanny... look away....

If your name is "nanny" then you better not read this post! She gets upset with me when i post things about the boys that make her sad. So don't read any further, mom!

Lately.... Jackson has been acting a bit "big for his britches" so to speak & no matter what discipline technique we have implemented, he doesn't really care. So after lots of consulting & contemplating- i decided to try what a friend from church does with her boys. We began putting Jackson "on the wall" for 1 minute at a time when he smart mouths us or blatantly disobeys us. I have to admit, it is hard to watch, BUT it works! He hates it & is immediately apologetic when he gets done. So once, i snuck a picture zooming in from the bedroom doorway so he wouldn't see that i was taking it! Yes, he is crying, so that is hard to see, but let me tell you- if you had heard what came out of his mouth before, you wouldn't be just so sad! Every kid needs discipline & with Jackson we have to get creative sometimes!
Randy said to me one day when he Jackson was on the wall, "Ya know, this will actually make his legs stronger!" Yeah, Yeah- Jackson will thank us one day when he is a basketball superstar, right? I'll remind him of that the next time he is telling us that it burns! Maybe he'll begin to think of that BEFORE he disobeys! Oh, I pray so!!!

My CVS deal this week

Okay, so yes, this is another post & picture about a deal i got. But i know for a fact that there are some of you reading who are interested. So if you aren't, just skip ahead! (I won't know the difference). After the boys were in bed, i made my weekly trip to CVS before all the good deals got gone for the week. I am so excited because i made money off of what is pictured here. I made two transactions that totaled around $83 before CVS sales ($44 in Alavert alone!). After the sale prices, my manufacturer coupons, CVS coupons, & ECBs, i spent 2.17 out of pocket in cash & increased my ECB's by $10. (in other words, i went in with $13 in ECBs to use, spent 2.17 out of pocket, & walked out the door with $23 in ECBs to use next week) The best part of this is that i really bought stuff we can use. We needed hairspray, Randy has terrible allergies & goes through benadryl like water, so the alavert will be gone in no time, i bought 2 shampoo bottles that we will use, & can i just say that i really like this SPA radiant body wash? I am using it right now in the shower & i go through body wash like Randy goes through benadryl (but still, if you need any, give me a buzz!) Oh, & the deodorant will certainly be used because my dear hubby always forgets to tell me when he needs deodorant & ends up using mine (YUCK!) when he runs out (not this time, buddy!).

Check this out!

Okay, so if you are not into freebies or use paypal for any reason...simply skip ahead to the next post!
However.... today i signed up for Revolution Money Exchange which is the new "paypal" just simply without fees associated for accepting or dispursing money. "Revolutionary," huh? Well, until Tuesdayi think it is (April 15th) you get $25 free bucks just for signing up! They will even send it to you by mail if you don't want to leave it in your RME account. (ummm, which i will do!)
So, sign up today & get your new **Free** money exchange account & **free** $25 bucks! I referred Randy who is going to sign up for one (he does most of the ebaying etc, anyway) & get $25 & then i will get $10 more dollars for referring him! Fun!! That is my grocery money right there!
*** Edit to original post***
You are in luck, because they have extended this offer until May 15th! I've got my money already, do you??

Weekend Deals!

Well, i begun the weekend knowing i had things to buy on a budget & wondering just how well i would do. I think all in all i did GREAT! I knew that Jackson needed some spring clothes since he literally has ONE pair of shorts. Of course, Eli has all of Jackson's old clothes, so he needed nothing really. Well, i headed out to Kohl's since i had 2 coupons for $5 off my purchase. I got lucky because they were having an early bird special until 1pm. My goal was to spend less than $50 for an entire spring/summer clothing wardrobe. Since he had a few short sleeve shirts already, i was going to focus mainly on shorts, & maybe a few shirts. This is what i got: 5 pairs of shorts & one shirt for $11 & some change. Each peice was on sale from $10 to $4 & Nanny rang up an 2 articles of clothes for me to use the second coupon & her total was a little over $3 & she refused to let me pay her back.(So i ended up getting $60 worth of clothes for $11- saving $39 for shirts & i think i can get a pair of stride rite tennis shoes at the outlet in that budgeting too!)Of course, i took a picture! And in the picture is 8 pair of socks i got (for Eli) at Old Navy clearanced for .49c a pair, regularly $1.75 each- again Nanny ended up ringing them up while i was doing diaper duty back at the car, & AGAIN refused to let me pay her back. Thanks Nanny! Then today, i made a quick CVS run because i came across a coupon that was going to expire today & couldn't pass up this deal! I got all that is pictured (yes ANOTHER bottle of Excedrin- but i made a buck off of it) for 1.99 out of pocket! Who would pass that up??
And just so you know- i won't be posting a picture of EVERY deal i get (since i get them about every week), but i will post from time to time when the deal is especially sweet! It is exciting & this blog doesn't have to be all about the boys- it can be about how i help save money while raising the boys!

Harris Teeter Triples!

Okay, so i told myself that i wasn't going to post pictures of all my savings on this blog because lets face it- that is kinda geeky. But laugh all you want because i will be laughing all the way to the bank! I am so excited over this weeks bargains at Harris Teeter. I don't usually shop there because i think... no, i KNOW, their prices are higher than average for most everything. But i have been shopping at Lowes Foods for the past 6 months because they double coupons up to .99c everyday & combine this with weekly specials & my grocery budget has been cut in half. So i couldn't pass up the opportunity to hit Harris Teeter since they were tripling coupons for 3 days only. You could only use 20 coupons per order & only go through the line one time with them, so we (Rebecca, Jana, & myself) hit two different Harris Teeters in order to maximize the savings! It was loads of fun! The goal is to use mostly .75c coupons (2.25 after tripled) & 50c coupons (1.50 after tripled) to pay less than 50c or $1.00 at worst for most items. MANY items were free with overages & many were less than a quarter!!! So seriously, this is what i got:
(2) boxes of Tide detergent (32 loads each)
(5) bottles of Excedrin 24ct (actually purchased for FREE at Walgreens with $2/off coupon as they were on sale this week for 1.99-regulary 4.99)
(1 )box Reeses snack mix 100 calorie packs
(1 )64 oz bottle of Welchs 100% White Grape Juice
(1) Dukes Mayo
(1) Daisy sour cream
(1)Frozen Grands biscuits
(1)Betty crocker cake icing
(2) Alexia potato nuggets (tater tots)
(2) fat free Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
(2) Frenchs Friend Onions
(2)Harris Teeter brand shredded cheddar cheese (actually used no coupons here, they were just on sale & we needed them)
(2) boxes of Totinos Pizza Rolls
(5) bags of Steamfresh Veggies
(4) smart choice ramen
(1) Betty Crocker Oatmeal cookie mix
(3) boxes Nutrigrain Granola Bars
(4) boxes Nutrigrain Cereal Bars (actually- no coupons here either- they were on sale & we needed them)
(1) box of Texas Toast
(1) box of Uncrustables Sandwiches
(1) bag Snyders Multigrain Pretzel Sticks
(1) bag of Eat Smart Veggie Crisps Chips
(1) bottle Mrs Dash Hamburger Seasoning
(1) box Hungry Jack Pancake Mix
(2) boxes of Uncle Bens Long Grain Wild Rice
(2) cans Cream Mushroom Soup
(2) cans Cream Chicken Soup
And how much did i spend?????...................
Drum Roll Please.........
I spent right at $20!! That is a little more than i would have paid for the 2 boxes of Tide alone or for paying for 4 boxes of Excedrin at full price! It was crazy fun (& crazy tiring)! So, thanks for tolerating my long post about frugality. It made me feel good to share my savings!! And lets face it, if you could get all this for 20 bucks, you'd do it too!