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Monthly Archives: January 2012

A Two Dollar Dog Bed or Why I’m Thrifty

As you might have guessed from previous posts, I’m a bargain shopper. I was raised to be a bargain shopper, sort of. My Mom could sniff out a bargain with the best of them. We often shopped at outlet malls and factory stores and my Dad would drive a couple of hours in any direction if he heard of a place with “good deals”. It didn’t really matter what the good deals were on. Case in point, my Mom once sent my Dad out to the store to buy liver. Just a little bit of liver to make with onions for dinner. What did my Dad come home with? Fourteen pounds of liver because it was on sale. I hate liver. I swear that liver was in our freezer forever (nobody thought about the expiration date of meat in a freezer then) and finally my Mom threw it out because it had freezer burn- wink, wink. I don’t think any of us will ever know whether or not it was freezer burned but it was one of the best days of my life. No, really. I was probably 10 when she threw it out and I’m blogging about it today, that’s how good a day it was.

There were other things though that my Mom would never, ever do. She wouldn’t buy used clothes- ever. She didn’t like used furniture. She didn’t like handmade clothes or any of the things that are so popular now. Why? Because when my Mom was growing up she was the very poor daughter of a preacher/civil servant. They had meat one day a week and her Mom made dresses for her and her sisters out of flour sacks. Being thrifty wasn’t the fashionable thing that it is these days though. There was a tremendous stigma attached to being poor and buying things used. Today Craig’s List is popular at least among my friends- birds of a feather I guess- and in a lot of places considering how big Craig’s List is.

I’m saying all of that to say why being thrifty is a part of my blog. It’s just part of who I am. Sure there are times when buying a better brand and paying more is the wise thing to do but most of the time I do the very best I can with what I have. So, if I throw and idea out there and you think, “wow, she’s really a cheapskate”, that’s okay. You can just skip that idea and come back later when I’m less of a cheapskate.

This is Daisy our rescue pup. I think she’s beautiful.

She’s silly and funny and often is a complete pain in the behind. Like the rest of the Buttons she has her quirks but we love her and wouldn’t want to live without her.

She’s lived with us for over a year and in that time she’s destroyed hundreds of dollars worth of leashes, furniture and dog toys. Dogs chew, it’s just a fact of life and one that I wasn’t as prepared for as I thought I was. My husband’s stubbornness is why Daisy is still with us today and I’m thankful for that.

In all the time she’s lived with us I’ve wanted to get a dog bed for her but with all the things she’s destroyed I really didn’t want to buy one just to have her chew it up. This past Saturday we all took a trip to TJ Maxx, one of my favorite places, because I wanted to buy a new spring candle. I love Yankee Candles but I don’t like spending $25 dollars for one. I found one that fit the bill for $10, peaches are nice.

While we were there I got distracted by the dog beds. Daisy seems to have gotten past the destroying things phase and I was also hopeful that she wouldn’t pee on it. She’s housebroken but she still occasionally will “go” on blankets if we’re not looking or if she’s overly excited. We checked out what they had and there were a lot of cute ones ranging from $20-$30. It’s not a lot but I’ve joked that she destroys toys so quickly we should just let her chew on a $20 dollar bill. Then I got an idea, what if I bought pillow case and we used one of the many extra pillows we have that we aren’t using? So I found a clearance end cap and started digging. These things are often a mess but there can be some real gems on them.

First I found a really cute Cynthia Rowley shower curtain. If my bathroom was blue I probably would have bought it.

Then I found a pretty  indigo and white DKNY pillow sham. The important thing to remember though is that I’m not really being thrifty if I buy a cheap pillow sham but have to completely re-do my bedroom because of it.

At last I found a sham that had lost it’s partner that was neutral and sweet for the low, low price of $2.

You can’t really tell from the pictures but it’s got a soft pattern that includes parsley flowers. Didn’t know that parsley sprouted flowers? That’s okay because I didn’t either until I grew it. I plan on growing it again this summer.

Making Daisy’s bed was literally as easy as finding a pillow and stuffing it in the sham. The girls were so excited to help me. I love that they think everything I do is fantastic.

Then came the time to convince Daisy that 1. the dog bed is fun and 2. that she was allowed to lay on it. We don’t ever let her on the furniture. It’s Trav’s rule and I support him…although if it were up to me Daisy would be a lap dog.

In the beginning Daisy just thought it was play time and jumped all over the girls. I lurve my dog.

She finally got the idea when I put her rawhide bone on it. Granted it’s not exactly Daisy sized, although it would be a great size for a dog like my sister-in-law’s Yorkie-Poo, Pip. Or my other sister-in-law’s Bichon, Pookie. But if Daisy does well with this one then I’ll feel better about getting her a bigger one.

Then I’ll just have to get a smaller dog to fit on this one. I plan on naming her Peach.

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Field Trip Day

Last week I was able to take Chloe and Halle on a field trip to the Carter House in Franklin. It was Halle’s first ever field trip and I was so happy to be able to go because at Chloe’s last school you had to win a lottery of sorts to be able to chaperone. Yes, ours is a weird school district with so much parent participation that they had to limit the chaperones. I rarely e-mailed fast enough to be chosen. I was really excited about this one because I love old houses so.much. Sure, there was a Civil War battle fought there, Union soldiers were literally holed up in the house, but I wanted to see inside. I also love the stories that accompany homes with a long past. This one is particularly compelling and sad in some respects.

We were so excited to be on our way!

Since we’re a homeschool group we all met at the house. This is the first field trip I’ve ever been on that was so close to our house- less than 10 minutes.  I love living in Franklin. We drove up to find that the lone dad chaperone had started a game of tag football while they were waiting.

This is one of the things I love about homeschool. Instead of the kids in two straight lines with arms folded and not being allowed to speak, they were getting out some energy, making memories and having a good time before the hour long tour.

My girls and their friends played a game of tag.

And Halle was a bit of a sassy-pants.

I wasn’t allowed to take any interior photos of the house. I expected that but it was still a bit of a bummer. When we went inside as expected, there were wide plank wood floors and beautiful old furniture. What wasn’t expected was the peach and aqua trim on the generous molding in the home. Apparently that was the fashion of the day. I also didn’t expect the incredibly loud wallpaper and loud carpet in the parlor. It reminded me of hotel carpet but with wallpaper that nearly matched . It was also the fashion of the time period. It makes me wonder what they’d say about my house in 150 years.

This is a photo of the back of the house with an addition that housed one of their widowed grown children and his children. I linked to the Carter House and you can see a picture of the front of the house. See, I have a new camera and forgot that I hadn’t charged the battery and it died before I got to finish taking pictures.

This is the outdoor kitchen. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see inside.

This is an outbuilding that still has hundreds of bullet holes in it. The tour guide said that years later Confederate and Union soldiers would come back to the farm and have a reunion and take pictures by this same building.

All-in-all I loved the tour. I would have liked to have had more time looking around the grounds and taking pictures. I found out later during lunch that we’re also going to the Carnton Plantation and we’re going to take a walking tour of Franklin. We’ve lived here for over 5 years now and I’ve walked in downtown and I’ve been to the Carnton Plantation grounds but I haven’t taken tours with a guide and such. I can’t wait!

I was thinking about all of this yesterday (I usually write and re-write blog posts in my head long before I type them out) and I remembered living in Hendersonville for 6 years and that it was a nice town but it didn’t have the same type of charm that Franklin does. I guess growing up in Lakeland (FL) with its historic downtown and historic homes ruined me for living in a place that doesn’t have that. I’m not just interested in Franklin, I want to see all of them. They are all over the state of Tennessee. I realize that there are historic towns in every state but I figure that if I start with Tennessee I’ll have enough to keep me busy for a very long time.

Taking My Own Advice

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My last post gave me some inspiration to tackle two things that drive me crazy here at the Button Casa. The kitchen island and next to the microwave.

I cleaned this up a lot before I took a picture of the mess. Usually the fruit basket has a newspaper, bills,  hand cream, a pack of gum or various other odds and ends. I couldn’t show you that. So here is an example what a mess on the kitchen island might look like if you walked into our kitchen.

Frustration number 2 is next to the microwave. We live in a 1,000 sq. ft. rancher style home so every bit of space is used to store something. Or shove something when we don’t know where to put it. Which happens a lot, I’m not gonna lie.

I didn’t edit this picture first. That Indiana Jones movie has been there for at least two weeks waiting for me to donate it to the library. Whenever we have people over I frantically try to find a place to hide this stuff.

The girls and I headed out to Target yesterday to find supplies to organize just these two spots. I’ve been in this position before and have tried to tackle every out of order thing at once. That usually leaves me with closets emptied and piles of things everywhere then I run out of steam and shove it back into the closet. However, once we got to Target  I was totally distracted by aisles and aisles of clearance merchandise! It’s a sickness I tell ‘ya.

The white isle. Crisp, clean and goes with everything.  I had a $25 dollar gift card that I’d gotten for Christmas with me, it was my lucky day. I was tempted by this cake stand but the top was a little crooked and I’ve already given away a slightly crooked cake plate so I passed.

I snagged this napkin holder though. It wasn’t on clearance but I was looking for one because we usually have a pile of napkins sitting on the island. Travis puts them there so we won’t grab a paper towel every time we need a napkin but are too lazy to look under the china cabinet to get one.

Then it was on to stationery. I had something simple and colorful in mind and wasn’t disappointed. It’s Target after all.

All of the grey, black and industrial choices were out. I’m not a fan of grey. I’ll catch the next trend color. Then my little Vanna White helped me find what I was looking for. She totally matches the office supplies…super cute. I could say I planned it but I didn’t. I was actually looking for something in a robin’s egg blue which they didn’t have.

I chose the apple green trey and magazine file for $4.99 each. They’re very cute, functional and budget friendly. I love it when a plan comes together.

I also chose this blue and white bowl, on clearance for $7.98. It was on an end cap in stationery, which seemed like an odd spot for it,  and I had a gift card. Lucky me.

It’s hard to tell how big it is in this picture. It’s serving bowl size and I can’t wait to take a summer salad in it to a party. My mom has the matching coffee mugs, they’re on clearance too, they also have platters and dinner ware all on clearance. If you’ve had your eye on dishes and such at Target you should check to see if it’s on sale because the whole isle had clearance stickers. It’s dangerous I tell ‘ya.

See?

I’ve sort of wanted to be a temporary redhead for quite a while and I found this yesterday that’s good for 28 washes. I have a question though. Will it actually wash out? Halle was very upset because she wants us to continue to have the same hair color. I figure if I hate it then I can just wash my hair 28 times in a day.  Some advice would be helpful…anyone?

Ahem, back to organizing. I get distracted easily. Here’s my plan for the tray. The checkbook, calculator, random mail that Travis might need to see like cable offers and whatnot, coupons we get in the mail and my phone charger that I have a terrible time keeping track of. All neatly in a tray. Now I need a plan for it to stay neatly in the tray. Baby steps, folks.

And the magazine file, I love this thing. One day I’m going to have built in shelves and I’ll have a place for all of the magazine hoarding I do. I love magazines and I hate getting rid of them. For now though it holds bills and mail nicely.

Now that space is neat and uncluttered and it only took a few minutes. I’m so happy to have done this without adding on a room or taking over one of the kid’s bedrooms for office space. So how about you? Do you have any small plans to make your life easier? I’d love to hear them.

New Year, Organize It

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Every year I think about getting organized. I’m at least tempted to buy all of the pretty organizing things I see at Target when I run out to get more paper plates. I buy pretty planners and I might even write in it but I’m more of a “having it all in my head” sort of person so even if I see value in writing things down I’m just very used to keeping a mental list. Since we homeschool though I see a need to get organized. It’s no use having everything we need right here at home if I can’t find it when I need it. I think we currently have 100 pencils hiding in various nooks and crannies around here. So I did some digging on organizing ideas and I’m sharing them with you.

Okay, so the modern minimalist look doesn’t exactly float my boat but to have a desk that clean and uncluttered…ahhhh.

Photo Better Homes and Gardens

I love the cubbies and wicker baskets. Everything is in it’s place but with style. Find it here.

Photo Pottery Barn.com

If you’re more the inbox type then maybe this is for you.

Photo Better Homes and Gardens

I think they’re so cute I just might forget the mail is there.

And If you like having everything right at your fingertips this might fit the bill.

Photo Better Homes and Gardens

You’ve got folders, recycling, pinboard and everything else you need in one compact space. I think this one’s my fave.

So what about you? What organizing plans do you have for this year? Let me (and everyone else) know in the comments.

 

A Mini-Makeover

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I was going to write about how to make crystals for a homeschool project tonight but I had a talk with Travis that went something like this:

Amy- I have to write a post so I’m going to make crystals tonight

Travis- No you’re not, you’re sick.

Amy- But I have to write two posts a week and I decided I’d write on Tuesday and Thursday!

Travis- That’s fine but you’ll have to write about something else, you’re not making anything.

Amy- But it’ll only take 10 minutes!

Travis- You’re creative, you’ll figure something out.

Sadly it was too late. Travis had flipped his stubborn switch and made himself impervious to my pouty powers. Drat! So I’m pulling out a mini-makeover. It would have been the full-on makeover but it’s winter and I can’t spray paint anything again until spring.

A few years ago a friend gave some patio chairs to us. We only had a couple of lounge chairs at the time so even though these had seen better days I was thrilled to have them. Considering we’d moved into a fixer upper of a house, these chairs were a really low priority to refinish. The I bought a new table and decided to give it a go.

Here’s a closeup of what I was working with. I had to get rid of the rust and had purchased a steel bristled stripping tool for the job. Then I lost it. Really. I still haven’t found that darn thing. Refusing to give up I decided to try an electric sander with 80 grit sandpaper.

And it worked! Color me happy! That’s a whole lot of elbow grease and time that I didn’t have to put into it. Then I recruited a cutie-pie to help brush of residue.  We used a new (but low quality, inexpensive) paint brush.

I also used a thin scraping tool to scrape off spots where the paint had bubbled up and there was rust underneath. Taking more time on the front end will save you frustration when spray painting. Promise. Those areas will show up all flaky when you paint. Not that it happened to me or anything.

I needed to get the chair legs off the ground so I could paint more easily so I grabbed some old planting pots that I didn’t mind getting spray paint on.

Then I was super happy to start painting! I love painting…I hate prepping to paint. What? You mean I’m not the only one? Who knew?

I felt like I’d hit the jackpot when I saw this paint in espresso brown on clearance for less than $6 a can. I bought 3 cans because I wasn’t sure how much I needed. Now that I know how much I need, I’d recommend a can per chair and one for the patio table (that I didn’t get to).  That way you have enough for two coats on each piece of furniture and should have some leftover for touch-ups.

Here is where I’ll offer some, “don’t make the same mistakes I did” advice. First, don’t spray paint if the wind is blowing. Just don’t. Unless you want to wear as much paint as whatever your painting. Second, don’t spray in direct sunlight. The front side of the chairs was fine but when I sprayed the back side the sun blinded me. I suppose I could have waited for everything to dry on the front side and then turned the chairs around. But I didn’t. I was a bit pressed for time because I had family coming into town for Thanksgiving a couple of weeks after that. Plus we had an unusually warm autumn and you don’t get that many 70 degree days in November so I went for it.

Here’s the after. Spraying thin, even coats keeps it from dripping and gives the best results. I’ll say though that this kind of thing is pretty forgiving and is great for a first project.

And here’s a side-by-side comparison…

Pretty, no?

Here’s the wrinkle. A couple of weeks after I finished the chairs Travis bought a fire pit for me for my birthday. Next to Daisy it’s the best.gift.ever. The fire pit is black though. You know what that means? I can’t do brown chairs and a black fire pit. I could do a black fire pit and red chairs. Or a black fire pit and turquoise chairs. Or a black fire pit and black chairs. But a black fire pit and brown chairs? Not so much. That’s probably good news for you though. Because you get to see me makeover these chairs again…in the spring.