The G Word

Well...I finally broke down.

Call it kid peer pressure.

I had a garage sale.

We had just got to the point where our dining room and garage were constipated with stuff.

And the stuff needed to go.

Either that or the kids would need to go.

And there are legal issues involved in selling kids.

So, we sold the stuff instead.

I was going to take pictures of all the stuff set up, waiting to be adopted but there was a stampede in the morning and I got trampled forgot.

So...here is a picture of the left over glass ware. This is about half of what I started out with, for the glass ware anyway.

I'm planning on giving that all away.

In the midst of the sale, I had set up a couple of 10 cent tables, mostly glassware. Most were ours but I did clean up all the GW dumpster items and put them out on the table.

Whenever any of that sold (I consider the 10 cents a re homing fee) I had a sense of satisfaction.

Because now the stuff has found a new home.

That was not in a landfill somewhere.

One plate went to a couple of women that were planning on putting it into a mosaic table.

The french inspired plates went to a woman that was going to use it in her decorating.

A gentleman bought the wedge shaped pizza plates (World Market labeled) for his bachelor pad.

The heavy glass bowl was purchased for someones kitchen.

And remember the heavy bowling ball?

The sweetest lady purchased it to make it into yard art.

A ladybug...

She went away happy and I got to add another dollar to the Disneyland fund

All in all we did really well and it was totally worth doing.

I think we sold about 2/3 off the stuff that I had out.

The weather was wonderful.

And the people were so fun to chat with.

Don't quote me on this but...

I think we will probably do this again sometime.

I think...

Jewerly Heaven or Hell...you decide

Wanna see what 75 pounds of jewerly looks like?

The first picture is totally out of focus.

In my defense, my eyes were already glazed over...

I'm athinkin' that I'm totally out of my league on this one.

What should I do?

I need to do something or we may never eat at our dining room table again...ever.

Buying and Selling

You can blame it on the gals over at My Dear Trash.

They buy and sell stuff ALL THE TIME.

So now, when I came across an item at GW, on CL or at a yard sale that is under priced...

I buy it...

Clean it up...

Fix it (if it needed it)...

And then resell it.

It is really easy, fun to do, and it will definitely help our vacation fund.

Most of the items that I have bought and sold, I have deleted the pictures for.  So, here are a few of my recent sales that I still have pix for.

Every now and again whenever I get around to it, I'll post some of my resale items for your viewing pleasure.

Here is an iron daybed.

Paid $10
Cost to fix $5
Sold for $40
Profit $25

Gorg, antique chandelier that was heavier then sin.

Paid $25 at a yard sale
I just gave it a good cleaning
Sold for $60
Profit $35

It was missing some of it's prisms but someone still drove ONE HOUR to come and pick it up.

Look at all the brassy detail goodness...

And those bling bling prisms are to die for...

I bought five different sets of wooden nesting dolls.

I let the kids play with them for awhile before I sold them.

Here is the pirate set which was my fav.

Paid $15
Sold $30
Profit $15

I could go on and on and on...

I have so much fun doing this.

I am truly my father's daughter.

And proud of it. :)

Sisters

These two really love each other.

Lily wishes that she could always sleep in Hannah's bed.

I took these pictures so that when they are older, stealing each other's clothes and make-up, breathing each other's air and are sworn enemies...

I can remind them of their sisterly bond.

That will work...right?

More Porch Pix

I sure am having a grand ol' time putting flowers on my porch.

I'm not an expert, by far.

And "by far" I mean like from here to Pluto.

Just sayin...

So, here are the pix of the porch belonging to an amateur, a wanna be, a copy cat...etc...

I found the cutest tool box at GW.

Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't say "cutest" when referring to the tool box.

It was manly, rugged and hardworking.

Is that better?

I wouldn't want to offend it.

Except I had Joseph cut out the middle part and I planted flowers in it.

Bah ha ha ha!

Ok, sorry.

I'll reign it in.

Here it is sitting next to the old metal lunch box that I found in the barn.

Which reminds me...

I really need to clean out the barn.

Someday....

I also need to paint the park bench too.

So, just concentrate on the pretty flowers, K?

This is one of those cool lightweight flower pots that won't break but look like they could if they were real.

Did you follow all that?

Anyway, I picked this one up at GW because the burgundy paint was flaking off of it.

I sanded it down and repainted it.

Unfortunately, in the time since I took the picture, the kids distressed the pot naturally with one of their bikes.

So, now I need to retouch it up...again.

Sigh...

I bought all these pots at GW too.

Believe it or not, the weathered little stool came from GW too.

Cause we all know that I never shop there.

I stalk there is more accurate.

Ha!

I painted the back pot one of my fav colors, the Krylon Burgundy in a Satin finish.

I bought three of these chairs, all with the cane broken out of them.

They were about to be loaded up on the dump truck at the back of GW.

They cost me $2 for all three chairs.

What is the deal with the cane seats anyway?

All the ones that I have ever seen have been broken.

Doesn't instill much confidence in me to ever sit on one if I ever see one intact.

I brought the chairs home, sanded them down and painted them another fav color of mine, the Olive Green by Krylon.

There was at least five different coats of paint on these bad boys.

Brown, Green, White, Black and Navy Blue.

That is just crazy.

Which makes them perfect for around here.

If you look really close, you will see that the new window in the background is broken.

If I told you that it was broken while someone was playing basketball in the house that would not be surprising, huh?

But what if I told you that the person playing basketball in the house was Corey an adult?

No names Corey of course.

I'm surrounded by destruction here people.

Sympathy welcome.

Thanks peeps.

Much better, don't ya think?

I picked up some wooden trays for cheap at GW.

And painted them burgundy.

Do you remember my piano bench that I pulled out of the dumpster and redid?

Whatcha think?

Purdy, huh?

All the pots came from GW too.

The flowers, in the trays,  are a little peaked looking but they were on clearance for 10-30 cents each.

I'm hoping that they'll bounce back.

All costs considered, I'm only in this grouping about $35.

Not too shabby.

My son, Joseph, wanted to know how many more flowers I needed.

Which means I'll have to add some more.

Just to show him that I can.

Ha!

Happy Summer!

Aquarium Trip

You know you have a big family when the price for a year long membership at your local aquarium is cheaper then paying for everyone individually to get in one time.

Sheesh...

The kids had fun looking at all the different fish, crabs, sea lions, octopus, sharks (gulp!) and walking through the underwater glass tube.

Here are some pix of them at the touchie feelie place.

Here is a picture of a sheepdog.

Oh wait...

That is actually Hannah.

My bad.

Her hair is ALWAYS in her face.

She doesn't like it up or pulled back, so whatdoyoudo?

Tim is stopping Matthew from touching the bum-bum part of the sea creature.

In his defense, it all looked the same to me too...

These two, at four years of age, had so much fun poking all the poor little traumatized creatures.

Their feet, up in the air, totally cracked me up.

Doesn't take much apparently...

Lily Pad with her Daddy.

Another family outing successfully completed.

And by successful, I mean that we actually didn't accidentally leave anyone behind...this time.

Red Sunflowers

Trader Joes sure does have some purdy flowers.

Usually I don't buy flowers, cuz they just die, but...

These beautiful red sunflowers were only 4 bucks.

Lurve them!

Dumpster Finds of the Week Before We Got Busted

So...

Here's the scoop regarding my local Goodwill.

They push heavily around here for donations.

They advertise over the speakers while you are in the store how they keep tons of items from going to the landfills.

They are constantly overstocked with donations.

So...they throw the donations away.

In an unlocked, wide-open dumpster.

In an alley with public access.

But they don't allow anyone to get the donations out and take them away.

They won't even sell them for less then ticked value before throwing them in the dumpster.

And they have asked the police to issue citations to anyone taking stuff from the dumpster.

Don't ask me how I know.

Now, doesn't all of that make ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE to anyone else?

Before getting busted by the friendly local cop, here were my dumpster finds.


An entire stack of gaming magazines.

A really nice, green and yellow beanbag that I gave away on CL.

Tons and tons of glassware.

Nordicware plates, more glassware and a dishpan.

More glassware and two boxes of disposable gloves.

I found the whole gloves thing kind of ironic.

Because I wear them when dealing with dumpster stuff.

An Aladdin movie, brand new bat/ball decor for someone named Zack, wicker baskets, beautiful red platter, candle holder and more glassware.

Have I mentioned that there was glassware?

A container of white craft paint.

And one of the heaviest bowling balls that I ever did have the unpleasure of lifting.

I seriously would not want to go up against the person strong enough to wield this baby.

Cute wooden headboards.

So...

Sadly, my dumpster days have come to an end.

Or, I just can't get caught...

Hanging Baskets

I've always loved the look of hanging flower baskets.

I just haven't always been so keen on the price of them.

Plus the big, chunky, plastic hooks just don't really do much for me.

I'm going to change subjects here for a minute.

Just warning you so I don't give you whiplash.

Ya know how at home when someone drops something on the floor...

And they don't pick it up?

It drives me batty.

Sometimes, I just leave it there.

Just to see how long it takes someone...anyone...to notice and actually pick it up.

That usually ends with me not being able to stand it any longer and just picking it up myself.

Which just irritates me.

What does that have to do with hanging baskets?

Well...

Near one of the soccer fields that my son frequents is a vehicle turn out.

In this turnout sat a turkey roaster pan.

Each and every time I drove by, I would notice the roaster.

And, just like at home, I wondered why no one picked it up.

I would kind of grumble and roll my eyes every time I drove past it.

Just cuz I could.

Then, one day, as I was brainstorming about hanging baskets...

It totally hit me.

I'm sure that if you were close by, you would have witnessed the little light bulb appear over my head. briefly replacing the horns

Why couldn't I use turkey roasters and make my own hanging baskets?

Then, I remembered the turkey roaster at the side of the road.

And desperately hoped that no one had picked it up yet.

See the double standard here?

So, I raced over there and picked it up.

Now, before I tell you the next part, I just need to clarify something.

Lest you throw up a little bit in your mouth.

Or, a lot in the garbage can next to your desk.

Cuz, it is that gross.

I neverneverever planned on using the turkey roaster for food.

As in the kind that would go in my mouth.

Ok?

Ok.

So...as I lifted the turkey roaster up off the ground I discovered the remains of an ENTIRE turkey underneath.

How do I know that it was a turkey?

I don't.

But if it was anything else...

I don't want to know.

So...I'm going with the turkey theory.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So, even though I now felt so disgusted that I needed to go take a shower, I went home and washed out my turkey roaster.

Corey drilled some holes in it for me. Some for drainage and some to hang it up with.

I purchased the S hooks and metal hangers at the local hardware store.

We already had the chain laying around, left over from a job that Corey did.

Here is the turkey roaster, aka hanging basket, waiting to be filled and hung.

I managed to pick up several more at garage sales and Goodwill.

Don't they look so cute?

I even hung one up in my door out in the yard.

It was much cheaper then buying a ready made basket.

Plus it was fun too.

Except for the turkey part.

That wasn't fun.

Just sayin...

Linking up to these great parties

Tipsy Pots Tuitorial

I've made a couple of the "Tipsy Pots" now and I'll share with y'all what I've learned...

I actually saw the tipsy pots set up in my local home improvement store. They were selling a kit with a plastic rod and stand for $15.

I just choose to go a different route.

Here are the supplies that I used-

Pots (I used a 14" pot for the base and (4) 8" pots for the rest)

Potting soil (I bought a 2 cubic foot bag and used just over half of it)

Flowers (or herbs...whatever your little heart desires)

1/2" piece of steel conduit (you can use rebar too) This needs to be at least 6 feet tall)

Gotta love flowers!

I think the bag of potting soil cost me about 10 bucks at WallyMart.

Now here is the deal with the pots...

Not all pots are created equal.

If you are using the 1/2" conduit then you will need pots with a drainage hole of 1".

The ones that I bought from Walmart had drainage holes that were much smaller then the ones that I bought elsewhere.

So...

You can fix this either by using a smaller rod, like rebar OR use a grinder tool to enlarge the drainage holes.

If your drainage holes are not big enough in proportion to your metal rod, then the pots will not be able to tip enough to give you the whole "tipsy" look.

I chose the 1/2" steel conduit in a 10 foot length.

The conduit didn't even cost $2 for the entire piece.

Choose the spot for your pots (Ha! That almost rhymes).

You won't be able to move them once they are assembled.

Even up the ground so your bottom pot has a flat surface to sit on.

Take your metal rod and start pounding it into the ground.

Just be sure that there isn't any pesky pipes or natural gas lines where you are planning on putting your metal rod. Just sayin...

If you have purchased the same size pots as I did then you will need 44" left above ground on which to assemble your pots.

If you are using the conduit then it may squish down on the top when you are hammering it down into the ground.

See the little squishy part of the conduit?

We had to take a hacksaw and cut it off.

Otherwise it wouldn't have fit through the drainage holes on the pots.

Here is my conduit, hammered way down into the ground.

We have cut off the little squished down part on the top.

From the ground to the top of my rod measures 44".

Thread the rod through the bottom of your biggest pot and place it on the ground.

Fill it most of the way up with potting soil.

Be sure and put enough soil so that when you put the next pot in, it doesn't sink way down in the big pot.

Take one of your smaller pots and thread it through the metal rod.

Tip it to the side and set it down on top of the potting soil that you just placed in the big pot.

As you can see in the picture, this smaller pot will not be resting on the side of the bottom pot. The metal rod will prevent it from tipping that far.

That is totally okie dookie.

Place potting soil in the pot, leaving room for your plants.

Take your next pot and thread it through the metal rod.

The bottom of this pot will sit on the edge of the pot just underneath it.

Put potting soil in that pot too.

Then repeat the last step with your next pot.

Lather, rinse and repeat with the last pot.

Your tipsy pots should now look like this.

See how the top of the rod is just the right height?

Plant your flowers...

Water...

And enjoy!

Use your imagination!

You can use other items besides pots...

Other plants besides flowers...

Ahhhh...the possibilities!

Linking to these great parties.