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!