Thriftty Thursday- Vintage Song Books

I found these books at the same garage sale as the wooden puzzles. The gal was selling them for .10 a piece! I couldn't believe it, but quickly snatched them all up. The colors are SO beautiful. I often just sit and flip through them- getting more color inspiration than from a style magazine. 

 They are filled with adorable songs and gorgeous pictures.

 This one is a favorite

 Good thing at least one of us in the house is musically inclined (It's the handy one, in case you're wondering.) or we'd never know what most of these sound like.

The bindings are so beautiful- Aren't the color combinations perfect? lime and burnt orange, purple and robin egg blue, navy and yellow...so fun.  Anyway, now i'm trying to figure out the right way to display them.

The 1950's were so cool.

thrifty thursday: chalkboard

I realize everyone is on a chalkboard kick these days....but i really had no idea what i was missing out on until my mom found this one for me at a garage sale for $5. I LOVE it! I actually think i need another one, because its so nice to have our "Summer List" printed out all the time but it would also be nice to have another one to do fun things like this and this without having to erase and rewrite. Either way, chalkboards are the way to go. Thanks Mom!

And if you're interested in making a Magnetic chalkboard (i'm thinking this could be my 2nd one) my sister so kindly posted a tutorial of the one she made right here. :)

thrifty thursday: vintage puzzle abundance

Last Friday night i got on Craigslist and looked for garage sales. There were only a few listed that were for Saturday only but two of them sounded amazing. So i did what i never do- set an alarm for 6:30am and was out the door and at the two garage sales right as they opened. I couldn't believe my eyes when i saw this whole stack of vintage wooden puzzles and for only $2 each. I greedily snatched them up hoping the owner wouldn't reconsider selling them after seeing my crazy eyes. ;)

 One evening after the girls had dumped out several of these and were unsuccessful at putting them back together i began cleaning them up and was amazed how tricky they were. I kept making observations like, "these are really tricky to put together!" " i don't even know where this piece goes." Anyway, Handy Andy began snickering and poking some jabs about them being for children and what- not. So, i  timed him on the squirrel puzzle and am quite happy to report that he hesitated not just once and i think it might have taken him nearly a minute to complete. So there, its not just me; kids back in the 60's were simply more spacial than we are.

Isn't this one just completely quirky?! Love it.

thrifty thursday: sweeet kid finds

I Scored some sweet deals at ARC last week:

1) Candy Land- still wrapped in original plastic for $2.99

2) TWO pairs of Stride Rite shoes- one for baby ben in a few years and the other will be "camping shoes" for one of the girls. $5.00 for both

3) TWO fabulous kid books $4.00 for both

4) Canning jars $0.69 each

I can't believe we didn't already have these two books...oh well, these were in brand new condition and getting lots of enjoyment now.

thrifty thursday: summery yellow stripes

Here's my super cool thrifty find for the week: 1 huge yellow and white striped duvet cover. I bought it on a 1/2 off day for $2.50 thinking i could use it to make more fort kits but now i just love it so much i don't really want to give to a any little kids to destroy. It's in great shape- doesn't have any spots or worn places so i'm thinking maybe pillow covers? blanket? quilt back? tons of little skirts for the girls? chair slip cover? or...i could use it as a duvet cover. :)  Do you have any ideas??  Anyway, there's some great stuff in the bedding isle of our local ARC! You should check it out.

thrifty thursday: globes, globes and more globes

I'm trying this post again after blogger went kooky last thursday....ANYWAY, here are the two lovely little globes i found last week.

And here are some reasons why i was excited to see my collection grow. 

ttp://lovelydesign.blogspot.com

potterybarnkids

unknown source

http://www.beckynovacekphotography.com/

ashleyannphotography

linking to: http://southernhospitalityblog.com/

thrifty thursday- pair of owls

i found this cute little pair for $2 a piece at the our local ARC store. i brought them home and showed them to Will (our 5yr old) 

Will is generally a pretty fun-loving, rowdy, imaginative, goofy little kid but he also has this little grown-up, 1st born streak in him that comes out occasionally in statements like, "wow, mom, i really like what you did with the valentine decorations. that red heart looks really nice up there. good work." or "yikes, your room is kinda a mess." or "i like your hair. it looks really good."  

So, when i showed him the owls i also told him i was thinking of painting them. to which he replied, "oh. yeah, that would look great. maybe a nice brown or gray. and leave their beaks and eyes yellow. and the trunk brown." 

To which i replied, "ummmm i was actually thinking something a bit more fun. like maybe orange or turquoise."


He looked at me like i had seriously lost my mind. cocked his head a bit and after a long pause said, "uhhh.... yeah. but owls are usually brown or gray." 


well, moving along. the votes still out as to what they'll be painted but either way, i think they're fun.

thrifty thursday- 3 little chairs

 I came across 3 more lovely little school chairs at a thrift store in ft.collins this last weekend. $4.50 a piece and they make me sooo happy. they are even the same brand as the cream one from last week! Can't wait to paint them and then we're going to start thinking about ideas for a little table handy andy can build... 

Did have any thrifty success this week? If you're in the ft.collins area you should check out "Once again" on college ave. to the north of whole foods. it was the first time for us and they had a great selection of stuff. :)

thrifty thursday

 i thought i'd share with you a few little thrifty finds i happened upon this week.
Going to the thrift store is such a treat - it's always so fun to browse around, hoping to find a treasure- just like a huge indoor garage sale. Plus, going to one gives me great motivation to get rid of some unused/unneeded stuff. i usually reason with myself that if i'm going to go all the way over to donate some stuff i just might as well pop in and take a quick look. Here's what i found this week and the total was about $9.00

-a cute little button-up shirt for ben, 5 great books for the kids and one little blues clues coloring book for my adorable blue's clues-loving nephew, a white mug and......
this fabulous chair! I'm sooo excited about this little chair. it's kinda grungy but i can't wait to scrub it down and try out some of that "fusion plastic spray paint" to give it new look. doesn't it remind you of your chair in kindergarten?! 

 On a side note, my friend, Kimberly, is a completely amazing thrifter-and just recently wrote a great post about some really helpful rules and tips to thrifting. check her out here: The ThriftArchives