LONG time no see!!

I haven't written a post since last summer! Wow! Well, I'm back on the thrifting train, as garage sales are picking back up for spring! Check out some of these great finds from the last few Saturday mornings:


This, I purchased at Burke's outlet for $4.99. They had them in this crackly white, too, but I'm a sucker for rust :) Now I just need to find a really cute soap to put in it...

I thought for sure this platter was beyond saving (y'all, I seriously should have taken a before picture!) But LOTS of silver polish and elbow grease later, and I have a potential craft project on my hands...I'm thinking of trying this with it. Wouldn't it look cute hung with black and white gingham ribbon?!?! I paid 50 cents for the platter.

A HUGE paint-by-number Last Supper. I've fallen in love with paint by numbers since seeing them in a Country Living book I checked out from the library. The frame is kind of weak, but I'm thinking of having it matted and framed. It cost me a dollar.

The arteest :)

Okay, so it really does look like a chick. But I'm still not buying all that Davinci Code mumbo-jumbo.

I feel like SUCH an idiot about the purchase of the painting below. There was another painting at this particular garage sale by the same artist, and it was twice the size. They were each marked $2, and I only bought the small one b/c I wasn't sure how much I loved it. By the time I got home, I was kicking myself for not buying the other one too. This one will go in the girls' room in the new house...

Brandless (?) Diaper bag and matching changing pad for $1. I was surprised when the woman running the show told me the price, because the rest of her goods were EXTREMELY overpriced. It's canvas and faux leather...

Anyone else dump everything out of their old bag as soon as they sit in the car and put it in the new purse/bag right away? :)

Oh! Sorry the picture is sideways...I "righted" all my up and down pictures, but for some reason Blogger didn't catch on.

50 cents for a Vera Bradley wallet. Ever go to a garage sale where the woman has left her poor husband outside and he has to rattle off a price for an item in question? Well, that's what happened here :)

Copper Key size 6 dress that needs to be ironed BADLY after being washed to get the garage sale people's cooties out? $1. My oldest is in 4T, but most of the 4T clothing she is wearing now was purchased a year or two ago. I have no reservations when it comes to holding on to a good cheap find until she can wear it...

Same garage sale as above, also $1.

Big ol' copper bowl, $3.

$20 Craigslist faux fireplace + Walmart lamps (Better Homes and Gardens brand) + Goodwill topiary + Southern Living Cathedral Luminary (hostess discount :) + $20 antique mall Lampe Berger + $6 from a garage sale set of 3 Tole Painted Pots by Southern Living (retail $48) plus big gold framed mirror (Christmas Gift from Mom) =

My FAVORITE space in our house.

My favorite find from Saturday? This chunky sterling silver and smoky quartz ring. The lady said she bought it at a sterling party for $75 dollars and was willing to part with it for $3!!! My thought is that it is probably a discontinued Aurastella piece. I LOVE really organic jewelry, and it can be so hard to find it at reasonable prices...

Hope everyone is well!!! Happy Thrifting!

The Thrifty Nester

Thrifting Finds Part 2

Here are a few more thrifted finds...Kayne seriously looked at me like I was crazy while I skipped around the house snapping pictures of what he thought were random objects...

Over the years I've always wanted a big white platter for Thanksgiving turkey and dressing, and ran across this one for a DOLLAR at a yard sale...

Huge wooden spoon...This WAS part of a set (a spoon AND a fork, EACH with $18 Hobby Lobby price tags on the back), but a person whose name I will not mention knocked the fork off the wall at my child's first birthday party and broke off a couple of tines...had to chunk it.

I paid $3 for the pair.

It's OK, sis. I forgive you :0)

One of the best deals EVER. This Vera Bradley duffel bag was FREE.

Garage saleing one Saturday afternoon (I had been thrifting all morning), I pulled up to a house and the people were loading all the stuff into a big truck...I rolled down my window, and like a complete moron, yelled, "Are you guys closed?" ....as if they are a department store or something!

The lady tells me they are done and that all that is left is junk. They are hauling it all to Goodwill...She told me to park and come take whatever "JUNK" I wanted for free. That afternoon, I went home with this Vera Bradley duffel bag, a nice big full size stroller that just needed a good wiping down, some boutique outdoor plate covers, and a paraffin wax bath.

Actually had to pay for this one. BIG Vera Bradley tote: $3. Same garage sale where I found the goatskin rug from my previous post.

Ok, Some of you are already like, GROSS BETH! But these things are SO comfortable, my exact size, and look adorable with a certain sundress I own. So back off! :)

Oh yes. Uno dollero.

Orange leather Ann Marino pumps: $3.99 at Goodwill. I think they'll look cute with skinny jeans this fall...

Jansport Backpack: $1 at a garage sale. This thing was REALLY dirty but in PERFECT condition...When I brought it home Kayne said he couldn't believe I bought a "nasty old backpack." But I knew better. One super-hot sudsy washing machine cycle later, it looked brand new.

I cannot tell you how many hours of uncontrollable laughter we have gotten out of this game. We have actually played it so many times we have memorized all the cards. Oh well. We've certainly gotten WAY MORE than $3 worth of enjoyment out of it.

Please excuse the ugly bug screens behind this baby (I think bug screens look SO tacky, no matter how impractical that is...)

I have big plans for this trash day roadside find.

Thrifting Finds: Part 1

I promised you thrifted finds...here are a few.

MANY more to come :)

Goat skin rug: $3 at a garage sale. Still deciding where this will go. I had seen one in Domino on a wood floor, so I snatched it up, knowing I'll find a great spot for it once we get the flooring I'd like...

Eiffel tower clock: $2 at a garage sale. This thing has been in every room in our house. Does anyone else do that? ...move things around a hundred times?

little topiary: 99 cents at Goodwill. I thought she was cute and plopped her in my basket.

Apothecary jars (2): 50 cents each at yard sale. Am thinking they'd look cute in the kitchen filled with bon-bons or lemon drops or something...

vintage wire baskets (2): a quarter a piece at a garage sale. Sorry you have to look at half-empty bottles of bath product. I love me some Coconut Lime Verbena!!

Little handpainted salt bowl: a NICKEL at an estate sale! (one of my favorite finds)

Much more to come, but I must share this one FANTASTIC find with you before I hit the sack...

HUGE molded concrete fireplace with mantel: $20 on Craigslist...hubby and his poor friend Brandon nearly broke their backs trying to carry this bad boy in the house...

The people were asking $50 for it, but it was an hour drive away to pick it up, so the dude knocked off 30 bucks. They were apparently desperate to get rid of it, and I had been desperate for a fireplace FOREVER.

I mean, can you beat a TWENTY DOLLAR FIREPLACE?!?!?! He might get painted white once we move and have a neutral color scheme...

Back from vacation...

We're back from vacation! Here are the highlights...

We did lots of this:

Hubby's grandmother came with us (she doesn't look old enough to have great-grandkids, does she?! And get this...HER mom is still alive and super active!!)

She makes the best "Catalina salad." Lettuce, olives, Fritos, avocado, onion, kidney beans, and Catalina dressing. YUMMY!

Piper's favorite part was the "Customer in Training" buggies at Brookshires... She ran into EVERYTHING and kept trying to sneak items in there...

Then we visited the Brookshire's Wildlife Museum...I was surprised at how nice it was...

The best part was getting to relax with Kayne the whole week...I love this man so much...

...Especially when he is willing to spend 2 hours in here entertaining the girls in the kiddie area while I frantically rummage through mounds of crap.

Our 2nd family vacation

I wonder if the kiddos will remember any of it. Probably not. That's why I took 250 pictures though, right?!

This is my Aunt Renee', who took Kayne and me out to lunch the day before we left Tyler.

We had to hit up the Caldwell Zoo, as the girls had never been...

We had a fantastic time, but are so glad to be home....

P.S. I've taken a bunch of pictures of my thrifting finds with my new camera, and will be posting them in the following weeks...

Kayne and the girls and I are off to Flint, Texas to the Silverleaf Villages Resort!

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures...

It finally came! Our little red Samsung came through for us!!


We played around with it a little last night, while Daddy felt sick. Paisley decided it was time to wake Daddy up from his nap...
I think maybe she thought if she smothered Daddy's face with her bear, He'd feel better...

"It worked!" thinks Paisley....I took this after the girls were in bed. Kayne is clearly expressing how he feels; headache, chills, dizzy.

Please excuse the nauseatingly neon shirt...We made these handprint creations at the Pierce Cajun Christmas last year, and Kayne says he loves to see me in it...that it reminds him how much he loves having me as part of his family. Aww....

Where are you?!

You are supposed to be here sometime today! I am so ready to take you out of your box and start snapping pictures...



HURRY UP AND GET HERE!!!