Sweet Deals

I like bargains. No, I love them!

I took some pictures of assorted things I've snatched up in recent months. Prepare to be astounded!

I found my dream church shoes at Sears. On clearance. For $10. I'd been combing the earth for this style of shoe off and on for. . . ever! And I stumbled upon them one evening while sifting through stacks of poor, overlooked shoes. I hadn't even come to the mall to look at shoes. I was looking for bedding and what-not for Cora's room. Then I took a detour and found exactly what I didn't plan on. And I couldn't believe they had my size. Sometimes I'm not that lucky.

I guess I should assume they're really ugly, and that's why there were so many left over. In that case, I guess I like ugly things. Hey, somebody's got to!


I bought 2 pair for when I inevitably scuff one. At that price, I couldn't think of any reason not to get an extra set. They'll last me for years. By then, they'll be even more out of style!!!

And to think I could have skipped the footwear department that night!


Next up... A Burlington Coat Factory Treasure Hunt.

I had a coupon for $10 off any purchase over $20. I found a jacket for Normal Shannon, marked under $12....







....And a fluffy faux fur vest for Wacky Shannon, marked under $10. No clue why it was so cheap! ;)

So for under $13 I got both things. I'd say that's pretty good. I just think of it as buying one thing (for cheap!) that I'll wear regularly, and getting one crazy thing for free!




I like getting dresses and skirts at thrift stores. In my opinion, I find some worthwhile things that (hopefully) look like they cost a little more than the $4-$7 I paid for them.

I found this dress at Savers not long ago for $6.99. I like the color, the material, the slightly puffy 3/4-length sleeves and the length of the dress itself.


But my favorite part is the crocheted back. It's like that on the butt of the dress, too.





Just kidding. :)



I got this skirt at St. Vincent's for $4. If I remember correctly.

I like the buttons. And my super casual pose. Why am I not in a Blair advertisement rocking some super sleek slacks?? http://www.blair.com/category/Womens/Pants-Jeans/pc/2/15.uts

It's kind of misshapen from me sitting in it all day. Many apologies.

And I like the little ruffly back.


I'd been hunting for a bedskirt and found this at Goodwill for $2. That's a lot less than the 20-ish dollars I didn't want to pay for a new one! And it has swirly ric-rac!


Got this at Salvation army for $13. I thought it was going to be more, but the cashier said all their furniture was 25% off that day! Sweet!

I'm going to paint it if I ever get done painting our kitchen. Not sure what color yet.



Okay, last deal for now.

Curtains from Target, $4.98 per panel!!! They were originally $20 each.

I love the stripes. And that they're airy, yet crisp.


Hip-hip-hooray for sweet deals!

I should probably just stay out of the stores altogether, but sometimes I find things I can really use. Now if I could only learn to control myself when I'm trying to decipher between "I could really use this" and "I really want this". That is another story for another time.

Pictures of the Girls' Rooms!

It's true- the girls' rooms are finished!

Jane's is all about ice cream. When we first moved in she wanted a zoo theme. Then the girls' cousin gave her old colorful bedding set to Jane, which happened to coordinate with the existing paint in the room. But it wouldn't go with zoo stuff, so I suggested decorating her room with all my ice cream paraphernalia. I was so happy when Jane agreed to it. I hated to think of my cute stuff sitting unloved in boxes, since I "can't" put it all up in my kitchen anymore.

Here's Jane's lip-smacking room.


For some reason there was a strip of wood on the wall with 4 screws evenly spaced out in it, so I used it to hang these cute pieces of ice cream art, which I threw together a few years ago (using greeting cards, scrapbook paper and little to no skill). I repainted the frames, glued some ribbon on and there I had it.

I got this cool frame (11x14) at Ross for $5 and inserted these cards I had lying around (in a safe place). The silver adds a nice '50s touch.


I spray painted this shelf. It was a grubby white before, and I kind of wanted to get rid of it. Now I like it. I like spray paint!


The wall to the left of the doorway upon entrance.


I painted this shelf as well. I like that shade of green with the yellow walls.


Some shadowboxes I "filled" while living in Chubbuck when I first started finding ice cream stuff everywhere. I was so proud of them. I got my black belt in shadowboxing.



I love sprinkle scrapbook paper! Sorry this one's blurry. I must've been trembling with excitement as I took the picture.


Oops. Here's an ill-placed closer view of the pictures I already talked about.


We replaced the existing chandelier with a ceiling fan, a much better lighting choice for Jane. I knew from the start that I'd be moving the chandelier to Cora's room.


More scrapbook paper, glued onto cardboard this time. Ric-rac makes me happy. I had some handy so I slapped it on around the edges.


If it were up to me, I'd not display all the stuffed animals, but I had to keep in mind that it was Jane's room, not mine. And she likes the abundant animals.


A cute desk handed down to us from Ryan's mom. I got the chair at Idaho Youth Ranch for $6. I think it's just perfect. The thing hanging from the ceiling is a paper lantern I found at Hobby Lobby. Super cute, but I didn't quite know where to put it.


I love the turquoise curtains with the yellow paint. I'm not crazy about yellow by itself, but with some accent colors it can be so cute.


More ric-rac on an otherwise boring lamp. :)



I know it looks a little over the top, but I had so many things in my collection and I didn't want to leave any out. Plus I was hiding some big scrapes on the left side of this wall.


Now I'm craving a dipped cone from DQ.


I discovered this big ice cream cone "sticker" at a craft store. You should have seen my face when I first saw it!
I knew if I put it straight on the wall Jane would peel it off and move it around, thus ruining it, so I decided to frame it. I used some sprinkle scrapbook paper as a background.


It's actually ripples of frosting with sprinkles. Even better.


I got this sundae candle recently at a thrift store. I love my luck sometimes!

Now, thanks to the tender care her mother took in covering her room with ice cream treats, Jane will be assured many, many sweet dreams.



And now for Cora's bedroom! She wanted a forest themed habitation. It took me a while to accumulate things, and I wasn't sure what I was doing or how I was going to make it all work. I started by painting the walls turquoise. I realize that's not the most accurate sky color, but I was determined to make at least one room in the house turquoise. Cora and I decided which hue to use. The pictures don't do it justice. It really is a beautiful color.

Ryan's mom gave us the antique furniture that has been used in their family for a long time. She painted it all a nice cream color. Cora and I noticed that the knobs on the top drawers look like eyes and the pulls below them look like smiles. See? I hope with all that subliminal positive energy around she'll always be happy in her room.


Somebody my parents know was getting rid of an artificial tree so my mom snagged it for Cora. It looks so real! Also, have I mentioned how much I appreciate free stuff?


Dang it, I just realized I didn't take an up-close picture of the stuff on the desk. The owl lamp belonged to my maternal grandma, who lives with my parents now. Cora inherited it because, well... she loves owls.

The tree stump acts as a chair for now. I like the way it looks, but it's rather heavy and not exactly practical for a child's bedroom.


I was happy to come across this pillow while shopping around for room stuff. It reminds me of owl feathers.


This is the little wall right by her door. I got those animal candles (hedgehog, squirrel and owl) on clearance at Pottery Barn.


This is the chandelier that was in Jane's room. Ryan gets the credit for installing it, along with the fan in Jane's room. This light was a brushed gold color, so I took the liberty of spray painting it a brownish color. I should note that Cora's ceiling is 10 feet up, so it looks neat with a chandelier. I knew it would!


I found this little deer picture at a thrift store, so I painted the frame and it was ready to hang.



My friend, Jaime, had the idea to make these shadow boxes with flowers. This is the one I arranged, and Jaime did two smaller ones. I thought they turned out nicely.


I took these two pictures (above and below) in Eastern Idaho last summer. I'd forgotten all about them until AFTER I searched the town and internet for forest posters. I had already bought two large posters, otherwise I'd have liked to get my own photos enlarged to poster size. These are only 8x10.








Fred Meyer happened to have a foresty collection available, which made my hunt a lot easier. That's where I got the bookends, owl and the fake book thing with a bird on it. I also got an acorn shaped trinket box there, which is on the desk. Oh, and the squirrel pictured below.


Those frames are a really pretty sagey color in real life. I also took the photos that are in them. I can't believe how many nice forest pictures I had in my personal collection.


Yeah. I took these, too.

And that's it for Cora's room. I hope she likes it as much as I do. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.