Awesome bargain...help me!

I just found this gem at one of our Goodwill stores today.  Let me tell you, the vultures were circling with this one!  I practically had a lady follow me throughout the store and a gentleman was complimenting how well-made it was.  I paid $14.99 for this baby.  It is a Drexel nightstand and in perfect condition.  I am always all over bloggy land looking at all the DIY furniture makeovers and am astonished and jealous of the outcomes.  This is the first piece that I've really found that I want to redo.  Here's the dilemma:  what should I do????  It already has a fabulous look to it, but how could I make it more fabulous???  I like the cottage look and shabby chic, but I also like high Victorian.  One style I am not particularly fond of is modern so traditional would best suit me.  If you have any suggestions or links, I would be utterly grateful!

Here's the furniture stamp inside the drawer.

  
I am also not hung up on it being strictly for the bedroom.  I think canning jars full of jam would look absolutely quaint.  I have no idea what to do with this piece, but I'm excited for the possibilities.  I'll keep you posted!!!

Christmas Debriefing

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas!  We had a great Christmas ourselves and I am now in a ponderous mood as I am developing some new strategies for the new year!  I'm settling in as the snow falls outside, and thinking about next Christmas...I know, I know...I really don't want to, but for the sake of the budget, I have to!!!  One of the things I'm going to hit hard this next year is the thrift stores (I'm a big thrift store shopper anyways, but I'm going to be more mindful of Christmas gifts).  I instituted some of that this year and my children were just thrilled and overjoyed.  Here were some of my bargains:

For my son:  I don't care what age you are because we all love Lego's and their counterparts.  I found my son three different ships made by MegaBloks.  One is the Black Pearl, one is the Flying Dutchman (both are from the Pirates of the Caribbean), and a neat viking ship-not pictured.  These ships cost around $39.99 brand new.  I paid $2.99 and $3.99 for these ships.  They have given my son hours of entertainment already.  I also found small bags of blocks at the thrift store that he added to his collection.  On top of that, for $2.99, we bought him hundreds of toy soldiers.  They aren't your average toy soldiers--they have different eras--WWII, Vietnam, etc.  He and my husband have a game they made up using these little guys and my son learns all kinds of tactical strategies!!! 

Another great thrift store bargain which my whole library is made up of is BOOKS!!!  We always hit the jackpot.  I found one of my daughter's practically brand new 39 Clues books, and for my youngest, I found five Tinker Bell books--she totally loves Tinker Bell.  The 39 Clues books are hardback and in the store retail for $12.99--I bought them for $2.99 each--and they had the trading cards in them, too!  The Tinker Bell books retail for $4.97-$5.99.  I got them practically brand new for $1.49!!!  Awesome!!!

What to do about teenagers?  My oldest daughter is almost 16 and has quite the fashion sense.  Most of her clothes comes from Kohl's or friends.  So guess what I found?  The thrift stores are chock full of name brand clothing in excellent condition.  I got her these two shirts--one is Mudd, which comes from Kohl's and the other is from H & M--hello, both name brand and under $5.00!!!

I'm not saying I'm going to get everything from the thrift store--but it certainly helps the budget!!!  Even picky children can get amazing things--you just have to take time to look!!!  So I am going to take this whole next year to find some real treasures to supplement some more.  I was really pleased with these things I found and my kids were in shock that they came from the thrift store because they were in amazing shape!!!  Give yourself some time and I will guarantee your budget will be thrilled!!!  Anyone out there find any great bargains??? 



Strawberry Jam and Bargain Kitchen Essentials

I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a private greenhouse and glean from their strawberry beds.  I came home with 25 lbs. of ripe strawberries!!!  My goodness!  I definitely had my work cut out for me because I had to attend to them right away.  I turned it all into jam because my family could not live without the sweet stuff and after many, many hours of work, I've got enough to last well into next year.  I may even have the chance to go pick more!!!  I ended up with 24 full pints and 6 half-pints!!! I am really happy with my jam stash now!! 

I've been doing a lot of thrift store hunting lately and have found some real gems!  It seems that I've been in a real stainless steel kind of a mood lately.  Our local thrift store has offered $10 off for a $10 purchase coupon per email so our family has cashed these in and I have found some "steals."  First on the list is what I call my baby stockpot.  In the picture on the right is my huge stainless steel stockpot I bought over 10 years ago at Dillard's (I think) for half-price which was $18.  It still looks practically brand new even though it's a work horse around here.  I can cook 20 pounds of potatoes, it holds 25 pounds of strawberries (that's right, I took it strawberry picking), plus I can make stock in it from a huge turkey carcass!  The one on the left is the one from the thrift store.  The first thing that came to mind when I saw it was JAM!  It's the perfect size to make a batch of jam!  It has high sides so the jam can sputter away without making me a mess!  Can you say $1.99???!!!  Oh yes, I've already used it to process all those strawberries into jam (in separate batches, of course).

My next bargain was this ginormous stainless steel mixing bowl.  I had one years ago that I had sent with my husband to a church function I couldn't attend and he obviously never made it back home with it.  I just never had the heart to spend $16-$20 on one and finally found one for $3.99!  I absolutely love it! 



My next acquisition were these Wearever AirBake cookie sheets.  I figured I was taking a gamble on these because I couldn't figure why anyone would want to get rid of them unless they weren't any good.  After a minimum amount of cleaning, we baked some cookies on them and they are great!  Can you imagine how many cookies I can bake now at once!!!?  The big one is 15" x 20" and the smaller one is roughly 14" x 16 1/2".  They were only $2.99 each.  Remember, I had my coupons so I basically got all these things for FREE!!!  These cookie sheets are totally expensive brand new...I think the big one goes for $20. 

And finally, who couldn't use a few more gravy boats.  These awesome stainless steel gravy boats were priced at $1.59 and $0.99.  I think I am so ready for the holidays now!!!

I hope all of you are finding wonderful bargains and I would love to hear all your stories of what you're preserving on your homesteads.  I have much more to come in the next few days as we are on fall break...

Blessings to you on your homesteads!

Thrift Store Pointers

You can certainly feel the chill in the air around here.  Leaves are turning, the garden is dying off, and the kids are well on their way with school.  It has been exceptionally busy since my last post.  I can barely get any time to do my blogging so I will try to be better about it. 

I have been hitting the thrift stores more frequently and have found some amazing deals!!!!  I already have a few Christmas gifts lined up.  I found three Mega Block (very similar to Lego's) ships--the Black Pearl, the Flying Dutchman, and a viking ship that are absolutely fantastic!  My son is going to love them!  I paid $3-$4 for them each, when in fact they retail for $30 or more.  I am SO pleased with finding those! Plus, I have found some amazing book deals that you just can't beat!!  I'm not sure if a bookseller or retailer donates these books, but I have found some very popular books in sets that you can't get for such low prices.  For instance, the Guardians of Ga'Hoole--I got books 1-10 for $1.49 each!  I also found four of the 39 Clues books (in hardback) for $2.99 each.  I found all six of the Warriors books for $1.49 each...all these books were in pristine condition.  I've also been looking for some curtains for my living room and found the most magnificent set for $10.  All this stuff is brand new or near new...you can't beat the prices.  So, here are some of my tips for thrift shopping that I've acquired over the years.

1. Go as often as you can.  You will see the new material as it comes in.  You'll know what's been there awhile and you'll get first dibs on the new stuff.
2. If it's a fantastic deal, buy it!!!  You will totally regret not getting it because it will be gone the next time you go back!
3. I usually don't wait for the half-price days because whatever it is I've been eyeballing will be gone!
4. Thrift stores are wising up to seasonality--you will pay higher prices for canning jars during canning season.  Don't buy them...you will pay almost the same price as new ones! However, if you want a cheap costume for Halloween, the thrift store is the place.  The same goes for Christmas items.
5. Which leads me to my next tip, KNOW YOUR PRICES!!! You don't want to pay the same price for used as you would for new!
6. Thrift stores are without question one of the best places to get name brand clothes!
7. Never leave your shopping cart unsupervised.  I speak from experience.  People have no shame and will take something out of your cart...I've had something taken out of mine ONCE and believe me, it was the last time.  If you spent all that time finding a great deal, protect it!

These are just a few hints for you.  I love the thrift stores!  As a homeschooling family, my library has been built on thrift store books.  No one can beat their prices...it just takes a bit of legwork from you, but it's totally worth it and will save you a ton of money.  I find my oldest daughter great dresses for school dances.  The dresses are the $150+ bridesmaid dresses that have only been worn once that I get for very, very cheap!  Keep a list of what you need and keep your eyes opened!  You never know what treasure awaits you!  Happy thrifting!

Canning Jar Jubilation!!!

On the morning of Fourth of July, I went to the thrift store to find a little jacket since we would be spending the day in the mountains and I've lost weight that I needed to get one.  I figured since I was there, I should also look for some canning jars since I need to gear up for more canning this summer and you can get a great deal if you can find them.  The thrift store was running a weekend promotion of 50% off most items for the holiday weekend.  LET THE HUNT BEGIN was my attitude!!!  Lo and behold, I found three boxes of various sized canning jars and all three boxes were half-off.  There were 38 jars total.  A quick scan of the jars inside led my eyes to an old blue Ball jar and one with the wire-type canning lid.  I knew my $7.00 would be well worth the cost.  I took them home and didn't touch them until we got back later that night.  Upon opening the boxes, I found canning jar treasure!!!  You will not believe the jars I got and after much research, I am completely amazed at the history that I found!!!  What started me on my old canning jar journey is the four jars I found at our church garage sale.  I paid $15 for all four of them without really knowing how much the value of old jars were and what would be a good price.  I've put them on my windowsill in the kitchen.

Now after finding my treasures in the box, I have found out all kinds of fascinating little facts!  You can date your Ball jars by the writing style on them.  Here is a great website if you're interested at all about figuring out the date of your jars:  here!  It's a great site to give you info on your jars.  So, without further ado, here are some of the jars I found.

These are Ball Ideal jars manufactured in 1908.  They have the wire-type closure and use a glass lid.  The one on the left is the only jar I got with a lid so I am thrilled with it.  It amazes me to think that this glass is over 100 years old and was used for canning during WWI.  Remarkable!!!

 

 I actually got two blue Ball jars in my boxes.  The one on the left is much older than the one on the right.  Can you see the difference in how Ball is embossed on the glass (see the last L)?  This is how you date the jars.

I got three of these Ball Perfect Masons.  What are so different about these?   It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but these jars are not clear.  They are gray.  They are worth a lot more.  In the manufacturing of these glasses, a chemical was used and once the jars are exposed to sunlight, they change color.  That's why you have blue jars, but you can also find amber, green, and amethyst colored jars.  WHO KNEW??!!  I had no idea! 

These are Kerr jars manufactured in 1915.  Kerr is actually the company who invented the two-piece system for canning lids that we now enjoy today.  I KNOW!!!!  Fascinating!!!

This is a square Atlas mason jar.  It was made in 1920.  Square jars are also worth more!  I didn't know this!  After finding all these great gems in my boxes, I had two more boxes downstairs full of quart jars I had gotten at the thrift store a while back for pickles so I started investigating.  Three of them are Longlife mason jars and are going for $10.00 a piece on ebay.  I also found some vintage quart jars that were made in the 1970's.  Since I was born in the 70's and I'm still working, I'm going to use the jars so they should still work, HA!  I also have a jar that is a Midland Mason jar.  It was only manufactured for one year--1975.  It's worth $8-$10.  I had no idea there were so many different canning jar companies!  It is absolutely mind-blowing that these jars have survived so long!!!  Again, I am inspired by these ladies from our past who diligently put up food from their gardens, not only to survive and have food for their families, but they also supported the war efforts.  By WWII, most canning jars were standard mouth jars (not wide mouth jars) because they were conserving as much metal as they could!  I am amazed!!!

I hope this enlightens you a little about canning jars.  I was trying to get some jars to can with and now I've got my own collection of antique jars.  What should I do with them???  Hmmmm......sounds like another post down the road!

Happy canning and happy treasure hunting!!!