Free in June

Here's my list of all the stuff I got free in June:
4 heads Romaine: $8
2 eggplants: $3
5 cucumbers: $2.50
4 mangoes: $4
1 lb green beans: $1.49
Smart Balance sour cream: $2.79
Aunt Jemima syrup: $3.69
2 Publix apple juice: $3.98
5 Mahatma rice: $4.95
6 1/2-gallons Smart balance milk: $21.74
8 oz blueberries; $1.49
4 Taco Bell sparkling limeades: $6.76
2 Einstein's bagels: $2
Schick Hydro 5 razor: $ 9.99
2 Gillette Fusion ProGlide razors: $21.98
Nivea body wash: $5.99
2 Old Spice body wash: $9.98
2 Schick shaving cream: $6.98
Ibuprofen: $4.49
Colgate Total: $3.89
bath tissue: $3.49
4-roll pkg bath tissue: $2.49
2 pkg Angel Soft bath tissue: $8
Airplus moisturizing socks: $4.49
nail polish: $2.49
Preen: $10
SLAH Signature Flowerpot: $ 14.96

Total: $177.10

David's Room

I finished repainting David's room last week.We had three false starts on the color before we settled on this pale gray one. It's Behr "Gentle Rain", color # 790-E; David declared it perfect.

End-of-June Garage Saling

This weekend was very, very hot but Heather and I bit the bullet and went out Friday and Saturday mornings anyway. We were surprised at how many garage sales we found, considering that people have to sit out in their non-ac garages all day long. I found:

A very tiny cast iron skillet in need of seasoning (50 cents) and a mini muffin pan (25 cents). That brings my mini muffin tin count up to six, just right for a batch of cupcakes from a cake mix.

12 clear glass plates ($3) photo to come. I almost didn't buy them because I have so many kinds of plates, but Heather reminded me that several times in the past few weeks I have wished aloud that I had some for group gatherings. Then I remembered that I really want to use clear glass when we have a themed party, such as the one-year-old birthday last week. Our standard floral plates just didn't go with the nautical theme of the birthday party.

A pizza stone and a Sil-Pat mat ($1 each)
Three vintage fingertip towels with embroidery (25 cents each)
A cute wooden couple from Sweden (25 cents)

Garage Sale Finds

Heather and I went garage saling again on Friday; she found lots of stuff while I found very little. But that's ok because I found some really great things earlier this spring.First I found a third glass cake plate very similar to two I already have. This one was $1. I love the three little feet on the bottom of this style of plate. I looked online and discovered that my other two plates are circa 1930, while this one is circa 1970. It is slightly lighter in weight.

More nice wood blocks for Patrick's birthday; this set was also $3. These look really fun because there are castle pieces. (There are many, many more blocks in this set; I just didn't feel like spreading them all out. This is a good representative sample of what came in the set.)

A partial box of Preen isn't very exciting, but it was FREE! I couldn't go wrong for that price.

Garage Sale Finds

I didn't get a chance to post last week's garage sale finds, so I'm posting two weeks in one.

A week ago Friday Heather and I hit a number of sales on our way north to make a delivery. We were in very rural areas and we were surprised at how many garage sales we found. I found this wall pocket (it was silver; I'm painting it black) for my back porch, $2. At the same sale I also bought a scrolly black curtain rod and tie-backs for the bedroom redo, $4 each.

At an estate sale I bought this blue chair for the front porch, $5. I already disinfected it and I plan to paint it black, but it needs some heavy sanding done to it first.
I also found this wood pedestal bowl, $1. It was filthy dirty and I plan to prime it and paint it too.

One annoying thing happened last week while we were shopping. At one sale we walked down the driveway and saw another customer browsing. I spied a cake dome priced at $5, something I have been wanting/needing. I whipped out my handy purse measuring tape to check it's diameter. Just then it looked like there might be an emergency by my car, so I started to run up the driveway. I realized I couldn't carry the owner's goods with me, so I quickly set down the dome. Then the owner assured me that everything was fine, I didn't need to go to my car. I turned back to the cake dome, and it was gone. What happened? I looked around, and there was that other customer, browsing the table right where she had been, except she had the cake dome in her hand. I couldn't believe it! She had to have dashed over behind my back and grabbed it in the two moments that I was worried about my car. And then she had the gall to offer $2.50 for it and the owner accepted her offer. It really burned me up.

Today we went out again, even though it was extremely hot. We didn't think there would be many sales because who wants to sit in the garage when it's over 90 degrees? But we found plenty of sales to keep us busy all morning. Here's my haul:
two white cotton tablecloths, NIP, $1 eachone linen/cotton blend tablecloth (spread on table), $1

4 vintage hankies, $1 all

4 tiny scrolly iron chairs, $1 for all

A set of blocks for one of the little guys, $3

And - can you believe it? -a clear glass cake pedestal and dome, $1 for the two pieces.Ha! I did better than that rude customer last week. I got the cake dome plus a pedestal for only one dollar.

Bedroom Redo

Greta's bedroom before

As soon as Greta's wedding was over and the happy couple left for their Savannah honeymoon, we got busy on her bedroom redo. First we scraped all the icky old popcorn texture off the ceiling. Many dusty hours later after sanding and patching and sanding some more, we primed and painted the ceiling, and painted some more and more. Yep, three coats.

The busy crew at work

Next, we flung the old aluminum mini blinds from the windows and started in on the trim. I realized the trim had never been repainted since we moved here 17 years ago! It was a new house then, so it should have been freshly painted at that time, but as I painted, I decided that it must have only been primed originally. So this was the first-ever paint job it had. It took three coats before it looked right. I don't much enjoy crawling on my belly, paint brush in hand, to paint the little tippy tops of the baseboards. All the way around the room, and then into the closet. But it was finally done. Then we (by this time I had lost my helpers, so it was I) moved on to the walls. After all that detail work I really enjoyed the speediness of rolling. The edging? Not so much. Edging always takes more coats than rolling.

While the paint dried, we went shopping. We ordered white pleated honeycomb shades for the windows. Then, while we were just browsing for ideas, we bought a bed. It's a real wood bed with headboard and footboard and side rails and two storage drawers. And it's the first real bed we have ever had in 31 years of marriage. It should arrive in about 6 weeks.

Lastly, we bought a Martha Stewart white quilted coverlet to top it all off.

Finally, here is the new room, all yellow and white and sunny. The Professor and I are quite happy to move out of the closet and into this room. At last we can walk around the bed! Put our clothes in drawers! Hide them in a real closet! Look out a window!

After; same view as before seen above

I haven't hung anything on the walls yet because it was a lot of work to patch the twelve million holes left by the previous resident. I don't want to ruin all my hard work just yet.

Since we presently have no blinds on the windows (that's the street outside), I pulled out a bolt of fabric I've had in my stash for a couple of years. Originally it was to reupholster a chair, but I decided it was too thin for that. The yellow in the fabric perfectly matches the new yellow walls! I simply cut eight or so feet off the bolt for each side of the window, folded down the top edge, and used little clips on rings (I'm sure they have a name) to hang them on the rod. I found the black rod at a garage sale last week for $4. I got the curtain rings on clearance, $2 a package.

The fabric still needs to be lined and the edges all finished. Later. Later.

Lovely fan decoration. I see The Professor needs a valet or box to hide his junk valuables on his dresser.

The outdated nightstands are headed to the next garage sale. I'm on the lookout for something to replace them.

One summery decoration hangs on the closet door: my white eyelet sundress.

One more before view of the window wall. Please ignore the lovely "high fashion" on the model.

I'm linking to Transformation Thursday at Shabby Chic Cottage. and
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Happy Wedding Day

To see more pictures of Greta's wedding, go here.

We Need a Light!

We had one of those sets of pull-down stairs installed in our attic access years ago. I love that we can climb in the attic so easily. But it sure is dark up there! We never had a light fixture installed. How silly.

We have practically the contents of an entire house stored in the attic, but we can't see a thing. So we stuck an old lamp on the floor up there, and the cord dangles down the stairs. A very bad plan. That lamp falls over very easily and the bulb breaks often. To turn it on, we grab the extension cord permanently plugged in to the power downstairs and connect it to the lamp cord upstairs. When it's time to fold the stairs up, we unplug and toss the cord into the black hole. Really, how silly!

Maybe I should call an electrician tomorrow.

A Few Wedding Pictures

The Page, almost ready for his duties.

Greta's bridesmaids, each carrying three of the infamous hydrangeas. When Greta couldn't find dresses in the exact shade of green she wanted, she found this satiny fabric at Hancock Fabrics. Each girl chose her own sundress pattern, and a friend made the dresses. They all looked beautiful.

The Flower Girl and Page tossed rose petals as they scampered up the aisle. They stole the show, temporarily at least. Chloe wears a wreath of gardenia leaves and buds in her hair. Greta's grandmother and a friend put together all the florals just a few hours before the wedding.

Next came the Piper/Best Man, and brother of the bride. He piped his sister up the aisle to the tune "The Water is Wide".

Dearly Beloved...

Daniel's Dad performed the wedding ceremony.

Beautiful Bride