Shopping Sunday

I shopped and shopped today and my feet hurt.  In the afternoon, I went to Fry's with Michael and then to Safeway after dinner by myself.

Fry's was certainly a success as I saved 79% and spent approximately $50!  The only catch was that I had to do three separate orders but the cashier was great about it and there was no one behind me.

Here's what I bought: 

1) Four Packages Kraft Cheese

2) Three Guacamole/Salsas

3) Two Packages Ball Park Franks

4) Three Boxes Cookie Mix

5) Four Cans Chili

6) Three Cans Rotel Tomatoes

7) Three Packages Mission Tortillas

8) Four Bags Quaker Mini Rice Cakes

9) Three 12 Pack Double Rolls Quilted Northern

10) Nine Boxes Kleenex Tissue

11) Three Liquid Dishwasher Detergent

12) Three Boxes Dishwasher Tablets

13) Five Packages Plastic Cups

14) One Thirty-Two Ounce Bottle of Liquid Coffee Creamer

15) Two Containers of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter

16) Four Boxes of Nabisco Crackers

17) Three Containers of Sara Lee Cheesecake Squares

18) Four Boxes of Garlic Bread

19) Three Bags of Frozen Meatballs

20) Three Bags Goldfish Graham Crackers

21) Four Bags Goldfish Crackers

.....I think that's it....Plus one of the $5 deductions was not deducted so I need to go back and get a refund....I have tons more coupons I could use so I definitely will be making another trip to Fry's this week!!!

Safeway was not as good because they were out of everything!  I did pick up rain checks though and used the rest of my prescription gift card so my out of pocket was only about $8!  Here's what I bought: 

1) Four Boxes Kraft Cheese & Crackers

2) One Container Strawberry Cream Cheese

3) Five Bags Doritos

4) Couple Pounds of Grapes

5) One Large Dishwashing Soap

In regard to crafting and projects, we really did not get a whole lot done this weekend.  I had plans to work on the kid's play table some more but I never got around to it.  

We did fix the curtains in our family room by adding the extra rings I bought a couple years ago.  That chore has been on my mental project list for some time and the kids did not make them look any better.

The best part of all was that surprisingly, it my husband's idea. 

Here's the before: 

 

And the after:

Diaper Dealing

It has been awhile since I have posted about diaper deals or deals in general. I happened upon a great deal posted by FirstFullofCoupons and my little chubby bubby, Michael is always in need of some disposable pants!

How could anyone deny that boy some diapers?

So I had to check it out and they turned out to be a great deal on Up & Up Diapers from my favorite store, Target! Did I mention...FREE SHIPPING!

Since we are an Up & Up kinda family, I upped order to the 60 Count Size 6 Diapers. The deal is better the smaller the size since you get more per pack.

You can also buy the smaller packs but for Michael's size it equated to more per diaper and I am all about the cost per item. The only thing is that you need to buy four!

Automatically Get 15% off 4
Then ADD Promo Code: "URTYJLI8" for Another 10% Off

Here's the breakdown for Michael's size:

4 Packs 60 Count Size 6 Up & Up Diapers = 260 Diapers

Total Out the Cart Order = $44.59 (Includes Tax)

$44.59/260 = $.17 1/2 Per Diaper

To spice this deal up more, shop through your Bing account and you may get some cash back on top of this!

Nesting with the Lettered Cottage

Did I ever mention that I love Layla's blog @ the lettered cottage! She is one of my absolute favorites and I have been following her for awhile...not literally. I feel like such a stalker saying that...

A couple months ago, she blogged about a cover shoot The Nest magazine would be doing on she and her husband's transformation of their lettered cottage.

I will be honest, I had never heard of The Nest. However, I had heard of the Knot, which may sound familiar from your hitching days...I mean wedding.

Well, The Nest magazine is published by the same company and since Layla was going to be on the cover, I splurged on a subscription for $15.99 or something like that. And you are like me, my magazine price cap is $5...does that tell you how excited I was???

I know I am a nut but hey I finally "know" someone famous! Anyway, the magazine came in the mail and of course it turned out perfect!

They started with a cosmetically hideous fixer upper and turned it into a classy cottage.


Beneath the surface they discovered a decorator's dream, wood planked walls and ceilings throughout their home. I know I "wood" just find installation and studs (not the good kind of studs either).

The best part about Layla's designs is that they are stylish, earthy and on a budget. A real middle class working budget.

She's a real person with real style. Layla shops Ikea, thrift shops and yard sales.

Layla has a husband that helps her every step of the way. I am totally envious!

Make sure to hit your local bookstore or magazine stand to get your own copy!

Chalkboard Jars?

I've developed a strange obsession with Jars...specifically food jars. I know...weird but I feel bad for just throwing them away (no recycling in our area yet) and they actually are great for crafting.

Once I am done with the jar, I soak it, wash it and remove any remaining glue or date stamps with some Commercial Strength Goo Off. Works like a charm.

Annelise helps with the taping!
Then just apply some chalkboard paint with a cheap foam brush, let dry and then apply another coat.

Repeat if necessary.

And there you have it...chic craft room storage.

Jars=Free
Chalkboard Paint=Leftover from Other Projects
($8 give or take for the Entire Can)

Baby Basketing!

I am a basket case in more ways than one. However, we will just talk about my love of gift baskets for baby showers.

Here's a picture of the gift basket I made for one of the gals at work for her shower this past Sunday. BTW, she's having a boy if you can't tell.

The baby bay is certainly on his way and she doesn't have a name so I had the onesie embroidered with her last name, which happens to be Harte so it worked out perfectly.

I was in such a rush that I didn't have time for many pics but I will be making more of some of the handmade gifts that I included and will post the details in the near future.

Total cost...drum roll please...a little less than $20! Half the cost was the onesie and embroidering from PBKids.

Super Sassy Suddsy & Stylish Soap!

Who hates to pealing label on the dish soap? I know I do, especially when you have a larger bottle it seems to look worse because it lasts longer.



My good pal, Marie just moved to her new place a couple months ago and was searching for an olive oil bottle...and for what? Her dish soap, of course ;)

It makes sense...I mean, it can be cleaned, refilled easily and the spout is just large enough to get enough soap out but not too large that you waste.

So I borrowed her idea a couple months later. It so happened that was wandering through Wallie World. My purpose...to buy juice boxes for the kid's school lunches. But hey, who can walk into WW without making sure there isn't something that I really don't need, right?

Well, it so happens that I spotted this oil bottle for $2.97. A fairly good price in my opinion as I had not seen anything decent for soap at the dollar store or around my house.

I got our the Cricut and got to work. I cut a letter "S" on some scrap vinyl and applied it to the bottle. BTW, I used the Mini Monograms cartridge.

I applied a heavy coat of etching cream, washed it off after five minutes and did the process again. The longer, the more noticeable the etching.

This Little Light of Mine...

I'm going to let it shine...let it shine, let it shine, let it shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnneeeee!

Okay, I am so excited that my $35 dollar chandelier turned out!!!

The project started @ $35.00 for the chandelier but then with the cost of

1) paint $3.50;

2)two four packs of light bulbs $5.00;

3) the ceiling medallion $20.00;
(took the one from Lowes back & found a cheaper version at Home Depot)

=

Project Grand Total $63.50.

Considering the cost of lighting, I think it was money well spent.

Here's a little history on our dining room lighting....

We started with a lovely "gold & crystal" builders grade chandelier...similar to this one:


Can you believe this sells for over $300 online? My thoughts exactly...who would buy this? This builders must be getting them for $20!

So three or four years ago, we replaced that irresistible chandelier with a simpler one that we paid $69.00 @ Lowes.

I know what you are thinking and I can't believe I paid that much for it either. Believe it or not, it is actually more now...$88 to be exact! Hopefully I can recover some of the cost by selling the old one on craiglist.org. Anyone dying to buy this chandelier?

So several months ago...probably more like bordering a year ago, a deal through homedecoratorsoutlet.com that was posted on slickdeals.net caught my eye.

Originally I was going to use it for Annelise's closet but when it arrived it was much bigger than I thought and I found one for for her closet for a steal (yeah, I know it's another pending project).



Since our entryway lights are black, we decided to spray paint this one to match. So we spray painted the chandelier with Rust-Oleum Flat Black a few weeks ago and then had company over and just got busy.

Over the weekend, my husband and I tackled the project together. It really turned out to be more work than we anticipated.



Additionally, the piece that my husband called a shaft but turned out to be really called a nipple was too long so I had to buy a smaller one at home depot. Then we thought that nipple was too short and took it down and tried the other on again and then tried something else and ultimately ended up using the short nipple.

Then we thought it was missing a couple of screws. So during my nipple/shaft trip, I had to get help with finding matching screws. What a trip @ the depot! Can you believe the names they come up with for this stuff.....
But enough with the nasty talk.

After we put all the screws in, we found the missing screws in one of the shade boxes. Took the others out and put in the right ones because they were camouflaged with balls. Yeah I know...but what do I call them?

In the midst of it all I had to clean the medallion because this was dirty work and I had to touch up some of the paint due to all the putting it up and taking it down but in the end it all came together!

Thinking Outside of the Box

I have found that the best organizing tools are not found in the organization department or specialty organizing stores. Rather, when organizing think outside of the box.

Find items that would ordinarily be discarded and then re-purpose and reuse. Here's an example.


This little box was getting ready to hit the trash and I rescued it...well I don't know if it was going to hit the trash but I saw it at work and claimed it. Around the holidays the office receives gifts in little things like this that are perfect for something other than it's original use.



And since Christmas is long over, I pealed the tree sticker off the front and it was already painted with chalkboard paint. It goes very nicely with the blue bin on the left that I picked up on clearance @ my favorite store...you guessed it...Target. And the price was only $3.74! The red bin was even better...FREE.

These will work great in Michael's big boy room redo...that is when I get to it!

Yeah, tomorrow is Wednesday!!! One day closer to the weekend...which means crafting time!!!

Once Upon a Time....

there was a room filled with crap...it's still filled with crap but a little less of it and a bit more organized. This crap room wanted so, so badly to be a craft room but it just was not quite ready for it's debut.

You see this crap room had lots of junk and wished that it's owner would have a yard sale. (And it's state is that shameful that no pictures must be released until it's completion!)

The owner had every intention of having a yard sale but was waiting for the perfect time and needed to not only get the junk out of this room but also the rest of the house. And besides the weather was not yard sale temperature yet either.

So in the meantime, this crap room keeps on dreaming but has found a little comfort in a small clean square with a desk and all it's future decor just waiting to be placed.





....And until next time, this crap room keeps on dreaming for a better space!

HD's Shabby Chic Wreath

Our good friend and his kids from our "hometown" of Las Vegas came to visit us in AZ for a little defrosting. Yes, I know Vegas has warm weather too...but I can say from experience that Arizona feels, by far, warmer and less windy. It makes all the difference.

We had a blast with the kids and ate tons of bbq. Did I mention that it might as well have been the convention of the Michaels? As you probably already know, my husband and my son are both named Michael. My husband's best friend who visited us also happens to be name Michael and his son's name is ...you guessed it...Michael.

The Michaels in my life go beyond this though. My uncle's name is Michael and his son is well..Michael too. My little brother is Michael and my boss also is a Michael...who has a son..Michael...and there are more...

Enough with the Michaels...maybe not because luckily Heather has been creativity crafting because crafting time has been sparse in the Loyd household this weekend!

And I am sure you will need to hit Michael's after you read about her crafty creation:

She started with felt....lots of felt...

And she kept on cutting...and cutting circle after circle...

And she cut more...while you watched television...of course.

Crafting and catching up on shows go hand in hand...

It's multicrafting/tasking @ it's best...because before you know it...you've watched a whole season and are left with a whole stack of circles...

And once you get all your circles you start a new season and start pinning your circles to a circular foam form wreath.

And there you have it a Shabby Chic Crafty Wreath for All Seasons.
You can decorate it for each holiday or leave as is to chic your shabby space!

Happy Crafting!
Anne on behalf of Heather
theloydcollection

Wish Upon a (Clearance) Star

I've had a remind myself a handful of times that yesterday was only Monday....and now today is only Tuesday!

I'm about to get ready for work but thought I'd share my list of things I'd love to go on clearance (and I'm not talking 30% either)...or a yard sale...thrift store...somewhere that I can get a smoken deal:

Craft Room:

Target Version: $149.99

PB Version (a.k.a. "The Swivel Chair) $399.00

The wood sample is only $25! On a cheaper note, one of the cushions is on sale for $9.99!

PB Cubby Shelf $129.00

I wish I took shop class in high school!

PB Grand Phone $59.99

(I'd settle for the less expensive black one!)

Linen Pinboard $149.00

(I really think I could make this one!)

Target Vintage Pencil Sharpener $39.99

(Who knew these were so expensive?)

Target Swivel Organizer $19.99

(I love this!!!)


Boxed Notebooks for Each Month $99.00!
(Seriously Expensive Notebooks)

Happy Tuesday!

@nne

theloydcollection.blogspot.com