Thrift Store Treasures

A girl friend and I went thrifting the other day. We hit all the Goodwills and Salvation Armys we could find. I found an adorable dress...but sadly it is way too small for me. I did, however, fall madly in love with the fabric. So, I paid $6 for the dress which I should be able to retrieve about 1 1/2 of fabric. You will be seeing this fabric re-purposed very soon. I have found a green and black fabric to go with it, but I am looking for the perfect pink. My mind is spinning with ideas for this fabric.

This little Japanese tshirt is brand new and still has the Japanese tag on it. Well, I think it is Japanese...could be Chinese. Anyway, these little Geisha girls have been all over sewing blogs. I am planning to make a pillow out of it to sell in my still empty Etsy store. :( Oh I have made plenty of stuff to sell on Etsy, I just haven't taken the time to list it yet.

As I write this I am dealing with allergies. I love spring but it doesn't love me. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Sewing!!
Susan

Gotta Make One of These

I have been saving so much money by couponing. Sometimes it gets difficult to juggle my coupons and my list. I have a large 3 ring binder but I don't always like to take it. I usually plan for one store at a time and take the correct coupons with me. This little coupon lanyard is exactly what I need. Thank you sew4home.com

for the idea. Click on the link here.


Happy Sewing!
Susan

Potholder Pass 2

I received my potholders from Sara at www.atthecoverbridge.blogspot.com and I love them. They match my kitchen really well. She also sent a pin cushion and some recipe cards. Thank you so much, Sara!

I went shopping for grocries for Easter dinner and just some things we needed. I used coupons combined with sales again and I saved another 67.80. I saved 57.58 at Winn Dixie and 10.22 at CVS. That brings this week's total to 207.80. It takes some time and effort but I think it is well worth it and we are eating better than we would without shopping this way. I like to look at is as making money, after all if I saved it and it was stuff we were going to have to buy anyway, then it is making money. So this week, I made about what I would if I worked fulltime at a minimum wage job. Not too bad for my first week.

I hope to spend some time in my studio tomorrow. I decided not to make my youngest an Easter dress. I think making a dress in one day would be kind of stressful especially with all the interuptions from the kids. I think I am gonna get back to my dresden plate quilt. I am making it to hang in my studio and it is kind of fun sewing. I will work atleast an hour or two on the drapes just to prove I am responsible.

Happy Sewing!
Susan

Goodies in the Mail

Today I received a package from Cyndi at Bluebirdswing. I won two patterns from her on her give away last week. Today I got my package and she threw in some extra goodies: three gorgeous fat quarters, and a key fob. I love them. Thanks so much Cyndi!

More good news today. My client who I am making the drapes for, called today and she is going out of town for spring break, so I have another week to finish my drapes. Now I may try to make my youngest daughter an Easter dress before now and Sunday.

I went to Walgreens today and spend $17.00, but saved $25.00. Then I went to Publix and spent $5.00 and saved $6.00. That makes my total savings of $140.00 for the week by using coupons. My favorite deal of the week was one I found today at Publix. I had a manufacturer coupon for $1.50 off of Biz Bleach and I had a store coupon for $1.00 of Biz Bleach. The total price of the Bleach was $3.49 which means I bought it for 99 cents. I was very excited about that. Biz is great for soaking things you think cannot be saved. Just last week I had to soak some white fabric that had mildew stains on it from a leak in my studio. It was almost 4 yards of good fabric and I really didn't want to throw it away. I had to soak it for 4 days. But it all came out except a 2" area that I can cut around.

Now, to top of my good news for the day, I found a coupon for a buy one get one dinner at one of my favorite resturants. I told my boyfriend about it and he is taking me tonight. Woo hoo.....goodies in the mail, saving more money and dinner out. This has been a good day.

Happy sewing and saving my friends,
Susan

Big Savings This Week

I have always been a thrifty person, infact, I can stretch a dollar around the block under the right conditions. As a mom of a large family I have always shopped wisely. When my children were small it was much easier to feed them. Now, I all of the sudden have 5 daughters at home who eat like adults. Add that to the fact that I am now divorced and I don't receive child support on a regular basis and that equals a close to empty pantry and one nervous Momma. I do pretty good at making money from home. I teach sewing and sew for others and hope to soon have my patterns ready for sale. I can't work outside the home for more than teaching a few classes here and there, as I homeschool my girls and one of them has a mood disorder, which prevents me from leaving her for long. Anyway....let me get to the point. I never paid much attention to using coupons. I shop at Aldi and Walmart and places like that, I buy things on sale and buy store brands. Lately, there has been lots of talk about Extreme Couponing and I have been trying to learn more about it. Basically, you use your coupons only when an item is on sale or buy one get one free. BOGO's {buy one get one}are to be used with two coupons, one for each item. Well, I gave it a shot this week and I save a grand total of $106.85!!! I am thrilled. I know it will get even better when I figure it out more and start getting coupons on Sunday. Lots of coupons can be printed, but my printer is still not working. Argghhh! I found a lot of my information at Couponmom.com. She tells you where the best deals are by store and state and has links to online coupon sites, where you can print your own coupons. She makes it so much quicker and convenient. It is still somewhat time consuming but if you look at as "making money" then it seems to be worth it. I can't wait to see how this progresses and I will keep you updated.

Neat Blog and Give away

I was cruising blogs last night and I found a really neat blog mainly about thrifting. They are also having a nice give away. Go check them out.
http://thethriftygroove.blogspot.com/2010/03/bunny-hunt-finds-and-giveaway.html

My Chickens Got A New Home

Sometimes you have to count the costs. We hand raised our seven hens from the day after they were born. They had finally gotten to be good layers and we were getting a good supply of fresh organic eggs. However, I have not been able to let them out to roam very much. They decided they liked the neighbors mulch and jumped the fence a few times, even though I clipped their wings. Well, since they couldn't free range very much, I had to feed them more and the cost of their food was costing me more than it would cost me to buy eggs. It was also a pain to get the girls to feed them on a regular basis and if we went out of town, I would have to arrange for someone to take care of them. So, it just so happened that an acquaintace of my boyfriend asked if I was wanting to sell my chickens. He already had a couple of chickens and a huge area and coop for more chickens. At first I thought I didnt want to sell them, but then I counted the cost and decided it would be better all around to sell them while I had an eager buyer. So I caged up the girls and they were shipped off to their new home. To be honest it has been kind of nice to have one less thing to worry about. Lord knows, as a single mom with five girls at home and a home business, I have enough to worry about.

A Great Thrifty Find

I finally got a Rowenta iron, last year, that is supposed to be used "only" for quilting. Well I have loved it. But I always wished I could have one with a steam tank. Well...during a recent trip to my local Salvation Army, I spotted this little baby...a Rowenta Superpress 050. It was priced at 39.00.....BUT......It was a half-price day. Everything in the store was half price....so I got it for 20 bucks. I plugged it in in the store and it worked. I just need to clean it up and I will have an awesome iron for hours of quilting. I get such a thrill from finding bargains....almost as much as looking at new fabric. I wish you all the best of luck in your "treasure hunting".

Sudsy Pickles

Today we made our own laundry detergent. Times are tough financially for many of us and I am always looking for ways to save money. With six children, we do a ton of laundry. I first saw this detergent thing on the TLC show, 17 Kids and Counting. Then I looked it up online and found a good blog that discussed it. I found 5 lb pickle buckets for $2 each at Firehouse Subs (proceeds from the buckets go to help injured fire fighters and their families). Yes, they do smell very "pickley". So load in your car with caution. I finally washed them well enough to erase the pickle smell and they work great. I dont think I boiled the grated soap enough, so I have some "separation" issues. But as long as we shake it or mix it well enough, it works fine. Here is that link:

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/