Done Deals

If you remember this post and this post, then you know that I like buying food and I like a good deal.

Here's my results from a trip to Vons. If you can't tell what I got, well here, let me list it for you:

• A box of cereal
• organic milk
• orange juice
• pomegranate blueberry juice
  
• 2 cans of baked beans
• 2 jars of peppers (jalapeno and cherry)
• 3 jars of pasta sauce
• butter
• 2 boxes of spaghetti
• 2 broccoli crowns
• 3 ears of corn
• 2 green bell peppers
• a loaf of sourdough bread
  

Total: $32.66


Next up, Ralphs:

• 8 rolls of paper towels
• a bottle of shampoo
  
• 24 rolls of tp
• a head of lettuce
• 2 bunches of 'red tag' bananas (but they're still green, see?)
  
• 2 containers of organic strawberries
• a cantaloupe
  
• 2 organic avocados
• a bag of organic baby carrots

Total: $26.72

Together that's less than $60. And it includes organic stuff and cleaning stuff. That's a good deal people. Right?

Raw Deal

Last week I went to Ralph's and came home with all this:

For only this:

And saved this:

What does one do with all that pasta sauce and black olives and over ripe bananas? Make pizza! And banana bread!

Actually I planned on making banana bread but made Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chunk cookies instead, and they were great. And the rest of the bananas got sliced up and stuck in the freezer.

I mean $11 doesn't even halfway fill up my crappy car's tank. Was that a score or what?

Stool elimination

Sorry about the post title, I can't get enough of poop jokes...

But this post is about bar stools again. This time, it's not fixing or refinishing, but getting rid of. Last year on move-in day, the boyfriend was sent off to buy a fridge from someone locally, and came home with a pair of these:



And oddly enough, a free book.

Anyway, back to the stools. They were heavy (but sturdy), large, and matched nothing in our house. I'm sure they would fit right in if we lived in a German pub.

So we kept them for a year. And then week before last, I sold them on craigslist for twice the amount I paid for (which was not much). I wasn't sure if they'd sell, but indeed they went. I should have included the book...

Tool Around

Thanksgiving was our power tool sandwich. We ordered a cordless drill on the morning of, and a tile saw a couple days after. We didn't plan these new purchases but saw some deals we couldn't refuse.

Image courtesy of Lowe's

We've been looking at drills for weeks, maybe even months now, to replace our beloved 12 volt Makita cordless drill (you can spot it here and here). Both batteries have died and no longer hold a charge. At all. We've been doing all our screwing and unscrewing by hand. And when we can't, we resort to nailing. This is making life around the home difficult. Not to mention we can't drill holes at all. We were planning on buying another Makita, as we're big fans of the brand (did you know that they are used in space by NASA?), but we saw a deal on Thanksgiving morning, on Lowe's website ($99) for a DeWalt drill that still kicks our outdated dead drill's butt. And couldn't refuse.

Image courtesy of Home Depot

On Cyber Monday (is this a new term this year I don't recall hearing it before), I saw a deal on a wet tile saw ($99.88 - half off, and cheaper than renting) with 4.5 star reviews on Home Depot's website. To be honest, I wasn't shopping for one, but our next big project will be the master bath. And even though we don't know yet what the plans are for that room, it most certainly involves tile (and therefore tile cutting).

Oooh I can't wait for the new gadgets to arrive (I just tracked the packages and the drill is scheduled to arrive TODAY!). Did you score any awesome deals? Are you awaiting fun toys to arrive on your doorstep? Do tell.

Low-sitting Fruit

One of my latest scores at a moving sale:

It was a good deal, not a deal of the century, but good enough to pick it up without having a need or want for one of these. Care to guess how much I shelled out?

Garden Grounds

A few weeks ago, I came across this at Starbucks:


I hadn't seen this in over 4 years, so I thought they had stopped doing it. And of course 4 years ago I did not have a garden. Or plants, really. But now, I have a use maybe even a need for this!

This is a bag of old coffee grounds that can be used in your garden. It's supposed to be beneficial to your garden. And best of all, it's being kept out of a landfill.


The bag states that it can be used directly to your garden or plants or your compost. Since we are regular coffee drinkers at home, I already have a regular supply of grounds going into the compost, so I decided to use this for my Azalea shrub.

So I guess we'll see what happens in the spring...

For the Books

What I miss about apartment living, is finding discarded items from residents moving out. (Sidenote: this sounds like an opportunity for a list here. Perhaps that will be a future post.)

One of the items was a shabby chic-country-whitewash folding bookcase. Not exactly my style but my belief on storage is that you can never have enough, so of course I snatched it.


Here it is after a coat of primer:


And after 2 coats of paint and a coat of oil-based polyurethane:


I've had this for a couple years but wasn't inspired to paint it until I found a quart of "oops" paint at Home Depot for $1 in a sea foam green that I couldn't pass up. Lucky for the guest bath that I didn't have a gallon of it...

Have you transformed a free, discarded item? Any other suggestions on what to do with the rest of the paint, I still have most of the quart left. Do you have a sea foam green bathroom? Is sea foam green tacky or awesome? Does it work on a bookcase? Curious if the bookcase still folds (the answer is, not really)? Where should I put this bookcase? Bueller?

Heavy Metal

Earlier this year, we discovered a surprise relic on top of our (rather new) water heater:

(shown above on our garage work bench)

The timing was perfect - right during our kitchen remodel. I have no clue how old these are, or which previous owner they belonged to, but these snippers have definitely come in handy.

Did they belong to the previous owner (who lived here only 5 years yet perhaps gave these constant use), the owners before them? Or those before them? Or maybe they were left by the water heater installer?

And the saying definitely rings true here, they don't make things like they used to! These bad boys cut through a tin can like its butter. They're indestructible.

Have you found any useful or interesting relics, memorabilia, or treasures in your home? And yes, tools count!

Decan

Last year we were excited to win this decanter at a raffle, because we never win anything. But there were 2 problems we've encountered with it over time: it's hard to wash, and it never dries inside.

So here's my solution:

It's now a make shift vase. Just go outside, snip a stem of Agapanthus and you have yourself a casual floral centerpiece. If you want to get fancy, add river rocks, pebbles or glass marbles.

On the Receiving End

My dad recently went on a trip to China. He had a great time, saw wonderful things, took lots of photos, and got me some gifts (you are never too old to receive fun packages):


2 shirts, a bag of peanut/tea candy (not sure what I think of that flavor combination yet), a beaded bracelet, a pearl bracelet, and a pearl pendant. He bought the pearls from an area reknowned for their pearls. He was told that the same company is getting a special chocolate pearl ready as a gift for President Obama's visit in November.

On the inside of the yellow shirt there was a little poem (which I've never seen before):

Love Blooms
Just Like a Magic Plower
Comes to Life

That's right, Magic Plower.

I'm off to search all my clothes for hidden poems and messages. Meanwhile, I'm going to put this one on and see what happens to me...

Stacked and Stoked

Last week I went to Goodwill to drop off some various items (nothing my friends would want, I know you're reading). I ended up coming out with not 1, but 2 cake stands (for $5 total, yum). And I already have 1 at home. And hardly eat cake. Do I have a problem?


I stacked them to put them away and discovered that they look like a tiered tray. Then I took all the fruit out of a big bowl we had lying around, and put it on my new stand and ta-da, I had a centerpiece.

Looks like my slight addiction is good for cakes and fruit. Maybe even fruitcake.

If you've got cheap, easy, or accidental centerpieces, I want to see and hear about them!

Handling with non-Kid Gloves

Ever since I took a motorcycle safety riding course last year, I've been on the hunt for motorcycle riding gloves. Not just any pair of gloves, but a pair that would provide the necessary protection (synthetic or leather) and covers the wrist. And that fit (not as easy as you'd think). And aren't a million dollars (ie. over $25).

Recently I tried on a pair while wandering Cycle Gear, waiting for a salesperson to look for the appropriate brake pads. And they happen to fit!

And then I looked at the price tag:

Hallelujah, it was my lucky day!

Had any awesome scores lately? (And by scores I mean bargains. Get your mind out of the gutter)

Weekend Score

A couple weekends ago, we scored this find at a garage sale:

We got it for $30 and discovered later at home, that it's a designer piece. It's the perfect size for that corner and it's great for curling up with a book, morning coffee and a great spot for doggy napping and sunbathing.

Have you scored an awesome deal lately? Do share.