Showing posts with label thrifting and consigning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thrifting and consigning. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Ring...ing in the New Year.



$15.00 total
The new year has been full of fun already!  A lovely family friend has been in town keeping us very busy!  We were lucky to hit several antique stores scoring these antique/costume jewelry rings for $3 dollars each.  My friend is taking home the two on the left and the one on the far right!  This is one more bonus to living in New England - there are vintage and antique stores everywhere!  So, remember, when you come and visit - we'll hit as many as we can!


Mr. C has the 2, Nini has the 0, I have the 1, and Cici has the 2 =2012

We've been enjoying a new season with our girls.  Suddenly, they have become very much like "little people" and "little friends".  They love hanging out with us and the conversations we've had have been so enjoyable!  We stayed up until midnight and took this cool photo right on a self-timer.  We rang in the first second of the new year with a few harmless (but loud) fireworks!  The boys were happily dreaming even with our crazy noise!

First second of 2012!

Happy 2012!


Saturday, April 2, 2011

Week-Ends and Book-Ends.

 

Mommy Daughter hair salon date - self portrait (this makes me smile)

Week-Ends


dark underneath!

1.  This week's Endings are combined with last weeks, since I didn't have time to post last week.  Today, my girls and I, had a much needed hair appointment.  We all got our hair done-including some highlights.  Cici and Nini chose red.  I chose my common blonde - but added a darker tone underneath.  My girls and I do not get to go out very often with just the three of us, but we took full advantage and did our hair and lunch.  It is still very hard for me to leave the boys with other people - besides me.  But it is good for them, especially when it is daddy they are hanging with.  I know I must be overprotective, but, not much I'm willing to do right now to change that! 
  
2.  I love the way Nini is entranced with the whole event.


3.  My girls were grounded last week.  There fighting and back-talking to each other was so out of hand.  I couldn't believe it at times. They've been off DS and computer and stayed home unless it was a family event.  It seems like a short-term solution to a problem that, I know, will continue.  I hope that we are helping them learn to love each other - 
sometimes, I'm not so sure.  





 4.  Daddy-Time isn't a very long at our home.  Unfortunately, Mr. C is a busy man and gets home sometimes right as I can't keep the boys up any longer.  He always gets the tail end of their day, which is sad.  We try to make the most of it by letting him spend those last minutes with just the three of them.  It's really sweet.  I am grateful for those weekends that let all of us spend more time together.
 


5.  My little man tie business is just for fun.  I tried a little photo shoot with my little men two weeks ago which ended up in little men crying.  An apple was the only thing that saved the shoot.  Next time, it might help if someone else were taking the photos and not me.  My kids always do better when there is someone else snapping the shots.  I do love this photo, despite the stuffed apple mouth! 

  
5.  Finally we can go outside - here is Mr. T
 checking out cool Nini on her skateboard

  
6.  Math Night at school!

 
Today's consignment finds!
7.  I have been laboring this winter to find good deals on my kid's clothing. I am finding that buying clothes for four growing children is expensive - duh right?  I have been consigning our last years clothes each season and buy at consignment stores.  I've tried ebay, but I find that with shipping, the deals can not be deals in the end.  We stopped at our favorite consignment store on the way home today and found these 7 name brand pieces (some new) for $53.00 and four of them are gymboree.  This averages $7.50 a piece!


Book-Ends

 Distant Hours  by Kate Morton proved to be a wonderful beginning to reading again.  I just haven't read much of any books since my bed rest days where I devoured books daily - just to stay sane.  I picked this book having no former knowledge of  The forgotten Garden -which I hear is also wonderful. To quickly review it, I found most of her character's personalities and thoughts to be written extremely well.  I found her lack of describing each character's physical features a bit annoying, though.  I loved the back and forth between era's and character's fun and it kept me engaged in the book.  I enjoyed it and out of 5 stars would give it a 3.5 and say I am interested in reading her other books.  Next up is...yet to be determined - will keep you in the loop :)


Do you find it difficult to get out on individual dates with your children?
How do you handle fighting between siblings?
When do you start shopping for the next season?
Clothing or shopping advise?!

 




Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Craft and Thrift.


monster truck tie

Craft


 
I couldn't pass up creating more toddler felt ties for my little men and making a few more to share.  I've opened an etsy shop so that they can easily be purchased - if you like them!  I've coined it little man ties.  I think I am most proud of putting together the logo - something I love to do!  

slug bug tie


I've got more styles in the works, including a sun an sky tie that my own little man wore on Sunday, but it's being cleaned!  Yes, believe it or not, my little ones do slobber!  The ties are made out of Eco-fi felt.  This post here chronicled my first attempt at making these ties.  The button hole on the back was killing me - really, just killing me!  I gave-up and started using the thin elastic.  I cut it at 13" and it is sewn in between two pieces of felt and can stretch up to 20" in length.  They fit underneath the color.  Honestly, they are show stoppers!  Let me know if there is a tie shape and color you want or watch for more styles to be added!

more Craft...




My 2nd Craft this week and last was putting together some of these crochet flower garlands.  I used my own crochet flower design here and weaved them into good old fashioned brown twine.  I am working on more of these to hang around the ceiling for spring!

Thrift


Our old rickety attic housed this shabby old chest.  We found it while renovating this space for the girls.  It was packed with 1940's National Geographic.  It was a really fun find and technically we didn't have to spend anything on it.  It is sitting down in our TV room and houses all of our blankets.  Mr. C is due to fix the hinges on it and what would you think to a sign that said blankets or cozy on it?!

Do you like to thrift?
Have you ever "found" a treasure?
Are you more than ready for some warm spring weather?

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Craft and Thrift


Craft

Making my children do what they are supposed to do after school is chaotic and hectic.  My craft project this week was to come up with a solution to there afterschool mumbles and jumbles.  A way for them to be in charge and for me not to crowd the evening with, "do this" "do that" - but "check your list and check it off when you're done"  -or something like that!  These chalkboard lists now hang on our kitchen wall right by the table.  This is where we crowd after school when we talk, collect homework, I start dinner, and the girls get their afternoon snack.  It's the perfect place.  Here's what I did:

1.  Small round chalkboards purchased @ Michaels.  They have different shapes!
2.  The chalkboards come with a black rope to hang up the signs.  I simply replaced it with my own choice of ribbon.
3.  Felt eraser.  I cut out a small heart shape out of felt and used the black rope that came with the chalkboards as the holder for the felt eraser.
4. Embellish. I used sticker letters, and tag it signs to embellish and personalize their chalk board.

more photos...






Thrift



This tray was found for $10 by my MIL this last summer.  I turned it into a chalkboard (thanks to an idea in the pottery barn catalog) and hung it up on my wall.  It now hangs in my soon-to-be painted kitchen.  It was a very easy thrift to craft.   All you need is a cool old tray, some painters tape, and a can of spray-on chalkboard paint. 

What cool chalkboards to you have or have made?
Do you you use chalkboards in your home?
Can you stand chalk?

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Craft and thrift.


Craft

Two girls and two boys living in our nest means a lot of shopping and designing and crafting to make their little twin nests their own.  Ponytail holders once adorned the girl's bathroom curtain and played their part as a quick solution to tie-backs.  Now, thanks to two spools of ribbon, the girls now have a more stylish solution.  I could have punched these out in a day, but with our current sickness quota, it took two nap times to get this Ribbon Flower Garland finished.  Small felt squares were used to sew the ribbon onto and a long strand of green ribbon functioned as the garland...

Thrift

Boys!  True to the nature of boys, my little gents are in love with this wooden airplane rocker I picked up at a consignment/thrift store.  The price tag:  $15.00!  Mr. T spends countless minutes playing with the propeller.  I can only imagine when his legs are long enough, how much time they will spend on this baby.
 **********
Mark your blogging schedules for Wednesdays, when I will be writing my craft and thrift posts. Sometimes the craft will go with the thrift and other times, it won't! Two things I love to do, posting now on Wednesdays!

Do you find yourself thrifting more with the current times?
Do you consign?