5 Tips for a Killer Garage Sale Season

I am ALIVE. I know it must seem that I fell off the face of the earth but its been quite the busy last few months. We moved safety to Texas + are settling into our new home. Mr. Wonderful started his temporary job of summer sales so life is a bit different right now but we are loving the warmth + sunshine.

I love the summer season for so many reasons. One of those being that I am not cold and I can lay by the pool everyday but one of my most favorite things about summer is GARAGE SALES! I have been going to them since I was a little girl with my Mom and sisters. I have picked up some tricks along the way and thought I would share them with you. 

     

NEGOTIATING IS ALLOWED! 

I almost never pay the price listed on the tag at a sale. Just think to yourself whats the worst thing that could happen if I ask them to take a lower price?.... they could say no. Well then it's worth a try. Now if someone is selling clothes for .50 you don't really need to negotiate that price because thats a great price for clothes. But lets say you are buying $5 worth of clothing priced at .50 a piece there is no reason you can't ask if they would take $4 for all. More often than not the people selling the items just want to get rid of it, so they are more than willing to take a few dollars under the asking price. 

LOOK UP GARAGE SALE ADS BEFORE YOU GO.

 This will help in saving you time and money on your trip every week. There is a few resources that you can use to look them up. Craigslist, local newspaper websites or city websites. This also will help in leading you to the yard sales that have what you are looking for. I usually map them out so I can do as little back tracking as possible.

         

BE QUICK.

A secret to getting to the best sales is being as quick as you can. No I don't mean driving 15 over the speed limit   (although that might help) but if you scan a yard sale that has a bunch of junk don't stick around, head to your next one. Try and make quick decisions, if you don't love it, don't buy it. Even if it's only $1. Every PENNY counts in garage selling.

                                                        DID I GET A GOOD DEAL? 

A good gage to know if the price is worth it or not can be based on three things. 1. Would I buy it at that price brand new? If not, than you definitely don't want to buy it used at that price. 2. Is it something I love enough I don't care the price tag, I NEED it?! Some things you can justify the price you pay because you found that gem of an item you have been looking for. 3. Is it more than 50-75% off retail price? 

                                    

                                     

                 

LOOK FOR NEW.

 Keep your eye out for new or high end items that you can resell. It can really make a difference if you find items still in the packaging or with tags to sell and make extra money for your garage sale season.  

Hope this can be a fun and successful Garage Sale season. 

Happy Thrifty Shopping. 

P.S- Everything pictured here is actually things I bought at garage sales. You really can find awesome stuff. Go find your treasure!

[Lacey]
                                           

B & A Monday

Happy Monday, again!

How was your day?  Splendid I hope.

My little chiquita and I had lunch on our deck today people (it was 63 degrees!!), which pretty much made it the best day ever!  I love spring!

I'm sharing our master bedroom for this months addition of B & A.

In my opinion, a bedroom is suppose to be so soothing that you almost get sleepy just walking in there.   Don't you think?

The yellow and oak, featured when we moved in were not really giving off those vibes...

So we painted the trim and doors white, the walls grey and changed the hardware from gold to an oil-rubbed bronze finish (with spray paint!!!, I'll tell you more about that little gem later.) Oh and replaced the ceiling fan.

Ahhhh, now were talking.  In fact, I'm starting to feel sleepy just thinking about it.
Sweet Dreams.

Danyelle

B & A Monday

Happy Monday!

If you know me, then you know I have been known to pick up items here and there from sometimes questionable sources.  My poor husband cringes when I say something like "Oh honey, turn around,  those people had a great looking chair with their trash, I think we should get it.  Don't judge me, k.  Because I am also a clean freak I go to great lengths to bring said "item" up to "code".

Someone right down the street from me had this window at the curb.  I couldn't pass it up.  So I brought it home, tested the paint for lead, sanded and repainted it. (pay no mind to the dying plant in the photo)

   

Then I added a vinyl branch and a couple birds & Voilá.  The only thing that would make this ending happier would be if I had gotten this cute little window for free...oh wait,  It was!

Have a lovely day.

Danyelle   

Holiday Decor.

We all know that decorating for holidays/seasons can be quite daunting and expensive. And if your like me in a 900 sq. ft apartment, where are you gonna store all those decorations anyway. Well my friends, I am here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way. It's actually quite simple. [Oh and if you have forgotten all about simplicity check out what Danyelle has to say about that.] 

Okay Okay whats the secret?... well it's actually no secret at all. You know that decor staple thats on your wall? You know a chalkboard. That will be your new best friend and your newest piece of holiday decor. 

Get creative and add some of your personality to your new holiday decor. Its easy and you can change it every holiday and season. And not to mention it cost nothing at all.  Now thats what I call budget friendly decorating.

Happy Decorating

{Lacey}

Up North

We live in a place that has temperatures, in the winter, I didn't know actually existed, except for maybe in Man vs. Wild or on the surface of Mars!  It's been quite an adjustment for us.  Now,  Finally! our mountain of snow is slowly starting to melt and while most of me, well pretty much all of me, wants to run around outside barefoot out of sheer excitement, there are a couple things I'm going to miss. . . (did I just say that?). . .

Watching her carry her toys to the nearest heating vent, everyday, without fail

The way the sun reflects off the snow

All my babies being so cuddly, even with each other

Getting lost in sweet girly books + putting one little girl to sleep


There's always next year!
Welcome Spring!!  We're so glad you're here coming.   You are coming, Right?.

Danyelle

Yum.

It's your LUCKY day!  I am going to share a top secret recipe with you!!     

I married into this recipe and it's just to good not to spread the love.  I'm sure Grandma Thelma won't mind.

We seriously look for every possible excuse to make these, moist, soft, melt in your mouth cookies.

Hurry and find a reason to make them yourself!

Best-Ever Sugar Cookies

3 cups flour (sifted)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. soda

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup shortening

2 eggs

1 cup suger

2 TBS. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Sift together dry ingredients.  Cut in shortening with a pastry cutter until well mixed.  In a separate bowl beat eggs and then add sugar, milk and vanilla.  Add to flour mixture and mix well.  On a floured surface roll out to 1/4 in thickness and cut desired shapes.  Bake at 350 for 6 min.

Frosting: Mix 1/2 of a bag (1 lb.) of powdered sugar into one stick of melted butter.  Add 1 tsp. vanilla, and a pinch of salt.  Slowly add milk one TBS. at a time until the frosting stays on the side of the mixing bowl.

Danyelle

B & A...what day is it?

I had originally intended on doing a before and after post on the first Monday of every month, ya know?  Obviously that didn't happen.

Life has been a little..., hmm, what's the word??? ... Oh yeah, Crazy! the past couple weeks.  We went out of town twice, the vacuum disappeared in a cloud of smoke, my disposal shorted out, and our very first sweet little apple (computer) died (it really was so sad, especially because she took some of our photos and documents with her :(.)

Feuwe! (I'm pretty sure that word didn't exist until right now)  Anyway, I'm back!, and only a few days, . . . okay, weeks late.

We moved into our house around 18 month ago and really wanted to do some updating.  We didn't have much to spend (still don't) on it, so we've had to be creative.  Here is one of our first projects: 

The Master Bathroom

We replaced and framed the mirror, painted the walls, trim, and vanity and updated the light, for a grand total of $75.  Not too shabby.

   

Danyelle