Check that one off the list…

CRAFT ROOM CABINETRY PHASE 1

So we just moved into a new house a few months ago…..This is my dining room turned craft room…..sadly enough I have an addiction to crafty stuff.  So when we were looking for houses, we only stepped foot in the door if our realtor promised 4-5 bedrooms PLUS a space to be used as my craft studio.  Unfortunately this space isn’t an enclosed room yet, but someday it will be.  And since it is the FIRST thing you see upon entering my house, I am working on making it “entrance worthy.”  The first thing on the list?  CABINETS!!!  Something has to store all of this junk!  So where did we head?? My favorite store in the world (well, besides Target) IKEA.

I assembled, and Mr. H (this is what his students call him—you would too if you had to try and pronounce/spell/SAY our last name) assisted me in installing J.  Really, this process is not all that difficult.  Each cabinet box goes together in about 20-30 minutes.  I assembled them all on my own (well, I did get some “help” from my 6 year old).  So far installing has not been that difficult between my husband and me, but I have to admit I would NOT want to do an entire kitchen of these. 

 Well, I guess we would if it would save us thousands (I do have my limits).

But alas, for now we don’t need a kitchen remodel, so I can knock this project off MY LIFE DIY Accomplishments—“Install kitchen cabinetry.”  CHECK.  DONE. ….er… Ok, not quite.  One of the doors was damaged when we took it out of the box.  A piece of one of the cabinet “boxes” was damaged and one bag of hinges was not complete with all of the necessary components.  We also have to install the base cabinets and the countertop and the high cabinet.  So Phase 1: Upper Cabinets is complete….er…well sort of.   Still need one upper cabinet door.  We shall see how our return/exchange experience is at IKEA.  I love that place.  Let’s see if my love affair will continue after trying to make these returns.  Unfortunately it is over an hour away so it won’t be happening today.  Ugh.

Mr. H in all his midnight glory. Since he works 2 jobs most days, this is the only time we have to work on projects!

But I can’t wait to finish!  Especially if my husband stands on a stool again flexing his sexy calf muscles and puts that Hello Kitty pencil again behind his ear. 

2 cabinets up, only 3 more to go.

My love affair with eBay

let me just tell you how much i LOVE ebay....

I ADORE ebay.

I LOVE ebay.

I WANT TO SMOOCHIE the creator of ebay (on the cheek of course).

I have made some great sales on ebay this last month and purchased some great deals.  Here's one I will share with you...

A Louis Feraud skirt I bought at Goodwill for about $1 (for my Wicked Witch of the West costume for Halloween) sold for a whopping $50!  I even scored a few extra dollars on shipping. Which is far better than LOSING money on shipping (I have learned my lesson a time or 2, or 7).

Yes, I realize only my face was green, but who really wants to paint their ENTIRE body green--it is HOT in Florida on Halloween--I was not about to wear a long sleeved shirt!

 If you are listing items on ebay, don't forget to give yourself a little wiggle room to pay for your "handling." I try to stay as close to the true cost of shipping as possible but every once in a while the shipping will bite you in the bootie and be a little more than you expected so you may lose some. You have to account in the cost of packaging, delivery confirmation plus time and gas to and from the Post Office if you are having to go there.  Obvioulsy you can't charge an arm and a leg for shipping, but if you are over by a dollar or two, you not only deserve it, you have SPENT it on packing materials and everything else.

Furniture Makeover: The Princess Chair

So my daughter's 9th birthday was this last week.  For her birthday present I bought her 2 pieces of furniture to refinish.  I started with the chair.  This chair was a bad makeover project gone terribly WRONG.  I found her at a yard sale.  Obviously the owner knew it was THAT bad because I asked how much and she said , "Uh, 50 cents."  I RAN with that chair!  Under all of that faux black, white and pink fur and laquer paint job was a beautiful antique chair just CRYING out to be refinished---perfect as the seat for my little girl's vanity.  (The vanity is the OTHER birthday piece...details on that when I finish!) 

I decided that this piece needed some TRUE love--in a soft PINK if I might add.  First I reupholstered the seat in a quilted white fabric.  I picked up this fabric for $2 at my local Wal-Mart in the fabric section. 

Our Wal-Mart has not been remodeled yet so we are LUCKY enough to still have a fabric section.  Ya'll don't even want to know how far I am from another fabric store...it would give you nightmares.  Out of this darling fabric I managed to make a pillow cover, reupholster the seat and still have some leftover for something else.  WHAT A DEAL!

Then I sanded my little heart out-- the rough patches and the dings-- and then painted the chair in a soft pale pink homemade chalk paint.  I simply cannot afford Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I have heard it is fabulous and most wonderous.  But remember?  I only have PENNIES---not $36 for a quart.  Instead I bought a gallon of contractor's paint for $10, had it tinted pink and use it for a number of girly projects.  This is my 3rd project so far from that gallon of paint and there is still more than a half of the gallon bucket left!  The black paint underneath was the perfect base for distressing.  I just LOVE how it turned out.  But the best part?  The birthday girl does too!

So this project redo had a grand total of..... $5!!  This includes even the 1/4 yard of pink fabric I bought for the roses on the pillows!  And I have some of that left too!

This is my trash to treasure story for the week...what is yours?

Cheap DELICIOUS Dinner for $1!

I know in these tough times we are all looking for a way to cut back.  I am constantly coming up with my own recipes of what I have on hand.  I have to admit, they usually turn out pretty good!  I guess the trick is having good stuff on hand!  If you are looking for a healthy way to cut back on your food budget while still getting bang for your buck, continue to check my blog for recipes!  I have been away for a while, but I am back!  Sorry I don't have a picture, but this was delicious!  And for less than a $1 per serving? Who can resist!??!
Serves 6-8 people
8-10 flour or corn tortillas
1/2 lb grated cheese
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 c-ish cooked rice (any variety, brown of course is more filling and more healthy) NO SALT
1 can kidney beans (I would have loved to add an additional can of black beans, but didn't have anything but dry black beans)
1 can corn (No salt variety)
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/4-1/2 c onion (I used red onion, but USE what you have on hand! Green, yellow, white, whatever!)
1/2 c-1 c Wal-Mart's Great Value Black Bean and Corn Salsa
Cook rice. While rice is cooking, combine HALF cheese, beans, corn, and cilantro.  Add rice.  Stir in salsa--if you like your enchiladas saucy, use more or less.  I probably used about 1/2 c-ish.  Spoon about 3/4 c mixture into a flour tortilla (about half that amount or less for corn tortillas), roll up and place in 9x13.  Continue until pan is full.  At this point you can choose to either do a couple of things--pour some salsa over the top, use enchilada sauce ( a little cheaper and adds a little kick!) or NOTHING.  I used a little enchilada red sauce and sprinkled the remainder cheese over the top.  Since the mixture is warm due to the rice, this only takes about 20 minutes in the oven at 350 to warm all the way through.  You can eliminate cheese if you want to go completely vegan.  If not, add a dollop of sour cream and serve with lots of shredded lettuce.  If you want a few more cents to your serving, add a slice of avocado, a few chunks of tomato, a slice of lime and maybe a fresh sprig or a few leaves of cilantro on the top as a garnish.  Super easy, super fast, super delicious and SUPER CHEAP!  For less than $1 per serving!  You can't beat it!

Confessions. I admit....

Well, my new love is ebay. Yes, my friends, ebay.  I am not a millionaire (yet) and I am not a huge fan of shipping and standing in line at the post office with 4 kids in tow.....but I am addicted I believe.  I didn't make a ton of money on my initial listings.  But thankfully, I listed them during the promotional week of "free listings"--no insertion fee.  Saved me at least $15 or so.  The fees are what kicked my trash.  Between ebay and paypal, I was considering if it was worth it....but yes, I believe so. Once I get the hang of it, I think it will prove to be an amazing endeavor.  One more to add to my thousand other projects on the table. 
I listed 19 items and sold 7.  Some things I listed at too low of a price...and others maybe too high.  I sold mostly clothing.  Mostly new with tags (NWT) items which sell well. But clearly there weren't a ton of people interested in the stuff I was selling.  Maybe there was a reason i was selling it.... mostly items that were given to me as gifts but I didn't like--some I did but wrong seasons for my kids sizes, etc.  So another confession--
I REGIFT. Yes, I do.  If I don't think my kids will wear it, if I don't like it, if it is not my style--I regift if it is cute. If it is not, EBAY is the winner.  (Do not worry, if you are reading this blog, I did not regift your baby gift or recent birthday present because YOU have good taste.  You are reading my blog aren't you?)  Some things I sold were cute.  But I didn't need them. Like the pair of cute Limited Too girls jeans I got at a yard sale.  I ended up losing money on those due to those darn fees. Dangit.  I am giong to have to get this down to a science.
But a beautfiul layette set that I got as a gift sold for $11!  I would have never been able to get that money at a consignment shop or at a yard sale!  I sold it because I have plenty of stuff that size and didn't need it. It was very cute.

So if you have stuff that you don't wear that is still in good shape...ebay my friends is the way to go.  Try it out.  You just might make yourself a buck or two. Or eleven.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog....
Only Pennies in my Pocket.
Because truly, that is about all I have.  To be exact I have 1 quarter and 2 pennies left in my change compartment after I found my steal of the day:
a pair of size 14 dark wash super cute Sonoma jeans I found today at Brother's Keeper Thrift Store during the
"Ladies Day 50cent Sale"
Sweet Deal I tell you....
I will either list these on Ebay or give them to a sweet lady in my life.  And of course I can't tell you who because a lady never reveals her clothing size.

So back to the point of this blog and my welcoming wish to you...

I am a self-proclaimed (and by many others...I am not sure if this is a compliment or a jab at my "conscious thriftiness")

Parsimonious Person

 and other great titles I could be called...and I am sure I have been called

Frugal Fairy
Prudey Pants
Penny Pincher (hey, I only have a few)
Bargain Hunter

and dare I say

(gasp!) Cheapskate

as well as the words:
economical
thrifty
stingy (I hope this never is me when it comes to someone in need..because then I want to be known as generous...)
cautious
sparing
cheap

But truly these are all compliments (ok, the word stingy has the word sting in it, and it kinda does that to your heart when someone calls you that, but as long as it is said in a joking manner, I think I am ok...) to me.  REALLY.  Because if it weren't for my "stinginess" me, my Mr. H and my beauties (I have a growing family of GIRLS) would probably all be homeless. Ok, so that is drastic.  Not homeless, but let's just say, we wouldn't enjoy life as much as we do on this teacher salary {by choice}.  You see, my husband works really hard.  Away from home.  I work really hard.  At home.  My job just doesn't bring in a steady paycheck.  But that is ok.  Because we both chose our jobs because
WE LOVE WHAT WE DO even though the pay stinks because the rewards are worth every minute.  We are both educators.  We are both intricately involved in shaping the lives of the next generation.  And we wouldn't trade it for the world.  Even for all the money in the world.
And so, this brings us to why I have only pennies in my pocket  to work with when it comes to decorating, throwing parties, dressing my kids and whatever else strikes my fancy each day. 

And so, I am inviting you, all of you and any of you whoso desire to come along to share in my journey of turning
Trash into {Cash} Treasure
I will buy and sell
I will refurbish, restore, repurpose and refinish
I will travel far and near to hunt down a fabulous deal

and it will be done
all in the name of ....
well....love.  Cheesy I know. But I love my family. I want them to have a good life and enjoy the best parts of it.  The icing on the cake (or fudge frosting if you will) is their's to be had.  And if it means pinching pennies and shopping yard sales and thrift stores... press forward, saints!  This mama will endure it all.

So if you too only have a few pennies to spare, or even if you a few more and you would just like to know how to hold on to them longer....join me in my journey and watch what I do with 

Only Pennies in my Pocket.

Until next time...happy saving.