What a Bargain!

About 99% of this blog has to do with home decor and crafts.  Today I am going to branch out to the lonely 1% and do a post having to do nothing with home decor or crafts, but still involves a bargain.

You've noticed that the name of my blog is Bargain Bound because I love a good bargain.

Have you heard of this store?

I visited the store in my town today and totally scored on some school clothes for my 7 year old daughter.  Now, let me say that with the weather we have here in Roseville (warm summers....actually warm until end of October) makes school-clothes shopping financially reasonable.  In all stores, almost all summer clothing is on some sort of sale, and many on clearance.  I always scoop up what I can find on sale and those clothes can be worn for at least the first 3 months of school.

Today I left with these outfits:

 top = $4.99 shorts = $3.99

dress = $4.99

shirt = $4.99 skirt w/shorts = $7.99

 shirt = $2.99 shorts = $6.99

 shirt = $2.99 skirt w/shorts = $4.99

Drum roll please.....

The total, with tax = $49.24

Hello....all of that for just under fifty bucks?  Now that's what I call a bargain!

 

  

Goodbye Red Wall

The best part about paint is that in a matter of hours, a room or accent wall can be transformed. 

We have had the wall above the fireplace a deep red for quite some time.  I have enjoyed having it such a rich color, but was ready for a change.  I wanted something brighter, crisper, cleaner-looking.  So many of the blogs I follow feature such bright "cool" colors that I like.  However, our entire home is full of "warm" colors and I am not about to change everything.

I pulled out my paint swatches and searched for a color that would go with our taupe-beige-tan surrounding walls.  I decided on a "butter" color...bright, clean-looking, and a color that would blend with the rest of our home.

In addition to the wall, I also painted our mantel.  If I was able to, I'd knock the entire thing out and put something with more flair and style, but not now.  Another day...another day.

The mantel was white.  I gave it a light sanding, primed it, and painted it dark brown.  It looks better in contrast to the butter color than a white mantel would have.

Here is a picture of what the wall/mantel looked like before painting it.

The ceiling in this room is vaulted and above the red wall is a plate rack that I display some silk flowers on.

 

Drum roll please....the "Butter" wall and brown mantel.  I also did a bit of rearranging with the decor on the mantel.  Obviously the owls don't pop out as much so I will be hunting for something to put there in place of them.

I replaced the flowers in the vases above the mirror with roses.

Thursday Thoughts

Ten Thoughts This Thursday

1.  I wish...I had more time to complete projects around the house.

2.  I want...to find the perfect pair of white skinny jeans.

3.  I think...this season of "So You Think You Can Dance" is going to be a good one.

4.  I laugh...at the crazy running around our cat, Buzz, does.  He even plays "fetch."

5.  I appreciate...the patience of our daycare provider.

6.  I enjoy...sleeping in and having lazy summer mornings.

7.  I struggle...with getting things checked off my "To Do" list for the summer.

8.  I feel...sad that I won' be able to volunteer in my kids' classrooms this year since I will be going back to teaching full-time for the first time in 7 years.

9.  I recommend...this remix of "Call Me Maybe":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XXKmtM6-oo.

10. I hope...my kids get along today so that I don't have to be the constant referee.

 

New Thrifty Finds

Today I went thrift shopping and boy has it been a LONG time since I've done that.  In fact, I had the whole day to myself...without my 2 kiddos.  I took advantage of an opening at my awesome home daycare that I use during the school year and enjoyed some alone time since school got out in early June. 

I thought I'd share a few of the finds I purchased today. 

The first was this glass jar and top.  It's funny because they don't really go together.  I think the lid is from something else, but they work together and for $1.50 you can't beat it.

The next item I found was this simple wooden crate...is it a crate?  I thought I could either stain it or paint it and this fall, fill it with some small (fake) red and green apples.  I can also envision flowers in it during the spring.  This, too, was around $1.00.

One of the pillows on my couch has colors in it that I am pulling from:  turquoise (muted), mustard, and dark red.  This piece caught my eye because it fell into the "mustard" category.  It was $2.00.

 

The above picture makes it look a bit darker than it actually is.  This picture is lighter and truer.

 

The last piece I purchased today was a candle holder.  I was pretty excited about this one being priced at $3.88.  It was hollering "SPRAY PAINT."  The colors are endless, but I will probably stick to something close to the natural color..maybe rubbed oil bronze at this point.  Some day though, when I want it for another place, I would love to spray paint it a vibrant color.

This is the truer color...in the natural light.

 

So there you have it--my thrifting for the day and all for under $10.00.  

Hopefully soon I can write another post about how I am utilizing all of the things I bought today.