~ Of Hassles & Tassles ~

So ... taking advantage of what little space was left after I plunked a very large piece of furniture right in front of a window ... I added curtains that I am oddly pleased with, considering the weird placement circumstances. (Go here for an explanation, if you must.)

Then ... to my utter delight ... I found this lovely, ornate tassle that matched the colors of the curtains in primo fashion. On sale. At Stein Mart. Woo. Hoo.

Then ... (yes, even more fun ensues), Mrs. Gee found this darling outdoor set (for the young set) that matches the adirondak style of my porch, for a whopping deal on Amazon. There was a small glitch however. Neither of us noticed that in very small print at the bottom of the screen that the set ... which was pictured in white and exactly what I wanted ... actually only came in red. You can imagine my shock when I opened the box. I didn't return them because Mr. Gee is so fond of them and frankly I am too, but still ... a little bit annoyed, I'm not gonna lie. Would you be??

Oh who cares?!? I still love my patio and even more I love the luscious spring weather we have been enjoying.

Have I mentioned how much I love living with open windows and heavenly breezes? Aaaaaaah.

Project: Every Which Way

So ... I have one or two (or three) projects on the table (and the floor.)
They pretty much all make me happy.

#1: Project Fun-Way: My next sample for BC Quilter's Club for September and October. I will be using hand applique. What makes me happy about this is that a) it's a very traditional pattern (normally seen in Civil War fabs and such) but I'm using some bright happies, and b) I really love hand applique.

#2: Project Stun-Way: I bought these new nautical looking sheets, and already had a duvet cover and shams (in foreground) with similarly matching stripes. Today I bought this (rather cheap-o) dust ruffle (on left) that I will now add some blue satin-stitched stripes to, which will complete the ensemble. Not so cheap-o anymore. (Ergo: happiness.)

3#: Project Un-Done-Way: I spent over 2 hours on Saturday adding these sashing strips to another quilt in progress. I wasn't thrilled. Today when I walked up and saw it on my wall and found myself still without thrill, I ripped those puppies off and will be starting anew with sashing that thrills me. What makes me happy about this? That I had the guts to just rip 'em off like a band-aid, before I went any further.

How about you? What Projects are sending you Running this Way and That?

Why, I believe I feel cooler already ...

So ... Pam of PKM fame mentioned this morning that she is beginning to sound, ahem ... older ... due to the fact that she is obsessed with discussing the weather. Count me in. Seriously, it's hard to find other blog-worthy material when sweat is dripping onto the keyboard.

And other more unpleasant places.

In order to take my mind off the swelter (and pick up a 32 ounce Fountain Drink at Circle K for only 75 cents) I found my way to a couple of my favorite bargain haunts: The Half-Priced Book Store and ... duh ... TJ Maxx. At HPBS I picked up this less-than-a-year-old book that actually released a breeze from its pages when I opened it the first time. Seriously. Take a gander at that jar of sea glass. If you look closely you will see a pair of blue-tinted sun glasses peeking out.

Aaaaah. More breezy-ness.

Then at TJM I found these heavenly blue notecards. From Crane. With a heavenly price that was not originally assigned by Crane. Someday I will write a note on them. From the beach. Feeling breezy. This brings us to the two most important questions of the day:

How are you managing to cool off? and

How often do you take advantage of a 75 cent* FD at Circle K? (Did you know you can get an even better deal (64 cents*) at QT where they used filtered water?) One day you will thank me for these practical bits of life-altering wisdom.

*these prices are including tax (.59 + tax = .64 and .69 + tax = .75). The fact that I know this off the top of my head does not bode well for my relationship with my FDs.

boxes and baskets and bargains, oh my

So ... a couple of weeks ago I was at the Teacher's Meeting, rapidly sewing the binding down on this quilt before they got to my part of sew-and-tell. I had brought with me my "carry-around-hand-sewing-tools" container which had previously held some Cottonelle Wipes. Some good friends sitting near me had the audacity (the audacity, I tell you) to make fun of my container. They are still my friends.

Sigh.

But last week while perusing the cheapo-bins at JoAnns, looking for goodies for Mr. Gee and Miss Dub, I came across this enchanting little box, which ... if it were a bolt of fabric ... I would have snatched up in a heartbeat. The green, the blue ... so me. As you can well imagine, the Cottonelle container has been disposed of.

Oh ... and here is the May block for the Bunny Hill BOM. Such fun I had! But, if it concerns you (as it obviously does me) I will be re-doing the "feelers" to be longer, thinner and in a dark blue instead of black. I'm a little ... tightly wound ... as they say, when it comes to these things.

So there you have it. A very cheap box and a very free block. Don't ever say I'm not looking out for you.

Nuts

So ... I bought a new lamp. I could not believe what a fantastic find it was.

* Right size. Check.
* Cool suede shade. Check.
* Hip woodsy theme. Check.
* Takes a 3-way bulb. Check.
* On sale for a smokin' deal. Check.

While waiting in line at TJ Maxx, conversing with my fellow line-waiters about how I had the buy of the century, it suddenly dawned on me that there was one small flaw with my new lamp. Because of the brown suede lampshade, I knew that it was not going to emit as much light as it's predecessor. And I worried that PDaddy was going to miss that light because ... well ... I tend to go for a lower-light-ambience than he does.

The first night he didn't notice the lamp or the lack of light. (The blazing light from the Christmas tree from across the room probably helped out.) But sure enough, the next night, the following actual conversation took place:

PDaddy: "Is that a new lamp?"
Me: "Yes ... do you like it?"
PDaddy: "Sure."
Me: "I am well aware that it has one major flaw."
PDaddy: "You mean ... that it's a squirrel?"

I love that man.

Would you get married in these pillows?

So ... the other day I was applying (as in applique-ing) the umpteenth leaf to a new quilt I was working on, when I had the following epiphany:

"Why the heck do I keep cutting up my fabrics into these teeny-weeny pieces? Is it possible to sew with ... larger .... more visible ... pieces of fabric? Is it?

So I immediately dropped what I was doing (oh, I have every intention of going back to it ... don't you worry your pretty little heads) and made these pillow slipcovers to brighten up my family room. I loved every minute of it. I love the red and I love the green.

Then today while browsing through my local Stein-Mart, I came across these more-than-charming flip-flops that have a similar red/green thing going for them. They were on sale but when I got to the check out, they apparently were on sale for even more. As in Five dollars and thirty-two cents (including tax.) More love was infused into the atmosphere.

Then ... when I went upstairs to start on yet another non-quilting project, I was an hour into it before I realized that once again I was working the red/green thing. Weird.

And then I remembered that 34 years ago this very summer ... as I was planning my wedding and sewing bridesmaid's dresses, I was indeed working with this same combo. (The bridesmaids wore red/white and the mom's wore green.) I referred to these colors for my August wedding as "apple red and apple green". Let's face it, I was way ahead of my time. Every other bride I knew was dressing her friends in taupey-pinks.

So ... fess up. What were your wedding colors? Go on ... give us the year so we can put in into perspective. And ... If I was doing it over again, should my bridesmaids wear these to-die-for flip-flops?

I am thinking so.

Last Chance !

So ... my bargain hunting weekend knew no bounds. And yes, I am well aware of the fact that as the "bargains" add up, they lose something in the definition. But ... hey ... individually there is no doubt as to their bargain-ness.

If you are lucky enough to live in the Valley of the Sun (aka Phoenix and surrounds) you are probably aware of the bargain-basement mecca known as Last Chance. If you live somewhere else and have vaguely heard of Nordstroms ... then you may also be aware of Nordstrom's Rack. (It's where anything not sold at Nordstroms or returned to Nordstroms, goes to die.)

Or so you thought.

There is one last rung on the descending ladder of Nordstrom's Stuff. One Last Chance. One more place for merchandise to be thrown about by crazed shoppers, making it pretty much unsuitable for purchasing. Unless of course you are patient enough to search for the hidden gem, uncover the seeminly ugly duckling --that is in reality, a rare beauty. (Preparing oneself for this venture involves much deep breathing and a few calisthenics.)

In the past, Last Chance only carried clothing (shoes were always the first place to forage through.) But lately they have carried some household items as well. On Saturday I did my exercises and gathered my strength ... and was richly rewarded. I uncovered these pillow shams (with tags that said "Bloomingdale's Home" -- go figure) for less than 5 bucks a piece. Are they not so charming?

I also uncovered a swell pair of Cole Haans. But that's another post.

What's your best Last Chance find? If you don't live here ... how much do you wish you did?

S-BOX

So ... today I took a little side trip to one of my favorite bargain hunting arenas -- a series of thrift/antique/secondhand stores. I have to be in the mood for such a foray and I usually have some sort of goal in mind.

Today's goal: RED

I came upon this little number and was instantly smitten. It had the red thing going for it, it was sweetly vintage and -- although I didn't immediately know what its function would be -- it had the possibility to be a storage receptacle of some kind.

But not for bread. Definitely not for bread. Because even though it is ... a breadbox ... (which I figured out because it was neither bigger than nor smaller than one) I knew my family would be creeped out by the thought of placing our bread where someone else's bread had been.

Many, many years ago when I first discovered such stores, I bought a small needlepoint pillow and had the audacity to place it on the couch. The children were horrified. (PDaddy pretty much never noticed it.) They wondered how we could possibly touch something when we didn't know who had owned it. After all ... maybe some mass murderer had owned it? And for many years after that it was known as the "murderer's pillow". True story.

So I am going to use my special red box as a fireplace receptacle to hold matches and candles etc. (It's pretty hard to open and that will be a safety feature for the l'il ones.) I am hoping the children will approve. Because ... seriously ... how many murderers are into sweet red and white breadboxes?

Make new ones, but definitely keep the old

So . . . along with using this opportunity to show off this -- one of my all-time favorite flea-market type bargains -- I want to talk about friends.

I like them.

I am hoping they like me, which I am kind of assuming they do because the mere definition of "friends" would seem to encompass both sides of this coin.

Yesterday I had the chance to have a quick lunch with seven of my nearest and dearest. That quick lunch turned into 2 hours and as I drove home I marvelled at the blessings that are . . . friends.

That's it for today, folks. I got nothin' more.

But what I do . . . got . . . is friends.

How 'bout you?

Frugal Schmugal

So, here's my story about how "frugality" . . . has . . . issues, but ultimately a happy ending:

A few weeks ago, while browsing at Anthropologie (and heading straight to the sale table like any self-respecting "frugaler") I happened upon some absolutely delightful . . . shower-curtain -hanger-thingies. There were 12 to the box, they had crystal-door-knob-like attachments and although regularly 35 bucks, they were marked down to a mere $7.95. Seven dollars and ninety-five cents, people. I had no idea what I would do with them, I just knew I had to have them.

After attempting to figure a way to use them as hooks in my sewing room (and failing), I posed the question as to what to do with them to this daughter. (Stop. Finish reading this post before clicking over to hers, because once you do, you will want to read every single one of her posts and you will want to start at the very beginning. In fact, I insist that you do.)

She suggested I use them to hang curtains. Taking one look at the curtains in my bedroom (which were as old as dirt and a little bit covered in it), I knew her suggestion was perfect. I also came up with my own brilliant idea to actually use lovely . . . shear . . . ethereal . . . shower curtains as the curtains. My windows are rather narrow and I figured that one shower curtain would do it.

I headed straight to my local Target and purchased not one but two new curtain rods (with crystal knobs on the ends to mirror the effect of the . . . thingies), which cost $15.00 each. I purchased one lovely shower curtain to the tune of $20.00 and promptly came home and realized that I would need another one.

Lucky for me, my very handsome, handy-man son (he is an architect and he comes with his own set of tools) was willing to hang the new rods for me for the low, low price of lunch at In-N-Out. (11 bucks for the two of us.)

I could not be happier about the results. I admit I was a tad worried that our bed would now look as if it was placed between two . . . showers, but it doesn't. And the curtains are so lightweight that the ceiling fan causes them to flutter as if by some breeze. A breeze, people. I live in Arizona and I live for a breeze.

So, the moral of this story is this: A $7.95 bargain ended up costing me upwards of 100 smackeroos (if you count the lunch at In-N-Out, and believe me, that cost me more than money).

And . . . I don't care. End of story.