Thrifty Treasures Monday: What A Haul!

Okay... So I’ve officially decided to designate Monday as:

 (Being as I always seem to post on my weekend’s yard-sale/thrift-store finds anyway!) Honestly, I tried to find an “M” word to match with “Monday”, but couldn’t. (I didn’t really want “Miserly” or “Miserable”… LOL!! So if you have a better idea, please let me know!

This week’s was, hands-down, my best ever yard sale haul EVER!

Not only did I get to cross two big things off of my “furniture-I-really-really-need” list, but I got it all for INCREDIBLE prices! But first, I’ll show you some of the smaller, but still really neat, deals I got (although there were quite a few things I forgot to snap pics of, like the new-with-tags necklace or the Clifford the Big Red Dog Reading computer game that I got for a dime apiece, or the $2 microwave, as well as some summer clothes for each of the little monkeys J):

First, I found a matching (yes, MATCHING! Can you tell I’ve never had lampshades that match before?) pair of brown linen Target lampshades—one still in its original plastic! They didn’t have a price on them, so when I asked the very nice rummage sale lady how much they were she said, “$2?” (Yes, the question mark was in her voice—I believe in quoting verbatim!) As it just so happened, I was down to, literally, my last change for the day, and I had about $1.05—including all my pennies! I really felt bad asking if she would take only $1 for this lovely duo, but thankfully, she accepted!

This lovely frame was another $1 find (yes, I took the tag off as soon as I took the photo J). It actually found its own place as I was carrying my many purchases into the house—I was looking for a safe place to set it down (with three little kids, you really do have to be careful where you lay things!) and decided to hang it over my clock “for now”… and wouldn’t you know, I loved it! It brings just the extra needed dimension to my desktop vignette J

Here is more of the haul! The large oval mirror (25¢) will get a new frame color, and probably get listed on eBay or Craigslist J-- although if I’m feeling really ambitious, I might actually turn it into a chalkboard first (using more of the paint leftover from this project)! The pillow I plucked out of a “FREE” pile mainly to use as a pillow form (you can NEVER have too many of those, right?)

I fell in love with the clock’s industrial style, even though it was rather smothered in kitten stickers when I found it J.. but for 50¢, it was worth having to do a little scrubbing to get them off! The map (25¢) gets added to my giant map stockpile that I’m accumulating for the boys’ room—I’m working on doing an adventure/travel theme, complete with an entire wall of maps! (Sort of like this one from FreeStylinBeth.com) The Coca-cola placemat (10¢) is for my brother and soon-to-be-sister-in-law, who are collecting Coke memorabilia. J And the fishnet (75¢) will probably do a stint as part of my summer decorating before finding a permanent home in our church’s men’s restroom (which is decorating in an old-time fishing theme).

Now on to the BIG deal of the day! These dining room chairs were one of the BIG cross-off-my-list finds. I’ve been scouring Craigslist, thrift stores, and garage sales for sets of chairs to paint for a LONG time, but they were all wayout of my pocket-change budget! (Hey, even $10 apiece adds up when you need multiples!) So when I spotted these solid-wood beauties at a garage sale on Saturday, I figured they’d be out of my price range as well (especially seeing that everything else at the same sale was ridiculously over-priced). So when the young lady handling the purchases came back and told me that they were $5/apiece, I just about fainted! She even ended up throwing in the broken 5^th chair for free, so I purchased all 5 for $20!!! Wahoooooo! They’re amazingly comfortable, and also incredibly light (considering that they’re solid wood—cherry, I think…) Look for these beauties to be gracing my dining room soon, in a new, light coat of paint!

My most exciting find, however, was my last purchase of the day. I had spotted this console table early in the day at a garage sale, marked $7.50. He was in pretty shabby shape, however, so I left without him. I spent the rest of the day kicking myself for passing it up, as I’ve been looking for a console/buffet for my dining room for a looong time, and only weeks ago I had seen the exact same one at Shopko, on sale for $99.99!


(Some brilliant person decided to slather wood-glue on every joint, as well as glue the drawer shut!)

 So on my way home I swung by the house where the sale had been. They were all closed up, but when I asked the gentleman outside if they had sold the table, he shrugged and told me to come inside and take a look. Sure enough, there it was, and when I asked if he would take $5 for it, he practically jumped at it! So I ended my day driving slowly home, with the back hatch of my Suburban open and the table precariously perched and ratchet-strapped in the back! (Remember, I already had 3 kids and 5 dining room chairs crammed in there!)

Really, how do you resist this hardware? I’m thinking I’m going to have to mix me up some chalk paint ASAP (using THIS recipe for homemade chalk paint I found—where else-- on Pinterest)! What do you think?

All in all, not a bad day, and not a bad haul for about $35! :D

P.S. Thanks, Rhoda, for featuring my great chair deal on Thrifty Treasures Sunday at Southern Hospitality!

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