Mike's birthday and thrifting

My wonderful husband, Mike, is 56 years old today. We went out to breakfast this morning. I'm not sure what we're doing for dinner. We usually go out on Friday, mostly the Taco Bell or diner route. I offered to make him burgers, but we'll see what he wants to do.

Meantime, on a totally different topic, I've been thinking of some new clothes for fall. I want to work around green, maroon (or burgundy) and beige. I can make the tops and I even have a green jacket that is almost finished. But I don't like making pants--they never fit right for all that work--so I thought I'd just check Macy's and Sears on line to see what was in style. I also looked at some tops for the heck of it.

Well, pants are pants. I'm pretty conservative so I'd only go for regular-looking ones, not anything with fancy embroidery or cut outs or bling. One thing I prefer is a wider waistband. It sits more comfortably against my stomach, which is hyper sensitive. (I hate elastic, btw.) So there wasn't much that was interesting.

But the tops annoyed me. I'm sorry...$40 for a t-shirt? Just 'cause it has a little bit of ruffling? You're joking, right? I don't care who's name is on it, it's a blasted t-shirt!

Anyhoo, I had about five more bags of 'stuff' to get rid of, so I headed back to the trusty thrift store today. I don't usually have much luck with clothes (most of it is either too shrunken or faded) but today I decided to plow the racks. I found 4 tops that cost me less than $12 for all of them! 2 are tanks, one is a fabric of woven cotton, striped, with three buttons down the front and a collar, and the last one is a peasant blouse in knit. The peasant blouse may end up being a PJ top, but that's okay because I need one for summer.

So here I'm posting again with no pictures. Boring! I have a way now to get my pictures on the computer from the camera, and I have a cute "One-Yard Wonder" project to show off. Next post, I promise!

If you read this far, thank you! I tend to talk too much!

THRIFTY THURSDAY

It's time for "Thrifty Thursday" over at Thrifty Jinxy. Jinxy, btw, is a lovely kitty-cat. Here's the link: http://thriftyjinxy.blogspot.com/

The above photo is my donation. It ain't pretty stuff, but hey, it works!

The red jar used to hold coffee. I painted it with some extra "Fusion" plastic spray paint (great stuff, btw) that I had, then I cut a slit in the side. What's inside? Quarters! Quarters I've been pushing in there for more than a month now. It's almost getting too heavy for me to pick up.

How do I avoid the temptation of dipping in there for spending money? I glued the top on! I'll have to cut the jar open to get the money. I plan to do that in December, and put whatever I have saved towards our family Christmas gift (a DVD recorder)! I threw in a twenty dollar bill just for fun. I have no idea how much is in there--for all I know, it's barely fifty bucks. But that would be fifty bucks I wouldn't have otherwise.

Quarters, I decided, are better to save than smaller coins. They add up faster. Mike gave me almost 2 dollars' worth yesterday, and I found another 2 dollars in quarters on my son's floor. (I consider it a tip for the maid--that's what he gets for having a messy bedroom floor.)

Okay, on to the funny paper. That is how I list my coupons. I don't cut coupons. I keep my circulars in a binder, each in a plastic sleeve. Each week, I make lists of what I have in each circular, with the date at the top. It doesn't take me long--I only list what I will use. (If I think one of our clients' at Dr. A's office can use something, I bring those coupons in to work).

I have 3 columns: Under $1, $1 and VHV (Very High Value). I list the coupons not by type but by worth. Nobody here doubles dollar coupons, but there is one store here that sometimes triples up to 99 cents!

You'll see there are colors. I use Pink highlighter for Health & Beauty, Green for Food and Blue for Household. It makes it easier to see what I have. When I use a coupon, I simply cross it off the list.

I keep the highlighters, a pencil and scissors in a zipper pouch right in the binder, so they are always on hand. I keep 'loose' coupons, like ones cut from magazines, in another zipper pouch in the back, and always remember to check it.

So that is my Thrifty Thursday post--I hope you join Jinxy, too!

Sew Crafty Friday and Thrifty Stuff

It's Sew Crafty Friday at Shereen's blog again... http://w8ng4him.blogspot.com/ I don't have much to donate. This is a blouse I'm working on for the fall. I made this pattern twice before with short sleeves, but found I didn't like the neckline. I don't like things that poke me in the neck. So I made a slight V-neck instead and will leave off the collar. I might put a placket down the front, like a dress shirt, and some braided trim around the neckline. Not sure what color buttons I'll use, but I'm aiming towards black.

My thrifty buys are from the trip to PA. There's a cute spice rack I got for a dollar--probably because two corks are missing. I have put my 'baking spices' in it. I liked the roosters!

In the second pic : an old Mason jar full of buttons. I've gone through them (button collections are like ball pits for grownups, I think) and there are some really nice ones--even enough of some to actually use on a garment.

The pattern is for a little girl's dress. No copyright date but it's definitely 50s. They really knew the right way to dress a little girl back then--I love a full skirt and a sash!

There's a pink and white crocheted trivet. It is twisted with a kind of pleat and is very dimensional.

I'm not sure if the thing underneath is a napkin. The crocheted edging makes me think otherwise. There were 3 to the package. I just like the rainbow edge!