Post #99 Giveaway!

Hello!! This is post #99 and I would like to announce the winner of my giveaway for my 100th post.

Its gonna be a custom made item, so I have no picture to show. However...if you'd like to chance it and enter my giveaway just leave a comment here. If you link to me on your blog you'll get an extra entry (if you don't have a blog, you can still enter). Leave your name, whether or not you are a crafter and what your favorite color combination is (remember, it'll be a custom object). **Also, make sure your email address is somehow attached to your comment so I can reply to you!

Its a busy week and weekend as my Mother is coming into town and my youngest's birthday is this weekend. I'll post the winner and a picture of what you've won sometime next week.

Good Luck!!!

Do you stockpile?

So, those of you that know me from Frugal Village won't think I'm odd, but everyone else ~ I hope you will still be my friend and not consider me "that crazy lady with the cereal boxes (or oatmeal in this case!).

I'm a frugal person. My whole life I've loved finding a good deal, but now that I'm running my own household I take this hobby very seriously. Some of my closer friends will tell you that I'm just plain cheap (ahem, Amy Z...are you reading this????) So, in an effort to make the most of my money (so I can buy more fabric!!) I stockpile groceries. I do this so that I can get the things that we use for the lowest price possible. And when I find these rock bottom prices, I buy enough to get my family through until the next big sale. I usually have one big stockpile shop per month and then I just fill in the gaps here and there. It has really helped cut our grocery budget way way way way down. So, I thought I'd share my latest score with you guys.......drumroll, please.

Ben really wanted to be in the picture (and for those of you with eagle eyes ~ yes, I know the calendar on the wall still says June. Its been a busy summer. Don't judge me.) (you can click on the picture for a closer look)

Pictured above is:

~9 boxes of Electrasol Power tabs (.09/ea) ~5 boxes of Aunt Jamima Pancake Mix (.75/ea) ~5 Aunt Jamima Pancake Syrup (.75/ea) ~9 large tubs of Quaker Quick Cooking Oats (1.00/ea) ~21 boxes of instant Quaker Oatmeal Packs (.80/ea) ~3 pkg Jenni-O sweet Italian Turkey Sausage (2.99/ea) ~2 trays of chicken breasts (4.00/ea) ~ this was a needed item and not on sale ~2 boxes of Propel Powder (3.99/ea) ~ a splurge in an attempt to drink more water.

Grand Total (before sale/coupons): $266.86

Total Out Of Pocket: $63.76

Total Savings of: $203.07

If you haven't already tuned out thinking I've completely lost my mind ~ let me know if you'd like to see pictures of the rest of my stockpile ~ or if you would like tips on how to start your own. Truly, its fun! Its like a game, now! :)

More great yard sale finds...

Here are some more great yard sale finds. Reading Lera's blog has made me addicted to vintage pyrex. In my area, all of the little antique shops sell it for about $40 for an average size casserole. Too rich for my budget, but I did find this little darling for ONE DOLLAR at an estate sale. SCORE!!! I also found these adorable little orange & black bowls. I just couldn't resist. They were too cute!

Lookie what found its way to my kitchen table...

I was at a yard sale yesterday and saw this serger for $25. I looked at it and kept coming back to it, I asked her if it still worked and she told me "yup, I've only used it 4 or 5 times. The machine and I just didn't click." She showed me the reciept and she paid $300 for it in 1992. As I was about to pick it up she said "its a great deal if you need a serger." I froze. See, the problem was I didn't need a serger, I wanted one. DH and I have some lofty financial goals in front of us so I decided my serger desire could be put on hold for a while longer. That afternoon I was telling DH about the awesome serger deal. He asked "is that something you would use? what exactly does a serger do?" So, I explained what one is, confirmed that I would, in fact, use one if I had one...but could do everything I wanted to do with the machine I already have.

Jason and Ben went out to run errands and as I was folding laundry and talking to my dad on the phone, they came in and Ben was yelling "Mooooommmmyyyy, we have a surprise for yooooouuu!!!" I was instructed to sit down and close my eyes and that's when I met my new friend.

......now if only I had a single idea of how to even begin to turn it on, thread it, make it run...hhhmmm.

Let Freedom Ring

My favorite song...

of all time. ever. I love this song. It spoke to my soul the first time I heard it (sometime my freshman year in college). This song has seen me through some tough times and it still inspires me today. For your listening pleasure: ( I couldn't post the actual music video as its protected...but thankfully these girls allow anyone to film their shows and share the videos!) :)

I have naked windows

~ and I want to do something about it. I have become addicted to The Nester's way of decorating. I think its time I start mistreating, don't you? So, I'm looking for insipration and ideas....anyone? anyone? What type of fabric? What type of mistreatment? Thankfully I know Sarah in person and she's agreed to help me decorate (remember that promise you made months ago? I'm calling you out!). Sarah's mistreatments are beautiful and I want her to make my house beautiful, too!

The Kitchen ~ the counters are a cobalt blue tile with white grout . There is a lot of warm wood (ceiling, floors, cabinets) and the walls are khaki colored (painted the same throughout the whole house).

This is the master bedroom. There is another large picture window like this on another wall. It also has a swag draped over it like this one. I HATE them. Can you do a mistreatment over a curtain rod?

The sliding glass door (back in the corner) is opposite of our large picture window (in the next picture), but also right next to the dining area of the kitchen.

This is the living room/family room. The couch is a hunter green (I'm standing on the brick hearth in the previous picture, so there is a burgandy wall opposite the window).

We aren't sure if we're keeping the couch or getting something else.

I'm also painfully aware of my naked walls. These pictures were taken while our house was on the market and we had removed all of our personal effects. I didn't care for them anyway....I think I'll hang some quilts around on the walls.

Ok....let the ideas flow! :)

Getting put in my place

Wednesday was our first day of Kindergarten.....

My baby started Kindergarten on Wednesday. Time sure does fly ~ it feels like just yesterday I was bringing home the smallest human being I had ever seen (I came to find out later that a 9 lb 5.2 oz baby does not qualify as small...) Now that he's a big Kindergartner, he seems to know everything ~ he explained to me in the car (on the way to his first day) that Daddy is "in control" of the family because he works and I do not. hhhmmm. (let me explain how this conversation came up in the first place~~ I mentioned that it had taken me just 5 minutes to get up to the school the day before. Jason thought it would be funny to "bet" how long it takes us to get there. Being as Jason was driving, he looked at me and said "who's in control here?" ~ no, I did not place a bet....so Ben decided to answer Daddy's question of "who was in control") Daddy seemed to find great humor in this revelation and I thought the man might actually pee his pants he was laughing so hard. I explained to my dear child, that while I don't necessarily leave the house regularly or get paid, like Daddy does, I do in fact work ~ hard. He said, "well, you pick up toys and you wash my clothes and you cook, but that's not work." hhhmmm. Then what is it? So I'm off to buy some bon bons and lay on the couch all day, because evidently I don't work.

Its challenge time!

Giving myself a personal challenge seemed to work well last time. So I thought I'd join in on Finn's New Years Eve Challenge. I have several commissioned quilts due before New Year's, but I'm not counting them as I want this challenge to be all about me. :P

So, I'm setting my goal to finish the following by New Year's Eve:
1. Nine Patch's for swap (due Sept 30)
2. Finish Ainsley's quilt (that poor girl)
3. Get Barney's Blocks quilted & bound
4. Finish the blocks for Alycia's QOV challenge & pillowcases.
4. Start (and finish) a Christmas gift quilt (don't wanna say who its for).
5. Pull fabrics for and decide on a pattern for me as my reward for meeting my goals! :-)

Just remember to breath.....

Well folks, a whollatta stuff's been goin' on around here. Turns out we won't be moving afterall. Because of the limitations the county is putting on us and where the house can sit, where the septic has to be, how much of a setback there needs to be, etc....things just aren't working out the way we want them to and our useable space on our lot just keeps shrinking and shrinking. So, we're gonna stay put for a bit. I just need to remember to breath ~ and drink.

So, I've spent the last several weeks packing our stuff. I'll spend the next several weeks unpacking our stuff. Oh, and we were switching elementary school zones ~ school starts on Wed. Monday is a holiday. I have Tuesday only to get Ben registered and prepared for a new school. So much for morning Kindergarten. Looks like we'll probably be stuck with afternoons. And Carter will be in morning Preschool ~ I'll have to wait yet another year for any child free mornings. Just remember to breath ~ and drink.

But I found something to cheer me up...how fun are these fat quarters? I was just grabbing some that looked cute to me. It wasn't until I got home that I realized they were actually coordinated. Now I'll have to design a cute little quilt for them.