Christmas in June

Remember my post from way back when?  I was desperately wishing (actually obsessing)  for a new camera! Well, after 500 trips to Best Buy and a very patient husband....I finally bought a Nikon D5000.  I thought I was in love with the D90 but once I tested the D5000 out and realized there was not much of a difference the choice was easy.  The D5000 also came with an extra zoom lens which was the big sell for me.

Here are some of the pictures that I have taken with my new camera.  Everything is in full bloom here and I am loving it!

And last but not least, without further ado...making his first blogspot appearance is Rocky the Big Orange Cat. He thinks one day he will be on the cover of GQ.   I hope you all are having a good week! Thank you for all of your wonderful comments and to all of my new followers!!!

I Love Being Thrifty

I had an awesome weekend full of great finds! It just amazes me the things that you can find at a garage sale. I must say I am somewhat addicted to garage sales (just in case you had not noticed). I will get up at the crack of dawn to go to a garage sale. The deals just can't be beat and who wants to pay full price for anything and you meet great people. Here is what I found this past weekend.

I was very fortunate to come across not one but two vintage Coca-Cola crates. You might have seen these at Pottery Barn.. I paid $4.00 a piece for them...Pottery Barn sells them for $24.00.

My next purchase were these fun blue shoes. I love blue shoes! Macy's had Steve Madden blue suede shoes last fall that I absolutely loved. And since I am a thrifty kind of girl there was no way I was going to pay $80.00 for them. I found these little gems for $2.00. 

I bought this glass star for $3.00. It is so unique and pretty!

I found this little coffee table/bench for $1.00.  The person I got it from said she bought it at an auction last week for $1.00 and didn't have anywhere to put it.  She just wanted to get her money back from what she spent on it.  It is a very firm piece of furniture and I am still in complete shock that it was only $1.00. I can't wait to start transforming it!

Breakdown of Costs:
(2) Coca-Cola Crates = $8.00
Blue Shoes = $2.00
Glass Star = $3.00
Coffee Table/Bench = $1.00
Total Cost = $14.00

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Painted Patio Tiles

The painted patio was a lot of work but well worth it. I wasn't sure at the beginning of this project how it would look once it was completed. I am so happy with the results. First, we had to power wash all of the mold and dirt off of the patio.

Once we power washed everything we than filled in the cracks.  We bought the cement filler at Lowes, but any home improvement store would carry it.

After the cracks were all filled and dried we then primed the patio with mold resistant primer.

After the primer dried we painted the patio Valspar Porch and Floor Oil paint. The color is called Chowder. This color was used to make the colors of the lines. On a side note, make sure you use a roller brush that is made specially for cement.  The cement roller brush will make your life a lot easier in the long run. 

After the paint dried we taped the section into 16" X 16" squares.  We left about 8" of the chowder color for the border. We used  1" Frog Tape to tape off our lines.

After the patio was all taped down we painted the entire patio with the second color called, Rusted Earth Valspar Porch and Oil Paint.  

Now, for the part you have all been waiting for.  We pulled off the tape after 24 hours of drying and had this as our end result.

I think it makes the patio look so much bigger and inviting.  Now, I just have to fill it with patio furniture. I am hoping someday that we will be able to build a pergola over the patio.  We hardly have any trees and the extra shade would be nice.

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Weekend Goodies

First of all I apologize for my lack of blogging. Summer is in full force at my house and it is hard for me to pull myself away from the great outdoors. Also, thank you for all of your wonderful comments and to all of my new followers. I am still in shock that I now have 43 followers. Ok, now let's get to the good stuff.

I love these cute whale napkin rings. I think I am going to use them outside on my patio table.  Aren't they just too cute for words?

This little green planter is also going to be used on my patio. I love the colors and the design. The bottom of it says Haeger. I had never heard of this name before. It has brown drip specs in it too. I don't think the picture serves it any justice.

Lastly, this last picture is a Roseville Brown Drip casserole dish. I love the size and color of it.

Breakdown of Costs:
(3) Jar Wooden Lid Canister Set = $1.50 (These will be used for storing ribbons and stamps)
(1) Yellow Picnic Style Table Cloth = $4.00 
(4) Wooden Whale Napkin Rings = $2.50
Roseville Pottery = $2.00
Green Planter = $2.00
Total Cost = $12.00

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Addicted to Garage Sales

Hi my name is Melissa and I am addicted to Garage Sales. I am so excited to share my  great deals with all of you. I was fortunate to go to 3 neighborhood garage sales and a barn sale. 

This is what my little, 1999 Saturn looked like after I hit the garage sales. It was tricky getting that wicker chair in the front seat but by golly I did it. Notice the chair leg sticking out of the window. I had to roll the window down and leave it down in order to get this puppy to fit. At least it didn't rain until the last 5 minutes of my drive home.

Here are some group pictures of all the treasures that I found. I am loving this wicker chair and table. I have already spray painted it and will post about it when I get a chair pad for it.

Here are some close up pictures. I love those ice skates, they are going to be used at Christmas time for decoration. The 2 little tea light lanterns are going to be so cute on my patio.  I have always liked globes but I did not want a big one, found this little guy and it looks perfect on my foyer table.

 I also found 2 jean skirts. I bought them both because I couldn't decide between the two of them.  One is from Old Navy and the other is Silver.  Also, found this black Coach purse for $10.00. I am not sure if it is a real Coach or not but it was still a cute purse.

Here is a better picture of the wicker table.

Total Costs:
Wicker Chair = $10.00
Wicker Table = $10.00
Coach Purse = $10.00
(2) Tea Light Lanterns = $2.00
Ice Skates = $3.00
(2) Denim Skirts = $3.00
Mini Globe = $.25
Total = $38.25

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Gotta Love Modge Podge

Today was the first time I had ever used Modge Podge and I gotta say that I LOVE it!  It is so easy to use and the results are awesome.  I decided that I wanted to do something simple for the 4th of July.  I have a jar in my kitchen that I always try to decorate for each holiday.  While I was at my local Dollar Tree yesterday I noticed these American flag napkins and a light bulb went off in my brain....I could use Modge Podge on these.  I had bought these styrofoam balls and Modge Podge from Hobby Lobby a few months ago. I didn't really have any big plans for them until yesterday.

I first unfold the napkin and cut it into fourths.  I used 1/2 of the napkin to cover each ball with the Modge Podge.  It was a little tricky trying to wrap a napkin around a round object and I soon realized that  it is OK if it is not perfect.  I just took the napkin corners each piece at a time and covered with Modge Podge. Once I had all of my corners taken care of I then applied Modge Podge over the entire ball.

After the Modge Podge dried (takes about 15-20 minutes but if you are going to stack them like I did 30 minutes is better) I stacked them in my jar.  It was a very easy project and the napkins only cost $1.00.  I also thought about maybe stapling or gluing twine to them and hanging them from my patio umbrella. The other nice thing about napkins from Dollar Tree is that they change every season.  You could create these for each holiday. 

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http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/06/stars-and-stripes-party/