Busy Busy

We've been busy working on the bedrooms these past couple of weeks. We got a new bed for our room (heavenly!!) and decided to de-clutter and reorganise the room. It's still not quite finished. We bought a couple of bedside tables from Ikea yesterday so they need assembing and putting in place. They are actually little white metal filing type drawers but will look cute! I'll add a pic when they are in place. I still need one new piece of furniture and need to find just the right piece! And we have also been working on the boys room. Taking out an old shelving unit and deciding on how to re-do the room. Again it's work in progress. We sorted out their toys and junk and took 7 huge bags to the dump. Then got new storage boxes for the rest of their stuff. I found the perfect desk to go in there but it just happened to be probably the only item not in stock at Ikea yesterday!! It's a simple white table top with an assortment of leg styles to choose from. The legs were in stock just not the top. And the whole thing only costs £15.99. Bargain. Once the bedroom are done, we are thinking of getting new carpet for the living room. It's never-ending!

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Expenditure

This will probably not be very exciting for other people! But I want to keep a tally of what I spend (and what on!) just to see where the money goes! It will be interesting just to see how much gets spent on clothes etc throughout the space of a year.

Today we went into Wakefield and I bought a goalkeepers top (football/soccer) for Nathaniel for 50p and a Ferrari F1 tshirt for Zachary (also 50p). I went into the hospice charity shop as they were having a half price sale on all clothes. I bought myself a pair of brown linen cropped trousers and a white with cream and brown striped shirt (go together nicely as an outfit, probably for work). Both items cost a total of £2.88! So that's £3.88 spent today.

Market Bargains

As much as I try not to buy new things (I'm trying to be thrifty and shop at charity shops as much as I can), sometimes you can get better deals elsewhere. I was visiting the market in our little town today and came upon a jewellry stall. There were a few people flocking around so I went over for a nosey (as I do!). The lady on the stall was selling all items for 60p each (about a dollar). The jewellry is ex-chain store stock. The original prices were on them (cheapest was about £2 up to about £10). Well I love accessories and figure I needed some more! So this was my little haul. I'm thinking they would also be great to buy for gifts and put in little boxes.

I love this large silver heart on a long chain. The earrings aren't from the same store but match well enough! And the other necklace looks very classy (it's silver plated)
The stones in this necklace are a vibrant pink. Again the earrings are from a different store but will match okay.
These were hard to photograph! The beads on them both are the purple color as on the earrings. The colours kept coming out skewey when I took the pics!
2 strings of beads, one black, one white and a set of stretchy bracelets.
The metal butterfly on the left hand necklace is quite large and has a good weight to it. On the right are 2 strings of green beads.
Lovely turquoisey blue beads and a pair of orange/red earrings.

So all that for £7.80 as apposed to the original price of $53.00

Charity Shop (Thrift) buys

Sometimes I got to various charity shops and find nothing to buy. Other times I go and find things that I like. And on vary rare occasions I go and LOVE what I buy. They make me giddy. I know that I might be rare in feeling like this, lol. Well I went into a nearby town yesterday and feel like I hit the jackpot with my purchases. I was giddy.

Firstly, I found these brand new and in box jam jars (8 oz size) and pack of gingham patterned lids from Lakeland. They would have cost £8.50 from Lakeland, but I paid £2.00. The lady in the shop said that she'd only put them out on the shelves about a half hour before. I'm thinking of making some homemade salsa and putting them in the jars for gifts. What do you think?

Then I went into a different town and visited a number of charity shops. None of them had anything that really grabbed me UNTIL I got to about the 4th shop. I headed to the book section and found some great crafting books and one in particular had me drooling. It was this book. It is written by Korean designers and is so stylish and inspirational. It's never been used and still has the paper patterns attached to the back. It's one of those books you could stroke all day, lol. It cost me a measely £1.49. I'll definitely be trying to make some of the bags and possibly skirts from this book (the skirts are all written for a size 4 (!!!) so will have to be adapted). There were a few other books (knitting and such) but I didn't think I'd actually use them so left them on the shelves).

After paying for my book and heading towards the door something else caught my eye and had me squealing with delight (internally!). It was a brand new Amy Butler pattern. Now Amy Butler is hard to come by in this country. You generally have to order them from the States and get them delivered. So to find a NEW one in a charity shop is just unheard of!! This pattern makes a layered skirt, an A-line skirt and apron overlay. The possibilities are just mouthwatering!! And the patterns have the directions for sizes US4 up to a US 18-20. So I can make them for anyone, any size!! How fab!! And once again it cost me £1.49. They cost $15.99 in the US and I managed to find 2 on ebay.co.uk for £8.95 and £8.75. So another fab bargain.

Today we ventured to another nearby town, just to get out in the sun really. We had a walk around the shops and I popped into what must have been the most expensive charity shop ever! Mmmm, dresses for £14.99, shirts for £7.99? I don't think so! And bizzarely priced pillowcases. One pair of pretty white cotton pillowcases with embroidery along one edge and fancy edging cost £3.99. Then a plainer pair cost £5.99 and a totally plain pair cost £7.99!! And some small tablecloths were £9.99!! Forget that! I saw a beautiful cotton sheet with a pretty floral pattern that I thought could be transformed intoa skirt or a little girls dress cost £5.99. As much as I loved it, I couldn't bring myself to pay that price so I left it on the shelf. As I was leaving I heard an old lady speaking to some of the shop assistants about what a lovely shop it was. I was so tempted to say 'I should think so at these prices', but I managed to hold my tongue, lol.

So have you bought anything exciting lately??

Check out what others have found at Southern Hospitality and join in the party :)

Nathaniel's Baptism

Well last Saturday was Nathaniel's baptism. It's an event that he has been looking forward to for a long time. We were blessed to have many family and friends attend the service. Nathaniel was baptised by his grandad Vince (my dad). He was baptised in the afternoon and we had a small party afterwards with lots of delicious food. Here are some pictures from the day.

Nathaniel before the baptism. All dressed in white and ready to go :)

With his Grandad Vince (my dad).

Nathaniel and Zachary with their little cousin, Eli.
With my side of the family.

Nathaniel and Zac with mum and dad. I HATE having my picture taken so you are privileged to see these, lol.
With the Brown side of the family.
My nephew Eli with his Auntie Claire (my twin sister)
My sister, Helen, with her husband and son.

Car Boot Bootie

Today was a very special day for a certain 8 yr old in our house, but I'll save all that news for when I have the pictures to accompany my post from my sister. So check back in a couple of days for that!

But I did want to let you know about my great bargain. At a recent car boot sale, I bought my youngest son, Zac, a cute cute suit. And boy does he looks cute in it when he wears a shirt and tie too. He wore it today for Nathaniel's special day (are you curious yet??). Oh yes, I forgot to tell you the price didn't I?? Well I paid £1 for it! Yes, that's right. One pound. What a bargain! I bet whoever sold it bought it for her son to wear probably once for a special occasion. It's like new. Zac will be wearing it for church every Sunday. What a smart boy he'll look.