Church Sale Haul Part 2

-2 camp stoves - to donate to Boy Scouts
-metal lunchbox - for an altered arts type project
-7 books - for projects (they will be ripped apart mom)
-Spanish computer course - Shorty wanted the microphone
-Never opened puzzle - for art projects
-Sponge Bob Typing Computer Program
- 2 books of post cards - for trading on Swap-Bot
-2 hats - mine still had $34.00 tag on it
- 3 little dishes - for condiments like sauce for Chinese dumplings
-Orange melamine bowl for fall
-2 new packages jingle bells- to put on hand made ornaments
-ski pole - Shorty wanted it for a walking stick
-10 shirts- guitar hero shirt still had $9.99 tag on it
- 1 mans sweater
and

wait for it

yes
1 mans
toupee! - for our costume tote - the kids do a lot of volunteer work with the Youth Bureau and library - you just never know!

Grand total = $3.60

Afternoon with Shorty and Mr. Left Brain Thinker - Priceless! (He made me say that-really)

And by the way, lunch WAS yummy!

Deja Vous Church Sale Haul Part 1

Ever have one of those days when you look in the mirror and see your much younger self? I'm talking to the over 40 girls now! I just love it when that happens, as it did this morning. It usually occurs when I am feeling particularity happy, and I'm all smiley and glowy. So why am I so happy today you might ask? I am going to Ithaca. I go at least twice and month for the food pantry, and that doesn't get me excited - that's work. Today is the last day of the Unitarian Church sale - everything is .10. Yes, everything is a dime!! Last year I got 47 articles of clothing for $4.70, plus I picked up some free stuff as well. Oh yeah, I also picked up a bunch of LP's that I melted into bowls, forgot about that! Mostly I look for t-shirts for the scrubbies I sell, but I found some other great stuff as well. Mr. Left Brain Thinker and I are taking Shorty (youngest boy) with us, and I'm taking them both to Ithaca Bakery for lunch - Yummy!! If DH wasn't going, we would go to The Commons, but that's not his cup of tea. Too college town hippie for him haha! I will take pictures and post about my finds - that is if I get out of here and go!!

So Much Waste

I run a reclaimed food pantry from my home. Twice a month I travel about 30 miles, pick up food that would other wise be thrown in the trash, drive back home, unload and organize, and then approximately 50 families come to my home to pick up the donations. Most of the food I pick up is bakery and produce items that hours, or even minutes before I loaded it into my van was sitting on the store shelves. The food pictured about would have been thrown in the trash because of one bad strawberry, tomato, blackberry, or lettuce leaf in the package. If you would like to learn more about the reclaimed food organization I volunteer for, or how to start one in your area, please check out the Friendship Donations Network (FDN) website.

Featured Again

I'm always so surprised at the attention my Recycled T-shirt Scrubbers get. They have once again been feature on a blog. This time it is on Andrew's Reclaimed. Andrew makes beautiful items from reclaimed wood, and also sells on Etsy.


Unlike other blogs that are written only to support an Etsy store, Andrew has other interesting information on his blog, like this link to Dumper. You can alter and do all sorts of fun things with photos.

Random Tip #3

With the approach of spring, and all the cleaning that usually takes place this time of year, I think it's a good time for some painting tips.

1. Keep handy a bucket of warm water and a rag for cleaning up mistakes and drips. If you clean up a mistake or drip immediately, even on carpet, you should be able to get it all off using just warm water and a rag.
2. Use an empty coffee can (the plastic kind with a handle) to put paint in while painting trim. When you take breaks, just put the top on. Don't forget to give it a stir when you resume painting because it will separate.
3. When taking breaks, cover rollers and brushes tightly with plastic wrap or grocery store bags. For long breaks, such as over night or longer, put in the freezer. Allow a few hours to thaw before using. For short breaks, a few hours or less, you can slip the entire paint tray into a garbage bag and twist tie shut the opening.

Creative Reusing

About two years ago I picked up my kitchen sponge and said, "YUCK!" for the last time. I asked myself how I could replace it with something I already had. I crochet dishcloths, and those are fine for washing and wiping, but I really needed something tough for scrubbing. With four kids, one thing I always had a surplus of was old t-shirts. That is how the Recycled T-shirt Scrubber was born. That year I gave them as Mother's Day gifts, along with soaps my youngest son and I made, to friends and family. They were such a hit I decided to sell them on Etsy. Well, two years and many, many t-shirts later, I have sold over 475 scrubbers! Of course, I'm not going to get rich off of them, but I have been able to pay a few bills and buy my kids some gifts with the money. I now see other people on line making and selling them. Is copying really the best form of flattery?? Anyway, back to the point. Take a look around your own home and see what changes you can make. Even if I hadn't started selling my scrubbers, I still would have saved about $30 a year from not buying the sponges I was using. Since each scrubber lasts years, I am also saving sponges and t-shirts from the landfill.