Clif Bar Deal at Soap.com

I had a $14.50 credit from Soap.com.  I had ordered some detergent at 50% off and it never made it to me because it leaked in transit.  Soap.com refunded my money and gave me a credit for the amount of the discount, very nice of them.

I found a code for $10 off Clif bars (FBCLIF).  My college son likes these for breakfast when he is in a hurry. I got two boxes at a total of $28 minus $10 code minus the $14.50 credit and free shipping... Max will be able to take two boxes back to school and it cost only $4 out of pocket.  What a great deal.

Couponing Works, whadda know...

I have been collecting the Sunday paper coupons for a while and I guess it was my first step into field....
I have been following Hip2Save.Com and Couponmom.Com  and they make it so easy to save MONEY.  I like the combo of both sites.  Couponmom allows you to check the items you want on your list to print something to take to the store and Hip2Save shows you how to "stack" coupons and use the rewards systems to your advantage.

I am sure with time I will get quicker in organizing, it took me about 35 minutes to get ready to go.

I just got back from Rite Aid.  Not everything I bought was something I had a coupon for.  I needed to get some extra stocking stuffers for the boys.  I spent $42 and received $15 for my next visit === $27.
Additionally, I saved with coupons $39.  Not too bad...

For example:
L'Oreal go 360 Clean was buy one get one 50%
Total for two was $10.47
Minus two $1 coupons  = $8.47
Minus $5 rewards when buy two  == $3.47
or $1.75 each or 75% off the normal price

Christmas Presents on the Cheap III

Here is another great deal!  Bath and Body Works sent us a card in the mail but you can find it on-line too (check Hip2Save.com, she may have a link).

Alex wanted to give Gramma some lotion since she liked what he bought her last year.  Anyway, the coupon is weird because you spend $10 and get a $13 product free.

He bought:  Pillow Spray to help you sleep  $10
Got: Lotion to help you sleep $13
and had another coupon for a free hand sanitizer

He spent $10 (plus tax) for $24 of product plus they gave him the bag and ribbon.

A couple of good finds

On our way to our Church's Christmas concert, No. 1 son and I stopped at Goodwill.  I rarely walk down the Christmas aisle as I have too much Christmas stuff already.  The other aisles were crowded, so down the Christmas aisle I went.  Saw this ziplock bag of crystals, very heavy and taped up so I couldn't open.  I figured for a couple of bucks they might look nice on the tree.  I found out this morning they are lead crystal prisms! Yippee and there were 72 in the bag.

The other thing was this ice bucket.  I have no idea if old or not but the label on the bottom does look old and no bar code.  I am preparing for the Prayer Pal brunch at our Church on Sat and I thought this would be nice.

Looking for ideas for the crystals after Christmas.  Any craft ideas out there???

Free Christmas Presents

Walmart is selling these gift packs for $9.00 and they include a free magazine subscription.  You can send the card inside the package back to  Conde Nast and they will send you a check for $9.99

You will have to remove the card prior to giving the gift but the recipient may not notice or you can take it all out of the box and make a gift basket.  

FREE SHIPPING TOO!

There are several sets and a Venus Set too.

I don't know to include a full size picture from their website.

 

The Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Gift Pack includes the perfect group of products to give your hair the moisture it needs. As an added bonus, the Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Gift Pack includes a one year subscription to Allure Magazine or any one of five other publications. Valued at over $23.00.

• Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Herbal Shampoo (12 oz.)
• Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Herbal Conditioner (12 oz.)
• Secret Ooh La La Lavender Body Mist (1.0 oz.)
• Trial version of Herbal Essence Totally Twisted Gel

Vintage Aprons are so cool

I went to an estate sale and found these aprons buried at the bottom of a tub of fabric scraps.  I went on the last day so everything was half price.  I cannot believe they were overlooked for three days.  I can just picture the 50's fashionable housewife (like Mad Men) in her dress and pearls wearing the blue and white hankerchief apron while serving cocktails to her guests.

Christmas Presents on the Cheap II

We decided to really cut back and have a $10 LIMIT per person.  It has been a fun challenge to see how much I can get for $10.  I cheated a little on this one and spent $12

Victoria Secret:
Lace Turtleneck reg $49 for $12
Lip Gloss reg $7 free
FREE SHIPPING
plus a gift card worth at least $10 but could be up to $100.

WHAT A DEAL!!!

Holiday Gift for my Prayer Pal

My secret Prayer Pal at church has a wonderful blog and it's been good for me to get to know her through her blog. We need to bring a gift to exchange at our Christmas Brunch.  I found these pitchers and think one would be perfect for her.  Can't decide which one to give her.

Fall Break with MadMax

MadMax doesn't like to make the drive from School to Atlanta for a long weekend so we met at the lake for Fall Break.  On Saturday, we went to Walhalla for an auction preview and hit several yard sales on the way back.  Most were a complete waste of time.  I did find this vintage fabric, along with a lot of yardage of three different solid fall colors and a bag of lace and rick rac for $1.

We went back to auction that night.  It is a true adventure in people watching.  It is cheap entertainment.  Max really didn't like the three dealers sitting in front of us.  He particularly didn't like the way one of them thumbed through Southern Living during the whole auction and then would kind of wiggle her fingers like she was making a fist when she bid.  Funny how he reacted.  He had a good night and found $30 (no one claimed it) so his net cost was good:  Ikea looking magazine rack ($2.50), a small shelf for his closet ($1), a powder horn and leather wadding bag, feed sacks with Indians, and a college kids dream --- an entire sleeve of Heineken coasters from the 70's and another sleeve of Pabst Blue Ribbon Coasters from the 70's in box lots of other stuff.

I bought a few box lots:  Buttons, Empty wooden thread spools, spools of thread on wooden spools, two vintage glass pitchers with flowers, and boxes of ephemera.  Spent around $30 plus had a great time, better than dinner and a movie.

Here are pictures of a few of them:

Buttons (plus another bag of buttons on cards)

This is my favorite button.  Doesn't it make you want to know what the dress looked like that this was on?

A Giant spool of thread, I am sure it was from a mill.  Love the wood.

This little sewing kit was in one of the box lots too.  Given the color of the tube and the color of the thread, I think it may have been military.  There are no markings though.  The little tube of needles fit through the hole in the spool of thread with the thimble on top.  Kind of cute.

Looking for Christmas presents on the cheap

Our family is changing our Christmas gift giving this year.  We usually have an all day orgy of present opening.  The kids are nearly grown and don't need much.  Mom, Sister 2 and I met with my son and her middle daughter and we decided on a $10 limit per person.  It will encourage creativity and limit over spending.

I decided for her daughters to give them a treasure chest full of cosmetics, beauty products, etc. by using coupons and samples.

I found this great site from hip2save.com, Rue La La.  I don't know if they are still doing it, but I got a $20 credit for signing up.  Yesterday, I bought a FOUR piece Laura Geller Lip Shiner set for EIGHTY FIVE CENTS!  What a frugal way to make the gifts for the girls, the retail on each one is $16,  $64 value for 85 cents.

Order Subtotal:	$10.90
Tax:	+ $0.00
Shipping:	+ $9.95
My Credit:	- $20.00
Order Total:	$0.85

It looks like Sunday night it the night to get bargains.  It is great that the $20 credit could be used for shipping.


Sister #1

Birthday Present for my Mom

With all the Halloween projects out there, I know this seems a little bit out of season.  For my mother's birthday (she's getting it today), I made this bunting for her.  It is really long.  She loves red, white, and blue and of course, Fourth of July is her favorite holiday.  They use their brick patio for entertaining and I thought this would be perfect.  The fabric was thrifted, the denim was from a thrifted pair of jeans, and the binding tape is vintage.   I cut the denim patches, then washed them and dried them to get the worn look.  I wish I had a picture of it put up but it's too long to show in the house.

Pssst: Good Earth Sample

General Mills sent a full size sample today of their new product "Good Earth"  I cannot wait to try it.  I got Mediterranean Chicken, one of four flavors. They also sent a stack of coupons to give away.  If it looks half way as good as the picture on the box, it should be delightful.  Will let you know how it is.

Burt's Bees Grab Bag

Thanks to Hip2Save, I scored a Burt's Bees Grab Bag with FREE SHIPPING!  It is a great value for $20. Listed below is what I got.  It was all in a clear plastic draw string bag.  The total value I received is $48.45, not including the extras like the scrubbie.  I used the price per ounce for the full size product on the smaller samples. The samples are still big enough to put into a gift basket.  I will definitely get this again.

Spearmint & Lime Body Wash                                   $5.00

Natural Toothpaste Whitening                                    $5.00

Beeswax Lip Balm                                                      $3.00

Lip Shimmer Peony                                                    $5.00

Super Shiny Lip Gloss                                                $7.00

Beeswax Lip Balm                                                      $3.00

Radiance Lip Shimmer                                               $5.00

Radiance Night Crème ($18/8) .25 oz                        $2.25

Almond Milk Hand Crème ($9/8) .25 oz                    $1.13

Lip Shimmer Natural ($5/.5oz)                                   $3.00

Naturally Nourishing Milk & Honey ($10/8oz)          $1.25

Vitamin E Body & Bath Oil ($8/4 oz)                        $2.00

Orange Essence Facial Cleanser ($8/4.34oz)              $1.03

Soap Bark & Chamomile Cleansing Crème ($8/6)     $0.52

Coconut Foot Crème ($9/4.34 oz)                              $1.16

Therapeutic Bath Crystals ($10/16 oz)                       $0.94

Fabulously Fresh Body Bar ($4/4 oz)                         $0.80

Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar ($6/3.5 oz)                  $1.37

Bee Nail File

Bee Tin           

Cosmetic Bag

Soft Bath Scrubbie

Small Sample Mens Natural Cologne

Small Sample Muscle Mend Balm

Goodies from the Goodwill Grand Opening

As I mentioned in my Thursday posting, the Goodwill Grand Opening was crazy. I did manage to find a couple of things that I thought were kind of cool.

There were 7 of these snack trays that were clearly Mid-Century.  Not my style but I thought they were really neat and in great condition. Best of all, a bargain at $1.51 for the set.

I am a crafter and needed the brayers/rollers.  The stamps were a great deal although I have more stamps than I could ever use.

 I love these hanging picture frames.  Are picture frames allowed to be soft? Or should I call them something else.  Isn't language an interesting thing, in English it is implied that a picture frame is a rigid item and not these beautiful, soft things.  They are from Natural Life.  I had never heard of them but check out the site, yummy, yummy stuff.  These had an original price tag of $14.99 each on them and I bought for $2.91 for all three.  Such a deal.

All in all, a good five minute stop.

Sister No. 1

American Girl Knitted Hats and Scarves

I belong to "Knitting for Needs of Others" (KNO) group at our church. We meet twice a month for knitting and socializing. We make: Prayer Shawls, blankets for infants being baptized, and.hats and scarves for Norcross Cooperative Ministry. Some knit helmet liners for our troops. This year we are supporting the Crafty Ladies at our church. Annually, they have a holiday craft sale, bake sale, and book sale to support local charities. We are donating our works (other than Prayer Shawls and Blankets). We will then take whatever doesn't sell, to the Co-op.

I knitted all summer and have a huge tub of hats and scarves. I also knitted some of these hats and scarves for American Girl type dolls. How much do you think a fair price would be for these? I am not an efficient knitter so my hourly rate would be really low no matter the price. These are all cotton. Our goal is to sell them so any feed back would help.

Sister No. 1

Goodwill Grand Opening, oh my

Johns Creek got it's own Goodwill today (in the old Steinmart space). I showed up a couple minutes before opening and the line was huge. It was a three ring circus. I know there are nice book "scanners" but none of them showed up today, only the pushy ones. I was so impressed with the Goodwill Staff. I imagine they brought the A-Team in for the opening but they were so professional and NICE.

I didn't spend a lot of time as it was too nuts for my taste. I found one of Ikea's discontinued drawers. I use them in my craft room. It was expensive but since I cannot buy them any more I got anyway. I found a couple of shirts for MadMax. Will post pictures of my goodies later.

Sister No. 1

Stamp and Scrapbooking Consignment Sale

If you live in the area, there is a Stamp and Scrapbooking Consignment Sale this week:

30 Laurel Park Lane, Cumming 30040
09-23-10, 6-8 PM: Sale open to public
09-24-10, 9-2 PM: Sale open to public
09-25-10, 9-2 PM: Sale open to public / Half-price day

This sale is really nicely organized and lots of deals are to be had. Be aware that not all items are half-price on Sat, it is up to the seller.


Sister No. 1

Weekend Find

When visiting the lake, I love to go to the Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store. I don't find a lot there but have found some interesting things from time to time. It is a very busy place and is open only limited hours. I never get there when they open for the week on Wednesdays, I imagine the "good" stuff is gone quickly. I did find this odd thing on Saturday. The picture is a little fuzzy but it appears to be old (the font on the label looks like it is from the 30's maybe). I think it is photo printing equipment but I think it makes a cool picture frame when it is stood up and opened. I only paid $1!

Sister No. 1

Felt Leaf From Dollar Tree

Dollar Tree has these large felt shapes for every holiday. I'm not so much a fan of putting them on the wall or windows. I thought the fall leaf would be a good basket liner. I really like the way this looks with my "flameless" candles. What do you think? Can you come up with any other ideas for these felt decorations?

Sister No. 1