A Goodwill Shopper Scores Again

 

I shop at Goodwill for the fun of it.

But this lady hit the Goodwill jackpot.

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/painting-bought-for-9-99-at-goodwill-valued-at-15k.html

WOW!

Goodwill comes through - again.

Did you read this post?
http://grammygoodwill.blogspot.com/2012/05/i-think-im-back.html
If you did, then you know I've been on the lookout for a kangaroo. (If you didn't read the post before or check out the link, I bet you're really curious now, aren't you?)

Saturday, hubby and I went to several yard sales, but there weren't any kangaroos to be found.

Before we went home, he suggested we stop at a few Goodwill stores. The first one is 2 miles from my house. Guess what we found?

Isn't she cute? And can you believe we (hubby) found her so close to home? Now I'm the one who always says that I can find anything at Goodwill, but even I was feeling doubtful about this pursuit.

See that pretty pink butterfly?

Guess what happens when you pull it?

Isn't that just the cutest thing?

The price was right, too. Just $1.95 ~ not a bad price to make my dad happy.

God spoke to me at Goodwill.

On my way to Goodwill today, I passed a young man walking down the street. I idly wondered where he was going.

I found a few treasures in the store and went to check-out. That same young man was also checking out. Of course I don't have a picture of him, but he was dressed as so many young men are today. He had his cap on backwards with a baggy shirt and pants around his hips. He had tattoos on his neck and forehead.

As he paid for his white oxford shirt and khaki pants, he commented that he needed some clothes for church. He said last week he wore his "street clothes" ~ his words, not mine ~ and he felt uncomfortable.

I told him how uncomfortable I feel when I wear pants on Sunday. We agreed that the other church people don't care what we wear, but we still felt uncomfortable.

He then said to me, "Some people don't believe I go to church, but I do."

Judge not, that ye be not judged.   Matthew 7:1

Does God ever speak to you  in unusual places?

Snow(man), snow(man), go away.

If you read yesterday's post, you'll know that I haven't exactly kept up with everyone else in blog land. As my preacher grandfather used to say, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."

I want to be just like all of you and make wonderful projects to decorate my home. So, when I saw this at Goodwill, I immediately thought, "This is so easy anybody I can make this."  I bought the snowman prototype (Doesn't that sound impressive?) and forgot about it put it in my tub of January decorations.

Last week - remember, I'm behind - I opened my January tub so I could decorate. This was on top.

My first step to make to copy this was to find the right jar. I was happy when I found a jar that already had a black lid. That was one less thing I would need to paint.

I assumed the inside of the jar had been painted white, so I had my paintbrush in hand and the white paint ready. Imagine my surprise when I took off the lid and discovered this:

The previous snowman builder hadn't painted the jar at all but had stuffed it with sparkly material. If you go back and look very closely at the other pictures, you can see that he does have a certain sparkle to him.

Then, reality hit me like a wet snowball.

 

First of all, many of you had already begun posting Valentine decorations. Once again, I was behind before I had ever started.
Next, I had snowman decorations that I didn't plan to use. Why would I make something else?

Common sense prevailed. In keeping with my plans to de-clutter and de-stress, the snowman went to Goodwill and the jar went in the trash.

I think I've jinxed us because the snow missed us this week.

Have you changed your mind about any projects?

I'm linking up with Shannon
http://cozyhomescenes.blogspot.com/2012/01/your-cozy-home-party-3.html

Are you a shopper or a dropper?

Do you know Flylady?

http://flylady.net/

One of her favorite sayings that I've taken to heart ~
you can't organize clutter.

This was what my car looked like Friday before I dropped off my clutter donations at the DAV thrift store.

See this basket of ornaments? Can you tell some of them are still in the package? I bought those to put in an apothecary jar - like I saw on blogs last year. Nope, I didn't do that.

I know I could use that basket for something, but it had to go, too.

  

Remember those wreaths that swept blogland last year? Yep, I bought the ornaments  - that's them peeking over the big box - but I never bent my coat hanger to make the wreath either.

See the Halloween pillows? It hurt to donate those, but I really am downsizing.

Oh, and that big box is full of plastic Christmas balls. For a couple years, hubby climbed on a ladder - usually in the snow - to hang those on our only tree in the front yard. Did you hear that huge sigh of relief from hubby when I told him he wouldn't have to do that any more?

This was not my first car load. 

http://grammygoodwill.blogspot.com/2011/12/tis-season-for-goodwill.html

The stores love to see me  ~  I'm either shopping or dropping (off stuff)!

Are you a shopper or a dropper?

Laundry Room Updated

This morning I posted about the plans for my laundry room.
http://grammygoodwill.blogspot.com/2012/01/laundry-list.html

I finished everything I wanted to do, not without some snags and funny, if painful, moments, and I can't wait it share it with you.

Here is the list I made yesterday and put on the door. I did all of them except paint the towel rack.

 This is how the floor looked before I scrubbed it.

Can you see the difference? I am just thrilled with how, well, clean it looks. I waxed it this morning.
Then I ran out to buy paint, a towel, and look at rugs.

I always forget that nothing is open at our mall until 9:30, so I went to KMart. I know some people don't like it, but I can usually find what I need there. This time was no different. I found the spray paint I needed, a plain hand towel, and then I saw them. While I didn't want to spend anything on this redo, I couldn't walk away from these rugs. They were on sale for $11.49, I think.

Then I ran in A.C. Moore (for paint) and Stein Mart. Look what I found there.

You need to know that almost all of my house is decorated in orange and maroon. This rug also had the green I had decided to use for my "pop of color". (Aren't those the most popular words used in blog-land?) It seemed perfect. But I didn't like that it actually said "laundry". I decided to stick with the rugs I'd already bought.

Next I cleaned the window sill and washed the window.

Previously I had a maroon valance here, but I knew I wanted to use my vintage handkerchiefs. I found the clips at Goodwill for 55 cents.  
Should I paint the curtain rod green?

There is so much white in this room, and I don't like these white shelves. But I really need them. To add color, I used this vintage tablecloth.

I can still hang clothes on the exposed edge.

 Here is my collection of vintage laundry products.

Here are some of my washboards and one of my wooden drying racks.This tub was gray with a random black stripe before I used my spray paint. (It was kind of cold outside, but I was determined!)

Here is the Longaberger picnic basket that I stole bought for $2.95 at Goodwill this summer. I filled it with my collection of vintage table cloths.Then I used this green tub to hold our extra hangers. Did you notice the colors?

My clothes ~ orange hangers. 

Hubby's work clothes ~ black hangers.

Hubby's casual clothes ~ maroon hangers.

Hubby's dress clothes ~ white holders.

(Hubby doesn't use this code, but I do.)

I forgot to take a picture of the spoon rack before I painted it. This is probably my favorite thing I did today. I love the color. (The bottom 3 handkerchiefs belonged to my mom.)

When I placed this basket of rags on the shelf, I somehow ran my eye into the corner of it. I saw stars circles. I still keep seeing some spots. Let me tell you it really hurt.

 Can you see the miniature metal washboard?

A good friend gave me a flower arrangement in this. Isn't it the cutest thing and the colors are just what I wanted?
All of these are on the eyepoking out white shelf above the washer.

This is a Goodwill find for $2.95 that fits perfectly between the shelf supports and covers up the hoses. (I see that space, don't worry, but I'll cover it up when I actually hang it. I don't know those people - they came with the frame.) I'm going to fill it with pictures of Cate and her soon to be here baby brother.

Here it is between paint applications. I may need another bottle. 

Since the pictures were lost from yesterday, I thought I would include my sprinkler collection today. The little pin cushion was Mom's.

I found this watering can in the garage and realized it was the perfect color. Plus, I needed something for the end of the shelf. As I stretched to put it up there, water poured out all over me. I should have expected it in a watering can, right?

 

After admiring the room all day, I finally had to do some laundry. These are hubby's work clothes, even though the tshirts are on white hangers. That's because they'll be taken off the hangers and folded when dry.

Do you see this? How can my sparkling clean floor be so dirty? 

Ah ha! I think I've found the culprit. I painted the vent and forgot to put it back in place. 

Maybe I won't mind doing laundry now. hahaha

I'm linking http://cozyhomescenes.blogspot.com/2012/01/your-cozy-home-party-2.html
Check it out.