Cheap Thrills...

ok, came down with a little chemo-related fever on sunday. and lots of body aches too.  but duty calls, and i had to pick up my daughter from camp this afternoon.  but given that a new thrift store had its grand opening this morning, i was able to pick her up and muster enough strength to stop in to see if there were any treasures.  

and there were!  

(and given that i'm bored out of my mind when i have a fever and my advil has just kicked in, i wanted to share my finds with you.)

most of my treasures are for our backyard.

i found three sweet little pillows -- just the right colors -- to go with our sage green cushions and pink hydrangeas.  they were $2 each! 

(and really well made).

and see that little wicker side table?  

$5 at salvation army last week.

i also found a white wicker hamper basket.  i'll use it as a trash can when we have our "his flower girls" luncheon outside.  

it was $3.

(pink hydrangea hiding ugly electrical outlet).

in addition, i found an oval mirror for $4, a white creamer for $1 and an old picture frame for $6.  my daughter wants me to make it into a chalkboard for her bedroom.   that's right up my alley.

but as i was outside photographing these goodies, i realized there were a few other items that have recently made their way into our backyard.  

for free.

found this cute wicker couch around the corner on someone's curb.  only problem is that it had two broken legs.  so i asked gregg to come over and cut off the other two.  it's not really functional, but its darn cute.  and this side of our backyard is not really attractive.  

but it is now!  i'll eventually get around to hanging that old window above it.  behind the lattice wall, sits our trash cans and ugly, but necessary things.

and i think i've showed you this before.  how cute is this?

i popped in to see my girlfriend one day and noticed this cute piece was on the side of her driveway.  by her trash cans.  when i left, i had to ask her what she was going to do with it.   she told me it didn't look right at her new house.  (bummer, i thought).  she asked me if i wanted it.  

are you kidding?  uh, yeah!

she and her fiance delivered it to our backyard the very next day.  

moral of the story: become friends with kind people and visit them often!

so, come on, why spend your hard-earned money on expensive backyard accessories when birds will you-know-what all over them.  

get creative.  shop thrift stores.  get some cheap thrills!

and while i was at the salvation army last week, i stumbled upon another find i had to get.  just happened to be there on 50% off day.  woo-hoo.

i'll show you the before and after next week.  and just to let you know, i think i saved about $2,500!  i keep reminding my husband, "you are so lucky you married me."  because this girl would rather shop at thrift stores than pottery barn!

details and photos to follow...