A shopaholic I am not

But you probably wouldn't know it by the last few blog posts I've had. ha! Seriously, I'm not much of a shopper. But I am a thrifter, and I think there's a big difference! :) I'm frugal and like a good bargain. Who doesn't?! Besides that, it's not necessarily the "things" that make me happy. I enjoy the process. I love scouring obscure places or piles of junk for some sweet treasure. If I don't find one, that's ok. I enjoyed it nonetheless.

This last week, hub's band was in the studio in Ft. Worth recording a new album. On Wednesday I went with him, and after spending a little while in the studio, we hit the town. We spent some time doing some fun things (more about that another day), but we took the opportunity to hit up the Ft. Worth thrift stores!

Hubs found some really cool pearl snap shirts and vintage coats that he can wear to his gigs. We also found this vintage Samsonite suit case. It was only $5! He thought it would be a good case for a snare drum. Which it is, because those suitcases are nearly indestructible. When we got it home, I thought it might be too small for a snare drum, but it was a perfect fit. I think it's very retro and cool!



This time of year seems to be good for finding holiday items on the cheap. I guess people are cleaning out their closets and getting rid of stuff, not realizing they'll probably kick themselves come holiday time, wishing they'd kept everything!

I found a cute metal halloween cat, and a cute metal sleigh that I can think of a gazillion ways to use.





The little silver tray came from the Goodwill ($2) and I bought it with a specific project in mind (no, not a chalkboard project that is all the rage right now...you'll see!). The little cone shaped basket came from an antique mall in Ft. Worth. It was something like $.50.



At that same antique mall I found a metal wall basket, which I've been on the lookout for quite a while. But I never wanted to pay the high prices. This one was under $10. It's black with an ugly gold tone, but I've already taken care of that with a little black paint.



While in the antique mall, I saw a lady trying to move a big piece of furniture. She wasn't having much luck. There were several people, including some strong men, that walked right past her without offering to help. So I did. Turns out, she's a dealer at the store and was moving it from one of her booths to another. She was so thankful that she offered to give me some candles from one of her booths. I told her it wasn't necessary, but she insisted. She ended up giving me about 7 or 8 yummy cinnamon candles (my favorite!). While talking with her, I learned that she just went through chemo for breast cancer, had back surgery last year, and is about to have hip surgery. I told her whenever I burned the candles I'd think of her and say a prayer that she has good health. Very sweet lady!



Yesterday I went to a local antique mall to just walk around and look for ideas. I found a few things on sale: a cute little heart ornament for my valentine tree, some halloween mask floral picks for my halloween tree, a cute little felt halloween pillow and a metal "believe" sign for Christmas. In total I think I spent less than $7.





Here's my fave purchase. I saw this huge glass jar that just spoke to me. It's so funky and squatty and I needed it. And, I think it was only $10. I mean really, could you have passed that up? I'm not sure if I'll put it on top of one of the armoires or maybe on top of the cabinets in the kitchen. I think this sucker weighs about 50lbs. Not really, probably only 40. ha



It's almost bigger than Cissy!



I found these two gorgeous red silk pillows at a garage sale for $2/each. That same night, I saw some similar, if not identical, at Target for $18/each. *pats self on the back for finding such a good bargain* ;) (again with the puke yellow walls? I don't know why that keeps happening in my pictures!)



In an effort to get out of the house today (I finished my housework yesterday and wanted something to do), I went to our downtown courthouse square to look for inspiration. The little shops always have such great displays and are spilling over with ideas. And I found a couple of little things I couldn't leave behind because they were such a good price. One antique store is going out of business (the building was bought by a church and is being turned into a coffee house...never mind there are already THREE coffee houses on the square! I hate that all of the antique stores are being run out!) and everything was on sale. I got this plain window for $6 (I have a project in mind for it) and a "big bag of Christmas garland" for $5!! That alone made my day. If you know me, you know I *love* decorating for Christmas, and this bag of garland would have probably cost a TON brand new. I think the dealer used it for display purposes during the holidays. You can't really tell from the picture, but that bag is filled to the max with garland...tons of it.





The little nest on an old rusty spring is new (funky, I love it!), as is the metal saucer. The cloche is not.





I can't believe it's almost the middle of August. This year has flown by. I think school starts up in a couple of weeks, because hubs said parents are calling him to get their kids back into drum lessons again. It's hotter than the surface of the sun outside, too. Seriously, it's suffocating. The A/C in my Xterra seems to have gone caplooey. Well, it's still blowing air, but it's warm air. So hopefully hubs will have that fixed sometime this week. I need to get out in the yard to clean up some flower beds, but honestly, the heat is wearing me out. I can't exactly weed beds at 3am when it's finally cooled down to a frosty 90 degrees outside! Anything interesting going on with you this week? Before we know it, it will be time to pull out all of our fall decorations and start planting mums!

I'll be linking up with Rhoda at Southern Hospitality when she gets her "thrifty finds" post up later in the weekend. If you have anything to share, be sure to stop by her blog!



Here's the link...Join the fun on the Southern Hospitality blog! We're sharing our garage sale and thrifty finds!