Sunday, July 6, 2008

PB Baskets

My kitchen cabinets do not go all the way to the ceiling so I have a shelf like area on top of them. I didn't like it empty so I decided to use it for decorative storage of items I didn't need or use often. However in the end it looked like storage for junk that I don't care about. This bothered me.

I still needed storage for my buffalo china teacups and sacuers, some buffet serving pieces, and extra silver. Pottery Barn came to my resuce with these fabulous lidded baskets. Lidded being the key as it helps protect my goodies from dust.

This is the medium Havana basket. You may also find it under Savanna(h?) in a lighter color.

Thankfully the baskets was more of the look I was going for! That combined with some cute wood bins fit nicely on the long wall of my kitchen. On the shorter walls I have large platters propped up as well as a soup tureen and a cake done. It looks tres chic if I say so myself. I get to display some great pieces and also have easy access for using them.



Sunday, June 1, 2008

Dress

If you read the previous posts you may be wondering "what's for mama?" I found this cute little dress at Kohls for only $17. The original price was $59. It will be great for date night, dinner parties, showers, and even church. I can wear it with black strappy sandals, red wedges, or pink kitten heels. I can do classic silver jewelery, red beads, or pearls. It can be worn with a white, red, pink, or black cami underneath. In the winter I can add a cardigan, tights, and boots. What a deal! All of which I already have, less the boots since they finally kicked it (no pun intended) this past season.


Speakers


I found these little speakers for an Ipod or mp3 player for only $7.99. They'll be great in the studio for when I'm working on monogrammed items and also in the guest room so that our visitors can plug in their own music and feel at home.

Life is Good


We like the Life is Good brand around here. I happened upon this shirt for Mr. Bargainista and it was perfect as he loves hiking and backpacking. It was only $9.99. LIG t-shirts are normally around $30.

Hubs also scored a great kelly green golf shirt (brand new) for about $9 and some gently used dress shoes for $12. I'd show you a picture but I'm currently not sure what he did with the goods.

Clothing Teens

The Bargainista has suffered from my busy-ness lately but recently I've had a shopping spree I knew I had to share.

I had to purchase some necessities for a fourteen year old boy--YIKES! With only athletic clothes and jeans he needed some nicer summer shorts and also some items for our beach trip to Hilton Head this month. I think we did rather well. We hit a gently used clothing store which proved to be a big success as well as a few faithful big box stores such as Target, TJ Maxx, and Old Navy.





Target
Khaki Shorts $15
Total $15

Old Navy
2 t-shirts at $6.99 each
2 flip flops $2.50 each
1 swimsuit $15
I had two $10 off coupons
Total: $15

Kohl's
Relic Sunglasses $14
Total: $14

TJ Maxx
Unionbay Pinstripe Shorts $18
Total: $18

Resale Shop
Hollister long sleeve shirt $14
2 Abercrombie Polo Shirts $10 each
American Eagle Seersucker shorts $10
PacSun Swimsuit $7 (never worn and currently in the store for $45)
We had a coupons.
Total: $30

Grand Total: $92

Also a previous trip to Target and Old Navy we purchased a polo shirt, khaki pants, boxers, and under shirts for about $35.

This makes the entire mini shopping spree $127. Not too shabby!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Church Yard Sale

The Church of the Bargainsta family hosts a huge garage sale every year in April. It's the only fundraiser for short term mission trips and the total is usually 2o to 30 thousand. Yes, thousands!

Of course Mr. Bargainista and I contributed. Check out our goods.



Deal of the day was this fabulous Columbia parka for Mr. Bargainista. It has the zip out jacket liner and weather proof outside. We've both had our same parkas for a good 8 years. There just isn't a need for it in our town and we usually wear dressier coats for work, etc. However at $15 it was time to update for Mr. Bargainista. This is totally a parka he'd have chosen for himself too. It didn't have tags but there is absolutely no sign of wear. Purchase price: $15.

I'm only jealous because the J. Crew peacoat I loved was a small. Boo!


However, I managed to do well for myself with this array of sweaters. Left to right there is a blue Ralph Lauren, a cream button down Ann Taylor Loft, and brown merino v-neck from Banana Republic. I paid $4, $3, and $5 respectively. The Banana Republic sweater is brand new with the $45 price tag.


I also racked up with a nice selection of shoes. I know garage sale shoes seem gross, but you can tell if they've been worn badly and also spray them with disinfectant. Anyway, it doesn't bother me. Left to right are Banana Republic tweed look ballet flats, cute printed ballet flats from Target (these are currently in the store and I've had my eye on them to go on sale. They were brand new), and the uber casual Gap wedges. The picture doesn't show it but they have a great rope style wedge heel. I have tons of cute skirts I can wear these with this summer. I paid only one dollar each for the shoes. Not pictured is a darling pair of polka dot flip flops from J. Crew. I must have been wearing them.

Mr. Bargainista spotted these hiking boots for me last minute. They'll be great with the backpack for our upcoming trip. The boots were scuffed but the soles were pristine. I think they were $2.50.



I found these cute little things for my house. I'd seen this pumpkin jar at a thrift store last fall but didn't get it. I only paid $1 at the sale. It will be a cute cookie jar when entertaining or having tea, but also a nice centerpiece or decoration when filled with pine cones and acorns, fresh flowers, or seasonal potpourri and spices.

The silver trays are darling. I purchased them last minute at the half off sale and I can't believe someone didn't snag them earlier in the day as they are quite nice. They were seventy-five cents for each piece.

I'll have to take complete inventory and pictures of my silver collection. I've purchased all of it at garage sales and thrift stores and it's quite lovely.

We also had a few other miscellaneous purchases that day but the highlight for Mr. Bargainista was the hotdog lunch: hotdog with the works, chips, drink and cookie for $1.75. He purchased two.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Cute Formal Dress (from Kassie)



Kassie found the darling little dress above at Dillard's for only $24.75. It was 75% off of the original price of $99. She's going to rock this little number at the Barrister's Ball at her husband's law school. I love formal dresses, but even more than that I love a good deal on a formal dress.

Thanks Kassie!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Saturday Thrift Shop Finds

Check out these adorable purses! These were at my favorite little thrift store and were also 50% discounted on winter clearance. They were $6.25 each making my total for both $12.5o.

I have a one in, one out rule as to not collect too much stuff. Now the hard part is finding two purses to part with. I'm thinking I can put it off until next year when I have to give a quota to The Bargainista Sale and keep a total of purses I must purge then. That would work, yes?

Super Cute Pink Nine West Bag



















Very Chic Black Bag by The Sak



I just love the fun patterened inside. The pockets have great organizing space for my cell phone, mp3 player, zip drive, handheld pc, business cards, and chapstick. What could be better than that?

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Clinique Bonus at Dillard's


In an email from Clinique:
It's Clinique Bonus at Dillard's now through Saturday, March 22nd. Hurry in to get this exclusive cosmetics bag filled with all our great skin care and makeup favourites. Exclusively ours, and yours free* with any Clinique purchase of $21.50 or more. Value $50.00.
Bonus Includes:
1. Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion
2. Rinse-Off Foaming Face Cleanser
3. Repairwear Intensive Eye Cream
4. Lash Doubling Mascara in Black
5. Long Last Lipstick in All Heart
6. Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in two shades from the pink chocolate quad
7. Cosmetics Bag
8. Bonus Extra Certificate: 20% off any Gianni Bini handbag

Warm regards,Clinique Customer Care

*Quantities are limited. One gift to a customer, please, per event. While supplies last. Event is limited to participating Dillard's stores. If you do not wish to continue receiving updates from us, please reply to this message with the word REMOVE in the subject.Clinique Online 767 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10153.

Monday, March 10, 2008

The Bargainista Sale

This past weekend was The Bargainista Sale hosted by a women's group of which I'm a member. The Bargainista Sale is a big rummage sale inside a huge warehouse. Each member (400 plus of us) is required to donate $150 of item to the sale with all money raised being poured into the many community activities we champion.


Coming up with $150 of items to donate can be a challenge, but it's a good spring clean and makes room for more bargains! Look below at the fabulous finds I was able to score.

First, I got two L.L. Bean bags for fifty cents each. Wow! You know how The Bargainista loves L.L. Bean. Both bags were monogrammed which I'm sure contributed to the super low price. However I took my seamripper to it and then re-monogrammed it for me! LMB is for Little Miss Bargainista, of course!

















The above is a deluxe toiletry bag suitable for families, it's the XL size. I have the same item in medium and the magenta pink. I also have a duffle that matches. This is far too large for me a toiletry bag, but the large open center allows it to be a great overnight bag. There are lots of little mesh pockets to hold my goodies. I should have taken a pic of the inside but you can see it here.













Above is on of L.L. Beans Boat and Tote bags. I just love these bags! I have a medium (above) in pink but with the long handles. I also have an xl with hot pink and the zippered top, it's a great luggage tote (because I don't have enough of those, ahem!). Now, I have this chic black version. I considered doing a fun color monogram but thought the black would keep it classic. I have a matching polka dot ribbon and I may make an attachable bow to give it a cute factor on occasion. I could tell this bag was brand new because it was spotless and had never been washed. These bags are super stiff and once washed get a little more plyable. Isn't the monogram font I used cute?


Books, books, and more books! I purchased ten paperbacks for a dollar each. I never pay full price for books as I read far to quickly for that. I pick them up at resales and the used book store. I'd already put them away but there in these two drawers, where I keep my working collection stashed in my studio. Once I read a book I put in in a stack to resale or pass along.







Last but no least is this beautiful, gorgeous, fabulous piece pictures below. It's an adorable little teacart with a dark cherry finish and matches the coffee table (which also has tray sides and was purchased at a thrift store. This piece will be great for entertaining: a dessert cart, a wine and cheese bar, for (go figure!) serving tea, or also as a mini bar. I can just see bottles and an ice bucket on the bottom with glasses and garnishes on the top. I adore this piece!