Thrift Stores and Credit Cards

Uh Oh.

Thrift Store Purchases Could Hurt Cardholders
Some Credit Card Companies Track Purchases At Thrift Stores

That the card companies would be watching purchases isn't news. But that they would use my transactions against me? Ugh.

I wonder what the rest of my transactions say about me? I grocery shop at Giant Eagle - since their prices are so high, that should show that I'm solvent, right?!

Proof

I am linking this old post to the Pets in Your Home theme-party at Funky Junk Interiors.  I'm late to the party, but I just found it, so hopefully I can still post.  She lost a pet last week, and it reminded me of our little baby.  Miss you every day, Owie :).

And by the way, I did paint the brass on the fireplace. It's now a hammered copper color, and it was a low-cost solution to that case of the uglies.

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Proof that:


(1) Our Monster is indeed a monster. But we love her anyway (because she's microchipped and there's nothing we can do about it).

(2) I have the ugliest fireplace. I haven't died from looking at it, but it has made me grimace multiple times. Will somebody PLEASE get around to doing something about that hideous brass trim?!?! It's on the list.....

4th of July Weekend

I'm linking this post to Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.

I have an addictive personality. When I discover something new I fall into it and forget about every other single thing for awhile. I somehow found BNOTP and spent hours pouring through all of Susan's great pictures and links on that blog.

Please go see all the tablescapes linked to this week's post - but don't blame me if you are up all night looking at pictures :).

Anyway, here's our table from the holiday:


Plates are The Cellar line from Macy's. The bowls are from World Market. I love my white dishes. I lucked out one day at Macy's and found the open stock plates and the salad plates for .50/each, so I think I bought 16 of each. The napkins and placemats came from Kohls a couple of years ago. The tablecloth is just fabric pieces I had on hand. The glassware is thrift store goodness.

Who says Santa only comes out in December?
Maybe he wants to lead a summer parade!

I used little scraps of fabric as ties on stems, napkins and silverware. They were from an americana-themed christmas tree I used to do--that's why I have the santa (bought him at Bronner's in Frankenmuth, MI).

My sister bought me these little partylite tealight holders a few years ago for Christmas. I finally found a place for them to fit! They look like the stars on the placemats or little sunshines....either way, it works for the holiday.

With the passing of July 4th, my summer travel and holidays for the summer are officially over. Only 2 weeks until the "dog days of summer" and their associated heat and drudgery!

A New Storage Solution

I'm always wondering where to put the new dishes as I accumulate them. I may have found a solution.

Everyone talks about their fantastic Craigslist finds. I have found a couple of things, but I haven't found the crazy good, jump up and down deal yet. I'm usually just not willing to drive very far.

I do love to look at the Free ads. They're good for a laugh. I especially like ads that are one line, very little info, no pictures.

Today there was a funny one. I clicked on it because it said "Free Tea Set." Here is the full text:

"There is a Tea set in my tree at the front of my yard if you have an eye for them all yours. "

OK...assuming the person means for you to take the tea set and not the tree....there is no hint as to where the tree is, so one would have to email the author to get the location. Couldn't he/she just let the person then know - hey, here's the location, and I left it in the tree for you?

Check CL and see if you can find an amusing ad. If so, post it here!

Pantry Clean Up

I have a list of nagging projects around the house, and I accomplished one over the weekend: Pantry Overhaul.

When we moved in almost 2 years ago, our first project was installing shelves in this closet/storage area under the stairs, off the kitchen. I wanted a pantry. So, narrow as it is, it's now a pantry.

But it was stuffed. And often we can't find things or don't rediscover something until it's long expired. Such is the life of a black-hole pantry.

I read an article recently about organizing (from Get Organized Now!). The article talked about excuses for not organizing, and one excuse was that it's too expensive. I totally related to that excuse when it came to my pantry. Each time I thought about redoing the space, I wandered from the basics and had a full list of lovely ideas for the space.....take down the shelves, paint, rehang shelves, fill with lovely wicker baskets with cute little label ties to identify the contents....and then I'd think "I don't want to spend that kind of money," and the project went back to the end of the pile.

But I decided the thing just needed to get cleaned and organized, and I needed to do it for no money. It's just the pantry, for crying out loud!

So, here's sort of the before shot. Forgot to take the pic before I started pulling out all the contents. Trust me, it was stuffed:

I bought a few plastic bins when I first added the shelves, so I did go back to the store to find more. Fortunately, they still had the same version. I spent $20 more on those bins, even though this was supposed to be a $0 project.

And here's the pantry after:

Room to spare! I don't know that it looks that much better to you, but I can already tell that it was a success. It's much easier to find things. I'm glad I waited to do this project, because I've definitely learned what I need to get to easily, what was hardest to find, etc.

I did label everything, even though Eyeball said, "can't we just see where things are supposed to go?" Right. But it will be helpful for spices, which I divided into 3 bins by alphabet.


OK, so one day I'd like to make the wire shelves more attractive (can't find the pics but I saw how someone covered the wire shelves in melamine and added a fabric border so it looked like more substantial shelving); have pretty baskets and tags; and paint the walls and bookcase to match. Someday. But until then, I have a functional space that makes me happy.

Do any of you have ideas on making wire shelving work hard for you? Feel free to leave comments with your ideas or links!