yeah, so what, i'm cheap.

cheap, thrifty, frugal.  same difference.  i actually prefer being called thrifty, it's the lesser of the three evils.  but, i'll accept all three.

it all began about eight years ago while my husband and i were living-in-sin back in our college days.  someone across the street from us left out a cute red bookcase.  i eyed it up all day.  under the cover of night, i made my future hubby snatch it up. back then i was ashamed of my curb-collecting.   today, i embrace it.  

ten years later our ugly little bookcase has made a comeback in our kids room.

my morning routine looks something like this:

turn on coffee maker

empty dishwasher

throw in a load of laundry

open blinds

check out dumpster to see what people have left out.

i'm not kidding.  

we currently live in a condo and have a straight shot view of the two garbage areas. because we have so many other people here, i can not wait until the cover of night to grab such treasures.  you snooze, you lose. 

plus, i don't care what my neighbors think about my junk picking.  jesus loves me and my thriftiness.

somewhere in my mix of 10,000 pictures i will find the shot of the original yellow shelf that i painted khaki.  i really had no idea what i needed to do to refinish/paint something.  i just went to the "five-dollar oooops rack" at lowes and picked out the least obnoxious color.  besides wiping it down, i did nothing else to prep.  so far my paint job has held up well.  

exhibit number three.  there was nothing that needed to be done to this.  it seemed brand new.  not sure why someone would just put this out there.  but they did and i thank them for it.  plus, it matches my dining room table.  

same here.  someone left out two perfectly good patio chairs.  the cushions they had on them left much to be desired. those stayed behind at the dumpster.  this is brutal winter number four for them.  they hold up well without covers.  

this bad boy is going to require some work.  the paint job on here is terrible.  but, i know once we move into our new home in june these will be the kind of things i can do even in the winter.  having a garage is going to be awesome.  but, for now, it will have to wait.  

the english dovetails were a nice surprise.  they are known for being quite sturdy.  

i picked this up a few months ago from the east facing dumpster.  and just to clarify this, i don't actually go into a dumpster...i'm not that gross.  but, i will pick up the things placed outside of it.  the only time you will find me in an actual dumpster is if i accidentally throw my car keys in as i throw in a bag of garbage.  the thought crosses my mind often, which is why i am super diligent about putting my keys in my pocket before i chuck the bags. 

danish modern.  yes, no?!?!  not sure what i would like to do with it.  

wood furniture stamping says to me, "i am not made in china." or "i am not particle board wood."

chicken nugget thinks i should turn this into a jungle gym.
my daughter is a girl after my own heart.  look at her clean up the milk.

this piece i got off of craigslist.  it should have been free.  but i was young in my search for junk and i actually paid ten dollars for it.  i wanted to try crackling it, but i got pregnant.  so...i left it as is.  as for now the purpose of this piece is obvious.  

my girlfriend, $hellbug, has a gift for design.  her house is put together so nicely.  she finds things, mostly vintage, and incorporates them into her home.  

she came with me to drop off a three-tiered birthday cake i made for a customer.  on the way there, we passed through a town called rocky hill.  george washington even passed through, at one time.  there were a bunch of garage sales going on, but what caught our eye was the pile of junk on the side of the road someone left for the taking.  

if we could, we would have stopped right then and there.  but i wanted that cake out of my car.  driving with a tiered cake...another topic for another day.  

i got dibs on the radio flyer and the old soap box.

the radio flyer has been on the porch of the condo below us.  no one has been living there for months.  it shall stay there until we move.  i plan on using it to plant flowers in.  $hellbug's idea.  gotto give credit when credit is due.

i am just going to take the sides off of the box with the company logo.  put them on a shelf or something.  maybe hang it on the wall?

i have a friend in town that is from buffalo, ny.  i think she'd appreciate this little bit of b'lo paraphernalia.  

here's  a picture of the hot mess $hellbug took for me.   man, did this make an awful ruckus on the way home!  they were all held up on tiny little hooks.  every turn we took, bump we went over, pothole i hit sent dozens flying off each time.  by the time we got back, half of them fell off.  i'm still finding stragglers in my car.  

i'll work on getting some of those projects started...can't promise i'll get them finished, though.

thanks for stopping by.

jill