lucky craigslist find

Yesterday I was doing my daily perusing of craigslist furniture. I don't even know why I look for stuff in there so often... maybe it's because it feels like a city-wide garage sale that I don't actually have to walk around in. Towards the end of my 'craigslist time' for the day, I came across an ad for a bookshelf for $40 and opened it up. I didn't expect much since nice bookshelves go for much more than that, but I was pleasantly surprised to find this one! The previous owner had purchased it for $140 two months ago for her son's bedroom, but was disappointed when it was not the "barn red" color she'd expected. This might be a boring story, but it just made my day.

 I was texting with Philip, who apparently had a slow day at work, and advised him to come searching for me in case I didn't show up again. He was nice enough to ask what kind of sandwich I wanted him to bring along after rescuing me, but thankfully neither one of those things was necessary. 

  I received A TON of pretty picture frames as wedding gifts, and my issue so far has been not having any flat surfaces to put them on, so they've been sitting in a drawer for over a month. So yay! I finally get to display them! I took extreme pleasure in filling up this bookshelf, organizing things, and making room for more books on my other one. Another great thing about this story.... we have a visit to Half-Priced Books coming up this afternoon to look for some of Philip's textbooks. Yay!

My Makeup Magnet Boards, Part 1

A while back (during my early Pinterest stage) I came across a how-to for a makeup magnet board. I never thought I'd have enough makeup to fill one up, although I thought it was such a neat idea. As it turns out, I went makeup-coupon-crazy about 3 weeks ago and now don't know where to put all of it. (I love free stuff! And I don't see myself cutting back on the coupon crazy thing just yet). 

On a whim, I stopped by Dollar Tree and looked for the cookie pans, but was disappointed to see they were out of those. They did, however, have a huge stack of 12-inch pizza pans... and I took 3. As I was headed to the register I passed by a tiny display of vinyl decals. They were mostly for nurseries and such, but I caught a glimpse of one I liked and snatched it up on my way to pay for my items. 

It wasn't until I got in my car that the "creative" side took over. The same side which took control of my driving and made me go to Hobby Lobby instead of my apartment. I was pleasantly surprised to see that all scrapbooking paper was 50% off this week, so naturally the ultimate hardest part of this project was settling on 3 pieces of paper. I might or might not have purchased more than that. I also purchased a roll of magnetic tape and a glue gun (still can't believe I didn't own one of those) and giddily headed home to make pretty things while watching The Breakfast Club on Netflix. 

 

 Materials: 

- Three 12-inch pieces of scrapbook paper or cardstock

- Three 12-inch pizza pans (Dollar Tree) 

- Vinyl decal (Dollar Tree) 

- Magnetic Tape (or small magnets) 

- Modge Podge (and foam brush) 

- Pretty acrylic paint

- Glue gun 

- Newspaper

- Scissors

- Pen found under the couch

1. Place the newspaper over the pizza pan, trace out an exact outline of the center circle, and cut it out.
2. Use the newspaper circle and trace it over the back of the 3 pieces of scrapbook paper. Cut these out and set aside for later use.
3. Use acrylic paint to paint over the pizza pans, focusing on the outer edges since the middle part will be covered by scrapbook paper. I did this while sitting under a ceiling fan,
so mine dried within a minute.

4. Spread a good amount of modge podge over the dried paint. It is up to you if you'd like to cover the outer edges of the pan... I chose not to.
5. Glue the paper cutouts onto the pans using the modge podge. I applied modge podge over one of the papers, but decided I liked them without. Oops. Now I know for next time.

6. Get creative with the vinyl decals. They stick and unstick very easily on the paper, so you can change them up without a problem. Halfway through this I realized that these can also be cute wall decor for a teen's room.
7. Now, time for the makeup. Cut off small squares of magnetic tape and glue them to the back of your makeup.





This part is pretty common sense / learn as you go. I have tons of high-end nail polish (ahemm, free with coupons) and they were very unwilling to stay up because they were so heavy. I will be visiting Hobby Lobby for larger, better-quality magnets to use on the nail polish and any other larger pieces. I also learned that magnetic tape did not do well on rounded pieces such as mascara and eyeliner, so I will be using the glue gun on these. Here's a picture of one completed board with eye shadow.

And there you have it! My next steps will include getting my nail polish up there and getting everything on a wall. I'll add another post whenever that happens. Hope you liked it so far!

The Bucket of Rocks

So this is the sort of thing I get stuck with doing at work. My boss went to Alaska for 2 weeks and he came back on Sunday, but didn't let anybody know, and now he's off on another road trip. Today I get an email saying "I left a bucket of rocks at the hotel front desk in Seattle, it weighs about 50 lbs, can you get those to my house?"
Sure thing... that's what I'm here for... lets add Rock Private Detective to my resume.

One Thing In, Two Things Out

Today Dale came in talking about how much 'crap' he and his wife have accumulated over the years. He finally put his foot down and established a new rule:

"One thing in, two things out" 

So every time a new item is brought into the house, they have to get rid of two old items. The topic was kitchen appliances, so I think there's a juicer and old mixer in his garbage can now.
I must say, this is a very good rule. I'm going to apply it next time I buy clothes.

Our Photobook

A few months before I got married I came across a pin on Pinterest where someone had compared photo books by printing the same book with different companies. The result was that Adoramapix was the highest quality, so I'd been waiting to make my own book with them. It was quite a challenge to putting it together because I wanted to give every photo a special place, and by the time I finished I had twice the amount of pages I started off with. On a whim, I thought I'd add the link to my blog and see how it looks up here.

If you care to see the large version of it, here's the link! 

Think FOREVER

What I Did With Wedding Cards

I finally got around to collecting all the wedding cards we received over a month ago and making a little book out of them. I usually don't like to keep things I don't find useful, but if it's a gift, no matter how insignificant, I will keep it for as long as possible. We received some beautiful cards along with our wedding gifts, and I hated the thought of throwing them in a drawer to be scattered about over time, so I made a book out of them. It was quite simple... all I needed was a hole puncher and 3 loose binder clips to start off with.

 I chose one of the larger cards to start off with, and simply eye-balled where I thought the rings should go.

From there, I took a pen and made small dots on all the other cards for where the holes should go.

I make sure to put the smaller cards that could only be clipped to one or two clips in the middle, so they wouldn't get damaged or tear of over time.

I also alternated them; If I had consecutive small cards I'd put one on the top two clips, and then the next on the bottom two. It helped lessen the bulk.

To this I added lace which hung on our cards box. I removed the letters and wrapped the lace around the cards to hold them in place, then wrapped two rubber bands around it.
I wouldn't have done this if I meant to showcase the book, but since it's probably going into a keepsake box, then I want it to be as snugly packed as possible.

I will probably put these in a Ziplock bag and then in the back of my closet along with a bin full of wedding things. It's a nice treasure to find years later, and I wouldn't want to forget all the people who gave us these cards.

Useful Apps To Save Money

Over the past few months I've compiled a nifty little collection of apps that help me save money or receive rewards that would otherwise have gone unnoticed and unclaimed. I've become so practiced at this that I refuse to leave a store paying retail price for something, and I thought I'd share a little of my wisdom with other iphone users out there (I don't know if these are available in the android market). (P.S. I've never put so many pictures in one post before, so bear with me if they don't have the best layout to them)

#1. CineMode. This little button can be found in the lower left-hand corner of the CineMark app, and it is advertised before every movie that plays in Cinemark theatres. It is basically a reward for not touching your phone during the movie. As soon as it is advertised on the screen, you open it up, turn CineMode on, put your phone on silent, and don't answer calls or texts during the movie. Actually, just don't touch your phone, put it out of temptation's reach (I use my husband's pocket). After the movie is over, turn CineMode off and you'll receive a coupon code for snacks and stuff at your next visit. The first time it's used it gives the best coupons where you don't have to purchase anything to get a free item. It's usually popcorn or a fountain drink, but once my hubby got a free poster for the upcoming Star Trek movie. Big Hint: as soon as it comes up on your screen, take a screenshot of it and leave it in your camera roll. These tend to disappear as soon as you exit the app if you didn't sign in to a Cinemark account. 

 #2. GasBuddy. I drive a little Toyota Matrix (V4, 1.8L) for which I only spend about $25 a week on gas, and even then I HATE paying a few extra cents per gallon. With the help of GasBuddy, I quickly figured out that the price per gallon at stations around my work/office is always about 10 cents cheaper than in town. It hardly makes a difference with my car due to the small amount of gas I put in, but with my hubby's huge Dodge Ram that fills up with $140, it's a big deal. He usually drives the 3 extra miles down the highway on Fridays, meets me for lunch, and then fills up at the gas station near my office. This also comes in useful when we travel to bigger cities and need to re-fuel for our drive back home.

 #3. Target Mobile. Target has become one of my favorite stores since I went coupon crazy. The reason is that it has a section for Mobile Coupons which can then be combined with Manufacturer Coupons + Cartwheel offers (see #4 below) and sales to get some amazing deals on stuff. I usually use these for groceries and laundry detergent and due to careful planning, have never left the store without saving at least 40% on my total purchase.

             

#4. Target Cartwheel. This is a new app that was just introduced this year (mid 2013). You have to create an account, but afterwards it allows you to choose products to add to your list to save money on. For example, if I were buying groceries, I'd go to the groceries section and select the items I was going to get, add them to my cartwheel list, and then hand my phone to the cashier at checkout for her to scan the barcode and apply the discounts. The majority of the items offer a 5% discount, but Target always has special offers going on. For example now, during the summer and times of beach bonfires, they have marshmallows at 20% off. These little percentages can add up little by little, and also be stacked with Manufacturer Coupons + Target Coupons for bigger savings. (Stacked = you're able to use them at the same time)

#5. Yowza!! I came across this app while reading an article about "apps every college student should have" and decided to try it out. I don't use it very often now, but during the 7 months of wedding planning I went through, I visited Hobby Lobby almost weekly and never paid full price for an item. This app holds a list of stores that offer mobile coupons. It reads your location and tells you the address and how far away you are from the store and the offers it has. Since Hobby Lobby has different things on sale every week, I always used my "40% off one item" coupon for a big item which was not on sale that week. Beware that some store cashiers will have no idea these things exist. Ironically, during the very last of what had to be at least 20 weekly shopping trips to Hobby Lobby, the cashier told me the store did not take mobile coupons and it had to be done online. I'd never had a problem using these before so I stood my ground and argued that I had used it many times prior to this visit. She finally gave in and, because she didn't read the coupon correctly, gave me 40% off my entire purchase.

 

#6. Shopkick. I haven't actually earned enough points to get a gift card yet, but it does not hurt to have this app sitting in a corner of my iphone for when I need it. You basically earn "Kicks" every time you enter one of the stores listed in the app, and once you earn enough Kicks you get a gift card to your choice of store listed. Beware, this is an extremely loud app that does not respect the "silence button" on your phone, so don't turn it on if you're in a no-phones-allowed place. It also tends to go off when you're driving by one of the stores which offers Kicks and prompts you to walk into the store and claim them. I have learned to ignore it every time I drive on the highway because I pass by the mall, Target, and Best Buy on a regular basis. It also gives you one Kick each day you open the app, which can slowly add up to a gift card over time.

#7. Plink. Last but not least on my list is Plink. You'll either love it or hate it, depending on how much you care about personal information. It asks you for your login information that you'd use to check your bank account online (username and password) and then links that debit or credit card with your Plink account. Any time you make a qualifying purchase at a store or restaurant with that specific card, points are added to your account. Once the points add up you get to choose your choice of gift card to certain stores listed under Plink. I happened to sign up during a promotional period where I got 1,000 points for a purchase at McDonalds. I bought a medium fountain drink ($1.00) with my Discover card and received 1,000 points about a week later, which are the equivalent to a $10 gift card to either Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Walmart and other well-known retailers. I just haven't decided where I want those $10 to go to, so the points are sitting in my account unredeemed. I don't have anything against linking this to my Discover card, since it's a credit card and has nothing to do with my bank account, but some people might be a little more doubtful and hesitant about things like that.

And so there you have my first ever post to my "Coupon Crazy" category. Hope you find these apps useful in saving money. My thought process behind this is "I always have my iphone in my hand, so why not save a little money or get rewarded for things I'd have to do anyway? It's just a few taps away and it doesn't hurt to try." Feel free to ask me any questions!