Scrappy Portland Adventures!
1) My sister and I roped our friend Lise into playing hooky, specifically on an adventure to the SCRAP Creative ReUse store and Goodwill.
In a cartoon this chalked messaging would work to lead either of these women into danger.
Lise and my sister are both artists/teachers and this store is their Mecca. So much so that I ended up having to repeatedly add extra time onto the parking app to avoid getting a ticket.
Scrap is an amazing store, selling just about anything and everything in the name of reducing waste and sparking creativity. My sister picked up two packs of these excessively produced corporate playing cards. It made me wonder how many companies just throw away the swag after they're not able to give them away at conferences.
I'll admit that I was tempted to grab a 50¢ Planet Money canvas tote bag, but my household is at the perfect level of tote-age at the moment.
They really do have everything, which is all perfectly and satisfyingly organized.
You could spent all day just looking through the slides.
What did I buy? This Goodr brand soft sunglasses pouch, as I lost the case that came with my free Red Cross sunglasses and had been keeping an eye for something similar. I've been using a hard sunglasses case, but don't like how much weight/bulk it adds to my purse.
I paid 50¢.
We then drove five minutes over to the main Goodwill, where I bought the ceramic base wine glass you see in the bottom left hand corner. I was tempted to buy this graphic tray, but it was too scratched up for my high falutin taste.
Super cute though.
I keep an eye out for these specific wine glasses when thrifting, which are made by a specific artisan at the Portland Saturday Market. My husband and I received a pair of them as a wedding gift back in 1993 and they've been my go to ever since.
I paid $1.99.
Please note that my "high falutin taste" includes Pokémon jelly jars.
I didn't buy this ceramic doctor figurine who looks like you should should pull a string on his back and he'd say "Have you tried losing weight?" Big fat hard no.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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The elephant tray could have been refurbished. Paint, decoupage, custom art? Possibilities. But no. No doctor. He is creepy.
Very cool wineglasses.
I have been working on getting stains out of a shirt I found on the street. It's a very nice men's shirt, otherwise in good condition, but the stains are proving difficult. Right now it's soaking in a bucket, and it's going to stay there a while.
I noticed that the cupboard doors under the kitchen sink were looking grungy, so I applied a super frugal cleaner -- elbow grease and hot water -- and got them looking better.
I'm reading Founding Mother, a fictional biography of Abigail Adams. It's interesting to me, because my grandmother was an Adams, and she believed she was descended from John and Abigail. (Ancestry.com says no.) Anyway, her belief got me reading about John years ago, but I've never read anything from Abigail's perspective. It's a good book if you like historical fiction about real people.
One of my smoke alarms started talking to me this morning, which was rather startling, but of course it was only saying "Change my battery." My ceilings are rather high, so I very carefully climbed a step stool to get it down, and luckily I had the right batteries on hand. I will let my son do the honors of putting it back up. I was going to ask him to come help me get ready for the window washers next week, anyway, removing screens and taking out the AC units.
I tested the batteries I took out, and while they were somewhat low, they were not out of juice, so I'm saving them for less important jobs.
Have we ever seen a pic of the famous Lise?? I pictured her as a blondie. 🙂
The "May" figurine below and to the doctor's right caught my eye---I have a similar "March" one on my (inherited 1950's) dresser right now! That store looks fascinating. I would definitely get a parking ticket!!!
Did you buy just one of the wine glasses? It looks like there are several on the shelf, but maybe just one that matches the ones you already have?
I love Scrap.
The doctor is creepy. I’ve always wondered why there was ever a market for professional figurines. Is that what doctor’s kids gave their parent for Christmas? Very strange.
My frugal happenings are mainly of the food preservation type. I have a mountain of tomatoes to be dealt with, and two mountains of apples.
I went to the pet food store today, and my cat’s preferred type of food had been marked down 50%. It’s rare that anything frugal happens when it involves my cat, so this was exciting!
1. When I saw the containers full of slides it brought back memories of childhood. It was always a fun night when my mother brought the projector and the pull down screen out. Looking back, I guess it was a fun but frugal thing to do with the family in the 60s and 70s.
2. My neighbor brought us another gift of tomatoes from her garden. They're not my favorite but DH pops them into his mouth like candy.
3. My back has been very sore for a couple of days so I stayed home today to rest it and apply the heating pad. No money spent while in the house.
4. I'm wearing a nightgown from my church's thrift shop and my bathrobe has to be at least 20 years old. My sister gave it to me so long ago. It's showing some wear but who sees it besides DH and myself. My friend calls these "pajama days". They're rare and relaxing, even as a retiree.
5. Market Basket had cantaloupes on sale for 2.99 each so I picked the biggest one I could find. I just cut it up and it made a large bowl of melon pieces we can just scoop out for the next couple of days.