Just wanted to say a big thanks to Sonya at Dime Store Thrift and Shopping GoLightly at The Thrifty Chicks for passing me the One Lovely Blog Award!

Here are few other beautiful blogs that I am enjoying:

Heart of Light

This beautiful blog is a delight on the eyes.  I am always inspired by Rachel’s absolutely gorgeous photos and her rustic yet elegant style. I aim to cultivate the same simple beauty in my own home. Her blog reminds me to take great pleasure in the beauty of simple moments, which often seem to be centered around her kitchen table.

Farmgirl Fare

This is another daily read for me; I especially use it to cheer myself up during a difficult day.  The photos that Susan has taken, illustrating her beautiful relationship with the animals on her 240 acre Missouri farm, bring incessant smiles.  The cuteness of the lambs can, at times, be almost overwhelming.

Salt and Chocolate

Mary Beth astounds me with her talent and impresses me with her dedication to raising her children in a way that is pure, honest, ecologically friendly and truly refreshing. I’m amazed at her ability to make simple, beautiful and truly appealing children’s toys.

Sharon Rose

Sharon blogs about her thrifted finds, delighting me with her sense of fashion.  I love it when she illustrates her inspired style using examples from celebrities and designer clothes, then replicates the look with cheap vintage finds from car boot sales and charity thrift shops.  

All of these talented bloggers provide me with inspiration, so thank you!

I discovered these beautiful earrings when cleaning out my craft room.  They were hidden in a cute little bag in one of my crowded craft drawers.  I bought them in Austin, Texas, last September.  I don’t think I’ve ever worn them – in fact, I think they were hiding away all this time.  I’d completely forgotten about them.

I also discovered this pen and ink set. Josh bought this during a boxing day sale at an art store in January, 2008.  It’s been sitting in that little box, untouched, for more than a year.

That’s what happens when you get organized – you find all kinds of stuff around your house that, at the time, you thought you needed to have, and then you completely forget about or never use.

Getting organized is a great way to jump start a more frugal life.  I blogged about the benefits in An Exercise in Frugality, part one.  Many things we buy seem important at the time, but really aren’t.  Certainly they aren’t necessary to have right now.  The truth is, we can get by, and live joyfully, with a lot less than we think.

What do you have in your home that you bought but never used?  Books you haven’t read? Clothes you haven’t worn?

On the weekend, I cleaned out my craft room. Unfortunately I do not have before and after shots, but suffice it to say that it was a mess.

To bet better organized, I had begun saving recyclable items that could be re-purposed for storage. This included egg cartons, kleenex boxes, tea boxes, and glass jars.  Had I used a little more foresight, I also would have washed out and saved my tin cans, which can have a rustic appeal, or can be easily covered with a homemade label.  I also fell upon this neat blog, called Repurposeful, dedicated solely to repurosing or “finding new uses for everyday things.” I particularly like the idea of turning a cereal box into a magazine holder. I figure this craft could also be used to hold scrapbooking paper.

Many of these items, such as the egg cartons and tea boxes, fit perfectly inside the shelves of my plastic craft cupboard.  If you want to display your re-purposed storage items, I recommend following my tutorial on turning a tea box into a beautiful, decorative box.  I was going to do this with my other tea boxes, but haven’t gotten around it yet.  The tutorial can be found at orgjunkie.com.

Above is a plastic egg carton, holding some small, miscellaneous items, perfect for hanging on to loose buttons. I always have a replacement button handy when one goes missing.  They work well for homemade cards, too.

I used a tea box to hold stray ribbons. I collect ribbons from gifts and packaging and save them for homemade cards, gift wrap, or other craft projects.

A gold shopping bag now holds all my tissue paper (I re-use it for gifts as well as multi-media paintings).  Another gift bag holds all my bubble wrap and packing materials.

I hang on to all kinds of potential craft materials, such as cardboard, stickers, stamps, even cute pictures from magazines. These things tend to come in handy when I am scrapbooking, painting, making homemade cards or homemade wrapping paper.  If you hang on to all these little odds and ends, though, there is a fine line between being creatively frugal and being an utter pack rat.  I think the line is organization.  Now I feel much more organized, and happy that I have many re-purposed items doing double duty in my craft room.

Do you repurpose any “junk” that would normally end up in the recycling bin to aid in home-organization?

Yesterday I arose early to check out a garage sale at the United Church in Guelph.  These little church fundraisers can be hit or miss.  Last week’s was a total bust, but yesterday’s turned out to be very fruitful. I didn’t find anything particularly attractive or valuable, but I did score a big bunch of practical items.

I have a list of things I am looking to thrift this summer, mostly basic kitchen equipment.  I have been trying to improvise using what I own, but it’s getting to the point where I am being held back by my lack of a well-stocked kitchen cupboard.  For example, I recently tried to make brownies in a lasagna pan.  Didn’t work.  (I did, however, console myself by scraping the thin, yet tasty, brownie mixture from the pan and using it as ice cream topping.)

So, on the “thrift list” for this summer includes:

• 9×9 pans
  
• pie plates
  
• popcorn popper
  
• mandolin
• food processor*
• rice cooker*
• hand blender
• apron
• measuring cups
• cutting boards
• pizza peel*
• canning equipment
• spice jars

*If I can’t find in good condition, I will probably buy new. I may also write Black & Decker and ask for a new food pro, since ours broke within a year.

Shopping GoLightly, at the Thrifty Chicks, suggests that we shouldn’t thrift-shop with a list, but I think it makes sense to have at least a mental list of what you need and what you don’t.

At the garage sale, I got the pie plates and the 9×9 pan, all in good condition (see the picture above.) The 9×9 pan, 2 pie plates, and a new-looking quiche/frittata pan, came to $3.50, total.  I also found a popcorn popper (we normally make our own microwave popcorn using brown bags, or in a skillet, but you can’t beat the convenience of the popper.)  New but cheap models go for as low as $20, but this one only cost $1.50.

I also found a plastic mandolin – complete with all its assorted parts, including the hand protector and manual, for $1. This is perfect for making candied ginger, among other things. (New, this model sells for $12 US).

I also grabbed this cast iron frying pan for $1.  Not on my list, but always good to have around.  We let our last cast iron pan go rusty – whoops!  I will have to make sure to keep this one well-seasoned.

I love shopping at summer garage sales because not only is it cheaper (we spent a total of $7 for everything) but because it is an environmentally responsible way to shop.  I enjoy acquiring new things without contributing to more energy consumption or waste.  Finding bargains at yard sales is fun, but it’s also earth-healthy.  Thrifting fits within my personal belief that we can live a life of abundance without constantly buying new to fulfill our needs or even wants. Finally, it’s nice to know that what little money I spent went towards their fundraiser.  Shopping at church fundraisers, the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and thrift stores such as Good Will or the Salvation Army allows you to make contributions to nonprofits while shopping.  Talk about a responsible way to shop!

What’s on your thrift-list this summer?