SWH4T$: Summer Clearance

Its that time of year again, when stores put clothes on deep deep clearance.  Right now most retailers are clearing out the racks of summer clothing, and putting out fall clothing (while we are sitting here sweating our asses off still).

A few weeks ago The Children's Place was having a big clearance sale, and I had a code for an extra 20% off online.  I estimated what size Jack would be in next summer and went shopping :)  I pretty much got half his summer wardrobe for next year for practically pennies.

Here's what I got:

So that's 8 shirts (6 polos & 2 tees), 3 pairs of shorts and one pair of sandals.

Wanna guess how much I paid?  $50.66 shipped.

I know, crazy right?  I refuse to buy kids clothes full price, but I also want my kid dressed well.  Clearance rack, end of season shopping is the way to go friends!  Get out there and get shopping!  

SWH4T$: Toddler Fashion

I know I've talked about it before, but seriously, consignment shopping for kids is like the best thing ever. We all know how it works, kids grow out of stuff faster than you can wash them for the 2nd time.  Therefore, the abundance of gently used kids clothing out there is downright crazy.

I've been to a few different kids consignment stores, but I definitely have my favorite.  Most of these stores are individually owned franchises, therefore the quality of the clothing will vary.  You need to find a store where the owner and employees care about quality and not quantity of clothing.  

The store that I go to (BFF T told me about it, I can't take all the credit) only stocks brand names.  Gymboree, Chaps, Polo, Gap, Children's Place, Nike, Disney, Carters, etc.  Another store that I've been to will sell Target brand (Circo) for like $3/each.  Um, I can get it brand new at Target for cheaper than that so no thank you!  Do your market research owner-lady!  

Most of the time I am able to get a few items NWT (new with tags) at my store.  A lot of times they will have 30% or 50% off sales and fill-a-bag sales.  I go every season and get Jack some extra clothes for daycare, and I usually end up finding a few every-day things as well.  

Here is my latest haul:

1: Talbot's Kids polo shirt, Gap madras shorts

2: Nike Red Sox jersey & mesh short set

3: Nike T-shirt (NWT), Nike mesh shorts

1: Chaps khakis

2: Gymboree t-shirt

3: Gap khakis

4: sun hat

5: Gap t-shirt (NWT)

6: Gymboree jeans

7: Polo jeans

8: Black Dog hoodie (NWT)

Also, not pictured: Fisher Price Zoo Talkers Animal Sounds Zoo, $14.99 (NWT!!!)

Melissa & Doug Fire Truck Sound Puzzle, $3.99

So, how much did I pay for all of this?  $82.

Pretty good, considering the Zoo Talkers, Gap khakis & Gap t-shirt at full price would have been ~$82 alone.  

And that Talbot's polo and madras shorts might be my new favorite outfit for Jack 

SWH4T$: DIY Cake Stands

Happy Thursday everyone! Since I know that you're all probably planning out Easter dinner and brunch menu's, I wanted to blog a little DIY project today that you can do super quick and easy to make your dessert table pop...without breaking the bank!

Blog Hop Rules

1) Follow your hostesses, Baby Shmizz and Sweet Stella's, via GFC or BlogLovin'

2) Post our button on your blog for others to follow along

3) Link up a post that helps you save time, money, frustration...your sanity!

Have fun linking up and reading other mama tips!

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DIY Cake Stands

Planning an Easter dinner or brunch? Have a bevvy of desserts to display? This thrifty little DIY will have your table looking fabulous in no time flat, and with little money spent!

Supplies:
White plastic plates or trays from the dollar store
Glass candle sticks or tumblers from the dollar store

How-to:

Flip over your plate or tray.

Using a permanent adhesive {I used Epoxy because I had it on hand, but I'm sure that you could use hot glue. Just be warned that hot glue won't give you as permanent or strong a bond between the plate and candle stick or tumbler}, smear about a 2" circle on the bottom side of your plate or tray.

If you're using epoxy, make sure that your room is well ventilated and that you're doing it away from children. Heavily toxic and you don't want it getting on your skin either!

Place the candle stick or tumbler on the adhesive. Since I was using tumblers, I put them end to end...flat surfaces will give you the strongest bond and the most stability in your cake stand.

Place a hardcover book or two on the tumbler. The weight will help the bond become good and strong.

Leave the stand to dry for 24 hours.

After it's dry, place cookies, sweets, treats, cakes...whatever you'd like on display for your guests! you could even tie seasonal ribbon around the base to make it more festive!

Link up your thrifty frugal crafty time and money saving ideas today!

SWH4T$: If it's Free, it's for Me!

Welcome back to SWH4T$ - a blog hop for money {and time} saving mama bloggers!




We just have three very simple guidelines!



1.) Follow your hostesses at Baby Shmizz and Sweet Stella's via GFC

2.) Link up a specific post that relates to money and time, your job, your business, couponing, anything that shows how you "work hard for your money".

3.) Post our button on your post

Have fun linking and finding new blogs to read!








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If it's Free, it's for Me!

Since funds are tight at the Shmizz household, we've been tapping into a lot of free local resources for things to do on the weekend with Jack. It's amazing what you can find for free in your neighborhood if you just look around a little harder :)



Library

Our library haul from last week

This might seem like a no-brainer to some, but for us, it was something new. We started bringing Jack to the library every weekend to get some new books, videos to watch, CDs to listen to. What's nice about the library is that you can have a constantly revolving collection of books at your house, so he never gets bored. Or, for that matter, when you are sick of reading Tip Tip, Dig Dig for the 4,568,752nd time, you can just bring it back and get something different :) Most libraries will also have a free story-time or sing-a-long that you can join in on, which is great for socializing and toddler stimulation.



Playgrounds

At the playground last weekend with Auntie Kellie

Moms of toddler boys know that burning energy is essential to having a happy toddler. Sure, girls can be like this too, but we all know that boys are a little crazy at times and need to let loose. Now that the weather is starting to get warmer, we are constantly looking for nice playgrounds to check out. The best are ones that are fenced in, and have smaller structures that are good for smaller toddlers. Not sure where the playgrounds are in your area? Check out this website to find them! They also have a mobile app for both iPhone and Android platforms, so if you get to a playground and the elementary school bullies are being mean to your child, or the place is over-run with nannies on their phones texting and not watching their charges, you can always move on to a new park...this may or may not be coming from personal experience...



Playdates

Is your kid getting sick of their toys? Instead of buying new ones, have a playdate and go over a little friend's house and play with their toys! Its a win-win situation for you, because you can hang out with the mom/dad and the kiddos can play and amuse themselves. Another bonus, if you have a playdate in the morning, kids get tired, take awesome naps and life is good for all :)



The Dollar Store

Ok, so this isn't exactly free, but its about as close as you can get these days. Toys, snacks, crafting supplies, you name it, they probably have it. I even got all the supplies for Jack's birthday party goodie bags for 10 kids for $60 (another post for another week!). Glow sticks in the bathtub, coloring books, balloons, shovel & pail, Matchbox cars, Playdough. Tell yourself that you are going to skip getting coffee at Dunkin/Starbucks that week and spend the $5 on your kid at the Dollar Store that weekend; kiddo will feel like they won the lottery when they walk out with 5 toys :)



What sort of free things do you do with your kids? Link up and share!

SWH4T$: Cabinet Re-Organization

It's Thursday again! One more day till TGIF time :)



It's so easy to link up, here's how:



1.) Follow your hostesses at Baby Shmizz and Sweet Stella's via GFC

2.) Link up a specific post that relates to money and time, your job, your business, couponing, anything that shows how you "work hard for your money".

3.) Post our button on your post

Have fun linking and finding new blogs to read!














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Cabinet Re-organization
I've been on this organization kick lately, especially with all of my cabinets in my house. I've just gotten sick of how messy they get, so I've been putting things in bins, labeling, purging - and its been awesome! My latest project was one of the larger cabinets in my kitchen, which houses a lot of infrequently used items, and tends to just get things thrown in there without any thought.
This is the before picture, not too nice huh?

I started off by taking everything out and throwing out what we didn't need or didn't use (ice cube trays from our baby food making days, a spoon rest that we don't use, a votive candle holder that was half-broken). Then, I took all the shelves out and wiped them down, and applied a new layer of Contac Paper.

Next, I put everything that was being saved back into the cabinet, and organized it so it made sense. I moved out our wooden formal flatware box and displayed it on the china hutch in our dining room, which freed up a lot of space on one shelf. Aprons and bottle coolers went into medium-sized bins. Small baking molds, grill accessories and paper/plasticware went into other smaller bins. It's a deep cabinet, but I made sure not to shove things too far back, because otherwise you can't see them, and you'll be less likely to use them.

After everything was in the cabinet, I made a list of what was on each shelf. I used Microsoft Word to print out the list of items, cut out each shelf list and then glued it onto a pretty piece of scrapbook paper and taped it to the inside of the cabinet as a map of sorts.

Then, I printed out some labels to put on the bins. I got the labels from here. I didn't have sticky label sheets to print them on, so I was cheap and used what I had: regular white printer paper and clear packing tape :) Worked just fine.

The final product:

Big improvement huh? I hope that I've made everything easy to find and easy to put away, with the intention that the cabinet will stay that way.
This whole project cost me about $15:2 medium wire bins from Target: $52 medium plastic bins from Walmart: $2.383 small skinny plastic bins from Walmart: $2.38Roll of Contac paper: $5.89
Got any organizational projects you've done recently? Link up!

SWH4T$: Bathroom Refinishing

It's Thursday again folks, which means more great tips! What do you have to share this week?



1.) Follow your hostesses at Baby Shmizz and Sweet Stella's via GFC

2.) Link up a specific post that relates to money and time, your job, your business, couponing, anything that shows how you "work hard for your money".

3.) Post our button on your post

Have fun linking and finding new blogs to read!















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Bathtub Refinishing
Our house was built in 1925, and a few additions and renovations done in the 1980s, you know, when almond-colored fixtures were super cool. Sounds pretty, right?

So in 2009, we had the bathroom renovated. We re-tiled the shower, bumped up the shower ceiling, adjusted the height of the showerhead to accomodate for 6'4" Mizzle, re-tiled the floor, removed some old nasty shelving, new toilet, new vanity and new medicine cabinet.

We were going to replace the bathtub, but it would have cost a fortune, and there wasn't anything structurally wrong with our tub. So, we opted to refinish it ourselves, with a kit similar to this that we found at Home Depot:

I'm not sure that this was the brand that we used, so don't think
I'm slamming this company, I'm not. It's a good idea, just didn't work for us.

The contractors did it for us the first time, and then we did it the 2nd time. And the 3rd time. Yes, we had to refinish the tub 3 times. And each time, it only lasted a few months before peeling off. And the fumes were so strong, that we couldn't stay in the house while it was drying. Which took 3 days. Yes, 3 days. I think this would be great for a tub that isn't used very much, but when you have 2 adults showering daily and then a toddler taking a bath, its just not going to work.

So the last time we did it, was August 2011. And then, around Christmas, this is what we ended up with:

See the new finish peeling up and revealing that splendid almond finish? HAWT, right?

So at the end of January, Mizzle and I went to a Home Show in Boston, in hopes that we would find a cheap way to get what we really wanted: a gleaming white bathtub. One of the companies that was there was a professional refinishing company. They use a special industrial epoxy that is specifically designed for bathtubs. The only other option we found was a BathFitter thing, where they slip a custom liner over your tub. That would have cost at least $2000. Not what we wanted to spend. The refinishing guys? $300. And, since we booked our appointment at the Home Show, we got a discount, and they also threw in non-slip treads for free! So what would have normally cost us $410, we got for $300. But, the best part was that they guaruantee their work for 2 years. If there are any problems, we just call them, and they come back and fix it. For free. We spent a total of $150 on the kids from Home Depot, so this refinishing option is a little more expensive than the DIY kit, but, the combined price of the 2 of them is still less than BathFitter, and I love the 2 year gaurantee.

Amazing, right? They started at 10:30, and we were able to use the shower 24 hours later! And, the fumes were soooo much less than the DIY kit. We could actually all sleep in the house that night and not have to worry.

If you are looking for an economical way to refinish an old tub, I would highly recommend this option! If you would like more info on the company that we used, shoot me an email and I will fill you in!

What sort of thrifty home renovations have you done?