Family Balance Sheet

MAY 24, 2011

I painted it and added some fun baskets to it for organizing as well. The picnic basket in the middle was an estate sale find and the little one on top.came from a garage sale. Do you see the Baker's Rack in the picture too? The picnic basket on the bottom was passed on from my Mom, and I treasure it. Thanks for reading.

Swap 138

Swap Organic Organization Homemade 138

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

MAY 23, 2015

I keep a roll of heavy paper (which I buy at Home Depot for about $11 for a roll about 2 inches thick and 2 feet wide) to use in wrapping packages, protecting floors during home projects, making garage sale signs and etc. I will probably use an old garage sale board game as the base, and just glue the printed game mat to it.

Games 100

Games Making Garage Sale Kids and Family 100

Saving Cents With Sense

JUNE 13, 2013

Check out some thrift stores, vintage stores, flea markets, and garage sales. 2 – Look for free stuff, too. Did you know that there is an entire section on Craigslist dedicated to free stuff? Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s low quality. 3 – Do the work yourself. 4 – Fix up what you already own.

Saving Money 89

Saving Money Money Home Furniture 89

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

MARCH 11, 2014

For awhile, there was a trend called ‘Shabby Chic’ Old wooden furniture, painted white – with crackled or chipped finishes – were highly regarded by collectors and decorators. Paintings, as we all know from watching the Road Show, sometimes gain value when properly cleaned and brightened. Enjoy your collections.

Collectibles 170

Collectibles Repairs Aunt Garage 170

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

JANUARY 24, 2012

Do you need to replace the doors or would a fresh coat of paint suit you? I scouted for tiles as I went to garage sales for other items and was lucky enough to find not only a big lot of beautiful travertine tiles, but also two very usable Kohler bath faucets – for which we bought one replacement part off the Kohler repair site.

Renovation 189

Renovation Home Real Estate Re-use 189

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

We shopped at garage sales, turned down the heat, combined errands to use less gas, didn’t buy a lot of prepared food, cooked at home and the like. I even made the kid’s play dough and finger paint. If it couldn’t be done for free, we didn’t do it or did it very, very seldom. That took forever!

Thrifty 213

Thrifty Garage Spendthrift Fair-Trade 213

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

As a child and teen, I painted (inside and out), mowed and trimmed, punched holes in concrete to install decorate iron railings, worked with hand and power tools and helped my parents do everything from putting up a garage to putting up storm windows. I thought I knew all about keeping a house.

Home 100

Home Washer and Dryer Do It Yourself Garage 100