Finders Glee

Are you a bargain shopper? Do you like to experience the thrill of a deal? I am and I do! I wish I had more time for it. I am in a bit of a house revamping mood lately and the only way to afford it is to bargain shop, re-use, repurpose, paint and so forth. We are making very slow progress on the bathroom. Maybe this week.

In the mean time, I have been patiently looking for additional counter top and storage ideas for my stamp room. When my guys were on the scout outing Saturday, I took the opportunity to do some bargain hunting. Buffalo is about a 45 minutes away and they have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore. This is a great place to find furniture, doors, fixtures and various house related items. Most of the donated items are used but not always. I spent an hour carefully sifting through everything. They had some antique furniture items that would be a DIY'ers dream! At the end of the hour, I purchased 1 thing, an 8' length of counter top. It was brand new, in a blue I was sure was a close match to what I already had and there was no back splash. I was thrilled to bits and it only cost me $30.00. I was halfway to my stamp room solution.

My next stop was Hobby Lobby but on the way I passed the Buffalo City Mission Thrift Store. Several stops at local Salvation Army stores last week left me disappointed but I had the time so I ventured inside. I am so glad I did. This store was clean, bright, organized and chock full of amazing bargains. My find of the day was a cabinet that I knew would be perfect. I am guessing it is a sideboard or buffet. There are 3 middle drawers and 2 end cabinets, each with a fixed shelf. It is made by Stanley and is a quality piece in very good condition. The price of $40 seemed a steal but then I noticed orange signs everywhere that read, "Managers Special, all furniture 30% off TODAY". Quick...mental math...yep, $28. I ran to the register so fast I think I caused a draft, lol. I didn't even care if it would fit into my van. Thankfully it did, right next to the counter top.

The sun was going down so the photo stinks, but here are my finds...

The cabinet is so lovely, it may get painted and repurposed down the road but for now, it is in my stamp room. Again, a lousy photo, but here it is in the basement, all set up. For a second I thought I would wait until I cleaned it up but I know better. It will never be clean and presentable, lol. It is what it is and I like it ;).

Yesterday I stumbled onto another find that I just have to tell someone about. Lucky you, lol! I went to the Super Walmart to grab some groceries. Even though this store's craft section is LOUSY, I had to check to see if I "needed" anything. I have been looking for the Martha Stewart Loopy border punch for 2 months now. Even my LSS can't seem to get enough of them in to fill all the requests. I did a quick scan and was almost ready to walk away when down on the bottom shelf I spotted some border/corner sets. Shoot, no loopy border! Wait...there was one all the way in the back, almost like someone tucked it out of sight. I had to get down on my knees to get it. Desperate times I tell ya! I didn't even care that I already had the corner punch. The shelf tag said it was $20 and I was good with that. It was worth just to end my frustrating search. Before I leave a store, I always double check my receipts (learned that one the hard way) and lo and behold, the punch set rang up not as $20 but get this...$5! Well, like any good paper crafting addict, I immediately went back into the store to see if the other ones were on sale as well. They had 2 each of the spider web, fall leaves and scallop 3-dot. I used a price checker to verify the price and yep, all came up $5. I bought them all cause I knew my friend would want them at that price. I was so excited yet felt a little like I had stolen something.

Now, my guess it that some new employee made a mistake. I have a hard time believing they meant to sell these sets at $5. But just in case, you might want to check your Walmart out.
Ahhh, what a satisfying couple of days!