A Belated Yard Sale Report for May 15, 2010

So...I'm a couple days late with my weekly yard sale report, which I normally post on Saturday. This week we had our own yard sale, and I totally underestimated how exhausted I would be at the end of that production! We ended up making about $100 and the kids made about $10 on their stuff. This was less than we had expected, so we were a bit disappointed. Still, we did make some money and the house is a lot cleaner!

What sold well:
-baked goods (we made 2 kinds of muffins and chocolate peanut butter brownies)
-plants (I had mint, chives, hollyhocks and some houseplants)
-CDs

I was surprised at the stuff that DIDN'T sell. We had a lot of great kids stuff on offer, and the items that did get purchased barely made a dent in the pile. The post-yard-sale cleanup took a lot of work. There were a LOT of boxes of stuff to pack up. I offered some it on freecycle, my husband took a van load full up to Value Village, and I have a few items I'm going to post on Kijiji. I also have a couple of boxes of books to take over to our local used bookstore.

A gentleman from our neighbourhood offered to swap a computer desk for some plants out of his garden. Since no one had really given the desk a second glance all morning, I figured I might as well. So I have a bunch of new perennials in my back yard, and a big piece of furniture out of the house.

I left my husband holding down the fort at our yard sale for a while so I could make a quick stop at a church rummage sale and another yard sale nearby. I only ended up purchasing one item (another holistic health book for 50 cents).

I'm glad to be finished with the housewide decluttering project - now maybe I can finally get started on that mending pile!

Food Waste Friday: Sweet Nothings!!

I did it! Finally, I have accomplished a zero-food-waste week.

::Does little happy dance::

Hopefully, I'm on a roll now.

To see how others fared with their food waste this week, head on over to The Frugal Girl for the weekly Food Waste Friday roundup.

My challenge for the coming week will be to use up all the rhubarb in my fridge! My neighbour kindly offered me free reign in his large rhubarb patch - I came home with about 15 lbs or so of fresh-picked rhubarb! I chopped up much of it with some help from my younger ds. There was SO much that I filled my largest storage container with it, plus a couple of others, and still had some left over. I'm running low on freezer space at the moment, so I'm planning to whip up a double batch of Rhubarb Muffins to sell at our yard sale tomorrow morning! I'm sure there will still be some left after that, so I might have to get a bit creative to use up the rest of it.

Since we're holding our own yard sale tomorrow, I'm not going to be doing my usual rounds, but I do hope to make it over to a church rummage sale that's not too far away. So, I should still have my weekly Yard Sale Report up tomorrow (last week's is here).

RECIPE: Pull-Apart Garlic & Parmesan Breadsticks

I whipped these up to go with a spaghetti dinner last week and my family thought they'd died and gone to heaven! An enticing bread can make even an "ordinary" meal seem extra special. Fortunately, these breadsticks are quick and easy to prepare, so you can be rewarded with lots of "oohs" and "ahs" without having to go to a lot of trouble. Get them rising before you start your main meal prep, and they'll be done in time to serve them fresh from the oven.

Ingredients:

1 loaf worth (1/3 recipe) Whole Wheat Refrigerator Dough
1/4 cup melted butter
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-4 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Drizzle a small amount of the butter in the bottom of a 7x11" lasagna pan, and spread around so the entire bottom of the pan is coated. Divide the bread dough into 12 equal portions. Using your hands, roll out each portion into a long, skinny rope just a bit shorter than the width of your lasagna pan. Place the breadsticks in the pan, arranging them so they are evenly spaced across. Add the minced garlic to the remaining butter and drizzle over top of the breadsticks, then sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over top. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for about 15-20 minutes. Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Yard Sale Report for May 8, 2010

This wasn't the most inspiring week, either weather-wise or sale-wise. I went to a rummage sale yesterday morning and thought I might get rained on coming home on my bike (thankfully the rain held off long enough for me to stay dry). This morning, it looked like it could tip down at any minute; it was really windy with very dark cloudy skies. I ventured off anyway, however the yard sale offerings were just not that exciting. You never know until you go, and most of the time it is very worthwhile; coming home the odd week empty-handed (or nearly so) is just part of the process.

At yesterday's rummage sale I got three holistic health reference books for a quarter each. I've been keeping my eye out for a homeopathy reference, so was excited to stumble across this one (I dug through a LOT of books at that sale!) I also found a pair of cute butterfly earrings for another 25 cents (a little Mother's Day present to myself!)

This morning, I picked up a small (single serving) stainless steel Thermos for another quarter. I've been on the lookout for these for a while now. I'm still hunting for a large capacity one, to hold coffee for day trips. We used to have a great one that kept coffee good and hot all day long, unfortunately my hubby dropped it and smashed the glass liner. Both of us seem to have a knack for that (also for losing them!), so I'm hoping to build up a little stockpile of decent quality Thermoses.

That's it for this week's purchases.

Grand total: $1.25 for 5 items, or 25 cents per item.

Food Waste Friday: SO Close!

I thought this was going to be the week that I had no food waste to report, but, alas, one little item snuck past my radar. About two mouthfuls' worth of my Cucumber and Bean Salad went kaput. My 10 year old son had saved this from a meal, insisting he was going to eat it later. I did remind him about it a couple of times, then we both forgot about it. So, I was very, very close to a zero waste week, but didn't quite make it! Swing on over to The Frugal Girl if you want to see how others did in the food waste department this week.

This week's food waste prevention tip is another one for keeping the nasty little bugs away from your precious food! If you add a bay leaf to each of your storage containers (e.g. jars of dried beans and grains) it acts as a natural pest deterrent.

I didn't blog a lot this week as my dad was in the hospital for major heart surgery and I've been running back and forth to the hospital checking in on him (he is doing quite well). I did write about our $75 Deck Makeover if you need some inspiration for sprucing up an outdoor space on a small budget. Check back in tomorrow for my weekly Yard Sale Report (last week's is here if you missed it!) I'm heading off to a rummage sale this morning, and plan to attend at least two sales tomorrow, so I should get in plenty of good "treasure hunting"!

Our $75 Deck Makeover

This deck makeover is actually from last summer. I realized I never blogged about it and since it's that time of year where everyone's sprucing up their outdoor living areas, I thought now would be the perfect time to share!

Unfortunately, I didn't remember to take a "before" picture. If you imagine a beat up old white resin table, with four equally beat up old mismatched white resin chairs, you'll get the general idea. We'd lived with that less-than-inspiring set for several years (a hand-me-down from my dad) and while I was thankful that we had *something* to sit on outdoors, I was very ready for a change!

My husband had just built a new fence around the back and side of the yard (the other areas already had a wooden fence) which was something we'd wanted to do for several years and had finally saved the money to complete. It made our yard look so much better that I just couldn't stand the sight of that old patio set any more! However, a brand new patio set was most definitely not in our budget. I *knew* I could find us a set within out budget, I just wasn't sure how or when I'd pull it off.

One Saturday while I was out on my weekly yard sale rounds, I stopped by a church rummage sale that was being held out in their parking lot. I arrived fairly late in the morning (after 11 a.m.) and had a good look around, purchasing a few small items. I was just about to leave the sale, when out of the corner of my eye I caught something that looked like the glass top of a patio table leaning against the parking lot fence. It was tucked well away from the main part of the sale, so I don't think many people would have noticed it. Lucky for me, because for $50 it became my new patio set! After a quick wash down with a bucket of hot soapy water, it looked nearly new. I've seen very similar sets on sale around here for $500 to $600 bucks, so I was totally thrilled with this bargain purchase (my younger son still tells everyone who comes in our backyard that his mom bought the patio set for 50 bucks, lol!) I would really like a patio umbrella to finish it off, so I'm keeping my eyes open for a great deal on one this year.

To complete our deck makeover, my husband built the three large planter boxes out of free wooden skids (also known as pallets). There are a couple of places in our area where people dump these, free for the taking. They are generally made of hardwood and are an excellent source of free wood for small building projects. He painted them with white paint we had hanging around from another project, so the planter boxes didn't cost a thing to build. The smaller tables in between the large boxes were built out of an old plant stand we had hanging around. The two pots on top of small tables we dug out of the basement. We spent the remaining $25 on soil for the large planters and an assortment of herbs for the pots, to create visually pleasing and pleasantly scented edible arrangements. The large planter boxes were used to grow cherry tomato plants.

I still smile every time I walk onto our deck, knowing that we created exactly what we wanted while staying within our modest budget!

If you have a great outdoor makeover to share, please tell me about it in the comments.

Yard Sale Report for May 1, 2010

Rain was in the forecast today and when I woke up and felt how humid it was, I knew I'd better get moving if I wanted to make my yard sale rounds before I got dumped on! I had three advertised sales to check out today. The first was right around the corner from me, and it proved to be a gem - a well organized sale with a great selection of books and household items, all at rock-bottom prices. In other words, my favourite kind of yard sale.

I walked away from that sale loaded down with three bags of goodies:
-a dozen children's books in like new condition
-4 small decorative glass dishes (the kind with lovely intricate patterns)
-a Pyrex Bundt pan (*so* excited to find this - I'd never seen one before!)
-Pyrex casserole dish
-stainless steel shaker (the kind you'd use for Parmesan; it's going in my kitchen for my homemade scouring powder)
-a set of nesting Christmas tins

I paid $5.00 even for the lot.

Just down the street there was an unadvertised sale, so I stopped in there and found a beautiful board book for ten cents.

I dropped all my purchases off at home, then grabbed my bike and headed out to check the other two sales on my list. The first was a rummage sale held by a local non-profit. I found seven novels there, all in like-new condition (two hardcover, the rest trade paperback). They were all literary novels, interesting sounding ones that I'd not heard of before. I have a lot of serious readers in my life, so I always stock up on interesting books that would make a solid addition to a gift basket (especially when they're 25 cents each!) Speaking of baskets, I picked one up for another 50 cents.

At the final sale of the morning I bought two more books for a quarter each; a hardcover house-and-garden tips book that would make a great housewarming present, and a kid's activity book by the Royal Ontario Museum, both destined for my gift cupboard stash.

Once I got home I decided to run back over to the first sale, as I'd seen some Pyrex pie plates there and realized I should have scooped them up, so I could bring pies over as housewarming gifts and not worry about having to get the plate back (yes, I know I could use a foil one, but it's so much more charming to use a proper one and have it be part of the gift). Unfortunately, there was only one left of the several they'd had earlier in the morning. I got that one, plus three more glass dishes, for another 70 cents.

Grand total for the morning: 8.45 for 35 items, or 24 cents per item.

I should probably mention that I'm not planning to keep most of the things I bought this morning (I am really NOT a packrat!) The Pyrex Bundt pan and casserole, the stainless steel shaker, and (possibly) the basket are for our home. Everything else will go in my gift cupboard stash. I'm planning to use the decorative glass dishes for hostess gifts (filled with yummy homemade treats). They'll definitely add that "something extra" to my gift giving! All the books are going in the gift cupboard, too. I like to have a variety on hand, so I always have a little something to suit almost any child or adult I might suddenly need a gift for. I like to bring a small gift for siblings when a new baby is born (along with something for mother and babe, of course) and books are perfect for this. It's also nice to have something on hand to bring a friend or relative who's sick or "down in the dumps", so having an assortment of things to choose from in my gift cupboard allows me to put together a nice cheery "pick me up" gift on the spur of the moment, without busting my budget (or even having to leave the house, lol!) I love being able to bless others with a surprise gift without straining my finances.

Anyone else uncover a great find this week? Let me know in the comments!