$5 Discovery

It's not often we go to the Discovery Shop at Westlake two days in a row, but yesterday we were at Westlake for my husband's eye appointment and stopped in the Discovery Shop on the way home. 

The shop is going to install new carpet this weekend, and they were trying to clear out the store by offering a 25% discount on everything. John bought me a ceramic cat that was marked $5, but cost him $3.75. Here's the cat on one of my memorabilia shelves in the den.

I found a star-shaped pin that, marked down, cost me 75¢. It joined the two pins I'd gotten earlier at Goodwill for a dollar each.

Today, we were at Westlake Krogers to use our 1,000 points to buy gas at a dollar off per gallon. We had the back of the truck filled with gas cans so we could get as many gallons as possible for the price. We had to pass the Discovery Shop on the way home, so we stopped—and saw this:

This sale had just started today and applied to the room where housewares, fabrics, and electronics were displayed. Well, we got a bag and commenced to fill it.

Then we filled it more. We got some stuff we didn't really need because the stuff was such a good bargain.

At the checkout counter, our bag filled several paper (and one plastic) bag. Luckily we had a bit of room in the truck.

What did we get? John bought a lot of electrical stuff—assorted cords, etc.—that I didn't bother to take pictures of. But here are some pictures of some of our more interesting loot:

Tablecloth, two brass wall sconces and a brass candlestick, candles, a crystal candleholder, pewter Jefferson cup, pewter tankard, pewter goblet, three chargers, an old telephone insulator, a yellow linen tablecloth . . .

. . . a red tablecloth with heart appliques, some craft stuff, four washcloths, four green napkins, three small flowerpots, some picture frames, a hanging bird feeder, etc.

Going by the prices on the items, we would have spent about $90 for everything (well, 25% off $90-something). I'm glad we discovered this $5 bargain.

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Creative Blog Award

Thanks to Deirdra for awarding this blog a Creative Blog Award from A Storybook World.

When being frugal, it often pays to be creative.

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Down the Road Deals

I didn't have to leave the neighborhood to get some bargains today. I found a few interesting things just down the road. After hubby and I visited our Union Hall farm this morning, we stopped at Clay's Consignment Shop to see if he had anything interesting. He did.

I got a sugar bowl and creamer in the International pattern Ella's Rooster to match the dinnerware I'd gotten from Clay at his other location four years ago. I almost didn't get them, but then he lowered the price to $4. I also saw a cute cat plaque that matches both my decor and philosophy—$2.

Did I get a deal? Let's see. A bit of Googling produced these results:

Looks like I got a very good deal on the sugar bowl and creamer!

Hmmm. $8.99 for the cat plaque. Looks like I didn't do too badly. 

Next door to Clay, Pete Pasley was having sale of some of his sister's things. I saw an 8" Revere Ware skillet that I could use. It was $1.50

The bottom is copper-clad.

The inside of the lid and pan revealed they were in great shape.

But did I get a deal? Looks like I did.

I also paid 75 cents for this microwave bacon cooker in its original box.

It had never been used. One side microwaves bacon . . .

 . . . and the other makes potato chips.

Did I get a deal? I don't know. I couldn't find it priced separately, but I did find this:

I guess I got some good buys today.

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Horse Picture

[UPDATE: THIS SHOP NO LONGER EXISTS. I miss it.]
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed some activity around the Union Hall building where The Misty Glade Antique Shop used to be.

I hadn't seen Donna, the proprietress, for a good while, so I stopped in to see if she was around. She wasn't—she'd long since moved out. But Clay's Consignment Shop, which used to be on Scruggs Road, was moving in.

I'd shopped at Clay's plenty of times before and had gotten some good deals there—such as this cat bag and this set of Ella's Rooster dishes. Although Clay was still moving in, the place was filling up fast:

A picture, which he'd just unpacked and was still on the floor, caught my eye.

I really didn't need another horse picture, and it was a bit more than I wanted to spend. But Clay is always open to a bargain, so we haggled a bit. When he finally made me an offer I couldn't refuse, I bought it. 

It looks pretty good on my hall wall—right beside a Goodwill mirror.

It's nice to have a consignment shop only two miles away. Now I don't have to drive all the way to Rocky Mount or to Westlake when I'm in a bargain-hunting mood.

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More March Bargains

Today I went to the Westlake Library's used book sale. I was able to get all these books—and the Roots miniseries on VHS (yeah, we still have some VHS players)—for a total of  $11.50.

While at Westlake, I also went up the road to Goodwill and found a few goodies. For instance, this rural-themed ceramic tissue cover (79¢) will look great in the downstairs guest bathroom. 

The little Chinese cat vase ($1.95) is a welcome addition to all my cat-themed stuff. The vase has the same facial expression as my kitty Jim-Bob.

I also found two small cderamic planters—50¢ for the plain white one with a butterfly design and 95¢ for the painted one. I was delighted to find another little wooden cat (79¢) that looks like a Laurel Burch-style design.

The little wooden cat fits right in with my other two—also Goodwill finds. There are some similar wooden cats on Etsy for $10.

The Goodwill worker had just put out this grapevine door or wall hanging. Got it for a dollar! It will go on one of my outside doors, but I'm not sure which one.

My best deal ($2.99) was probably this tray—an International Silver Webster-Wilcox tray in  the "Joanne" design. I could just barely make out the engraving on the back that told me what it was.

It's tarnished but otherwise in good shape. It'll look nice when I polish it. I Googled and found one in excellent condition looks like mine:

And I also found one for sale on eBay that's way more tarnished than the one I bought:

Here's the eBay price: 

I guess I got a couple of good deals.

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March Bargains

Today I went bargain hunting in two places in Rocky Mount—the Franklin County Library's used book sale and Purrfect Treasures. At the library sale, I bought all these books for a total of $3.50— a pretty good bargain.

After leaving the library, I went up Route 220 to Purrfect Treasures, the fundraising store for Franklin County Humane Society. Purrfect Treasures always has some neat stuff. But would I find anything I would like?

Turns out I did. I found a pot and a pin. The flower pot ($1.50) was kind of heavy. The pin ($1.00) was another "House Pin" by Lucinda. I'd bought one of Lucinda's pins last month at the Westlake Goodwill and knew that the $1 price was a great bargain.

The back of the pot had a number. I don't know what this means. It's hard to see, but the Lucinda tag is on the back of the pin.

My best buy, though a lot more than what I'd intended to spend, was in the downstairs room at Purrfect Treasures. It was a big metal horse head that had been reduced to $30. I really liked it because it reminded me of War Horse, the movie I'd seen last month. The name on the base was Carolyn Kinder.

I had to have it. I have no idea where I'll put it. But it can't sit in this living room chair forever.

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February Deals

Did I get any good deals today? At Kroger, I used my $40 worth of "reward checks" I'd received for having a bunch of points on my Kroger card. Plus it was Senior Citizen Day, so that was another 5% off the entire bill.

Later, at the Westlake Goodwill, I paid a dollar for a neat little pin. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it's a little house with fence, lamppost, and trees.

 The back said "House Pins by Lucinda" and listed a website, http://www.lucinda.com. I went to the site and found a page of House Pins. I guess I got a pretty good deal.

I also bought a large totebag for a dollar . . .

. . .  a small handmade pottery jar (79¢), a tiny ceramic heart-shaped box (59¢), two small copper pails (99¢ each) . . .

  

. . . and a ceramic cat plaque (99¢) made in 1994 by Smoky Mountain Pottery in Gatlinburg.

I'm not sure to which of our cats the plaque refers—probably to my husband's cat Dylan.

The Discovery Shop was having a 25% off sale today. I found a casserole dish that was already marked 25% off. With the additional 25% off, I paid $4.50 for it.

At the Discovery Shop, I also found a floral bedspread, bedskirt, and sham set that was $15 after discount. I'll use it on the guest room bed.

The spread is reversible, but I like the dark side better.

I guess I got some pretty good deals. What do you think?

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Garden Shoes

A few weeks ago, while I was in the Rocky Mount Tractor Supply, I saw some nifty garden shoes. They were on sale for $19.99. That was more than I wanted to pay, so I didn't buy them.

Today, I was back at Tractor Supply and noticed the shoes been reduced to $9.99. But did they have my size?

Yep! Bought 'em! Here they are getting the official cat scan from Chloe:

Check out the treads on these things, which are officially called "Sloggers Garden Trekker Boots." Since they're waterproof, they'll be good to wear in rain and snow. And great for manure shoveling sessions.

Here they are on the Slogger website:

I guess I got a good deal.

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