My, oh, my. I've gone all year (grin) not buying anything for my crafts or more doll stuff, but I blew it big time today. Luckily, I didn't spend more than $25. total - and that included some groceries !

Stopped by Mal-Wart today, and got the water jugs refilled. We often buy their house-brand water for cooking - the well water is a bit worrisome. When the jugs are emptied, I have them refilled, for 33c each. Versus 67c new, it's not a bad savings.

The Christmas stuff was 75% off, so I got two Cars photo frame ornaments for Dearest Son ($5.88, down to $1.47 !), two Disney Princess ornament frames for me ($7.50, now $1.87), a pack of egg nog mix mostly for the tiny attached whisk ($1.25, down from $5.), and a package of unbreakable copper-colored ornaments, also at $1.25. Beloved Hubby's favorite color is orange, and he's complained before that there's never any orange ornaments. Wait 'til he sees these babies next year ! I'm thinking of customizing a few, too.

From there, I hit the thrift. Found a beanie-style American Airlines airplane toy for 50c, and a near-new Sparkle Gem Princess Belle doll, packaged with a Ken in a Beast costume, $3.99. I bought Sparkle Gem Snow White there last month ! Both dolls had their hair still in the factory set, with the clear elastics still in place. On the shelves, they were about $14. each !

After that, I visited Dollar Tree. They finally had the emergency candles back in stock, so I got a box - 10 for a buck, and they're great ! Each winter my feet resemble hooves, so I got a sander. Ick. I also scored a set of 6" by 9" magnetic sheets and some glass 'Accent Gems'.  One of the magnet sheets and the glass gems are for a craft project. If it works, I'll write it up here ! The other magnet sheet is gonna block the rusted-open vent over my sewing machine. Depending on the season, I either freeze or roast when I sew, so the magnet sheet should block the air flow somewhat.

From there, it was across the street to Walgreen's - they had milk and Progresso soup on sale, and I even had a coupon ! Also got a tiny, light up 'squish ball' snowglobe with a Cinderella figure inside. Also 75% off - for 50c, one of my doll's display shelves just got a new curio !

Came home to a lunch of leftovers, and finished the dishes. I let that job go waaaay too long ! Got the trash out, and I'll begin dinner soon. While it's cooking, I'll get the dishes put away. It's so nice to have a clean kitchen again !

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Woke up kinda early today, with a short list of things to do. Craigslist had an ad for a yard sale this morning, and I eagerly wrote the address down, and mapped it from my door to theirs with Google. The sale started at 8am, but it was 9 before I left the house. Plenty of time to get things set up, I thought.

Nope. When I got there, there were a few boxes of clothes and some stuffed animals and baby furniture out, but that was it. Rows of empty tables swayed in the wind. For whatever reason, the folks hosting the sale hadn't brought much out - and it was a today-only sale.

The seller asked me what I was looking for, so I told her 'boys' clothes, size 8 or so, and dolls'. She hauled out another box, and it was boy's clothes - mostly 4T, much too small for Dearest Son. I never knew what happened to the dolls she had advertised, because they never made an appearance. This happened earlier this year at another sale - the ad made much of the many, many toys that'd be there, but not one was visible. When I asked, I was told they'd decided to not sell toys after all. Oookay...but I wouldn't have gone if I'd have known they were only selling toasters and blenders and baby clothes !

Well, I felt bad for them and stupid for dragging my wide butt halfway across town for a washout sale, so I selected the one shirt that might fit Dearest, and a stuffed animal in a dress that might fit one of my dolls - $5., I was told. Um. Bit pricey, but I was ready to leave already. And, guess what, the seller had no change at all. None. Not even for a $10. bill. Her husband was placing signs, and should be back any minute...

I waited for ten, with her kids watching my every movement. I have no idea why I was so interesting to them. Seller and her mother were in and out of the house every minute or so, sadly bringing nothing new outside, but the kids stayed and watched me like hawks. I finally had to put my selections down and offer apologies. I probably should have bought a coffee from a nearby quickie-mart and gone back for the shirt and stuffed animal, but by the time I got back into the truck, I was cold and only wanted out of there. And I realized I didn't really want the items, I just wanted the transaction over and done with.

Stopped by Target, like an idiot, and claimed the first parking space I saw. It was some distance from the store, but safer than cruising the lot. I was at the door when I saw the car behind me loop around for another pass at a closer space. Good Luck with that !

It was a zoo in there. I got the now-ridiculously priced rice cracker mix I came for - it used to be $5.50, now it's $8., won't be buying that anymore ! - and a set of markdown chopsticks for Beloved Hubby, and markdown white cheddar popcorn seasoning for me. Wandered around a bit while dazed folks with half-full shopping carts tried to figure out what Billy and Suzie really wanted. I was soo glad I wasn't Christmas shopping !

Last weekend, we did our annual DVD 'inventory', and we each pulled a pile of movies we didn't watch or want anymore. Hastings here buys used media, so I took our selections there to trade in. We got $38. in store credit for our 12 discs - yaaay ! Several were bought at yard sales for pocket change !

I got the 20th Anniversary two-disc copy of A Christmas Story we'd been planning on buying, for $20. Since we don't have cable, or even broadcast TV, we don't get the 24-hours of it next week. And I wanted to see the bonus features. Also scored a Wall-E coloring book and a Tale of Despereaux storybook for Dearest as small gifts, at $4. each. And we still have over $7. in credit ! I love shopping that doesn't involve spending money !

From there, I hit Big Lots. Whoo. Was that place crowded ! It was as bad as Target, and I should have known, it being the last Saturday before Christmas ! Wandered all over, and overheard the worst thing I've listened to all year. Allow me to set the stage with the cast and settings...

A couple was looking at various toys, and Mom (presumably) had chosen a pink princess dress-up set. She was telling (presumably) Dad that their daughter (I guess) would love this set, especially the fake nails. Dad inquired how the nails stayed on, and Mom told him they came with double-sided tape. Dad avocated gluing them on with stronger stuff, but Mom objected, saying, and I quote for your amusement, "You are NOT using super-glue on our three-year-old's fingers !". Oi.

I decided I'd had enough, and clutching the gingerbread cookies my guys like, headed to the registers. Got behind a 'savvy' shopper who wanted to debate the price of everything she bought, and she had a cartload. Somehow, she'd find the one shirt marked $4., and ask if the others like it, marked $6., were the same price as the other one. When they weren't, she had to debate whether or not to buy the rest, and the cashier just had to stand and wait 'til she did. And so did the rest of us.

She'd done that four times, and three times put it all back, shoving the rejects into the snack display area in front of the register, and doing the same thing with the next items - thermals, candles, candy, toys, you name it. I was about to give up and put the cookies back when they opened another register, and I got through while the lifetime shopper was bedeviling the cashier with another find, I think it was a blanket - and there was still stuff in her cart, awaiting its turn on her bizarre version of  'Is the Price Right ?'.

I'm all for finding the deals and asking questions, but not with a cartload of stuff at noon on the Saturday before Christmas at the only open register !

At least I got to spend quality time with a beloved movie and rice crackers when I got home. About all I need to do is wrap Dearest's presents, and Christmas is done ! Luckily, the rest of the family decided two years ago to not exchange gifts, just visit for a while. It's made the holidays so much nicer !

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Today was Dearest Son's last school day before holiday vacation. I'd been asked to help with the classroom party, and I needed to distribute all the star ornaments I made yesterday. So after a quick lunch, I was on my way.

It was my original idea to just stand the stars up in my boot box, let folks choose their own. But Beloved Hubby thought it'd be nicer to have 'em wrapped, and I agreed with him. I'd already put aside two for the busdriver and monitor, and luckily, Dearest brought home two holiday-themed lunch bags from various school projects. I reused them this morning, adding cookies and candy canes. No one seems to remember the bus personnel.

I made a special red glitter one for his teacher. The rest were gold (8), green (8), and black (4) - basically what I had left from other projects and yard sale finds. The red glitter felt was a small bit left from his pre-k days - I made a stocking for each class member, four years ago. Luckily, the wrapping paper - another yard sale find, this time from a Free box - was already in the house.

So I wrapped them and camouflaged the box my boots came in with foil. Nothin' says 'Christmas' like a shoe box in aluminum foil. Left a bit early so I could hit the Thrift. Found several things I liked, but with mostly pocket change in my wallet, I decided on the wicker doll sofa, 75c plus tax. I am such a sucker for those things...

On to the fun part of the day ! It only took me a half-hour to get my little surprises distributed. I even had a few extras to share ! And I got the custodian - last year, I couldn't find her. For such a small thing, I got many thanks and smiles. Our librarian was especially happy with hers - since her daughter had been the Star of Bethlehem this year, she wore a yellow felt costume ! So this was an especially nice keepsake for her. I'd been feeling 'gift inadequacy' tremors on the way to school - but afterward, I was really glad I did it.

The party was fun, although few parents contributed. Seriously. Out of a class of eighteen, only half sent anything at all - and three of us were putting on the party ! What really ranks is that last year, it was even worse. We had candy canes, Doritos, drinks, and cookies, that was all. Beyond the homeroom parents, m'self included, only two contributed. Sad.

We stored the leftover candy, treats, and plates in the boot box - from where we had extra, but not enough to give out to the whole class. His teacher can use the stuff for rewards later. I ended up leaving the box there - and the better lid I picked out is still in the car ! 

Once home, I found that my eBay shipment had arrived. Whoo-hoo ! Thanks to simply knowing what she looked like, I scored a rare Little Mermaid 2  "Melody" doll - for $2.99 ! Plus $9. shipping. I hate shipping. Anyway. Last Sunday, out of boredom, I was looking up 'Barbie under $5.75' on eBay, and this auction came up. I cross-referenced a few online photos to confirm, and yes, that's Melody ! I'd been kind of wanting one for a while, being a big Disney doll fan, but there was no way I was payin' the going rate. "Melody" tends to go for around $60. out of box and usually nude. This one had her 'blouse and bloomers', at least. An hour later, I won with my opening bid and paid.

But that wasn't all. I also collect 'Midge' dolls, and here was 'Slumber Party Midge', who didn't show up well in the photo. I didn't have her - or the Surf City Kira. I couldn't tell from the auction photo who she was, so it was great to have her, too.

The rest were generic blonde dolls in 'meh' clothes, but I got more out of the shipment than I thought I would. The Dollar Tree doll, the Butterfly Art Barbie, the two DTree Kelly clones, and four other dolls will be cleaned up and donated. One doll's too badly damaged to donate, so I'll do a head-swap with a better body from the Experiments box. I always keep a few wrecked dolls around for hair and body trials.

And there's a yard sale tomorrow ! Wish me luck !

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Spent a good chunk of this afternoon making school gifts. When you have a slightly autistic son in public school, there are so many folks who help him – and you ! – that you wanna say ‘thanks !’ to them all… but who can afford 15+ gifts ?

Last year, I bought Lucite wedding favor shoes (using 40% off Hobby Lobby coupons) and made sand-filled pincushions, complete with a matching drawstring bag for giftwrap and pins and needles. I made 24, and gave them all out within a half-hour. I used small scraps from my fabric stash, packaged ribbon from yard sales, and silk bows and rosebuds bought both on sale and secondhand in package. All I had to buy were the shoes and sand, and I even got mileage out of the sand – instead of buying craft sand, I bought playground sand. When crafts were done, the leftovers were used for catboxes and front porch steps in ice storms. All told, we spent less than two days and less than $10. in cash for over twenty gifts. I was pretty proud.

Well, we’re doing OK so far this year, but this week, there simply is no ‘extra’ cash for that. Or anything. And, of course, school is out Friday. I’d about reconciled m’self to making something for Dearest Son’s teacher and that would be that, but I still felt kinda down about the whole thing. Then I remembered. Felt star ornaments ! The school motif is stars, and I had a wire ornament I could trace on a cardboard box for a pattern. Lots of felt in the stash, along with ribbon for hangers, and I’ve had several great thread scores at yard sales this year. Fiberfil, too. And if I hauled my backside off the computer and into the Lab, I could make a prototype, and if it didn't take long, I’d probably have them done by nightfall. This was at 11am.

Even with lunch and a long break, I had half of ‘em done before 2pm, and the rest were cut out and ready to go. I learned a while ago to save trimming and stuff I could do away from the machine for bus-watching time. Even with breaks and time with Dearest, I was completely done at 6:30 tonight. All I have to do is wrap 'em, and wrap the boot-box I'm carrying them to school with, and that can wait 'til tomorrow morning.

Sure, they’re small gifts. Not even worth much, and half will end up as cat toys, not holiday ornaments. But I will have said ‘thanks’ to a lot of folks the best way I can right now. And that’s enough for me. I'm not ashamed I'm not giving, or embarassed that I'm not giving more. I feel good about what I did today.

I’m kind of glad I went for something small and easy. If it weren’t for our ‘gift’ of being broke, I’d be driving myself and my guys nutz, trying to top last year’s gifts. Which would have involved a week of work, and waaay more than $10. spent. Not to mention the frustration factor. So I’m learning to accept what I can give, and be happy with it, a lesson I just never seem to learn otherwise. Also got in some good practice pivoting with the presser foot down ! 

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I wasn't terribly thrifty today.

While I'd much rather participate in Buy Nothing Day (adbusters.org), there was a pattern sale at Hancock Fabrics I'd been looking forward to for three weeks. Since Hancock's is across town, while I was out, I did some shopping... everything I bought was on sale, but shopping is rarely a thrifty, frugal activity !

One of the places I hit was GoodWill. Ours isn't very good, at least not for the stuff I like, so I go maybe once or twice a month. And, when I found the vintage mustard-yellow spool and bobbin sewing case for a dollar, I was thrilled. I already have an identical green one, so having a matched set was just aces for me, and the price was certainly right.

It was the Barbie case that earned my ire. And not at first. I have a small collection of Barbie cases, and I use them as Lab decor. Have at least one from every decade of Babs. This one was a slightly larger version of one I already have, but instead of black, it's that signature Pepto Pink. In good shape, though, it was only sold for a year or so in 2002. STill had the hang-tag, which is always a bonus when you're a collector. $3.

Got my goodies to the register... and the cashier pulls out a pair of scissors and cuts the hang-tag in half, right down the UPC code ! WTH ? I kind of wanted that intact ! Most collectors would. Cashier rather airly informs me that they have to scissor all UPC codes on everything, or people will take the stuff back to the stores and 'you could get whatever you want instead'. That's a direct quote, by the way.

Um... that case hasn't been made or sold since 2002. I don't expect her to know that, but sheesh. Here's the deal - her hypothesis doesn't hold water. When I worked at Disney Store, we had markdown sales. Basically, the stuff flagged for markdown was entered into the sales UPC reader (usually a Telson) with the new price. If the item hadn't sold that week, the UPC was pulled up again, and assigned a lower price. This continued until the items were gone or the UPC read 'nonexistent item' and was shipped back to the Company for its ultimate destiny.

If someone brought an item in after the sale and stuff'd been shipped back, they'd get a store credit only for the price they paid on their receipt. No receipt, no refund, no store credit. If the stuff was still in the store, they'd get a refund based on what it was selling for right then, if they didn't have a receipt.

I worked at Diz in 1995. You can't tell me that Victoria's Secret and Old Navy (stores the cashiers used as examples) don't have the same ability and technology nearly 15 years later ! If they don't do the same, they're idiots, frankly, and it's no wonder both stores are having trouble, if they let people exchange stuff at full price six years after they quit selling it. And if it's been donated to a charity, the UPC shouldn't show it as active stock in the store anyway. Further, it shouldn't have tags still attached with active UPC codes.

In short, (too late !) I felt as though the cashier was accusing me of stealing - not from GoodWill but the poor merchant who'd been so kind as to donate stuff. Um, here's another thing. If that store has ever had brand-new Old Navy and VS stuff in it, dangling tags, I've never seen it on the shelves in the six years I've been going there.

Besides, when did GoodWill start caring what anyone did with purchases after they were paid for ? And if it's such an issue, why not cut the tags as they're being put out on the sales floor ? No, they want the tags there as a selling point - hey, look, it still has tags on it ! - but you don't get to keep 'em. Sincerely - the half she cut off she put in the register drawer.

I actually do understand GW's point of view. But it still bugged me to be accused of theft at the register. As if Wal-Mart and TRU would give me $12. worth of merchandise in exchange for something they've not sold in more than five years !

Luckily, I got in and out of the other stores this morning with far less drama. Since there’s always a backlog at the catalog tables, I go online when patterns are on sale, copy down the numbers, and poof. I’m in and outta there. Today, everything that wasn’t Vogue or Kwik-Sew was 99c or 5 for $5., so the table was jammed. I also splurged and got ‘flower’ and ‘heart’ yo-yo makers – they’re kind of cloth shapes you can sew together. I’m looking forward to playing with them, especially since I got ‘em at 30% off !

Big Lots didn’t have any of the $5. dolls they advertised anywhere in stock, so I wasn’t in there long. Target was an insane mess, but since I didn’t use a cart, even my big ole butt was able to slip in between the spaces. I was in and outta there faster than it took me to find legal parking, and some of my fellow shoppers didn’t care about ‘safe’ or ‘legal’ out in the parking lot.

Again, no dolls, but I got a new DVD copy of Cars  (our old one is DOA) for $12., and DVDs of The Notebook, Walk the Line, and a three-in one of Bachelor Party, Back to School, and Weekend at Bernie’s, for $4. each.

Whew ! I'm just glad I didn't have to go near any electronics places, or Mal-Wart. Did you hear that an associate died trying to deal with the mob at his Long Island store ? Story doesn't say he was trampled, details are few, but in any case, it's just horrible. www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory

I think next year, I will be a part of Buy Nothing, in memory. Never knew him, but I mourn him for many reasons.

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Anyone who's into dolls is at least aware of the plethora of Disney Princess stuff out there. I mean, there's always a new doll of the latest Princess, even if it's just due to a movie being re-re-re-released after yet another 'restoration'. Makes me wonder how the movie ever made it to screens in the first place, if it had to be restored and cleaned six times before it could be seen on my ole POS TV...

So, yeah, I have a minor squeee for Disney Princess stuff. I wasn't allowed to play princess as a kid - my mother'd ask why I thought I was one, who was I to be swanning around like that, and no country would want a useless princess like me. Boy, she loved me so much... anyway, no time like the present to enjoy what you didn't get to as a kid. Plus, now you got money !

But in my case, I don't like to spend much on my silly hobbies. I find the dolls at yard sales and the other goodies at Dollar Tree. It's sort of a tradition for my website blog to be all Holiday Diz Princess during Christmas, so when I found Princess wrapping paper - three different styles and colors ! - at Dollar Tree today, I snagged the two I liked best. The rolls that came home with me were carefully inspected - many rolls were printed just a bit off, so Cinderella's eyebrows were right on top of her eyes, or Belle's skin tones didn't quite meet where her arm was. A couple of them were printed so badly, they looked out of focus, which is pretty bad for a paper product ! Tinkerbell, Mickey Mouse, and Pooh were also wrap-represented.

Prowling further, I found tons of Princess, Tink, Cars, and Mickey stocking-stuffer small toys - tops, jumpropes, stamp and stationery sets, pens, pencils, kaleidoscopes, stickers, etc. They even had some with Hannah Montana and High School Musical. I snagged a stationery set with Lightning McQueen for Dearest Son. They also had Christmas Cards with Cars and Tinkerbell characters - ten for a buck !

I also found two different sets of window clings in the DPrincess motif. Very nice ones ! I'm looking forward to scanning 'em. They also, again, had them in Tink, Mickey, and Pooh.

Scored a 'garlic and sea salt in a glass grinding shaker' from the Seasonings aisle - they also had it in Barbecue, Sea Salt & Pepper, and other varieties. I'm curious as to how well that grinder is gonna work ! Snagged a pretty pair of white socks with gold snowflakes, they'll become a doll sweater later, and found a big soup mug that matches the two I got at a yard sale last year. I like to have three, so all of us have matching bowls !

Hit a yard sale on the way home, just in time to see a Parking Enforcement car deposit a ticket on a badly parked vehicle already at the sale. Circled the block to make sure I didn't park too close to the stop sign. Hated to waste gas, but 25c worth of gasoline is cheaper than a $20. ticket.

The sale was indoors, but wasn't much. Found a white bucket-type hat made of pretty lace and interfacing, and I soon deduced it'd be easy to take apart to salvage the lace. I also found some shelf paper and a huge box of various sewing goods, most pretty old. $6. for the lot, not bad !

The hat took about 20 minutes to reduce to component elements, and the lace awaits a load of white laundry. The box was a ton of fun to go through - I now have a gallon bag of old buttons still on cards. Wow. At one point, you could buy six military-look silver buttons for 45c. I have a similar bag of bias tape, and another of seam binding, rick-rack, and ribbon. The rick-rack has price stickers reading '3 for 25c ' ! And an even bigger bag of various 'Aunt Martha' transfers. I wonder if they still work...

There were also some vintage patterns - for blouses and aprons too small to fit me, but the fashion illustrations are pure eye candy . And a bunch of handmade patterns done on paper and thin cardboard, I'll have to piece 'em together to see what they make. I also now have copies of Singer Sewing Skills, dated 1955, a Grit catalog of patterns from 1979, simply called Fashions to Sew, and Adventures in Conversation, which bears a 1963 copyright. So I have some awesome reading ahead of me !

Not sure if I'm going on a yard sale hunt tomorrow or not, but finds like the Sewing Box 'O Stuff are what keep me out there,  even when it's getting darn cold. Yard sale season around here has normally ended before Halloween, but there's a bunch more sales tomorrow, go figure !

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