AJAX BELL

Author of the Queen City Boys books

Category Archives: nifty thrifty


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Things made and unmade

I’d show you pictures of sewing projects this weekend, but alas, there’s nothing to show.  Still working on the same dress I was working on last weekend.  I think so far I’ve ripped out more feet of stitches than I’ve successfully sewed.  Great for a patterned advertised as ‘One Hour.’  I’m about 6 hours into it right now.  As far as I can tell it’s going to look like a sack when I finish.  Still I persevere!  Maybe next weekend I’ll finish.

For your jolt of color, here is my new summer weight bedspread!  I tried to make curtains out of my previous summer weight bedspread, which I messed up so bad it basically became rags,  YAY ME! Luckily that meant getting a bright new one.  This is basically the weight of two sheets together, so total weight on me is an airy, breathable, nothing, but allows me to pull the covers up to my chin (as is my wont) even on hot, Southern summer nights!

My browsing for a new bedspread gave me this, which I now really want for when the weather gets cooler.  And of course I’d need this to hang in the bedroom.  It’s sweltering in Tennessee and I’m fantasizing about an autumnal, Moroccan interior design.  Of course then I’d need all new rugs.  And maybe a new lamp.  It seems unreasonable to think about this now, but I am seriously considering buying these things slowly over the summer and stockpiling them for a dramatic room transformation when fall comes.

I did manage to make a website this weekend for my friends, The Magnificent Others. Their album is going on sale soon and you should totally get it.  It’s rock n’roll for people who like rock n’roll, yeah?

Now it’s on to a week of work with hopefully a few short days that I can sneak something creative into, or maybe a festive fire in which I burn the simple dress that is taking me far too long to create!


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it’s only thrifty if you save money, not if you spend money you otherwise wouldn’t have

So I probably spend way more in thrift stores than is reasonable.  But I guess If I am going to buy things I don’t need, it’s better to spend $3.99 on them than say $39.99.  I recently hit the Goodwill in Berry Hill, producer of the awesome Blowfish boots.

A few weeks ago, Talks to Owls and I were hiking and I was wearing my favorite Converse One Star camp shirt (I have two actually, one in grey and one in purple, I think I was wearing the purple one) to keep the sun off, because I’d rather wear long sleeves than sunscreen.  I was lamenting my choice and saying I needed to hit a thrift store or two and get some light cotton, WHITE button up shirts for my summer sun screen use.  Guess what the Goodwill turned up yesterday?  My exact Converse shirt, in my size, in white, looking as if had never been worn (and perhaps it hadn’t there was a bunch of other Target stuff there that still had the original tags in it) for $3.99.

Some days you just can’t lose.

Unless of course after going through all the shirts, you hit up the misc. section and start looking through framed pics for your walls.  Sure I found a great pair of 30s-ish, Grandma looking prints of magnolias to put up in my kitchen (pictured above), but am I the only person who could possibly buy the exact same piece of art in two separate thrift stores? Yep, the long rectangular, colorful bird picture above the dresser in this pic? I bought another one of those.  In my defense I studied it for a long time to determine if it was the same picture, or if was similar but with different birds (which would have been AWESOME).  Alas, it’s the same.  So, uh, if anyone shares my interests in art that looks like your grandmother would have hung, let me know.  First commenter genuinely interested in it, gets it (and yep, it’s framed identically and everything).

And then of course there’s the things one really, really doesn’t need, but buys anyway:

It’s a swan thing for, I guess, holding your rings when you taken them off?  Never mind that I already have an item specifically for this purpose, but look at it!  It’s a swan!  I’m trying to imagine some way I can use it to hold sewing notions or something.