Many of you who follow my blog know that one of the things I passionately pursue is “debt free living where the ‘card’ is king” (credit card that is).
But what you might not know is that I yard sale…. for a living.
Honestly, my budget as a family manager revolves around what I find during my Saturday excursions, and through that experience, I now have no less than five people who approach me each month during yard sale season asking me to be their “personal shopper.” Don’t worry, I don’t really make money off of them, but it adds to the thrill of the hunt.
I adore that morning time (and only that morning time). I never know the treasures that await my arrival, and I eagerly anticipate hitting the jackpot.
For years, when the children were all preschoolers, that was my sacred time. My husband knew that when he awoke on Saturday morning, the spot next to him would already be cold. Now I trade off my alone time vs. date day with the kids, since they all want to go yard saling.
Start them young, people…it makes all the difference!
For those of you who are avid yard salers,
you understand that if you snooze, you loose.
Well, that motto was obliterated this last Saturday.
Scheduled to sing and do a drama monologue at a local women’s retreat, I knew that I could hit some early stops on the way. I had fun conversations at a few houses, since I was definitely not dressed for yard saling, and did find a few treasures, but the jackpot came well after typical yard sale hours had ended. For those of you crafty ladies, you may want to sit down for this.
I am only showing 1/10 of my haul!
Can you tell what was hidden down deep in a dusty old box?
Never judge a box by it’s cover…everyone who had come before me, missed all of this.
The boxes and bags of treasures went on…and on….
I spent an hour digging through mountains of crafts to which a mother had never gotten around to finishing.

This .50 wooden bowl is screaming for a little black spray paint, but right now I think I’ll show her off as a fabulous fringe holder.
So here comes my fun.
Will you play “I Spy” with me and see how many places we can feather our fringed nest?
Fringe is not just for hot gluing to curtains, pillow and lamps, you know.
How about on a .25 glass hurricane lamp turned up side down?
Or maybe around a candle, mason jar, and tall glass vase?
I believe that did the trick down below (although just imagine it now sitting on top of a beautiful fall runner…)
The fringe looks fun on both layers of my tiered fruit stand.
Note my book. I am SO counting my blessings.
I keep this journal here at all times. It allows us to grab it frequently and record the beauty in the every day blessings, like FIFTY yards of fringe and material (yes, I am really wishing I sewed). I know you’re all wanting to know how much I paid, but I just don’t think I can do that. It would be too painful for you, and might cause you to covet.
So let’s continue the tour, and see what my little fingers did with what I had on hand.
Yep, it was me….I made it….all by myself.
You thought this creative crafty bone would never emerge , didn’t you?
And now that my craftiness has been revealed, I DO know that my little tassel would look much better with some other fun things on top – starting with different ribbon, but it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. 🙂

And now that you’ve revealed in the beauty of my frugal fringe fest, what would this experience be if I left it at that…I just wouldn’t be true to my balance of beauty and bedlam.
So, these are the deleted scenes. The scenes that none of your favorite beautiful blogs show you, but I bet they have their bedlam as well…it’s just pushed to the side for no one to see.
Look at what I did to take this picture. hee hee
I hadn’t even cut the fringe to fit the mason jar, vase or hurricane lamp.
Isn’t that funny? You can’t even tell.

You caught me. I do let those bedlam blessings sit on the counter (sometimes :). See those cute little toes sticking out?

Down below was one of my Good will finds. I had been looking for one for months (ever since I started reading blogs), and hadn’t had any luck. Then I found this, but it was priced at $6.99. Too high for my blood, so I just pointed out the price and that “someone must have missed the chip in the top, and didn’t realize it when they priced it so high.”
Make sure you smile real big and use your very best manners.
Bottom line….got it for $1.99…much better, and you don’t even notice the top.

Ok, Ok…fabric, bolts and bolts of fringe, 8 brand new baskets with tags still on them that I will spray paint, hot glue fringe around the top, and fill with my Homemade Gourmet Goodies for my upcoming holiday market, three vases, and a few other bowls that I will also fill with my mixes……put it this way. My husband’s entire car filled with treasures for….

$15