Dollar Store Decorating--Make a Grouping of Small Items

• Who can find a virtuous woman?  her price is far above rubies
• She looketh well to the ways of her household
• She maketh herself (and her house?) coverings of tapestry...

As you can tell from the pictures I've posted over the years, I'm not much of a decorator.  When we first moved into this house sixteen years ago, I didn't hang much on the walls--as a matter of fact, I went several years with blank walls.  When you put a hole in paneling, it's there to stay, and I didn't want to add more holes to this 1962-era paneling than were already there, unless I knew I really wanted something hung! 

On top of that, I'm a bit of a cheapskate, sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity, so I always try to be really really sure that I like something and am willing to live with it a while before I invest my hard-earned dollars.  

One mistake that I've made in the past, and have to remind myself not to do even today, is buying something the wrong scale. I tend to go too big with furniture and too small with decor.  I can't really do too much with too-big furniture, but I've learned a fix for too-small decor, and one that doesn't have to be expensive, either, and that's to group small like items together.    



Several years ago I found this pretty mirror at Dollar General for around $10-15.  It came in this sort of pewter and bronze color, and then the same pattern in a really hideous gaudy goldish gilt. The width of the frame gave it a good weight and scale, but once I got it home, I realized it was still too small for the space I wanted to fill. I got the bright idea to buy another and hang two of them side-by-side.  Unfortunately, search though I did, at every Dollar General within a 25-mile radius, all they had left were the ugly gold ones. I thought about buying a gold one and spraying painting them both a third color, but I really liked the pewter/bronze color.

So it sat in a bag in the bottom of a closet seemingly forever. Periodically, I'd search through the mirrors and frames at different store locations in hopes of finding a matching piece.

And then finally--voila'!  Not the same mirror, not an exact match of color or size, but one day, searching through the frames and mirrors as always, I found a little mirror with a metallic-ish frame that I thought just might work. And this time, having learned my lesson, I bought two!  I don't remember exactly what these cost, but it was less than $10 for the two of them.  

And they worked! Close enough in color, two are enough to help fill the blank spot, and the whole arrangement was inexpensive enough to change at a moment's whim.  

Not that I do "a moment's whim" for decor changes.  But I could if I wanted to. 

Until next time...

This post is linked to:

Penny Pinching Party at the Thrifty Home

Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family

The HomeMaking Party at Hope in Every Season

Make Your Home Sing at Mom's the Word

You Know You're a Couponer When...

I was home in rural Louisiana for 10-12 days; I've mentioned before that the shopping venues are limited at best in my small hometown, but I did manage a couple of trips to Walgreens while I was there. My next most favorite place to shop when I'm home is Dollar General--did you know that Dollar General takes coupons? You can get some really good deals on name brand items by using coupons with their already low prices.

Those two stores--Walgreens and Dollar General, are where my mom and I did some shopping one day and where I encountered two of my most recent "You know you're a couponer when..." moments.

First one--I was browsing the aisles at Walgreens, looking at the clearance tickets with my coupon binder(more on that in a later post) spread open on the buggy when a woman walking by did a double take, then turned around and came back "That's what I need to organize my coupons!" she said. I showed her my binder and my baseball card and photo pages while she exclaimed and ooohed and aaahed over it. "Are you the one who comes in here and gets things for free all of the time? The ladies in here have told me about her, are you the one?" I told her I was probably not "the one" because I don't live there full time and don't shop that particular store that often, but that I do, in fact, get things for free or almost free all the time with my coupons, rebates, and sales.

Second one--same shopping trip, different store--this time it was the cashier at Dollar General--my mom and I checked out back to back with our stacks of coupons, and the cashier asked me "Where do ya'll get all of your coupons? With things the way they are now, I need to start doing this--you saved a lot of money!" There were people in line behind me, so I didn't have time to tell her much, but did take the time for a quick mention of the Sunday newspaper coupon inserts and internet printables.

Third one--my mom on the phone with you me--"You'll never guess what your Daddy was doing earlier---couponing!" Dad asked her if she could get some dog food coupons, so they got on the internet and found some at Alpo's website and a couple of others. Now, it's one thing to convert your Mom to internet coupons, but your Dad?? I was impressed! You go, Dad!

What are some of your "You know you're a couponer when..." moments?


Until next time....