A LA CARTE

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Thrifty Things Friday #131

Last week you shared so many great ideas and fun posts!

Diann and I can't wait to see what you have to show us this week!

This week I thought I would share with you a few of my very thrifty Halloween decorations!

All of these items were found at thrift shops!

I love the cat....

Charlie says he is the ONLY cat allowed here...

so don't tell him OK?

I recently found this great Halloween runner for .99 and think it adds some pop to the vignette!

Now show us your thrifty finds, ideas, recipes and any other interesting ways to save money!

Link your post up HERE

Linda

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

I'm Drowning In Clutter!

Clutter is not my friend!

Now that I've moved to a small two bedroom duplex I am downsizing in a big way!

The first initial move was in June!

This room has gone from this

to this.....Looks good right?

What you might not know is that during the initial move I did not get all the stored things from the basement in the other house.

This is just a small portion of what is in there!

Since returning from Paris I am trying to get it all moved here....question?

Where will it all go??

Decisions have to be made...

What to keep and what to let go of!

Today I found a great blog

Controlling Craziness

Christa has a great series on Getting Rid of the Clutter and How to get Organized!

I'm hoping you will follow along with me as I attempt both!

The first thing I did was to start donating items as I packed. I've taken car loads and buggy loads to the thrift shops and I'm not done yet.

The first 'cuts' are the easiest, but now I'm getting to the stuff I love or have kept forever.

This is where Christa's blog comes in...

First you need to recognize the types of clutter you have and then how to deal with them.

Bargain Clutter

Sentimental Clutter

Abundance Clutter

and

Aspirational Clutter

Please join me each Tuesday for the next few weeks as I deal with Clutter and how to get rid of it and how to get Organized.

I'm joining

You're Gonna Love It

Tweak It Tuesday

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Thrifty Things Friday #130

It is so good to be back for

Thrifty Things Friday

Thanks Diann for covering for me while I was in Paris!

I was able to put out a little 'Halloween' decor this week

I added a couple of the cubbie shelves to my new book case.
It is good to see them in my new home!

A couple of my favorite witches!

Most of my Halloween decor is from Thrift stores.

It's so much fun to see the little things you can find!

I am not 'completely' ready to let Paris go

So I have some things I found in Paris in one of the cubbies....
seeing these things make me so happy!

I did buy some gorgeous handmade pumpkins from my talented friend Suzan

The owl was an Etsy buy from last year!

Please add your link at Diann's blog

HERE

Wishing You JOY,

Linda

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Back To Regular Life!

Thank you for all the wonderful comments about my trip to Paris. I'm home and rested and ready to get back to regular life!

I've been spending lots of great time with Tiger and enjoying it so much. His parents have been planning to buy him a new bed to give him more play space in his room. I've been saving my change for a long time and decided to use it to help get Tiger a new bed!

This bed from IKEA is a perfect solution and it was on sale!

It isn't very high, but it gives him a perfect play place!

Tiger loves it of course!

I had an IKEA Malm dresser that looks great and gives Tiger clothes storage!

Mom and Dad also got him a new bookcase

from IKEA

He loves his room!

I have enjoyed many of the IKEA pieces I've bought over the years.

This TV stand is one I've had for several years

I wanted to get a new entertainment center with bookcases and more storage but found the cost too much for my small budget. While looking at the IKEA catalog I found that I could add BILLY bookcases in the same finish as my TV stand and make a wall unit. At $80 each that was affordable so I had Sara & Blake pick them up for me

to replace these thrift shop bookcases I had been using in the living room.

(Charlie checking out the new shelves)

My wonderful son-in-law Blake put them together for me!

They were taller then I expected but I am so happy!

Just add the shelves where I want them and fill!

I have a lot more 'tweaking' to do but I think I'm really going to enjoy these shelves.

I will need something over the TV to balance out the tall bookcases...ideas?

**Ideas so far: a board connecting the bookcases, I think this would be hard to match the wood but a good idea. A large clock and I do like that idea but they seem expensive. My idea is to have one of my Eiffel Tower photos that is very architectural made into a canvas and hang that....keep the ideas coming!**

I'm joining

You're Gonna Love It

Tweak It Tuesday

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

Friday, October 4, 2013

Paris Day Twelve

My last full day in Paris!

Today is my last day to attempt to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower again.

I am determined to get that photo of me at the top!

It is cloudy with a chance of rain but that won't stop me!

I decide to take the bus even though it's not a long walk,

but if the lines are long I want to be as rested as possible!

As I approach the tower I am once again hit with it's beauty! Something about it moves me so much! Now for the lines...well luck was with me. No long lines and it only took me about 30 minutes to get my ticket, go through security and get to the elevator for my ride to the 2nd level.

The sun was shining and the wind was blowing but the views were gorgeous!

The lines for the elevators to the top were long so I took some time to just walk around this level and really soak in the views!

You can see a few clouds coming in!

I got in the long line for the elevator to the top. While waiting a storm came up and it rained and the wind blew like crazy. It was cold! I was so glad I had my pink beret on.