Weekend Snapshots: Japanese Tea Ceremony, Bath Accessories, Hair Care

In their Kimono.

A severe thunderstorm occurred early this morning and heavy downpours lasted for about an hour.  The rain was on and off when daylight came and I thought it will be raining all day today.  I was glad that the rain stopped and I was able to attend the presentation about Japanese Tea Ceremony at the library this afternoon.  I say it's an interesting lesson about how tea has become popular in Japan over a thousand years ago and how it is still celebrated nowadays.  

After the that, I drove to Sachse to pick up the garage sale items I bought for $5.  These are bathroom accessories with Palm Tree design.  These really match my bath rugs in the master's bathroom. 

Image taken by the seller.

After the pick up, I thought of stopping at CVS store to use my nearly expired coupons.  I got these L'oreal shampoos for $1.00.  I did two transactions and I used two CVS rewards card.  Select L'oreal hair care is on sale at CVS last week.  

Prices:  $4.99 each with card or buy two or more for $4.50 each and get 4.00 Extra Bucks (EB) back.  

So, $4.50x 2 = $9.00 

I used one 4.00 EB rec'd from previous purchases and one Manufacturer's Coupon of $4.00 off 2 L'oreal Advanced hair care products. So I paid only $1.00 and received another 4.00 EB.

Then another $4.50 x 2 = $9.00

I used one 5.00 EB rec'd from previous purchases and two Manufacturer's Coupon of $2.00 off 2 L'oreal Advanced hair care products.  So these offset the cost and paid nothing. I received a 4.00 EB in this transaction.

Shampoos

These items are addition to the stuff I am shipping to my family back home in the Philippines.

Weekend Snapshots: Garage Sale 2014

Kolcraft Universal 2 Infant car seat stroller

We just had a garage sale this weekend.  My cousin joined with me and had her items dropped off last night.  

It was kind of struggle because the weather this morning was unpredictable.  Early as seven o'clock in the morning I started cleaning up the driveway and garage.  Then I set up the garage sale items.  But after a little while, it started to sprinkle until the drops became bigger.  It was raining this morning.  So moved the clothing, small electronics, and baby and infant gear in the garage so they won't get wet.

There were buyers, thankfully.  We didn't sell much (because of the weather) but we did good.  My cousin and I are planning to have another one in the next few weeks before end of this month.  Hopefully we sell all of the stuff.

Cleaning Up Garage For More Storage Space

This weekend we will be having a garage sale.  This is an annual event in our neighborhood.  It is not necessary that everyone joins the garage sale.  I sent out invitations to the neighbors and it's their decision to participate or not. Gladly I heard from on of them and she said she will participate.  Good!  My cousin is joining, too.  She will be bringing her stuff for sale here at my house tomorrow.

We have so much stuff to sell.  Mostly are clothing, toddler toys, kitchen stuff, a few tools, and knick knacks.  My dear husband needs to get rid of some of his old tools in the garage.  He needs more space for his electronics materials for his side job.  Another thing is hubby is planning to put new storage in the garage.  It looks terribly unorganized right now.  Makes your eyes hurt when looking inside our garage.  Really.

As part of his shopping for garage storage units, there is one that he is interested in at GarageAppeal.com and it looks like it will fit in the space in our garage.  So hopefully, we will be able to sell all the stuff on Saturday.  If not, there is always another weekend for a garage sale.

Lighted Curio Cabinet - Oak

Finally, I found a lighted curio cabinet.  I have been wanting to buy one ever since.  This was also sold from a garage sale and good thing I was the first one who negotiated the price to the seller.  Gladly she accepted my offer.  I checked this type of lighted curio cabinet online and they're quite costly.  I saw a similar corner lighted curio cabinet in oak priced at $299.00.  This one I bought for $60 and still in excellent condition.  The glass shelves are complete and intact.

Hauling this piece of home furniture wasn't a joke because I picked this up by myself.  Yes, it's true.  My dear husband was at work and couldn't get at least a half day off because they're busy.  He just let me use his pick up truck.  With all my strength, I was able to lift the curio onto the back of the truck.  I felt soreness on my shoulders the next day.

Scared of it flying over board, the seller suggested to have it tied around to prevent from moving.  Thankfully there's a Lowe's store located close by that I stopped to buy a rope.  I humbly asked one of the staff who was currently gathering the shopping carts in the parking lot to help me tie the furniture in the truck.  I was so happy that he helped.

Our new lighted curio.

I was driving five miles less the speed limit on the superhighway.  That is to confident that the speed won't cause the furniture to tumble.

Weekend Snapshot: Wishing For A Lighted Curio

Lighted curio - round.

What do you think?  Do like it?  I saw this lighted round curio at a garage sale.  I really really wanted to buy this furniture.  But I wasn't sure if my husband would like it in the house so I took a photo of it and showed it to him.  Like me, he liked the style too.  We like it's cherry finished.  Just needed a little fixing but it's okay.  But when I contacted the seller, she said it's already sold.  Oh, well.  'Tis not meant for us.  Hopefully we can find a better one next time.

Wall Decor For Sale On Garage Sales

Since I joined this online garage sale on Facebook, I had a few disappointments.  Buying an item is not like bidding.  You have to bargain from the asking price.  And if you're lucky that the seller accepts, you are responsible to pick up the item.  If the seller wants to get the full asking price, well you have to think many times if you really need it.

I said that I had disappointments and one of them was when I expressed an interest on two wall sconces.  The seller said they are still available.  So I asked her if I can take the sconces at a lower price.  She agreed.  But then somebody expressed an interest on them and willing to pay the asking price.  The seller went ahead and sold the sconces to the second buyer.  I was so upset.  The buyer didn't even asked me.  Oh, well.  So I just waited for someone to sell wall sconces online.  After a couple of weeks, I think, someone posted her wall decor for sale.  And she had four sconces!  I commented on the photo telling her that I want those.  Of course, I offered to pay a lower price.  She hasn't responded yet.  I really like the sconces though.  We'll see...

Wall Art For My Living Room

Now I am starting to buy some good stuff for the house.  I mean, for home decor.  My cousin and a friend introduced me to this online garage sale on Facebook.  In this group, members post their unwanted items such as home decor, household stuff (kitchen electrics, chinaware, flatware, utensils, and even appliances), accessories, furniture and fixtures, and clothing (men, women, babies, and big kids) selling for lesser value.  And if you try bargaining really low, you're lucky to get the item if the seller agrees to the the price you want it for.  I haven't been to actual garage sales since I got pregnant.  So I missed great bargains on quality stuff.  :)  But in this online garage sale, it's like going to one in the comfort of my own home.

I already bought four wall art panels for my living room.  They're made out of shells.  I liked them because there's the oriental look on them.  They are still looking excellent and pretty.  Dear husband is going to hang them on the wall this weekend.  ;)

Neighborhood Garage Sale Today!

Three weeks ago, my neighbor and I talked about having a neighborhood garage sale on this day.  She usually does the organizing for this event.  My husband and I made the flyers and road signs.  Our neighbor distributed the flyers two weeks before. A week before the garage sale, I got busy gathering unused baby clothes, toys, furniture, and baby gears.  On Thursday night, I gathered my unused winter clothes, shoes, and handbags. 

Today, my husband is supposed to get the dinnerware sets from the attic.  But he was quite tired from work and making the road signs so he did get them.  So we did not have much to sell.  Anyway, the neighbors across the street has LOTS of stuff.  Well, they moved in the neighborhood few months ago and looks like they're getting rid of the unwanted baby stuff.  Since they have the most items for sale, being in the corner also drives traffic in the neighborhood.

We did good today.  We got rid of the furniture that we wanted to sell.  And that's one of the best thing in having a garage sale.

Redoing The Living Room

My honey and I participated on a garage sale one weekend and we found it interesting yet boring. Interesting because we got to sell old stuff and things we do not use in the house. Boring because not many visitors came to check on what we had. But we sold a few things though.

My cousin and her husband came over the next day. We walked around the neighborhood checking what other household had for garage sale. We stopped at this house with a bunch of stuff in the garage. The woman had pieces of household equipment and nursery furniture. My cousin asked why she wanted to sell the ceiling fan. "I am redoing my living room and I am looking at Victorian ceiling fans right now", she answered excitedly. "We were using that ceiling fan for years. Belt driven ceiling fans are nice though", she added.

The price for the ceiling fan was really really cheap. But there's no way, in our situation, my cousin and I can accommodate that in our homes. Going to a garage sale is fun. My cousin had a great time with us too.

Weekend Snapshot: Garage Sale Items

A neighbor knocked at our door Thursday night giving us a piece of paper saying that there is a neighborhood garage sale on Saturday and Sunday. She asked my honey if he is interested to participate. My honey turned to me and said we will put some unused things out for sale since we are getting rid of some stuff.

So today, we woke up very early to set up. I put price tags on the items and my honey arranged the heavy things on the ground. On the table are the light and cheap ones. I have a couple sweaters for sale too. They are only a $ 1.00 each. I think there are four sweaters left. I hope they will sell tomorrow. Sets of plates are still on sale for $ 20.00 per set of eight. Some knick knacks on the table are from .25 cents to a $ 1.00.

Here's what we have sold today:

Items

Microwave oven - $ 6.00
Glass decor (set of 3) - 3.00
Decorative plate - 2.00
Small cabinet -3.00
Rug (large) -15.00
Picture painting -3.00
Wall Mirror (medium) -5.00
Coffee maker -2.00
Phone (with cord) - .50
Sweater -1.00
Bead bracelet -.50
Lampshade (set of 2) -5.00

We do not have that much to garage sale but we want to get rid of the things we're not gonna use. What's nice is that we got to participate in the neighborhood activity for the first time.

My pregnant cousin and her husband will come over for a visit. She said she might go look for garage sales too.

Little Chair

We bought this little chair from a church garage sale in Wylie. It's only worth a dollar. My honey said we can use it as a stand for a pot of plant or something. But I am not going to use it that way. This little chair is too pretty for that. So, I just use it whenever I do my nails once in a while and I sit on it when I do my gardening work.