NOT-Buyers Remorse

There's only one thing that's worse than 

traditional buyers-remorse and that is ...

NOT-Buyers Remorse!! 

(scary Psycho-music is playing in my head, 

as it should be in yours.) #fact #science

 The struggle is real.

Missed out on this armoire for $29!

Because I couldn't answer the questions fast
enough I missed out on the armoire.
There are few second chances when you're
out treasure hunting.

 I can remember every single thing I should

have bought and did not.  Decades later I can

 still see them in my head and ask why. 

I can relate to Larry "Remember the time

 we passed a wicker couch by the side of the

 road and you said we'd pick it up on 

the way home?" He loves that story.

Why do I do this to myself? Why? 

Why? Because I talked myself out 

of it with logic. Crazy right!? 

You know the questions:

1. What are you going to do with it? 

2. Where are you going to put it?

3. Why do you need it? 

    (the dumbest of them all!)
4. What are you going to get rid of to make
     room for it?

5. Will it fit in the SUV or van?

    (keep this in mind with next car purchase)

6. It's too big, too small, too much money,

    needs work....on and on.

Sometimes Larry messes with my thinking 

and I second-guess my instincts. Though

 sometimes he does save me from my 

overly-enthusiastic self. He's gotten 

better at reading the signs; fast-talking, 

glassey-eyed, hyperboles, and protective

 circling. Do men understand this? I think not. 

Not buying whatever has obsessed me can

 lead to depression, sullenness and a general 

haunting malaise. I may never find that

(fill in the blank) again! It will be swirling 

around in my head all day...maybe forever. 

All of this could be avoided 

if I had just bought the thing! Now I'll buy 

something just to avoid the dreaded NBR

(NOT-Buyers Remorse). 

Sort of an insurance policy, therapy, if you will.

bought, used for 2 years then sold

On the plus side, 

nowadays I can always sell it again if it turns

 out to be a hideous mistake, or I just change

 my mind, usually for a small profit. 

Then I can go out and buy something else,

 and the fun continues. Buy-Sell-Repeat. 

trash day find chandie. found all shades
for $1.00 at garage sale. Keeper.

bought and sold

bought and sold

Thrifted vintage china cabinet

Still using HERE. May paint someday, 

or may sell someday. Keeping options open.

Didn't buy, could have $old. 

Bought $20 and sold $75

Bought $25 sold $125

 This buy-sell method has been working for 

years. It's how I pay for all my Craigslist, 

antiques shop, thrift store, garage sale finds. 

Hmmmm...I wonder if that antique pantry
 has sold on craigslist yet? $50. 

I'll go check and keep you posted.
Hope I didn't miss it. 

Cheers!

Links: Between Naps On The Porch

The Weekend

What's a weekend? 

Here's a sample of ours.

 First I have to get the little girl up. She'd be

 happy to stay in bed all morning as long

 as we are there with her. 

 Here's her morning walk.

 Larry and I both have regular tennis games on Sunday. 

Saturday is often a trip to the farmer's market.

We got the canoe ready for an early evening

 ride on the lake behind our house.

 Sofie loves coming along. 

We started heading back to the house and 

dinner just as the sun began to set. 

My favorite time of day.

Enjoying a glass of wine with a beautiful sunset. 

A nice May Days weekend.

Cheers!

Links: Between Naps On The Porch

Organize The Car Trunk With A Shelf

Everything you have in your car's trunk will

be so much easier to find with this one
simple addition...a shelf!

My "before and after" trunk.

The back of my car was a mess!

The usual suspects; bags of things to return, 

extra shopping bags, all my "just-in-case" 
stuff. I was rummaging through it all every
time I needed to get something. It was time
to find a better way that worked for me and 

finally get that trunk organized.

First I needed to completely empty all
the stuff out of the trunk.

Here's what went back in...first try.

My car trunk duffel, and a large bag of

stuff to return. I don't go shopping that

often, so they can stay there for way too long. 

In the duffle were my extra shopping bags, a 

first aid kit, a couple of tennis cans; one with
 extra trash bags (for the car and the dog) the
other one stored a plastic picnic tablecloth,
 (for those impromptu car trip lunches), a pair
of old sneakers and flip flops for emergencies,
a beach towel and blanket. Beach
emergencies are common in South Florida.
An extra dog leash and water bowl for our
 Sofie can also come in handy if you ever
 find a stray. 

That arrangement didn't solve my "rummage"
problem. I decided adding a shelf would be a
good solution. I repurposed an old closet shelf
we had stored in the attic and Larry cut it to
 size (46") using a hack saw. It fit nicely
using the wheel ledges as support. If you
 don't have that you can build a support out
 of wood scraps. I used the extra wood
support at the back end.

You can see the end of the shelf resting 

on the inside wheel's ledge. 

It's important that you cover the raw edge 

of the shelf with these rubber end caps so 

they don't scratch the car's interior. 

I had some saved in a jar in the 

utility room. Jars rule!

The top shelf has easy-to-grab shopping
totes, wine bags, insulated bags. Underneath
the shelf are the return bags and duffle. 

The shelf isn't attached so it can be removed

 whenever needed. The lip at the end of the 

shelf keeps things from sliding off. 

Plenty of room for groceries or my

ready-to-go beach bag.
Works for me!

Cheers!

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Links: Between Naps On The Porch

Finding Free Tennis Cans to Repurpose

 I use FREE empty tennis cans to organize!
I hit the empty tennis can jackpot!

My tennis club was having a tournament last

weekend and they supplied all these balls.

All the empty cans were stacked to be 

taken to the dumpster.

 Imagine my delight when I walked past this

stack of boxes.

All I need to do is rip off the label

and toss (or re-purpose) the metal tops. 

They are perfect, unbreakable, see-through

organize containers. 

You know, if you've read my blog, that I

obsessed like to repurpose empty tennis cans

for FREE, lightweight, see-through,

storage containers for...everything!

garage, bathroom, crafts, office supplies, 

gym bag, car trunk, toys, ornaments, 

ribbons, gift tags, odds-and-ends, kitchen, 

laundry, game pieces, candles, first-aid kit,
extension cords, night light bulbs, etc......

 Now I already have a good supply in my

  garage already, but I can always use more. 

Right? Give some away. Ambush-organize
someone's stuff, or just replace a few
of my older ones.

Of course my little Sofie girl loves to play

with tennis balls. 

Check out a few of my tennis can 

storage ideas HERE.

Cheers!

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Links: Between Naps On The Porch

My $3.00 Garage Sale Finds

How $3.00 can make you happy.
The annual Cooper City Neighborhood 

Garage Sale was on last weekend's 

list of activities and places to go.

A beautiful day to walk the grounds and see 

what might need a new home with moi'. I

found this cranberry red tea pot for $1.00!!

It's also a cute coffee pot.

I can make coffee using a filter cone

 top and the drip method. I don't have to 

tell you how many holidays this little 

ceramic pot will see. 

 The same vendor also had this stack of 8 

dishes for $2.00!! Because he was a man he

 neglected to point out how perfectly they 

matched my newly purchased tea pot and 

what a lovely table setting they would make

 for lunch, brunch or tea...but

I figured that out right away. 

 Now in the back of my mind I thought the 

color would match a set of Longaberger

 mugs I have and I was right.

 You can just imagine the joy!

 The ivory background on the plates works

with my Longaberger ivory pottery. 

So it keeps getting better.

 Now for that mix-and-match look, 

I used my red transferware. Better still!

 So these 8 plates for $2.00 have 

completely expanded my plate "wardrobe". 

 I have 4 of these mugs and one or two 

red Longaberger plates to mix in.

 You'll be seeing them again in July when  

I do the Americana color scheme. 

 But I just had to play with them a bit before

putting them in my dish cupboard 

HERE and HERE.

This is the brand on the bottom of the dishes.

I haven't Googled it yet, but I like that it's 

an American company in Beaver Falls, PA. 

Sounds like a nice town. I'm sure someone

enjoyed a nice piece of homemade apple pie

 on one of these plates. :)

Cheers!

Links: Between Naps On The Porch

Confessions Of A Plate Addict