Savings House- Saving Money Shopping and Thrifting

"It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives". Ben Johnson I have written about Pumice Stone before and how it has cleaned rust, lime, calcium stains from porcelain, tile, vinyl and ceramic.  I used the pumice stone on a pair of old rusted scissors that had been exposed to the elements and had rust on it.  I cleaned the rust off the scissors by wetting the stone than gently rubbing the rusted part of the scissors.  After I got  rust off I washed the grains of the stone with water and than dried it thoroughly.  Scissors are as good as new. Rusted scissors Rusted scissors being restored Wash out grains of pumice stone Clean off scissors dry off and add WD 40 to get scissors to move easier The scissors were hard to use but after drying it off, I sprayed some WD 40 spray or just add some oil to the middle part of the scissors so it opens and closes easier. 

"Just trust yourself and you will learn how to live" Goethe I save vintage Christmas cards, I get every year from friends and family and place them on walls, doors and tables to use as seasonal decoration during the holiday season.  The beautiful religious designed and famous art reproduction cards, I place in wood frames to hang as art. I add these small frames to book cases and curios to create a unique treasured collected over the years look.  

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm". Emerson I purchased this hat box at a department store in NYC named century 21; in lower Manhattan years ago, I have kept it to keep letters, small computer accessories, and now fabric and sewing notions. Hat boxes are a decorative way to store items neatly in plain sight. It's versatile and convenient to throw item in box and easily retrieve it, place them in a home office, livingroom corner or bedroom.  

I had decoupaged this glass jar over 15 years ago and I have kept it because I made it as a q-tip holder.  I took an ordinary spaghetti glass jar washed it out and soaked it in dish washing liquid for three days to get food odor out of it.  I had this art catalog that sold reproductions of famous paintings, it was a beautiful catalog so I cut out the images and used them for various projects such as decoupaging card board keepsake boxes and journals.  I took three images that were similar in size and dried the jar thoroughly then glued the images from the inside.  I painted the lid  a metallic copper brown color. 

"This is the place" Brigham Young           I   have seen in mail order catalogs like Walter Drake these coffee machine sliding trays that sell for about 20.00. The sliding tray is designed to slide the coffee machine from under the cabinet to the front of the counter to allow the top lid of coffee machine to open.   If the cabinet is in the way of the coffee machine opening its lid to add water or coffee grounds, then it's often moved towards the front of counter.  I found an inexpensive way to reuse a plastic shoe box lid as a sliding tray for that coffee machine or other small appliance that needs to be moved regularly.   Shoe Lid as sliding tray Use cover Coffee Machine Tray Slide back and forth Slide coffee machine

Coffee Can Straw Dispenser Don't throw away those tin coffee cans especially if they have nice designs on them; use as planters or as a straw dispenser/holder. Use them to hold and organize cooking utensils. There are many uses for these aluminum cans besides recycling them.  

This  old wood shelf was found in the house that my parents purchased in 2001.  It was rotted on the sides of the shelf.  The wood was oak color, faded and dusty.  The nails were hanging out of it, so I went to work on it immediately. I sanded and stained the wood with a dark stain.  I took some wood glue and long nails, and reattached the shelves and the two sides of the shelf together.  I  clamped the entire shelf.  The next day I attached two hanging hooks on the back of the shelf, and then I used wood filler to fill in the rotted wood.  I restored the edges by using wood filler to rebuild bottom edges of shelf.  I stained the shelf with a dark mahogany finish. It has this unique character to it; a very restored look to it, I guess. It looks good enough to add to a small bathroom wall. For a few years, I used it as a plant shelf and then a laundry room shelf. I decided to hang it on the wall in the bathroom as a towel rack over a towel bar hook.  It was very heavy to hang on the

Old Microwave plate used as trivet lazy suzan This microwave plate and its rolling plate holder have been recycled as a lazy suzan trivet plate. I placed it on the counter top next to the stove and I place my hot pots on it to protect the counter top.  Since it spins its easy to move the pot or add other plates. I don't throw it out since the microwave stopped working and had to purchase a smaller one. The plate was too big so I had to reuse in another way.   

My recent purchase of a small microwave included two large Styrofoams.  Instead, of throwing it out; I used them to hold some lawn stakes that I painted. It's great for painting items up right, instead of flat on a horizontal surface.  I used it to add and mix paints sort of like a D.I.Y artists palette. It's great for reuse a few times more; afterwards reuse Styrofoam to hold and stabilize large planters or to hold dry painted twigs in vases.

Vintage Wood Turn of Century Rocker found at Divine Providence On my last trip to Divine Providence, I found an amazing vintage tiger wood rocker, very old rocker dates to the turn of the century based on its design.   I fell in love with it when I saw it at the store.  It's an amazing find at only 20.00; great solid design needs to be stripped to original finish.   The rocker had been painted a dark stain finish, original paint shows light color underneath dark stain.  A new project to take on but happy to start and restore to its old glory. Somebody send me a photographer!

I learned the hard way how to reuse broken Christmas lawn stakes when a destructive squirrel ate through the light cords around these decorations. I had these lighted snowflake lawn stakes which had a  nice hologram style.  The lights were attached by a thin light cord that allowed the electricity to travel to the other stake.  This squirrel digs up my yard and has chewed on electrical outlet cords, and now these Christmas light decorations; not to mention damaged the porch screens. Besides investing in good pest control; I did not want to throw out these Christmas decorations that were damaged so I decided to re purpose them into lawn art. I cut off the remaining cords and decorated the snowflakes with three glow in the dark stars (plastic star shaped discs).  I wanted to find a way to add more to the snowflakes so I want to add some wind chimes to them; then will stake it to the ground.  Another idea, would be to use them as a container plant trellises by adding plant ties around the