I love holidays.  I've mentioned this many times before, but Halloween is my favorite holiday.  I love Halloween for many reasons.  It's in the fall.  It's scary.  (I love all things scary.  I'm a little weird like that.)  Most importantly, I love Halloween because it's my birthday.  True story.

I also love decorating for holidays, and doing so on a budget.  Almost every piece I have came from Dollar Tree or I bought it at Target during their after season clearance sale.  You can absolutely decorate on a budget and have it still look like a million bucks.  Here's a look at our Halloween decorations this year: 

{I made this print myself and printed it Walgreen's.  I found the candle holders at Target.}

{The bird and skull came from Dollar Tree.  The owl and green bottle came from a vintage shop.}

{I found these great spider web candles at Target.  LOVE them.}

{The vase, tiny skulls, and black roses ALL came from Dollar Tree.}

{I bought the vintage "Happy Halloween" pumpkin at Vintage Market Days and I got the paper garland from MailboxHappiness.}

{I got a really good deal on this decoration!}

{More Dollar Tree finds.}

{Paper garland from Target.}

{I bought these sweater pillows from Annie Laurie's.}

Along with the Dollar Tree and Target finds, I added old glass bottles and dishes that I already had and covered them in fake spider webs (also found at Dollar Tree).  I pretty much cover the entire house in fake spider webs, much to Jason's dismay.  Decorating on a budget is easy when you know  where to shop and learn to use things you already own.  Helpful Hint:  Hobby Lobby has great deals on Halloween decorations, and they even put their Halloween items on sale early in the season! Happy One Week Until Halloween!

Also, Happy World Series Week!  GO CARDINALS!

On Saturday, Katherine and I joined my mom at Vintage Market Days.  Hundreds of booths selling vintage and repurposed items?  Yes, please.  I can't imagine a more perfect day to go vintage shopping and to officially kick off the fall season.  I finally got my boots out of "winter storage" so it's officially fall in my closet. 

But more on Vintage Market Days.  I am always amazed at how people can decorate, display, and repurpose things.  I probably took 20 pictures with my phone while I was there.  It was so inspiring.  Here's a rundown of all the awesomeness.
Katherine was again, a perfect angel.

She shopped 'til she dropped.

We came home with a few goodies, mostly Halloween items (what else?)  Included in our new treasures were a couple of vintage books for Katherine and some yummy kettle corn.  I can't resist some fresh kettle corn and I can't resist cool books for Katherine.  Of course I chose Pippi Longstocking (a childhood favorite of mine) and all I could think of when I saw the flag book was "Sheldon Cooper Presents:  Fun with Flags."  So obviously I scooped that one up. 
Katherine and I ended the day cuddled up with a blanket on the backyard swing with some homemade Carmel Apple Spice (for me not her).  It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

This Cinco de Mayo, Jason and I went to the "World's Largest Outdoor Yard Sale" in St. Charles.  These county wide yard sales happen a couple of times a year and I always look forward to them.  This year it was unseasonably warm, so it wasn't as enjoyable as usual.  Jason spent most of the time in the air conditioned car. 

Although it was miserably warm, I managed to purchase a couple of things and see plenty of unusual items.  Here are some of the most bazaar things I saw:

{Anyone interested in an old bed pan?}

{What I hope is an unused coffin." {Who doesn't need a nudist camp jigsaw puzzle?}

Here are some things I liked:

{I love colored glassware.} {I had to have one of these!} {Jason thought about buying these for his dad.}

After the yard sale, we went to cool off at The Foundrie. 

{Love these eyeglasses necklaces.}

It was a nice Saturday full of bargains.  I love my bird "tea party" feeder and bath.  I put it in the yard as soon as I got home.

{Love.}

I love finding cool things to put around the house or accessorize with.  I've been doing my usual Etsy shopping plus my brother just returned from Rwanda and brought me some really cool things.  Here are some of my new favorite finds for summer.

{Pillow from Potentials}

{Unique wall accessory from Potentials}  {My brother brought these back for me from Africa} {Ice cream bowls from Target.  They were in the $1 section!} {I love this new necklace I got on etsy!} {This is another etsy find.  This is my second purchase from this etsy shop.}

I did a little more bargain shopping this past weekend with my mom.  We went to a couple of flea markets and although it wasn’t one of my most successful bargain hunting outings, I still found a couple of unique items.  I found a rotary dial address book (which I never knew existed) and a jukebox salt and pepper shaker.  I love flea markets!





Do you know what this is? Its an address book! Jukebox salt and pepper shakers.




    

As I may have previously stated, I love a good bargain. On my days off from work, you can probably find me Goodwill hopping or visiting many of my favorite resale shops. I love the thrill of the hunt for the right thing at the right price.

Among my favorite resale shops in St. Louis are Dos, Clique, The Scholarshop, Women’s Closet Exchange, and Next. In these shops, you can find high end designer items for less than half of its original price.

I recently stopped by my local Goodwill store where I found this awesomely intriguing bottle. Because I love art and collages, this was the perfect piece to display in my office.

This collage soda bottle was $1.00 at Goodwill.

 

This dress was a great find at Back On The Rack.



Queen Bee Necklace.








A perfect fit.



Clutch by J.Faith





I love these earrings! I am also a huge fan of Etsy.  On this site, you can find handmade and vintage items.  I absolutely love this site and have several favorite sellers.  I got this chic bee necklace from My Lavaliere.  I wear this necklace with almost everything because I love it so much.  Visit her shop here.

There is a special tradition I have started for myself. This traditional outing comes around twice a year; once in the spring and once in the fall.

The St. Charles County Bi-Annual Yard Sale is one of my new favorite things. This is a county wide yard sale that takes place on the parking lot of an entertainment arena. There are hundreds of vender booths selling anything and everything. It’s a bargain hunter’s paradise. Being a bargain hunter myself, I couldn’t resist such an adventure.

My first experience at the yard sale was an excellent one. My brother and I went together and were surprised by the rows and rows of huge van and trucks pulling trailers piled high with new treasures. These people were here to buy some yard sale goodies.

It took us most of the morning to look through all of the booths. We had found a few small things, including some 1904 World’s Fair postcards for our mother. I was thinking about calling it a day when I heard a girl behind me say, “That John Stamos t-shirt is bitchin’!”

Sure enough I turn around to see a t-shirt from the early 90’s with John Stamos’ face on it. Being a Full House fan myself, I walked over to examine the shirt. It was my size and even had a signature on it by the one and only, John Stamos. This price had been reduced, so I took this opportunity to snatch up this excellent buy. I proudly took my bitchin’ t-shirt home with me.

The second time I went to the yard sale, I took my mother. She, too, enjoyed the sights and sounds of this slightly hoosiery gathering. This time we found a booth of bootleg DVDs. As the woman selling them tried to talk me into buying the Sex and The City movie, I wondered if she knew it was illegal to sell such DVDs.

On my last trip I found a shabby trombone with flames painted on the bell. If it hadn’t been priced at $60 I might have bought it. It would’ve looked nice next to my bitchin’ John Stamos t-shirt.