Dollar Tree Finds

I mentioned in my post about Wyatt’s gallery wall that I love the wall hooks I found at Dollar Tree. DT is my favorite place for non-durable goods that we use a lot of. Here are some things I buy on a regular basis:

For Wyatt

I am always able to find a craft, sticker book, coloring book, or other fun thing for Wyatt when I’m at DT. They have a lot of cartoon branded items. Wy’s Cars interest timed perfectly with Cars 2 coming out on video so there were a lot of original Cars movie branded items available.

  

Wyatt is two and  a half, so snacks of any kind are exciting to him. He likes Whales, which is a knockoff of the Pepperidge Farms Goldfish. I put small amounts in snack size zipper bags for him to grab on the go. He also like the animal crackers that way too.

 

For the house

We are always losing candle lighters and grill lighters. I buy these long clickable lighters three and four at the time. They inevitably get left outside in the rain or run out of fuel. You can never have too many of these or too many pairs of scissors.

 

Dollar Tree has a lot of bright colored plastic tablecloths. We always keep these on hand for when Justin is seasoning up large quantities of meat to go on the smoker or grill. They’re also very handy when I’m painting signs or other craft projects. They’re not very thick, so if you wanted to use them for a party, I suggest you double up. Otherwise, it’s great to fold them up and toss them in the trash with the mess.

 

I also pick up random things we need to keep on hand “just in case.” Nightlight bulbs are three for $1 and make late night trips to the bathroom for Wyatt much more bearable.

Check the craft section of your DT. They sometimes have bright colored grosgrain ribbon. These are fun for my plate stands or signs. I like to switch out the colors for the seasons.

  

For the kitchen

DT has great selections of plastic ware. These come in fun colors to match any party theme. This is much more affordable than hitting up the party stores!

 

I like buying plastic utensils and silicone spatulas at DT. The large round slotted spoons are great for mixing up sweet tea and I use the spatulas for PB & J or mayo to make sandwiches in the morning.

 

I also buy a few boxes of the cheap sandwich zipper bags. Justin and I both take sandwiches to work several days a week. We have really nice Tupperware sandwich keepers but we inevitably leave them at work or forget to rinse them out so I am reaching for these at the last minute.

DT has a lot of cute metal platters. These are great for sending a batch of cookies and not having to worry about your plates being returned. They also have plastic platters that resemble cut crystal. I like these for parties or gatherings where I leave early and don’t want to have to chase down my good platters. I don’t mind leaving them for the host to reuse or even toss because they’re only just a buck!

  

The last thing that is nice to have on hand are these foil take out containers. My mama uses them a good bit. She always sends home containers of left overs after family gatherings or meals and again, she doesn’t have to worry about her good stuff going missing when it’s not returned.

Wyatt’s gallery wall

I have a keen interest in gallery walls now that I have plenty of wall space to fill up. I have a few ideas churning—now I just have to get Justin on board with them. He thinks they’re mostly cluttered but I love having a grouping of wall art, photos, and little accoutrements that work well together and tell a small part of our story.

A few weeks ago, I found a few Pins on Pinterest that were a play on the “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters featuring Disney and Pixar characters. My Photoshoppin’ master of a sister whipped some up for me.

  

I printed the pics out on regular computer paper, popped them into some Dollar Tree frames and voila! Instant playroom art. Of course, since nothing always works out just right I broke one of the frames. It is on my list to fix pretty soon.

My trick of the trade is using these magical hooks for sheetrock. Justin and I bought some at Lowe’s or Home Depot for hanging pictures around the house. They were about $6 for 4 of them or $4 for 6 of them (can’t exactly remember!). I found some at Dollar Tree at the super awesome rate of 20 for $1. They are rated to hold up to 35 pounds. I might not chance it with some of our nicer prints, but for Dollar Tree frames, I was willing to take the risk.

They worked perfectly! This is a nice pop of color for Wyatt’s playroom until we figure out what color we want to use for the walls and the carpet. I have also used the hooks to hang up our brooms, Swiffer tools, and hard floor vacuum in our laundry room. So far, so good!

All said, this project set me back $10 and I couldn’t be happier with the result.

Busy week catching up

Last Saturday after a long day of shopping, we celebrated my dad’s 64th birthday at my Nanny’s house with the family. He is recovering from a surgery on his nose and he made sure that I got his good side

On Monday, our local power company (Irwin EMC) came out and cut down some trees that were endangering the power line. Both of our families were there except for Suzi, David, Liam, and Sami. The kids enjoyed seeing the huge bucket trucks and the giant chipper.
 
The guys did a great job and left the whole yard almost as good as new! Amanda and I counted the rings on this pine tree and got somewhere in the 50 year ballpark—it was never the same twice no matter how hard we tried. It was too big to go into the wood chipper, so Justin is going to borrow my dad’s tractor and possibly use sections for benches around our burn pile.
  
Some of the trees were really neat but they would have been a pain if the limbs landed on the power lines so down they went.

I also made use of my mason jar flower frog and filled it up with some camellias from my yard. The only bad thing was the blossoms were full of ants so I had to shake them out twenty times it seems.
  
Later that night, Wyatt and I loaded up and went to Jake’s 12th birthday party. Justin had to stay home to figure out why our well wasn’t working (turns out he didn’t reconnect the wire when the power got turned back on). I can remember that Justin and I had just started dating when Amanda and Michael found out they were expecting him. I can’t believe 12 years have flown by so quickly. I missed his actual birth-day because I was on a youth retreat to Gatlinburg with my church group, but I’m glad he was the one to make me an aunt for the first time!
   
Lastly, I got to meet at the most adorable farmers market in Nashville, Georgia yesterday. The City of Nashville got a grant and hired a part-timer to run the shop three days a week and there is an outdoor area with tables where farmers can sell their fresh fruits and veggies. I would love to see something like this in Ashburn; I might have a project on my hands!
     

Sunday Fun Day

I hate it when Justin has to work and there is nothing on the calendar. Sunday was beautiful and I got to spend the day with Wyatt with no pressures of having to be somewhere. It would have been wonderful to have Justin with us. We started the day at church and followed it up with Waffle House for lunch. You know it’s crazy, but Wyatt had his fill of waffles, bacon, grits, and a bite of my patty melt, but he was most excited about this paper hat. Crazy boy!

After nap time, we struck out to explore a little more. Wyatt hopped on his battery-powered tractor and Jeb was right along with him. I’m glad he likes to play in the mud and check things out. We saw two sets of distant neighbors out and about on their golf carts and Wyatt even let me take some pictures of him while he shouted, “CHEESEBURGER!”

   

  

Exploring around the house

We are very fortunate to have Justin’s Aunt Faye and Uncle Glynn live right next door to us. They have cows and Wyatt is fascinated by them. We spent an afternoon last week checking out our new surroundings. We checked out the little creek on what is part of our original property. We didn’t buy this piece but we would like to eventually.