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{Thrift-It Thursday} Goodwill Outlet St Louis

March 27, 2013 in Thrifty Thursday

I wanted to share a FUN shopping excursion from earlier this year. I love thrift store shopping – probably more than most people – and this trip exceeded my expectations!

Goodwill Outlet St Louis

3728 Market Street | St. Louis, MO 63110 | website

If you live anywhere near St. Louis, you’ve probably heard of the Goodwill Outlet. It’s like Supermarket Sweep meets American Pickers…. with a whole lot of JUNK in the way. The Outlet is the last-stop on an unwanted item’s way to recycling/trash. When you donate an item to your local Goodwill store, it will be offered for sale for a set amount of time. If it doesn’t sell during that time period, it’ll be boxed up and sent to the Goodwill Outlet… and that’s where the fun begins….

Big Guy and I were headed downtown for a Saturday night event so we swung by the Goodwill Outlet St Louis just to check it out. Let me tell you… It’s a cultural experience! There were people everywhere and the parking lot was packed. They roll out new bins every few minutes and the people go CRAZY.

Items are tossed in giant, rolling blue bins. Really no rhyme… no reason. You better come prepared to dig! Next time I’ll be armed with a pair of gloves, a bottle of hand sanitizer and maybe even a can of Lysol!

I’ll admit it – I made the Big Guy nervous on more than one occasion as I tried to wedge my way into the madness so I could snag some “fresh” items rolling onto the floor in a new bin. It was comical – you’d think they were bins full of money with the way those people were scrambling! One bin held a large cardboard box with aging styrofoam and a light fixture inside. You pay for items by the pound – not per item – so people like to discard packaging and just hold onto “the goods”. Well, admidst the chaos, someone tried to yank the light fixture out of the box. The disintegrating styrofoam exploded into the air like a snow globe and the group of people were showered in tiny pieces of white foam. I only wish I had it on camera – it was magical… in that thrift store Disney sort of way.

I watched bin after bin roll out, laughing at the bargain blitz and keeping my eyes peeled for something worth snagging…

and then I saw them…

Several wooden yardsticks being nudged around in the bottom of a bin as people scrambled and sorted. I grabbed the big guy in a vintage-loving-frenzy and told him I neeeeeeded them. It’s a good thing he was there! With his go-go-gadget arms and big-guy height, he was able to weasel his way into the pack and snag every. last. one. of them!

Forgive my crazy hair… I’d been to battle in that store!

Can you believe it?! SIX of them!!! Many of them are printed with local St. Louis stores. Oh happy day!

Big Guy found himself a wooden spoon to use as his “shovel” in the bins. He cracked me up as he poked items out of his way and lifted potential purchases from the bin with the tip of the handle.

When you finish your shopping, you simply take your goodies up to the register to be weighed. They have large scales that you can roll your cart right up onto or smaller counter scales if you’re just buying a few things here and there.

All in all – an AWESOME shopping trip. I’ll DEFINITELY go back… but next time I’ll have gloves!

Curious about what I found? I snagged some great vintage and antique finds! A few of them are currently listed in my Etsy store, but you’ll have to wait to see them all. I know… I know… I’m holding out on you.

Visit the Crafted Niche Etsy store and look for:

If you want to visit the Outlet and see it for yourself, visit the St. Louis Goodwill Outlet website for hours and location!

You guys won’t believe it when I share my next thrift store adventure… Two Words – Plunder Palace.

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{Crashing at Christy’s} Kitchen Makeover Update #3

March 25, 2013 in Crashing at Christy's, Kitchen

Hey guys – First and foremost – I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA! I stated a new job about a month ago and it’s been a lot of road time commuting back and forth. Hopefully there will be some big changes in my near future that’ll put an end to all that. ….but I’ll spill more about that later. For now – let’s get a KITCHEN MAKEOVER UPDATE from Christy!

….and yes, it’s been forrrrever and a day since her last update. I’d love to say it’s all her fault, but it’s not. She sent this to me a few weeks ago and it’s just taken me a bit to find time to add it to the blog. #bloggerproblems

I hope you enjoy her latest update. I can’t wait to visit her and see kitchen in person. The tile is gorgeous! …and be warned. There are a solid 25 photos in this post. 25!

Kitchen Update #3 I think? Whew, it’s been a while. Ever notice how when you get a room functional again, the progress slows? Yep, that’s where we’ve been. All we lack is finishing up! ☺ So, let’s update you on what has happened since the last time I visited Crafted Niche.

Oh my goodness. I just realized that the last update was at the beginning of November. Wow, I’m the worst blog sister EVER. But, things during that time have been a little crazy and hectic. Life. So, anyway, worst blog sister EVER and let’s get started.

The last update we were only here. I can’t believe how long ago that seems. (Christy, it WAS almost 4 months ago!!!) Well, I’m feeling generous so I’ll show you where we’re at now.

Whew! It’s coming to life finally and it’s a real kitchen. Now I’ll get started with telling you how we went from no countertops to a functional kitchen.

When I last updated you, we had cabinets but no countertop. Well, the Lowes contractors did a phenomenal job on the countertops. Did it take over 5 weeks to get them in after having templates made? Yes, but the wait was worth it. So pretty.

As soon as the countertops were laid down I covered them in plastic. It was backsplash time!

I won’t give a step-by-step of how to tile because there are so many online. And, who knows if I’m doing it the absolute correct way. But, my mom and dad taught me and so far it hasn’t failed me. Slap some mortar up, slap some tile up. Thankfully this tile came in 12×12” sheets. Thank GOODNESS.

I used a trick I’ve seen around blog land for tiling behind the stove. Basically, I wanted a straight line across the back of the stove so that it went from one side of the countertop and joined over on the other side. Does that make any sense? How about a picture? That casing trim will stay there. It was left over from another project and will get a fresh coat of white paint when I run out of other things to do.

Making progress!

Then, Thanksgiving came and went. The man and I got to see some family and friends in Little Rock and the backsplash remained ungrouted for about a week. My parents and man helped me out while I was recovering from illness and grouted the ENTIRE THING for me! Feelin’ the love, people!

Then it was time to cover those beautiful counters finally.

Yep, Christmastime came and went.

I really wanted to use my bar top so I found myself some Craigslist counter stools for $10 each! But, the seats needed recovering. So, I got to work.

Oh, and I have three of those rugs now. Thank you Target clearance! One in front of the stove, one in front of the sink, and one at the backdoor.

Okay, I guess now it is time to get those shelves hung on that tiled wall. I got my brackets (or corbels) at Home Depot. I used the same ones as Young House Love did in their kitchen renovation. They really were the best option out there and not too awfully priced. I also used their tutorial for my install. Don’t reinvent the wheel, Christy. So head over there and see their fantastic tutorial.

To start, I mapped out where I wanted the shelves and marked it with tape.

I did that on both sides of the window. Then, I got out my masonry drill bit and drilled a hole. Yikes. I cut four of my fingers and it took FOREVER. This is when the logical side of me decides that there are some things that I’m willing to hire someone to do. I have wonderful neighbors who always know someone they’ve used in the past. So, I got a guy to come in and hang the shelves for me. I didn’t want to risk ruining my tile!

Is the kitchen all complete today? Nope. It’s functional, so like I said, progress as s…l….o…w…e…d. But, I’m getting a second wind. Third wind? Probably fifth wind. Here’s where the kitchen sits today.

There’s now stuff on the shelves, but I’d like to wait until the rest of the list is complete before I show you that. J

Things left to do:

Paint walls grey where we misjudged cabinet coverage
Caulk and fill nail holes on window trim and baseboards
Paint all window trim and baseboards
Install, caulk, and paint crown molding

That’s not too awful. So, want a little before and during?

Thanks for taking a look. Hopefully I’ll make some more progress this weekend!

- Christy

I think she’s on a roll. Now the question is, has she made any progress on her kitchen makeover since this post? Here’s hoping she doesn’t make us wait another 4 months for an update! (hint, hint Christy)

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Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug

February 21, 2013 in Cooking and Recipes

It’s snowing in St. Louis. Do you know what that means? Time for this girl to make some cozy comfort food! How about a Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug?!

Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug from No. 2 Pencil

Was it easy? You betchur ramekin it was!

How easy? How about THIS easy:

iI_m48 on Make A Gif, Animated Gifs

Yeah… THAT easy. I made mine in a ramekin rather than a mug. I think this would be PERFECT for serving with a scoop of ice cream. Oh man that’d be DE-LISH. I didn’t have ice cream though… so milk it is.

Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug

I’d love for you to visit No. 2 for the full recipe, but I’ll give you my insider scoop.

My bottle of vanilla doesn’t do drops so I just opted for a quick splash. It was probably a hair too much, but that’s okay… I like vanilla.
My definition of scant might be a touch off. I’d recommend adding your flour a bit at a time to avoid putting too much in. I think my cookie would have been ROCKIN’ with just a little less flour. It was still good though!
I cooked mine for the full 60 seconds, but next time I think I’ll snag it from the microwave at 50 seconds.

All in all, this is a GREAT go-to for when the cravings hit and you’re hunting for a cookie. I think it’s safe to say I can’t be trusted with an entire batch!

I’m currently counting down the minutes until my Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup from That’s What Che Said is finished. I haven’t made it before – Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Looking for new recipes? Check out my Pinterest Foods Board for some ideas to get your creative juices (and appetite!) going.