Frugal Friday - Odds and Ends

Progress Report on floor: The old carpet must have been carpet and pad integrated and the pad must have been adhesive because it left a horrible residue on the beautiful wood floor. I used a paint scraper to get it up and in some places had to use an orbital sander to remove it. (Perhaps a chemical would have done the job, but I'm trying to be frugal here!) Now we are left with the decision "to refinish, or not". Even where the pad came up easily it left a slightly hazy residue on the floor. My feeling is that as long as the room is empty, let's refinish and then we can enjoy moving in to a room with fresh paint and a fresh floor.

Yucky residue.

Yucky residue scraped off.

Area where I used the orbital sander to remove the yucky residue.

 Now on to more fun things:

Bad photo of Tim with a piece of popcorn clinging to his side.

Calico napping in Dr. Hair's laundry hamper.

JET (purple shirt), Dr. Hair (white shirt), and two of JET's roommates
Occasion: JET's birthday on Sunday

JET, the birthday boy & PFCMom, the birthday dinner planner and provider

What's a young thing like you doing with a face like this? Where did my youth go?

Okay, now for some frugality:
What do you do when you find at the store a bag of bananas for a buck?

They aren't bad, just a little spotted on the outside. First we eat a few on cereal for breakfast, a few more in smoothies and then the rest . . .

These bananas are actually a few days after I bought them and yes they are really ripe.

are smashed up, measured and put in freezer containers with lemon juice for banana bread. 

Containers of 2 cups of mashed bananas and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.

When I want to make some bread I take the container out of the freezer and thaw it overnight on the counter (or in the fridge, but it takes longer), then I can make bread in the morning and the house smells good all day.

Here's another little frugal practice of mine.
See that brown thing that looks like a trash can next to the night stand in my bedroom?

PFCMom's Bedroom

That brown thing is actually two paper grocery bags, one slipped inside the other with the top folded down, which I use as my trash receptacle. This one has lasted two years (see the autumn scene?). I didn't have money to buy one, couldn't find one I liked anyway, so I made one.

Repurposed paper grocery bags

A friend of mine repurposes tin cans for all sorts of things, sells them at craft fairs and gives them as gifts. These are two I use as "pencil" holders. She got the idea from a craft magazine that showed painting on terra cotta pots. She didn't want to spend money on pots and looked for an alternative. I think the cans are terrific. (When I get my Christmas stuff out I'll show you the one she made me that I think is absolutely darling.)

Repurposed painted tin can pencil holders

 And last on our tour today, a way to corral those water bottles:

Basket for bottles

I searched thrift stores for a basket deep enough to hold the tall bottles; I had tried short baskets but the bottles would topple and scatter. This one keeps them nicely corralled on top of the fridge. 

Neat and tidy bottles

Just a note on searching for things at thrift stores--Be patient and go often. Those are the keys to scoring treasures at tightwad prices. The other rule is to buy when you see it, she who hesitates is out of luck. The item won't be there next time. I have never regretted buying anything because if it doesn't work out I can always re-donate it. But I have truly regretted NOT buying items, thinking I'd go back for them later. Wrong.

Have a great weekend!