Great finds in an unexpected place!

Well, today started off in full-fledged panic mode for me....

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I'm not the world's best housekeeper, so when plans are made for friends to come by, I go all Tazmanian Devil on the house cleaning.

I mean, don't get me wrong, the dishes are clean, the clothes are clean, the bathrooms are clean, the bed clothes are clean....I just have a tendency to have "stuff" everywhere...

Which consists of about 90% TOYS!

Anyway, one of my dear friends, Teri, accepted my invitation for a Girls Day IN!

I was so excited for Teri to come by to catch up on life.

Teri was literally Chelsea's second mother when she was little.  She started helping me when I had all three babies at home, and stayed for years to take care of Chelsea when I went to Nursing School.

She is a very special person to us!

However, lives get in the way sometimes, and we had been out of touch for a while.

Fortunately, through Facebook, we have been reunited and talk daily!

Anyway, in the midst of my cleaning frenzy, Teri sent me a message letting me know that she had an emergency and had to reschedule.

Of course, I completely understood and told her we would meet again soon.

So, now I'm up, showered, dressed, and the house is pretty clean....

What to do?  What to do?

Well, as most red-blooded women do....

I WENT SHOPPING!

I specifically wanted to stop by the Thrift Store to see if I could find some gorgeous frames.

After Lou Cinda showed her fantabulous repurposed thrift-store frames for her dining room, I have been on a mission!

 

I WANT THOSE FRAMES!

Since I changed window treatments in my dining room, those frames would be PERFECT in there!

But before I made it to the Thrift Store, I thought I would stop by Cato to see if they had any sales.

**For those of you who don't know what "Cato" is, it's a lower-priced clothing store that happens to carry plus-sized clothing as well as "regular-sized" clothing.**

Since I am a BIG gal, my shopping choices are limited to Cato, Dress Barn, Lane Bryant, occasionally Wal-Mart, and online shopping.  Since I was on this particular side of town, Cato was the best choice.

As I made my way through the store, straight to the clearance racks, I happened to notice a display of clearance decor items.

Decor items?  In Cato?

I moseyed on over there and this is what I found....

 

I know, I know....they are ugly as sin, (Giraffe print? Really?)  but with the right paint treatment, and removal of the picture, I think they will be GORGEOUS!

I mean, look how THICK this frame is!

 

The best part, they were only $6.99!  I know it's a little more than Thrift Store prices, but I later saw a very similar frame (sans giraffe print) at Dillard's "on sale" for $49.99!

 

I also found these little cuties hiding on a shelf for $3.99.

Aren't they precious?

Oh, and it's a good thing I found these here, but there was NOTHING at the Thrift Store....I think there are WAY TOO MANY blog readers/crafty people living in my area!

This just goes to show that you never know what you can find when you go on an unexpected shopping trip!