The kids just finished another school year over at the local college; and as usual, they left tons of great stuff behind. We found all of the following sitting next to the dumpsters:

• A Herman Miller desk chair (with a retail of around $575!)
• A Dirt Devil Reaction Dual Cyclonic vacuum that looks like it was only used once or twice (with a retail of $154.99)
• A brand-new Dirt Devil stick vac
• (3) sets of plastic storage drawers (these will be great for organizing craft supplies, etc.)
• A floor lamp, complete with CFL bulb
• A glass drink pitcher
• A plastic storage basket

I often make my best yard sale finds on Fridays, and this week was no exception. Check out my super-sized haul:

(6) Ball freezer jars – $.25 each

(2) air-tight storage jars for the pantry – $1.75 for both

A glass measuring cup – $.20

A heavy-duty nut cracker – $2

(3) Jadeite mugs – $.25 each

A trifle dish – $1.50

A ball ice cream maker – $1 (the kids have wanted one of these for a long time)

(2) brown checkered tablecloths – $.50 each

A stainless steel water bottle – $.50

New Balance hiking shoes – $2 (I’m going to put these up until my current pair wears out)

A bottle brush rooster – $2

(2) glass Christmas trees – $.50 each (TJ Maxx had these the last two seasons, and I really wanted them, but I think they were selling for $14.99 each – more than I was willing to pay)

A two-way hose connector – $.25 (we’ll be building an irrigation system soon, so this should come in handy)

A suet cage – $.25 (I’m going to fill it up with scrap yarn for the birds to use in their nests)

50+ garden stakes – $2

(4) hanging baskets – free! (stay tuned for a post about how I plan to use them)

(4) zippers for a project I’m working on – free!

A hand-carved wooden pineapple to add to my collection – $4

While on our way to a yard sale Saturday, we passed a curb pile of yard trimmings, which included a bunch of iris bulbs. Not one to pass up free flowers, I had my husband turn around, so I could grab them. I now have about two dozen irises to get in the ground, and they’re in a beautiful pale pink that I didn’t have yet. I don’t understand why dividing flowers has to mean throwing away the extras, but it worked out well for me.

Keep an eye out for similar piles around your town. It’s a great way to expand your landscaping without spending a cent.

A couple weeks back we rescued two red benches from a curb pile.

Remember these from the 80s? My parents had a whole set of this stuff when I was growing up. Not really my style then (or now), but with a coat of brown paint (my decorating cure-all) …

I ended up with a set of farm-fabulous benches.

Just the thing to the add to the ends of my farm table.

I love when everyone goes into spring cleaning mode because the curb piles start to grow. Here’s a peek at some of the stuff that we’ve picked up over the last few days:

Three new flower pots.

I especially like this one. Old terracotta has so much more character than the new stuff, and it’s built to last.

The planter is ugly, but I never pass up free plants. I’ll repot them, and have them looking great in no time.

So far we’ve snagged five more cages for our peppers. If we find two more, we’ll be set.

We just added three more tomato cages to our collection this morning. My tomato starts seem to be doing well, so we’re going to need them.

And this is one of several garden hoses that I’ve picked up in preparation for an upcoming project. More about that soon.