What To Do With Yoga Mats

Tuesday Morning had these yoga mats on clearance. I already have a yoga mat that I barely use. However, since the price was so good, 40% off $9.99, I was sure I could do something dolly wise with them and grabbed three.

My clearance luck was with me once again because one of them rang up as $0.00 so the lady gave it to me for a dollar and I got all three for $13.91. Score!

The most obvious thing to use them for is as a photo or wall backdrop. They are 24" x 68" so it gives you plenty to work with even though the color choice is rather garish and/or blah.

The most ambitious thing I wanted to use one for though was as a piece of asphalt. Yoga mats have that nice bumpy texture that I figured would look like asphalt or concrete if painted. This was also the perfect thing to try spray painting on. If the paint smell was too much for me I'd rather it be done on something like this that I can trash rather than furniture or something I want to keep.

Walmart only had one of these cans and it was barely enough to cover the mat. I got the "for plastic" version because I have no idea what a yoga mat is made of but I knew I was going to be rolling it up and I figured the plastic paint version would have more flex to it and be less likely to crack.

I sprayed this outside on concrete instead of grass because I didn't want bugs to get on it. However, I didn't realize that my cardboard underneath wasn't wide enough. When I lifted it up, there was a faint, but clearly visible, paint square on the concrete. Luckily, the concrete was dirty and dusty so I was able to sweep the paint residue up. Whew, I would have been in trouble!

I painted this six days ago and the first couple of days I thought I was going to barf the smell was so bad. I left it outside for eight hours when I initially painted it but then the weather got cold so I had to bring it inside. Ugh. There is only a faint lingering odor now that isn't so bad.

I actually need to spray a layer of polyurethane on the mat because EVERYTHING sticks to it. Even little spiders got stuck in it. I don't know if the poly will eat the mat, so I wanted to take some photos before hand, in case it does.

Here are some of the ways I want to use the "asphalt."

As a walkway, but I don't think it works so well.

 

As parking spaces. I like this a lot!

 

As a street - I like this too!

 

You could also use it as a basketball court but I didn't have time to make that. If I can control the stickiness factor, this might be one of my better ideas.

11/19/13 Edited to Add:

Success! I purchased this sealer from Walmart and it worked great. After applying one coat it was nice and dry to the touch within 10 minutes, as advertised. I still waited about 30 minutes to apply another coat. I just wanted to be on the safe side in case I missed any spots. It comes in flat and gloss. It also doesn't smell as bad as the paint, nor does its smell linger as long. It's good stuff!

12/5/14 Edited to Add:

Over a year later and I now know that neither the paint nor the sealer will retain its hold on a yoga mat. See video below.

Tuesday Morning Knockoffs & Only Hearts

I went to Tuesday Morning this weekend and found some really cheap ($3.99) Barbie knockoffs. When I first saw the box I thought someone had replaced a Barbie Basics with a clone until I realized it wasn't actually a Barbie Box.

Cute face, but clothing poorly sewn

Comparison to actual Barbie Basics

Comparison to actual Barbie Basics

Back of Denim Box

Back of Little Black Dress Box

Talk about being a serious clone. Of course I've seen hundreds of clones, but never one packaged to exactly mimic a Mattel product. The backs of the boxes are gorgeous, but too bad they relate in no way to what's inside the box. I almost bought one of the denim ones until I noticed how poor the stitching was on the top.

They also have a "I Can Be..." line but the clone brand is called "I Want To Be..."  Dang, they even copied the use of ellipses. Her outfit is generic, but still okay for $4.99. They had a floor nurse and a pilot as well.

The store also carried a HUGE selection of Only Hearts girls:

Does anyone who have them know if the clothes will fit a Monster High body? Those are some high quality outfits they have on. I don't know that I want to pay $7.99 for clothes though since I don't want the doll.

Cheapness Credentials Restored

I wouldn't want anyone to think I had abandoned my "I'm not paying full price for that," philosophy, so this post is about some of the great sales I've come across lately.

Walmart is notorious for having the crappiest clearance prices. They usually take $2.00 off and put a big red sticker on it, or worse, they don't reduce it at all, but still put a big red sticker on it and put it in clearance anyway. However, I have found a few well priced items that have pleased me greatly:

48% off. These singing Biebers were originally $24.98 and were later reduced to $19.97. Now you can get the singing and non-singing versions for $13.00. That's not really much of a bargain on the non-singing dolls because you can find those at Big Lots for $10.00 to $12.00.

66% off. So here's the thing. Let's say you have one box that is reduced and you have another box that is clearly mislabeled ($17 for Victoria, but also a $8.50 sticker for Bella). If you take them both to the register and innocently question why one scans at $8.50 but the other has so many confusing stickers on it, even though you know good and darn well it's really $17, they will give it to you at the cheaper $8.50 rate just to get rid of a clearance item.

64% off. Similar scenario, but different Walmart. Don't try this at the same store. Take your clearance doll, grab another doll in the same line that isn't marked and nine times out of ten you will get them both for the clearance price. Now don't be taking stickers off or moving stickers around because that's just thievery and you will go to jail.

68% off. I first mentioned the La Dee Da set back [in an April post] and though I thought it had potential I wasn't paying $16.97 for it. Now at $5.50 they are well worth the price. The design itself is a little dainty for my tastes, but it's quite the sturdy set. So much so, that after inspecting it, I went back and bought the remaining three in stock.

Considering the extremely small stature of La Dee Da's, you will not find many dolls that can actually fit in the chair. Luckily, the arms are easily removed. Monster High has plenty of room and older Bratz can fit as well, but it's a little on the snug side for her. Liv and Bratzillaz cant fit at all. Any other doll and you will have to take off the chair arms.

The Moxie Teenz was my only doll that could not get her thighs underneath the table top. FYI, The table and chairs are not the same color. The table is white, but the chairs are ivory. I didn't even open up the extra bits of background and accessories so I cant comment on those.

45% off. Back in February [I did a whole post] on this thing and I've been keeping my eye on it ever since. From $19.97 to $13.00 to finally $11.00. Yes! You just gotta hold out. You just gotta believe! It was the only one there and it's mine. My precious.

That's it for Walmart, but I've purchased the above in the last 2 days so you should be able to find some of it in your areas.

Let's head to Toys-R-Us

73% off. The list price for this is $19.99 but I think TRU was selling them for $14.98 and I got mine for $3.98. Yep, I bought four. I mean, it was $3.98! I figured for the cost I could build myself a pretty decent hair salon with four work stations.

The chair is super duper flimsy. You look at it wrong and it will tip over. Still, if you have a doll with articulated knees, she will fit in the chair just fine. Bendable knees and she'll fall over. A Fashionista is able to sit underneath the table with a little room to spare.

67% off. TRU was last selling these for $14.98 but clearanced out the singing dolls for $5.00 and $3.00 for the non-singing versions. Even though I have no interest in the doll itself, I think the outfits and guitars are more than worth $5.00.

I got the stuff from TRU late September so you may not find them at your locales.

Let's head over to Big Lots!

First off, if you are not a Big Lots Rewards member you are missing out. They have revamped their rewards program so that the 20% sales happen more frequently (supposedly) and they are also emailing out dollars off coupons.

20% off. Thanks to D7ana's [September post] I knew that Big Lots was now carrying Katniss, Twilight and Monsters but I still held out for the October 20% off sale. I don't really like this dolls face, but for $12 I thought it was worth it for an articulated doll with nice clothes so I got two.

20% off. Finally, after almost two years of waiting and poo pooing lines and side eyeing versions, I now have my first Cleo. You know, I'm so effing particular that it's at my own detriment, but when you wait and then you see that perfect doll and she's on sale too? OMG, just bliss. I mean, look at her. She is bringing it. She is giving me life! Oh, so happy. Of course, I bought a second one and she's in the final stages of head shrinking and other changes as we speak.

33% off. I actually had no interest in this Harley Ken with a curl perm, oops, I mean this Jasper doll, but then mid October Big Lots emailed me a coupon for $5 off a $15 item. They didn't have any Power Team guys so I got him instead. Eh.

What is up with Target? They are usually my goto place for sales but in the last two months I've found only one clearanced line that I really wanted.

50% off. I know that everybody and their momma got these dolls when they came out but I had only purchased Chandra and I sneakily got her for $5 because the prices were all messed up when they were first released. When the prices were later fixed at $12.96 I was like, "Nope." This is my very first Kara and I picked up another Chandra for the heck of it. I still don't have a SIS Grace so I'm always on the look out for her.

_______________

To me a good sale is at minimum 30% off, but of course, 40-50% is preferred. 20% off at Big Lots is okay, because their prices are reduced anyway. To get a good bargain, you have to be willing to miss out on the newest and latest. By shopping the way I do, I can buy five cheap items instead of one fancy item at full price. However, in my case, it's not even about being thrifty or saving money. It's about the hunt, the victory in seeing that fat red clearance sticker and knowing I got something awesome for the least amount of money possible. That's a wonderful feeling.