I was happy to meet up with my brother in Toronto earlier today for an escape from the suburbs. I met him near his house in the east end and, lucky for me, it was very close to a lovely gift shop called Adornments on Queen (338 Queen Street East). Isn’t it a beautiful space?

Great ideas for frugal moms

The owner was a lovely woman named Barbara and when I asked her to recommend some items for frugal moms, she went straight to a table with kids’ stuff. The first item she showed me was a vintage top toy, the kind where you pull the top and the inside spins when you let go. It’s a bit of a splurge item at around $40, but I love it’s simplicity and nostalgic charm. And I think my three-year-old would be fascinated by it for hours.

The second thing Barbara pointed out to us was a baby blanket that is a hybrid of blankie and stuffed animal (pictured on the left). I fell in love with the elephant one — isn’t it adorable?

Home furnishings

I LOVE home decor magazines, so I was definitely drooling over many of Adornment on Queen’s housewares. They had everything from covered dining room chairs and throw pillows to floral-themed hanging lights and interesting picture frames. Sadly, new furniture isn’t in the budget right now, but I will definitely be back here when I have some income to dispose of. I’ll also be back if I need a gift, as they have a lot of small items like candles and desk ornaments.

I also want to note that with all the construction at Queen and Parliament, it’s important to support local businesses who may be losing some foot traffic. The construction did mean fewer parking spots on the street and a bit of a mess, but other than that it’s not too much of an inconvenience.

After our time at Adornments on Queen, my brother had the exciting chance to go bargain-hunting at Shopper’s Drug Mart with me. My find? A 10-pack of Ivory aloe soap for $3.99! Then we had lattes at an espresso bar in the area I forget the name of. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon!

You’d think the car vomiting would be disaster enough for one weekend, but I had another scare after the turkey dinner on Saturday when I looked down at my engagement ring and one of the diamonds was missing. I noticed recently that it had been a bit loose and had been meaning to take it in to my local jeweller, but since there is never enough time in a day (!), that never happened. I tried not to panic, but as my family members and I searched the couch cushions and carpet for the rock, I started to lose hope. I knew the diamond had been there when I put my ring on earlier that day, but it could be in the car or outside or…well, just about anywhere.

My wonderful mother is at the root of many of my great tips.

This situation is a great example of why. After about 10 minutes of fruitless searching, she went upstairs and got the vacuum — a move that was met with some very skeptical looks. She then whipped out a pair of old nylons and covered the vacuum head with the nylons. She told everyone to get up and started vacuuming the carpet and furniture with a look of sheer determination on her face. We all thought she had gone crazy.

But sure enough, after a couple of minutes of vaccuuming, my mother crouched down and looked at what the suctioning machine had collected (saved from the vaccuum bag, of course, by the nylons). Sure enough, my little diamond presented itself within a dust ball and we all cheered. It was a very memorable family moment and I took my ring to the jeweller first thing this morning to get that diamond secured.