My Daily Challenge to Blog

I recently came across a blog called Somewhat Simple, click here, where the blogs author,Stephanie, puts up a challenge each month. I believe her August challenge went like this: MY HOUSE MONDAY, TAKE 2 TUESDAY, WHAT'S OUTSIDE WEDNESDAY, THIS IS ME THRUSDAY, FAVORITE FRIDAY.

Well, I liked this idea so much that I thought I would adopt it and try and post for each weekday with each theme. (Weekends are do your own theme blogs I guess).

I have posted for MY HOUSE MONDAY below.

This is a shelf in my entryway so I thought that might be a good place to begin. I made the frames with the "home" in vinyl lettering. My outside hat is hanging from a peg and I have added some of my thrifty finds on the other end; saucers from GW, black and white dish from Ross and of course the little salt and peppershakers from Target.

Notice the doily under the plates, it was crocheted by my great-grandmother.
I hope you enjoyed my little post as much as I did putting it together.

Please feel free to join me in this challenge and let me know what you have come up with.

Til tomorrow when it will be TAKE 2 TUESDAY.

Three Makeovers-Before and After

I was able to get three project completed from Goodwill finds. The first one is a wood tray purchased a month or so ago. I scraped off all of the old paint because it was thick and had ridges in it. I repainted it white and then...

painted the center with chalkboard paint. I then added vinyl dots and put "Messages" in vinyl lettering also.

I didn't get this picture rotated before I posted, but you get the idea.



Here are some ugly plastic gold frames that were begging for a makeover.

Painted black and mounting these cute chicken prints from an old calendar was just what these frames were meant to look like.

And lastly, here is a "beauty" from GW.

Srpay painted black (sprayed with primer first) and some vinyl lettering and I have a whole new look for this platter.

For more unique makeovers and metamorphsis' head on over to Between Naps On The Porch and see what others have created. Link up here.

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BUILDING INVENTORY FOR FALL BAZAARS

I posted about these frames awhile ago. Sorry about the poor quality of photo. Just so you know these were hideous gold plastic frames I bought at Goodwill. I first spray painted them antique white and put small plates in them with a wall display of plates. I didn't particularly care for them painted so light.So I sprayed them black and began to like them better. I took apart an old calendar and re- purposed the pictures by putting them into the newly painted frames. Ahhhhh, much better.
These chickens deserved to be showcased.

I get in such a hurry to finish a project that I forget to take before pictures. Just imagine a tarnished silver plated tray in need of a makeover. Spray paint and some vinyl lettering and she is all prettied up.
Here is another project I forgot to take before pictures of. Ok, this was a VERY plain wood double drawer item I also picked up at Goodwill. No stain, no paint, no varnish. It was screaming at me to rescue it so I loaded it up a brought it home with me. Spray paint, scrapbook paper, some embellishments, and some vinyl lettering and it has a whole new look.

Again, another calendar holder made into a chalkboard with no before pictures. Can you tell I'm an impatient crafter?


Sooooooooooooo... I actually did get a before shot of a wooden tray that I knew needed some kind of a rescue. {Someone had painted it all white with some kind of thick paint, hideous I say.


Out comes the chalkboard paint and some vinyl sticky dots and Viola'! A message center.

Sorry about this being sideways, I forgot to rotate it before posting. Hopefully you get the idea.

I posted about this little "beauty" a few posts back with some other Goodwill finds. Not necessarily ugly, just not my taste.

Now this is more my style.

'Tis the Season...for canning that is.

August signals the season for harvesting and canning and so my daughter Maria and I got down to business. Now mind you, I haven't done too much canning over the last 10 years. When all four kids were still at home I did put up quite a bit of fruit, vegetables and jams. I even canned my own chili, clam chowder and garden veggie soup. It was a lot of work but oh so rewarding to look at my shelves filled with good food and know that there wasn't anything artificial added or ingredients I couldn't even pronounce. Now that my children are married and have families they are more willing to learn how to can for themselves {none of them were ever interested when they were still at home}. Below is Maria sharing the "peach guts". We started off canning dry white beans and red bean. These were done just for the convienance. She makes white chicken chili a lot during the winter and thought it would be handy to have some jars on hand for quick meals after church on Sunday's.
We also canned beets right out of her garden. They were sure "colorful" while we cooked them, such a pretty color of dark magenta. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the beets in jars.
The red beans precooking before being put into the jars for processing
More "peach guts" that were sent out for the chickens and goats to enjoy.
Getting the canner kettle filled so we could get these beauties processed.
Here I am with Maria enjoying the feeling of accomplishment. Notice the lettering on the wall behind us...Memories. That's what we were really making. Believe it or not we had a blast.
You will never find peaches in the store as good as home canned.
Don't those look yummy?

Weekend Thrifty Finds

Shopping was fruitful for my daughter and I on Saturday. We intended to just hit a few sales in her small town and then head into Olympia to do some serious shopping. Fortunately for us the second sale we hit was one of those rare sales where everything was cute, high quality, reasonably priced and plenty of bargains. The find of the day was found by Maria. She found an entire Christmas village for 25.00. We figured if you bought each piece individually it would cost over 200.00. (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of it). Pictured below are the treasures I found:

11 red and green charger plates.... $2.00

Three cute Christmas plates......... .25 each

Pretty picture (I will probably paint the frame)..... $5.00


Lamp for my bedroom that will be getting a makeover.... $5.00

Eight reversible placemats..... $1.00

Childs rocking chair....$5.00 {This will be getting a coat of paint and some vinyl lettering on it}

Magazine holder..... $3.00 {The lady wouldn't budge on the price}

Cute bench waiting for a makeover....... $5.00

Ceramic vegetable dish...... .50

Soup tureen, brand new, still in the box... $5.00

Bargain of the day......FREE!!!

I know she looks a bit frazzled but the picture doesn't do it justice. The lady from the awesome sale said she paid $75.00 for it but got tired of it sitting in her garage 11 months out of the year so she said I could have it...I did a little jiggy dance right in her driveway after which I ran with it to the car before she could change her mind

For more thrifty finds go see what other lucky shoppers scored at yard sales at Southern Hospitality

Making Old Things Become New!

For more DIY projects go check out the blog party here.

I am finally making some progess in my inventory for the bazaar. Here a couple of items I did makeovers on. The first one is a calendar holder that I repurposed into a chalkboard/bulletin board.Sanding is sometimes a necessary evil. Not one of my favorite tasks, but necessary.
In it's raw state just waiting for some painting.
Ahhh, isn't that a pretty color. Hubby suggested hanging it from an old wire hanger on the closeline, which worked beautifully for spraying.
It took about 4 coats to get a good coverage. This is the back.
This is the final result. A world of difference, don't you think?
I ended up glueing fabric to the cork I inserted in the bottom. The top is sprayed with chalkboard paint.

Here is a close up of the fabric I chose for the bottom.

I bought this old bulletin board from Goodwill for 3.99. It was in really good condition except for the ugly color it was painted.

Here it is with a new color palette. Now doesn't that look cherrier (cheery), pardon the pun. Stay tuned for more projects...<