Weekend wrap up

This past weekend I went to Real Deal Warehouse. I love going there because you never know what you are going to find. I picked up a couple of these Mason jar lids. They have wire in the top so you can slip your flowers into it for a cute vase and the flower's won't flop.

Some more Mason jar lids. These are to put on your drinks and the hole in the middle is for a straw. Perfect for sipping lemonade while sitting on my porch swing. 

Can't wait to start using these. 

A trip to the Dollar Tree for some flowers to make a spring bouquet for my kitchen table when Easter is done.

I got these cute little ducklings for just $1.50.

And this little check was also just a $1.50.

Store after store I looked at dresses but my body is just not made for today's dresses...especially if I am trying to be frugal. Found this on clearance for just $13.99. It is so super soft. I will wear it with my white dress pans and some strappy little sandles. 

I also wanted to share what Hubby bought me for our wedding anniversary Friday. I love them. My original wedding rings were sized so much over the years that they don't fit any more. I only weighed 90 pounds when we got married and now I weigh....well, let's just leave it at I don't weigh 90 anymore. So numerous ring sizings left the band too thing to let it out any more. I went from ring size 3 3/4 to size 6 1/2. Which isn't bad since it took me 34 years to grow that much. But I am thrilled with my new set.

Sunday was a day of relaxing. I went to church that morning then vegged out most of the day. Had some homemade pizza bread at lunch.

Then I laid on the couch and took about a two hour nap. Later that evening, I just wanted a light supper so I went with my good old standby. Peanut butter and toast fixed under the broiler and a glass of ice cold chocolate milk.

All in all it was a great weekend. 

Chicken Wire

I love those chicken wire baskets that you can find to decorate with. Hubby gets me an Easter basket each year with a little candy in it. He always tries to get me a basket that I can use. This year I have asked for a basket made from chicken wire if he can find it. A couple of days after we discussed it, i happened to see some items on Pinterest using chicken wire so I started looking for more.

I love how someone took this old vintage cabinet and made it into something new. Wouldn't this be cute with Pyrex in it?



This would be a simple easy craft.

This is a unique light.

For a country farmhouse home, this would be an adorable toothbrush holder. Checkout the chicken wire in the lid.

Too cute. See the little mini clothespins? This makes for an awesome note board.

I didn't realize you could do so much with chicken wire.

Happy anniversary

Our first family gathering 34 years ago. We were so skinny then.



Our trip to Maggie Valley in North Carolina.

Our first trip to Panama City Beach where we went on our first day cruise to Shell Island.

Our vacation last summer and our first selfie. 

Our song. Allen loves to sing this to me. 

Our love. Thirty-four years long. Thirty-four years strong. I love you sweetheart with every beat of my heart. You complete me. Happy anniversary, Allen.

A little spring in my kitchen....

I finally got around to decorating for spring and summer on my wine rack. One thing I love about this rack is all except for a couple of items are vintage finds from thrift store, yard sales or my Pyrex trade groups.

I bought my rooster at a gift shop in Gatlinburg, TN. The picture of the rooster on the fence was taken at a local attraction called Circle G Ranch. It was taken by my oldest grandson, Garret, when he was about 12. I bought the little bowl and the eggs at an awesome antique store, Nostalgia, in Knoxville, Tn.

I traded a Fire King square cake pan to get this Glasbake hydrangea loaf pan. My friend Georgeanna makes me these colorful dish cloths I thought these looked really cute rolled up and stored in the loaf pan.

I love my Holt Howard kitten salt & pepper shakers. They are from the late 1950's. I found them on E-bay on auction. I rarely ever, ever buy from E-bay because of the expensive shipping. But these were $9 with free shipping and nobody had bid on them. I waiting till the zero hour and nabbed them for $9. I saw a pair on their yesterday for $49.99. I did good. I love my metal tulips that I picked up for 10¢. And my pitcher was a steal at $3.25 at His & Hers Resale Shop. I saw it on Etsy ranging from $19.99 - $24.99.

I'm really excited about my shelf. I love changing it for the holidays. We have had beautiful days this week with the weather up in the 70's. I have worn capris and flip flops this week. Today will be more of the same. Late evening will bring rain and thunder storms. Cooler temps in the 40's for Friday and Saturday with a small chance of snow flurries. UGH! Just when I thought my flip flops were out to stay.

Oh how I wish....

Oh how I love Arcopal pitchers. They are from France so it is very hard to find in the U.S. You can find them on Ebay and Etsy but most of this ship from over seas. I even saw some that shipped from the Netherlands. But I do love them. I have seen posts where people have discovered them in thrift shops, antique stores and even yard sale in the U.S. So there is hope that maybe one day I will find one. I love the bold orange flowers in this one.

But I also love these assortment of tiny flowers in a variety of colors.

These blue flowers would look great with my Colonial Mist Pyrex.

As much as I love my Pyrex, I also love this mixing bowl set by Hazel Atlas....

....as well as the Hazel Atlas dots.

And I looked forever for these Holt Howard cat salt & pepper shakers. Everywhere I saw them back 3 years ago they were over $25 and sometimes up to $49. So I did something I rarely do....I bid on an auction on E-bay and got these for $9.95 with free shipping. I was over the moon.

Now if I could just find the Hold Howard rooster pitcher and cups.

Or the powdered cleanser cat.

And you can call me crazy if you want, but the one thing I would love to find is the vintage 

plastic sprinkler bottles.

 

Well, that is just some of the things I would love to discover in my hunting this summer.

Cinnamon Sugar Muffins that taste like donuts...

I saw a recipe on Pinterest that said "Muffins that taste like donuts". They looked really good.

So I thought what the heck. I might as well try them. I love anything that has sugar and cinnamon as ingredients. So I gathered my ingredients and mixed it like the directions said. 

I greased the mini muffin pans and baked them for 15 minutes at 350° as per the instructions. While they were baking, I melted butter in one bowl and mixed the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl. 

Then it was time. When they were finished, I popped them right out of the muffin tins into a container. I used my Pyrex pie plate and preceded with the next steps. 

I dipped then in the butter then immediately rolled them in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. The finished product was unbelievably delicious.

WARNING! They will just pop right into your mouth if you aren't careful. I think I ate about 4 or 5 before I was finished with the dipping process. You see so many Pinterest Fails that go wrong that I just love it when a recipe is spot on and it works out exactly like it should. Here is the recipe. We like a lot of cinnamon so I put a little more in the sugar/cinnamon mix to roll it in. But that is a personal preference. If you make them, let me know how yours turned out.

INGREDIENTS

1-¾ cup Flour

1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder

½ teaspoons Salt

½ teaspoons Nutmeg

½ teaspoons Cinnamon

⅓ cups Oil

¾ cups White Sugar

1 whole Egg

¾ cups Milk

FOR THE TOPPING:

¼ cups Butter

⅓ cups White Sugar

1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

PREPARATION

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl. Combine the white sugar with the cinnamon in another bowl.

Shake muffins out while still hot. Dip muffins in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool.

NOTE: IF YOU CAN LET THEM COOL WITHOUT POPPING ONE IN YOUR MOUTH, YOU HAVE MORE WILL POWER THAN I DO. 

Weekend wrap up...

I had a fantastic, relaxing weekend. My granddaughters spent the night Friday night. They watched Frozen in the living room with me and Papaw. We had never seen it before but they have watched it a bazillion times. The movie was a great movie, but the girls performing all the songs during it was the best part. Made my night.

The girls and I headed out Saturday morning to do a little shopping. We had breakfast at the Waffle House. It was delicious as always. But breakfast is so enjoying sitting across from these cuties. 

Lunch was at Wendy's. They had each bought a new pair of sunglasses earlier in the day. So they were in full "pop star" mode.

I know I'm probably biased, but I think I have two of the cutest granddaughters ever.

I dropped them both off at their homes later that afternoon. As I was dropping off Shelby, her Daddy got a fire call. When I pulled into the grocery store on my way home, I could see the smoke in the distance. The fire was at the flea market about 5 minutes from the store.

It was one of the tire sheds that had went up in flames. The firefighters were able to contain it so it didn't spread to the main structure. But it pretty much destroyed the sheds in that area.

Sunday morning we learned a new song in Children's Church. It was a catchy tune and I caught myself singing it all day yesterday.

There was a young man at our church that morning from Minnesota. He is hiking his way across the U.S. He had stopped to see the Great Smoky Mountains since it is on his list of places he wants to see. Say a quick prayer for him if you will that he has a safe journey.

After church, I was in a baking mood. I don't know why I haven't been in a while. I normally bake every weekend. But I haven't lately. I made these muffins. There official title was "Muffins that take like Donuts." I will be posting the recipe tomorrow. But if you make them, beware. They have a tendency to just pop right off the plate and into your mouth. At least that is my story and I'm sticking to it. They are so good that you can't eat just one.

Sunday night we had The Freedom Quartet in concert. They are awesome. One of the best base singers I have heard in a long time. 

Now it is Monday and time to go back to work. My mind is clear and rested and raring to go. But my body keeps saying "Do I have to?" Oh well, such is Monday.

Sunday Songs

I love a deal....

I love a deal and I love Thirty-One. So when my deal gets me FREE Thirty-One products I am in heaven. I recently asked one person if they wanted to order anything. That turned into another order, then another and so on. When I hit the $200 mark in orders, I converted it to an online party and became the hostess. Between my FREE hostess credit and the fact that Thirty-One has their 1/2 off items for FREE this month and that I earned TWO of the 1/2 off for Free, I was able to get me some wonderful products. Here is what I ended up with for absolutely FREE. Didn't cost me a dime. 

I already had the Suite Skirt purse, but I needed a new skirt. I love that you can change the skirt out and end up with a whole new look. I am so into hot pink this year that I just fell in love with this.

My favorite bag is the Zip-Top Organizing Utility Tote. I wanted one of these for carrying my files and laptop back and forth to work, and since Thirty-One now will let you order with their logo on it, I did that to advertise for my business.

So this is my new combination when I head out to my full time job.

I wanted a new bag for when I go to National Conference this year. I also wanted something springy with the new Icon-It Chick on it. Quiet by accident, we realized the little asterisk in the personalization program looked like a bow on the little chicks head. Once I discovered that, I just HAD to have this for Conference.

When I travel, I always have a "busy" bag with a plastic canvas project, yarn, my book, crossword puzzle, camera, blog notebook and snacks. I needed a new bag for that. So I picked out the Essential Storage Tote and put Keeping Busy on it in aqua. 

This was available for a limited time only as the monthly special. It being leather and hot pink, I had to have it. I am very, very happy with the size of it. It is perfect to hold everything I carry.

And the snap pocket on the other side is perfect for my phone and keys. So happy.

The only thing I actually did buy was the hot pink key fob for just $5.00. I love their key fobs and trade them out regularly. I am actually giving one away on here. Leave a comment on this blog post and you will be entered in a drawing to win a key fob.

So as you can see, I have had a pretty good haul from my party. And the great part was, I ended up doing the order as a Facebook party with a link for ordering. It is the perfect party. You don't have to clean your house, fix food or get dressed up to earn free products. The FREE items replacing the 1/2 off are available through April 30th. If you would like to try a Facebook party, let me know. It doesn't take any effort on your part except to share the party link with your Facebook friends. The order will ship direct to you or to your friends so you don't have to just invite people in your group. The party lasts one hour. Would love to hold one for you. Most of the Facebook parties I have average $500 in sales which earns you $90 in hostess credit to spend and 2 half-off items...which are now FREE items till the end of April.