Just a couple of things....

It's already 2:25 p.m. in my neck of the woods and I'm just now getting to my blog post for the day. On a good note, I have gotten a lot accomplished today. I'm working on some coasters in various patterns and different yarn colors in my plastic canvas. I got this one done yesterday. I love it.

This morning I was making some breakfast and I went to grab a spoon to open the biscuit can. I picked up a fork by mistake and actually put it back and got a spoon because Hungry Jack has conditioned my mind after 40 years of making canned biscuits that I need to "press a spoon" against the seams. Now I don't know about you, but my fork and spoon handles have identical ends on them in the exact same shape and thickness as each other. So it really doesn't matter what I used. That just struck me as how weird my mind is that I would even pay any attention to that. I decided to be a rebel and guess what? I opened it with a fork. I sure did.

And when I was online earlier, I saw something that made me just stop and think .... Why??? Could you give me one reason...any reason at all....that anybody would ever actually care about what the actually battery looks like when they put it inside a remote, a clock, a mouse, whatever. I just can't wrapped my mind a good reason to want "pretty" batteries. 

Well there's just a few of my random thoughts today. Hope you are enjoying your day. We have gorgeous sunshine outside my window.

Northern or Southern?

I grew up in Barboursville, West Virginia. On June 20, 1863, prior to the Civil War, we were a part of Virginia. Now technically, WV broke away in support of the Union. But growing up in the lower Southwestern part of West Virginia, I never did accept the fact that we were "Yankees". As a matter of fact a lot of my friends from Tennessee think of me as being from west Virginia (Bristol, Norton, etc.) I don't know if it was because I am country or if it is because I have a southern accent. But to me it was never about being Union or Confederate, I just always assumed I was southern. 

But I have learned that some people "up north" think WV is home of hillbillies and that we are a bunch of southern hicks and rednecks. While some people in the south are quick to point out that we left the south when we broke away from Virginia and that we are from up north. And still there are a few that still think when I say I'm from West Virginia that I mean west Virginia. That little w makes a world of difference. They usually always reply "Oh, I love west Virginia. We go to Bristol a lot. 

So I still don't know whether I was born Southern or Northern. But I do know there are somethings that are more well known in West Virginia than they are in Tennessee.

For example, I love graham cracker pie....most people I know thinks that means any pie that has a graham cracker crust. In my family it means a graham cracker crust baked then cooled and filled with vanilla pudding, topped with homemade meringue, covered with graham cracker crumbs and browned in the oven for a few minutes. 

And if you know anything about the south, you know they love their sweet tea...not ice tea but sweet tea. I was born into a family of the biggest sweet tea drinkers that ever lived. Much to their dismay I am the only member of the family that doesn't drink it. Well, I do have one granddaughter that won't either. But my Mamaw Eden used to try to get me to drink it and I tried several times, but nope...didn't like it and still don't.

And let's talk about breakfast. In my part of West Virginia, we love breakfast for supper complete with homemade biscuits. Now I don't know of anybody I have ever discussed that with from up north. But everybody I knew in WV and here in TN tells me that breakfast for supper is the best supper to have. And I have always called it supper. We had breakfast, lunch and supper. I guess the only time I ever heard dinner is if you went out some place fancy for your evening meal you went out to dinner. Otherwise, it was supper.

And if we are going to talk about biscuits, let talk about gravy. Now that is one of those items that is confusing. I don't know a lot of people who talk much about gravy and biscuits except for people in the south. Would be curious to know from any of my Northern friends if y'all ever eat biscuits and gravy with your breakfast? And on that note, in WV growing up our main gravy was made with bacon grease so it was bacon gravy. My husband and I always had bacon gravy with our biscuits and gravy. But living in Tennessee, I have only found a few people over the years who have even heard of bacon gravy. It appears sausage gravy and biscuits is the main gray around here. But it is one of my all time favorite meals for supper.

And I have also learned that potato salad is not always considered a good side dish for a meal for just anytime. We have it year round. Doesn't matter the occasion. If there is a gathering and you make potato salad people are gonna eat it. But I worked with a gentleman from Cincinnati one time who found out we made potato salad for Thanksgiving dinner and he was appalled. I remember his exact words "WHAT? That's ridiculous. Everybody knows you only eat potato salad in the summer at picnics." Hmmm, No. In my family you eat potato salad whenever you are in the mood for potato salad. 

So I guess you can see why I am confused as to whether I'm from the North or the South. As for me, I have always claimed I'm from the South and I will always claim to be southern. I worked for a company one time where I talked to people all across the United States and one thing I heard over and over and over was "I love calling  you because I love your Southern accent."

So when I have a question I can't realize figure the answer to, I turn to the world leading expert on answers...GOOGLE. And when I typed in Southern States. This is what I found. 

And yes that little blue state on the top with the little point stick up is West Virginia. Guess that settles it. I wrote this blog Sunday night while I was pondering on the whole Northern/Southern dilemma. Then I was so hungry when I got done, that I went and fixed me some breakfast for supper. Yep, that was the Southern thing to do. Have a great Monday!

Sunday Morning

My favorite Jason Crabb song.

My favorite Beth Moore story.

Repurposing project overload....

I fell in love with re-purposing about 3 years ago. I've seen a lot of awesome things over the years, but never really took the time to create any of them. This is going to be the year that I work on projects. I may use them myself, I may try to sell a few and I may simply just give them away. I don't know what my plan is, but I know I want to try a few of these. I will keep my eye out at thrift stores, yard sales and the Dollar Tree for items to use on each project. You could do any of these really easy on a cheap budget.  Let's get started with 20 amazing ideas.....

I love the idea of unique vases or over-sized goblets and plates from yard sales being used to create display platters for desserts.

My mom did one similar to this and it was so cute. You can put fabric or scrapbook paper under the glass. The handles can be bought at Lowes or Home Depot and get whatever suits your needs. Paint a pretty frame and attach the handles with little screws, nails or simply hot glue and you have a beautiful tray.

I love this ideas for all those colored pencils we seem to accumulate. Only I do believe I would spray paint this a pretty color instead of just the galvanized metal. 

A wonderful idea for old tins. If you use if for unwrapped food, I would recommend cutting a pretty paper doily to size and place it in the bottom of the pans before placing the food (simply cut your circle out and make 1 slit in the paper so it will go around the spindle. You could reuse it for showers and holidays and simply change out the paper to match the celebration. If you are going to use it for wrapped items like snack cakes or candy bars, you could spray paint it with a safe spray paint.

here is the same idea in rectangle instead of round. I love them both, but think I like the round the best. You can use wooden spindles from Hobby Lobby or any craft store. Or you can purchase wooden or glass candle sticks and use them.

I saved this idea, because I like the funnel for a ball of twine or in my case, I would love this over my craft table with a ball of jute. I do so much with jute and am forever trying to remember where I put it the last time I used it. Wouldn't ever lose it this way.

I love the old red handled utensils and see them frequently at local antique store for just a couple of bucks. The way I use recipes, I need to make one of these. I was just thinking the other day I needed a recipe holder to hold them up because I lay them down then can't find where I laid them while I'm baking. Again, I would paint the clothespin before I hot glued it on. I don't like plain.

I love tea cups. I love candles. But I never thought about making my own tea cup candles. Wax sure isn't that hard to melt and pour in a cup. I bet I could make these.

So if you combine my love of tea paraphernalia and my love of the above picture frame trays, you will understand why I want to do the DIY below. I love how they put the little frames on legs with door pulls.

You can do this with Mason jars or old candle jars after you have used up the candles. Just paint your lids and drill a little hole in the top of the lid and screw a drawer pull or knob on the top and you have an adorable jar for storage or for a candy dish. I see they are making bath salts in one. Allen used to make me bath salts with my favorite perfume scent, Rain. He would buy the oil in that scent and mix it with Epsom salt and a special coloring for bath salts. It was amazing.

This is cool and would take a little while to do. You would need great patience to get the rope wrapped just right....well guess that leaves me out. But it would be fun to try. A love basket. I would like to try it with a smaller basket for a trash can for my craft room.

Shadow box frames are so expensive, but you can sometimes pick up a drawer at a salvage place or even at a thrift store (I have seen them). And create your own shadow box frame. I love this.

Well, I showed you making trays from frames and I showed you making tiers from pans. What about combining the two and making tiers from frames? Love this one. You could use the vinyl peel off flooring as the mat in the frame. I love it.

I'm sure you see those yard sales that have a box of old books for .10 or .25 cents. What about buying some to make a fake birdhouse. Stack them together before you buy them to make sure the sizes are right and simply come home and hot glue them together. This one is all books about birds, but you could use anything. If you don't like the front, turn them around and use the back side out because those are usually a solid color. Cut out a black circle and glue it on and a little piece of dowel rod for the front. The eaves of the roof could probably be made from cutting up the back of a book (Gasp! Did I just suggest that?). It would make it sturdy enough to support the roof. 

Some books you find, the spines are about to tear off and they are so abused and unwanted that they are falling apart and in a box marked FREE. Why not take a few of those and cut off the spine, punch a hole, insert a ribbon and make some unique bookmarks for your reading friends. I just remembered that McKay's where I trade books has a bin out front of some of these type of FREE books. I need to check it out.

I see globes for just a dollar or two a lot of times at yard sales and thrift stores. I never really needed a globe, but I do love the idea of the globe stand for my paper towels.  

I also see a lot of pretty lamps really, really cheap but I never trust the electrical portions of a used lamp. Not sure why, but that just worries me. But I can't think of what would I do with one I was afraid to use. Well, now here's a great idea. Spray paint it and place a matching charger tray (you can pick them up at the Dollar Tree) or you can even spray paint the tray to match as well. Use a super bonding glue and attach the charger plate for a cute little side table on your porch.

I think this is my favorite one. I don't like drawer organizers from office supply. The little sections are so tiny it's hard to hold much or to get your fingers in to pick stuff up. I am going to do this definitely. And if I can't find an old cheap one, I think you can pick these up at Family Dollar or Walmart for just a few bucks.

Another cute idea for some old galvanized containers. I may have to do this for my porch to put some beautiful marigolds in. I love marigolds because they keep the bugs away and who wants bugs when you are trying to set on your porch. I just want a big galvanized tub full of flowers on the corner of the porch. Add to that my Boston ferns hanging around the porch and it will be gorgeous.

And last, but definitely a cute idea. A suet feeder for the birds made with thrift store coffee cups which you can pick up for about .25 cents each. Love this for hanging from the trees.

Friday!

In keeping with Ms. Debbie's alliteration theme, my blog today will be.....

Friday Finds for Friday Foto Friends

Whew, that was a mouthful. Every time around this year I start looking forward to yard sales. Since I am still in love with anything vintage, I've been to Pinterest, Craigs List and Google looking for some ideas for things to go with my other vintage items that I could keep my eyes open for. One of the first things I was thinking is it would be nice to find a pretty canister set in good shape. Here are some I fell in love with.

Any of these colors go great with my kitchen. The key is finding tin cans that are not rusty.

I would love this set. I have always wanted an old tin breadbox but can never find one in good enough shape that I would store my bread in it.

These look vintage but I bet they aren't because they look so new. But they may be. I love tulips.

But this would be a sweet victory to find a set like this. How adorable is that.

And I bet I'm not the only one who remembers these old plastic ones.

I was also looking for things with tulips and found these. At first I thought they were salt & pepper but they are for sugar and flour. Not sure if they have the big holes for sprinkling and are small or just look small and are actually canisters.

Check out this juice jug and glasses. Isn't it gorgeous. 

I've been looking for this set for a long time. Too expensive and too risky to order so much glass online like this. I will keep my eyes open. I have one of the glasses so maybe I will find more.

This would not go in my kitchen of course and there is no room in my house to put it but oh my gosh I fell in love with it on Craig's List. Especially because I love music and the music symbol in the back of the seat is too adorable. 

This isn't vintage but in my search for reds and blues, this popped up. My niece Amy made a sewing machine cover that she gave to me but oh how I would love to try to make one myself.

Day 3 Done - Time to rest

Well, I just finished Day 3 of my mini Staycation with my friend Sherrie. Monday, we visited McKay's and AC Moore. Tuesday, we went to antique stores all day. Yesterday was our final day of getting out of the house while the weather is still pretty. We made it a short day, but we both needed a few things from Walmart and Sherrie needed some Corning ware lids for some of her bowls. So we went to the local Corelle Outlet. 

Every time I go in there, I look at the new Pyrex Charms sets. I love the dotted, but I only want the red dotted one. However, you have to get the whole set and it is anywhere from $25 to $35 anywhere you find them. I'm just not going to pay that to get four bowls when I only want one of them. But I look every time to see if the set is on sale. It wasn't.

So I figured while I was in there, I might as well head back to the clearance section where I usually pick up my random plates. I walked up and there was only one shelf in clearance and it only had three items on it. But guess what one of the items was....

That's right, my red dot bowl...by itself....on sale....at clearance pricing. Check out what I paid for it!!!!

That's right. My one bowl I've been wanting for just $1.97 and wow did I snatch that baby up fast. So glad Sherrie decided she needed some lids. After we left there, we decided to treat ourselves to Steak and Shake for lunch. We both had cheeseburgers. I had french fries and she had onion rings and we split them equally so we got the best of both worlds. This is my favorite place to go when I want a good cheeseburger.

Afterward, we went back to Sherrie's and booked our hotel for our 2nd annual beach trip. Then I headed home and just vegged out and relaxed. Today is my last day off of 5 days off so I go back to work tomorrow. Not sure what my schedule will be next week, but we are going to start picking back up to normal hours after February 1st. I must say it has felt good having some time off during January. And having some beautiful 60° days to enjoy it on. It made me even more excited about thinking about our beach trip.

Now to just figure out what to do with my day today. I have kept the house clean all week. I have kept up my laundry and all the closets are cleaned out. I may get out some material and start working on making pillows. It's time I tackled how to work my sewing machine.  Have a great day!

Well, what a day...

Yesterday started out with my antiquing trip with Sherrie. We hit just about every antique store on Hwy 66 in Sevierville/Kodak. Mine was mostly a browsing expedition to scout out best buys on a few things I'm looking for.  But I did pick up two items. I am not sure if this is a little sugar bowl or a little candy dish, but I just fell in love with the deep blue color. It matches my carpet. It was only $2.00 so I went ahead and got it even if I'm not sure what it is.

Would you pay 50 cents for a memory? Well, I did. It was spontaneous and it was crazy but it was just 50 cents and I sat it on a shelf in my bathroom.....When I was about 8 or 9 there was a friend of my brothers that was around 6 or 7 and he had a crush on me. His mom sold Avon and he would get her sample lipsticks and little vials of Here's My Heart perfume and give them to me. It was so sweet. Flash forward to the 80's and I met and married Allen. We worked with a girl who sold Avon. Our first Valentine's he ordered me some Avon jewelry and some Here' My Heart perfume. He never knew how much I had loved it growing up. Over the years they quit making it and I started wearing other fragrances, but I always associate Here's my Heart with making me feel special. When I found this little Here's My Heart container, I knew I had to have it.

One booth had their stuff set up like a bedroom with things done in pink. I told Sherrie that as much as I liked my beach bedroom, I still missed my pink and sage green bedroom I had about 10 - 15 years ago. She asked me why didn't I redo it. I got to thinking, and I still have the quilt and pillow shams because I never could part with them. It was my favorite set I had ever owned. I also realized I still had a lot of pink and sage green in my house. This is what my bedroom looked like when I left home yesterday morning. 

We got home at 2:36 and I went straight to work "shopping" my house for pinks and greens. I pulled out my quilt and pillow shams and 58 minutes later, I had a new look in my bedroom.

And I filled it with so many memories. Like these little flowers in the green vase. They are a peachy pink but I keep them because one year, Allen bought a beautiful basket and bought a bunch of these flowers. He made an amazing flower arrangement in that basket and stuffed it full of Mounds, Milky Way and Junior Mints and had it waiting as my Easter basket on Easter morning. That was a lot of work to make sure I had a happy Easter. Men don't usually do that. The little tea cup and the candy dish we found one time when we were antiquing together.

One year, he bought me this tea pot for Valentine's day. The pretty candle holder with the flowers on it was a gift from my son's family one year. There is a funny story with it. Do you see the little doll figurine beside the flower vase? Me and Allen played video games at Fanny Farkles in Gatlinburg until I got enough tickets to get it. Over the years, the little bear at her feet broke off and won't stay glued on but I never lost it. At one time, the little girl and the candle house thing sat in my bathroom. My granddaughter, Alexis, would take the little bear and put it in the little house every time she came over. They go home and a few days later I would see my bear was missing and I would look in the candle house and there it was. Then when my granddaughter Shelby came along, Alexis taught her how to put it in there as well. I will never, ever part with those two things because it's the stuff memories are made of.

I got this doll when my daughter worked for a doll store and I first got this quilt. My mom was doing a lot of crafting at the time and she made me a Sun Bonnet Sue to match the doll. When we were little, we always went to visit a lady next door. Ms. Gibson always had dolls on her bed and I have done it a time or two myself and actually have a few around the house.

I am very happy to have my pink and green bedroom back and have my doll back on my bed....even if I am 60 years old.  

I have a pink cat I got for a buck at a yard sale several years ago. Turns out his neck is perfect to hold my favorite bracelets. I thought this was a cute idea. You know me and my repurposing gene. 

And of course he goes great with the hand Alexis made me for my rings a couple of years ago. 

I also moved in my daisy planter that is one of my favorite arrangements I own. And since my Little Women doll Meg is the right color, I put her on top of the chest. So there you have it, a whole room redo in under one hour. I love when I get to shop my house and get a makeover without spending a dime.