Today I'm Loving Lamps...

I don't know what it is about this time of year, but I just can't help myself. I want to do some rearranging and redecorating every spring. Oh, I don't mean a complete overall revamping. Just little things, like moving a lamp from here to there. Creating an arrangement of a few things to make a "new" look. I like to shop around the house and move things to make everything a little different.

One thing I am really starting to like is lamps. Everywhere. I have them in the living room, kitchen, my office, the bedroom. I'm looking for one right now to put in the bathroom that we are redoing in the beach theme. This one is really cute, but price wise? It ain't a gonna happen. $129.95. For a little lamp! Nope, not in this girls budget.



I'd like to find something like this one that I have in my kitchen, only with blue beach color to it. Then I could just get a shade that has a beach theme. I got this lamp years ago at Walmart for $7.00. At some point, it has been used in just about every room. But it is staying in the kitchen now.

My sister was looking at a blog the other day that had a lamp in the kitchen and a light bulb went off in her head. She had that same lamp somewhere upstairs and never used it. She had forgotten all about having it. So she got it out and placed it in the kitchen and she is loving it again.

It's funny how something we have forever is just "that old thing" to us and it gets relegated to storage. Then one day, thanks to blog world, we get inspired and everything old is new again. I love the look of her old lamp in her kitchen now.

Decorating a kitchen shelf...

Everywhere I have ever lived, we have had a cabinet over top of the refrigerator and had to use the actual top of the refrigerator to store something on that didn't have anywhere else to go. When we moved in our new place in October, I was beyond thrilled that everything fit in cabinets and my refigerator top would be clear and that I had an adorable shelf over top of the refrigerator that I could decorate. Here we are, three months later, and what have I done with it? I stuck a wooden rooster and a couple of harvest angels on it that are way to small for such a large area. I just haven't figured out what I want up there.

 

 But yesterday, inspiration hit. I am going to get a few antique cookbooks and put them on one side. I will need something to act as a bookend so I want an old vintage crock. I want to pick up some antique utensils like  beaters, mashers, an old spoon, to put in the crock.

On the other side of the shelf, I want an old vintage enamel pan. Well, actually I want this old vintage pan. I found it on Etsy for $12.00

On top of the refrigerator itself, I want to find an old printed dish towel.

And set another enamel pan on that. I'd really like it to be a vintage enamel colander. I love this one.

Those are my thoughts for now. First pretty day we get, I'm heading to the antique stores to see what I can find. 

Organizing your cookbooks....

Today I'm riding the Tuesday Train and I want to talk about cookbooks.

Are you on cookbook overload? Do you have them just stacked all together? My sister and I love cookbooks. We love spending time scouring through them looking for that special something to take to church dinners or family gatherings. But it is a daunting job.

 

 Since I love to bake and always offer to make dessert for anything, I have quite a few cookbooks that are just dessert only. My favorites include one that everything is made with Hershey's Cocoa. In another one, every dessert in it has Eagle Band milk. So I gathered my favorite dessert only books and put them in a basket right on my counter. Now when I need to decide on a new dessert to take somewhere, I just carry my basket to the kitchen table and look at my choices.

There are many different ways to sort your cookbooks. You can keep them together by theme. Here are some ideas to sort by: church cookbooks, southern cooking, crock pot meals, celebrity cookbooks, professional cookbooks (like Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines), desserts, one pot meals, casserole books, you get the idea. 

Or you might want to sort them by type of books. Hardbacks together, paperbacks together, spiral bound together.

Baskets are an ideal way to store your cookbooks. By incorporating the baskets into your kitchen decor you get that touch of country while being useful.

My sister recently picked up this old cupboard at an antique store and she uses one of the shelves in it for her cookbooks. I have an open wooden shelf over my refrigerator that is not in use for anything. I'm am starting to scour antique stores for old cookbooks to put on that shelf. Stop back by on Wednesday to read more about that idea.

There are so many options when organizing your cookbooks. Be creative. Use things you already have around the house and create your own decor. Incorporate a small bookshelf in your kitchen and place your cookbooks on a couple of shelves and store some of your vintage dishes on the other shelves. On the top, you can place a vintage lamp and one of your older cookbooks with a pair of vintage reading glasses laying on top.

Mish Mash Monday

My SD Card died. You know the little yellow tab thingy on the side? Well, mine got caught coming out of my camera and tore off. Now my SD Card is read only. It is write protected so I can't take any pictures until I can head to town and get another one. But at least I was able to copy the few pictures that were on it to my computer so I didn't lose anything.

I'm getting real excited. This week will be the week I sign up as a consultant for Thirty-One Gifts. This is the new consultant kit that I will be receiving. I love the new pastel color scheme for spring. The cinch sac in the back is their new pattern Butterfly Flutter. Can't wait to see it in person. But I am absolutely loving the new yellow and taupe patterns. Getting so excited to get signed up, get my stuff and start having parties. I'll also be setting up a new blog with my new business venture on it. So stay tuned.

Check out this cute idea for note cards from Craftzine. I am constantly finding adorable scrapbook paper at the Half Off Scrapbook Super Store for about 25 cents a sheet and I'll buy it "just because". What a clever way to start using some of the pretty sheets I've bought.

I bought a new appointment book for my Thirty-One business. I love it. Since their products ship to the consultants in pink boxes, I want any of my office stuff to be in pink. I really like this day planner. It has month at a glance and weekly appointment pages. It's awesome and only $7.88 at Walmart for the 5 x 7 size. It comes in three different sizes.

We are going to be drawing our Secret Sisters name next week at church. I can't wait. My secret sister was awesome last year and the one I had was so much fun to buy for.

Come back tomorrow for some ideas on organizing your cook books!

Hope you have a great week!

My mind is mush...



Don't you just hate those days when you wake up and your brain refuses to function. I'm having one of those days. I feel like my brain has turned to mush.

Have you ever taken a picture of your hand? Here is some advice....Don't. I went to purchase a new bottle of nail polish yesterday and couldn't make up my mind what I liked so I just didn't buy any. My daughter suggested I go "shopping" for some at my house. I have well over 50 bottles of the stuff. So I "shopped" and found a real pretty pink from Avon in their Mirror Shine collection. I wanted to show it to you so thought, no big deal, I'll take a pic of my hand

Attempt #1...

I am right handed and was trying to use my phone camera with my left hand and do not know what in the world I did, but ended up with this picture...I'm glowing???

So I tried again and my skin looks so wrinkly. My fingers are so swollen this morning my ring almost wouldn't go on. So you won't even notice the polish because you will be thinking about how old and fat my hands look.

I finally just curled my fingers in and snapped. So here is my "new" polish and I really like it. This is just one coat.

I picked up a cute new key chain yesterday at Walmart. One of those little $3 specials. I love butterflies and this was so perfect for me I just had to have it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday. I'm going to take my mushy brain and go get ready for Sunday School and Church. Have a blessed day.

Thinking about it....

One of the blog hops from this past week asked the question "Have you started looking at swimsuits for this year, and do you buy a new one every year?"

That triggered a whole series of thoughts for me.

First off, we haven't made it to the beach the last two years. But we will be going later this summer so I have started my planning. I have a new beach bag from Thirty-One Gifts. I even have a purse and soft wallet in the same pattern. I'll be soooo co-ordinated. I have two bathing suits that are in really good condition. They are both over 5 years old, but don't look it. But I KNOW they are older so it makes me want a new one.

I'm just not sure what I want. I don't want something where my top or bottom hangs halfway out, but I don't want to cover myself from head to toe. There has to be a happy medium. I have a yearly argument with hubby who can't understand why I quit wearing a bikini. (Those of you who KNOW what I look like can quit laughing so hysterically). Well, duh, sweetheart. Can we say "flab...or spare tire...or thunder thighs". I guess I should be honored that in his mind I would still look good in one. Of course, he remembers me in a bikini at 25 weighing all of 98 pounds. BIG DIFFERENCE now. I would try one on to show him, but I don't want to scar the poor man for life.

(Disclaimer: NONE of the suits I am about to show are me wearing them. I would not subject my sweet readers to such horror.)

I normally prefer a standard suit with a shirred front because that goes a long way in hiding a little extra tummy.  And I love bold Hawaiian print because it always is more kind to a less than perfect body. But this year, I'm thinking of trying a new style. I like how the one below has a little flap like area that covers the very tops of thighs.

I also like the idea of what they call a swim dress, but just not sure that is for me.

About 10 years and 40 pounds ago, I tried a tankini. Did I like it? Not so much. I was constantly trying to adjust it so no belly showed. That is an experience I will never repeat again.

I contemplated for a little while about the shortini. But decided I would feel like I had on regular clothes and would henceforth be miserable sitting out in the sun. So no shortinis for me.

My poor body is one of those that doesn't fit a particular mold. I'm not well endowed on top by any means but I sure have my fair share following along behind me. I weigh too much too look good in "slinky" but I don't weigh enough to be in a plus size. It's frustrating finding the happy medium.  I think I see some dieting and exercise in my future if I am going to find a good fit for a bathing suit. I scoured the internet to find one I loved so I could post it on the fridge for inspiration. So far, I've not been inspired. I'll have to hold off till spring and see what new items come into the stores.

Frivolous Friday

It's Frivolous Friday. A time Webster describes as "Not having any serious purpose or value".

Well, I'm sure you will agree that today's post has no purpose. There is not really any great value in it. I just found some things I liked and thought today would be a good day to share them with you. I want my  daughter to make me some of these necklaces and bracelets for spring and some of the barefoot sandals for the beach this year....(she just doesn't know it yet.) Here are some of the things I like...

I am still aggravated with our weather. Rain, storms, warm, cold, finally a little snow last night. I was going to do some January decorating with snowmen around the house but the sunny weather kept putting it out of the mood so I didn't go buy anything. We are almost half way into the month so I'm not going to now. But here were some things I was thinking about getting. Some look pretty easy to make so I'm going to put them on my craft "to do" list for this year so I'll have them next year.

Every year, I want to craft something I can change for each month. This year, I think I will make some little plastic canvas birdhouses. Here is one I made for my beach room. But I want to make one for each season to put in my office. I love sitting them in the little beaded wreaths.


When I make these birdhouses, I like the bird house "hole" to be some type of button. So I found some for each month that go with the theme of the month. I have seen tons of them I like at Joann Fabrics and I have a lot already, but here are some ideas for each month.

Each birdhouse takes one hour to do and I usually do them at night while I'm watching TV. I'm going to cut them out this weekend and get January's done so I can sit it out. I'm almost finished with my sisters box so I will probably get it done tonight or tomorrow. Speaking of my sister, she inspired me to put my stuffed cat in the kitchen when I saw she had put hers in there. So I put him in this little wagon with a plant. As soon as I can get to Walmart, I want to get a clay pot to use instead of a mason jar and I want some dried flowers instead of the plant. But this will do for now. I didn't realize my cat would match my tea for one set. I'm loving it.

I love this adorable necklace.

Well, now that I've taken up part of your day with my useless chatter, I'll close by wishing you a great weekend.