How Great is Our God....

I had the pleasure this past week to attend a revival for the community. It was sponsored by the local Methodist Church.  This one was very unique in the fact that here I was, a Baptist, setting in a Methodist church so I could here a choir sing from a Church of God. It was totally awesome.

My husband worked for years with the choir director and two of the choir members from the Church of God. I had heard them sing around the store many times, but for some reason just never was able to attend anywhere they were performing.

When I heard about the revival at a church just around the corner from my house, I just had to go. It was a unique ceremony as it was a little different from what I am used to. But it was still an awesome blessing.

The choir was so wonderful and spirit filled that you could barely sit in your seat when they sang. They did How Great is Our God for one of the the songs and I've Got a Testimony for another one.

Both songs were very uplifting and blessed. I was glad I decided to go. Seeing so many of God's children in one place, all different denominations, all worshipping ONE God made for an awesome night.

Bunting...

Bunting: Flags and other colorful festive decorations.

What do you know, I learned something new today. For months, I have been seeing banners with color flags decorating mantels, walls, picture frames, etc. I even have it at the top of my blog. I never knew until this morning that they actually have a name. Bunting. I have seen some cute ideas using bunting (wow, I have a new word).

Now I am sure there are a lot of you that are more savvy on things like this than I am and my light bulb comes on a little slow at times, but bear with me while I show you some bunting ideas that I have been collecting that hit my fancy.

I could make this cute little pillow. It would be so easy. This may have to be one of my Pinterest challenges.

This is a cute idea to welcome the bride at an outdoor wedding.

This is a unique necklace.

I keep trying to think of ways to use maps of the beach in my beach room. This could be an idea.

This is cute. I think I can remember how to embroidery good enough to do this. My Mom and sister would probably like this as well.

I think this would be a good idea for on a child's desk.

These are really cute.

You could make tons of cards and bookmarks with bunting. Just make up your own verses or use your favorite phrases.

This is cute.

Who'd a thought it?

Y'all already know I'm crazy about vintage glassware of any kind and that I could scour antique shops for hours on end. You know that I go nuts over Pinterest and can't seem to stay away from Etsy or Ebay vintage shops. You know I can thrift with the best of them. And anytime I find a Goodwill I gotta stop and see what they have in the glassware section. I live for yard sales and estate sales on Friday's during spring and summer.

In my many endeavors of seeing what my blog buddies are finding on their thrifting trips, someone had a gorgeous vintage Pyrex she found on...of all places...Craig's List. Apparently, she found an estate sale on Craig's List and headed out to it and found some awesome finds at very reasonable and unexpected prices.

So, I thought "Why not?" You guessed it. I had to go check out the Knoxville Craig's List. And lo' and behold some of the bargains I saw on there. Not just estate sales listed, but actual items for sale. Some are a little pricey for my budget, but when seeing what they go for at antique stores, they are good prices. There were a few pieces that I would love to have if I could negotiate the right price. Here were some of the things I found available in the Knoxville and surrounding areas that caught my fancy.

Depression glass pitcher and glasses.

I am starting to fall in love with the old white milk glass. I used to have tons of the vases, but didn't see any reason to keep them. But isn't this cream and sugar bowl adorable?

What a lovely turquoise milk glass bowl. Bet I know somebody who would love to get her hands on this....right, Sis.

How exquisite is this piece. Sheer beauty. I don't recall the asking price, but I'm sure it was a pretty penny. 

I like this but not really thrilled with the flowers on it. Would like it better if it was plain.

 

These are kinda Victorian looking. Thought they were cute.

This is so dainty and delicate looking. I just love it. 

Now I do like the flowers on this one. 

What a cute pink vase. I'm sure Sis will like this one.

This was a unique vase. I am wondering if that is the shade that originally came with it. The bottom looks a lot older than the shade. 

These caught my eye for one reason and one reason only. They are a rare set of Hazel Atlas cups and saucers. Now you may ask, Who is Hazel Atlas? I don't have a clue. I just saw some antique glasses on a blog and the lady said they were Hazel Atlas glasses. Guess I need to check this Hazel group out and see what they made.

Do you ever have those moments in life that you think "Man, if I was rich, I'd buy that in a heartbeat." Well, that is what I thought when I saw this next item. If money were no object, my car would be on the way to Oak Ridge to pick this up. I'm not sure what it is about it that attracted me other than it is milk glass, but I just fell head over hills in love with it. It is in mint condition with all the pieces. It is circa 1950 and has all the original pieces. It is made by Westmoreland Glass company and goes for $600 on most sites. She is selling it for $199. Which is so far beyond my price range. I don't care. I love it anyway. If I was rich....

When you get a chance, check out your local www.craigslist.org and see what great finds you can come up with. 

I'm experimenting....

 

Don't worry, I'm not going to blow the house up. It's a different kind of experiment. I was looking at some blogs yesterday and reading comments. One name caught my eye so I had to visit her website, Out Junking. She had this adorable centerpiece.

It gave me an idea because I have a white platter. I searched the house and couldn't find any white flowers, but I'm experimenting with a few ideas from things I do have. What are your thoughts?

(A)

My little bowl of Captain's Wafers with the salt and pepper shaker plus I added my little Dollar Tree kitty cat for some whimsy.

(B)

My new pitcher from the antique store with some flowers in it. If I go this route, I will remove the sunflowers and fill it with daisies.

Or (C)

The pitcher - front view - and change the flowers to daisies or red zinnias with the little cat snuggled on the plate.

Let me know what you think. Or should I just go back to the drawing board and get some other ideas for my kitchen table centerpiece.

I love my new purse...



I love getting new "stuff". It makes me feel good and brings a smile to my face. I especially like it when I have ordered something I think I'll like and then when I get it, it turns out even better than I had hoped.

I have been wanting a Mini Retro Metro Bag from Thirty-One for over a year. I wasn't sure if the size would be what I wanted and couldn't find anybody that had one for me to see. I am really loving yellow this year so when I saw the new one with the yellow flower and saw they had a new Lemon Yellow thread for monogramming, I bit the bullet and ordered one.

I am thrilled with it. I love the soft material and the way the edges are frayed that gives it that old, loved, used feeling. The yellow is perfect and my signature B is just totally adorable. I am so thrilled I made the purchase. The front pocket is really deep and it's a perfect place to drop my cell phone.

Inside has a zipper pocket and 2 deep pockets where I keep my business card holder and my calculator.

And look how much room! I can just drop everything in and have plenty of room to look for it. I'm going to have to order the 15 pocket Wallet in brown to go with this purse. I just have the black one right now.

I am also very pleased with the Awesome Blossom matching mini zipper pouch that goes with it. The mini zipper is one of my favorite items from Thirty-One. I use them for make-up cases, wristlets (you can buy a strap to make them a wristlet), craft items, candy & gum for my church bag, and tons more stuff. So I love it when I can get one that matches my purse.

In addition to getting my new purse and zipper pouch, I got my new crocheted cloth from my sister. She color coordinates them for the room I will be using them in so I can always use the same one for the same cleaning purposes after they are washed. I wanted one for my bathroom with lavender and this is gorgeous. Ignore the fact that my philodendron is in a Mason jar. I am growing roots in water so I can replant it in a pretty flower pot.

 

Did you notice how I incorporated my love of tea for one sets into the bathroom. It was purple and green so it had to go in the purple and green bathroom. I thought I was pretty smart to use it for my Q-tips

But I was absolutely brilliant when I used the bottom half for the cotton balls.



Here is what I have done so far in the corner of the garden tub. I'm not totally thrilled with it yet. I need to get another white basket and I want a different doily, but it is getting there. I do love my flower though. I would like to find a large lavender vase or milk glass vase to put them in, but the metal will do for now.



Tuesday Treats

 

I'm taking a ride on the Tuesday Train.

I have been looking for some new ideas for party foods. My poor brain is on overload with all the recipes out there. Here were some of my favorites.

Recipe can be found at Artisan Bread in Five

Compliments of http://frostmeblog.blogspot.com

Thanks to Get Off Your Butt and Bake

What a cute idea from Go Forward with Faith

A new style of Strawberry Shortcake from Jens Own Road

This is an easy recipe for something to spice up the standard cheese and crackers. You can use any sauce, but this is the Pampered Chef apricot honey sauce. Simply pour it over the cheese and surround with crackers and you have an instant appetizer



A new way to make banana pudding thanks to Girl in the Red Shoes

Some great ideas. I'm going to have to try some of these.

A little change...

 

I think this sign should be in my driveway. Since we moved in the new place in October I have been continually moving things around, rearranging decor, shifting this or that from here to there. Another change took place this weekend.

 

You will remember that my friend Phyllis issued a Pinterest Challenge and I couldn't decide what to do. I finally realized it wasn't about a BIG project or concept. It was simply about selecting an idea and following through. So I did. I keep seeing these adorable shelves with color themes on them. This was my inspiration for my project.

 

 

I was sitting at my desk thinking I would love to do a shelf with some pinks and blues. My office has blue curtains and I have tons of pink and blue flowered tea sets in my office. I happened to glance over and realize that I already had white shelves in there.

 

 

I haven't been happy with all the pictures on it. They are too squished together and the shelf is kind of high over my printer so I couldn't really see them good. I wanted to move the pictures to my big bookcases where they would be easier to see. So I took everything off and moved the top shelf down closer to the bottom shelf.

 

Then I went around the house and collected some blue and pink items that could be moved from where they were. I put everything on the shelves and here was the end result.

 

Major difference. I love it and it didn't cause my one single penny. I had everything right here in the house. Thanks Phyllis. I passed my first challenge.

 

But as I was trying to find what Pinterest I wanted to recreate, I remembered I had already done one. I had found this on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago.

 

I thought it was a great idea for my Thirty One portable office. So I ran out to Staples and bought a black plastic hanging file organizer with folders for $12.00 and came home and picked out which Organizing Utility tote I wanted to be my portable office. I put the black tray in it, made my files and put pens and door prize slips in the front pockets and my calculator in a side pocket and this was the end result. I love it.

My next challenge is going to be to redo the kitchen table. Right now, it has it's "winter clothes" still on. I'm scouting around for ideas on changing it for spring. Hope to get that accomplished this week.