January Thrifting

After a week a being snow bound then nearly another week of being home sick I was finally able to get out and about and do a little thrifting.  There's nothing out there to make you feel a little better then getting a good deal on a few things. 

At one of my usual consignment/antique stores I was quite surprised to find one of the booths that I like to visit regularly was offering an assortment of clothes.  It was quite unusual because they were new, and in bags with the tags still on them and there were multiples of the same styles.  I alway wonder about the owners of the booths I visit.  I always wonder what's their story.  How do they acquire the goods they sell?  I guess that comes from my previous experience in retail, but it never fails to throw me when I see someone offering retail items in their booths.  It makes me wonder, how they came across the items they are offering.  I want details!  Oh, to be a fly on the wall!  Anyway, I was looking at the clothes thinking a few things were kinda cute but didn't really need them...until...I saw the price.

I got this cute brown,black, grey and off white plaid camp shirt with elastic gathered waist and...

...this coffee brown sweater for a whopping $5.00 total.  For some reason all the different clothes items were being offered at a 2 for $5.00 sale.  I've never purchased one of these types of sweaters, but I think they are neat.  They are kinda like a sweater and a shawl all in one.  Very trendy!  And if the new retail tag on the sweater is to be believed it is listed at $160.00.  Seriously! I would not pay that for it, but that's what it says!

The same booth also had black suede high heeled boots that went above the knee.  Didn't have my size and I'm not sure where in the world I would wear them but they were a nice quality looking boot and were only $5.00 a pair.  Seriously!  Makes me wonder!

Then I was off to another thrift store where I came across these.

This isn't everything I got from this store but let's take a closer look.

The picture I bought for the frame.  It's a very good quality frame.  I have another picture this size in my sons bathroom that I want to put in here.  It was a great deal at $6.00.

I just loved the bamboo look of the gold.  I think I'm going to add a dark mocha glaze to give it just a bit more character.

 

This basket just had to come home with me. Can you guess why? It was $1.00.  I'll be dressing it up soon too.

Now this was the basket I snatched up the minute I walked in the door.  It's more the size of a tray.  I love it!  It's got a nice depth too.  Not too large and not too small, only .50 cents!  What color shall it be?

Then my next purchase was one I thought was a great deal at the time, but now I'm not so sure.

 

Here they are!  I purchased this set for $2.00.  I was pretty excited because they coordinate well with my new china.  I was hoping they might be ironstone, but I don't know if they are or not.

They were quite dirty and had a few black specks I had to scrub off.

The sugar bowl was worse then I could see in the store.  When I washed it I noticed a greyish color showing up more on the bottom and the sides, like maybe it had been in a fire or something at one time.   It was really strange!  It looks okay but not quite the bargain I was thinking I had found.  Oh well! 

So what do you think?  Ironstone or ceramic?  Any idea?

I am linking up to the following parties;

Junkin Finds Friday

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Please be sure and check out more great deals above!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary

Things that make you go "OH!"

Gooood Morning Miss Jenny!!! Hellloooo!  Get It?  Hell-"O"?  Hehe!  I knew you'd catch that!  Your smart like that you know, that's why your the teacher right?  LOL!  Yes Mam, I am glad to be back too!  No mam, I haven't been skipping out on ya, I've just been on an extended holiday break.  What was that you said there?  Didn't I just hear you say, Oh!  Sure I did, only you said it so low and slow.   I just bearly heard it there Miss Jenny, but I did!    I know I did!

Now that's my point exactly Miss Jenny!   You ever noticed how the word, "Oh", can be used in different contexts?  Well, I sure have!  Mam?  Why yes mam, I'd be happy to explain.  Context means something surrounding or effecting circumstances.  You didn't know I knew that, did you Miss Jenny.  I ain't as backwards as I may seem am I?  Mam? Yes mam, I do remember ain't, ain't a word, and I ain't, I mean I am not trying to be sassy Miss Jenny.   You sure do like to get me on that one every time.   OH MY!  LOL!

The other day I was over at Cousin Mary's helping her around the house when we got to thinkin about our grandma, Nana.  She's been gone to live with Jesus for a long time now but we was were remembering how she used to go on.  Like when she saw something she liked, she would always say, Ohhhhhhh,ooohhhhh,ooooohhhh,ooooooh!  That's about the best way I can spell it.  She would drag the word "Oh" out so long it would take her a full 5 minutes to say it, or stop saying it, depending how you was feeling about it.  LOL!  She usually only used the word, Oh, in a good way though, unlike cousin Mary.  I caught Cousin Mary using that word the other day and it wasn't long and drawn out like Nana's.  Her Oh's were all different, each time.

First there was the sad  sigh of an "Ohh"  after looking at all her outdoor plants that she never got inside the basement this winter.  It will be nothing short of a miracle if any of them come back after all the cold weather and snow we've had.

Then there was the exasperated "Oh's" when she was showing me what all she's been up to lately, in the dining room...

....and in her craft room....

...and the giveaway pile still sitting on the kitchen table. 

Oh, oh, oh!

Cousin Mary was enjoying being flustered and said, here, let me show you another "OH!"  this one sounded more like a groan, honestly Mrs. Jenny, she was going on a bit.  That's when I told ole Cousin Mary to come on now.  Let's focus on something a little more positive.  Well, she said...

....how about this book I just bought?  I know these places would make me go, "OH!", in a very good way!

And this new book she said is filled with lot's of "Ohhhhsss!!!!.  Colors and Patterns always make Cousin Mary go, "Ohhhh!".

Why she even bought yards of these two fabrics because she was having an "OH" moment.  She doesn't have any idea where they are going to go yet, though.

Now she new exactly where she was putting her new pillows that made her go "Oh".  She's been wanting to add some animal prints in the den but hadn't found quite the right colorings.  Then she found these two pillows at Ross and they were on sale too.  She said, they was a big "OH!".

She also said these two things she picked up the other day were some squealy "Oh's".  Mam?  You know what I'm talking about, that high pitched, Oh, how cute!, kinda "Oh".  Cept you don't actually say the words, you just kinda squeal out your "Ohuuuhh!!".

Then there is the more soothing kind of "ohhh!"  This reminds you of that kind.

So does this here chicken soup.  It's definitely a soothing.."Ohhh"  going all the way down.  Mam?  No mam, that's not an "Ahhh!" that's and "Ohhhwah!".  I do know what I'm talking about you know Miss Jenny, our letter is "O" you know!  Geez!  Mam?  Yes mam, I'll wrap it up here, I know you got a whole class full of homework to check.

This here is mine and Cousin Mary's favorite "OH!" of all.  It's a good one.  This is a close up from a painting that our Nana did.  She painted this because it was sooo one of her "Oh" moments.  She just loved those little birds that would come sit on that bucket by the spicket.  She always kept water in it for them too.  When we see this picture we can just hear our Nana again saying, Ohhhhhhoohhhh oooooohhhh OOhhhh, ooohhh, OH!

So, what did you think Miss Jenny?  Did I do good on my first day back to

Alphabet Thursday?

I certainly hope so! Thanks for droppin in now.  Let me know if you do, Okay?

 Have a great day, yall!

"LiL Missy"

Lovely Little Corner

It getting closer!  It's almost that time of year to show our loved ones how much we love them.  I have always loved Valentines!  It is one of those holidays that hasn't always seen a lot of decorating in our house, but I do have a few things I've collected over the years.  Today I want to share a few NEW things with you.

Do you remember me showing you this glass block my BFF gave me for Christmas?  Remember she made one for her mother and for me and in turn I showed her how to make the bows to go on them.

I was so thrilled when I got one too, because like I told her I wasn't putting this up after Christmas.  I plan to keep it out and enjoy it here in my kitchen.  Only, I had to make just a few changes.

Just a few changes for Valentines that is!  How do you like it now?

I simply removed the old ribbon and added a few cling on hearts I purchased from the Dollar tree.  Aren't these the cutest, retro looking hearts?  I really had fun arranging these on here.

For the top I used a mixture of ribbons.  One large red and gold wire ribbon goes around the side of the block.  Then I used a few more smaller ribbons to form the bow on top.

Next to it I placed one of my newest salad plates.  These were my Christmas gift from my husband.  They are from the Lenox Holiday Gatherings pattern.    My husband gave me 12 of these for Christmas to compliment the Butlers Pantry dishes that I won.  I have wanted these for some time, because I love the plaid.   They are sold at Belks but not online at Lenox that I can see.  I'm not exactly sure why.  For some reason Belks did not get them last year to sell, then Lenox sent them to them again this year.    

They are Christmas plates but I think they will function very well as Valentines plates too. 

I  also added one of my Home Interiors candles.  One of the local consignment stores I frequent had a Home Interiors booth that was closing and everything was at deep discounts.  I stocked up on so many different scents.  They are that great!

As promised...here's my lovely little corner in the kitchen.  I am so excited about how this turned out. 

Please be sure and visit the links below for more posts at; 

Tabletop Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday

Kim's Before and After Party

Wassup Wednesday

Rednesday

Transformation Thursday

Thanks for dropping by!

Mary

Dodging Seasonal Hazards

How are you at dodging seasonal hazards?  I think I'm doing pretty good, but there have been a few downfalls lately.  Like this...

My back deck!  What a mess!  I was able to clean up the front porch stairs and walk but I just can't tackle this.  It was frozen over solid ice.  I was hoping mother nature was going to clean this up for me, but apparently she has been too busy spreading this all around to come back and clean it up.

This is my yard this Sunday AM.  Still covered in snow.

I'm hoping this will clear up soon.  Luckily, I haven't wiped out on it..yet.

I have also been pretty lucky to avoid all the colds and bugs that have been going around like crazy.  Well, until this past Friday night that is, when I started with the congestion and sneezing.  However, I've done really well so far by heading it off with this taken Friday night and Saturday night.

Thank goodness for NyQuil, and the Walmart brand.  I don't care for antihistamines but this really helps when taken at night.

As I've said I've done really well dodging these seasonal hazards.  Really well, that is until I made these.

Yum!  Cheese Garlic Biscuits.  We went to an oyster roast last night and I needed to bring a little something.  I decided to take the easy way out and make these.  If you haven't tried them yet, I highly recommend it. 

 They are quite delicious and soooo easy!  Just add water and spoon them out on the tray.  I made these smaller so I would they would be appetizer size.  I was quite surprised how many smaller bite sized biscuits I was able to get out of one bag.  I love these baked standard size though, to eat w/soups and chili.  Just pop them in the oven and in 8 minutes you have delicious cheesy garlic biscuits.  You can even melt butter to go over the top of them if you like.  I've made them both ways and actually prefer no butter on top, but they are delicious both ways.  

However, they can be a major seasonal hazard!  Especially, when you have leftovers to bring back home and munch on all day.

Please be sure and check out more interesting posts at

Seasonal Sunday

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday afternoon, staying warm and drying out!

Mary

Organization Inspiration!

I have been so inspired this past week, in a very good way!   Not by just one, but two of our fellow bloggers!  Both Melanie at Southern Comfort in a Northern Life and Melissa at Melissa's Heart and Home, were my inspirations this week.  What have both these two ladies done that inspired me you ask?  Well, they showed off their organized spaces.  I sooo needed to see that!  There is nothing more convincing then your conscience screaming, "You really oughta do that!". 

So today, I tackled a few spaces of my own.  This is terribly embarrassing but worth it to show you what a difference a gentle nudge can do for you.

This is one of my very small narrow drawers in the kitchen that are in the area between the kitchen and the dining room.  I keep my small candles in this drawer.

 

Miscellaneous linens in this drawer.

And, extra napkins in this drawer.  What a mess they were!

Now... here's the small candle drawer.

And another one I forgot to show you the before of.

Here's the miscellaneous linens drawer.  I only have things like bread basket linens, small runners, linen wine totes.  It looks so much better! I was even able to add all my Christmas dish towels that were cluttering up the everyday dish towel drawers.  That was a big Whew!

And here's my table napkin drawer.  I love what I did here.  I layered them so now I can see them better.  In this drawer I have multiples of napkins.  The ones you can see are sitting on top of a bottom row of more of the same.  This way I can see all the variety rather then having them stacked on top of each other and having to take out a whole stack to see what's underneath.

 

That led me to redo this little napkin holder I also have in the dining room.  It holds just a few of the same napkins that I use more often.  It was getting rather messy too so...

It got it straightened out as well.

Then that led over to one of my pantry's that was really a mess!  I didn't take a lot of before photos, but did take one of the candle area.

Here we have the candle shelf spilling over onto another shelf. 

Here's my after.  I got rid of a few candles I just don't like anymore and had room for the ceramic toppers too.

Above that was my napkin shelf and it is much more organized now too.  I have all my decorator napkins in the back and now have room for the everyday napkins on this shelf too.  I used to have them in the bottom of this cabinet.

Above that are my baggies and other paper products shelf.  Can you believe I had 3 rolls of aluminum foil?

And below is where my outdoor tablecloths and paper towel rolls, (which I need to restock) are stored. 

Then on the opposite side my broom and dusters.  This really is so much better.  I had stuff piled in here too and the broom kept falling out when the door opened.  LOL!  No more!

Now I bet your thinking, Wow!  That was a lot.  I'm not done yet.

I have one more area I tackled to show you.

The bookshelf cabinet.  This is above my bar in the kitchen.  When we lived in the old house I had built in bookshelves and thought I was doing good condensing my books down this much.  But over time they started stacking up again.  It was time to purge.

This is so much more manageable!

Here's my little giveaway collection.

Well, minus the salt and pepper basket in the middle.  Whew!  This really feels good! 

Oh, and Yes Melanie, I still have my food pantry to tackle.  Maybe next week!

Please be sure and visit the following linky parties;

Vanessa's Inspiration Friday

Kim's Before and After Party

BNOTP Metamorphosis Monday

I hope all of you are looking forward to a wonderful weekend.  I certainly am!  If all goes well, God willing, we are headed upstate to an oyster roast with family on Saturday.  I am soo looking forward to getting out of the house after all this snow.  I know most of you are too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary