Seeing Red!

Hello friends. 

I have some Valentine's Day decor to share with you today. I know Valentine's Day is still three weeks away, but I wanted to enjoy my decorations for more than a few days. You may remember me telling you before that my maiden name was Valentine...Vicky Valentine. :)

While I don't do much for Valentine's Day, I do enjoy having a few things out for the occasion. Most of the things I am sharing are thrifty finds, but these two ceramic bears sitting on clouds below were painted by me years ago. They only make an appearance for Valentine's Day...:)

The table centerpiece got tweaked a little. I have been enjoying my fresh bouquets of camellias for the past couple of weeks. I placed my red and white checked table runner under the tray and added a couple heart shaped tea light holders to it. A glitter heart hangs from the bottle as well. 

The banner I made last year is once again hanging on the china cabinet. A few red glitter hearts adorn the milk glass. Please ignore the lack of crown molding. We are slowly working on the trim, but very slowly! 

Here's a closer view of the banner. It is made using tart molds.

I love this pretty rhinestone trimmed bucket. Don't remember when I bought it, but it was thrifted.

The clipboard on the gallery wall got a new print for the occasion.

The small wall shelf in the dining room received some decor too. Remember this beaded heart I thrifted a couple weeks ago?

A pretty heart shaped plate and some Scrabble tiles.

Just a few touches of red makes such a statement.

The buffet got the majority of the decor. I had thrifted two of these books a couple years ago, and the other two I got at the same yard sale as the red beaded heart I shared above. They are perfect for the holiday celebrating love. 

Mama had several of these pretty glittery heart ornaments on one of her Christmas trees and I asked her if I could have one to use for Valentine's Day. Thank you Mama...I love you!

One end of the buffet.....

and the other end.

Here's the middle. I chose to use the bee  with the word mine....BEE Mine, Valentine!

I hung a few things on the wall above.

Here it is all together. I love it!

I also love this.....

I was blessed to win a $200 Visa card on The Shabby Creek Cottage blog. I was so excited! I am trying to decide what to buy with it. I have narrowed it down to a new faucet for the kitchen sink since we begin renovating it soon, or use it towards the purchase of a Kitchen Aid mixer which I have been wanting for a while. I am leaning towards the faucet though. I don't really want the mixer until I get the kitchen redone anyway. Anywho, talk about a sweet surprise!!!

I hope you are having a lovely weekend. I'm having a productive one so far. 

Until next time.....

Color Me Happy

Hello and happy day to you!
Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you accomplished so much more than usual? Today was one of those days for me. It started off with a trip to Gainesville (an hour away) to return something and pick up a few necessities. It was a successful trip and I came home with several Christmas items purchased at 90% off. I bought strands of GE 100 white twinkle lights for the porch next year for $0.59 per box. I bought a few other odds and ends as well. Score! Mama rode with me and we ate a nice lunch at Sonny's. We arrived home just after one in the afternoon and I immediately started cleaning out my craft room. It was a HUGE mess! This is a favorite area of my happy space...Crayola Corner...although it actually isn't a corner. :)

Isn't it cute....and colorful? It makes me smile!

I hung this picture above the area...thought it was fitting. What do you think? Notice the word I pointed out in the poem. Mama gave this to me years ago.

I cleaned and organized and purged for a few hours and then set out to meet Mama and Nancy (my sister), along with our dogs for our daily walk. Here is Sadie and Sassy walking ahead of us on Mama and Daddy's property.

The sun was setting as we were walking. Here it is peeking through the trees as it says good-bye.

You may remember the Cedar branches I cut during Christmas to decorate the house. Well, this is the Cedar tree they were cut from. That's Mama standing under it. I asked her to so you could see the massive size of this beautiful tree. There are a couple more close to this size too. 

I love this old oak tree on the back of my property. We decided just to walk around out land today instead of out on the paved road. The dogs can run free here. I would love to have a little cottage back here on my property to sneak away to and read a good book or just ponder life. Maybe someday...maybe a tree house for future grandchildren.

This moss covered log caught my eye. The bright green against the dead, brown leaves just begged to be photographed. 

The pear tree in Mama's yard is blooming. The cold will get it but it will bloom again in the spring. 

See the huge sun kissed ball of mistletoe in the top of this tree. Mistletoe is made for kissing...lol!

Anywho, after a long and lovely walk, I came home to continue working in my craft room and then started on the guest room closet. I am pleased to announce that I finished both projects and cleaned out more than a large box full of junk stuff to haul to consignment. I also enjoyed reading several chapters of the novel I'm reading, Snow Falling On Cedars. Great book I might add! After that, I completed a couple things for school tomorrow, printed them, and am now typing up this post to share with you. I am about to do my bible reading and prayer journaling as well, and then read some more of my novel. I love days like this. I pray the rest of the week is as productive. I do hope you have a wonderful week.
Until next time.....

 

 

For the Love of 3-Day Weekends

Hello friends! 

This past week was more than a little challenging for me, lots going on and my back decided to give me a fit all week to top it off. The only thing keeping me going was the promise of this glorious 3-day weekend. I have been having Internet issues most of the week and a problem with my new laptop, so I am blogging from my work laptop while I try to get the issue resolved. Anywho, sorry if I didn't get to respond to your comments from my last post. I appreciate each one though.....they always make me feel good. So, back to the 3-day weekend. It has been a good one so far. Yesterday the hubby and I spent the day with my mother-in-law and her boyfriend (seems strange calling a man in his seventies a boy...lol) going to yard sales and flea markets. We also met his son and daughter-in-law which we have been wanting to do for some time now. It was a very nice day spent with very nice folks. I picked up a few things which I'll share at the end of the post. First, I will share what's been going on around the house today. I took a long walk with Mama and we had a nice visit with my Aunt Loretta after and then came home. The hubby has been steadily working on trimming out our newly installed interior doors. I will share as soon as possible. While he was working on that, I decided to tackle a much needed project....cleaning out and organizing my home decor stash. It was a mess...see below! 

This mess was being housed in my guest room closet.

Since my son recently moved out, I decided to shift this stuff to an empty cabinet in his old room, which is the hubby's future man cave. 

I was having a hard time finding things because of the disorganization of it all!

Let me share the after of this project. The top of the cabinet holds trays and baskets. The top shelf holds mostly silk flowers and a few odds and ends.

Miscellaneous things fill these cubbies....vases, cloches, decorative items and so on.

Larger items, frames, plates among other things fill the bottom cubbies.

Here it is all filled up. There are several things that will probably be going to consignment soon if I don't use them in the next few months. Most of this gets used occasionally in a vignette somewhere around the house.

As for what I picked up yesterday, I didn't find much, but love the things I did find. First up is this pretty spring twig wreath. I just love it! The flowers and berries say spring to me! Can't wait to use it. I paid $5 for it, which I thought was reasonable since it is in great condition and quite large.

And also because she threw in a table runner I had in my hand for free! I love the colors....and the pretty stitching on the ends. 

I have been needing some new coasters and these pretty glass ones were just $1. There are four of them.

I have a thing for these cute little cow creamers lately. This one is almost like one I already have so I don't know if I will keep it or resell it.

Next up is one of my favorite set of plates I have ever found. They are salad plates and each plate has a different herb on it. The herb names are listed on the back of each plate along with I the brand I assume....Taste Setter Collection. I googled to find out more and discovered that there are also 2 additional patterns....rosemary and bay leaf. Too bad those were not included in my set. Starting in the upper left corner and going clockwise, I have chives, dill, tarragon, and watercress. The watercress reminds me of clover, so I may display it for Saint Patrick's Day. 

I love the yellow ribbon and border on the plates. I bought these at a yard sale for $3. There are 6 plates total...2 of the chives and 2 of another one, but I can't remember which one. I look forward to setting a table with these. Aren't they pretty?

I hope you all have had a great weekend. I am so happy to have tomorrow off! The hubby is off too and we are planning to haul a load of donation stuff to the Hospice Attic and then pick up a few things and come home and piddle around the house. I hope to tackle the guest room closet tomorrow and reorganize it now that there is more space in there. I also plan to attack the craft room. Oh...my...gosh....what a mess it is!!! I might not make it out alive...lol! 

But for tonight, this is my view.....

I'm enjoying my clean and cozy living room. I'm about to get a snack to go with my glass of sweet tea and watch a movie on Lifetime.

Have a wonderful week my friends!

Until next time....

Saturday Thrifting

What better way to spend a Saturday than out thrifting with my Mama and Aunt Loretta! 

The first yard sale we stopped by was a great one! Tons of high quality kitchen items, along with lots of other things.  I bought several great things, one being this beautiful chenille type bedspread for $4! Not sure if it is a full or quees, but I have both size beds in my house, so it will work somewhere. 

Almost everything was in perfect condition. I bought all of the following kitchen items for $2.

I have been wanting a zester and this one is like new. I paid $1 for it...the same one on Amazon is $14.97.  The measuring cups are really nice and very heavy duty. I found the exact same set on Amazon for $14.95....these were $1!

This basket was $1. 

These four pieces of silverware were $1. I also bought a laser level for $0.50, some square pint size Ball jars, and a couple other odds and ends. I spent $11 total. Can't beat that!

After we left the yard sale, we went to a couple thrift stores. Of course, I found a few things. I love these two black and white cups. They aren't vintage, but I love the stripes...remind me of French grain sack stripes. So pretty! They were $0.50 each I believe.

This sweet little pitcher with hand painted violets was just $0.50 so it came home to join my violet collection.

These small trays have a basket weave look to them. Not sure if they will be a keep or sell item. I bought a few items for that Etsy shop I have talked about opening forever! I have promised myself O will be diligent in opening it this year too! I need to...I probably have 200 items to list!

This platter isn't vintage either, but it is large. I didn't have one this size, so I couldn't pass it up for $1.99.

I love this decorative brass piece too. It is heavy and pretty large...around 18". Not sure if it will be a keep or sell, but it was a good deal at $4.

At the next yard sale, I bought several books....10 of them for $4. I was excited to get a couple Christmas novels, a couple to use in vignettes, a copy of The Maker's Diet, which I have researched a little, and 3 coffee table type books. 

Two of these will be used in Valentine's Day vignettes.

I love these type of books. I am always amazed at the good deal on used books...retail on these books would have been well over $100. Huge score on these!

The next three items were free to me since they were on a stuff a bag for $1 table and my Aunt Loretta put them in her bag. This photo album appears to be very old. It has the black pages inside to mount photos on. I like the way it looks and may use it as a background for photographing small items for my Etsy shop. 

This sweet little wire heart will definitely be making an appearance for Valentine's Day.

Ans this adorable cow will be getting a makeover tomorrow...stay tuned!

I found this very large basket/tray at the last thrift store we visited for $2.99. I really like the size, it's about two feet wide and it is heavy duty. It may get a makeover, but I like it natural too, so we'll see!

I liked this white metal basket for $0.50 and it came in handy for carrying some of the next things I will show you.

I was absolutely thrilled when I found 5 boxes of Stampin' Up stamp sets. Most of them looked as if they had never been used and all were in their original boxes. I could not believe it. I wanted to buy them ALL, but I refrained and picked through them and bought all of the ones you see in the next few photos. They were priced at just $1 & $2 each set. I went on their website and priced them and they range in price, but most of the sets like I bought cost anywhere from $20 to $28 per set. I did find one of the sets on their site (most of these are discontinued) for $27.95. It is the set you see in the fourth photo of the trees. You can see them for sell here.

 This is what I noticed first...I love alphabet stamps! These are good size too...about an inch tall.

These are backgrounds...love the French script!

These are akk versatile.

There are the trees, along with some beachy ones

Love the fall set.

These are sweet too!

I always love words! 

More cuteness!

This set is one of my favorites! I love the tree in different seasons.

I figured up approximately how much these would have cost at new prices and it would probably  be between $400 and $500! I paid $25 for all of them. There were probably 10 times this many I left behind. I'm kind of kicking myself for not buying more!

Sorry this was such a long post. I didn't even share a few of the things I bought. I had a more than productive day of thrifting, but even better, I had a fun day out with two of my favorite ladies...:) If you're reading this Mama and Aunt Loretta, I love you! 

I hope you all are having a nice weekend too. 

Until next time.....