A Before & After and a Few Thrifty Finds

Hello friends! I am taking a few minutes to blog on a Thursday night. It's been a busy week but tonight I decided to carve out a little time to post. I have a few thrifty finds to share with you. I haven't been thrifting nearly as much as I used to but I do enjoy going on occasion in the spring. The first thing I am sharing is the dining chairs I purchased back in February. I had totally forgotten to share these. I have been looking for some used chairs for months but I really wanted to purchase some before Miranda came home last month, so I got serious in my hunt. II really liked the style of these. I discovered it is not easy to find a set of used chairs that are in good condition and something I like, so when I happened upon these, I bought them. The man wanted $15 each for them but I asked if he would take $50 for the 4 and he agreed. The left is before and the right is after I recovered the seats.

I plant to use chalk paint and paint them white this summer. 

The toile is so pretty. I fell in love with the colors. This is Waverly fabric and I found it at Wal Mart of all places!

Last weekend, my sister wanted to go thrift shopping, so I happily agreed to go with her. I bought just a few things since I am being much more selective with what I purchase. We went to a Hospice Attic to shop. My sister is a Hospice nurse and gets a discount with them. She paid for my items so I could have her discount. 

I know it doesn't look like much, but I really loved the shape of the piece below. It has three feet and is a large, egg shaped piece. It was so dirty though and I didn't know if it would come clean, but for $0.60 I was willing to try to clean it. I thought I could spray paint it if nothing else. 

When I got home, I took some dish detergent and a scrub brush to it and went to work. In no time, it was spotless. I believe it is crystal instead of glass, but I'm not sure. I placed it on my vanity/desk in my bedroom to hold pens and highlighters for my Bible study time. You can see the pens through it and tell that they do not stick out of the top. It is probably around 7 or 8 inches tall. I'm so glad I gave this piece a second glance.

I also picked up 3 vintage pillowcases to add to my stash. 

They are all so pretty, but this one is my favorite. I just love the colors and the basket weave design. 

This was by far my most awesome find of the day! I have wanted some brown transferware plates for ages. A year or two ago, I actually found 4 saucers in this pattern. Saturday, I found 8 dinner plates!

Such a great find and even better deal. They were $0.79 each but remember I got my sister's discount, so I only paid around $0.63 each for them..,,,score! Less than $5 for these beauties! They are in pristine condition...no scratches or chips at all!

They will be so pretty in a fall tablescape this year. 

My last find on this day was two adorable little bear figurines. This one will be used for any American holiday. He was around $0.23 after the discount.

As was this little Irish cutie. He will be perfect for Saint Patrick's Day next year.

The next day, the hubby and I had to go buy some groceries so we decided to run by the flea market since we hadn't been in quite some time. There is one booth that never disappoints me there. This lady has been there for nearly 30 years and always has great items at very reasonable prices. I thought this wooden ruler was the cutest. I love the golden rule.

And it was put out by Coca Cola years ago. I paid $2 for it.

This pretty pie server was also $2.

And I couldn't pass up this adorable kitten mug. It is milk glass. I collect black and white mugs so this was perfect. The kitten is sitting on a book. He has green eyes and is just the cutest. I paid $1 for it. 

So, not counting the chairs that were purchased 2 months ago, I spent just over $11 last weekend for some pretty awesome things and enjoyed two fun outings as well. I am blessed with a loving sister and hubby. 

Before I go, I just had to share these cute pictures the hubby took of Rooster. They are just precious to me. He is such a cutie. He has captured my heart just as Sadie has. 

Who could resist this face? 

I pray you are all doing well. I have been trying to visit a few of you each evening and am off to do just that right now. Have a lovely Friday and weekend. 

Until next time.....

Life As It Is...

Hello friends and happy spring! I can hardly believe it's been 3 weeks since I last blogged! Life has been pretty busy these days. Spring is always a busy time at school. It's kind of a reverse of the calm before the storm. It's more like the storm (state testing and wrapping up another year) before the calm (aka...summer break)! I am looking forward to it but I am trying to live with more intention (my word for the year) so I am trying to enjoy every day for the gift it is.

Since I don't have a lot to share, I thought I would just share a few random photos from my iPhone. 

First up are these gorgeous flowers I was admiring at the grocery store last time I went. They were so pretty and just screamed spring to me! I wish I had bought them...maybe I'll go back this week and see if there are any left.

Last time I blogged, I believe I was attending a baby shower the next day. I made this little banner for the new baby to go along with the gift I bought. His nursery is in a woodland creatures theme so that is the theme I went with.

The shower was absolutely precious...the cutest baby shower I have ever attended. Thank goodness for Pinterest! Anywho, one of my besties, Jeana made the cake. Isn't it adorable? She is such a talented baker! It tasted as good as it looked!

My son, Dakota killed his first turkey ever a few weeks ago. He actually killed two in one day. This smother fried turkey breast my mom made was absolutely delicious! This wild turkey was so much better than the farm raised turkeys from the grocer.

I bought this adorable fake succulent at the Dollar Tree and plopped it in my Buffalo teacup. Too cute!

Easter came and went and I enjoyed some pretty yellow tulips on my tablescape. :)

I also made some cute and very tasty treats for our Easter get togethers. This cheese ball, I mean carrot was delicious!

And these chocolate chip cookie dough truffles were amazing! I love cookie dough and this one is egg free so it's perfectly safe to eat. I made them egg shaped for Easter and they were so pretty! 

The wisteria has been so beautiful everywhere!

Sadie and her shadow have become the best of friends. Rooster is still her shadow and copycat!

I have still been organizing things around the house. My DVD collection was already organized and in alphabetical order but it took up a lot of space. I ordered some clear plastic sleeves from Amazon, took all of them out of the plastic cases, and inserted them in the sleeves. I also organized them by genre. 

This is just over 100 DVDs...now neatly contained. I decided not to take the Downtown Abby discs out because I probably won't keep them after I watch them...if I ever get around to it.  I still need to make the dividers with the genre labels, but you get the idea here. This project cost less than $20 for two packs of sleeves and the 3 Dollar Tree baskets.

My Wal Mart Beauty Box came. This one was the best one yet! Lots of great products and good size bottles.

Another copycat picture....just because. :)

Last weekend, my handy hubby custom built me this wooden box/shelf to fit on top of one of my bookcases at school. After we finished it, he even went to the school with me to carry it in and help me set it up. He's a keeper for sure! I needed it to contain tons of wires that run behind the drawers and printer along the back. This area looks so much neater now. It is stained a light color to match the existing wood furniture in my classroom. I love it! Notice my butterfly garden on top. We are waiting on out caterpillars to turn into a chrysalis so we can transfer them to the garden container. 

Another organization project I've been working on is my recipes. I had tons of hand written, printed, or magazine recipes that needed a home. 

 I have been washi taping them to paper and inserting them into page protectors. It has been a fun project. I am not trying to make it beautiful or perfect in any way. I am just categorizing them and taping them down if they are not printed on a full sheet.

I didn't bother to rewrite the ones I jotted down haphazardly either. I left them as is. 

I like it this way. :)

Last weekend I went to see this movie.....

Source

My sister, Mama, and Aunt Loretta went with me. We had a good time!

I absolutely loved this movie!! 

I loved the first one when it came out years ago and this one did not disappoint either. I will be adding it to my DVD collection when it releases. 

And, that my friends is it. Nothing too exciting I know, but it's real life.