Thrifty Finds and An Autumn Table

Hello friends. I haven't had much to blog about recently, but I do have a new tablescape to share that includes a couple of recent finds. Please ignore the mess in the background in the photo below. We have begun hanging new doors, and have stuff everywhere! I don't like the mess, but unfortunately it's the only way to get things done. 

 I was thrilled to find a couple end chairs for my new table at the Hospice thrift on Veteran's Day. They are in excellent condition and will look great when I refinish and recover them. They were $4.95 each. Here's the back side.

I kind of like the old fabric on the seats, but has definitely seen better days and needs to be replaced. I'm considering a grey and white toile fabric, but haven't decided yet!

This table is a simple one. I didn't use place mats since I wanted to feature the beautiful new table runner I found at the flea market today at my favorite booth. It is not vintage, it is actually brand new. It was only $3 and I knew it would look great with these pretty autumn dishes my mother-in-law bought me last year.

I love the cut work and the scroll design.

The colors of autumn are such warm, rich colors. I just love them. As we were driving home from town today, leaves were actually falling from the trees due to the wind. It was so pretty. We don't have a lot of trees here in Florida that shed their leaves in the fall. 

I used things I already had for the centerpiece, except for the white pitcher in the background. It was a flea market find today. It is such a pretty Camark pitcher, in pristine condition and was just $1! 

Sold...:) You know I love white pitchers. This one will soon be placed on my shelf, but for now I am using it on the table.

I still love these dishes. I think I will always love them....they are just gorgeous!

Here's the bowl from the side.

These sweet little acorn salt and pepper shakers were a Cracker Barrel find on Veteran's Day. The hubby and I went for breakfast and of course I had to look around for something to buy! These were super cheap...around $2 I think.

You can see the pitcher a little better in this shot. 

And here's another view of the runner. So pretty!

Here's one last one of the pitcher by itself. It has such pretty lines and details. It will make a beautiful addition to my collection.

I have been busy this weekend...yesterday I had a workshop at school and then a couple of my team and I worked on lesson plans so I didn't get home until after 5 o'clock. I spent the evening watching Christmas movies and making ornaments for my exchange partner. If you are part of the exchange, I hope you are having fun making or picking out something for your partner....such fun! Please try to get them in the mail by November 20th if at all possible. Thanks again for joining! I hope everyone has a blessed and beautiful week. Mine will be a busy one! Tomorrow at school is our annual faculty and staff Thanksgiving feast. I have a few things I want to do with my kinders this week as school and I have lunch duty all week...not fun! The hubby and I will be working on doors and trim, and  I'll also be finishing up my Christmas ornaments and mailing them. I also need to take my new car for an oil change and give it a good cleaning as I am driving it to Tallahassee next weekend to see my beautiful daughter Miranda. Weeks like this one make me wish they were over before they even begin, but I try to stay positive and remember to count my blessings. Who knows what great things may happen this week and every day is a gift! After Friday I am off for 9 glorious days and can get some things done at home. 

Until next time.....

Colorful Finds!

Hello friends and Happy Veteran's Day to you all. I am so thankful for the men and women who have served and continue to serve our country to protect us and our freedom. I was blessed to have the day off from work to in honor of  Veteran's Day. The hubby was off as well and we spent the day together. We started the day with a tasty breakfast from Cracker Barrel. After breakfast, we went to Wal Mart to pick up a few necessities and then went to Lowe's to pick up the rest of our interior doors and hinges. We came home and I spent the afternoon sorting through the last 2 years worth of paperwork and updating my filing system. Such fun....NOT! I have so much paperwork to deal with between work and home and I get tired of it, so I let it pile up. I have been meaning to get to it for months now and finally started on it this week. I kept reminding myself that this was one thing I needed to do better with before the year ends. Better was my word for 2014 and I have honestly tried to do better in so many aspects of my life. I'll be picking a word for 2015 before too long...hard to believe!

Anywho, I won't bore you to tears with stories of my paper piles any longer. Instead I will share a few recent colorful finds! Over the weekend I rode with a co-worker to a Goodwill store where she had accidentally lost her keys and they were holding them for her. While we were there, of course I had to look around. I was so excited to find some older ornaments, still in the original boxes. I love Crayola brand and had to have this adorable ornament since it was from the year my daughter, Miranda was born. Isn't it the sweetest thing?

I mentioned to my friend that it would be so neat if they had one from the year my son, Dakota was born. We started rummaging through the boxes, and sure enough, I found one for 1995! I just love these two cuties! I have another Crayola ornament I've had for several years. I might have another collection started...lol!

I found this pretty ceramic sleigh to use in a few winter tablescapes. 

I paid $1.99 for it and can't wait to use it!

This large metal basket was too pretty to pass up. I will be using it on my new porch, which will hopefully be finished early next year or at least by next summer. I paid $1.99 for this as well.

This large (around 2 feet) metal candy cane came home with me too. It has a stake that can be used to put it in the ground and it has a hanger on the back as well. I plan to use it outside. I think I paid $6 for this. 

I found a few other things over the weekend as well. I got these things the same day I got my new table. I had to have this sweet milk glass dish. I didn't have one like it. and it was just $1.99.

I think it is even prettier from the bottom.

A cute strawberry canister that will join my strawberry collection for tablescaping. 

It was only $0.99.

I forgot to take a picture of the napkin rings that came with these, but they were the ones you saw in the fall tablescape I featured in my new table post. They are wooden. I got 8 napkins, 8 napkin rinds, and this pretty runner for just $1.50. It will make a pretty summer table. 

I thought these napkins were so bright and cheery. They will look nice in a spring or summer table. They were like new for $2.99.

My last find to share was this beautiful vintage tablecloth. I love the colors in it and can just picture it at Easter next year. It was $3. 

I found several great things and good prices on all. I so enjoy a good find! 

I hope your week is going well. I have a training tomorrow so I will be out of the classroom. My team enjoys days like that since we can go out to lunch together. At home, the hubby and I are back to work trying to get our trim finished and interior doors hung, as well as getting it all painted. Hoping to have it all done before the holidays begin. SO much work, so little time. Life is good though and I am blessed.

Have a lovely rest of the week.

Until next time.....

A Thrifty Farmhouse Table

Hello friends and happy Saturday. I wanted to share my "new" dining room table with you all. I was fortunate to have most of the day off work Friday. It was an early release day and my principal let me use some special comp time to leave at 8:30 am. I was only there for 45 minutes...:) Anywho, I was able to run some errands that day. I started with taking the pink chair to Haven Hospice for the charity auction. My sister would have taken it, but she was out of work all week with the flu and bronchitis. She has been so sick...:( I'm so glad she is finally feeling a little better. After dropping the chair off, I of course had to drop by the Hospice Attic thrift. Boy and I glad I did! You may remember me mentioning that I need a dining room table. We had decided to just build our own, but haven't had time to do it. Well, I was blessed to find a brand new farmhouse table at the Attic. I spotted it leaning up against the wall....the legs had never been attached. The hardware was all still vacuum sealed and it still had the directions with it. The front cover even said farmhouse table. It was fate! There are several dings and couple scratches that will still show even after I refinish it, but I'm OK with that.

Here she is.....

The color is nice enough, but I want to sand the top down and stain it to match my plank walls and the trim on the bookcase. I want to paint the skirt and legs white. This is what I have in mind. I was so thrilled to have a table again that I had to create a fall tablescape last night!

I still want to some day build my dream table for this room, but until that time comes, this will do. Now, I need to find chairs. I have a plan for those as well. For now, we will use the chairs that go to the ice cream parlor table. They are so uncomfortable though!

I got to use several of my thrifted pieces I had not used yet, like the glasses and placemats.

I love candle light.

I also used my cute new squirrel plates. They are stacked on some fall leaf plates from the Dollar Tree a few years ago.

The owl votive was a gift from a student a couple years ago. I love my glass pumpkin. It was a Target find from a few years ago. 

I love my dining room...even though we STILL haven't finished the trim and doors. We are hoping to work on it during Thanksgiving break.

It's difficult to get a good shot from this angle, but I wanted you to see that I finally hung some of my plates on either side of the china cabinet.

I forgot to mention earlier that the table was $100, but it was 25% off furniture day, so I got it for $75. Not bad for a solid wood table. The hubby said the lumber would have cost more than that to build one, not to mention the time we would put into it. We have so many projects on our list now that we can't seem to find time to do. Our next project is finishing the trim in the living and dining rooms, gutting and remodeling the master bath, and building a new screened in porch. We are going to try to get as much done as possible during our time off for the holidays. 

Another errand I ran yesterday was to the eye doctor to pick up the hubby and my new glasses. I love my new frames! I don't love taking selfies though...lol! 

I hope you enjoy the remainder of the weekend. I've been busy working on the ornament exchange partners. You should receive yours by tomorrow night. The sign -up is officially closed. Thanks to those who shared it. I am so looking forward to it...:) 

I'm linking up with.....

 

 Until next time.....

Pretty in Pink!

I'm guest posting as a Pink Lady today!
Hop on over to Tuula's place....The Thrifty Rebel and check it out!

Here's a sneak peek.....

Have a wonderful Monday!

Thrifty Finds & a Colorful Sadie

I've been at it again! I got to do a little thrifting this morning and it was such fun. I try not to go so often these days because I always find too many things I "NEED". LOL! I have learned to be more choosy and not bring so much home. I had a 20% off coupon for this thrift store so I got even better deals. Let me show you what I got. I love this small ironstone bowl/cup. Not actually too sure what it is, but it was super heavy and priced right at $0.99. I paid $0.80 with my discount. 

I thought this container was so pretty with the cutwork design in the lid. I got it for $1.80.

A brand new, large makeup bag for around $0.60 had to come home with me. This is something I actually needed.

As were these iPhone 5 cases. I recently upgraded and had not bought a case yet. I got three cases for $0.08 each, yep, $0.26 total! That was a steal...:) I don't like big bulky cases , so these were perfect for me.

These gorgeous, vintage bowls by Steubenville hopped right in my card. They will be so pretty in a tablescape.....if I ever get my table built! I found a set of 4 on Etsy for $35.00. I paid $1.60 for my 4!

This beautiful white afghan had to come home with me. It is not stained anywhere and a nice size. I got it for $1.60.

Two more vintage pillowcases to add to my collection. I think they were $0.40 each.

I picked up a couple things for other people too. My librarian friend at school is decorating a huge Christmas tree in the library this year with brown teddy bears. This little cutie will be perfect. He is a Ty and was $0.25 I think.

My friend Heather is a Mickey Mouse lover and so I couldn't pass up this adorable cardigan for her. It is like new and will be so cute on her with jeans and a pair of boots. It looks red but it's actually a pretty shade of orange. Clothes were 50% off today so this was just $1.50.

When I got home from my day out, I had a package waiting for me. I was expecting it to arrive any day and today was the day. I have been anxiously waiting for it. A month or so ago, I was notified by Suzan at Simply Vintageous....by Suzan, that I had won a colorful pet portrait donated by Cecilia over at The B Farm. I was over the moon excited because I had seen Cecilia's colorful pet portraits of her dogs, Herbie and Buddy and also of Suzan's sweet Soda and knew how adorable they were! I have been wanting one of my Sadie since first seeing them. I was so excited that I won! Well, I finally bribed Sadie with treats to sit and look at the camera so I could take a few shots of her. She doesn't like the camera...lol! I sent several off to Cecilia and told her to choose the one she wanted to paint and she chose this one.....

And this is what she painted!

Isn't it just precious? I am so in love with it. She painted it in the colors I love most...blues, greens, and a pretty coral orange color. It could not be more perfect!

Look at her eyes and her sweet mask above her eyes...:)

Thank you so much Cecilia! I LOVE it and will treasure it always. If you don't know Cecilia or Suzan, hop on over to visit. They are both amazingly talented and sweet, sweet ladies! Cecilia was my partner for my ornament exchange last year and she painted me the most adorable snowman and gingerbread man....my favorite Christmas decor. By the way, if you would like to join in the fun this year, hop on over and read about it here. It's not too late to sign up. It was great fun last year...:)

Anywho, I have already proudly displayed Saide's portrait on my gallery wall. See it there above my couch. It adds a nice pop of color I think. That new throw on the couch is a new purchase from today.

I love the Better Homes & Gardens brand that Wal Mart carries. This is the softest blanket ever...and I love the colors.

I also printed something new for November for the clipboard on my gallery wall. I love that I can change out my "art" so easily. 

Well folks, that's it for today. I have been thoroughly enjoying my 3-day weekend. I got some much needed rest yesterday and went shopping with my sister today. I am having a lovely evening as well. My sweet niece Taylor just bought me a yummy bowl of chili for supper. It is cold in Florida tonight...supposed to be in the thirties in the morning and it was inthe fifties all day. It was super windy too..so I froze getting out of my vehicle all day. I am enjoying my toasty new heater tonight though and I'm about to enjoy this delicious chili while I watch a Christmas movie on Hallmark. Don't judge...lol! I love Christmas movies and books and will watch and read several over the next several weeks. Prayers for a blessed and beautiful Sunday.

I'm linking up here....

Until next time.....