Hmmmmm...

Okay, so remember last week when I said that we would do a giveaway this week? Maybe I meant we'd be away from the blog instead. :) This week has flown by and I never did get around to posting about the giveaway!

Today we had our annual yard sale with my in-laws (they live on a busy road!) and Sarah. I sold a lot of JUNK! JUNK people! I only had 1 large item (little tykes kitchen) and the rest was little odd and end items and 25 cent clothes. The biggest thing for me is that it made me go through my house and clean some things out. A little cash isn't a bad incentive either. ;)

So...while you are waiting on the giveaway (which will now take place NEXT week) with bated breath, check out Meg's nursery post (see sneak peak below).
I love the makeover that is taking place. It is totally Meg with her cool, calming colors. If you've never been to her blog before, check it out!

Victoria

We All Scream for Ice Cream

With summer coming up, ice cream is just the thing. Don't you agree? But homemade ice cream even better?

How about a delish, easy, peachy concoction. You can keep the ingredients for this in your pantry at the ready. Don't forget rock salt too.


Peach Ice Cream

2 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 bottle of Peach Crush
If you cannot find Peach Crush which is a carbonated drink, you can also use an orange carbonated soda. We used a Kroger Brand carbonated peach drink for this batch as we could not find Peach Crush on this store run.

Add the can of sweetened condensed milk to the bottom of the ice cream freezer. Slowly pour the Peach Crush to fill the freezer. Take a long spoon and slowly stir to mix. You want to do this slowly so that the drink keeps the carbonation.

Freeze to manufactures directions. This has a slight carbonated flavor and is very peachy and different.


How about some Chocolatey goodness. This recipe comes from Victoria's hubby, Michael.

Chocolate Ice Cream

1/2 gallon of chocolate milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix to fill line. Make up any difference with whole milk. Freeze according to manufacturers directions.

And of course vanilla. My sister Beth concocted this crowd pleaser.


Vanilla Ice Cream

2 quarts half and half
2 T. vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

Stir to dissolve sugar as best you can. Pour into freezer and freeze according to manufactures directions.


Pick one, or make all three. No one will complain!


Don't forget Rhoda's Burlap party tomorrow.


Christina

A Little Bling

I saw the bling across the aisles of Goodwill. Thank goodness my glasses where on that day! I couldn't get there fast enough, lest someone else eyed my find and made it their own.



I was not wrong to be worried. Glances and comments of, "how pretty" and "how much" and "what a great deal", followed me throughout the store. $25.91 may be a huge amount for some thrift store purchases, but not this one.

A little gaudy perhaps in its current state, but you know me and the fact that spray paint seems to fix everything.



Brought it home and looked it over. Days went by and my thoughts were churning. What color to spray paint it? There are many colors that would look fabulous. Cotton Candy Pink, but no, my daughter didn't need a chandy in her room. Black---hmmm. Safe and good choice. Red-well yeah, but it wouldn't work in my house. Limeade Green?? Oh so fabulous, but also wouldn't work. I also was considering another option. It might not get hung in my house. My photography business came to mind. Strange thoughts seemed to come to me, usually in the middle of the night. I asked my hubby if my idea would work. He said yes.

Well with this information and these thoughts in my head I decided on another safe color for now; Dover White--not bright white, but not too creamy.


The color is subject to change. Now to my idea. You see, I had this idea in mind.

and this

A maternity session for my sister-in-law. Her hubby is our youngest brother. We had so much fun. Well, at least Meg and I did. My brother, not so much. ; )

What do you think?

Oh, and the chair was a thrift find too. It is suppose to be my daughter's desk chair, but it goes with us for photos more often than not.

Off to clean, cook supper and do the mommy thing.


Edited to add:
Being Memorial Day weekend, I am having to recycle this post from earlier in the week. Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe day!

Everyone will love visiting Jen for her makeover open house. Lots of good stuff over there.



And make sure to head over to Rhoda's and check out all the great finds this Memorial Day.




Join Leigh over at Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursdays


and Holly over at Homebody for Thrift Store Thursdays.


Great fun. Victoria shared some of her thrifty finds on Monday.


Christina

Sweet gifts of encouragement

My sister Christina and her kids stopped by my office yesterday to bring me some sweet little gifts. First up, Chloe gave me this darling little wildflower bouquet which I put in my Goodwill bottle from last week.

Then Ian gave me a plate full of snacks and goodies, including a girls best friend (especially this hormonal week), CHOCOLATE! ;)

Christina gave me this darling little McCoy looking flower pot (?). I love the color and the embossing.

Imagine my delight when I saw the plate that she placed the snacks on! Me thinks she paid attention when I commented on this post. It looks perfect in my dining area!

What I gathered from this experience is that she knows me and thinks about me as she shops yard sales and thrift stores. Today she gathered these little goodies up and brought them by in such a delightful little package and that meant the world to me! Christina always has an artistic touch so of course she made all these little items look like a million bucks when in reality she probably spent just a few!

Her gifts encouraged me to think about how I could do the same for someone else. Hmmmm... how about a little giveaway next week? It will be very modest and quite possibly a thrifty find or two.

~Victoria~

A Shout Out to a Blogging Friend

Just wanted to put up a shout out to Melanie Elissa. If you read this, could you e-mail me. I love your blog and have tried to comment on several of your posts and couldn't. Just wanted to make sure that you knew that the comments don't seem to be working.

Our e-mail is Christina-Victoria@bellsouth.net. Look forward to hearing from you if you see this. Hope you don't think I'm too crazy.

Check out Victoria's latest post filled with her most recent finds here.

Until tomorrow ladies!

Christina

Fighting off the Monday blues!

Is it just me or does everyone have the Monday blues upon returning from vacation??? To help fight them off, Sweet Girl and I hit Goodwill before going to Aldi.

Found this little napkin holder to keep our napkins from blowing away when eating on the deck.


Finial for a curtain rod, but will probably be used to hold a mirror.

This is a little Christmas tree ornament/bell for Sweet Girl's tree.

I found this one months ago and snatched it up. The skirts are the bell (waist) and the feet are the clapper (did you know that is what it is called? I had to look it up on wikimedia!).
Speaking of Christmas...I found these footed Christmas PJ's for $2.60 that look like they've never been worn! Sweet Girl wears these all winter since we don't keep our heat on very much at night.

My mother-in-law has a whole collection of these FireKing mugs in different colors. She doesn't have any in blue though so I snatched these up at 55 cents each!



Odd little creamer ...

and finally....a canopy/net for Sweet Girl. I eyed this several weeks ago but didn't want to spend the money on it. Today it was 1/2 off!!!! I plan to clean out her playroom for our yard sale this weekend and then girl it up some! I thought it would be neat to have a canopy to play princess in. I know I would have enjoyed that when I was a little girl.


Join all of the great girls showing off their thrifty treasures over at Rhoda's today.

Ta ta...I'm off to put netting over my blueberry bush to keep the birdies from eating them all!

~Victoria~

I Must Go Down to the Sea

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

- John Masefield

This past week we had the privilege of enjoying my boss' condo on the beach in Florida. What a wonderful time of rest and relaxation we had!

As for the poem...my Dad read and quoted poetry to us as we were growing up and as I sat on the beach one night, this poem came to me and I quoted the first stanza to my Sweet Girl. It reminded me of how I need to be teaching her the poetry that my Dad taught us kids.

Trying to get us all smiling for our annual beach picture.

Uncle James always let's us bury him or make him into a mermaid or something fun!
Ear to ear grins from Sweet Girl in the pool

Pedicures by the ocean...

Watching the Blue Angels practicing (free!!!) and oh so cool!


Mmmmm watermelon...
Posing on the boardwalk


Playing in the sand....

Sweet Girl's first "snow ball" and mine too (I hate to admit it!). She chose banana flavored (ewwww)...

and finally...we found three sea dollars! I've never found one and this year we found THREE! How beautiful....

Ahhhh the sea...I'll miss you until next year.

A Spot of Lunch

Today, Chloe and I set up a little luncheon out on the patio. We are suppose to have rain for the next few days, so eating outdoors would not only be taking advantage of the calm before the storm, but it is always fun. We are also listening to The Wind in the Willows on Librivox, so "luncheon" is just the right word for out little picnic. More about Librivox at the bottom of the post.



Something I've learned over the years, is that everything doesn't have to be over the top to be a delightful moment or memory with my children . Just a simple sandwich, chips, and a little fruit is just the right thing for a picnic.

Chloe decided to make egg salad, with farm fresh, free range eggs from my parents chickens, sliced apples and some chips. Egg salad is one of those foods that people either love or hate. The key to delish egg salad is to grate or rice the eggs. Until I started grating the eggs instead of chopping, it was just ick! Add salt, Kraft mayo and lots of freshly ground pepper. A small bit of sweet relish is optional.



A tin container bought at a thrift store for .50 holds yellow daisies that Chloe gave me on Mother's Day.


A black Tiaria bowl that I paid $5.00 for at a yard sale, holds extra fruit. It is very heavy and beautiful. I also have a few other pieces of Tiaria to show you at another time.

Love this heavy glass candle holder. There were three of these and they were .50 each at a yard sale. They are perfect for holding candles on the patio because they are so heavy and would be very hard to knock over. I may also hang them from a tree branch on an outdoor evening.


My French Countryside plates paired with a small octagonal plate with small black flowers. I have had these for years and paid something like a dime each for them at a Methodist children's home sale. The black goblets are a favorite of mine that my husband and I bought in a junktique store while on our honeymoon.


Just a perfect little luncheon on a cloudy day.


More about another thrifty delight; Librivox:

If you girls like audio books, make sure to check out Librivox. They offer free audio recordings and can be listened to online or you can download them to discs or your players. These are older books that are in the public domain. There are some real jewels.

Because Librivox is a website where the narrators volunteer their services, some narrators are much better than others. We are huge audio book fans around here. We purchase, check out of the library and use librivox constantly. It is such a delightful way to spend the hours while doing housework, crafts, riding in the car, cooking supper, and while the kids hang out in their rooms playing. This also has allowed my kids to hear fantastic books way above whatever their reading level was at the time, but not above their comprehension levels. So I guess you could call Librivox a thrifty find too.

Make sure to join with us over at Leigh's for Thrifty Thursdays




and over at Holly's place for Thrift Store Thursdays


There are always great links to some great blogs and all of their thrifty finds.

Christina

Fun finds

I wanted to share a couple of fun finds from my recent yard sales.

Love these two bowls I found for $4!!! The color is wonderful...

and the details on the bowls incredible.


I purchased this picture for $1. I love the subtle colors and the eggs in the picture! I'll need to paint the frame but other than that, it is good to go!


I found this darling little creamer for $1...

and this vintage ladle...

Finally, a couple of finds from Goodwill. This gumball machine was $5 and is a beautiful lavender color. I debated buying it but finally my GW shopping partner Sarah talked me into it.



I love white. White anything catches my eye so I was thrilled to find this little white milkglass bottle for 77 cents!
Thank you for stopping by to see some of my finds! I have to say it's hard to shop retail now for two reasons...1) the cost and 2) the thrill of the hunt! It can be addicting. ;)

Have a beautiful, blessed Monday!

~Victoria~