room on the bandwagon for 1 more?

There's such a trend in blogland right now of hanging plates on the wall. I've been wanting to do this for some time but I just didn't have any plan in mind for what I wanted the plates to look like. I like some of the more random patterns out there.

So last weekend when I was on my weekly yard sale trip, I picked up a few plates. I paid a whopping 10 cents each for these.

I forgot to take an 'in the middle' picture of this. But you can guess by them being outside and on cardboard, it had something to do with spray paint. I do love myself some spray paint!

Few coats of red later and they all looked the same. I was then planning to stencil some birds on the plates. Well, that didn't work out so well. I had some carbon paper and it just made a huge mess! So I wound up spraying over the mess (again!) and free handing birds on 2 of the plates. There's a reason I took this picture from such a crappy angle, because my artistry is not wonderful. My hope is that nobody gets up close and personal with these plates. From a distance though, I'm rather proud of them!

oh dear...

Be still my heart... Oh how I need this!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/56258324/vinyl-wall-art-swirl-tree-with-owls

birdies

are so trendy in decorating right now, so it's funny I should find this at a yard sale. It appears to be several years old judging by the amount of rust I brushed off. So of course a coat of paint is in order. I asked my facebook peeps whether it was crying for flat black or antique white. All of the votes were for black, which is where I was leaning anyway. The black gives it a goth vibe which I'm totally digging. I may paint the birds an accent color? once I decide where it's going to live

where will you live?

Is just what I thought when I saw this white ottoman along side the road. So pretty, so retro with your pretty silver legs and lovely round shape. of course I stopped, asked how much, and the owner said $10. Within like 3 minutes of me browsing through his other offerings, he was down to $5 and I snapped it up. Right now it's sitting at the foot of my bed holding my decorative bed pillows (so they aren't tossed on the floor). Maybe it will find a home in a spare bedroom some day?

TEAK

still waiting on my patio to be finished. Hubbster has a full time job though so I'm sure not as naggy as I once was about doing that sort of thing. A friend of mine said that her sister had a teak patio set that she was looking to get rid of, her yard wasn't big enough for it. It needed some help, it had been grayed, but for $30, I figure my woodworking husband can probably fix it as long as it's not rotten. so the table has a leg that's fallen off, and the rest could be screwed down tighter, and the bench is wobbly, but it's probably like $10 in hardware for a beautiful, simple set!

quirky bench

how cool is this? maybe a little Indian looking? like India, not native american. Also at a yard sale, at a nursing home. weird right? I think I paid $10 for it, and if nothing else, it makes a cool conversation piece in my living room, and a little extra seating (or kitty seating)

$5 at a yard sale today. I'm a little in love. I've also already been offered $10. a local retirement community has a community yard sale twice a year, I always go early and clean up! This time I started at the back of the community and worked towards the front. certainly a fantastic idea! I'll be showing you more finds throughout the week.

Monday monday monday...

So, it's Monday. Truth be told, I had an enormously rough week last week. Hubby wanted to have friends over for a bbq yesterday. Somewhere between 3 cases of beer and 60 pounds of ice I've done did something to my back. I'm still functional, just not bending down.

Oh, and it hurts to breathe... and my limbs keep going numb. Maybe that's a nerve thing? I don't know, Aleve and I are going to work it out for a few days and if it keeps up, it'll be time for some acupuncture.

So at 5pm yesterday, when people should be arriving for our bbq, we had gale force winds and funnel clouds were spotted locally. Grrr... at least picnic food is cheap. The stuff that can't be frozen anyway.

So enough about my whining. Here's the goods from the weekend. Well, what I took pictures of. From top left: clorox jug, rolling rock bottle, milk glass jar, large blue ball jar, medium blue ball jar, white milk glass then 2 more ball jars.

See a pattern?

I've been seeing all these lovely things on blogs about the blue mason jars. Not to brag but really they're everywhere around here at yard sales. I'm seriously kicking myself now after doing a bit of research though. I paid 50 cents a piece for every thing you see in my sink. They had cases of the blue mason jars but I didn't want to hoard. Truth be told, I honestly thought 50 cents a piece was a bit high. So I got one of each size that they had and moved on. Of course these suckers are selling for $7-8 a piece. Can't win them all I guess.

So I plan to do a little candle scape with them. Maybe some stones around them and such. You know, old jars are all the rage at pottery barn. I saw on one blog though that the blue mason jars could explode and be DEADLY when candles are put in them. Seriously? You know how hot they get when you pressure cook them to seal the lids? I think I my compromise though and buy some LED candles for them.

The brown jug goes with my laundry cuteness plan. It's really an old clorox jug, and since it does have a cap, how cute would it be to actually pour my bleach in there? I don't use a ton of it anyway, but I'm saying it's cute and useful.

deal of the day!

This was my favorite yard sale find of last weekend, an outdoor slate top table, wait for it, $10!!! Took some wheeling and dealing, but won't that be beautiful on my *new* patio with my to be built pergola and seating? I picture many cold beverages being set on this table in the future :o)

big plans!

Ok, so I saw a blog online, which I don't have the ambition to find again to link to, but regardless, it gave me an idea for an old trunk. So when I saw this one for $2, I had to have it. The plan goes something like this: Turn the trunk on it's end, put casters on the end, one shelf in the middle, the bottom gets a large X out of wood to hold wine bottles, the top gets slots for sliding stemmed glasses in, then it becomes a portable wine bar. I'd love to think that I can find some time this weekend to at least start getting the inside of this trunk sured up to hold some weight. Not sure what I want to do with the hardware just yet, I may just wire brush it and spray it black... Also, not sure about the body of the trunk, I need to look at it some more. any suggestions are welcomed!

yard sale goodness

Lots of goodies this last weekend. I will post each day with some of my finds, spread the love out! So here's some of my goodies.

From the left, a bamboo lantern which will make it's home inside my (to be built) bamboo pergola. cuteness right?

second is an oil lamp, I've got quite a collection of these believe it or not. Some from my my mom, and some from a friend who John and I helped clean out a home he'd inherited several years ago. This clear one for $1 will make it's home on top of my cabinets with the rest of them :o)

third is what I believe is called a 'pickle crock', I picked him up for $3, near perfect shape. I'm not thinking it's old, probably a reproduction, but either way, I think it will look nice with some blooms floating in it, floating candles, or perhaps a large pillar in some sand.

Lastly is what looks like a gnome home! it's another candle holder, but how quirky! I think it may get a white spray job ;o)

gee, thanks gwammy!

my mother in law uses cake icing by the 5 gallon bucket... literally! so last weekend, she had one she'd just finished, she asked me if I could find a use for it... it still had some scrapings of icing left inside... so someone found an immediate use for it!

1960's throwback

This was found in the attic of our garage yesterday, by my hubby. It was my parents. Guess what we HAD to make last night.

my favorite yard sale find

Found this beauty at a yard sale a few weeks ago. Yup, near perfect condition, even included a partially full gas tank. I've cooked dinner on it almost every night since then. Polished it up and what not too. It has some fancy features I don't quite understand. A rotisserie and some glass topped part on the left that I'm scared to use because I don't know what it's for. All in all though, not a bad find for $150!

found!

Found this treasure at a yard sale, $20. Came with the larger stones, hubby added the smaller red ones. Pretty cute huh?

striped bag

my mother in law insisted that I buy this bag for $1 to carry my yard sale loot in last weekend... good thing I did huh? Where else could Starsky POSSIBLY lay?

burberry?

A $2 yardsale find. I'm certain it's not real, but it is a decent fake...

purdy

I've never had one of these bloom for me before, but this one greeted me last weekend with some huge purple flowers! Gorgeous huh? It's a clementis, should bloom twice a year I believe.

Oh I do love the spring! Here's something I made this weekend with some yard sale finds. I've been hunting down pots at yard sales knowing that I can find something creative to do with them, then sure enough, at one of the yard sales I went to, I saw something similar to this. I took a picture and HAD to make it as soon as I got home. Took one of my little pots into hubby's woodshop and found a dowel that fit appropriately and off I went. No, there is no glue required for this project. I would just make sure of 2 things:

1. Put the pot where you intend to leave it before you 'build' your pots up, I'm thinking this will lead to cursing and complete frustration otherwise.

2. 'Thread' one pot on at a time, dirt and flower it and then move on to the next one. The whole thing gets more stable as you add dirt to the pots, so I would just do one at a time.

I can't wait until my flowers start taking over so it's like a crazy mass of pouring flowers! Yay!

Made it Monday and a confession...

Today I'm going to learn you somethin! One of my favorite snacks is salsa. I could put it on ANYTHING I believe. Of course, I do get a little frightened when I read a regular salsa label, there's all sorts of things in there that probably don't belong. Preservatives, colors, artifical flavors. No good. So today I'm going to teach you an easy peasy way to make your own, most of this stuff you probably have on hand.


Lined up on my counter you see I have fresh cilantro, in my green bag, which I truly believe does work because it's been in my fridge for a month now and it hasn't turned all boiled spinachy, apple cider vinegar, a medium onion, 2 cans of diced tomatoes (read the labels, the ingredient should be: tomatoes) clove o garlic and some mexican seasoning. I also usually add some hot sauce and some lime juice, just whatever your taste calls for. This is a great starter and you can doctor it as you like from here.


I'm a home party girl from way back. This is I've found the easiest way to make this salsa, I use the Quick Chef from Tupperware. It'll run you like $50 from the catalog, probably $30 or so from ebay. I believe they're red now. I feel like i have a bit more control with it than I do a food processor though. I toss the cilantro in first, I just wipe down the stalks and pull the leaves off, just a handful will do it.


I just peel and quarter the onion, the quick chef will take care of the rest. Even quartering an onion makes me cry *sniffle*. Once this is tossed in, I give the quick chef a few turns because I want to get that onion pretty fine as well as the cilantro. While they both have a great taste, neither are something you want to get a whole mouthful of!

Now for my pampered chef plug with my garlic press. This thing does get a lot of use in my house! Just one clove will do it.

Now I add 2 cans of diced tomatoes. These are aprox 14oz cans, you can adjust accordingly though.

probably 2T of apple cider vinegar. At this point I really stir it up good with the quick chef and and make sure it's all mixed in well and chopped as course or fine as I want it. Take a taste and add your spices as you like them. Be creative, when you make stuff yourself, it's all about you!

I mentioned my basic bread recipe in my last post that I used for the cinnamon rolls. Here is the basic bread as it is without any doctoring. Made it in my bread machine last night then covered it and let it rise overnight in the fridge. You can let it rise on the counter (or in the microwave) overnight but sometimes it makes it a bit too yeasty for me.

And now the confession. I have a slight obsession with small kitchen appliances. On my counter currently (which means I use them a couple times a week at least) are a toaster oven, bread machine, crock pot, wine opener, electric kettle. A vacuum sealer also makes a frequent appearance. In my pantry live my stand mixer and blender. So yesterday at Goodwill, D didn't have a hard sale when she tried to talk me into this for $5.

A food steamer. She says she uses hers every night. Rice or steamed veggies she says are a snap in this baby. So for right now, it's going to live in my pantry and I'm going to find ways to incorporate it into dinner prep and we'll see where it finds it's permanent home.

Food

I have an obsession with food, eating it mostly. Not as fuel for my body, but because it's good. I've never had a love of cooking. I mean, I would do it from time to time, but it's so much easier to just throw something in the microwave and call it a meal.

I've been a little put off however recently reading the labels of food and not understanding half the stuff that's in it. I like knowing what I'm eating, and maybe as I'm getting older I'm more concerned about this whole 'you are what you eat' nonsense. So I'm trying to eat only foods that I can read/understand what's in it. I figure this is a pretty big step and I will try to post what I'm making on here with links or recipes so you can join me in the fun!

This first one is easy peasy, just pineapple and cherries. Hubby got me this awesome pineapple slicer thingie for christmas that you just screw into the pineapple and it pops it all out nice and sliced for you!

Homemade granola. Yes, granola has a lot of fat, but you know what? People in the old days ate a lot of fat and stayed healthy. Because they knew what the heck they were eating! This is a great alternative to cereal in the morning, very filling and doesn't give you the 10am droops... Here's how I do it:

8cups oatmeal (I use quick oats)
handful of sunflower seeds
handful of coconut
1c each of walnuts, pecans, almonds and whatever else you may have, finely chopped. I tried doing peanuts too but they sort of took over the flavor
dash of salt
decent shake of cinnamon
stir all this together in a huge bowl, while you're stirring that take a sauce pan and put 1c veg oil and about a cup of brown sugar, I use light because it's easier to find
once the sugar is melted into the oil, pour over your oat mixture and mix well, like I said, you need a giant bowl for this. Break up the brown sugar if it starts to clump and try to get it fairly even in your bowl.
preheat to 350
line a big bar pan with parchment, it usually takes 2, I reuse the same pan and parchment because parchment is pretty pricy
pour about half on the pan and spread it out
toast in the oven for 10, stir it some to flip it a bit then toast for 10 more
viola!
PS. the time between toast and burn is short! keep your nose on full alert!

Soft Pretzles, this was another one of my experiments this weekend while we were blasted with a blizzard here in the midatlantic. I had stocked up on groceries earlier this week so I felt like I could pretty much make anything with my full pantry. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com which is such an awesome site! Went much better than expected too!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, these were breakfast this morning and OMG were they good! I have a basic bread recipe that I use:

2 tsp yeast

4Tbsp sugar

1c warm water

1 1/2 tsp salt (I put these together in my bread machine pan and let them sit for 10 or so til it gets foamy

3c flour

3Tbsp oil

I throw all this in the bread machine and put it on the dough setting. Once it's done making the ball of dough, I take it out and throw it in a loaf pan, let it rise for like an hour then bake at 350 for like 30 minutes or until it passes the 'tap test'.

I use this recipe for EVERYTHING. I do my hamburger rolls the same way and I made an awesome garlic bread a couple weeks ago using garlic salt instead of regular and adding a bunch of parmesan cheese and basil before the dough cycle.

So this time, I added a few shakes of cinnamon to the mix before making the dough, then when it was done, I rolled it out flat and put a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon on top of that. Rolled it all up into a tube then I refrigerated that for a bit, just because it was so squishy at that point. Then I sliced it into chunks and put them in the (greased) pan, as you can see. Covered and put them in the fridge overnight for a slow rise. Popped them in the oven at 350 this morning for 30 minutes and they were awesome!!! I had half a can of buttercream icing so I added that on top but you can also make your own very simply with crisco and confectioners sugar.

I threw chicken breast and salsa in the crock pot last night, not quite sure what would happen but I heard that the acid in the tomatoes would make the chicken very tender. I LOVE mexican food. Salsa is homemade, more on that another time.

So the chicken got done and I intended to make like a taco salad with it, but I suddenly had a major hankering for fajitas. Problem was, no tortillas in the house. Allrecipes.com to the rescue again! I know she says not to substitute shortening for lard, but one thing I don't normally keep in my pantry is lard, so I did it, and it worked, and I will probably never buy flour tortillas again. I took the additional dough (the recipe makes A LOT) and vacuum sealed it in individual balls, hopefully they'll still roll out at a later date.

That's all for this weekend, I'm exhausted from eating quite frankly! Hope all my midatlantic friends had a great weekend at home as well. Us Marylanders don't know how to deal with 2 feet of snow! I for one don't even pretend!

art

As much as I've been nesting in my house, I haven't gotten around a whole lot to actually putting pictures on my walls. I didn't realize it was really missing until I hung some stuff up there. So I've decided to let you in on one of my little secrets. This. Free, whimsical, printable art. Add in some cheapy frames and suddenly your house is a home.

too much, not enough?

It seems like I've had way too much going on to blog, yet, when I think about what I have to blog about, I got nothing! So here's the facts:

- I'm on a cooking binge. I'm trying to eliminate 'junk' from my life, you know, that stuff on the food labels that you can't read? So I'm striving to make wholesome meals and hoping that a healthier (thinner?) lifestyle will come with time.

- Hubby is on a woodworking binge. Hopefully pictures to come. He's been making these great coat racks with shelves over them, EVERYONE has a spot for one of these.

- My desktop died. :o( Christmas Day of all times. Hubby and I have tried to fix it, I think it's a power supply issue, but since both of us work on computers (to some extent) all day, neither of us really has the patience to deal with it, so we're going to send it to the professionals.

- I collected 225 pairs of shoes to donate to Haiti and now I'm obsessed! So a friend and I have started a new drive to collect items to donate to the God's Littlest Angels Orphanage in Haiti. Hopefully we will be successful in that, wish us luck!