June's Shop Your House!

Well...I'm showing up to my own party without a camera!! My new laptop is on a 'say no to picutres' strike!!!  I want so much to show you a mini "shop your house".  That's right...three girls and one boy shopped the house and set up house in the shed.  They have quite the space set up and it really made me think of the best meaning of "Shop Your House"...looking around your home for the simple joys and simple love that is bound up in every day especially with little ones under feet!

I know pictures tell the story and not words, so I will not linger...just let you show me how you have been Shopping YOUR House!!!

Thank You So Much for coming…by now you know party etiquette…so I’m going to simply ask that you don’t put your elbows on the table and please link back.


Oh…and no one likes to sit next to the gal who never stops talking about herself , so be a good listener and see what the other guests have to say by visiting their blogs.

Take a party favor if you like and put the Shop Your House logo in your sidebar…
And a polite "thanks for having us" in the comments would absolutely thrill me!!

So here you go...show me YOUR dirty hands!!

And don't forget...the link will be open all week!!!

Explanation

For those of you who noticed my sudden disappearance...

Here is the explanation for why I've been too busy to blog.

I would apologize...but I just can't!!!





We are doing lots of thrifting, decorating and visiting...but this was the MOST FUN!!!

Recognize my partner in crime???

Be back soon!

Shop Your House Again

Well…I can breathe!!

Someone showed up to the party!  Well…several someones…

In fact, I was most excited to have quite a few comment and say “I get it – and I’ll be back”

I’m a bit passionate about Shop Your House…so I l-o-ve to push people to think creatively to repurpose what they already have!

A couple of my favorite ideas from last week…

Found a new friend at Tattered and Inked
frames
I’ve never tried empty frames, but I have a large D monogram that I will have to try this with!!

And…the blog title  stole my heart at Sleeping In an Unmade Bed
Em's Tree Swing Pic
I l-o-ve this because I’m hoping to decorate a certain friend’s house in this style next week!!

So…how about you???
Did you Shop Your House??

If not…get going…the link will be open for the week…

When shopping your house…start by looking at an area your unhappy with…
Then…remove what you don’t L-O-ve!!

Then shop room by room browsing for something that you might L-O-ve in your trouble spot…

The ripple affect will be that you freshen another space…

I must forewarn you – it…like thrifting…is addictive!

Thank You So Much for coming…by now you know party etiquette…so I’m going to simply ask that you don’t put your elbows on the table and please link back.

Oh…and no one likes to sit next to the gal who never stops talking about herself , so be a good listener and see what the other guests have to say by visiting their blogs.

Take a party favor if you like and put the Shop Your House logo in your sidebar…

And a polite thanks for having us in the comments would absolutely thrill me!!

So here you go...show me YOUR dirty hands!!

Picnic Dessert

I’m joining This Blessed Nest on a picnic :)

My favorite part of a picnic is the red and white tablecloth!

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My next favorite thing…Dessert!!!

I’m bringing Sugar Cookie Shortcake!!

Now I am a chocolate lover to say the very least!

This is really the ONLY dessert that stands a chance in my chocolate filled dreams…

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1 roll refrigerated cookie dough

2 T. of sugar

1 lb fresh strawberries

1 box vanilla instant pudding

1 c. cold milk

3/4 cup whipping cream

In the spirit of cooking in haste…I’ll give you a few options throughout the recipe :)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. 

Split cookie dough roll in half and spread dough in a 9” round pie or cake pan.  Either line your dish with foil or use disposable to make it easy to get the giant cookie out! (I use foil pans and then rinse and reuse each time) 

Before putting each cookie in the oven, sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over each – YUMMY! (If you forget…like me…you can do it when you pull it out of the oven too)

Let these cool…and while they do…mix 1 cup of milk with the instant pudding mix.  Whisk it until it’s thick.

Also, use mixer to beat whipping cream until formed. (Frozen whipped cream works also…just not quite as rich)

Mix the pudding mix and the whip cream together.  Lick your fingers when you do this :)  Now wash them – we’re going to a picnic!!

Slice your strawberries reserving  a few for garnish.  (Frozen strawberries will work too.)

Layer cookie, mixture and sliced strawberries. Use a little less than half of the mixture.

Again…layer cookie, mixture and sliced strawberries.

Top off with remaining mixture and garnish with strawberries.

Blog 283Refrigerate for 1 hour or just dive in together like we will!!!

Palms on the porch

As I told you recently, our new move has me in search mode. That is searching for my inspiration and vision. When it hits --- watch out. Well at times...inspiration comes from looking back at older posts.

I want to share it with you and tell you that if your front door needs inspiration too go visit Rain On a Tin Roof -- she's having a fun Summer Spruce Up Series and this week is front door.

And here's what I've been looking back to...
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So now…I can tell you the secret to these…
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Here it is…
Blog 292 Sorry…lost the first picture…so now the label was a little dirty, but that’s right…they are black plastic storage cubes…I offered $5 instead of $8…so run to your home office or basement and…
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Please stop by on Wednesday…
Shop Your House 
Linking to…
Southern Hospitality
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Outdoor Living
Met Monday
Beyond the Picket Fence
House of Hepworth

A note for thrifty chics!

Sometimes as a thrifty, vintage girl you can get a little bogged down with stuff!  Even minimalists and well-organized homes need a cleansing every now and then…not a cleaning – a cleansing!
A fun way to do it is to have a garage sale.
To really have FUN with a garage sale…have a thrifter style sale.  Thrifters l-o-ve to go to a sale where things are CHEAP!!  They like to haggle…they like to smile…they like to relax.
A few tips on a FUN garage sale
- Keep your prices low
- Enjoy the company of a good thrifter when someone asks if you will take less…say YES!!
- Put out clean and good stuff!
- Say ‘Hello’ to every person.
- Sell something you weren’t planning to sell!
- Have a snack and drink for sale
- Plan to go 50 cents for all an hour or two before close…it’s so much FUN to watch people load up your stuff in to their car…instead of you loading it in to yours for the thrift store.
- Have it with a friend…
- Give the leftovers away!!
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YOU WILL FEEL SO FREE!!!!

And remember…how excited you get when you see a pile like this…PAY IT FORWARD this summer!!!

Linking to...
Southern Hospitality
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

Don't forget to stop by on Wednesday for my Shop Your House party!!


And if you haven't yet...check out my sidebar sensation...

Introducing Shop Your House

Getting ready to host a blog party is just like getting ready to host a live party in your home.  You find yourself looking around your place (ie.your blog) and trying to finish all of the little things you’ve been saying your going to get to PLUS the party prep…
- Party favors - in the form of a button :)
- Entertainment --- in the form of a good post
- Welcoming entry --- in the form of header touch ups
- Well organized games --- in the form of McLinky
- And then also figuring…that someone may always need to use the upstairs bathroom --- sponsors, sidebar, archive
Well…I’m far from ready, but just as they say…you didn’t come to see my place…you came to see people – in this case…for me to see all of you!!!

So…with all of this other fretting, plus getting ready to do the opposite of shop…have a garage sale...I have done very little “House Shopping”, but I’ll show you a small shelf that was empty and lost when I brought it home and by shopping the house I found it some friends in 15 minutes – literally!!

The newcomer shelf:
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The semi-final resting place:
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It’s far from the most beautiful creation ever, but not bad for 15 minutes and if you’ve been seeing my office/guest bedroom turtle-paced makeover then you can see it fits in perfectly!

So…let’s go shopping piece by piece…
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Tell me these don’t make your heart go pitter-pat.  I bought the set while I was pregnant and I read them allowed to baby each night. He’s getting to be a little man now and these looked a little out of place among the monster trucks and hot wheels. Sold.

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These were already in the room.  They add an eclectic not planned look to the shelf.  The color flow of both items pair well with the other accents. Sold.

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These were in the hall under a bench.  They looked good there, but the hard metal shelf needed warmth and texture.  You really get the homespun feel in to action playing off the books.

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As you can see in the first photo…I added the plate.  I didn’t shop for it…I stole it!! Right off the dining room table (which is still set from the tablescape)  -- We have been eating…on the porch!

  I’m not sure why I grabbed the plate…I’m thinking I liked the white, but it will only work if I add a little something to the mix.  But, that’s the great part of shopping your house --- the return policy is VERY flexible :)

Blog 278Next week…I’ll be sharing a few tips for shopping your house…

But for this week think of the definition of “shop” according to Webster’s: to examine or buy an item.

Start examining what you already have with the same eager eye that you have at Pier 1, Target, the flea market, etc…

Thank You So Much for coming…by now you know party etiquette…so I’m going to simply ask that you don’t put your elbows on the table and please link back.

Oh…and no one likes to sit next to the guy who never stops talking about himself , so be a good listener and see what the other guests have to say by visiting their blogs.

Take a party favor if you like and put the Shop Your House logo in your sidebar…

And a polite thanks for having us in the comments would absolutely thrill me!!

I WAS SO WORRIED that I wouldn't get the Linky right that I posted before I got my code linked up so pretty please check back for the code or just use link it as a pic!!

So here you go...show me YOUR dirty hands!!

PS...Scroll down to see "Sidebar Sensation"
Tell Shalom you found me here and she will give you 20% back on your purchase!!

Linking to:
Beyond The Picket Fence
Colorado Lady

Sidebar Sensation!

As a new blogger, I change my sidebar more often than anything on the blog.  I’m still trying to find contentment over there,  but two things have been the same nearly since the beginning…

Two buttons:  One is my cool friend Amy who inspired me to get started and is my ever patient, always available, sounding board, good idea girl and blogging friend! 

But this isn’t about her --- sorry Amy.

It’s about the other button…this one!!

Shalom has been with me from the beginning!

Shalom’s Cottage Home is an incredible online shop that I was thrilled to bring to my brick and mortar.  She specializes in very cheerful, unique, cozy-yet-contemporary art for the home. 

I can’t wait to use her personalized invitations for my upcoming garden party!! 
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You’ve also seen her note cards turned into artwork in one of my earliest posts…Sticks & Stones  
card sets

I think it would be so great to throw a shower…use her  personalized invitations, decorate the table with framed note cards, give journals and mini notebooks for favors and prizes…and then give the showered friend the matching artwork for a keepsake!!!  Who wants to let me throw them a shower???
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Go over and visit Shalom’s Cottage Home…she frequently gets visits from friends who have gotten their hands dirty and loves it every time!!!

I love this quote from Shalom…
“Here’s to designing your own life and not being afraid to take risks - it's totally worth it!”

PS…if you think it makes sense for your blog, shop or biz to have a spot on my sidebar…get in touch with me…

Eclectic Weekend

The weekend itself was eclectic for my dirty hands…I’m not sure I finished anything! but…I made progress on many things…

We had rain, rain, rain…

I did make it to a good number of sales in my best friend’s small town city wide sale Saturday.  I will post most of my finds down in my “rust and moth” corner, but I wanted to show you a few things:

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Although the walk was dry at this point…note the red rain boot as proof of the weather…

Worth the rain though. I paid only $5 for this adorable desk!!!Blog 276



Now little man has a place to work in the office with me…












Blog 254Also made a stop at the Goodwill
and picked up these vibrant bags…

As my work from home is growing and growing…so is my need for organization.  I “Shopped My House” and stole this mirror with hooks from my dressing room upstairs (it was holding towels which can easily hang on the over the door hook)  I will label these bags and use it to keep my files, writings and magazines in.  Then I can easily take my work to the porch and back again.
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The desk and the bags are  just a couple more pieces to the puzzle of my Over the Top Vintage office/guest room.

Here’s a few other pieces coming together…
Please join me on Wednesday for my first Shop Your House party!!

I am linking to:
Vintage Thingy Thursday at Colorado Lady
100 projects under $100 at Beyond the Picket Fence

More from the flower fixer

In our culture, we send flowers to hospitals and funerals…we hope for them for special occasions…and we use them to say I’m sorry…flowers can fix a lot!! Ask any husband :)

My favorite way to adore flowers is in a growing container!!

Because I can only have so many containers in my yard before I look like a crazy plant lady…I’m sharing my l-o-ve with you!

But before I fix your flowers…see my work…

Here are a couple of containers I have designed:

For shade…
Begonia Basket
5 plant recipe

For sun…
Sweet Gerber Tropics
10 plant recipe

A “flower fix” includes a custom design, planting instructions, and a shopping guide. Plus…satisfaction guaranteed :)

To get started…email me at flowerfixer@att.net

You can also buy my recipes here

(An easy start is the five dollar flower fixer…) email me!!

Oh…and if you live local, I’m pretty inexpensive labor and would love to plant it for you!!

Or…If you live in a far away exotic, warm place…if you throw in travel expenses…I’ll throw in labor free! :)

Happy spring everyone!!

Cooking in Haste

I want to tell you about Abigail.  Abigail was a beautiful, smart young lady.  She was married to a real scoundrel though…

A king was traveling through the woods near Abigail’s house and the king’s servants approached that scoundrel to tell of their coming. Well…being a scoundrel…he didn’t care!  But when Abigail found out she knew that she must protect her household by endearing the king. 

So Abigail got busy…she “made haste and took 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and 200 cakes of figs, and loaded them”

OK…now that is cooking.

How about us??? Could we even feed an extra 20 people if needed??? She served an entire army!

I think one of the biggest differences in cooking long ago and cooking now (besides that they had to cook to live!) is that we have been taught to follow exact recipes instead of being creative and thinking about the texture and taste and working with what we have. 

They had to make what they have taste yummy! If we think like that…we will enjoy cooking more, save money and it will taste better!!!

What I really l-o-ve about this recipe is the ingredients are so easy to substitute….I can change it up with what I have on hand and it comes out delicious every time!!

The original recipe (shown later) calls for 9x13…I half it in this…
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Boil 1/2 bag of packaged egg noodles (or as many as you’ll need to cover the bottom of your dish) Remember we’re being flexible :)
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Layer noodles in casserole dish and add chicken breast pieces on top.  I use frozen pre-cooked breast strips…

Then mix 1 can of “cream of” soup…the recipe calls for cream of mushroom…I’ve used mushroom and celery too…
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Mix that with 1/2 cup of cream cheese or sour cream

Layer the creamy mix on top of chicken and noodles.

Top the casserole with cracker crumbs…I’ve also used canned bread crumbs and crushed frosted flakes…Blog 244
Helpful Hint:
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Crush the crackers in the package!! No mess.

Drizzle melted butter on top of crackers for a real crunch!

Again…you can use olive oil, cooking spray, or melted margarine

Top with poppy seeds or leave them off – you pick.
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Bake at 350 for 30 minutes…and…dinner is served.

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The leftovers are good in red igloo too.
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Here’s the original recipe…

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My meat and potatoes man isn’t much for casseroles and truthfully neither am I…but we both enjoy this casserole that a church lady made for us when little man was born.  (Church ladies always cook yummy food!!!)

What about you?? What’s your favorite flexible recipe?

A place to sit – front porch style

I was spoiled in our last house.  Spoiled.

We had a beautiful, beautiful front porch.

We have a very nice front porch in this home too…although the floor needs replaced! 

I have been waiting for the front porch  to “come together”
3 years later…it has arrived! (except the floor)

I’ve had these very sturdy, very comfortable, very ugly pieces on the porch.  I was so excited to pick them up for $30 at a flea store (not big enough to be a market, too dirty to be antique). 
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I questioned my vision and tried to sell them in a garage sale, but others must have questioned my vision also – they did not sell.

I finally listened to my neighbor who has been a believer of the vision from the beginning and painted the chairs (in the dark.)

Getting better, but not sold….so I left the chaise red.
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Over the winter, I bought fabric to make a cover for the cushions (the cushions are very sturdy…you can’t buy them like that anymore!) Sewing is a good winter project. 

I instead stayed up late sewing on a beautiful spring day.

I also painted the chaise, but I will leave the table red for my own whimsical pleasure…(and to drive the neighbor crazy!)
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She was right though…it was very easy to sew!!

And it looks really great!!! 

To sew these…I just laid the cushion on the fabric folded it over. Cut the fabric and sewed a giant pillow case.
 
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Moral of the story:  If you wait long enough for it to “come together”…magic happens…the magic is lo-v-ing what you already have!!!

Do you l-o-ve my palm planter??
Look for more secrets on this coming soon!!!

Cost of 2 chairs, 1 chaise lounge and side table - $30
Cost of fabric – 2.5 yards $8 (HUGE SALE!!!)

Now I must go and nap on my front porch!
Before I do though…remember to come by
DirtyHands, BeautifulLife next Wednesday for my first
Shop Your House party….
Linking to…
Beyond The Picket Fence

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Always Nesting



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