Soup's On Ya'll

I love the cooler weather we are having this week!  PERFECT for soup and it was on the menu plan.  I am delighted to feature more of my thrifty finds from our yard sale weekend and a stop this week in the Goodwill store on  Tablescape Thursday. Fix yourself a glass of sweet tea, pull up a chair and I will tell you how I decorated a shiny frugal autumn table.  Then you can stroll on over to Rhoda's Fall Inspiration Party for more ideas on fall decorating.

The centerpiece is my 'new' beautiful white soup tureen.  Isn't she elegant?!  A nice little elderly lady parted with her for the incredible price of $4.  Of course, I was tickled pink as she is my very first tureen!  I sat her in a newly spray painted black metal tray (Goodwill - $2.22) and surrounded her with (Dollar Tree) garland and gourds atop a festive table runner.(Ross - $4.99).  The prices are in parentheses, cause my Momma would just kill over to think a proper Southern daughter is disclosing such information to dignified folks as yourself.  So if you see the little curve ... you have the option to blink past the pricing.  *wink*

Of course my soup tureen fit for a queen should have her very own ladies in waiting to assist in the setting.

A cute little bird house (Goodwill $2.02) dressed in new black spray paint beside my yard sale find votive candles.

Complimenting the other side, a second lady in waiting, bird house decked out in new paint.  She also reigns from the Goodwill store ($1.21). 

When my Goodwill white dishes heard the Queen tureen was coming to dinner, they wanted to be included as chargers.  Dainty designed brown salad plates made their return visit in honor of the Queen's autumn reign.  Debuting for this setting are the green soup bowls speckled with brown (Ross) and previously purchased white yardsale napkins.  Completing the ensemble are my everyday silverware and (Dollar Tree) glass goblets. The only thing left to do is...

serve up Taco Soup (click for the recipe)!

MMm Mmm Good

I hope you enjoyed your visit around my thrifty royals.  Be sure to visit all of the fashionable tablescapes over at Between Naps on the Porch with our hostess Susan and stop by Rhoda's "It's Fall Ya'll" Party.

Shine Your Light

This little light of mine...

I'm gonna let it Shine!

 

Let 'em Shine, Let 'em Shine, Let 'em Shine

Another one of our finds at the Highway Yard Sale this past weekend. Two of the glass holders are missing.  But they were just so cute!   I scooped them up for a song.  In no way were ears harmed by my singing to obtain them.  Just the clinking together of two quarters dropped into the sellers hand and the metal into a recycled plastic bag. A fresh coat of black paint and now they have a little 'shine' ~

I'm returning for the fun of 2nd Time Around Tuesday over at A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words . I am also jumping in on my first Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Kimm's place ~ Reinvented (link below).  Please check out both blogs for other wonderful thrifty finds that have found places to 'shine' in our lives.

Is YOUR light shining today?

• Smile!  It's free and you can give it away over and over again ALL day long.
• Think Positive thoughts.  Dust off that someday ~ one day basket. Unearth your yearnings. Rediscover your talents. Today is someday and you are special!
•  Shine your light and you inspire others to shine theirs.

Halls and Hope

~Halls~

Remember my kitchen from last weeks make over?  That ugly wallpaper was throughout my hallway too!  Although my favorite color IS blue ...I hated this stuff for years!  When it was stripped from the kitchen, I also took the hallways down to bare naked ladies.  Being cheap thrifty, I decided to paint the hallway instead of putting up bead board. 

The yellow on top is a bit lighter than the kitchen.  Used the same molding.  Now I have to tell you I LOVE this brown, it's soft and warm.  But the first  brown color I brought home looked like dog pooh! I kid you NOT!  It was WAY too dark.  As I have professed before, I am horrible with picking out paint colors.  Thankfully I could return the paint and it became oops; although I have no idea who would want dog pooh walls! To each their own, I say.

Once the walls were painted I noticed the vent covering my air filter was simply gross.  Rusty, dingy, disgusting.  A 20x20 sore thumb in my new hallway. I didn't know how I would replace it, as I'm not really that handy.  A few weeks ago it finally dawned on me to PAINT it. DUH!  So I picked up some spray paint (Rust-oleum Cream Satin) at Home Depot, pulled off the door and sprayed it.  It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.  Yet, it looks cleaner and is a far cry from it's previous state.  Don't look too close, as there is already dust gathering in it!

Please visit over at Between Naps on the Porch for other great makeover projects shared on Met Monday!
Then we have ....

~Hope~

Remember when girls used to have Hope chests?  A hope chest, dowry chest, cedar chest, or glory box is a chest used to collect items of clothing or household linen, by unmarried young women in anticipation of married life. (Wikipedia).  Do young girls collect and fill those anymore?

While out at the annual Highway yard sale with my teen daughter this weekend.  One of our 17 purchases was this:

A very old, very loved solid wooden trunk about the size of a foot locker.  I saw it and said, "Oh this has so much potential, but I have no where to put it.".  My daughter said, "Mom, get it. I will paint it and use it in my room!".  So this little trunk came home with us for a thrifty little price of $8.

There's a lot of hope in this little trunk.  A mom's hope that her almost 18 year old daughter will catch the fix it up, be thrifty, make do, re-do bug.  Wouldn't it be a joy to share and work on projects together?!  A hope that she will also find her own treasures to fill her life.  Hopefully this will be something we can share with you on another Met Monday soon.  Today it will be linked up in Rhoda's (last of this season) Thrifty Treasures party.  Check out her blog for many more wonderful thrifty finds!  Be sure to drop by in throughout the week as I continue to share my yard sale finds.

This blog is linked in to the following parties:

Weekend Recap & Weekly Menu

Did you know Saturday was National Pancake Day?  To celebrate I tried out a new recipe of Puffed Pancakes (link to recipe).  Here is a photo of mine without powdered sugar.

It was good and EASY, just a bit too 'eggy' for my daughter; as she is NOT a big egg person.  So next time maybe not as many eggs!

After breakfast teen daughter and I headed out early Saturday morning to the 12th Annual Hwy 46 yard sale.  All along the Hwy from the Georgia line to Heflin, Alabama we drove, rode and found 11 treasures for a grand total of $17. We were also in a race with the weather, but managed to stay ahead of the rain!  I will be sharing some our finds this week during Met Monday, Tuesday's 3 or more and 2nd time around posts and Thursday's Tablescape.  So come back all week long to see our 'new' treasures.

Just so you don't have to WAIT for a peek, here are two of the items:

Cute springy plates that I am sure will appear in future Tablescapes.  I love the mix of colors here; Blue which is my favorite color along with yellow and green that matches my kitchen! 

We made it back to my youngest sister's house promptly at 1pm for cake and ice cream to celebrate one of my nieces birthday.  She is 9.

I can not profess to be as organized as a few of my friends think I sound!  They've heard me talking about menu planning and projects in the works; thinking I am drinking tons of coffee to get it all done.  My secret IS..... that I just have to set my mind TO it and DO it!  Making the house cozy and working on frugal projects gives me a sense of accomplishment AND I get to enjoy it all.  Who doesn't like to save a dime or two along the way? Renewing my menu planning last week created extra time in the evenings after work! No worrying over 'What's for dinner?'; all the ingredients were on hand (so no running to town to pick up something) and teen daughter loves knowing what we are going to eat.  PLUS all the meals were a HIT with my sometimes really picky eating daughter!  Sunday we had her favorite meal; Salmon patties.

This weeks menu came together after organizing my 'everything just tossed in there' cabinets.  I checked to see what could be used from there and the freezer to go with meals.  I also found ground beef and chicken on sale.  So here is this weeks menu:

Breakfast

We are always rushing out the door!  I usually have assorted breakfast bars on hand.

Lunches

My daughter eats lunch at school & I come home from work to eat leftovers with the occasional frozen zapped something. Ha!   

Sunday

Panini sandwiches, chips and a pickle (plenty of sour dough bread left)

Monday

Taco Soup  (basic recipe I use) & Scoop Corn Chips

Tuesday

Leftovers (Lots of soup left)

Wednesday

Meatloaf, AuGratin potatoes, baked apples

Thursday

Ranch Chicken, corn on the cob and left over baked apples

Friday

Homemade Pizzas

Saturday

Not sure yet, maybe left over Pizza

Be sure to check out I'm an Organizing Junkie blog for over 400 links to other ladies and their weekly menus; many with recipes!

 

I'm also linking in my new plates featuring BLUE to Blue Monday over at Smiling Sally's Blog.  If you like blue then you need to check it out!

Dinner and a Movie Frugal Style

Gotta love Redbox movie rentals.  $1 per movie!  Just released today, "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" with Jennifer Garner and Matthew McConaughey.

Uh huh, that is me and Mr. Handsome himself.  In wax.  Him not me. He looks real though doesn't he?  While in Vegas this summer my daughter's pick for 'night out' was a visit to Madame Tussauds.  Got coupons, 2 for 1 entry.  Deal!  It was a little more fun than I expected.  Teen daughter sent phone pics to her friends back home of her 'star' sightings.  Cute.

We both enjoyed the movie.  Matthew's character makes it maybe not a total chick flick.  Dinner and a movie tonight for two...less than $7. 

I'm sticking with my menu plan!  Teen daughter loved the loaded baked potatoes and baked apples.  I admit, so did I.  We even have a bit of leftover apples to add to tomorrow nights Panini sandwich meal.  Yummy!

No rain here today. Thankfully lots of sunshine. School for my daughter resumes tomorrow.  The county school system is still out, as many roads throughout the county are still under water or damaged.  My police officer son is working again tonight (his off night) due to the flooding in that area. 

Welcome FALL

I sincerely love living in Georgia where we feel and see the changing of the seasons.  Goodbye Summer...

Hello and Welcome to my favorite season, Fall !

 Don't let this little friendly witch scare you!  She is my lovely niece greeting you for the Welcome Fall Party hosted by Rhondi at Rose Colored Glasses.

Since I've already shown you most of my Fall indoor decorations here, I thought I would invite you along on a mini tour of outdoor Fall photos.  I even changed out my blog title photo to something more Fall'ish.

Grab a cup of Hot chocolate and Enjoy!

 Hay bales.  The farmers here have already been gathering it for the next season of Winter.  

Festivals, Arts and Crafts shows in every little town and community.

Farm equipment from days gone by.  

Makes me think of the last bit of harvesting before the days of frosty morns.

Fall is the time of year to build a warming fire in our little outdoor fire pit!  Love sitting by it on the cool nights.

 

(photo credit to my friend, David)

Pumpkin patches at schools, churches and roadsides.

 

ColorFULL trees!

I hope you enjoyed my mini tour of natures Fall decor around my area!  Please stop by Rhondi's and see all the beautiful Fall party items the bloggers are sharing.  Will you be so kind as to drop off this pretty bouquet of my favorite flowers?

 

When Waters Rage ~ The Flood of 2009

It has rained and rained and rained some more.  Floods abound.  Families have lost loved ones...some everything.  A local young family's mobile home was washed away when a small creek rose from 2 feet to 20 feet.  Sweeping the entire family into the swollen raging waters.  A Dad, Mom ...their two toddlers.  The Mom clung to a tree limb holding her youngest child for three hours waiting on help.  The Father a bit further upstream held on also.  The oldest of the children, not yet 3 years old was swept away.  His small body found hours later.  The mobile home was broken with everything scattered in the now river.  How heartbreaking.

 
Another report of a family whose air and heating unit was struck by lightening.  The father woke to find his twins dead from carbon monoxide poisoning.   A young mother of a 4 year old, lost her life when her vehicle was swept off the road and into swollen waters.

 
My own son called me last night.  He is a police officer in a nearby city.  His patrol car ended up in the middle of a flooding road.  The water was rising fast.  He had to crawl out of the window, onto the roof of the car and off the trunk.  The 'I'm safe' call came.  Although he really wanted to tell me how he lost his very nice expensive digital camera due to it was in the car.  He found it water logged.  It's trivial.  Possessions can be replaced.  May take a bit of time and more 'off duty' hours (how he purchased it in the first place).  Yet, he was safe.  His morning text reply after I asked if he was ok said:  "Soaked, hungry but no power, and want a hot shower."

The schools were closed both in the county and the city (where my daughter is a Senior).  This is why:

This is the parking lot at her school.  There is a small creek that has now flooded the parking lot and washed away part of the roadway.   That small 'creek' is now raging waters:

When I left work at 5pm the reports were there are 19 roads throughout the county closed and/or severely damaged.

We are very lucky.  Our small home is safe and in no danger of raging waters.  Some of our friends are not as fortunate tonight. My boss pumped water from his basement this morning.  This photo shows the water behind my daughter's best friend's house. As they hope the water doesn't continue to rise.

Count your many blessing my friends.  For life can change in the flash of an eye.  I may have a leaking washing machine, dishwasher and now I've found a leak in the roof; but none of that compares to others in our county tonight.  My house is dry and my family are all safe.  Please keep our community in your thoughts and prayers.

DIY Kitchen Reveal & Yardsale Find

 FINALLY, I can show photos of my kitchen! (You had a sneak peek in my Thursday Tablescape)  It all started in March.  YES, that is correct 6 months ago.  Ok, so I took a bloggy break in there too.  Seriously, I finally painted the trim this past week while off work. I'm joining in on Susan's Metamorphosis Monday for a reveal 'party'.  Here is the BEFORE photo:

This was last November.  I've lived in this house for over 10 years with this wallpaper chair rail.  I thought it would be too much 'work' to remove it.  Reading all the blogs made me decide to take the plunge and just DO IT!  I started by trying to remove the old OLD paper.

This step was messy and tedious!  I pulled off the old, then sanded and primed.  If you really look closely at the 'new' walls; you can see a small line where the old border print was there for so long.  Hey, but it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.  The walls were painted, then bead board was applied with a trim over the top.  I changed out all the switch covers to white, but if you look close the switch itself is still cream.  Hey, I'm no electrician!  Maybe someday.

Notice that OLD gold ugly light?  Here it is:

 I didn't want to paint it.  Never liked it.  So I shopped around and finally found an inexpensive 'pub' style light at Lowes to match my 'pub' table.  Needless to say I did NOT hang the light alone.  There is something to be said about getting along with the Ex.  While he was here one day helping teen daughter with her truck; I got a hand in hanging my new light!

Here is one of the new kitchen with the light on.

The other side of the kitchen didn't get an 'update', although I really wanted to do something to it.  Would love to paint the cabinets...maybe one day.  I did try to clear as much counter space as I could.  I have a TINY work area, but this room serves as the kitchen and dining area.  I've always enjoyed that it was a large room.  The kids could do homework at the table, while I cooked dinner.

I know I have too much 'stuff' on my counters.  I have very little storage space to 'hide' things and use everything almost daily.  I really want to paint my cabinets!  Maybe one day.

Before taking photos today, I did a mini makeover for the top of my frig.  In February I cleared off the 'junk' on top of the frig and made it pretty.  You can see the Spring look here.  It was time for some Fall decor. Dollar Tree flowers, a mini harvest in a jar plus a different plate.  New look:

Saturday, I braved the rain for a local Community Yard Sale.  Thankfully, this entire subdivision has garages.  So they also survived the showers to sell their 'junk'.  I'm participating in my first Thrifty Treasure with Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality.  I went in EVERY garage!  The first purchase was 2 items that I am sure will surface in a future Tablescape.  The next purchase was the mother load!  I walked up to a lady's home and she said, "Sherri?".  She was a High School teacher of mine MANY moons ago.  Ms. Watts had several thrifty treasures.  A bit of bargaining and I left with 3 of these! 

I LOVE the mix of colors!  Just the punch my (hand me down, new to me) cream sofa and love seat needed.  There were two large pillows and a small one in the same print - $5 for all three.  I quickly moved the small burgundy pillows to the love seat with the small pillow and the two large pillows are on the sofa.  I gave my former teacher $9 with a huge smile; there are a few more thrifty finds that will make their way to my blog soon!

Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to check out all the other great makeovers and thrifty finds at Susan's Met Monday and Rhoda's Thrifty Treasures.  I added both blog buttons to my sidebar, because you don't want to miss out on the awesome ideas!