More Crafts & Thrifting Goodies

The first Saturday of Spring promises to be a beautiful day at almost sixty degrees! I'm going to enjoy that and so will the chickens and bunnies. Carol and Frankie went pecking around the yard yesterday as my son and I did some yard work. They seemed surprised to see grass and had fun scratching through the dirt and just being chickens! I can't believe they'll be a year old next month.  I'm trying to get a head start on clean up on our property so that when I buy my plants and flowers, I'll have a clean area to work with. I hate when you still have to clean up the mess of winter while your flowers and plants are sitting patiently on your patio to be planted! Spring is in the air--- then last night we heard that we may be having snow Tuesday night into Wednesday...I'm hoping it bypasses us. For now I will just enjoy Saturday!

Here is where I put my little barnyard. I propped it on a stacking box and surrounded it with some vintage roosters. I think I had said that the barnyard was made out of a shelf that also serves as a key holder so it has a drop down bottom that I have hidden behind the box.I don't need a key holder at this time. It's so hard to get a good photo angle. It looks adorable.

I also worked on this little bench using paint and rub on transfers. I love rub on transfers! Sometimes it's hard to find good ones though. If you never worked with them they are sooo easy to apply! When I see good ones, I try to get as many as I can. These are strawberries.

I used to paint a whole bunch of these and give them away with little potted plants sitting on them. They made cute hostess gifts. I had also painted one a few years ago (see below)  in burgundy and black and I have two Amish dolls sitting on them. I love them so much.

Yesterday I also popped over to the thrift shop again with my friend Lynn. I've really only started  going to thrift shops recently, and I am so hooked. What fun it is! I got some great stuff! I didn't get to take a photo of everything but here is some of what I got:

Pyrex Amish Butterprint bowl--my first one! I have other printed Pyrex but always wanted the blue one! Score!

Five of these beautiful depression era plates. Perfect for brunch or dessert. They look similar to a print my Grandmother had. Had to get them! 5 plates for $2. Yes, Maam!

Another covered jewelry holder. Very dainty and pretty. I am going to put these in my bedroom. It seems every couple of times I go to this particular shop, I find one!

Chicken egg holders! I found a basket full of them still in their plastic marked $1.99 each. I think, from the looks of the tag, they came from AC Moore. I got them for .25 each. Kim K. will be getting some of these. They are super cute.

I also got a bunny, a few bowls that I plan to use for my pets and last but not least some vintage craft books which I treasure. This one has patterns and directions for clothes pin dolls and other types.

A fun day! Thank you Lynn! I love hanging with you :)

I can't wait for the garage sales and tag sales. Billy and I put our rockers on the front porch..I know I'm rushing it  :)  I'm not planting a big vegetable garden this year instead I'm doing container planting. I have a list of what I'm planting around the chicken coop and then I plan to add lots of potted herbs that both us and the bunnies and chickens can eat. Since my husband just built it last year, this is the first season I can enjoy it fully and I want to decorate it and landscape it the way I have dreamed of doing it. I also have to plant my sunflowers. Have a great Saturday and I hope the sun is shining!

The Little Barnyard

Good Afternoon! Finally the weather seems to be improving. Tomorrow is the first day of Spring and it is supposed to be in the 50's! Woo Hoo! I can't remember ever being so anxious for Winter to end! I think because we were pounded with snow/sleet since November. I saw a few plants sprouts poking their heads through the dirt this morning. I've been trying to clean up a little outside. We had gotten our first snow before we had all the leaves cleaned away! We also have a new tree to watch this year~~our town planted new trees on our block since we lost so many from Hurricane Sandy. Seriously, our trees and light poles fell like dominoes during that storm so it was nice to have nice flowering pear planted. I hope they do well.  I also took off the insulating plastic around the chicken coop. Let the sun shine in!  Hard to believe that Carol and Frankie will be one year old on April 10th...my little chickieboos. Anyway, I've been working on few random things and I came across a little picket fence shelf I have had for a few years. It holds keys under the little fence and is very cute but I really didn't have a place for it and didn't need a key holder so in to the closet it went. I decided to craft a little barnyard out of it.

I had the little wooden chicken coop and painted it barn red and glued it to the top of the shelf. Then I just added all the other details including those cute feathery chickens from Michaels and a scarecrow. I found the perfect spot for it without hanging it. I have to take a picture to show you. 

I also crafted a few more bunny wagons. 

Party preparations next week for us as Caitlin turns 9 on the 28th! She's been collecting the "big eye" stuffed animals. Any one else have a daughter or grandaughter collecting them? She has a bunch and loves them. I'm always  interested in what other kids are doing in their part of the country. 

Have a great afternoon!

The Leprechaun Came! The Leprechaun Came!

On this fun day, EVERYONE has a little green Irish blood running through their veins; EVERYONE is just a wee bit Irish! With tunes from music choice on our cable station, Irish music fills the air this morning! I made my corned beef, cabbage, carrots and red potatoes yesterday for a Sunday St. Patrick's Day dinner and of course some Irish soda bread to have with tea! Caitlin was putting the finishing touches on her Leprechaun Trap. She decided to use a tall box and affix a ladder to it so that he could climb in but not climb out! If you catch a Leprechaun and keep him, he must lead you to gold! If he escapes, he leaves you some little gifts as a thank you for believing. She thought it would be enticing to wrap rainbow masking tape around the box thinking "rainbows and pot o' gold" would get his attention. She also put large and small shiny clover around the box. To the inside she added shiny stones, bright copper pennies and some fake gold coins because this is what gets the Leprechauns to visit! She wrote him a short message. The trap is set. At the end of her bed is where she set it. Then to wait....

Our neighbor's daughter Jackie who is Caitlin's best friend also crafted her own trap. Jackie said the Leprechaun probably visits her house first and then opens the gate between our two properties to visit ours. Low and behold, sometime while we slept..he came!

What goodies he left! A headband, two necklaces, stickers, clover glasses, a green flashlight and more! He wrote her a note as well! He said the wee ones had visited her and that they had no gold to leave but would give her these trinkets and thanked her for believing. Then he playfully added, "You can't Catch Me!" --oh, rats! He got away! :) We'll try again next year Mr. Leprechaun! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Besides preparing for our Leprechaun visitor and St. Paddy's Sunday dinner, I did some crafting in between! I had gotten this little rocker sometime last year at a garage. It had some damage from black sharpie marker that I could not get out so after painting the rocker a brownish color and slightly distressing it (Made it look almost wood grain), I painted a black rim around it to cover the sharpie. I also added some vintage looking rub on tranfer chicks. I think it's so prim & cute!

 Perfect seat for Little Miss! I'm going to add a clear glaze to the black today to give it a little shine.

Before I go, a pussycat update:  Dixie is doing a little better. She's very weak as she has suffered two strokes and until she can gain her strength I am spoon feeding her both tiny amounts of food and water. I have high expectations she'll make somewhat of a recovery but it's in God's hands. Red Cat's eye also is improving but still likely he lost the sight. Time will tell. Thanks so much for your comments and emails of concern. I wish the Leprechaun could do some magic on them for me! I love my cats. Hugs to all!

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Book review for Blogging for Books
Receiving Books for Free and Reviewing them!
CRASH THE CHATTERBOX by Pastor Steven Furtick
Hearing God's voice above all the "noise" or the "chatterbox." This inspiring book will teach you to tune in to God's voice which sometimes is barely audible in the world we live in. The chatterbox is, as author Pastor Steven Furtick explains, is a term to represent the lies we are told to believe that keep us from accurately and actively hearing the Lord. Basically, in every form of media and in society there are those who seek to oppose all that God stands for or teaches. The enemy seeks to destroy us and does so by having us believe that stepping outside of our faith is the only way to survive in the world we live in. By scripture, example and personal reflection, the author is able to show us how to rise above it all and remember what God really stands for and preaches to us. He values us and accepts us as good, bad or indifferent. I thought the idea of tuning out from the chatterbox was a good incentive to re-evaluate what is really important and focus on what builds me up and not what tears me down. Highly recommended.

Easter Decorating ,Thrift Finds & Book Review of "An Amish Garden"

Weekends are wonderful! I may be a stay at home Mom but Fridays are just as exciting for me! I still get that feeling of  TGIF! It has been a busy week and filled with highs and lows~~two of our cats are ill ( our cat Dixie will be going to heaven shortly as her health has declined in her old age and I fear the end is very near. Breaks my heart. Red Cat has an eye problem that may have taken his sight from his left eye and that's been horrible. We've all been battling colds, I've had a respiratory infection....oh boy...Spring can't come soon enough. I've been busy with appointments for my Mom and my son too. We are getting him used to his medication and that hasn't been easy. But as a sign in my house says "No Rain, No Rainbows", you have to take the good with the bad and happily there is an abundance more good than bad in my life!
My spirits were lifted  today and I had a fun day out with a great friend of mine! I was so in need of that. She has been decorating for Easter and so have I. She's a big decorator too and super crafty so it was fun sharing our ideas. Here's some of what I've done:

I took out some other items for the kitchen area:

 We went to lunch, did a little shopping and before we returned home I brought her to my favorite little thrift store for the first time. My wonderful neighbor told me about a vintage Easter tablecloth she saw there when she visited and I have had it on my mind ever since! I'm so happy it was there and I got it for $1!

Isn't it sweet? And it fits my table perfectly! I also picked up some egg cups and little tea bag holders:

And check out this great cow basket for rolls or muffins!

Then I saw this interesting wall plaque. When I was cleaning it I actually discovered the top of it swivels out and it hides money! And here I thought it was a cute plaque for the wall!

Always so much fun treasure hunting! My friend picked up some great items too! She has a real good eye for the vintage! What a fun day.

Here's a little craft I did! I did these last year as well. I had an abundance of these supplies so I made a couple more. The wheels are actually black buttons.

They are saying we may have a snowstorm on St. Patrick's Day.  I remember we had a blizzard on St. Paddy's Day in 1993! Sorry but I've put my shovel away, Old Man Winter so please send your snowstorm off to sea and leave little ole Long Island alone :)   Enjoy your weekend everyone! Hugs!

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I received "An Amish Garden" for free in exchange for an honest review. This was a wonderful, four story novella with the common theme of an Amish Garden from four best-selling Amish fiction authors. I thoroughly enjoyed all four stories. In "Rooted in Love", Rosemary, reluctantly at first, rekindles a romance with a former beau from her teens when he tends her overgrown garden. "Flowers for Rachael" is a lovely story of how mysterious notes sent with a flower brings a shy Amish couple together. The care and tending of special heirloom tomato seeds brings two people together in "Seeds of Love" and lastly, "Where Healing Blooms", the story of how you are never too old to find romantic love and that tending a garden could almost act as a form of therapy. As a fan of Amish fiction, I was pleased that these stories all moved along at a good pace and there were not too many characters to understand. I loved all four novellas and highly recommend this dear book. There were also recipes and an Amish glossary within its pages.

Easter Wreath & Book Review

 

What can you do with a rabbit shaped wreath from CVS? Well.... you can look around the house and see what you have....add clover for the ears....colorful eggs that sparkle...

a bow, and two shelf -sitter bunnies from Michaels.  OH! and a carrot of course!

 

Keeping busy while waiting for Spring to come!

 

Have a great day!

 

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Book Review: A Broken Kind Of Beautiful by Kate Ganshert

Blogging for Books generously sent me a copy of "A Broken Kind of Beautiful" for free in exchange for an honest review. This novel is about Ivy Clark, a famous fashion model who is discovering that in the eyes of the industry that employs her, is only interested in her pretty face and nothing more. After returning to South Carolina for a family funeral, she begins to confront her troubled past and uncertain future as she realizes that models are disposable; that you are only important until the next "it" girl comes along. Ivy meets a former fashion photographer at this funeral she attends and learns he had walked away from this competitive and shallow industry to focus on what is really important. He returns for a brief assignment working with Ivy and because their paths have crossed, he inspires her to question her choices and future and to make herself open to hear God beckon her in the right direction. Resistant at first, Ivy tries to continue the life she has known only to be rejected and witness more loss and sadness. This was an honest story of a woman lost in a false world of glamour who in the end discovers there is much more in life that is meaningful and fulfilling than having your face on the cover of next month's fashion magazine.

Spring Vignette & Cartons of Goodies

Sunday morning and everyone is still sleeping. I thought I would sneak in a blog post before everyone wakes up to start the day! We are , yet again, waiting for a snow storm today and into tomorrow but the good news is it looks like they did lessen the snow totals...but I ask myself all the time..do they really know???? I'm not so sure. All I know is I am a snow lover, and will always be a snow lover but this year it was even too  much for me! I embrace all four seasons and the beauty and climate of them all, however, its just been difficult to get around in so much ice and snow piles. But alas..I see Spring! (look below so you know what I mean!)

This is the candle box I bought at the thrift store the other day. I had some fun creating an egg-citing Easter scene :)

Straw and chickies and glass eggs...all fun stuff I had left over from some of last year's Easter/Spring projects.

Speaking of chickies and eggs, my little Frankie ended up laying 6 eggs this week!!!! We were so surprised as she never layed so many and so consistently. She is, dare I say it--on a roll---an EGG ROLL...Caitlin thought that was a cute pun. Three cheers for my little Frankie!

In other exciting events here, my cousin has a relative who recently was cleaning out the home of one of their relatives who passed away and this person apparently was very into crafting. They gave my cousins boxes of craft supplies and she left me a few on my front porch the other morning. Some wonderful items are inside that I will also be sharing with others.

I have never used a Sizzix machine but I am eager to try it. I've seen many bloggers use them. I may need some help with that. There were tons of discs for it. Plus lots of stamps, different card stock, glue guns & craft dryers, and some other cool stuff. I have some friends who make cards and also do stamping that will love to share this with me.

Have a great Sunday!