Etsy Shop Sale and Swagbucks

Hello there and happy Friday!

I have placed most of the items in my Etsy Shop on an End of Season Sale. If you need a clothespin bag, grocery bag or purse, CLICK HERE.

Its time to clear out some items so I can start restocking for Fall, Winter and Christmas!

Also, if you decide to sign up for Swagbucks, I would appreciate your referral. By CLICKING HERE, or on the Swagbucks link on my side bar, you can sign up and the link will automatically give me credit for your referral.

But, just signing up isn't enough. Once you sign up, be sure to use the Swagbucks website for your search engine, because not only do you earn points, I will earn the same number of points up to 1000.

I always use my swagbucks to buy $5.00 Amazon Gift Cards. Right now, I'm up to $45.00.

I will warn you that this is not a get rich quick proposition. It takes time and patience. But, Its just one of the small ways that I earn a little extra spending money. And, hey, we are all searching for things on the internet anyway, so why not earn a $5.00 Amazon Gift Card while we are at it?

I don't like to push these kinds of things too much on my blog, so I hope you don't mind the occasional post. There's no pressure of any kind. I'm happy just to have you reading my blog!

Gender Reveal Party

Have you heard of about gender reveal parties? I hadn't either, but they are so much fun. My step-daughter is expecting her first baby in January and Saturday we attended the gender reveal party. If like me, you've never heard of this, here's the low down.

The ultrasound technician seals the gender of the baby in an envelope, which is given to the cake baker. Even the parents don't know the gender yet. The inside of the cake has either blue or pink icing. Then you invite family and friends and have a cake cutting.

He, or She, cut to see....



The icing on the inside was blue!



Happy Tuesday.

Catching Up

I haven't posted lately, so here are some pictures showing some of the things going on at our house.

I bought a couple of Fall items at Family Dollar. I really love this small wreath that is hanging on the glass door between the dining room and family room.



My grandson and I made a rocket ship and helmet from cardboard boxes, toilet paper rolls, etc. I'm pretty sure it will serve as a time machine too!



We made some S'Mores in the oven recently. I have a stockpile of chocolate chips bought really cheap, but I really don't need to be eating the calories! At any rate, a Graham cracker, a few miniature marshmallows, and a sprinkle of chocolate chips toasted in the oven is yummy. I figured up the calories and they are about 100 calories each. But, who could eat just one?



You may remember that last year I planted Morning Glories on the clothesline trellis. They didn't do too well, no matter how much I watered them. This year they came back and with no care did pretty good. Go figure.



Thankfully, we are not in a drought here. Almost every summer for the past few years we have been. Here's another afternoon shower.



*** Personal Notes

***Mama got out of the hospital and has been back at the nursing home for a couple of weeks now. Her appetite has been better thanks to a prescription that increases it. She is totally bed ridden and cannot roll over in the bed. The nurses use a Marisa Lift to transfer her to the wheel chair for dialysis and then at dialysis she is lifted into the chair there. It hurts her all over to be moved and rolled back and forth in the bed, but it can't be helped. Through it all, I still see some of Mama's old spirit. For example, she told her roommate, who rides a motorized wheel chair, to stay on the right side of the hall.

*** After seeing a picture of myself with my step-son at his college graduation on May 4th, I went on a healthy, reduction diet immediately. In fact, when we had lunch afterwards, I opted for the fruit cup instead of mac and cheese! LOL I was able to take off about 18 pounds. My check up in July was great. Blood pressure and labs were all normal. Now, I am struggling to keep the weight off. I am determined not to have to do this again though!

Life is funny. Mama needs medicine to make her eat and I sure could use some of her lack of appetite!

I hope you have a great Friday and weekend!

The Corner Cabinet Redo

This post is linked to Tabletop Tuesday at a Stroll Through Life.

Last weekend I decided to gather all the odds and ends of white dishes I have been collecting into one place, the corner cabinet in the dining room. I like the final look.



None of these dishes cost much and were bought at thrift and junk stores or were gifts.



I've been learning a little bit about collectible dishes. There is ironstone, the poor man's china. There is also milk glass. And there are just plain white pretty dishes. I have a few pieces of iron stone and milk glass, but most of them fall in the latter category.



Now that I have learned a little bit about the history of dishes I know what to look for when out and about.





Don't you love those cinnamon brooms sold at Christmas time? This is one of those, but it doesn't smell like cinnamon any more. I tied a scrappy bow on it.



I still love those morning glories that a prior owner hand painted on this cabinet and would never think of painting over them!



Ps: I did work on a quilt this weekend!

Just a Smidgen of Fall...

I found some cute wooden trays with rope handles on clearance at Family Christian Store for only $1.29. I forgot to take a picture of them, but they were on the clearance table from last Fall and have pumpkin pictures in the bottom. I could envision all kinds of ways to use them, so I bought 4. Here's how I am using one of them.



These inexpensive silk sunflowers are just laying in the box. I can reuse them in other flower arrangements later on.





By the way, my Hubby found my "Fall" box and I have put it in a place that I can start pulling things out of it gradually as Fall approaches.

Personal Notes:

Mama is much better! She is still in the hospital, but is now eating. She was given some medication that increases appetite and when I visited last night she had eaten a good part of the supper tray and had a Krispy Kreme doughnut in her hand that a family member had brought her. She is still having the very low blood pressure and many other problems, but definitely way better than she was a few days ago. Thanks so much for your prayers!

Kindergartener....

My grandson is growing!



Hard to believe he will be 5 in about 2 1/2 weeks.



I started this blog 3 months before he was born. That's hard to believe too.

Funky Junk Wicker Nightstand

As you might have noticed I have been on a redecorating, rearranging kick lately. I haven't been doing much sewing and quilting. Sometimes you just have to do something different, and I have so many "home" things that I enjoy doing.

This is the inexpensive small piece of furniture I mentioned last week. I'm using it as the nightstand on my side of our bed. Another non-permanent lamp shade recover may be in order!





***** Personal Notes

Mama is in the hospital again. She has been getting sicker and sicker over the last month and had an extremely low blood pressure event during dialysis Monday. The rescue squad was called and she made a trip to the emergency room and then was transported to another hospital that can handle dialysis patients. Our small town hospital doesn't do dialysis or have a kidney doctor. She is doing somewhat better, so hopefully this hospital visit will get her back to her old self as much as possible. Your prayers are coveted!

A Non-Permanent Lamp Shade Recover

I've been wanting a small lamp with a red and white checked shade for the kitchen counter for a while, but just never ran across one. Finally, I just picked up one with a plain white shade and decided to cover it with some red and white checked fabric I already had.

But, I didn't want to use glue and spend a lot of time and work covering it. I also wanted to be able to recover it with another fabric if I chose to in the future.



I decided to use transparent tape and it worked pretty well. The place I am using the lamp is on the counter top in the corner of the kitchen. So, the back of the shade is in the corner against the wall underneath the upper cabinets, so nobody can see the tape down inside the shade or on the back.

To make the pattern I just rolled the shade on a large piece of newspaper and marked the paper with a pen as I rolled. Then I laid the paper pattern on the fabric and added a little extra width to be sure it was wide enough so that I could fold the fabric over the edges of the lamp.





I taped down one end of the fabric when I started wrapping it around shade. Then I folded under the other end to make a neat finished edge and taped that down.



To fit the edges around the metal things, I made small cuts with the scissors.



This was so much easier than dealing with glue and I knew if it turned out bad, all I had to do was take it off!

This post is linked to TABLE TOP TUESDAY at A Stroll Through Life.

....While the dew was still on the roses...

White Dishes

I popped in a thrift store that benefits domestic violence victims, which is within walking distance of my office, last week. I found several more pieces for my hodge podge of white dishes collection! These dishes are salad size. Four of them are by Mikasa and when I checked Replacements, LTD., I found these for sale for almost $25 each! I think I paid 25 cents each.



This week I ventured into a newly opened "Funky Junk" type store that sells antiques, vintage items and painted items. Things like a vintage suitcase that has been painted lavender sit together with antiques and vintage dishes. I love plundering through these types of things and bought these three white pitchers.



I also bought a small piece of furniture that I'll show next week. Hint: It fits in with my cottage/farmhouse theme, but didn't cost much.

The China Cabinet

I recently switched out my Christmas dishes in the china cabinet for some of the dishes I have been collecting. For nearly 12 years I have kept the Christmas dishes on display year round, but I decided to do something different for a change.

I added to my white dish collection during the past week and will show you the newest additions later.

I love the tea cups given to me by my SIL! Thanks M!

The china cabinet is a work in process and after I saw these pictures I am planning a better display for the top. Of course there are still plenty of chickens!