Today's Resale Finds = $20.00

My favorite is this lamp that I scored for $4.99 It's has this neat glass ball in the middle and is pretty unique. It even has another glass ball to hold the shade on.

This frame is already sitting on my counter with a coat of primer. Next week it will be hosting a new family portrait. This weekend we are scheduled with a dear friend, for family portraits with my parents and my brother's family.

Once upon a time I really liked gold, not so much anymore.

I've already worked this birdhouse into my decor. Things have to blend in before the hubby gets home you know! I will show you were I put it on another day.

I thought these plates would make for some good chargers in an upcoming tablescape. I just am loving how versatile white dishes are!

My hubby thinks this lamp is the ugliest thing that ever existed, and you might agree if you don't have 'transformation eyes' like I do. Just you wait! In the next few weeks I will have a post about this lamps rebirth!

 

For $1.99 each I just couldn't pass these large tins up. Do you see, the top one even says 'cold drinks' on it? They are in perfect condition!

What a steal, all of that for $20.00!

Linking up to Thrifty Thursday, Show your Stuff off Party

Garden themed Bridal shower a success

My balloon lady/ friend taught me how to make these balloon flowers. Aren't they just adorable? They take about 5 minutes each to do but they were very fitting for a garden themed bridal shower.

 

I put some on the front porch right before the guests arrived. I also decorated with fresh flowers throughout the house (just didn't seem to get pictures of them).

I used my friend's chocolate fountain again, I think at this point I have used it more than she has! I just love the thing, probably because I like chocolate so much.














We played a few games including splitting up into groups and designing wedding dresses out of paper towels, toliet paper and tape with a 10 minute time limit. This is what our brides looked like. Trashy eh?


















Another fun thing that we did was wrote down phrases the bride said while she was opening her presents without her knowing and after she was all done we passed around the list and each person read one of her phrases after saying.. "This is what Nida will say on her wedding night..." It was VERY funny taking what she said out of context. Here is the soon to be bride listening and highly embarrassed. ;)

Check out what I put my gift in. I found this at Home Goods  and it's made out of recycled magazines. My friend (the soon to be bride) is big into making things out of other things so I thought she would like this. It even had the little chalk board tag already on it.
















To drink I served lemonade, fruit punch, bottled water and June Bugs (recipe here).

To eat I served crackers and cheese, fresh veggies with ranch dipping sauce, the chocolate fountain with lots of dipping items including fresh fruit and for her cake I made Banana Split Cake, which was perfect for a steamy hot day! Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture before it was half way eaten, sorry!
















Here is the recipe if you want to give it a try...

Banana Split Cake
serves 15

Ingredients:
2 cups crushed graham crackers
1 stick margarine
2-8 oz. pkgs of cream cheese (softened)
1- 1lb box powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
5 bananas
1- 20oz crushed pineapple
8oz cool whip
optional 1 cups chopped pecans for topping
optional 1 small far mar cherries for topping

Instructions: Combine melted margarine and graham cracker crumbs. Press into bottom of 9x13 pan/ dish. Combine softened cream cheese, powered sugar and vanilla. Blend until smooth; spread over crust. Slice bananas over cream cheese mixture, then spoon pineapple over bananas. Spread Cool Whip over all and top with pecans and halved cherries if desired. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

Garden Update- Wild flowers & red tomatoes

It's always fun when you throw wild flower seeds down to see what comes up. To me when it's bloom time it's like opening present after present.

My wild flowers are just starting to bloom.

I find this orange one to be very pretty. I'm intrigued by the tiny looking flowers on the inside.














This pink one is just opening up, interesting.















This blue one looks like a little firework (fitting for the approaching 4th of July).












These very tiny white ones look like little butterflies.

And this one looks like a little orchid.

 

I challenge you to look closer at your wild flowers and really examine them. There is so much beauty in those little buds.

The vegetable garden is coming right along, it is nice to finally see some red tomatoes. 

 

My pear shaped cherry tomatoes are coming right along as well.

 

I had to remind myself what they were after they started forming.

I recently planted three .60 azaleas. Yes, you saw that right. I bought three 2.5 gallon azaleas at Lowe's for .60 each. I have no idea what color they will be, but in the very back corner of our property they will be perfect no matter the color. And I noticed while I was out there that we need to weedeat around the border of this bed. I also bought another plant for .60 but I have no idea what it is. It just says 'accent plant' on the tag and it has the most amazing peach flowers (only problem is they last for exactly 1 day and then fall off), and today there were not any completely open blooms to show you a picture off.

 

I planted some additional flowers in my hubbies new front flower bed. I figured it could use some more color until it starts filling in some more. The shrub next to his stone is a weigela and will eventually be 5 feet x 5 feet.

I'm linking to An Oregon Cottage's Tuesday Garden Party, and Shabby Nest

The real reason...

Here is the real reason for the new front flower bed, a father's day gift for my husband. Yes, what other than something KU! My husband is a wonderful father to my two sons and we couldn't be more lucky then to have him in our lives. Happy Father's Day cupcake.

I didn't get to spend Father's Day with my dad today because we live a few hours apart but I get to spend a few days with him real soon (and am looking forward to it). Happy Father's Day to the best dad a girl can have! I love you dad!

My new Chandelier -for a whopping $10!

Remember when I told you back in January that I dream of having a crystal chandelier? (http://creativeinkansas.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-want-crystal-chandelier.html) I didn't get a crystal one.. (some day!) However, I did get a new chandelier for my dining room and it cost me a whopping $10 at a yard sale!

I had already taken the light fiture that came with the house down and painted it black. Which means the light fixture in this room has come down twice in the past year. My hubby said this one has to stay for a while.. I guess i will just have to figure out how to add some crystals to it! ;)

Here is the old one, not bad, but not as formal looking as the new one.

What do you think of my switcheroo?

P.s. Day 6 without diet coke, starting to crave it less.

New Front Garden

I added a new flower garden in the front of our house today. It's a lot larger then it looks in the photo. It's raised so it's hard to see the island shape of it.

I was attempting to tie the tree on the front corner of our lot, and add a place for some daylillies and a father's day gift for my hubby from my sons (I'll post soon about that).

Also note the new birdbath closer to the house.

I really hate pulling up healthy grass but at the same time I really like flowers! ;) P.S. This is day 5 without diet coke, amazingly not a single headache (of course this is the first day I felt like doing something other than sleep!)

I said goodbye on Monday to my biggest vice...

Vice: –noun

a fault, defect, or shortcoming

You might think it's not a big deal, but to me it is. I drank on AVERAGE over 2 liters a day. Yes, I said on average, some days I drank a whole lot more than that!

Years ago I drank regular coke and the day I switched to diet I almost could feel the weight fall off me. What was I thinking drinking all those calories?!

Well, now I find myself in my 30s questioning how good these artificial sweetners and all of these chemicals are for me. Remember, I am trying to live a balanced life here. Something is not right when the first thing that pops in my head in the morning is having a diet coke. It is seriously what motivates myself to roll out of bed in the morning for.

Here is what I spend on average for my diet coke each day...
$1.08 morning stop at McDonalds for a 32 oz. diet coke
$1.25 mid morning bottle of diet coke from machine at the office
$1.50 avg cost of diet coke for lunch
$.75 1/2 of a 2 litter of diet coke at home in the evening
Daily average= $4.58
Yearly= $1,672 (Wow, what will I do with that extra money!?! Spend it on something else I'm sure.)

Today is the end of my 2nd day without diet coke. I am soooooo tired! But other than that am doing remarkably well. I've been drinking water at the times I usually drink coke (not quite as motivating to wake up to the in the morning!)

Anyone else out there addicted to diet coke??

One Million Pillowcase Challenge- Join me?

Remember this material I bought back in February without a purpose?

It now has a purpose! I am going to be part of the "One Million Pillowcase Challenge". Basically you make pillowcases and donate them to local charities. Who doesn't want to sleep on a clean new pillow case of their own? I think I will donate the ones I make to a womens shelter.

Some of the donation suggestions for the challenge include:

•Operation Support for Deployed Military

•Department of Human Services

•Child Welfare Services

•Nursing homes

•Oncology units

•Women’s shelters

•Youth shelters

•Runaway shelters

•Hospice centers

•YMCA’s

•YWCA’s

•Red Cross

•United Way

•Ronald McDonald House

•Veteran’s clinics/hospitals

•Missions

•Transitional Residences

•Victims of fires

•Victims of hurricanes

•Victims of floods

•Church World Service

•Lutheran Refugee Services

•Catholic Charities

•Pediatric Surgery Centers of local hospitals

Check out this girl who is going to hand out these 47 pillowcases at her upcoming 1 month hospital stay...

More details here..

Or these ladies who made 64 pillowcases to donate to a nursing home...

More details here...

Care to join me? Read all about the challenge here:   http://allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases 

There are even free fun patterns on their website.

Wednesday Gratitude & White Wednesday

My grandmother "Baba" turned 80 last weekend and this was one of the beautiful arrangments that arrived at her house.

How grateful I am to still have my grandmother at her age. She is an amazing woman and the glue to our family. We all sat around and told stories about how she influenced each of our lives.

It was also my brother's birthday weekend. He received a different kind of flower arrangement (which I think is great!) It is carnations in a mug full of yellow glass stones, water, and a little foam looking stuff at the top (meant to resemble a beer or a float).

Linking up to Wednesday Gratitude and White Wednesday.

Organizing Restaurant Coupons

First just let me say, I HATE eating out without a coupon. That is why it's important to me to keep our restaurant coupons organized, so it's easy to find one when we need one.  To keep track of these coupons our family keeps a notebook (with clear protectant pages) to store them in.

This is not the three ring binder type. It's just one solid notebook with the pages built in (portfolio style)

The notebook also houses all of the menus of places that we enjoy eating at (but does not store any other type of coupons). If we have a coupon for that restaurant it sits in front of the menu. As we get new coupons in the mail I just swap out the old for the new.

When we are having dinner out we can flip through the book and decide on what makes our tummies sing the most. And this style of notebook makes it easy for use to grab if we are headed to a movie and aren't sure where we will eat afterwards (nothing falls out!).

At the back of the notebook we keep the stray coupons, of places that we would like to try sometime. Rule #1 for this book is we never put a coupon in that we have no interest in using. Just because it's a restaurant coupon, does not mean it's going to make it in our book.  I always keep a few choice coupons in my wallet too, just in case! I told you I hate to eat out without a coupon right?!

How do you keep your restaurant coupons organized?

Linking to: Lucky Linky Tuesday, Take a Look Tuesday, Lettting the Creative Tuesday Juices Flow, and Toot your Horn Tuesday,

First salad from the garden!

Tonight we enjoyed our first salad from our home garden. The tomatoes aren't ripe yet, so it consisted of a few types of lettuce, some homemade croutons and some chicken tenderloins hot off the grill. How nice it is to snip off just how much lettuce we need for dinner and not be wasteful!

Remember, this is coming from that 4x4 foot garden I planted new this year. It's just so easy to mantain.

Linking to DIY project parade, Mad Skills Monday.

Birthday Gift- 4 1/2 hour assembly time?!

Today is my son's 12th birthday, and for his gift we purchased him a basketball goal.

Last night we thought we would sneak out and put it together real quick so it would be all ready for him to find this morning. Well, real quick turned into 4 1/2 hours! Try sneaking outside for that long! I put my 15 year old in charge of entertaining him! He said it was a very hard task, because not only were we taking a long time, we were also making a lot of noise!

Who would have guessed something that looks so simple would take soooo long to put together. We didn't even have any issues. Well, except those 5 times when we thought they had forgotten to put such a vital part in the box. "How could they do that?! We NEED that part, if we don't have that part we can't put it together. Oh, how disappointing, why can't they just get everything in the box! Rrr, there aren't even any more at the store, nothing we can do... OH, THERE THE PART IS!" The first part we couldn't find, the hubby ended up finding at the bottom of the driveway where it had rolled, the other 4.. just highly disquised. ;)

It's possible I am just pessimetic. Anytime I ever had put something together I've always worried that something would be missing. Does anyone else do that?