Thrift Store Finds With A Makeover

 Welcome, I've been having  fun putting a bit of life back into some tired. Finds.

First up: 2 sturdy wooden candle holders. Slim and full of  interesting cut outs. So I simply gave them a bit of white paint, this brought the carving to life. A bit of greenery, a bow and a candle on top.

Next up is the wire basket, not sure what the basket is actually for , so I simply painted it a bit with some Elmer's glue and sprinkled some cinnamon powder and let it dry. This is a great way to add a rusty look, just added a bow and some lemons. 

The corbels I decided not paint, thier present look is to lovely. I simply hung on each side of the doorway into the dining room, added a slat of wood for a shelf over the door. A cute place to display some glassware.

The blue glass soap dish is holding a lovely lemon scented soap. The 2 brass dish holders are on display with 2 green dishes that I found at target.

The black pop over pan I have decided to stow away and try my hand at some homemade pop overs . 

It has been fun on this stormy day giving new life to some thrift store finds. How about you? Love to hear from you in the comments! Share with us your thrift store treasures!

                          Happy Thrifting!

                                  Lisa

Thrift Store Finds, The thrill of The Hunt

 Happy day to you! Welcome! I recently took a trip to our local Goodwill . I love to hunt for treasures! I always have a vision of what I'd like to find and many times I do. 

Although many finds will be painted and transformed into farmhouse beauties. This haul included some beautiful heavy metal corbels. Two wooden candle sticks,  an egg basket, dish hangers, a new Edison bulb, a heavy blue glass soap dish and a very heavy pop over pan.

My next post will show you how I transform some of these items and how I use them in my farmhouse decor!  Some will get a lick of paint, some will be hung. 

Tune in to my next post as I show you how I have transformed these items and added them to my decor.

Did I mention thrifting is very good for your sole, a type of self therapy if you will.

                             Until next time,

                                Happy Thrifting

                                         Lisa

Summer windows,the unexpected!

 Welcome! My hopes that wherever you are you are all well ! Summer is swiftly approaching and I was taking a long hard look at the heavy dressing upon my kitchen window, a heavy checked curtain that covered most of the window. Perfect for fall and winter but time for a change! 

Out came my sewing machine, I sewed up a little something, gathered up some pretty light colored depression glass plates that the light can shine through. 

After cleaning the window I tried the curtain on top but it wasn't quite right so I placed it toward the middle, unexpected but somehow seemed to work. I placed the dishes on the top window ledge propping them against the window. I had cut up pieces of rubber shelf liner to place under the dishes. I have done this in the past and it seems to work well. 

A string of soft lights seemed to finish the look and add some fun! This is a place I spend alot of time at so why not make it fun.? Here in S W Florida the summers are extremely hot and humid so for the living room where the windows are large I keep a curtain that does cover well to keep out the sun and heat. We tend to spend alot of time watching movies because unless your swimming or boating the extreme heat will keep you indoors.

Thankyou so much for stopping by , will you be changing out some windows for summer? Whatever you are doing I do hope you enjoy your days. 

                      Happy Decorating!

                                Lisa

An Easy Farmhouse Star To Craft

 

 Welcome! I think I like decorating for  the patriotic holidays just as much as Christmas or Easter. Mr. StNSA  is kind enough to bring me some great wood scraps from building job sites. So there was a pile of about 20 of these narrow pieces they were all cut the same size, which is perfect for this project. 

You will need 5 narrow slats of wood, some long screws, a screw gun, some paint and fabric scraps .first you will shape your star, then begin screwing all the pieces together.  You may want to sand it a bit. I gave it a wash of white paint and then used red for a worn look. Scanned thru my box of fabric scraps and created a shabby chic farmhouse bow.

You can create your star as big or as little as you like. I think it would be cute made with yard sticks as well. Thanks for stopping on in today!

                               Happy Crafting friends

                                          Lisa

Frothing Milk For Your Coffee? Oh are you in for a treat

 Welcome friends! Just wondering how many of you love coffee? If you indeed love coffee are you in for a treat. Many of you may already indulge in this coffee treat. Well I don't have a barrista,  and I don't have a fancy machine to do the trick.  

Today I thought I would indulge myself a bit and  try this milk frothing. It seems to be the hoopla these days. And I can tell you it is simply splendid. First step make a pot of your favorite coffee, I used a Starbucks flavored.  Second, time to heat your milk. I had to guess but it should be about 155 degrees so when I saw the milk was starting to steam I immediately removed it from the heat.  3rd step over to my blender. I let the milk cool for a couple min. Then I immediately added it to my blender. On low speed I began to blend until I could see the bubbles rising . Oh my this  was magical. I poured some onto of my prepared cold coffee that I had added cream and ice. Well this was heaven ! What a treat.  I have read if you don't have a blender por a frothing device a jar can also do the trick. 

You all are about to start spoiling yourself! Hope you will give this a whirl.  Somehow the froth is sweet so you may eliminate sugar.  Can't wait till tommarow so I can do it all over again. 

                                      Enjoy!

                                     Lisa

Starting A Garden From Seeds!

 Welcome to the Garden! If your thinking about starting a vegetable or flower garden this Spring you should go or should I say sow for it! The cost is minimal and even if you just have a small space that's OK! 

Here in Southwest Florida planting a garden directly in the ground has many downfalls, where should I start? Hurricanes,  tribes of bugs ,oh and did I mention I live  a few miles from the Everglades so we have ample animal friends visiting in the evening .They are always up for a good veggie meal! 

So about 4 or so weeks ago I started some seeds. I purchased them from Home Depot. Cucumbers, squash,peppers, tomatoes, herbs and some flowers. Also about 9 bags of Miracle Grow container soil. Containers I chose to use what I had on hand, wait till you see what I used lol lol. I am going for an old vintage theme style area. The area is close to my Lanai so I can care for the gardens easily.  One thing I must say don't skimp on the soil, buy good quality soil. So I started the seeds about 3 1/2 weeks ago and I'm surprised at the growth level. 

I chose the small pickeling cucumbers  because we make alot of pickels. You can always find a large jar in the fridge to accompany a sandwich.  So I chose a large retired garden wagon for the cucumbers, a plastic mini pool for the tomatoes and various pots for the rest. The most important thing is have fun with it! And it's true gardening is good for the sole! Even if you have a small balcony in an apartment 5 gallon buckets are perfect! 

Sqash/ peppers

Cucumbers

So this growth is about two weeks time, be sure to keep your seeds well watered and lots of sunshine.

Tomatoes

Peppers

So what do you think of the tomato nursery? I am going for the ole rusty farmers garden that includes  an old window frame, a rusty garden bench and some fun signs I crafted. Garden containers can be just about anything but it's important to line them with garden liner and be sure to have ample drainage.

After cracking eggs for breakfast,  I save them and put them through the chopper and sprinkle them over all the plants this spreads nutrients and also keeps bugs away, they don't like walking on the shells it Hurts them. Really!

Garden tools can be found at most stores for about a couple dollars.  It's been fun digging in the dirt getting some sunshine ! Hope you will too start a bit of gardening you won't be sorry!

                             Happy gardening friends!

                                         Lisa

An old iron blanket holder holds pots and tools

I chose to put a piece of lattice around the tomatoes 

Opening Up A Kitchen Cabinet for Displaying

 Welcome.....nice of you to stop by! Kitchen shelving seems to be the craze these days. I've joined in on that with one of mine. First step is taking the doors off. Secondly  painted the interior from top to bottom and removing the slat of wood in the middle that there for the sole purpose of door support. 

You can add corbels in the corners, I added a vintage wooden piece on the top for fun. Since we are approaching patriotic holidays I've decided to decorate red, whites and blues using  collectable dishware, signs and odds n ends. A colorful crafted pendant finished it off.

Saving the doors is probably a good idea if you tire of it or maybe selling you can always put the cabinet back together again.

This type of shelving is a great option if you don't want to start demo work by removing cabinets which  will involve much work. I thought it would be a great way to display my collections for holidays and everyday. 

Thankyou for stopping by, let your creativity and imaginations flow for some crafty fun! 

                                 Lisa