Quilt #7

Quilt #7- 1998- Twin Size

Five Bucks and a Thrift Shop: Round 4

Four Yards of Fun 100% Cotton Fabric

Tiny Wooden Spoon, Bowls and Plates for the Play Kitchen

Cost:  $5.00

 

 

Five Bucks and a Thrift Shop?  What's this all about?

I am a big fan of thrift shopping.  It's not because I can't buy things new and I'm dragging myself to the thrift store out of necessity. Instead, it's for the find, the score, the excitement.  The "I can't believe I found this...and I need this" moment. It's amazing the stuff you can find. It sort of gives you a high.  And then I come home and set up a little display for my husband to gawk at.  Okay, so "Yup, that's nice" isn't quite a gawk, but I'm sure his non-nonchalant, monotonous mannerism is a cover up.  Surely, he's silently just as enthusiastic and excited as me!  How could one not be?!  I mean, isn't this pile of treasures what you've always dreamed of having?  He must be secretly busting at the seams with excitement.  Okay, maybe not. But one can hope. 

What's with the five bucks?  Well, I saw some sort of article somewhere about a woman who goes to the drug stores with coupons and records what she can get for five bucks.  Five bucks is usually what I end up spending at a thrift store anyway. Instead of spending $5 on a coffee, might as well see what you can get elsewhere.


Won't you play along?  If you are a deal seeker, post a link with pictures or describe the awesome deal you got!  I promise I will be just as excited as you!  If no one posts, I'm going to assume no one cares about my treasures.  It will be simply heart breaking to think I'm the only one who gets outrageously giddy over a brand new set of navy plaid cloth napkins for only $0.50. For a set of six, none less!  Certainly, I must not be the only one, right? 

Gardening

I grew up with a big garden.  My mom would preserve food and we'd consume it year round.  I have fond memories from that big garden.  I could even tell you exactly how the rows were ordered year after year. One of my *musts* when house searching was having enough land to have a garden.  The piece of property we bought has plenty of land.  With many trees.  No big deal, just cut them down.  Well, we've been cutting trees down for years, but haven't managed to cut enough for vegetables to get the 6-8 hours of sun they need.  My best intentions produce nada.  And let's face it, my husband was less than enthralled to cooperate with my tomato growing idea-move the potted tomatoes throughout the day to chase the sun.  I even had a schedule devised. That idea was quickly rejected.  Just was I had claimed defeat, our neighbors/friends made a generous offer.  A community garden with them.  At their historic home across the way.  We were ecstatic.  Well, I was ecstatic.  My husband was worried...worried about what his ambitious wife would sign him up for.

Year 1 of gardening turned out better than I hoped.  Although my dear husband dragged his feet, he did help the large pregnant mama-to-be last summer.  Even while being pregnant and with an infant, I was able to grow and preserve enough food for our baby to be raised on homemade baby food and for many home grown winter meals.  There's something special about wandering to Nam and Pap's house on warm summer evenings, tending the growing plants, watching the beautiful sunset and engaging in conversation with friends we are so thankful for.  Yes, I was quite frustrated that we haven't had any luck gardening our land.  But, my lack of success turned into a blessing, for gardening with Nam and Pap is 10x better than gardening solo.

On my way to Nam and Pap's.

 Our seedlings are always small with limited light at first, but they'll take off.

This is Penny Road, the old dirt road that passes the old parsonage on the way to Nam and Pap's.

 Freshly rototilled by Pap.

 The beginnings of our planting.

New life.

 We play 'Where's Kammie? As she frolics and hides in the tall grass.  We'll periodically see a random pounce.

 A perfect family morning.

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Painting Gadget

My husband and I have been painting, painting and painting our new garage.  My husband asked if we had any small buckets around to divvy up the contents of the 5 gallon pail we bought.  We didn't, but I had an idea.  Cut a chunk out of a milk carton, but leave the handle.  Let me tell you, this was the easiest way to carry around paint.  Easy access to the paint, easy to carry with the handle and green. I may use this trick everytime I paint, it worked so well!

Sling Bookshelf with Storage Bins for Kids

I saw this sling bookshelf with storage bins online and I wanted it.  But I'm way too cheap to buy it myself.  So I enlisted my dad in this project. 

The BOG (Bald Old Grandpa) made the sides from wood from his woods and bought the dowels.  I made the sling part with navy canvas fabric that I bought a long time ago for a dollar a yard (needed to be 60 inch fabric).  I hemmed the edges and pinned the continuous piece of fabric (fabric ended up being 100inches x45 inches) where I wanted the loops to go before sewing the seams.  It was really a pretty easy project. 

Here's the boys working:

 Cost:  Less than $10.

French Onion Soup

I’ve already shared that I make all of our own bread.  Delicious and more healthy for us, except when I’m tempted to eat the whole loaf of bread when it’s warm.  When a new loaf comes out, there’s inevitably a slice or two left from the last batch.  Being the frugal mama I am, I can’t bear to throw out a single slice of my homemade bread.  So, I slice it and put it a bowl, covered with cheese cloth.  It dehydrates.  I can then use it for French Onion Soup.  You can use any bread you have, it doesn't have to be homemade.  This is an easy peasy staple. I often slice the onions and set aside until a meal time.  I’ll let the onions caramelize while we're eating to maximize time.  I’ll add the remaining ingredients after the meal and let the soup simmer. By the time I’m done with the cleanup, we have a pot of soup for the next meal.

 

French Onion Soup

4 cups sliced onions

2 tablespoons oil

3 cloves minced garlic

5-6 cups broth*

1 bayleaf

½ tsp oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

Caramelize onions in oil (about ½ hour).  Add Garlic, cook for another couple minutes.  Add broth and spices and simmer for ½ hour.

Serve in crock.  Top with slice bread and provolone cheese.  Broil until cheese is melted.

*For broth, we like to keep “Better than Bullion” around.  It’s condensed and whips up quickly into broth.  French onion soup is typically beef broth, but if you’re vegetarian, you can easily substitute vegetable broth. 

Refinished Porch

This Memorial Day weekend brings back memories from Memorial Day 2010.  I was almost 6 months pregnant and home for a long weekend, husband-less (he was working overtime).  I decided to tidy up the place for spring...starting with the farmer's porch.  As I was sweeping it, I thought "This is ugly".  So, I promptly grabbed our sander and went to work on my hands and knees.  

The next day, the conversation with the husband goes something like this:

H: What did you do?

Me: Well, it looked ugly.  I decided to fix it up.

H:  Why didn't you tell me you wanted help with this?

Me: I didn't know I was going to do it.  I just decided yesterday while you were working.

H:  Is that even safe?

Me: I wore ear, mouth and eye protection.

H: (shakes head)  I know I should be surprised, but that's my wife. I don't know if you should be left home unsupervised

Here's the before and after.  It pretty much took all three days.  I used Thompson Rustic Red Sealer.  We're both pretty pleased with the results. 

Before:

After: