Hand Bags!

Oh! How I love them! But not the $$$$$ ones, cause I do not want to feel guilty if I don't carry it all the time or if it is out of style but not worn out! I usually carry a small bag because I tend to keep stuffing things in it and never clean them out until I change purses. I have many handmade purses from my custom bag making days and several that have pugs on them. Random tagged me to show off my current bag.

1. Take a picture. This is the bag I carried yesterday and have not switched it out today. I wore a bright pink dress to church with black shoes...so.....

2. Tell how much it cost. My SIL gave it to me for Christmas -so I don't know. But, I love it even if she didn't buy it at a thrift store! I usually don't buy thrift store purses because I HAVE to wash previously loved items before I can use them!!!! But, I do LOVE a sale purse like Random got!!!

3. What is in it? Glasses, keys, wallet, change purse, brush, envelope of cat food coupons, 2 coupon booklets -Proctor and Gamble and Target, pen, church bulletin, Kleenex, cell phone, and a Ziploc of paint and fabric samples

See what I mean??? I stuff things in it!!!

4. Tag others- Open season on this! Anyone who wants to play - show your stuff! I am tagging Lucky to Be Me - because she is new at this and I want to know if she is carrying the Purple People Eater at the beach!

Back in the Backyard

The weather was beautiful this weekend! We spent every moment out in the backyard. The Dining Room Project took the backseat so we could make the most of the sunny days!Last summer we ran out of energy and time on the pool landscape - so we put hay on this hill and left it for one of this year's outside projects.

Two trips to Home Depot, 224 cement retaining wall blocks, and 2 days hard labor. Each block weighs 22 pounds! I am really sore tonight - but we have a wall!

The hardest part was laying the base row level , a job for DH. The youngest boy, his friend and I unloaded the blocks. After that the wall went up pretty fast...until we ran out of blocks.

Blue rug juniper ready to be planted on the hill. Today, after church, we went back for more blocks. We finished the wall and put down landscape fabric. I'll take a picture of the finished wall when we plant the junipers.

This week I finished a sewing project for the backyard. The patio swing got a face lift. Here is the before picture of the canopy....

Pretty bad, huh? Well ...after 10 years outside....pierced by tree limbs...covered with sap, pollen....faded by the sun...

The cushions had been slip covered once, they don't look so bad- but I could not find any green outdoor fabric to match them.

And here is the after... I'm happy with it now...but I know it will show more dirt than the floral print did!

The canopy was much harder to get to fit the frame than I thought it would be. It needed to be tight and I made it too tight. I had to add some extra pieces to get it to fit. I hope it lasts a while because I think that we will have to just get a new swing next time!!!

The peach trees are blossoming. Last year we had a late cold snap and only had 1 peach! We did build a raised garden bed behind the pool last fall - so the tomato and pepper plants went in today! Not sure yet what else will go in there- summer squash and maybe some okra!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

There are not many St. Pat's decorations around our house! Perhaps I will have to visit Hobby Lobby for some good sales and add to the collection! The "Pug Flag of the Month"

Beanie Baby, the sign that used to hang on my classroom door, thrift store egg cup and ceramic egg with shamrocks.

And my favorite- leprechaun mug- another thrift store find! I would love to add more to this collection but they are too $$$$ on ebay!!!

Thrift Store Thursday

Since I am working tomorrow - I felt that I better take advantage of my freedom today! And since my thrift store buddy is still at the beach - I had to go by myself! This is not good. I can control my impulse buying more easily if I can see her spend money..... Oh, well .....I'm still too cheap to spend much!!!Here's my loot:
milk glass bud vase
Haeger Pottery Candlestick
hand painted shabby blue tin
4 Johnson Brothers ironstone bread and butter dishes
4 matching cereal bowls
pink ribbon
paper Christmas house
2 silver plate shell napkin rings
Small World book (for scrapbooking)
empty wooden frame
2 old framed prints of pocket watches

These are really vintage looking -

Love the shape of these plates. I have gotten very addicted to white ironstone from reading blogs. When I came home and looked at the price of these online-I was shocked at what a good deal they were! Too bad there were only a few of them!
These napkin rings still had the Dillard's tags on them- but I doubt they only cost $.29 !!!
Close up of the tin- I can always use more sewing notion storage!

They always wrap the dishes in T-shirts at the thrift shop. I keep some for DH to wear for yard work and take the rest back for them to reuse. Today I got a Thomas the Train shirt.....If his Mom would bring him home I would give it to him!!!!

Black and White

I love old black and white photos! I really like new ones, too, but the old ones are the best! I have them sitting here and there around my house. Some of my pictures are not even family. I am guilty of bringing home old photos from a thrift store, making up stories about them and pretending they are family. The other day my picture cut off some of the black and whites I have in that picture holder thingie.

If you guessed that was my Mom -you are right . The picture above is 3 generations- me in high school, Mom, and my Grandma B,

And here is my brother- about age 10ish and my Dad- very young- because I have no memory of that hair on top of his head!

And here we have my Dad's Mom and all of her sisters. She is the shortest one- which is another example of the apple not falling far from the tree! I would guess this is late 50's or early 60's at a family reunion. My guess is that the order of the sisters is K,V,E,D,M,W...am I right, Mom?

Paper Mache Eggs - How To

I had to replace some eggs on Etsy after I made my first sale! I made this set to hang on the tree.

Or they could nestle in some grass!

Gather all of the supplies- OK - it looks like a lot of stuff! But most of this stuff I had from other projects! Whenever I find cute napkins or tissue paper I save them for projects. I buy eggs after Easter for nothing.

I glue gunned the ribbon on the end of the eggs before I covered them with paper mache ( torn up Viva and wallpaper paste). Then dry.

Tear up napkin and sort by color. You can mix it up if you want- be creative!

Use wallpaper paste to glue on napkins. I do about 1/2 then dry and do the other 1/2. It is just easier to handle. If I am in a hurry I do the whole thing. It is best to let them dry on a piece of wax paper in the sun!

The last step is painting them with Mod Podge and shaking clear glitter over them to give a sugary coat! I forgot to take a picture of that!