Pinterest and Me

Yes. I have a Pinterest account.
Basically, it is a picture file for me.
That's all I use it for.

Some of my fullest boards are White Ironstone,

...purchased today at My Favorite Thrift Store

Chalkboards, 

...this one's for you, Michelle (Mrs. Mobunny)

White Mantels, 

...ours, the way it looks today

 and Favorite Places and Spaces.   

If you go to this last one, you'll see that I DO like full (some would say CLuTTeREd) spaces!  

An occasional spare and bare image "calls" me for a moment, but not for long.

Oh, I just remembered Book Decor.  I'll come back for that another time!

Do you "Pinter"?

What are your larger/largest boards?

Entertainment Thrift

 The past few days have found us

 enjoying "entertainment thrift"

in the form of evening walks

 at destinations tame and wild.

 These are from Thursday's

 "wild" prairie grasslands...

the first ones of the post from Friday

at the cultivated gardens of our County Extension Services.

What do YOU do for Thrifty Entertainment?

Before and After

This Before and After session was brought to you by

a proud and happy wife!

After finding this old stereo/radio cabinet advertised for free

on Craigslist, my husband went to work to transform it

into a handsome piece of furniture with multiple

options for storage.  (We live in an old house, and storage options are ALWAYS useful!)
It is taking the place of THIS one - also an old radio cabinet
(with less storage options)....

 We change things up a LOT around here!

You Do the Math!

It had a pink tag...

Pink tags were 1/2 off.

Original price:  $1.25.

You do the math!
(Liz Claiborne)

Happy 100th Birthday, Julia

 A look at my bookshelf  reveals two copies of

 Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

A closer look at the smaller one with the blue dust jacket

suggests it may actually be a first edition!

I can't remember the details of their purchase,

but I'm absolutely positive it was either at a thrift store or garage sale.

Sadly, I haven't mastered the "art" yet.
I DID enjoy Julia, the movie!

Puzzling

 After a rather recent success with a jigsaw puzzle purchased at a thrift store,

 I was not so reluctant to spend $.25 on THIS one...

particularly after my visit to a local monastery.

It seemed to "fit" my mindset somehow.

It's set up - ready for action - on the handy gateleg table

that my husband recently refinished.

 I found this heavy, beveled oval mirror

at a garage sale last weekend

and painted the frame white.

 

 Other finds that day included these bookends...

 these two unfinished wooden pieces (free box)...

 and this candle holder designed to raise the taper candle as it grows smaller.

These are some of my most recent "finds".

(I'm especially fond of the bookends.)

Among My "Souveniers"

 

 

What a Hodge Podge!

After a couple of weeks of no thrfit store adventures,

(My Favorite Thrift Store was closed for remodeling)

I headed out yesterday in hopes that it would be open.

It was!

My Theory of Necklines

This morning I selected a white shirt to wear with my black nylon skirt.  This particular shirt has a square neckline.  I'm not sure I have another in my wardrobe!  But I like it.

At age 63, my neck is not my greatest feature.  But rather than trying to hide it with a turtle neck, I wear necklines that expose a little more "skin" than just my neck.  My perception is (and I hope it has SOME accuracy) that it takes the focus away from the unpleasant parts of my neck by enlarging the "field".

What do you think?  How do YOU (if you have a less-than-perfect neck) deal with it?

By the way, in keeping with my blog title and purpose, both the shirt and skirt were purchased at a thrift store...

The Big Reveal

 The Big Reveal: I "settled" for different fabric a couple of weeks ago, thinking I would never find blue & white fabric at a thrift store or garage sale.  Then I found this fabric in a ready-made bed ensemble at a garage sale.  I disassembled it and sewed up these curtains for over our kitchen sink.  Yes!  This is what I was hoping for!
A couple of secrets about thrift store/garage sale decorating are (1) to be patient
and (2) to see beyond what "is" to what COULD be.

And here is where the gate-leg table ended up.  

Just right!

Me and My Table

 ...not sure if that's correct grammar ("me and my table")...

But my husband put the last coat of paint and finish on this refurbished

gate-leg table that we purchased at a garage sale a few weeks back.

This afternoon we'll find (or MAKE) a place for it in the house.

I'm wearing a light-weight cotton Gap blouse and a Size 8 jean skirt!

I just "had" to put the size in here.

I'm shopping my closet since I've lost enough pounds

to fit into some clothes I've had waiting for this moment!

All thrifted, of course!