missing in action

Spoons are the things that go missing at our house--
second only to socks!
(Why IS that?)
Imagine my pleasure at finding 24 mismatched ones recently
at a thrift store in Auburn, IN!
I took out 6 that most closely match a set I have
and might offer the remaining 18 on a facebook garage sale site.
Meanwhile, I think these make a lovely picture.

What turns up missing at YOUR place?

hospital style

 
Alone in the elevator at Parkview Hospital on the way to visit a friend
I took advantage of the full sized mirror on the door
to take a rare wardrobe photo.
 
Here's a closer look at the pattern of my shirt.
The necklace picked up the gold of the buckle in the brown belt I wore.
(Forget that I forgot to slip out of my plastic sandals into black pumps.)
As you might surmise, everything I'm wearing was purchased at a thrift store.
As I left the elevator on the fifth floor,
this beautiful painting hung on the wall to my left.
It reminded me of the Big Art featured
at the Bohemian Vintage blog this morning.
What a pop of style Big Art introduces to one's space!
 Speaking of art....this is the stenciling I did on the table I posted in a prior post.
The colors are quite muted, but pick up the colors
on the Formica top of the table.
I'm pleased.

re-purposing

 These photos show some of our re-purposed  projects this week.
(The buffet and green desk shown in my last post sold, by the way!)
My husband picked up some free lumber and a unique work bench
from a Craig's List post.
 
I saw a kitchen island waiting to be fashioned in that work bench!
So we put it on casters, I primed it, and Gary painted it a bright blue.
 Meanwhile, I worked on the smaller table (below).
I want to stencil a bit on the front yet.
These projects bring in a little extra income in addition to the
pleasure we experience in re-purposing them...
In the food department, I altered a crockpot recipe to use some garden produce
we'd been given.  This is the way I made it:

Polish Sausage and Cabbage Soup
2 cups potatoes, cubed and peeled
4 cups cabbage, shredded it fine
1 carrot, shredded it fine
1 large onion, chopped
2 servings of turkey sausage, sliced
4 cups water with chicken bouillon cubes dissolved in it
black pepper and salt to taste
Directions:  Place potatoes, cabbage, carrot, onion, , sausage, pepper and salt in crock pot. 
Pour broth over all. Cover, cook on high for 5 - 6 hours.

A couple days later, I re-purposed the leftovers 
and added a few extra potatoes and some more turkey sausage
and we enjoyed the leftovers. 
Finally, me wearing a re-purposed dress for church this morning
standing surrounded by re-purposed treasures of various sorts.

furniture ins and outs

It's been a busy day around the house today.  
My husband completed the refinish on the kitchen cupboard that we found
at an estate sale last week.
I wanted to move it into the house and contemplated placing it
where this mirror and mantel stand.
In the end, I couldn't do it!  I think it would have made the space too "close",
I couldn't think of anywhere else to put the mantel and mirror,
and I wasn't ready to sell them.
Meanwhile I met a buyer for this white high chair
and another buyer for these two chairs....
A buyer for this mirror came to the house to purchase it
and somewhere in between all the coming and going, ins and outs,
I decided to move this sassy green desk from its space
and list it on a local facebook garage sale site I participate on.
 The kitchen cupboard fits where it had been just fine!
So I spent the rest of the time clearing out the desk
and filling up the cupboard.
Now if the buffet (below) sells,
I should have a bit more space in the dining area of our kitchen.
I just may post the re-arrangement when it all happens.

no-cost dresses

 Where to start?  
 I wore this dress last Sunday.  I've worn it several times,
 but THIS time I got two compliments from strangers at Cracker Barrel where we went for dinner.
(The only thing different was I was wearing the Anne Klein necklace
 that you see in the following photo.)
 And when I picked up a friend for lunch on Tuesday, she said, "I meant to tell you how much
I liked the dress you were wearing Sunday!"
I got this dress off the "Give and Take table at church.  Free.
THEN on Thursday (I think), another friend rang my doorbell and gave me THESE two dresses.
 She had them hanging in her closet, wasn't wearing them, and thought I might like them....
I said, "If they fit, I'd love to have them."
They fit.
And this morning, I'm wearing the black dress with this jacket to church.
It's been a week of no-cost dresses, thanks to friends.

an extraordinary talent

 If you checked in with Thrifty Style for any length of time
 you won't be surprised by my fascination with 
AND admiration of the talents of Steve Garmater.
 Owner of Garmater's Auto Salvage, Inc (Harlan IN),
 Steve is a modest artist who is passionate about
 using what other people discard
 to create one-of-a-kind sculptures.
 The longer you look at any one of them,
 the more you see the intricacies of this man's vision and ability!
I'm blown away by what I saw out there today!!!

making do

Some times, you just figure out how to "make do"!
When the glass on the top of this wrought-iron stand got shattered,
I decided to bolt a silver-plate tray to its top.
It will rust, I suppose.
But meanwhile, it serves a purpose.
As they say,
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."

How have YOU been making do lately?


other peoples' gardens



Today, the Thrifty Lifestyle means making sure these apples don't go to waste!  They were given to us by generous friends last night.  I promptly picked out some of the best to share with a couple of friends who I thought would appreciate them.  Then I cored and sliced two crockpots' worth and cooked them slowly overnight.  This morning I popped them into the blender and ended up with three full quarts of applesauce to freeze.  Another crockpot is full again this morning for the same purpose...and I'm thinking about making some apple dumplings and an apple cake later today.  At times like this I wish I had a freezer besides the one in our refrigerator. 
The chard quiche I made yesterday was absolutely delicious!  I'm thinking I could make a similar one with the zucchini we've been given.
I'm blessed and thankful to have the time and leisure to work up the harvest of other peoples' gardens. 

pie time

 I went to my cabinet to find a pie plate this morning.
It was then that I realized I don't just have a pie plate--
I have a collection of pie plates!
 Besides a couple of metal ones, I have at least 7 glass ones varying in size from 10"
 to a couple of what must be individual ones...
 Then I went to my recipe file and found the press-in-pie-crust recipe
that is a GREAT one for a single crust pie!
And here it is.  Ready for the oven.
Later today, I'll fill it with quiche featuring some chard given us by friends.
Mmmm.  Mmmmmm!  
I can't wait.

(Did you guess that I once found it hard to pass up a glass pie plate
in thrift stores?)

i get a round

 Above - a footstool (sort of).
It sits between our two recliners 
and collects all SORTS of stuff.
As I sat in my chair before daybreak Saturday morning,
I wondered if I hold a record for the most round pieces
of furniture in one room!
This table  is much larger than it appears.
One of my favorite pieces of furniture in our living room,
it has a beautiful wood pattern on top.
My husband refinished it a while ago.
The coffee table is the third round piece of furniture in this room.
It fits perfectly in the round of the vintage sectional.
Oh, yes.  I get a round!
Speaking of getting around, I went on a Home and Garden Walk
Saturday.  If you enjoy gardens, you might check out
my garden blog and see what I thought to be some of the highlights.

found

Yesterday (in addition to the free items I stumbled on)
I found a sweet, vintage lampshade
 and another tin for my "collection"...
The shade has already found a home.
I REALLY like its color - 
and what a difference a lampshade makes to a lamp!

free again

 "FREE", said the sign that captured my attention as I drove by!
Immediately I knew I wanted this urn.  
I thought I'd throw away the artificial tree, 
but it's growing on me.
I'm thinking about painting the urn.
Any suggestions?????
And how about these chairs?!?  
The seats were in horrible condition, but once painted
and fitted with new seats,
the chairs will be a WONderful pair.