Dime Store Chic

Yard Sale Saturday~~Furniture on the Cheap!

Hello, My Friends!~~~

This past Saturday was a bonanza for me! There were several yard sales next to my neighborhood. I found lots of fun misc crafty stuff, enough to fill the trunk of my VW Beetle!

But what Hubby had to load into the back seat of the VW Beetle were the real buys of the day~~

This fabulous pink vanity mirror now resides in our dining room!

The mirror weighs a ton, but clever Hubby made a strong hanger and hung this wonderful piece for me! I am going to use some of my vintage floral prints around the mirror but I want to think on that for a while. I thought you might like to see what $7 bought at a neighborhood yard sale!

And, we got this~~~

This stunning yellow wicker-over-wood cabinet is the perfect piece I needed in my studio to replace a rather utilitarian piece. It fits perfectly and was in perfect condition! And it cost me a mere $5.00!

 

This wonderful cabinet stores misc. office and craft supplies. I haven't stored anything in the two drawers yet, but I will!~~~I hope you all had a successful yard sale weekend too!~~~XXOO, Beth

A FUN and Easy Towel Rack Tutorial On Vintage Indie

Hello, My Friends!~~~

Vintage Indie has posted another of my wacky, whimsical "Dime Store Chic" projects! So easy and FUN!

If you want to make a towel rack like this one, head on over to Vintage Indie for my how-to!~~~XXOO, Beth

Cherry Chompin'!

Hello, My Friends!~~~

I was out there in blogland a few days ago, and Angry Chicken Amy bought the cutest cheery pitter I have ever seen! I needed a cherry pitter and was delighted to have found one. The stores have lots of fresh cherries!

I spent about a half hour this morning with my Cherry Chomper pitting a whole lot of cherries~~~

It's the happiest little chomper after chomping so many cherries!

I made this with the chomped cherries~~~

Two cherry cobblers. One for us and one for my neighbor for her birthday.~~~I got my cherry chomper from Amazon.com. Maybe you need to chomp some cherries too!~~~XXOO, Beth

New on Etsy~~Sparkle and Sweet!

Happy Monday, My Friends!~~~

Been industrious in the studio, and thought I'd give you a peek into what I just added into my etsy shop!

Patriotic sparkle with vintage ornaments, tinsel, and aluminum light reflectors!

Sweet as sugar! A purse with candy, cupcakes, and other treats AND a fun ribbon rosette corsage!

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of blogland today and have a wonderful week!~~~XXOO, Beth

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, My Friends!~~~

This is me and my Dad on my third birthday. As you can see I got my first "I-pod" (the 1963 model) from my Dad.~~~Dad is an architect, a father of three, and one of the most intelligent and driven people I have ever known. He is 74 now and still practicing architecture on a computer these days instead of a drawing board. He taught me how to read maps (which is a very important skill as I am a human GPS now) and how to accept nothing short of the best of myself. Happy Father's Day, Dad, and to all of you who celebrate the very special people who we call father.~~~XXOO, Beth

A Little Health Update

Happy Friday, My Friends!~~~

Back in April I posted A Wake Up Call about a health fright I had. Basically I had asthma but I also had high blood pressure and 25 more pounds on my body than I needed. I am not stupid and I listened to my doctors. During the past 2-1/2 months I have changed my lifestyle drastically. I am not on a diet. I have changed my lifestyle.

BEFORE my health fright, I thought nothing of eating Chinese food (sodium central!) and fast food over 7 times a week. No salads or anything remotely healthy, I dug into fried fish, fried chicken, and fries! I also sucked down M and M's by the handful. Generally I didn't think about what I shoved into my mouth. I also didn't think about my health as I didn't little to no physical activity. I weigh 160 pounds on my 5' 5" small-boned frame.

NOW I eat all sorts of vegetables, baked or grilled fish, substitute fresh herbs and pepper for salt,  whole grains, and limit my sugar intake to "healthy" sugar like fruit, dark chocolate. I enjoy my food and I keep a food journal. I love my Nintendo Wii Fit, I signed up for Fitlinxx at the local gym which means I do strength training 2-3 times a week (including pilates and yoga). I do 30-45 minutes of aerobic (walking) exercise every day. The results?

I am thrilled to report I have lowered my blood pressure to normal levels (117/77), I am off blood pressure medication, AND I have lost 20 pounds and knocked 2 inches off my waist!The asthma is not an issue either. I also had a cardiac stress test with excellent results. Do you all really want to know all of this? I know some of you do, as you wanted me to keep you posted. Thank you so much for your good vibrations as I feel it helped me embrace my new healthy lifestyle. I still have 5 pounds to loose and one more inch to drop from my waist. I feel great. And thank you for being there. NOw I need a new photo for my blog ;)~~~XXOO, Beth

My Not-So-New Obsession

Hello, My Friends!~~~

Lately I have been adding to my stash of vintage plastic birthday candle holders. I love crafting with these little "flowers". They are so colorful (like candy) and so fun to work with. Here is a look at my stash:

Here is the sweet jar I store these goodies in~~~

I was so lucky to find this jar at a yard sale a few months ago for only $5. I am using these candle holders and releasing them from their jar! Here is my latest creation~~~

OK, perhaps, I'm a little bit nutty for these silly bits of plastic, but what a way to go!~~~XXOO, Beth

Post Journey LOOT!

Hello, My Friends!~~~We came home a day and a half early only because Hubby was up to driving for 8 hours in one day (and through 5 states!). We decided to stay in our own beds and save money on another hotel room. Nice to be home, and we have such wonderful memories!

Our last day was a brief stop in lovely and quaint Stockbridge, Mass. and the Norman Rockwell Museum. No photos were allowed, but I can share with you my excitement at seeing such well-known illustrations in real life. To see the brush stokes and the vivid paint colors, the textures was wonderful. I have loved his work and it was a thrill to see so many pieces in one setting.

So we arrived home late Friday evening after enduring traffic on I-81 west of Harrisburg and practically fell into our beds after unpacking Hubby's pick up truck.

I promised I would show you the loot I got at the various antique shops, thrift shops, and quilt shops.

Here it is:

Most of my antiquing was done in Maine off of Route 1. There are antique stores everywhere along that road. Quite a few have "fine antiques" and the ones I like have less "fine" antiques. We got to joking on the trip that I was looking for "crap-tiques!" But I don't think these fun, whimsical goodies are "crap" at all.

I love the plasterware deer which now sits with other pieces of plasterware in front of our fireplace. I found the ballerinas at a Salvation Army on Route 1 in Maine.

I founds the two jars of fun junk jewelry at an antiques shop in Kennebunk, Maine next to anotehr antiques shop called Antiques USA. The Vogart pillow was a good find at the Fairfield Antiques Mall in Maine off of I-95.

I found the lady embroidery in another antique mall on Route 1 north of Waldoboro. The plaster fishes will adorn the wall of our rennovated bathroom (when that happens!). The dolls were a steal at the Fairfield Antique Mall, although I don't have any immediate plans for them yet.~~~So that's my loot! A lot of figurines, fabric, and fun! Honestly you could spend forever shopping antique shops on Route 1 in Maine! You MUST go up there for yourselves!~~~XXOO, Beth

New England Journey Day 6 and 7: Scenery, Wildlife, and Number 14

Hello, My Friends!~~~

We are now in Massachusetts heading home with a couple of more stops before we arrive home on Saturday. Yesterday and today we explored more of beautiful New Hampshire.

The beginning of Day 6 took us to the summit of Mount Washington which is famous for this:

It was unnaturally calm on top of the mountain as the winds were 0-10 mph. However this is as far as we could see from the summit:

 

Yep, those are clouds blocking the view of the mountains indicated on this sign. But there a was a little clearing in a few minutes:

We met this guy on top. Will had begun walking the Appalachian Trail at the beginning on Georgia in February.

Hubby and Son look a little more refreshed than Will having ridden up in a van and only walked up this rock pile to the summit:

The clouds moved in and out on the way up and down.

I especially like these tiny trees stunted by the harsh weather conditions.

These trees are only 2-3 feet tall, but they are over 150 years old!

Near the bottom of the mountain we saw this resident:

She was with her two cubs.

We also saw this bear:

Up in Littleton we visited Chutters home of the world's longest candy counter!

Here it is:

YUM YUM! And speaking of Yum Yum, we traveled to Sugar Hill and ate lunch here:

And we bought award winning syrup here in North Woodstock:

Fadden's proudly displays their awards as the Best Maple Syrup in New Hampshire in 2008 and 2009.

On the way back to the hotel we saw this fine fellow:

Mr. Moose was hiding and waiting for us to move on.

Day 7 dawned with a brief journey from North Conway toward Weirs Beach. On the way we took a road less traveled:

And found this tucked away gem:

So cool!~~~

Back on the main road we drove to Weirs Beach on the shore of beautiful Lake Winnepesaukee (remember the movie "What About Bob?"--it supposedly took place there but was actually filmed in Virginia).

The town of Weirs Beach was gearing up for an onslaught of motorcycles this coming weekend. But all was uncrowded when we were there:

Son had to spend time and a lot of quarters at the Fun Spot, the world's largest video game arcade. He did, however, play some Skee Ball too!

Before we ended our time in New Hampshire, we found the boyhood home of President number 14, Franklin Pierce:

Right off of Route 9 west of Concord, NH!~~~That's all for Days 6 and 7! Tomorrow, Stockbridge, MA and Scranton, PA!~~~XXOO, Beth

New England Journey Day 5: On The Road Miscellany

Hello, My Friends!~~~This morning we left Bar Harbor, Maine with the sun on our backs and headed into cloudy then rainy weather as we trucked east into New Hampshire.

All along the roadsides in Maine the lupines are in bloom. Here is a sample of these lovely spiked flowers:

They are on the roadsides...everywhere!

I convinced Hubby to take a small detour to the Largest Antiques Mall in Maine: Fairfield Antiques Mall.

It looks small on the outside, but it is HUGE inside. I found a bunch of cool goodies!

We saw the sign on Route 2 on the New Hampshire border. Good tip!

We are staying in North Conway, New Hampshire for two nights while we explore the White Mountains. Our hotel has its own mini waterpark. There is a charming "touristy" store in North Conway:

Here is part of the inside. You can pretty much buy any candy you want and a whole host of New England goodies.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, we go in search of scenery and syrup!~~~XXOO, Beth