Thrifty Miss Priss

Where does the weekend go?

 I sure wish two days would fly by during the work week like they do on the weekends.....

Before you know it....it's Sunday evening....your still in your PJ's, there's been no grocery shopping or house cleaning.....

the minimal amount of laundry has been done.......

but I got to spend the morning yesterday thrifting...and guess what I found?  Lots of ruffles!   Then I went to visit my mom....and I pumped her for hidden stories of us when we were kids.  Since she can't articulate much anymore I had to play the guessing game.  When I asked her which of her kids was the cutest....I just KNEW she would say me....but without hesitating she blurted out my brothers name!  THE TRUTH COMES OUT!

spending the day in your PJ's, cutting and sewing......with a little heartbeat at my feet...

yes...it was a perfect weekend!     

Today we had polka dot sky....

The weather has been fabulous!  I looked up today and saw a polka dotted sky...perfect for Easter Sunday.   

Today also happened to be my sons 26th birthday.....we all got together for lots of good food and more than enough dessert to feed an army.  My daughter made this for her brother.

It's called fruit pizza....it has the tastiest glaze on top...with a soft cookie crust.  She added the "26" in the middle with blueberries! 

Since we don't have little kids around I didn't really bother with decorating for Easter.  When I learned my little friend daughter would be coming over.....my husband quickly went to the store and bought her some Easter Candy.  I told him ONE CHOCOLATE BUNNY ONLY since I knew she'd already received plenty at home.  

so one bunny multiplied into THREE.    This was his own little display that he presented on the table.

  

I found the cute table runner back in the Winter...perfect for Easter.  Of course I forgot I had it and found it purely by accident this morning.

and I have to share my all time favorite (to date) thrift shop score..........

a Nags Head Hammock!  I've wanted one FOREVER but at a cost of over $150.00 I could not justify purchasing one for only a few short months of the year.  I found this beauty for $15.00!  It's in perfect shape and it doesn't appear weathered...so I don't think it was ever used.  Everyone at the thrift store tried to buy it right out from under me after I'd taken it to the counter to hold while I shopped.  My husband set the posts this morning for me, so I haven't actually been able to lay on it yet.  I can't wait for the leaves to fill in on the tree above....I can see lots of lazy days ahead of me!  There are two eggs on the Hammock....we hid them all over the yard for my friend daughter (she's not my grand daughter buy my friend daughter)

And I'm just so proud to say that this one is finally trained to not run away!  I've worked with her every evening for two weeks off leash and she is finally able to go out and be FREE OF HER LEASH.  I'm so proud of her!  She's absolutely wearing herself out running through the yard ALL DAY LONG.  We don't have a fence and she is SUPER fast and chases EVERYTHING.  I could never trust her before to come back....but she finally "gets it"!

look at that tail!  I gave her a haircut yesterday and got all the hair off her legs and neck...she should be much cooler now.

and here's Heidi in action...she is not going to let her old age slow her down.  She is still as frisky today and she was 10 years ago....(she's 13).  

I was lucky enough to find two bird feeders at the thrift store as well.....my other ones were chewed to shreds by the squirrels last year.  After we got those hung I decided we needed a bird bath.  I quickly put two and two together and came up with this.

The top is an old light fixture we dug up (I added the crystals) and the bottom is one of those brass candlestick things you see at all the thrift stores.  I sealed the top with plumbers putty and it doesn't leak!        

I hope you have a wonderful week!

 (can you find the Easter egg?)

Today I'm linking to Rhoda's Thrifty Treasures!

Pictures that mean nothing...and some great links!

 

Just stopping in to blow the dust off this blog.....and tell you about some wonderful sites I've recently discovered....

Have you heard of Crescendoh?  Jenny Doh, the former (i think) editor at Somerset Magazine has started this wonderful new site....It's like a new magazine everyday!  One section is called "art saves" and it highlights different artists and their personal stories of what art has done for them.

From their website:

What is art? Is it paint on canvas? Pencil on paper? Yarn on needles?

We at CRESCENDOh believe that art is all of that and more. Art is what comes out of each of us, as we use our diverse spectrum of talent to elevate and beautify our lives. Art can be a quilt … a collage … a rubber stamped card … a poem … a musical performance … a well-loved garden … a delicious meal … a warm conversation. Art is what gets us through the moment, the hour, the day, the years, the lifetime. ART SAVES.

But it's really so much more than even that....it''s featured artists......shopping....lots of goodness wrapped up into one!  You must check it out!

a few other beautiful blogs I've discovered recently:

Dreamy Whites - a mom with lots of kids and everything is White! and she's married to a REAL cowboy!

pretties and posies Beautiful everything!

my shabby streamside studio - beautiful little studio!

flowerpatch farmgirl-she recently adopted her third baby from Korea....read back a few entries...absolutely heart wrenching!

and these pictures are of nothing in particular...other than the fact I have not taken a picture in ages.  This is my little grand dogger, Bella.  I don't think I've shared these pictures before....

Heidi LOVES her little Bella/niece

 Bella and her human daddy...my son...who's  6'5" and LOVES this little tiny Bella, but honestly I think she has him wrapped around her little pinky (paw)!

I hope you are all enjoying Spring! 

Mom, my beautiful Valentine!

 Happy Valentines Day!  

I went to see my mom yesterday, the first time in three weeks!  The snow has kept me from the one hour drive to visit.  The roads here are still treacherous.  

My sister picked me up...and about 20 minutes before she was to arrive I decided I needed to take my mom a Valentine.  I had the box already...and I used a copy of her glossy photo from a modeling shoot in the very early 50's.

I really had to rush on this....and we stopped and got her some m&m's for the inside.  She didn't recognize that the picture was her.  She also kept starring at me throughout the visit....almost as if she was trying to figure out who I was.  Whenever I caught her starring at me I'd wink  and whistle at her.  It made her laugh.

And while we're talking about Valentines.....28 years ago yesterday....Cupid put me and my sweetheart together.

I was only 18 when I met him....and we met at a club in Georgetown (in DC).  Eight months later we were married!  It's been a FAST 28 years..... And gravity has certainly done it's job at warp speed too over the past 28 years!

Today was spent cleaning and reorganizing my craft room STILL.  I glanced out the window around 4:00 and saw the deer coming down the driveway...right down the little trench that I have shoveled.  

How did he know to make his way down the drive in the little trench?  Smart Deer he is!  You can see his buddy in the back ground making his way down too.

They are hungry, as there's no leaves on branches to eat.  Everything is buried.  

I think he contemplated what might be available in that trashcan.  The trashcan that we can't roll down the driveway because of all the snow.

    I thought for sure at this point he was going to walk straight up my clean sidewalk to the front door and knock.  I was in the window taking pictures and he even saw me.  These guys are very tame.

he thought twice about knocking on the door, because he turned around to walk back down the trench to meet his buddy. 

 He convinced them all to get in the trench!  It's much easier to walk!

They discussed amongst themselves that this was not a good eating spot....so they moved on down the road.  I wanted to throw some English muffins out there...but doubted they'd like them.  They're store brand anyway.

We have some major icicles hanging...and tons of downed branches.  WIll be quite the clean up when the weather gets warmer.

I noticed this guys head peaking out of my flowerpot on the porch.  The snow has started to melt and I wondered how he got in there in the first place.  But I already knew.....my husband likes "the element of surprise" and constantly plants little oddities around the house for me to find.  Nonetheless....the little gnome looks quite happy keeping a watch on the front yard.

Have a wonderful week!

PS......Tomorrow (a government holiday)  was supposed to be a school holiday for my daughter.  Then they said "sorry!  too many days missed because of the snow!  You have to go!" Then today they said "Sorry!  We STILL do not have the parking lots ready for school buses- so stay home!"  Geeze!  She's been out of school since Thursday February 4th!  So we're guessing schools will re-open on Tuesday.  But guess what?  ANOTHER snow storm is supposed to mosey on through here tomorrow.  Monday....which means....Tuesday....maybe no school again!   

Eighty Years

I found my battery charger but didn't get it charged in time to go see my mom....my sister took this picture of my mom and me on my camera phone.  Sorry for the blur.  Right when she snapped it my sister said, "look at Robin trying to look like an angel....it's not working!"  These are the flowers I sent to my mom for her 80th birthday last week.  She really enjoys having them in her room to look at.

Remember this picture I used at Christmas to make the little presents for my sisters?

well here they are  today....

Hopefully they are still speaking to me after I've plastered their picture all over the internet!

My mom was doing exceptionally good yesterday.  Her thoughts were much more cohesive and her walking has improved tremendously from last Summer.  We are scratching our heads as to why the change for the GOOD.....unless it's just a cycle that ebbs and flows.....but we had a great visit with lots of laughs!  They served "pigs in a blanket" for lunch and my mom said it looked like toe nails!  Never a dull moment and so many laughs!

I hope you have a wonderful week! 

What a Beautiful Mess I'm in.....

Happy New Year everyone!  I, like many others use this time to reflect to see whats good and not so good about my life.  Things I have control over and things I don't.  I always feel like this is a great time to make BIG changes in ourselves.....fresh clean slate...all that.  But POOF!  I usually do not follow through.  Actually each new day is a clean slate and a new opportunity to change or do better.

I do feel a shift coming on though....I'm not blogging nearly as much as I used to and my family doesn't have to pry me off the computer kicking and screaming anymore.  

Maybe I got overloaded with all the Christmas preparations everyone was doing.  I just sort of STOPPED getting on.  I've sat and watched t.v. with my husband.  Good movies....HILARIOUS movies(The Hangover) crime shows....the whole shabang. 

I made a commitment to myself to finally finish my journal that I started last Spring. 

 

 I spent the day after Christmas sitting in Barnes and Nobel by myself, with a big stack of books that I've been wanting to look at forever.

I took this picture with my phone while I was there and sent it to my husband I told him not to expect me home for several hours!  It was pure heaven sitting there without a care in the world while everyone was busy making the shopping deals of the century at the mall.  I don't have the need or desire to get in that chaos.  I have more than I want or will ever need and then some.  One tiny resolution for me is to STAY out of thrift stores so often.  I will still go but not as regular as I have been.  It's all just STUFF and I have way too much now.  In fact I've started cleaning out bits and scraps in my art room and will be listing some collage packs one day soon I hope.

 

Speaking of collage.....

 

I've been eye balling this online class forever and finally jumped in with both feet. The Remains of the Day is a Journal  made entirely from your paper SCRAPS on hand.  They are all sewn together, then sewn into a scrappy cover and tied tight.  I can't get my link button to work but you can read all about it here:  http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/dispatch_from_la/rotdoci.html

Her pages are incredible!  She offers TONS of videos and printable instructions too.  Once you pay the site is available to you until December 2010!   Once the journal is put together and assembled it only takes a few minutes to write your journal entries.  I want to take a lot more photographs this year.  I plan on tucking them in this journal.  Otherwise they sit in my computer and I don't enjoy them nearly enough. If you get the chance go look at Mary Ann's Journals.  They are certainly drool worthy.  You can also look at the Flickr group she has set up here

http://www.flickr.com/groups/purexperimentation/pool/

(my link button is not linking!)

So I made the cover last night.  Actually it was all day of watching her videos, hunting gathering scraps, supplies...cleaning off my art table....junking up my art room....I'll let the pictures speak for themselves

(my daughter snapped this of me on the floor cutting out the fabric. I instantly told her "DON'T take my picture in this mess!" I planned on deleting it...but I wanted to remember this moment!  Of course Sarah had to be in there on my lap, and trying to lay on the fabric.

   

oh this fabric is so soft and comfy...

   

 

And guess what?  My Christmas tree is still up.  I don't even care.  It's fake so it can stay another week.  Right now there's more important stuff going on around here.

 

Here's hoping 2010 gives you all health, peace and happiness!

Dreaming of a white Christmas

Virginia is being pounded by a huge snow storm. It's been declared a state of emergency.  We have not seen this kind of snow since 1983.  That means all three of my kids have never seen this much snow.  I stopped at the grocery store last night along with everyone else on the East Coast and they were out of EVERYTHING.  No potatoes....what is that all about?  

We had some huge tree branches removed yesterday because as you can see they were very close to where we park and knew they would come down during the heavy snow.

Our driveway is probably 75 yards long....and all we have is one little shovel.  Should be fun.

The dogs on the other hand are WORSE than little kids...begging at the door to get out there AGAIN!  

   

Just keep your fingers crossed that the plows come through and I can get to work on Monday! (not that I WANT to go...but pretty much HAVE to!)

Little Visitor.......

Today is the first day ofArtist Class!  If you haven't heard all about it...I urge you to rush over to check it out!  Mary had selected a very talented group of people to teach us some really wonderful techniques!  I can't wait to get started on these projects!

Don't forget, if you sign up using my coupon code "thriftymisspriss" you will get $10.00 off which makes it only $4.00 per project!  You will also be entered into my giveaway of one of my Christmas Cottages! (see post below)

This weekend I invited my little friend daughter over for sleepover.  I think she gets the short end of the stick a lot of the time and I wanted to pamper her and make her feel SPECIAL.  It started out with dinner at I-Hop.  Then off to the grocery store for her to pick out lots of goodies for the sleepover.  I even let her scan all the groceries in the self check out...a kids dream job!

We got home late so we painted  pumpkins and got ready for bed.  I drew the face on this white pumpkin and let her pick all the colors.  She is so detail oriented she stuck with this for over an hour!

then it was off to bed.  She wanted Sarah to sleep with her so badly, she doesn't have any pets and she was so excited to have Sarah sleep there.  It lasted all of five minutes though.  Sarah is a mamas girl and wanted to be right by my side.

 
This morning bright and early I got a visitor crawling in bed with me.  My husband turned on cartoons and I got to sleep just a little bit longer.....It's been a LONG time since I had to get up with the chickens on a weekend!

We hit the ground running with crafts and activities!  After breakfast we ran around outside for a long time.  I put her to work raking.  She said she's never raked in her "whole life!"

My dogs just LOVE her and all the attention she gives to them.  They don't leave her side when she is here.

Of course after all that raking she had to do a LOT of running and jumping.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves......

 

after all that fun is was back to business!

She is going to be a black cat for Halloween so she chose the black cat theme for her pumpkin carving.

I really did not think she would be able to do this, and I didn't want to hover to make sure it was "perfect" but after I got the pattern on there she was able to do all the cutting.

  when my kids were little,  pumpkin carving used to stress me out!  The mess, the goo, the screaming and excitement was just TOO much.  I used to make my husband in charge of that activity! 

This time, I was laid back and relaxed.  I just supervised to be sure she didn't cut her thumb off.  I guess I've mellowed out quite a lot in my old age!

It turned out just like the picture on the package!

While she was doing all her craft activities I was working on a gift basket for a baby shower.  I made the little banner for the baby girl who will be born in December.  Her name will be Vera, which I think is so cute!  You don't hear other little girls with that name so I'm sure this little Vera will be quite unique!

Here's the gift basket I put together for her.  Full of little onsies and tights....patent leather shoes and suede boots too!

I hope you have a great week and a fun spooky Halloween!

Perfect day for a perfect wedding!

It was a perfect day yesterday for an outside wedding!  Middleburg Virginia is an old historic Virginia town known for foxhunting and steeplechasing,  and it was such a beautiful setting.

Before the ceremony I captured my daughter with her Matrons of Honor and her bridesmaids and flower girls in the dressing room.  Little Lily is the one in front looking up adoringly at her soon to be aunt.

this little one is the niece of my son in law (feels WEIRD saying that!)  She has lived with them for a few years with her mom so they are all very close.  She thinks the world of her Uncle and it was such a special day for her to be a big part of it.

She got so emotional while they were taking their vows.  I could see her blinking away tears.  I kept making happy faces at her from my seat, I couldn't understand what was wrong! 

This is when her tears started to flow......

After the ceremony when the wedding party walked inside alone she buried her face in my legs and sobbed.  I took her to a quiet corner to find out what was happening and she couldn't even put it into words!

  I told her that nothing was changing in her world, that it was all over and now she could dance and have fun!  It took her a few minutes but she got back to her normal self and had a wonderful time!

Nothing like dancing with your sisters to release a lot of pent up nerves!  I'm so lucky to have them in my life and that we have such a wonderful close relationship!

My daughter has been living out on her own for several years.  She planned and organized the whole thing and did all the work herself!  She had the food catered but all the table decor was planned by her.  We were able to go in the place on Friday and set it all up.

we made all the flower arrangements including the bridal bouquet and all the bridesmaids bouquets.  We did this Thursday evening after the flowers were delivered federal express.  They still looked wonderful on Saturday.  My 16 year old daughter caught the bouquet!  I think she had to plow down about 20 eligible ladies to do it though...........

This pictures captures how beautiful her hair looked.  I wonder if her dad is giving her advice on the secret to a happy marriage?  Whatever he is saying it looks like she is listening carefully.

Here are my three kids together

It was just a wonderful time. We are  so proud of the woman she has grown up to be!

Family picture wall with thrifted frames

I don't have much to share....just counting down the days until my daughter gets married!  One week and I'll be a Mother In Law!

I've been collecting these frames from yard sales with the intention of doing a family picture wall.  An updated wall that is....not baby pictures and first days of school........

I think every frame I came across recently was gold...or teak.  The long one at the bottom had a decent mat but I didn't care for the pictures or the color.  That pressed wildflower one at the top is nice because it's two pieces of glass....no mat needed.

this old flashcard is temporary.  I'm expecting lots of nice family pictures next weekend and will find one for this frame.

   

I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out.  I didn't spend more than a dollar for each one.  I used my home printer and did all black and white on glossy photo paper.  Now if I can just stay motivated to keep collecting frames......I'd like to fill the whole wall.  This teeny tiny hall is SO dark, using the hall light made everything glow a little.

I've been itching to get some more journal pages done too.  Thanks for all the sweet notes and comments on my last spread about my mom.  You guys are so sweet!  I know some of you are going through the same things with your parents and it makes it easier if you have someone to share it with.

SInce I was on a roll with pictures of my mom....I did a few more of her.  These aren't completely done yet I don't think.

I love the quote on the left page..."Hope sees the invisible...feels the intangible and achieves the impossible" Not even thinking about it until JUST now....how perfect on the page next to my mom!  She had more obstacles in her life than anyone I know but she remained upbeat and positive and her favorite saying was "it's NOT fatal"!  I have to be reminded of this occasionally.

This is what I imagined the dress to look like that my mom was wearing in the picture.  A few days later I was digging through an old photo box and found a tiny picture of her in the dress!  So I had to incorporate it in my journal of course!

Some of you asked if I used a spiral bound journal.  This one is spiral bound.  It's really a sketchbook.  I don't like using this and prefer to use the three ring binder version (which I will call my pretty book (ha-ha). I thought I'd have this spiral bound version finished in a month and move on.  NO WAY.   Using the three ring binder allows you more elbow room working on one page at a time.  I use card stock as the base page in that journal...and paint, glue, and paste on that. 

Typepad has done some "updating" and I wasn't able to respond to a lot of my comments.  Or when I did try it bounced back.  I think that is fixed now, but if I didn't respond last time it wasn't because I wasn't trying!  I think if you are nice enough to visit and leave a comment I certainly want to reply and try to visit your blog too.  I think it's rude when bloggers don't respond or at least attempt to respond to their readers.  It's like walking down the hall at work and saying hello to someone and have them look down and not answer you back!  RUDE! Anyway....when that happens to me I say, "Oh fine thanks, and you?"

And speaking of work.....we are going ALL electronic on Tuesday.  It will be a huge time saver (it's a doctors office) but lots of work at the beginning.  In fact....I brought work home this weekend and have not even started working on it!  Know why? here's the reason(s)

1) Because it's my birthday!

2) Because the weather has been beautiful and I can't stop sneaking outside!

3) Because I LOVE to wait until the last minute to do things....

Have a terrific week !