Last Revision (Maybe)

You may remember me making a birdbath HERE.  It went through many revisions as multiple parts broke.  The last straw was when we had a new roof put on last December.  The roofing crew backed over it and shattered the white glass lamp base.  Today I decided to try to resurrect it.  

It is not as elegant as before, but maybe it will be more durable. 

I used the same hubcap and weighted base that I constructed before.  I used some old lamp and ceiling fan parts, a doorknob, 

and an insulated plastic cup from Dollar General that I got for a penny a couple of years ago.  I don't know what I was saving it for, this I guess.  

To top it off, I used a bubble glass light shade that I got from the Big Bens Dealz Store on $1 day. 

                                          
 I think it turned out good enough.  Now  I need to dig down and bury the base a little bit for more stability and to make it look more balanced.  

Back Track To Wednesday

I am a little behind on my blogging.  Wednesday was Sadie and Allie day.  Once again, we went to the free movie in town, Paddington Bear Goes To Peru.  I would not recommend it for an adult.  Sadie and Allie said they liked it but I think it was more the atmosphere of the movie theater.  I bought the drink and popcorn for them again and was again unable to control the speed at which Allie drank hers.  Two more trips to the bathroom.   After the movie I told them I was going to a boring store.  Virginia had taken them to the Big Bin Dealz Store before and they were not impressed.  They kept saying, couldn't we go to Walmart?  No, I want to go to the $1 day at the boring store.  

Well, it wasn't so boring after all.  I found this costume for Sadie.  

And I didn't get a picture, but a similar dinosaur outfit for Allie minus the head and feet.  She wore it all around the store and had a great time with it back here.  She even wore it home.  

And Sadie picked out two giant spiders.  I don't know what Virginia will be doing with those.  

Back at the house, we baked cookies.  It had been awhile since we used the Easy Bake Oven.  They were very good at taking turns on mixing and adding ingredients.  

They spent the rest of the hot afternoon playing in the water.  They started before I could even finish blowing up the pool.  Another fun day at Camp Mimi.  

 

More Big Bin Dealz

My Pyrex storage lids have been disintegrating for some time now. Joe said you might as well just lay a paper towel over the bowl and it would be as helpful as one of those lids. I have thought about getting replacement lids but that is as far as I got, thinking. 

That is until I went to the Big Bin Dealz store yesterday for $1 day and found these. 

They are not Pyrex brand but they fit. 

 And it looks like I saved $17.  

New Store

Well, new to me anyway. Looks like it opened Black Friday but I just found it last week and went to it yesterday.  It’s t called Big Bin Dealz.  They are closed Thursdays to restock.  Then the prices go down until they are at $1 on Wednesday.

And yesterday was Wednesday. I decided it was better than Goodwill because the price was so much cheaper and all the stuff was new.   I might have gone a little overboard in buying 9 things. 

D

But I couldn’t resist this bird wall sconce. I thought I would use it as an outdoor decoration. But after seeing it on eBay for $60-$100 I am torn about what to do with it. 

Other items include a box of balloons

Butterfly cape

And big roll of paper for the girls. 

A bunch of envelopes that fit my string are cards perfect. 

 And a pink swim shirt.  There may be a few other things that I will try to hold off until Christmas.   I have a staff meeting in town next Wednesday. Guess where I will be going first. 

Hell's Kitchen

I took a little trip Saturday to see Ann and Matt and to use Mitchell's season ticket for a Broadway show at the Tanger Center.  

On the way, I stopped at a mid century modern store.  They specialize in refinishing and reupholstering mid century furniture.   I had seen this style chair on another site several years ago and had been looking for it ever since.  It is very comfortable and would go great with the leather and chrome sofa I have.  Only, I have rearranged the living room and am happy with the current layout.  Plus, the chair was $2250 as is and $3000 if reupholstered.  A little out of the thrift store price range I was wanting.  

I also saw this coffee table size stereo cabinet.  I have not seen one this height before.  I made me consider the possibility of having something like this under my new gallery wall instead of a bench.  It is definitely something to think about since I do have a pretty good record collection.  

Then it was onto the show, after a nice seafood dinner.  

According to Google,  

Hell's Kitchen is a Broadway musical by Alicia Keys, with a book by Kristoffer Diaz, inspired by Keys's life growing up in 1990's Manhattan, featuring her music, a coming-of-age story about a teen named Ali finding her voice, and a mother-daughter relationship at its core. 

No pictures were allowed during the show.  But I did snap one at the end. 

My review, the story was ok, the music was good, the singing talent was great, the dancing was a lot of jumping and arm waving.  Overall, it was an enjoyable evening.  Thank you Mitchell for the ticket and place to stay, and  thank you Ann for everything else. 

 

Surprise Find

Remember the metal goats from my walk in Brevard?

I saw them on several people's porches in just a small neighborhood.  

Well, the trend has made it to southwest Virginia.  I could not believe it when I saw it in a thrift store here for $4.00.   It is cute as it can be. 

I checked Etsy and Ebay and it looks like it sells there for $50-$80 for this petite size.  

I hope that it will be the most realistic goat that I see in my yard. 

25 Days Of Christmas, Day 23

Christmas decorating inspiration can come from just about anywhere.  But one of my most common spots for ideas is the thrift store. 

I have a photo shelf in the hallway to my bedroom where I display records.  Sometimes record covers with horses and sometimes records from my childhood. 

But at Christmas I change it out to Santas, angels or nativities. 

I have collected them from thrift stores over the years. Sometimes I just like the cover sometimes I like the music.  Some Santa’s are creepy. 

Some are fake. 

And some look, well, drunk. 

Then there is Classic Christmas. 

And finally, unexpected. Who would think of Colonel Sanders as Santa. Well, it is cheap artwork anyway. 
 

25 Days Of Christmas, Day 1

I thought I would try to post something for Christmas every day until December 25th.  We'll see how that works. 

When Emily and Keiran were here for Thanksgiving, they got out the Santa mugs to enjoy with their coffee and tea.  I decided to leave them out on a mug rack that I had made years ago.  The mugs were all originally from Walmart, but I have been picking up mine at thrift stores.  It looks like I will only have 6  plus the big one, because I haven't found any more for a couple of years now.  

I just love the Santa face.  
 

Two Lamps, An Ashtray Stand, And A Light Shade

The other day I saw a birdbath on Facebook that was stunning. 

It was a glass bowl glued to two vases.  I knew it was a long shot but I decided to start looking for a similar bowl. 

Would you believe that I found this on my first trip to Goodwill?  It is not a bowl, it’s a ceiling light shade.  But definitely the look of my inspiration piece.  Next, I wanted a lamp for a base.  It just so happened that the route 21, 100 mile yard sale was this weekend. 

I scored this lamp for $1.  The base is glass.

Sister C gave me this metal lamp piece a few years ago when I was thinking of making a lamp totem pole.  I still have that as a goal but I decided to use this on my birdbath project instead. I used a hacksaw to remove the handles.

The dangling crystals are from an old ashtray stand.  Under the base I attached the weight from the yard sale lamp to make it less top heavy.

I am thrilled with how it turned out.  It is not currently able to hold water because of the hole in the center.  But I thought I might just stick a piece of As Seen On TV Alien Tape over it to see if that works.  But even if it doesn’t function as a bird bath, it is still nice yard art.  I have also driven a stake down the center of the hollow rod where the lamp cord would be and into the ground to give it a little more stability.

I think Kit Kat approves.

 

Thrifting Money Maker

I drove down to see Emily yesterday and go wedding dress shopping with her.  She said yes to a dress!  You will just have to wait until October to see that picture.  

While driving through town and seeing the sights we passed the town’s visitor center.  I exclaimed, “there was a penny smashing machine there!”  Emily didn’t know how I was able to spot it.  

We did not stop then, but went back after dinner out with Carol and Keiran at a local Tai restaurant.  I chose the white squirrel impression for my smashed penny.  This could be considered unmaking money.

Then today Emily and I hit the thrift stores to look for some frames for her artwork that she has been accumulating during her travels.  I managed to not buy anything but some light bulbs until I saw this wildflower book.  I already had a copy but I just couldn’t pass this one up. 

It was priced at $8.50.  But I knew to look for the payoff, 

The page of state flower stamps.  The value of the stamps is $14.50, so a definite money maker. 

Sadie Sunday And Unexpected Visitors

When we got home from church this morning we has some unexpected visitors.

This was a first, turkeys in the yard.
 

There were 3-4 adults and several little ones.

I am blaming them for my missing tommy toe that I was keeping an eye on.  It should have been my first tomato, but when I went out with Sadie to pick it for lunch it was gone.  Wildlife can be both a joy and a curse. 

Sadie came home with us after church.  She is always a joy.  I thought I would give Virginia and Mike half a break and keep Sadie for the afternoon.  They said Allie was so much easier to take care of without Sadie.  We had a full day.  We watched Frozen, made zucchini bread in the Easy Bake Oven, and of course, rode Otoelene.

Sadie likes to try to do as much as she can by herself.

Saturday, I had bought a Little Tikes swing at the 21 yard sale.  It’s an annual 100 mile long yard sale on our road.   I scored this for $4.  Sadie tested it out and loved it.

She also wanted to go seen the baby goats, which aren’t so baby anymore.  She claimed the white one from the beginning and always wants to feed her.  I have named her Glitter and the other one Gold.

Sadie was so excited when Glitter ate the leaf she had picked for her.  I thought it was pretty impressive seeing the the goat was already grazing free choice.  

Another fun filled Sadie Sunday.