Three or More--Projects in Three Weeks

• She seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands...
• She reaches forth her hand to the needy...
• She maketh fine linen (and other things)...

I'm so excited about today's post I can hardly stand it! Today at The Gypsy's Corner's "Three or More Tuesday" , is the big reveal for the "Three Projects in Three Weeks" Challenge, sponsored by Barbara Jean from Treasures from the Heart. These are all do-it-yourself projects of one sort or another, this is also linked to DIY Day at a Soft Place to Land. And because they are all "thrifty" projects, I'm also participating in Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville!
Once you finish here, be sure to click over and see the other 3-in-3 and DIY projects and thrifty finds and offer a little comment love!

Project 1

The first project on my list was to do something about this blank wall in my "dining room"...

...which is actually just one end of my eat-in kitchen, and is a strictly informal space. Luckily I had these...

...three wooden shelves I bought months ago at Harvest Thrift in Opelika, Alabama, for $4.50 for the three of them ("bric-a-brac" was half off that day--the large one was $2, the medium $1.50, and the small one $1. Whoo hoo!)


My biggest expense was spray paint. I started off with one super cheap can to use in lieu of primer, and one better brand. Big mistake--the cheap brand spit and sputtered and leaked and made a tremendous mess--plus it had poor coverage. I also underestimated the "suckage factor" of the semi-raw wood. A quick trip to the store for more paint between coats did the trick--next time I will stick with a name brand or at least a store brand...no more "Drylon" knock-off for me. Eventually, after about three coats plus some touch ups on the cut areas, I ended up with this...



One of the shelves was missing a hanger thingie on the back, which I found a spare of in my junk hardware drawer, so they quickly became...

Shelf #1

Shelf #2

Shelf #3


All three

Everything on them was "shopped" from my house, and has already been changed two or three times. I think that's part of charm--I can change things around seasonally, or "just because" without much effort. I may even cover the heart shaped holes with wooden medallions or cut-outs of some kind and repaint them (again), but for now, I'm happy with the results!

Project 2

This was actually the first project that I tackled--I have a fall wreath that I like, but I took it with me to Georgia last year, and it's hanging on the door of our apartment there. I wanted something for our front door here at home, so I decided to see what I could do, again on a budget.

I found a grapevine wreath in the back of my junk room/spare room/everything room closet, which I bought at least 6 or 7 years ago at a Garden Ridge Pottery, the price tag showed $2.38. I bought garland, ribbon, and some leaves at Dollar Tree for $1 each, and came up with this...

I wove a garland into the top side of the wreath, tucking in the ends.

After I got the garland on, I realized that I probably should have put on the ribbon first. I started fiddling with the ribbon to do a bow or something, but decided I wanted something a little more rustic and natural looking, so I turned to the package of leaves I'd bought.

When I pulled them out of the packaging, I realized that they had wire stems, and could be molded and ruffled to look a little more realistic...

...kind of like this

So I started "ruffling" and stuffing and sticking, and ended up with a bundled bunch that I thought had a sort of "nature's bow" effect. And since I'm a sort of "less is more" gal when it comes to most of my decorating, I left it alone, and the here are the results...

Ta-da!

I ended up using one garland and the package of leaves, and never even touched my hot glue gun that I thought I'd need--present cost, $2.00, total cost, $4.38, counting the wreath.

Project 3

And now my last project--when Barbara Jean first threw out the 3-in-3 challenge, she said it could be anything that we're into--whether it's arts and crafts, thrifting, or whatever. One of my favorite "hobbies", if you can call it that, is couponing and "deal" shopping, so I have quite a little stock-pile of toiletries, some of which I got for free or almost free. I can't resist a bargain if it's something useful and I can get it for nothing--and while I often say "I can always donate it", I seldom get around to actually doing it.

And so my last project was to turn "I'm gonna give.." to "I have given..."

After a quick phone call to be sure what was accepted, I culled these new toiletry items from my stash in a matter of minutes, then bagged it up and took it straight the local women's shelter. I would estimate the value of the these items to be about $60-$70 if I paid full retail for them, which I never do, but the actual cost to me for this was nothing but my time.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of my 3-in-3 projects, I can't wait to see what everyone else has done. Be sure to visit the links at the top of my post, and thanks once again to Tam and Barbara Jean for hosting!

Until next time...

Three or More--Quilts From My Blanket Chest

• She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
• She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
• She is not afraid of the snow for her household...
• She maketh herself coverings of tapestry...
• She maketh fine linen...
• Give her of the fruit of her hands...

I love quilts--when done the old-fashioned way out of leftover fabrics, they combine beauty, thrift and function. Even with specially bought fabric, they speak of beauty and creativity and industry (personal industry, not industrial industry!) I'm not a quilter myself, but I have the privilege of owning several beautiful quilts that have been gifted to me over the years by their makers. (click on any of the pictures to see them larger, then click the "back" arrow to return to the post)
First up is the baby quilt that I've posted about previously, it's a "trip around the mountain" pattern, originally pieced in the late 50's, then actually completed and made into a quilt almost 30 years later in the 80's. It was pieced by my maternal grandmother, although she did not do the quilting herself in later years.

Next up is another "trip around the mountain" pattern, also from my Nanny. This was a gift when I was married, almost 26 years ago. What I especially love about this one is that I know so many of the fabrics. The blue no-wale corduroy was left from my first Home-Ec project--a jumper--when I was in junior high; there are scraps from a pink floral dress my mother made for me; a skirt that was my sister's, and the green checked gingham that was left over from my mother's kitchen curtains. It seemed as though everyone sewed back then, at least a little. If you didn't sew yourself, it was still common to buy the fabric and pattern and have things made specially for you by a seamstress. Everyone had fabric scraps, and most quilters were grateful for any "donations" you could spare. We always gave all of ours to Nanny; you never knew when it might appear later--in a quilt, or a pillow for our beds, or just a throw.

We used this one on our bed for years, then our son used it.


Unfortunately it's in pretty bad shape from it's many washings and dryings and hanging on the line--someday maybe I'll take the time to restitch it, even though there's little or no batting left between the layers


This is a much newer quilt, also pieced by my grandmother--I think this one is a variation of a nine patch. It was pieced on a sewing machine, but the quilting was done by hand.


Using the larger solid pieces mixed in with the 4 patch was a way that she could stretch her smaller scraps by mixing them with store-bought (vs leftover) fabric.


This is one of my favorites--there were only two of these made, I think my Aunt Faye ended up with another one like this, stripped together with either pink or yellow instead of the red. The backing is blue, so it has a really patriotic feel to it.

The white squares are individually hand embroidered--each square has a name of the one of the 50 states, along with a picture of the state bird and flower. The pattern for these came in a kit, which was ironed onto the fabric, then stitched by hand off and on over many years, in between other projects.

Can you even imagine the time and effort that went into making this?

We counted the squares after this one was done, and there is a flaw--a couple of the states are duplicated--I can't remember now which ones, but my Nanny and I stood and looked it over and found them one day when she was showing it to me--she just laughed and said that she guessed she miscounted the day she laid these out to strip together!

I confess I've never used this one--I can't bear to think of getting something on it, with all of the work that went into it-maybe someday on a guest bed that doesn't get used much!





And last but not least, this is a "log cabin" pattern, tied instead of quilted, made for us by my mother-in-law about 15-20 years ago, when our bedroom (along with almost everyone else's I knew!) was decorated in peach.

The colors don't come across very well on the larger picture, the fabric is all florals and tiny patterns in peach, cream, and brown. The underside is a solid of one of the lighter peach florals. I may have to pull this one back out and use it again, isn't it beautiful?

I'm a bit late to link this to Three-or-More Tuesday at the Gypsy's Corner, but better late than never!

For next week's Three or More, I'm participating in the Three-Projects-in-Three-Weeks Challenge, which is hosted by Treasures From the Heart. So be sure to come back next week for the big reveal!

This post is also linked to Vintage Thingie Thursday at Coloradolady. This week she is featuring a wonderful old cookbook--be sure to visit the other links, too, to see what lovely vintage "thingies" are floating around the blogosphere!

Until next time...

Three or More--Cabinets I've Re-Organized

• She looketh well to the ways of her household

Our house at home in Louisiana is an older house, built in 1962. I always say that it's just old enough to be lacking many of the "modern conveniences", but not old enough to be really interesting. No high ceilings and architectural details for us, just a cute little three bedroom one bath house in the country.
I have a fairly large eat-in kitchen, but because of the lay-out, not much countertop or cabinet space. Little by little over the years we've worked on updating what we can, and learning to live with what we can't.
Since we've been home the last few weeks, my dear sweet worker bee husband has been trying to do months worth of home maintenance and repairs, but somehow in the middle of his doings, he found time to convert the broom closet into more usable shelf space for me--and not only that, he painted it and put down the shelf paper, too. (I am from the eye-ball it, cut it, stick it the best you can and fix it afterward with a box cutter school of shelf-papering--he is from the get out the tape measure, builder's square and exacto knife and cut it perfectly school of shelf-papering. I just buy the stuff and get out of his way).
Then he painted and papered the dark hole of a cabinet under the sink, at my request.
And since I had to move stuff around away, I've taken this opportunity to clean and organize several other of my cabinets, too.
Our beautifully converted broom closet--the broom and mop can live in the utility room, this gives me more kitchen storage right where I need it--in the kitchen! Right now the larger bottom area holds my canner, cookie sheets and odd cake pans.

Upper cabinet above the broom closet--my pretty plates and serving dishes--close enough the the food action to be used more often, but easier to get to and put away.

And the keys are various door and vehicle spares, hanging on cuphooks. One central location for keys has been a time-saver--no more pawing through drawers and looking 27 different places for a set of keys that may have not been used in weeks.

More food storage--cleaned out and reorganized--now I have room to stockpile a few more of those sales items!


And last but not least--the "hole" under the sink is dark and dank no more! Isn't it amazing what a coat of white paint and new shelf paper can do?

My new storage is easy to use, easy to keep organized, and easy to clean. That works for me!

This post is linked to:

Three or More Tuesdays at the Gypsy's Corner

Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family

DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land

Until next time...

Thrifty Finds

• She looketh well to the ways of her household

It's been a while since I've had a chance to go thrifting--searching the thrift stores and flea markets for those pieces that appeal, for whatever reason. Last week I had some things I needed to drop off at Goodwill, so I took the opportunity to do a quick run through of a couple of places.

I had my mom with me, and we started off in the local Goodwill. I really like the store here in DeRidder, it's clean and well-organized. I didn't find anything I wanted or needed on this particular trip, but it's a definite repeat stop.

The next place we went was Treasure City Market downtown on Washington Street. It's more of a flea market, with different booths that belong both the store owner and to others, so there's a variety of items, from new to used to vintage to antique, and the because the prices are set by the booth owners, there's a wide range there, as well, from "Are they kidding??" to "Not bad!". Unfortunately it was one of those sweltering south Louisiana days, so even in the morning it got stuffy fast, so we didn't linger. This is another definite repeat stop, but not until the weather cools down-which could be late fall in this area!

Our last stop of the morning was a favorite of mine--Backhome Collections on East First Street. It's a combination thrift shop/flea market. It's where I bought my first Meakin Vine bowl a few months ago that got me inspired to start thrifting a little more, as well as my first old Mason jar.

Mom and I both found something we wanted this trip, too.

I bought this canning jar for $2.50--I love the ones with the old zinc lids. I knew it wasn't nearly as old as the first jar I bought, and on closer inspection, I don't the jar is as nearly as old as the lid. This jar is marked "Ball Perfect Mason" and at the base "13K". I don't think metric markings were used commonly until at least the mid 70's. So although I'm pretty sure the lid pre-dates the jar, I don't mind buying it just for the lid itself--that way if I find one later that I like that doesn't have the zinc lid with it, I can switch them.


Meanwhile, the lids still give them that commonality until I can find another really old jar!

My mom found this amber tinted jar with the metal bale fastener for $1.50. Isn't it pretty?


The lid is marked "Floral" and has some other little marking on it--we have no idea if it's antique, vintage, or mearly "gently used", but she's like me, she buys what appeals to her or catches her eye--that's probably where I get mine from, too!

So how have you made out on your thrifting? Find any good bargains lately?

To see what others around the blogosphere are finding, join me at:

Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville and at

Vintage Thingie Thursday at Coloradolady

Today's Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality



Until next time...

How I Organize My Coupons

• She is like merchant's ships, she bringeth her food (and other things!) from afar
• She looketh well to the ways of her family

When I first started couponing, I eased into it gradually. I started off printing a few internet coupons and sticking them in my wallet or checkbook, then graduated to an envelope sorted loosely by category, and finally to a wallet style organizer with about twelve dividers. (pictured below)

I really liked the convenience of this one because it fit in my purse; and because I always had it with me, it was easy to pull out when I found unexpected bargains and clearanced items. Unfortunately, it was just a little too small when I got into full swing couponing mode--it was hard to find coupons as I needed them, it was just stuffed too full and the elastic thingy it closed with kept breaking and stretching out.

So I finally broke down and and bought some baseball card collectors sheets and some photo sheets. I picked out my binder on Amazon (Case-it Large Capacity Blue Zipper Binder (D-145))and requested it for Christmas--thanks, Chris--and then I did what I do best--procrastinated about switching over until I just couldn't stand it any more--then I bit the bullet and drug everthing out and worked on it off and on for two days straight!



I started off with some flexible plastic dividers, but I didn't like the way they stuck out, so right now I have no dividers, but I do still group everything by pages and general sections.

I have a couple of photo pages in the front for what I call "unusual" coupons--restaurants, or combination coupons--get $2 off produce if you also buy these two products, that kind of thing. Then I move to fresh foods--meat, produce, and bread--I don't usually have a lot of coupons for these products, so they're usually grouped together. I have a page for canned fruits and vegetables and related products; one for sauces, dressings, and condiments'; packaged foods--rice mixes, hamburger helper, etc; cereal; baking goods; snacks; dairy; cold non-dairy --like rolls and biscuits; frozen. Within some sections I also group like products together--frozen foods may have meat and dinners, frozen breads, vegetables, and ice cream, for instance. Maybe not a separate page, but at least grouped together on the page. For non-foods, I have pages for shampoo, deoderant, lotion, bodywash, dental, etc, as well as paper products, cleaning, and laundry.



There are two main drawbacks to the binder system for me:

First, you do have to trim the coupons very closely, and some just will not fit without being folded. The photo pages are good for some larger coupons, I just don't have a lot of those, so I try to fold so that I can see the product and the expiration date.

And second is the bulk--right at first I was very self-conscious walking into a store with this huge binder--I usually have a large purse, too, so sometimes I wondered if it looked like I was moving in! I tried pulling out only the ones I knew I was going to use and leaving the binder at home or in my truck, but I constantly saw things that I thought "Oh, I have a coupon for that--out in the truck" And it's just too hot where I live and I am too old (!) to make multiple trips in and out just to retrieve coupons. I even tried leaving my purse in the truck and just taking in the binder and my debit card, thinking it looked less obtrusive to be carrying only one big old thing on my shoulder. That doesn't work, though, because I need that purse in the buggy to prop my binder on!

So I finally decided to just get over it and lug them both in.

And you know what? No one notices but me.

And the people who do a double take when they see me walking calmly down the aisle with my binder propped open on top of my purse.

Then they comment---"Where did you get that? I need one of those!" One older gentlemen even comment "Your one of those money-saving women, aren't you? I wish I had time for that!"

I have given many a quick lesson in baseball card sheets and zipper binders, standing in the aisle of the grocery store or drugstore.

Is it still a bit bulky? Yes. And sometimes when I'm making a quick trip, I do pull my coupons and leave it in the truck. But most of the time I take it with me. I put my purse in the buggy, open my binder and prop it on top, get my list in my hand, and away I go. I pull the coupons as I go, so I can make sure I'm getting the right product or whatever, and I slip them into a little pocket on the inside of the front cover of my binder. Sometimes I slip them into the fold on my list. When I'm ready to check out, I pull out my coupons and go ahead and zip up my binder and turn it with the strap up, ready to grab with my purse when I leave the store.

The good points for me far outweigh the bad--my coupons are organized, I can see at a glance what I have and what I may be short of, and it's ready at a moment's notice to zip up, sling over my shoulder, and go!


For more on organizing, see this week's Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

You may also be interested in reading some of my earlier posts on couponing:

Where I Get My Coupons, Part 1, and Where I Get My Coupons, Part 2.

Until next time...

My $6.79 No-Sew Curtains

• She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
• She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed (and curtained!) with scarlet.
• She maketh herself (and her windows!) coverings of tapestry...

I know they don't really look like tapestry, but you have to know how long I've procrastinated on these curtains to know how pitifully proud I am that I did them!

I've been needing and intended to do something about the (lack of) curtains in my college-age son's room for a long time. He originally had blinds and some matching curtains and bedspread in a southwestern theme when we first moved into our house 12 years ago, when he was ten. Since then, the bedspread and curtains long discarded, we had blinds and simple valances up until a couple of years ago. When we finally got the last of our old worn out windows replaced with double pane glass, one of his blinds went amiss, and so he's had one blind, one bare window ever since then.

Now myself, ever the perfectionist, decided that covering the window with just anything/something wasn't enough, it had to be just right, and since he needed new curtains, I may as well get a new bedspread--and have you ever tried to pin down a semi-grown son about what kind of frou-frou decor he wants for his room? Yeah.

The situation got critical this summer, though, with the heat--his room faces the west and he gets lots of sun beating down on his corner room in the afternoon and evenings.

And so, partially inspired by the Nester's motto of "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful", and her many truly beautiful window "mistreatments" as she calls them--I came up with an easy no-sew solution.

Each window has a plain navy flat twin sized sheet, folded in half lengthwise, clipped together with cafe curtain rings. That's it. When they get dusty, I can take them down and throw them in the washer and dryer and re-hang them. He's happy with the simplicity and the fact that I didn't spend much, I'm happy with the fact that he has window coverings again, and I think everyone will be happier with the lower electric bill. That's what I call win-win.

Total cost: $6.79 ($3 each for the sheets, about $.79 for the pack of curtain rings)

I think I may spray paint the curtain rods a dark color, those old white hoopties look kind of stark. I may even break down and buy new ones--I saved so much on the curtains, who knows what I may tackle next?

What project have you been working on lately? For more ideas see:

Tackle it Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom

Until next time...