goodwill finds

Today I went to Goodwill and came across a major score.

How awesome is this vintage globe???  I've seen older globes used as home decor on Pinterest and magazines, and I really like the look.  Now I have one of my own for the low price of five bucks.  I can't find a date on it anywhere, but at least a couple of places on it give me a clue.

Yep, that's the USSR.

And yep, that's Burma.  So of course this globe isn't really educational (other than for history!), but I still think it's a cool find.  Not to mention it's in fantastic shape; no scratches or dents anywhere.  Right now it's sitting on top of my china cabinet in the dining room.

If we ever have a special room just for homeschooling, the globe might be cute to put in there too.  Again, pretty much just for decorative purposes.  :o)

I also finally knocked out a spray paint project I've been meaning to do.  One thing you can almost always find at thrift stores are brass candlesticks.  I found this pair for a few bucks awhile back.

And no, brass is not my thing.  But I liked the shape of these.  So I got a bottle of spray paint in "Ivy Leaf" and gave them a couple of coats.  I wanted a nice distressed look (not a glossy, plastic-y look), so I didn't bother using primer first.  Well, that, and I didn't even have primer at the house!  I gave them awhile to dry and here they are.

I looooooove them.  You can see little imperfections on them, where maybe the paint didn't get in a groove or maybe a slight stain on the brass showed through, but that's the way I like things.  I want to find more of these candlesticks in different heights and do different colors for every season!  For now these lovely green ones will do fine.  :o)

fun with veggies

In an effort to eat more vegetables, I tried a few new recipes over the past week and I loved every one of them.  I even have high hopes that maybe one day my husband will also partake in one or two of these.  :o)

First, baked zucchini sticks with sweet onion dip.  This one is a bit more labor-intensive than what I normally do, but totally worth it.  The dip tastes better after at least an hour in the fridge, too.  The recipe for this can be found here.

Next, roasted green beans with parmesan.  This recipe is SO simple.  Roasting the green beans makes them nice and crispy, and really, not so much like green beans anymore.  And even parmesan cheese from a can is crazy-delicious after it gets all browned in the oven.  I ate these with leftover sweet onion dip and it was almost like eating a snack version of green bean casserole.  YUM.  You can find the green bean recipe here.

Finally, baked squash chips.  No kidding.  A friend at church has a garden, so yesterday a bag of yellow squash was up for grabs.  I got three small ones and decided to try this recipe today.  The trick is to use a cooler oven (200 degrees) and just leave them in there for 2 or 3 hours (mine took around 2 and a half).  So they're super simple to prepare, it's just a waiting game until they're done.  They're worth the wait though because they really do get crispy like normal chips.  They just shrink a lot, so the amount you see in that picture was seriously from three squashes (and of course I ate all of them!).  Next time I'm going to season them better; I was paranoid about putting TOO much salt on them, but I don't think I put enough on there.  I might try some pepper or garlic powder next time too!  You can find the recipe here.

I'm very excited about these new recipes and how well they turned out.  Even if they take a little work beforehand, they're worth it if only to help me eat a little better.  Enjoy!

vintage-inspired tray

So I'm still pretty tired most of the time; it's discouraging, but my husband reminded me last night that my body has been through a lot during the last six months, so maybe it's still just doing its best to recover!  Despite this, I've been able to tackle a few projects as my energy permits.  One of these is a really cute vintage-inspired tray.

I found this "beauty" at Goodwill last fall.  Gorgeous, right???

It's okay, you don't have to say it's gorgeous.  Total sarcasm over here.  But it was only a couple of bucks and I saw some potential, tacky decoupaged flowers and all.

A couple of months ago, I spray-painted it red, and then promptly lost interest.

Probably because I wasn't sure where to go from there.  Then pretty soon after I found some really cute cardstock on clearance at Jo-Ann and got inspired.  Unfortunately I was fresh out of Mod Podge.  So yeah, this thing sat in my hallway closet for awhile, and I came across it yesterday and thought, "Hey, I have Mod Podge now.  Let's finish this thing.  So I did!

I kind of like it.  It was awkward trying to Mod Podge that piece of cardstock down because the sides of the tray/frame/whatever it is are kind of high, so there are a couple of air bubbles.  But I think it just adds to the charm.

Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet.  It doesn't fit above my cabinets so I can't display it that way.  For now I might just prop it up on the kitchen counter.  One day I want to get a couple of small shelves for the kitchen wall for stuff like this and that way I can get some counter space back.  :o)

Unrelated note.  I've also been on a cleaning/organization kick.  My house was seriously neglected for over a month.  I did laundry and the dishes, that's about it.  And even then my husband had to help out a lot.  So the past week and a half has involved me undoing the damage, so to speak.  But it led to a pretty decent looking pantry.

As well as a pretty decent looking guest bathroom closet.

And yes, that's the best picture I could get of it.  If you've been in our guest bathroom you know how small it is.  I'm just glad I finally corralled all our first aid/medicine supplies, as well as our bathroom cleaning supplies.  And I used containers I already had.  Score.

And finally, a revamped fireplace mantel.  Since the frames don't match, I'm going to say it's "rustic eclectic" style.

Looks better in person.  This was actually inspired by me having to move a couple of the sharper-edged frames up to the mantel.  Yesterday my son was throwing himself all over our couch and ended up half-falling over the arm of the couch onto the end table.  Doing so caused him to cut his forehead on a picture frame.  Yikes.  I knew it was scary because my husband said "Wow, are you okay??"  Usually he just says "Aww, you're okay."  I was so relieved that it was just a surface cut (didn't even bleed), and that it missed his eye.  Thank You LORD!  This boy makes me so nervous but I know he must have a few angels standing by just for when he horses around and hurts himself!

So my next big project is our guest room.  It's basically where stuff we don't want or don't know what to do with goes to die.  During my last two pregnancies, I was actually excited about cleaning it out since the new baby would need the nursery and my son could move into our guest room.  I planned out his "big boy room" in my head and played around with different furniture layouts.  Of course when our babies didn't make it, I lost all motivation.  But I think I'm going to clean it out anyway.  Even if it remains our guest room/office for the next year even, I think it will do me a world of good to "prepare for rain," so to speak.  If anything it'll make me feel better to get rid of the clutter!

Wow, long post.  Thanks for reading!!  :o)

Linked up to DIY Under $5 at A Little Tipsy!

big brother, little brother

So after a little hiatus from sewing (or really any crafting of any kind!), I'm glad to say I'm back!  I finished up this cute "big brother/little brother" combo for a friend this past weekend.  She's expecting a baby boy in a couple of months, and she wanted matching shirts for him and her older son.  We first set up this order over a month ago, I'm ashamed to admit; it actually happened the same week we found out our babies didn't make it, but I wanted to take on this project anyway, thinking it would be a good distraction.  I was right, except I wasn't counting on all the fatigue I would have to deal with in the coming weeks.  Luckily this friend was very understanding.

The "big brother" shirt was inspired by one I had made for Caleb last fall right before our second miscarriage.  I had kept the homemade stencils, so I just used the same lettering again.

For the "little brother" shirt, I had to basically freehand tinier letters since it was a smaller area to work with.  The nice thing about baby and kid clothing is that your letters and designs don't have to come out perfectly to be cute.  :o)

I was afraid that I would get sad making these shirts, but I honestly enjoyed it.  I think the shirts reminded me of Caleb's big brother shirt and the fact that we got through that miscarriage last fall, so we'll get through this one too.  You never truly "get over" losing babies, no matter how early on it happens, but with God's help you can find ways to cope and to move on as a stronger person.  :o)

Linked up to Creations by Kara!