FIVE FABULOUS FINDS FRIDAY #6

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to another edition of FIVE FABULOUS FINDS FRIDAY!!!

Get ready!  I've got some great finds for you today!  Some SERIOUS eye candy, a super yummy-looking recipe, some fantastic organizational tips, and some inspiration that will bring a tear to your eye and a warmth to your heart.

And now...onto the fabulous finds!!! 

1.  This week I came across a wonderful post....that not only contained some BEAUTIFUL decor, but also a heartwarming story of a woman who moved into the country from the city and overcame the stereotypes to win over a community. 

 All photos in this segment courtesy of Thistlewood Farms.

KariAnne from Thistlewood Farms writes about her move to the country from the big city....and how people were about to dismiss her as something of a snobby city girl at first.   As they came to know her, though she showed them how she's just a girl who knows how to find some amazing bargains and put them together in the right way! 

Her story is as inspiring as her pictures!

Her whole blog is wonderful....she has a very eloquent writing style that is so engaging, and her pictures are very inspiring and just so fun to look at!  That's why my first FABULOUS FIND is...

No One Fancy Lives Here - By Thistlewood Farm
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2. The Style Sisters, a blog I just started following, set a gorgeous buffet and share some great tips to make it really wow your guests - This bird-cage inspired cloche with the flowers is so pretty!  I also love how they served their plates on top of an upside down pedestal bowl!   Such a cool idea!

All photos in this segment courtesy of The Style Sisters 

I loved all the ideas these girls had!  One of the neat ideas was to set your candleabra on top of one of your elevated serving plates...it saves table space and makes a beautiful display for some of your food!

 
I also loved their unique way of serving their veggies.  Who WOULDN'T want to eat their veggies after seeing them displayed like THIS?!?

They put it all together just beautifully!   The food, the presentation, everything!!!

That's why my 2nd FABULOUS FIND is....

The Style Sisters - Buffet Decor and tips.
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3.  My third Fabulous find comes from a wonderful blog by Kelly - the "Semi Homemade Mom". 

She posted this recipe and picture on a link party earlier this week and I have to say...this looks SO yummy!  

Her recipe, along with other GREAT looking recipes, can be found on her blog!   I can't wait to make this.  I love a creamy tomato sauce with tortellini!  I am low-carbing, so I'll have to make it for a "cheat day" which I allow myself once in a while...but this is DEFINITELY on the list to make!

That's why my third FABULOUS FIND is....

Semi Homemade Mom - Creamy Tomato Tortellini Skillet

4.  I can't believe spring is almost here...and for many of us, that means SPRING CLEANING!   I'm planning to do a thorough spring cleaning to my house...and our house NEEDS it!   I am a "surface cleaner" most of the time, so this will be a must. 

Nikki Boyd of "At Home with Nikki" has devised a great system for doing a spring cleaning that gets the job done, but it is spaced out over a period of time, so as not to overwhelm! 

 

All photos in this segment courtesy of At Home With Nikki

I love the system she created!!! She didn't forget ONE detail! She did a nice video that shows her system and breaks it down for us so nicely! It's also fun to see her beautiful decor in the background! 



That's why my Fourth FABULOUS FIND is.....

At Home With Nikki - Spring Cleaning Prep!

5.  This week I saw a video on my mom's Facebook Page.  If you haven't seen it before, get ready to be inspired and moved!   Arthur Boorman was told he could never walk again.   His decided not to believe it and his story of persistance and getting up after the many falls really was amazing!  This is a 5 minute video that is DEFINITELY worth your time to watch if you haven't seen it before!    

That's why my 5th and final FABULOUS FIND is....

 Never Give up - Arthur Boorman's Story

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Well, that wraps up this week's FIVE FABULOUS FINDS FRIDAY!

So, are you ready for a Friday Link Party????  I'm almost at that point where I'm gonna put it up there.  Probably in another week or two.  I would love to hear from you if this is something you would enjoy or participate in....I sure hope you will join me!  I'd love to be picking my "five fabulous finds" from YOUR posts!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend! 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY - Our Valentine's Day Tablescapes!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

I know I usually don't show tablescapes on Thursdays, but I wanted to share our Valentine's Day tables with you today. 


At our home, we celebrate Valentine's Day not just for romantic love, but for the love of our family, friends and, most importantly, God's amazing love for us. 

Where would we be without love???

Here is our Breakfast table this morning for a special Valentine's Breakfast!  



To celebrate this wonderful day of love, I set up a nice breakfast for the whole family in our breakfast area with some mini red velvet cupcakes to start the day (after our breakfast, of course!)

The Tall Silver Candleholder is from Ross (clearance, $6.99...you'll also see this on the buffet later!) The Red vase is from Goodwill ($2) and the glass vase containing the roses is from Dollar tree. I also think the roses are from Dollar Tree.  I've had these for a while now.



The tablecloth is from Waverly, that I got at Ross ages ago.  The Dollar store "white workhorse plate" is at the bottom, followed by a wonderful Johnson Brothers plate that I found at Ross for $3.99 each.  I had to buy all 6!  Red toile is my FAVORITE!!!  I knew I wasn't going to find a deal like that again for a set of 6!

The bowls are also from Ross in the same pattern - $3.49 each...again, I got all 6!  Couldn't pass those up!

On top of that is a new "White Workhorse" plate from Gibson ($1 each at Goodwill...you'll also see these at the dinner table)

On top of that, a nice plate I got at our church's local thrift store as part of a teacup set (8 cups and 8 saucers for $7.50!  Unbelievable deal! and they are so versatile!)

The cloches from Ross set atop the little Red Velvet Cupcakes to keep them fresh!  =D

Our kids had a co-op class today, so while they were gone I put this table together for a special Valentine's Dinner!

I have had golds and purples for the last few weeks, so I was glad to be FINALLY putting away the purple and gold!!!  Not that I don't love those colors, but my eyes were ready for something new!  

Now it's time for some pinks and reds and silvers!  It was nice to bring some new colors out!

The Centerpiece is a three tiered candleabra that I got at Michael's for 40% off (yes, it's the same one used in THIS tablescape.)   

The new addition is two more pretty silver candleholders with drop down crystals that I found at our church's local thrift store for $1.75 and $2.25 each.  The cheaper one had one dangling crystal missing (which I was able to replace by taking one from the large candleabra!)   

I loved the effect this had, setting the two other candleholders on each side of the larger candleabra!



The candles were wrapped in some wire ribbon from Dollar Tree and secured with some small push pins in matching colors.

For the tablerunner, I took some sparkly colored cardstock from Michael's  (it came in a book of sparkly colored cardstock in various colors) and taped them together in this checkered pattern.  




Then I put this new lacy tablecloth over it.   Since the lacy tablecloth is just a square cloth, it made a nice table runner to lay over this tablerunner...so it didn't look like I had just put cardstock down!  It gave it kind of a fabric feel to it, I think.  

I think this made a very nice look for not a lot of money (cardstock was about $1 for the 6 pieces (since it came in a book) and the lacy overlay was $2 at Goodwill.




Now onto the dishes.  The pink chargers were form Michaels ($1.49 each on sale).   The White Dollar workhorse plate...back again!



Atop the white workhorse is this lovely mauve-colored plate with the prettiest design!  I could not believe these were just 50 CENTS each at Goodwill!!!  WOW!  I was able to get 5 of them at that great price!



Then came another white Gibson plate.  I love the patterns on the edges of this...with fruit and leaves.

Then those plates were topped with a lovely pink petal bowl!  I found a light pink one at a thrift store and got it for free!  (see how that happened HERE)  

Then today at HomeGoods, I found three others like it  (one more in the lighter pink color pink and two in a slightly darker pink, as shown above)  So I HAD to get them!  I was so excited...you have NO idea!  haha!



They looked really great with the other dishes!  To top them off, I put a cute little "glitter globe" in each bowl...from the Dollar Tree.  The flatware is an awesome Ross Find!  4 place settings (a 16 piece set) for $4.99!!  I just got them last week in anticipation of today and I couldn't believe the price.  I got a set in purple too, shown at this Tablescape.

Here was the buffet with the SPREAD!   Crock Pot Lasagna, (by request - Recipe HERE) carrots with ranch, and candy-covered strawberries!

I found the runner today at Joanne's Fabric...$2.99 a yard, I got a half yard and just scored myself a $1.50 table runner!  lol   The sparkly card stock also was featured with some various goodies on them...including sparkly fuchsia "icicle" ornaments and and some vases and candleholders.

We had RED fruit punch to drink in that glass pitcher, and I was able to pull out my large new cloche from Target (clearance for $7.98!)   I lined it with fuchsia sparkly mini ornaments and a nice candle to provide some ambiance!

My son said this was his favorite tablescape yet!  He even asked how I got so good at designing tablescapes.  

I told him I have found a lot of inspiration from my fellow blogging buddies, who have such inspirational tablescapes to share!  =D

I was just so happy with how this whole dinner turned out!  I was so thrilled that my family loved it too!  It was a very special day!

I hope you were able to celebrate love today!  Even if you don't have that significant other in your life...there is still so much love out there to be enjoyed...friendships, the love of family, and the love of God!  

He loves each and every one of us SO MUCH!  

Before I sign out for the night, I wanted to share One of my favorite passages in the Bible, they call the "Love Chapter" (1 Corinthians 13 - Message version)  Here is a portion of it...

This is the best description of Love I've ever heard or read about..from the CREATOR of Love!

It says....

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing....

...no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies!"

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

This post is being added to
Tablescape Thursday
Cloche Party
Super Sweet Saturday
Uncommon Slice of Suburbia Link Party
Masterpiece Monday
Miscellany Monday

Sunday Showcase Party
Time To Shine
Pink Saturday

THRIFT ADDICTION THURSDAY - Goodwill Goodies!

Hi All!   Happy Valentine's Day and welcome to another

 

THRIFT ADDICTION THURSDAY!

Ok, well, It's happened.  Yet another sign that I am truly a dish and decor addict now.   

Last night I had my first dream all about DISHES!!!  

When I'M dreaming of dishes, that is DEFINITELY a sign..

So, to feeeeed that addiction, I have to be thrifty!  I've been put on a "dish budget" so I don't go too overboard!  That means I really need to be choosy about what I buy and it has to be a good bargain or a great investment.  

 

So here are some thrifty bargains I was able to snag recently!

 

I was in Goodwill not too long ago (on one of my MANY frequent trips) and I came across these cute gray woven placemats.   There was a set of 10, and the top one looked a little dingy so I almost passed them by, but I decided to stop and look through one.  The rest looked great and when I saw that the entire set of 10 was only $2.50, I HAD to get them. 

I have been wanting to do a pink and gray tablescape in the future, and I thought these might add some nice texture to the table!  


Next up are THESE cute reversible floral placemats (I love reversible placemats, because you get two totally different looks for them!  

At $2 for 4 of them, that was a great price, considering they were in great condition and I loved the sage green with the flowers.

Next up I found this ADORABLE tea set at Goodwill...on a separate trip.  I just thought this set was so cute, and a great addition to my growing sage green collection.  



I love the small purple flowers on them and the way it looks with the light beige and sage plaid design at the bottom of the cup.  I can't wait to use these!  They were in perfect condition.  $5 for the teapot with cup and $2 each for the creamer pitcher and sugar bowl!

 

I also found this cute flip-flop tray for $2.  

I can totally see this for a summery tablescape...

I'll most likely use it with THIS ONE....found a few weeks ago at another Goodwill visit!! 







Last but not least, I just ADORED these frilly rose plates!  I bought 6 of the salad plates, 2 of the dessert plates and 2 of the larger dinner plates.  I'm hoping to use the larger dinner plate and the smaller dessert plate and make a couple of two-tier trays to display some small muffins or something for an upcoming ladies tea I'm planning to host with some other homeschool moms.

Well, that's it for today.  

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day! I hope you have some fun plans to celebrate those you love! I have a "date" day with my hubby today and tonight I'm making a special Holiday Family Dinner, complete with a fancy tablescape and one of our whole family's new favorite meals...CROCK POT LASAGNA (recipe here)  I will be putting up some special Valentine Tablescape pics later today.

Hope to see you tomorrow for my FIVE FABULOUS FINDS FRIDAY!   I have some awesome sites with some amazing stuff I want to share with you. I hope you'll enjoy!

 

Whadda We Eatin' Wednesday #5 - Crock Pot Ranch Potatoes!

Hi everyone!   Thanks so much for stopping by for today's

 

WHADDA WE EATIN' WEDNESDAY!

 

Today I'm showing you a new recipe we made for our last Sunday Family Dinner....

 

CREAMY CROCK POT RANCH POTATOES!

 

This was a very easy recipe to make!   I found it on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a try.  There were a few versions on there and this is the one I tried.

 

I only needed a few ingredients...

3-4 Red Potatoes, chopped into 1 inch chunks (skin on)

1 Packet of Ranch Seasoning mix

1 Can of cream of chicken soup

3/4 cup of Sour Cream

I just cut up the potatoes, threw them in the crock pot, added all the other ingredients...

 Mixed all the ingredients together...

And put it on low for 4-6 hours, or until potatoes are tender.

Here's how the finished product looks!

I wish I could say the whole family was raving about how absolutely delicious this was, because it was truly so easy to make, and I liked them. (even though I could only have a few bites because I'm low-carbing) 

Unfortunately that wasn't the case.   They found it "too creamy"  and didn't eat much of them.  And since I couldn't eat them either, they ended up getting thrown away.   =(

I would make this again, though...most likely for a party or something, because if you do like "creamy stuff"  these creamy potatoes are pretty yummy!   And they are really easy to make!  I bet this would make a yummy "potato salad" type dish once chilled, too! 

Thanks again for visiting!  If you're on Facebook, I'd love for you to come check out and "like" my Facebook Page, where I'll post even more content and some fun discussions!

Also, I'd love to have you follow my page if you enjoy the content you've read.  At 100 followers on my blog, I'm going to host a drawing for a great giveaway among all my followers.  I hope to get there soon, because I'd love to get this giveaway going!!! 

Thanks again for stopping by!  Have a great day!

This post is being added to...
Two Girls and a Party
Open House Party
Link Party
Foodie Friday
Test Meal Monday
On the Menu Monday
A New Creation Link Party
Pinworthy Projects
 

Tablescape Tuesday #4 - Mardi Gras Table!

Hi there "Home Girls!'

Happy Mardi Gras!!!   Do you have any fun plans for this day?   

We are having some friends over with their kids to have a special "school day" where we teach about the traditions of Mardi Gras and the kids are going to decorate masks and small "floats" for a "Mini Mardi Gras Parade!"

And for this "Mardi Gras" edition of "Tablescape Tuesday", I'm sharing our special Mardi Gras Table from our last "Sunday Family Dinner"

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For those of you new to my blog...We started a new family tradition last month that I hope continues even after the kids are grown. 

"SUNDAY FAMILY DINNERS!"  

We pretty much have dinner together as a family every night, but on Sundays, we have a special dinner in the dining room as opposed to the kitchen table, where we normally eat. 

I get out the fine china and candles and make a special meal and so far, it has been something we look forward to each week. 

Then once a month, we invite some of our extended family to join us for a Sunday family dinner.

It's also been giving me a chance to do lots of new TABLESCAPES..haha!   

To see my previous tablescapes from other Sunday Family Dinners, you can click here:

Sunday Family Dinner #1 - Red and Blue Toile
S.F.D.#2 - Black, White and Silver
S.F.D.#3 - Winter Woods With White
S.F.D.#4 - The "Royal Treatment"
S.F.D.#5 -  Super Bowl Table

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Here is this week's table for MARDI GRAS!  This was fun to put together and the kids had some good input on this one.

I had a lot of these colors and decorations already up for our SUPER BOWL TABLESCAPE...found at the link above, but still wanted to change it up a little without it looking like the same table...so I took the purple tablecloth from the buffet over to the main table, and kept the gold, putting one on one side of the table and one on the other.  

I really am kicking myself because I had seen a great green table runner at the Dollar store that would have been PERFECT to run down the middle seam, but at the time I thought "When am I EVER going to use a dark green table runner?"   {slapping myself on the head with the palm of my hand}   

Anyway, it wasn't in the store when I went back...in desperation...to find one, so I had to make do with what I had.

Some of the beads that were on the chandelier last week were expanded with purples and greens to make a fancier hanging display.  I really liked how this came out.

The Purple side and the gold side each made up half the table and in the middle set the centerpiece...On the purple side, I put more gold accents, and on the gold side, I put more purple accents, threaded with green throughout the table.



The centerpiece was a glass veggie tray on a pillar candle holder. (just as it had been for the football centerpiece last week.)   In the "veggie" portions of the tray, are gold beads with purple and green on top. Sitting on top of the "dip" part is a green bowl with candles and purple ornaments. 

 Very easy to make and very cheap, since I already had most of this stuff. 

The green glass bowl was $1 at Goodwill. Everything else I already had.

On the PURPLE side....I put a gold charger and a purple plate. The purple plate was also a Goodwill find at $1 each. They only had 2 so this worked perfectly with this tablescape since the other side had white plates!!! =D

On the GOLD side, I put a purple charger and a white plate (dollar store) then, the rest was the same as the purple side,  a gold plate from Goodwill (50 cents), a green plate (Thrift store - 80 cents) a small white plate with a kind of weave design (Goodwill - 50 cents) and a small ruffled bowl on top (Pier 1 - $1.50 each). 

The Purple Flatware was a Ross Find at $4.99 for all 4 place settings! LOVED that deal!!!

I also really like these mosaic green glass candleholders I found at Ross for $4.99 as well!



Here's the "arial view" of the table

The buffet was a plain black tablecloth with mostly green accents.  Green Doubloons, green candleabra in the center, and green glass bowl.  All stuff I already had, except for the green glass bowl (also a dollar)  I also added some of the Mardi Gras Masks from the dollar store for a little more shiny flair.  All that was missing now was the food!

For the dinner itself, my husband grilled up some marinated cedar plank salmon, we had crock pot ranch potatoes (recipe for that tomorrow)  Easy Jambalaya with chicken, red beans and beef sausage, and for my low-carb side dish, I had mashed "Fauxtatoes" (smashed cauliflower - recipe coming soon) 

Thanks again for joining me for another "Tablescape Tuesday"!  Wish you a happy and SAFE Mardi Gras!

This Post is being added to...

Wow Us Wednesdays
Tablescape Thursday
Let's Dish
Centerpiece Wednesday
Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits

Makeover Monday - Foyer Valentine Transformation!

Good Morning all!

Today's "Makeover Monday" is all about the "LOVE".   Basically I'm just showing my new decor for Valentine's Day in our front foyer!

Here's How my foyer looked after the original transformation (where I completely de-cluttered and showed the frame craft I made....Full post FOUND HERE)

Thankfully we've managed to keep it clutter free (MOST of the time...haha)  which is a good thing!

So here's how I took this foyer to THIS ONE....again, this was a very inexpensive makeover....costing $0 (considering I used stuff I already had, but if you add up the cost of the items purchased, it would still be less than $15!!!

The Vase, I found for $2 at Goodwill back in January.  The Silver pillar candleholder (which I had a white candle on, but I almost like the symmetry of not having it on a little better)  I got at Ross on clearance for $6.99.   The white flowers were from Michaels on sale for 50% off, so I snagged them up for $4!   The New inserts for the frames cost me a few cents!

I just love how I can create new looks with these frames for the seasons/holidays so inexpensively!  Each season has 6 letters (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn) so that will make it easy, but the winter frames didn't really work so well with Valentine's Decor, and I will want special decor for St. Patrick's Day too....soooo...I was able to easily put these frames to good use by changing out the scrapbook paper and adding some letters that I printed out from Microsoft Word.  

I found an awesome "seasons" book of scrapbook paper for $9.99 (on sale from $20) at Michaels a few months ago and it's been perfect!  

The box where I put our keys and other clutter is still the same and the heart dish (which I've had for years) is filled with cinnamon chips for a nice cinnamon smell when you enter (although I'm not sure how good they work...)

Anyway, that's today's MONDAY MAKEOVER!  Thanks for visiting!  

This post is being added to...
Metamorphosis Monday
Tip Me Tuesday