At the end of a rainy day...

Nothing beats a hot cup of tea in your favorite chair...

That is unless you throw in a couple of great magazines...

yes that is a fall issue I am a little behind in my reading

Then if you add a slice of banana creme cake with a little whipped on the side...
Mmmmmm, just perfect...*happy sigh*

I love these cute little Beatrix Potter fork and spoon set my MIL gifted to lil Sara...They are just the right size for mummy to borrow for a tea time :)..The blue napkin also courtesy of my MIL...I love how the color complements my Homer Laughlin cup and dishes..

All served on one of my favorite thrift store finds...My $7 wooden TV tray that will one day become a white shabby TV tray...

And I can't forget my favorite snugly blanket...

So please pull up a comfy chair and join me, we can chit-chat about the weather and such things...

Please stop by and visit my other blog Lost Homes of Levy Co ...
If you love country and you love old things, you do not want to miss this...

Blessings Kelsie

I will be joining the following tea parties on Tuesday to celebrate.

Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations - Tea Time Tuesday

Lady Katherine Tea Parlor - Tea Time Tuesday

Wander Lee and Pam's - Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday

and party Co-hosts:

Martha's Favorites - Tea Cup Tuesday
&
Terri, Artful Afirmations - Tea Cup Tuesday

And lastly

Marty, A Stroll Thru Life - Table Top Tuesday

Tea, Quilts and Antiques...

A couple of weeks ago I shared photos from a Mother Daughter Brunch with my eldest daughter...We had visited the Suwannee Rose Cafe, which is located in the same old Coke Factory building as the Suwannee Valley Quilt Shoppe, and there is even more quilting stuff and antiques in the old Ice House building behind it, including the Antique Sewing Machines and Pink Antiques I shared in other previous post...Today I wanted to share the last of the photos from this visit.

This lovely egg plate was my daughters favorite antique piece, but alas it was just a little out of my price range that day...Maybe it will still be there on our next visit...

My gorgeous daughter standing in front of some of the bolts of fabric...She is holding our "birdie bag"...Our lunch was garnished with fresh citrus and since I am allergic I brought it home to hang on my bird feeder because they love them some citrus..

More bolts of fabric...They boast over 5,000 bolts and a library of 400 quilting books...Impressive huh...They also offer a number of different classes...Maybe one day I will have time to take a couple..

How fun sheet music fabric...I know, but where are the teacups?

Next door in the Ice House building

Sadly I did not get close ups of the each cup because I was running out of room on my camera...

They had the complete set of these...or at least to me it looked like a complete set...

More tea cups..

The pink one was my favorite of course, but out of my price range also...

I really loved this display they had set up with the old cans and the geese, if it was not for the price tickets showing it could be a dresser at grandma's house...

Hope yall have a wonderful week...Blessings Kelsie

Sharing this week for the following parties.

Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations - Tea Time Tuesday

Lady Katherine Tea Parlor - Tea Time Tuesday

Wander Lee and Pam's - Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday

and party Co-hosts:

Martha's Favorites - Tea Cup Tuesday
&
Terri, Artful Afirmations - Tea Cup Tuesday

The Tale of 2 Teacups....

Our story begins one Friday morning not too long ago...Last Friday to be precise...When I entered the thrift store with the intention of dropping off my eldest daughter who does volunteer work there and donating a pillow cover that was the match to one I had donated the week before but had been in hiding...Leaving my older daughter to watch Lil Sara in the kitchen wares while I popped the cover into the office to be re-united with it's mate...

On my return to kitchen wares I happen to glace at the cup rack and my eye was immediately draw to 2 cute little blue and white teacups.. Alas, what a shame they did not have matching saucers.

Images of having a lovely tea party with these cups nested in their matching saucers danced through my head...Then I reminded myself I was NOT buying anything today and gathered up my toddler and turned to my left to leave....and that is when it happened...


Not just the matching saucers but the ENTIRE dinner set (though only 4 teacups instead of 8) was sitting on the shelf calling my name...I turned to my daughter and asked her if she thought they would let me make an offer since I was sure the price tag they had on it was over my budget...but was too scared to look and see....Quickly I spoke to the manager and made her an offer of $20 for the entire set...she even more quickly agreed and sent the girls to fetch a box to pack it up for me...At the register the other manager rang up my naughty guilty pleasure and then gave me my daughter's discount as well...SO now I have the entire set for just $15...

What a lovely table I will be able to lay for our Thanksgiving dinner and one more thing to be thankful for...

Now it was not until I reached home that I took the time to look for a stamp...Remember I simply purchased it because I loved the pattern.

Interesting, even though they are the same size plates these 2 have different stamps on them...as do the other pieces...then some also have no stamp...Curious...I am a novice at this so anyone that can shed any light as to why this is so I would be very grateful.

This seems to be the most common stamp on the set

Then this one

This stamp is only on one piece and is super blurry in person...it is not just my bad photography this time lol.

I later found out they were glad to finally sell the set, as it had been tucked away on the shelf for months...Thank you to the person that moved those cups for me to see them...

What little research I did have time to do revealed that the set is Homer Laughlin and the pattern is called Sturbridge or also known as Blue Onion and it is a discontinued pattern from the 1980's...A quick glance at restore.com told me that I paid about 10% of what the actual value of the dishes are...So I think I am going to chalk this up as my best Thrift Store find EVER.

Little tip for those of you living in the Chiefland FL area, check out the Hospice Thrift Store next to Winn Dixie...You just never know what you might find.

Kelsie

PS: Today (Monday) when I took Daughter to work 2 more cups and 3 cereal bowls had come to light at the store...Bless the manager, she would not allow me to pay for them since they should have been with the other pieces when I purchased them and besides the bowls had chips in them...She is so sweet.

I will be joining the following tea parties on Tuesday to celebrate.

Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations - Tea Time Tuesday

Lady Katherine Tea Parlor - Tea Time Tuesday

Wander Lee and Pam's - Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday

and party Co-hosts:

Martha's Favorites - Tea Cup Tuesday
&
Terri, Artful Afirmations - Tea Cup Tuesday

And lastly

Marty, A Stroll Thru Life - Table Top Tuesday

My Fab Thrift Store Finds...

Don't you just love when you walk into a thrift store and hit the mother load...That is how I felt a couple of weeks ago...I went looking for a serving tray and found so much more and got it all for under $20

2 silver serving trays, the small one was $2 and the large $3

The salt and pepper shakers with the cute shabby chic look were only a $1...I am hoping to remove the text from the side, it seems to have been applied after the glaze so here is hoping.

Now this is the most amazing find of all...A solid sterling silver candelabra for...ok you better sit down before I tell you how much I paid for this...$4.50...Yup amazing huh...
I LOVE THE HOSPICE THRIFT STORE.

This small platter was another $2 and goes perfectly with my white tea set.

And the last find that trip was this coat rack which I eyed for about 2 weeks before I took the plunge and purchased it for a towel rack in the master bathroom...It was the most expensive item at $5.

Thnx for letting me share my shopping treasure with you this week...
Kelsie

Don't forget to pop over to Cindy's for

Volunteer Work

As we all know the job market in America is in a very sad place right now and those of us living in rural America are effected even more due to the fact even in a good economy GOOD jobs are hard to find in these areas anyway....Many very qualified ppl are out of work nation wide or taking minimum wage jobs in which to make ends meet...My own husband in this number, a certified Airline Mechanic is now changing ppls oil and tires at Walmart..

So what chance does a newly graduated student with no work experience have at finding even a minimum wage job....My eldest daughter is taking time off before college as she graduated from high school a year early, and though she made the honor roll all her senior year, she can just not compete with the older more "work" experienced ppl hunting for the same jobs. Even our local fast food restaurants are predominantly an older "supporting a family" work force.

Do you know how heart breaking it is to watch the confidence of a child be shattered week after week as they search in vain for a job...Giving her a sense of "nothing to get out of bed for" each day...So I suggested to her she find a local charity to volunteer at each week...This will help give her a sense of purpose and also look very good on future scholarship applications...Plus as an added bonus she will get some hands on work experience.

Starting last Thursday she began working at the local Haven Hospice Thrift Store and loves it...It is so heart warming to listen to her tell me about her day, and the joy she gets from working for such a good course as the Hospice...She is already working the register and is being trained in the back on how to sort and price donations...She is building relationships with the other ppl that work and volunteer there and comes home with a sense of self worth...I think when she eventually does get a job interview this will show thru in her over all attitude and hopeful impress future employers.

So anyone one out there reading this who is currently facing the same job hunting trials, I strongly recommend volunteering in your own community...You never know how much you giving will give back to you.

Kelsie - A very proud mother.

Be Still My "Heart Cage"

A couple of weeks ago while visiting one my favorite antique stores "Vicki and Fred's New and Used Furniture" with hubby I came across an amazing heart shaped bird cage and floor stand...It stood about the same height as me 5"4'...It was so lovely and I wanted it sooooo much, but after discussing it with hubby we both decided that a large metal floor stand and a 2yr old were not a good combo in any house.

So at the store it stayed *sad*...but I could not stop thinking about it...And then happened upon one on a random blog and it was like a sign...I just had to have that heart shaped cage and stand...I even worked out that if we were to place it on the front porch, it would not only look perfect, but would not be such a temptation for Lil Sara to pull it onto herself.

The very next chance we got, hubby and I headed down to the store to buy the cage...Oh so sad I was when Fred told me he had sold it 2 days earlier...But here is the real kicker...It had been in the store for 3 YEARS....arggggg.

All was not lost though...Tucked away on top of a dresser was a miniature version of the heart cage...And I guess Fred felt bad for me because he reduced the price by 30% and let me have the table top heart cage and stand for just $10.

Couldn't wait to get home and remove the dusty vines.

This is how it looked when I first got home...Super cheap looking plastic ivy...the florist foam was crumbling and it was all caked in dust....the little quail on the inside was very cute but not the right scale for such a small cage...So I very quickly removed everything to expose the lovely cage and stand underneath...

I switched the Dollar Tree bird from my other large birdcage with the oringinal Quail...
Not sure he will stay in here either, was just trying him for scale.

The stand is a touch over 18inches tall, and the cage is 8x8.5 inches....I have not decided what color to paint it yet...Though the current colors match my Robert Juniper Print in the living room, I do not think the styles are a good match...Mic suggested pink and it live in her room (she is out of luck because she has no where to put it in her room), I am leaning towards white paint of course and switching it for the large cage in the guest room... Then hanging the large cage on the front porch, which was the original plan for it when I first painted that one....For now I am just glad to have my "Heart Cage"

Kelsie

Sharing today for

Most Beautiful Birdhouse....

Yup another post about birds...You are all going to think I am obsessed with our feathered friends...But this one is different...I want to share a couple of little projects we did yesterday.

I have had this old birdcage for a couple of year now (ok 4 or 5 ) waiting to have the right place for it in my home...After viewing many wonderful blogs and seeing gorgeous displays with cages I was feeling inspired....So off to the Dollar Tree me and lil Sara went, just looking for some bits and bobs to finish off the bare cage...Once I got home I did a dry run, but then quickly realized the "dirty" yellow paint had to go, so yup you guessed it...out came the white paint.

Since I could not spray paint it due to weather, having lil Sara in tow and I must be crazy. I was so impatient to have it white, I painted it with a brush...NOT something I would be in a hurry to repeat...As you can see it has found a home on the bedside table in the guestroom...Since this room is still "under construction" this is all you get to see for now.

The total cost of the cage make over was $7...Even the little bird was only $1, he is as cute as can be, though he was in the "coastal" section at the store I think he works here too.


So what was lil Sara doing while I was being insane and hand painting the bird cage?...Creating her own birdie master piece of course *grin*

She saw this little birdhouse in the craft section of Walmart and HAD to have it...So while I worked at the kitchen table, she sat quietly in her highchair and painted too.

Isn't she just darling?

Hey look mummy, I didn't need the paint brush after all.

The end result is the most beautiful birdhouse...

I hope yall are having a great week, we have a busy day planned while lil Sara is at Daycare, hopefully by the time we have to pick her up, we will have a fence around the backyard...
Kelsie

Joining in White Wednesday @ http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

And Due to lack of time this week for a new photographs this is doubling as my

Sharing Some Firsts and Finds....

As life tends to do, plans changed yesterday rather quickly...But for the better...Not only did we take the enrollment paperwork to the DayCare, but we also took little Sara for her first day...She only stayed for 3 hours but had lots of fun playing with the other children...

This meant for the first time in 2yrs I was able to shop in peace YAY....I looked and browsed and looked some more...Had a nice quiet lunch with my husband at the new Chinese buffet restaurant in town....It was a lovely 3 hours.

What made it lovelier was the couple of
bargains I found for the house.

I got this set of shelves, perfect for our french bedroom for just $10...Originally priced at $14 but the haggler in me just could not pay that much...The fact it was already painted white but a huge draw...One less thing I had to paint *grin*

And then what could be better than finding this Candle Sconce for just $2 ???

Finding it as a set of 2 at that price....I am not sure if they will get painted black or white just yet, or even which room of the house they will end up in, I just knew they were waiting for me to come along and buy them...They are just too lovely.

Linking to My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.



Thank you for stopping by....

The Story of Three Frames.

These frames came to me from my Mother-In-law, she got them for a steal at a thrift store I believe, though I do not remember the exact price. She told me she knew I would know just what to do with them...Thank you MIL.

The largest of the three was paired with an old cork board, some ribbon, co-ordinating fabric, and buttons...Since the cork board was slightly larger I had to cut it down to size, after that it was all paint and hot glue gun....I think you all know where I am going with this.

Now we have a Black & White vintage looking memory board.

Perfect for over Mic's desk...
Matches her, ummmmm Dr Who Figures??
Ok so The Dr and the Cybermen seem to be invading rural France this week...Or maybe they are having a Pokemon battle???

The other two frames, also got a coat of paint.
More of a milky wash actually, to allow the gold paint to show a little.


Using foam cord, I created backings for both frames.
Then used the fabric from daughters graduation gown to create the "artwork" within the frames.