{let there be light on thrifty thursday}

I love a good light fixture as much as the next gal, but I'm not going to pay full retail for it.  There is a can't-be-missed flea market around these parts and I've found some seriously smokin' deals there.

Today I wanted to highlight some of the ceiling light fixtures I have in my home.  The people who had this house built chose some hideous fixtures from the 80's even though the house was built in 1998.  I'm not even going to go into the non-options this house has.  Well...just that there was no garbage disposal and no water hookup for the fridge.  1998, y'all.  Let me just say we have a garbage disposal now...yes ma'am.  And...I'm pretty lucky 'cause my dad is an electrician and he only lives about 3 miles away.  So for me, there is no cost for the installations of these babies.

First...over the kitchen table...

(Don't ask me what that black stuff is on the shade to the left...I didn't notice it until I uploaded the picture here.)

I think this is a way cute light fixture and it looks great in my kitchen, if I do say so myself.  And do you know what I paid for it?

Wait for it...

$1.

Yep.  You read that correctly.  I said $1.  It was from my favorite booth at the flea market's dollar table.

And how about this one?  It is in my 'formal' living room.

This little beaut has cute leaves and stuff above the globe on it.  And here she is all lit up, showing off for y'all.

I got her at the $1 table too.

Don't hate me, y'all.

{introducing thrifty thursday}

I am a lover of thrifty finds and love to share my finds with my friends.  That includes you, oh friends that live inside my computer!  So I'm going to start sharing my thrifty finds with you on Thursdays.  Sound good?  Alrighty then, let's get to it...

Yesterday was Wednesday, and around these parts that means half price clothing at the Salvation Army.  My cute little hubby was in need of some shirts & sweaters that didn't drown him (he's been dropping pounds like crazy) so off I went.

Keep in mind that I only paid half of the ticketed price.

All in GREAT condition.  A GAP sweater in bone ($2.50), an Old Navy long sleeved polo shirt in a cute stripe ($2.50), and a Tommy Hilfiger button down in a navy & white check ($2.00).  Not bad, huh?  I know!

I also found this darling skirt for my daughter for next Spring & Summer...only $1.50.

To finish up the clothing circuit, I got myself a wardrobe basic, long length Old Navy T-shirt in salmon...great for layering.  Only $.50.

And here are my most fabulous finds for the day:

(remember...you can click on the pictures to enlarge them if you so desire)

Three large red, glittery, beady, beautiful cone tree things.  Perfect for the upcoming holiday season.  They look like they are brand new.  The smallest one was $3, the middle $4, and the largest $5.  That means I only spent $12 for this large piece altogether.  I put the paper towel holder in that 2nd pic so you could see the large scale of these babies.  Way cool, huh?  Love 'em.  I might dress the large one up with a ribbon bow when they come out for good after Thanksgiving.  What do you think?

Have you found any thrifty deals lately?  I'd love to hear about them in the comments!

{checking in with you & thank you!}

For my beloved loyal readers: Oh my...I feel so loved! I wasn't sure whether anyone would still be reading this blog after I dropped off the face of the earth! If you're new, you can read what has kept me away here. Thanks guys for your kind thoughts and encouragement. I am glad to be "back on the bandwagon"...a bit more, anyway. Still getting used to my limited ability to get around the house. The kids came home yesterday, after staying with my SIL a couple hours away. They were there for 10 days, and it was such a blessing to be able to deal with "the worst of it", knowing that they were having a blast with their cousins. Thanks Kim! (blogless SIL)

The kiddos start school next Tuesday, so it will be interesting, getting into the habit of a new schedule with a broken ankle thrown into the mix. I'll keep you posted on how that goes next week.

I really have missed blogging. And all of you. I haven't checked the pictures that were taken at Zach's Shrek birthday party, but if there were any good ones of the cool party ideas, I'll share them with you. If I was there, I would've taken "blog-worthy" pictures of all the cool food and stuff and designed a whole post around it.

I hate to have two posts in a row without pictures, so, for your viewing pleasure...and for the love of all things beautiful, please go visit Sarah at A Beach Cottage. She decorates her beach cottage beautifully with thrifted, made-over finds that make me drool. She also has a way with photography that is a sure talent. I recently discovered her blog and have been devouring the archives for a couple of days. Enjoy!

Frugal Curtain Rod

So you wanna hang up some curtains and you really want one of those big chunky wood curtain rods, huh? Well, grab a few dollars and head to your closest home improvement store. You'll just need some plastic PVC. You can buy it as skinny or as chunky as you want it. I wanted it chunky.

Most of my guests cannot believe that this curtain rod is made from plasitc PVC pipe. The triple window is kind of large and I wanted the curtains to hang much wider than the window opening. I would be spending a pretty penny to buy a wood rod that size and the style I wanted. I spray painted the white PVC pipe a dark brown color. I used 4 wood brackets to support it due to the length. I am still trying to figure out how to do finials on the ends, since the pipe is hollow. Any ideas?

For more Frugal Friday ideas, head to Biblical Womanhood!

If You Like Decorating Magazines & Good Stories, You'll Love This

I am addicted to a big fan of Google Reader. For those poor souls who don't know about this yet and still manually check all of the blogs you are addicted to so dearly love, let me give you a quick explanation. Basically, you can subscribe to all of your favorite blogs and it updates your reader when any one of them posts a new blog post. You just check in with Google Reader (from any computer with the internet, mind you) and you can read all of the new posts right there. It is ever so convenient. Just go to google.com, click on "more" at the top of the page, and a menu will drop down. Click on "reader" and there you go. You. will. be. forever. thankful. to. me.

I want to share some excellent posts that have come across my Google Reader lately. Hope you enjoy this little tour...

Tip Junkie is a great site. My favorite posts are the ones like this where she shares great projects her readers have sent her. You're bound to be inspired by several of these ladies.

I am already a huge fan of Heather's, even though I just discovered her site yesterday. She has woven a beautiful tale of how she came to meet her husband in fourteen seperate posts. Lucky us, we get to read them all at once, since we don't like to wait.

Always a huge fan of The Nester, she did not fail to impress me with her quick decorating skills. She recently moved into a new house, and everything already looks so lovely. Go check it out. Soon she'll take us on a whole tour...she promised!

(photo source: http://nestingplacenc.blogspot.com/)

The Life Hackery has given us 50 great kitchen tips in one post. Get out your notebooks, then click.

I don't even own a sewing machine, yet I long for creative ways to make my home beautiful with fabric. Let's just say that this post at Restyled Home is wayfreakin'cool. She's my hero.

(photo source: http://restyledhome.blogspot.com/)

Enjoy. Please share some of your favorites with me!

Beautiful Weather, Photoshop, & a Baby Boy!

OK - so nobody freak out...I'm not having a baby boy, it is my sister in law, Kari, who called us with the news that they are in fact, having a baby boy. They currently have 2 girls, so it will be fun with a little man running the house.

After lots and lots of rain and gloomy weather, we had a beautiful 70 degree day today with tons of sunshine. My sister & I went to a great spot in the city to practice our photography. I am trying to teach myself the basics of being an awesome photographer. I've never taken a class, but I'm reading a ton of stuff online and having lots of practice.

I also got PHOTOSHOP! YAY!!!!! I have been longing for that program for a longggg while and now that I have it, I'm not sure what to do with it...it is pretty tricky. But, in my regular obsessive nature, I've read a gajillion (you didn't know that was a number, did ya?) tutorials today.

I actually am now reading Photoshop for Dummies. I figure, if the title fits....ya know where I'm goin' with this dont'cha? And no, I haven't really done anything around the house today with all of this fun photo and photoshop stuff. Are you happy? I admit it.

So I can't wait to share some of my new photoshop skills with you real soon! I know you can't wait!

Flea Market Finds!

I promised you pictures of my flea market finds from last Saturday. The most wonderful flea market happens once a year in the nearby city of Richmond and it is the pinnacle of awesomeness. Well, I loaded up the van that day, let me tell ya!

The chair in the top picture now proudly sits in my living room with it's twin. I purchased the set for only $20!!!! Seriously....can you believe it? They are structurally in great shape, and the color is perfect for that room.

The rug in the above photo was a steal at only $15. It has a little damage, but is so charming and goes perfect in my back hallway. I have tole painted trays hanging on the wall in there, so they are really perfect together.

This mini table is going to be perfect next to Mike's recliner. It needed a little sturdying up and it needs to be shorter, but it is the perfect small size to fit there and kindly hold his beverage. And I'll also paint it. But for $2!!!!???? It really was perfect!

This trio of Willilamsburg sketches in their black and white beauty will go in my bedroom. I am doing a soft grayish blue on the walls and black and white toile on the bed. Believe it or not, I only paid $3 for the trio. Maaaavelous. I will paint the frame and gold matte black, though.

I got tons of cute clothes for my kids and my husband. A pair of cute designer leather shoes for me ($1), and some more finds for the house. I'll do another installment with those and I'll also show you what all the new pretties look like in their homes all fixed up. Thanks for looking!

Decorating on the CHEEEEP!

OK - I know that I spelled CHEAP wrong in the title, but I did it on purpose. You have seriously got to check out the Nesting Place. The Nester has a lovely blog and a lovely home that she decorates with frugal abandon! She also makes frequent references to BIRDS, note the name of her blog, thus the misspelling in the title. I love to read all her posts, but some of my favorites are about how she mistreats her windows (get it, not window treatments, but window mistreatments, ha ha). She has a whole window mistreatment series going on. You can find the other posts here, here, here, and here. I get so inspired by her no fuss decorating and wanted to share it with all of you. Enjoy!

It's a Spring Thing...

I decided that it was time to change the sideboard in my entry for Spring. I know it is not officially here yet, but I couldn't help it. I found these 2 items (the bunny & the wreath) on a great sale last week and I couldn't wait to display them. Too cute! Do you like my hand holding the cameral in the mirror.

Here are some other views of the whole display. Looking at these pictures makes me realize how bad I need to paint my entry a cute color. Even a cuter neutral.

Things just don't pop against it the way it is now. Hmmmm....need to find a color! :)

Brrrr!

This was from last week. Here in VA we have more ice storms than snow. Notice the Spring leaves that are beginning to appear.

Pretty Flowers

My friend Michelle brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers yesterday and watched my kids for a few hours (including feeding them dinner) to give me a break. I seperated the bouquet into 2 pitchers (one ironstone and the other green depression glass) and now I can enjoy twice the arrangement! I thought I'd show you how pretty they are! They make me smile! :) Thanks Michelle!