These are a few of my favorite things...

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas- Planning!

Well folks, it's time for "Thrift Share Monday" and I have to say..."I'm excited!!!".
Last Thursday I went back to the local estate sale one day before they opened to the public as I knew they were going to take out some more items. When I arrived I walked to the back area since I didn't really spend too much time there the week before. As I walked back I immediately saw the cutest vintage doll rocking crib! I gently smiled and picked it up thinking how cute that would be for Christmas. Then, to my delight I noticed something else. It was the oddest big wooden box that was partially open and looked like it had some drawers inside. I opened it up a bit wider and wow...it was a steamer trunk for doll clothes priced at only $16!! Score!!! I then went up front to ask the price for the crib. The owner said she was gonna tag it for $20 but would give it to me for $10! Score!!!As you can probably tell, this Mama is still excited about it-lol! Two great items for only $26 dollars.
My plans? Well, I thought this is a great way to get a jump start on Christmas items. I am going to clean up the rocking crib, make a new mattress pad for it, a new pillow, and a doll quilt. Imagine how cute that'll look under the Christmas tree! My plan for the doll steamer trunk? I will be making clothes for my little ones dolls, put them on little hangers, maybe make some shoes and accessories and put them in the drawers. Imagine how cute that'll be when they open it up!!
I'm excited to take something pre-owned and "Doll it up"- pardon the pun! What a fun project it'll be! I look forward to showing you all the finished projects :D

Breathe in...breathe out...

This Mama still has much to catch up on in the department of moving in. It's the oddest thing. You'd think with half of our storage unit broken into and stolen, I should have no problem organizing our new place and the remainder of the storage unit. That however is not the case. The new place is an apartment more then half the size smaller than our old house. It's actually pretty relieving in a rather odd way. I've been simplifying and trying to only keep the things I really want to. It's kind of like a fresh start. I guess it's all a matter of perspective. So...my to do list for the remainder of the month...

• Order the items necessary to get home-based business started- I'll share more of that once it's ready ;D
• Get Nature Table Set up- I kind of have it done but not the way I want and to be honest...I'm tired of looking at the old winter pic I have up in my blog-lol! It has been a while for us to regain our bearings.
• Finish organizing craft supplies in Utility Room
• Go through Mama clothes and donate what I don't use anymore!!
• Move Furniture around in babies room
• Actually fix up Mama's room- as I've been working off and on in the other rooms and always seem to neglect my own!
• Tag Winter children's clothing for upcoming consignment show in September :D

Now to breathe in...breathe out...and remember to smell the flowers!

Enjoy your Sunday!!

Cleaning Naturally! - Re-post

When I first had Little Bear, I started to become more aware of the cleaning products we were using in our home. So I began to make sure that I was buying eco-friendly and babysafe products. It was important to me because I knew that my little guy would crawl on the floor (where he would inhale those products), dropping food then picking up and putting back in mouth (therefore, picking up any residue with it), and anything and everything else toddlers and babies tend to do...then put their hands back into their mouths.
It wasn't until right before I had Zoe did it really come to my attention that I could be making my very own cleaning products-go figure! Why hadn't I thought of this before? The funny thing is, while nesting I kind of...well, really got into this show on the BBC called, "How Clean is Your House?". The ladies made their own cleaning products out of really simple, already in your pantry ingredients. I began to find recipes on line, through books, friends (thank you Kelly!), etc. It was not only fun, but it felt great to not only know that "I" made it, but the fact that "I" knew EXACTLY what was in it! My goodness, not only was it simple, but it has saved us loads of money at the same time!
I thought I'd share a few of my fave's with you-Brandy, this one's for you hon!

Alice's WonderSpray (from Clean House, Clean Planet by Karen Logan)

Combine the following ingredients in a 32 oz. bottle

Dissolve tsp. borax in 28 oz. hot water or less

Add 1/4 c. White Vinegar-preferably Heinz (since it's made from grains)

1/4 c. liquid soap-your preference (I use Mrs. Meyers either geranium or lemon verbena)

10-15 drops lemon or lavendar essential oil for scent (I use lemon)

This is an all-purpose spray and works wonders...hence the name "WonderSpray". I absolutely love this stuff.

Floor Cleaner

(I got this from one of my on-line groups a while back and have loved it ever since!)

1 gal. Hot Water

2 tbsp. Liquid Castille Soap-I use Dr. Bronner's Peppermint

1/4 tsp. Your choice of mixed EO (Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Citrus and/or Tea Tree)

Blend in a bucket and Mop

Laundry Detergent

1 c. Borax

1 c. Washing Soda

1 grated bar of Dr. Bronner's Castille Soap

I've been using this recipe for quite some time now. It's a non-sudsing recipe and I've not had any problems with it so far. I did have to go back and use my old detergent for one load, since I ran out and didn't have time to run to the store to buy the last ingredient. Anyhow, DH's pants were in that particular wash and I noticed the water looked pretty murky. I'm not sure why???? Maybe it was his pants. I think I'll try a load of my clothes and see if that happens. I'll let you know as it just happened today.

There are so many more, but these are some of the one's used the most in my home.

Please feel free to share any of your homemade cleaner recipes in your comments. I'd love to hear about them!

Beeswax Summer Candle Tutorial

This is a great project to do with your little one's. These types of candles look great for summer nature tables or for nautical/beach decor.
First thing's first...make sure you get the right size shells. These shells ended up being to small!
I didn't realize it until I put the wicks in AND again after pouring the wax in...the wax will probably flow out of these little guys. So if you're using them for your nature table, get larger sizes of at least 3"-4" in diameter. Mental note to self for next time!
Place wicks inside shells with " ". I actually left a bit too much of the wick on so that I can cut them down after the wax has set.

Chip the beeswax from the block into chunks. You can easily do this by hitting it with a hammer. Place it in parchment paper first so that it doesn't stick and you keep the pieces from flying out. It doesn't take too long to melt...

Pour the wax into the shells.

...Voila!
Now to find larger shells. I just can't have candles that "look cute" without being able to use them and worry about the wax melting out-lol!
Have fun and enjoy your new summer candles!!

Thrift Share Monday

Ok, so I've decided that since I'm a thrift girl too, why not join the wonderful Apron Thrift Girl for her Thrift Share Monday's? So here it is...my first Thrift Share Monday post. Written in a flurry of typing before I go to work!!
As some of you may know, I used to be an antique's dealer and vintage clothing dealer. I've taken an extended sabbatical -lol, from doing this because I've since become a mother. Trying to make it to the estate sales sometimes before 7 a.m. with a baby or small child, just doesn't really work unless you have help. Trust me, I've tried!I still go nowadays, but it's for personal items these days. I just can't get rid of the thrift bug. Nor do I care too!Every now and then I get to go in these estate sales if it's being done by one of antique malls that I've sold at or even people that have known me from my antique dealer days. Last week, to my delight, I was able to get into a sale...even though it doesn't start until this weekend :D
I had to completely restrain from not buying a lot, but I did want to share a couple of items that did manage to come home with me.Such as these adorable juice children's juice glasses...

What can I say? I have a weakness for vintage kitchenware!
I also love enamelware and found these two cobalt blue enamelware canisters. What will find their way into them?

Yummy Blueberry Pie

Alright, don't tell me you didn't see this coming-lol! Yes...yummy blueberry pie made for baking day :D Wednesday's are our baking day here. It's my day off of work and I'm more relaxed to time the time to try out new recipes and make old favorites! Little Bear absolutely LOVES baking day. Whenever we've planned an event or an outting, I'll say with a bit of intensity, "Guess what day it is?". It almost never fails for him to answer with excitement, "IT'S BAKING DAY!"
My little chef at work...I found an absolutely YUMMY blueberry pie recipe here. I mean, it was titled, "How to make the world's best blueberry pie". How could I pass it up? The thing that is so special about this particular blueberry pie, is that we picked these blueberries as a family, baked it as a family and enjoyed the "Fruits of our Labor" (pardon the pun) as a family!

...and let me tell you, it was absolutely delicious!! I used a different crust recipe that I had in one of my old "Country Living" mags.
We couldn't wait to eat it, once it was out of the oven so I didn't even get a picture of the finished product before we sliced into it and ate!
I think it's safe to say, we are pretty much a bunch of blueberry freaks-lol! That would be my fault. I've always absolutely LOVED blueberries since I can remember. As a matter of fact, blue is my favorite color! When I was a kid, I always wanted to be "Blueberry Muffin" when playing with my "Strawberry Shortcake" dolls.- lol!
Nothing like blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream. Dig in!!