Category Archives: Beautiful Things

List Lady

Leave a reply

I am not a naturally neat and tidy person.  I struggle with so-called “lazy” tendencies, partly because I have health issues and partly because of lack of motivation and, yes, just plain laziness.  I am also very much a list lover – I have lists for almost every part of my life!  A short list of my lists:

  • To do list for the home and a to do list for general stuff
  • A list of Christmas presents already purchased or made, and a list of Christmas presents to purchase or to make
  • A list of Christmas stuff to do other than gifts
  • A list of art projects I want to do/make
  • A list of ideas for advice memes to make
  • A list of inspiration ideas for this blog
  • An ongoing grocery list

My lists help keep me organized and getting tasks done, even the very mundane tasks of everyday living.

The list I use most is my Planner Pages Project.  This is a list in calendar form, with daily tasks and duties entered with boxes for checking off completed responsibilities.

planner pages

planner pages multipage screenshot

planner pages two page screenshotYes, I do have brushing my teeth listed as a task!  Some days, it is a great accomplishment to even get that part of my list completed, and being able to check even one item off is a great mental boost.  I also have eating breakfast on the list, because I tend to forget to eat breakfast, and I have to eat before I take my medications, so if I don’t eat, I don’t take my meds.  Bad deal.

Another list I use daily is posted on my bulletin board near my work desk.  This one is a block calendar dividing my day into blocks for work focus.  This helps keep me on task and also keeps me from spending too much time sitting and working at the computer.  I have scheduled active and passive time frames, along with creativity chunks.  This same calendar will not work for everyone since not everyone has the same kind of time frame as I do.  Still, it can be useful when conformed to individual needs.Block schedule

I carry a steno-type notebook with me everywhere.  As I think of things that I need to do, to make, to write, to buy, to tell someone, I write it down in this notebook.  I have discovered that, partly as a result of getting older and partly from certain health issues and medications, my short-term memory is not as good as it once was.  By keeping this notebook handy at all times, I am much less likely to forget important tasks that come up, as well as ideas and inspiration.

list pic

Maybe you don’t need a list to get through your day – kudos to you!

Maybe you only need a grocery list and a normal calendar to be effective – kudos to you, too!

Maybe, like me, you need multiple lists just to function like a semi-responsible adult – kudos to you most of all, because you realize and recognize that you need the help and are willing to take steps to manage your schedule.

time pic

Challenge Accepted! – Cheater Version

Leave a reply

So, keeping up with this blog challenge is much more difficult than I expected.  I say that “life happens” a LOT, but let me tell you, A LOT of life happened this month!  I scoured the remainder of the non-completed list of blog prompts, and completed as many as I was able to do at this moment.  I promise to try to fulfill the remainder by the end of September, but this is not a guarantee that it will happen, just that I will try.  Here goes…

September 10 – Show us how to craft something to support our favorite football team.  I have the stuff, just need to make the time!  Sneak peek here.

September 11 – Capture the changing season with photos.  The leaves are not yet changing here.  Boo.

September 13 – What music have you been listening to lately?  My current favorite artists are Mercy Me, Rend Collective Experiment, and Big Daddy Weave.  I am loving Flawless by Mercy Me!

September 15 – What books do you want to read before the year is over?  I want to read Board Stiff, Five Portraits, and Isis Orb by my favorite author Piers Anthony.  I would also like to read How to Be a Hepburn in a Hilton World: The Art of Living with Style, Class, and Grace by Jordan Christy.

September 16 – Share a recipe using lots of fresh fall produce from the farmer’s market.  You may or may not find this fruit at your local farmer’s market, especially since it is considered a wild fruit.  I moved about 70 miles north of where I grew up, and some people here cannot believe that we eat these!  I am talking about persimmons, and the best dessert by far is persimmon pudding.  I miss it terribly.

By the way, the huge, bright Japanese persimmons you may find at the grocery store are not the same persimmons!

persimmon pudding page

This photo is of a cookbook that was published by my church in 1985, and you can tell persimmon pudding is a popular recipe by the number of times it appears in the book (there is another entry on the following page).  I might just have to make a special trip…

Aunt Nickii's Persimmon Pudding

September 17 – What is one thing you’ve always wanted to do?  I have wanted to go to Italy since I was a little girl.  When I was about kindergarten age, if I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always, “A mommy, a teacher, and artist, and an Italian.”  This is finally in the works for 2017!

September 19 – Show us how to transition an outfit from summer to fall.  Are you kidding?  I am NOT a fashionable person.  About the only way I ever transition an outfit from summer to fall is to add a sweater and/or scarf.  I get so cold…

September 20 – Run a small business?  Tell us how you prepare for the holidays and the end of the year.  Considering my small business is sooooo small, as of now I don’t make any changes due to holidays and the end of the year.  Ask me again when it is actually going somewhere.

September 21 – Tell us about a new blog you recently discovered.  I was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia.  I really didn’t know much about it, so I turned to… Pinterest®, of course!  I found several blogs written specifically about fibromyalgia, but one in particular caught my attention (since I also have rheumatoid arthritis) is Living Life As I See Fit.  For more information about fibromyalgia, check out National Fibromyalgia Association.

September 25 – Take a cue from postsecret and share something you’ve been keeping quiet about.  Today I am having a place on my scalp removed that may or may not be melanoma.  We will hopefully get a good result from the biopsy.

*****************

First Friday Freezer Fest – September Edition

Leave a reply

The second go at the freezer meal preparation was a success, with one small mitigating factor – during the process, I forgot to take photos!

…with the exception of this lovely composition of white button mushrooms and mini Portobello mushrooms.  I like to mix mushrooms in my recipes.  It gives a subtle extra note of flavor to the dish, and just look how beautiful they are together!

mushrooms

I did, however, remember to take notes.  What worked well, what didn’t work well (or at all!), how to “fix” the procedures, and what I want to try next are the ideas I am sharing with you today.

This month, I did a few of the preparation needs differently than last time, lessons learned (see the August First Friday Freezer Fest here).  I wrote out not only the meals I wanted to prepare and a shopping list, I wrote out how each item needed to be prepared before beginning.  That helped tremendously!  As a matter of fact, as Friday came closer, I realized that I had two other obligations that day. On Thursday, I did the preparation steps a little at a time throughout the day and put it all in the fridge.  Friday morning, everything was ready for assembly, saving me a lot of time and stress.

Other helpful hints that I discovered, some the hard way:

  • Put aluminum foil or waxed paper between the stacked bags in the freezer. If possible, don’t stack until frozen.  Several times last month, I would pull a meal out of the freezer, only to find that I could not read all of the directions written on the front of the bag.  This happened because I stacked the bags directly on top of each other, and when the bags froze, the Sharpie® ink froze to the bag on top of it.  Removing/prying apart the bags removed part of the ink.  I had to look up the recipes again to find the missing information in order to have dinner!
  • Place a second label or write the recipe name at the top of the bag where the zipper is or across the bottom of the bag. This way, the recipe name can be seen without having to dig through the stack of meals to find the one you are looking for, or to simply see what you have at a glance.

freezer stack

  • When choosing a freezer meal to prepare, make sure you allow yourself enough time for the meal to thaw completely before cooking, especially if the meal is an oven-baked meal. With the crockpot meals, this step is not as vitally important.  Choose your meal the day before and let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator.  Otherwise, you could end up with some raw chicken in your otherwise delicious dish.
  • If this is your first time making a recipe, follow the instructions and ingredients exactly. My husband and I almost invariably feel that most of my recipes I try need tweaked a little, but I only tweak them after the first try.  For example, most of the recipes that call for a can of tomatoes we agree could use more tomatoes.  I will try that the second time around, but not the first.
  • In recipes that call for fresh potatoes, parboil them first for about 5 minutes, then drain and immediately rinse them in cold water. This will keep them from turning brown and/or mushy in the freezer.
  • When preparing vegetables, go ahead and chop/dice/slice some extra and freeze them, either by the cup or by the individual vegetable. This helps in two ways:
    • When preparing a non-freezer meal during the week, if you need a cup of chopped onions for a recipe, you have the onion chopped and ready to use.
    • You will have less waste from foods going bad before you have used them.

freezer veggies

Recipe List, Grocery List, Prep List

Recipes

Korean Beef

Cheesy Enchilada Quinoa (we like to add cooked and chopped chicken breast to this one)

Minestrone

Tuscan Chicken Stew

Beef Barley Soup

Balsamic Beef Roast

Orange Chicken

Greek Grilled Chicken

Zucchini Mushroom Pasta

Garlic Ranch Chicken

Bacon Ranch Potatoes

Chicken Marsala Meatballs (my husband wished for extra sauce)

Turkey Parmesan Meatballs (I substituted ground turkey for the chicken)

Pork and Lentil Soup

Zucchini Sausage Casserole

Greek Turkey Burgers  ( I accidentally put in cilantro instead of spinach – don’t do that!  Blech…)

Chili Tortellini

Veggie soup (personal recipe)

Hot hamburgers (personal recipe)

Stuffed peppers (personal recipe)

Smoked sausage and sauerkraut (personal recipe)

Shopping

MEAT

Beef chuck roast, 7 pounds           beef round stew meat, 1½ pounds

Ground beef patties, 8                   ground beef, 2 pounds

Ground turkey, 3½ pounds            chicken breast, 10 pieces

Chicken thighs, 16 pieces             ground chicken, 1 pound

Smoked sausage, 1 pound           pork chops, 1 pound

Pork sausage, 1 pound                 eggs, 3

VEGETABLES

Green onions, 2                            black beans, 1 can                         corn, frozen, 4 cups

RoTel tomatoes, 2 cans                onions, 10                                      bell peppers, 7

Diced tomatoes, 2 cans                carrots, 4 pounds                           celery, 1 bunch

Red kidney beans, 1 can              great northern beans, 1 can           zucchini, 4 pounds

Green beans, 2 cans                    spinach, fresh, 3 cups                    chili beans, 2 cans

Mild pepper rings, 1 jar                 tomato sauce, 1 large can              sauerkraut, 1 jar

Tomatoes, 2                                  baby white potatoes, 12                 red potatoes, 22

Mushrooms, 1½ pounds               peas, frozen, 2 cups                       lentils, ½ pound

Sun-dried tomatoes, 1 package    red onion, 1                                    cucumber, 1

Tomato paste, 8 Tbsp                   sun-dried tomato pesto, ¼ cup      lima beans, 1 cup

FRUIT

Orange, 1                  lemons, 2                   lime, 1

STAPLES AND SEASONINGS

Beef broth, 3 cups                         vegetable broth, 4 cups                 chicken broth, 15 ¼ cups

Brown sugar, 1¼ cups                  minced garlic, 1½ cups                  ginger, 2½ tsp

Onion powder, ½ tsp                     white pepper, 1 tsp                        cornstarch, 4½ Tbsp

Chili powder, 3½ Tbsp                   cumin, 7½ Tbsp                            cilantro, 1 cup

Oregano, 1 Tbsp                           rosemary, 1½ tsp                           bay leaf, 4

Red pepper flakes, 1¼ tsp            poultry seasoning, 1 tsp                 Greek seasoning, 1 tsp

Thyme, 2 tsp                                 ranch dressing mix, 1 pkg              parsley, 1 Tbsp

Bread crumbs, 1½ cups                flour, 1 Tbsp                                   nutmeg, 1/8 tsp

Basil, ½ tsp                                   stuffing mix, 1 box                           dill, ¼ tsp

OILS, VINEGARS, SAUCES

Soy sauce, ¾ cups                         sesame oil, 1 Tbsp              rice wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp

Sriracha, 1 tsp                                salsa, 2 cups                       enchilada sauce, 1 large can

Orange marmalade, ¾ cup            BBQ sauce, ¾ cup              hot sauce, 1 cup

Worcestershire sauce, 4 Tbsp       white wine, 2 Tbsp               balsamic vinegar, 5 Tbsp

Vegetable oil, 1 tsp                         olive oil, 2 cups                   Marsala, 1 cup

Pizza sauce, 1 can                         cream of chicken soup, 1 can

GRAINS AND PASTA

Sesame seeds, 1 tsp                       quinoa, 1½ cups                  ditalini, 1½ cups

Rice, 2 cups                                     barley, 1 cup                        spaghetti, 1 pound

Dry tortellini, 1 pound

DAIRY

Mexican cheese shreds, 4 cups               parmesan cheese wedge, 1¾ cups

Heavy cream, ¼ cup                                ricotta cheese, 1 cup

Mozzarella cheese, 1 cup                        butter, 2 Tbsp

Greek yogurt, 1 cup                                 feta cheese, ¼ cup

Challenge Accepted!

Leave a reply

I have accepted a challenge to post every day during the month of September, following a list of guidelines for each day’s post.  This will be quite an experience since I am still relatively new to the blogging world, but I look forward to the test!

Here is the daily list of prompts:

September Blogging Prompts

Hello Neverland

Let’s see what kind of beautiful adventure we have this month!

******************

September 1 – Share your favorite coffee drink recipe.

My favorite coffee drink recipe is likely the coffee I drink every morning.  It consists of coffee brewed by my husband, with three packets of Splenda and some almond milk.

IMG_2284

The coffee drink that started my love affair with the bean is also very simple.  Before pouring the coffee, place the contents of one packet of hot coca mix (without marshmallows) into the coffee cup.  Pour the coffee and add milk or cream.  On our honeymoon cruise, on the first night after dinner, I asked our server for a packet of hot cocoa mix with my coffee and cream.  The remaining eight nights after dinner, my coffee appeared at the table with the cocoa mix already in the cup!

My favorite coffee to go out to get is from Starbucks (of course).  It is a venti White Chocolate Mocha with two pumps of raspberry syrup and whipped cream.  This would also be known as “pink coffee” at the Starbucks that I frequent.  Yummmm…  A copycat recipe for this deliciousness may be found at Mommy’s Kitchen.

September 2 – What fall wardrobe items are you dying to wear?

My favorite things to wear in the fall have to be my sweatshirts, especially my Colts sweatshirts!  Comfy and warm, not too tight (actually a little on the baggy side).  I don’t know why because they are not classy at all, but they just make me feel so good.

I also like to wear my scarves.  I have quite a collection, and that collection is still growing!  Scarves are a fun and functional accessory that can be worn from very elegant occasions to very casual places.  Helpful hint: I store my scarves in over-the-door shoe organizers.  They don’t get tangled, and I can easily see them all when choosing one to accent my outfit

scarf organizer

September 3 – Make a fall essentials shopping list.

My fall essential shopping list.  Hmmm…  Well, it doesn’t specify what kind of essentials, now does it?

  • Mums! I fill almost all of my outdoor planters with mums, and sometimes tuck them in for some color where I don’t have planters, but I do have bare spots after the summer perennials have faded.
  • Pumpkins.  Real and artificial, inside and out. I don’t carve Jack-O-Lanterns because we don’t really do Halloween decorating.  That may change, though, since the grandbabies are getting bigger.  Some of my husband’s fondest memories of his grandfather involve carving pumpkins.
  • At least one new scarf. Is it possible to have too many scarves?
  • A new Indianapolis Colts top. I have to cheer for my team in style, don’t you know?!
  • This year, I will be hunting for two perfect pairs of boots, one pair in brown and one pair in black.
  • I will be stocking up on cranberries when they appear in the stores. I always seem to run out before the season ends because I love them so much ♥♥♥
  • After all that shopping, the last thing I would add to my essentials list is a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard from Dairy Queen. Heaven!

September 4 – Show us how you decorate for fall.

Show us how you decorate for fall?  I will have to come back to this one after I have decorated for fall.

September 5 – How do you keep yourself organized as things get busier and busier?

To keep myself organized as the season gets busier and busier, I rely heavily on my Planner Pages.  This is a binder that I have created that is specifically geared toward my needs.

planner pages

On each page I have my personal morning tasks, my daily cleaning tasks, my weekly cleaning tasks, and then anything that I assign to that day, including appointments and such.  More about my Planner Pages will be coming in a blog post dedicated to that topic.

September 6 – What fall traditions does your family have?

We host a party for the first away game of the football season for the Indianapolis Colts.  We invite friends and family, we provide the meat, the TVs and the location.  Everyone pitches in their favorite side, salad, or sweet.  We have a great game room so anyone who is not necessarily a football fan can still enjoy the get-together.

IMG_1528

September 7 – What sports traditions does your family have?

Haha!  My family fall tradition is also one of our sports traditions!  We also enjoy going to Purdue Boilermaker basketball games (my husband’s Alma Mater), but they start more toward the end of fall.

015

September 8 – What new hobbies have you tried recently?

I haven’t started any new hobbies recently.  I do, however, have a few that I would like to try.  One of these hobbies is tatting.  When my Grandma died, I was given her tatting shuttles.  That was thirty-three years ago, and somewhere along the way, I lost them.  I have wanted to learn how to tat for a very long time, but I do not know if I am at a stage in my life right now where I can dedicate the time to learning this craft.

I also would like to become a better photographer.  Almost all of the photos and memes that appear in my blog pages are from my own pictures, and I know that I am unaware of many techniques and practices that could up my game.

What I really want to do is get my already artsy-fartsy self in gear and complete the barely begun and not-quite-finished projects done that are accumulating in my craft room!

September 9 – Share a recipe for your favorite football-Saturday snack.

One of my favorite football snacks (and we will change that Saturday college heading to Sunday for the NFL) is ham and cheese sliders.  These travel well for tailgating, and I have yet to bring leftovers home!  The recipe can be found at Eating on a Dime.

First Friday Freezer Fest!

1 Reply

Julia child

After seeing so many people talk about how terrific this once-a-month-cooking deal is, I decided to try it for myself, to see if the hype lived up to the reality.  The story you are about to read is real.  The names have been changed to protect the innocent… (cue the Dragnet music…)

First things first, I did my homework.  I researched at my favorite research site, Pinterest.  I found out what to do, what not to do, and many helpful suggestions.  The main difficulty I had was that most of these people were cooking for an army, it seemed.  I don’t need near as much food for just my husband and me, even with frequent guests.  With this in mind, I looked for a lot of crockpot meals that were mostly dump it in and go, and these seemed to make the most sense for me.  I planned for fifteen meals.  We eat out occasionally, and even with the pared down recipes, I was still able to sometimes make two bags from a single recipe.  So, fifteen prepared freezer meals, along with some prepared ingredient bags like the taco beef, was plenty for a first run of this system.

Let me tell you, life will happen while you are in this process, so don’t let it throw you too much of a curveball.  My intent was to do all of the shopping on Thursday so I could have the whole day Friday to complete this task.  That did not happen.  My week fell apart about Wednesday, and it was everything I could do just to drag myself through the days.  Friday morning rolled around and I was not ready.  I usually wake between 6:00 and 6:30, so I figured I would start the prep and cooking about 8:00 after I finished my normal morning routine.  I finally got out of bed about 8:15, so that was not happening, and I still hadn’t shopped!

Now, this is something you must understand about me.  I have this weird passion, no – an obsession – with alliteration.  That may not seem to have anything to do with this venture, but oh, it does.  I had already named it “First Friday Freezer Fest,” and I couldn’t change plans unless I was going to wait until the following month!  Like I said, I can be weird…

I hurried through my hygiene routine, because I knew the other parts of my normal schedule would not get done that day.  Thankfully, I had already made my shopping list or this project definitely would have waited another month!   By the time I finished shopping at my three stores (yes, three stores, because I was also taking advantage of sales and coupons for this endeavor), it was almost 12:30 p.m.  And I was already exhausted.

Cue another curveball:  two of my lovely daughters decided that it would be a perfect time to drop in for supper and a visit.  Not that I mind!  I love it when my children come over, and I wish it happened more frequently.  That said, this put a hold on my progress for about four hours.  At least I got some ice cream from Pinocchio’s, which may have made up for the whole ceasefire in my cooking plan.

So I soldiered on, went with the flow, all those other clichés, and went to bed, planning to finish up on Saturday.  This was okay because I had at least started on Friday, so I didn’t have to change the name.  After my Breakfast Club Bible Study group, I resumed the itinerary of cooking, packaging and freezing.  Freezer Fest was done by 2:00 p.m.

In all, this actually took only about six or seven hours, not including the planning and shopping.  I hit a few snags along the way about which no site warned me.  Will I do it again?  Yes!  Will I plan a little better, including time for snags and incorporating back-up plans?  Yes!  Am I happy with the resulting meals?  We shall see.  I already used one freezer meal that never made it to the freezer because it became supper for our daughters’ visit.  It was good, too!

*****************

Here is the list of meals I prepared, along with some helpful (I hope!) hints to make your freezer fest run a little more smoothly.

White wine chicken with artichokes http://newleafwellness.biz/2015/05/18/crockpot-white-wine-chicken-with-artichokes/

Spaghetti squash with bacon and spinach http://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/spaghetti-squash-with-bacon-spinach-and-goat-cheese#.ftLPNVLDm

Ham and beans http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-ham-and-beans-96347

Chicken broccoli stir fry http://passthesushi.com/chicken-and-broccoli-stir-fry/

Chili-lime pork with corn http://www.marthastewart.com/973879/chili-lime-pork-corn-salad?xsc=soc_pin_Chili-LimePorkwithCornSalsa&crlt.pid=camp.ZoiIoY7Q2Jxt

Sweet chili sesame chicken http://www.carlsbadcravings.com/asian-sweet-chili-sesame-chicken/

Hot hamburgers (family recipe)

Chicken chili relleno casserole http://www.ladybehindthecurtain.com/chicken-chili-relleno/

Pesto shrimp http://www.closetcooking.com/2013/06/pesto-grilled-shrimp.html

Smoked sausage and cabbage (two variations – family recipes)

Asian salmon http://damndelicious.net/2014/12/19/asian-salmon-foil/

Balsamic beef roast http://thechicsite.com/2013/07/16/slow-cooker-balsamic-pot-roast/

Corn chowder http://crockingirls.com/recipes/nicoles-corn-chowder/

Potato, broccoli, cheese and egg casserole http://www.cozycountryliving.com/easter-brunch-potato-broccoli-pepper-jack-egg-casserole/

Stacked chicken enchiladas http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/chicken-enchilada-casserole-recipe/#_a5y_p=1587442

***Helpful Hints***

  • Start with a clean kitchen.
  • Eat breakfast or lunch, depending on what time you start. Preparing this much food is difficult when you are hungry.  You may want to plan for a snack break also.  (Just because I am sharing this event doesn’t mean I am against eating out.  My two favorite restaurants?  McDonald’s and Cooper’s Hawk.)

McDs

(Here’s McDs…)

  • Put a bottle of frou-frou wine or refreshing lemonade in the refrigerator to chill.
  • Clear the counters as much as you possibly can, especially if your kitchen is sadly lacking in counter space like mine.

Coopers Hawk countertop

(…and here’s Cooper’s Hawk!  https://www.coopershawkwinery.com/)

  • Make sure all of your dishes are clean, your dishwasher empty, and a new liner in your wastebasket.
  • If you have a cabinet with pull-out bins for trash and recycling, you may want to remove them from the cabinet and place them in the floor near where you are working. It will be tedious constantly trying to open the cabinet with messy and/or very full hands.
  • I filled my sink with hot, soapy water so I could wash multiple use items as I proceeded. This included pieces like my food processor container and blade, my cutting boards (I only have two!), and my colander.
  • If you have those handy dandy bag holders that I have seen on Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/317855686171018469/), use them. If not, you may have a container that will hold a bag open quite nicely.  Just fold the top over the rim of the container so that the bag is held in place and food doesn’t end up on the outside of the bag.  I have one that is perfect!

container

  • Assemble your ingredients and recipes.

iPad recipes

  • Spices and herbs can remain in the cabinet to save counter space if they are easily accessible.

spice cabinet

  • If you know all of the onions (or whatever else you are using) should be chopped, go ahead and do that. Then you are only chopping them once and can measure out the amount needed.  One onion chopped will usually equal about one cup.
  • Have a black Sharpie handy. Write the name of each meal and any necessary cooking instructions on the front of the bag before filling it with the ingredients.

sharpie

  • Most of my chosen meals did not require pre-cooking of any ingredient. I would like to say I planned it that way…  If you have meats that must be cooked, get that started first.  Ground beef can brown while you are assembling other meals, and chicken breast can simmer on the back of your stove.  You could also put the chicken into a crockpot, depending on how much you need to cook, and shred or chop it as needed.

shredding chicken

Bacon is wonderfully simple to prepare in your oven, with very little mess and no splatter burns!

making bacon

  • Placing the bags on their sides in the freezer will allow for maximum storage space and ease in finding just the freezer meal you want. On the left is my upright freezer in my garage.  It is not always this neat or this empty.  In two weeks, it will be filled with a side of beef from the county fair, so organization is very necessary at this time!  My kitchen refrigerator on the right needs a makeover desperately…

fridges

When it is all done, sit back, relax with a glass of chilly refreshment, and revel in the fact that you will not have to put much thought into several meals for a while.

Trash to Treasure

Leave a reply

Trash to Treasure

Call me Trashcan Tomi.

That moniker is one I earned decades ago.  I had a reputation for being able to make something out of someone else’s nothing.  I learned from my grandparents to:

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

Since money was not a close associate of mine for many years, this short but wise piece of advice helped me make the best of situations.  Frequently, I would find that items had been left on my front porch simply because neighbors knew that if I couldn’t use it or renew it, I would find someone who could.

Today, I am in a much better place financially and situationally, but I still do not like to see things go to waste.  Some of the stuff that people will throw away is sometimes unbelievable!  In my quest to make everything beautiful, I have discovered many treasures.  I am sharing with you some of my finds and how I have re-used or re-purposed them.

Picture16

I pulled this lovely little table off the curb, simply cleaned it up and put it straight to work as a bedside nightstand.

Picture9

This adorable highchair just needed some cleaning, the broken footrest removed, and the rails on the legs re-glued.  I didn’t bother to paint it because I loved the aged look.  Definitely not safe for use with a child as a highchair, but perfect for displaying a plant!

Picture10

Some scrubbing and a few nuts and bolts later, this easel is perfect for little ones to create art.

Picture8

These wicker baskets still had the liners!  I put the liners through the wash, and scrubbed the baskets and lids.  Perfect storage for my dozens and dozens of stuffed animals.

Picture6

Three for one in this vignette!  The diamond frame was someone’s remodeling waste.  This one was the only unbroken frame.  The vase was broken in half (you can see the glue line still since I have not yet figured out how I want to cover it) and in the trash cart at a store.  The two shelves are from one of those pressed wood computer desks, the kind that you buy in a box and scream at the faulty instructions as you assemble the pieces.  I disassembled the no-longer-needed desk, and used two of the shelves here after sanding, painting and gold-glazing them.  Some of the computer desk parts were made into a laundry folding table, another shelf, and the rest are still awaiting a creative touch.

Picture12

I found this bamboo table base alongside a deserted country road.  By adding a Donato’s table top from a store remodel, it makes a great game room table!

Picture3

This lovely and very heavy changing table is still awaiting a beauty treatment.  After sanding and painting, it will make a lovely addition to our guest room as combination TV stand and storage center.  It was not easy to drag that thing three blocks back to my home on trash day, but it was well worth the effort.

Picture4

Another piece awaiting transformation.  After emptying it of old papers and miscellaneous trash and scrubbing the spiderwebs and dirt away, this little chest of drawers went straight into the office to hold small supplies that tend to be scattered.  Its future holds being decoupaged with old maps and receiving new drawer pulls.

Picture15

Okay, I did buy the wicker vase at The Salvation Army Store for $2.  The bamboo sticks however were a curbside find.  I love the height and drama they add!  The bamboo also made its way into my master bathroom, up next.

Picture13

The bamboo sticks in the stones and salt arrangement just adds such a serene quality to the room.  The cabinet below is a favorite find.  When I pulled it from the trash, it was a country blue with a birdhouse theme painted on the front.  Cute, but definitely not my style.

bathroom cabinet transformation

Picture14

Two of my grandsons helped me paint it.  I then mod-podged the gold-patterned tissue paper to the panel on the door.  I removed one of the two shelves inside to accommodate a plunger and toilet brush, leaving the top shelf to hold extra toilet paper.  Practical, convenient, and beautiful!

Picture2

These furniture pieces are child-sized and were being thrown away by a childcare center.  They will be perfect after being reupholstered!  The rug on the floor is made from tattered towels cut into strips and sewn onto a not-so-tattered towel.  Comfy and completely washable.

Picture1

This last photo is composed of many rescued pieces.  The fort was discarded by a childcare center because a child’s parent complained when their little angel got a bruise from the wood.  The play ring was discarded due to some stitches coming out, which I easily repaired.  The two racks were curbside finds, one still with all of its sorting tubs!  I found the other tubs at Goodwill stores, but they can also be purchased separately from the racks online.  The large wicker basket holding toys (to the left) also cleaned up nicely after saving it from the trash.

I have many, many more finds that I may share in future posts, but I think this is enough for one time.  Maybe I am luckier than most when it comes to “finding” these kinds of treasures.  Maybe it is the aforementioned mantra, especially the “make-it-do” portion.  Maybe it comes from having nothing unless I was creative.

My purpose in sharing these photos is to hopefully educate and inspire people to look twice and look hard at what is being discarded, and to try making something beautiful.  If nothing else, maybe you will give me a call before trash collection day.  Happy hunting!

Lifegroup Love

Leave a reply

Image

This also stands as my definition of my Lifegroup.  A Lifegroup is a small gathering of people that meet weekly for Bible study, prayer, and fellowship.  I am involved with a wonderful group of fellow believers that I am happy to also call my friends.

       Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work.  If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

                                                                                                     Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

I can only imagine how strong the cord would be made of two dozen strands, like my Lifegroup family.

Proverbs 17:17 says a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.  I have experienced each of these extremes in my circle of friends.  I Corinthians 12:26 reads if one part suffers, every part with it suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. We have celebrated marriages and births, and we have mourned deaths and divorce.  My Lifegroup has carried me through some low times, such as when my brother attempted suicide, an extended bout with unemployment, health issues, and depression, and through other hard times, such as my difficulties with college and wanting to give up.  They have not only encouraged me through these times, but they also let me know when I am screwing up without making me feel like a screw-up.  Proverbs 27:17 teaches that as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.  I know that I have received some excellent sharpening through sharing with my friends.

These are the words of Jesus to His disciples:

“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”                                                                                                            Matthew 18:19-20

I know that I feel His Presence when I am in the presence of the loving and caring members of my beloved Lifegroup.

I would like to encourage each of us to do as the writer of Hebrews 13:1 prompts:  Keep on loving one another as brothers.  I am grateful for each and every one of my friends and my family.  Thank you for being my Lifegroup.

All Things New

Leave a reply

It seems that Spring has finally arrived here in Indiana!  After a relentless “bi-polar vortex” Winter, the sound of birds singing and green sprouts pushing upward bring an even greater appreciation of warm weather than usual.

Image

(photo by Heidi Jasper)

I think Isaiah was prophesying for Hoosiers when he wrote: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”  Isaiah 43:18-19 

Sometimes a celebration of beauty is a struggle.  It can be difficult to find and appreciate beauty around when you feel like you are sinking in despair and depression.  This is when you need to seek out beauty the most!  Do something for yourself:  Go for a walk, go for a drive, go for a coffee – just go!  Now find one small thing that turns up the corners of your mouth.  For me, it was the buds on my lilac bush that, no matter how my husband tries to bring about its demise, still holds on and buds out every year.  No flowers yet, mind you, but at least bits of green and eventually glossy leaves appear.

Day to day life will have its ups and its downs; there is no denying that fact.  Some days will be mountaintops, and some days will be deep valleys, and some days will be deserts.  But most days will be somewhere in meadows, or rolling hills, or calm forests.  Claim these middle-ground days for when you are struggling through the valley or desert.

The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.

-Samuel Smiles

Perfectly imperfect

Leave a reply

Perfectly imperfect

I like my mashed potatoes lumpy.

If you are offended, feel free to leave now.  I won’t judge.

I tend to find beauty in places that many do not.  I find beauty in a character-filled and not-quite-perfect table that has been left on the curbside, abandoned and seemingly futureless.  A chandelier, missing some baubles and no longer lighting the night, will find its way out of the trash, into my heart, and onto my Christmas tree in the form of ornaments, into my jewelry box reborn as earrings, and gracing my holiday table as a candlelit centerpiece.

wabi sabi

The Japanese hold a philosophy of “wabi-sabi”, embracing the imperfections of daily life.   The old, the timeworn have a beauty that no new “perfect” object can match.

wabi sabi 2

This attitude can be transferred to our own history, our own imperfections, our own experiences.  In Isaiah 61, we see that God will “comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”

Your life – the good, the bad, the ugly – can become a beautiful thing, IS becoming a beautiful thing.

So if your home is not perfect, if your hair is drooping along with your body, if you make lumpy mashed potatoes, you still have a purpose, you are still useful, you are still beautiful.

And I’ll be right over to share the potatoes.