Simple Changes.... a whole new look

For a mere $1.99 I changed this. . . .

in to this. . . .

Wanna see how?

First, I cleared the table.... added a tablecloth and flipped the tablemats over from green to brown!

then I added the candlesticks back, and placed pumpkins (from our garden!) on top of them

next I added my lovely new birdcage in the center and some silk fall leaves (that I took from the tops of my kitchen cabinets where I had just placed them for my fall decor)

What? you want to see a close up of the pretty birdcage (last one in Target for $16, I bought a few weeks ago), oh ok


after that, I added back the plates, flatware and glasses from last weeks tablescape

and then for added affect I placed the new napkins from a few weeks ago, under the plates

not forgetting a few pretty votives too. Now, this tablescape as seen above cost me $0 (I don't count the cost of the new birdcage because I bought that a few weeks ago without thinking of tablescapes). So what cost me $1.99?

New napkin rings, from Goodwill

I bought these this week (a set of 6) with the intention of using them on a tablescape ONCE I painted them black! But I thought I would add them to this table so I could place the yellow napkins back on the plates.

I love how this turned out. I think Imay leave this table set for a week or two until I can invite my inlaws over for dinner (not til next week because they will be out of town this weekend).

Enjoy the rest of the pictures. . . . I'm off to check out all the other lovely Tablescapes at Susan's blog :-)

Playing Catch-up

No 'Outdoor Wednesday' post today, I thought I'd just catch up on a few things instead as I haven't taken any photos outside lately. Well apart from my topiary which I finished, but I'll save that for next Monday so I can show the 'before and after' pics.

I got off track a bit last week because I popped in to Target and bought fresh fruit and a few other things on Wednesday instead of Friday! I spent about $54. Then I called in to my grocery store the next day and spent about $17! I didn't bother going to the store on Friday so I still am under budget but I just hadn't made a proper note of what I spent. I'm determined to get back on track and keep my receipts etc because I want to start putting the 'unspent' amount (remember I'm allowing $100 per week for groceries but trying my best to keep it to $75), hopefully about $25 per week in my savings account. And despite the fact I made a meal plan last week we haven't really stuck to it either. Hubby eats out most days at work and then comes home at 5.30pm not really hungry enough for dinner. He said he'd prefer to eat later! So, I've been having 'Smart Ones' freezer meals (trying to lose a few pounds!) and making Kristen a separate meal too. Not really the best dinner scenario, but we'll do it for now while it works for us. I usually have something in the freezer Jason can have later when he's ready for it.

I'd like to shout out a BIG thank you to Cheri at 'It's So Very Cheri' for featuring me again on her blog this week as one of her favorites in the Knock Off Knock Out party she hosts :-) I can't tell you how big a smile this gave me when she told me. I know I blog for fun (and well, cos my sister loves to read my blog too) but it's always a thrill when new bloggy friends let you know they enjoy your posts.

It's early release day at school today, so I can't play around on here as long as I'd like! I did an exercise dvd this morning, watched the rest of Biggest Loser that I taped last night (did anyone else cry buckets at that!) and now I need to get clearing up the kitchen before I head out to school.

Hope you all are having a wonderful 'Hump Day' so far. Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS to Darylynn on the birth of her second Grandson. Love and Best wishes to 'Mommy Jess' too :-)

Fall Into Reading

Two of my favorite things to do is read and knit. If I'm not reading I'm knitting, and when I'm not knitting... well you can guess what I'll be doing ;-) I didn't do much of either over the summer months but the past few weeks I've picked both up again, with a vengeance! I was so glad when I checked in at Katrina's blog a few weeks ago to see if she would be doing a book challenge this year. It just so happens that 'Fall Into Reading' starts today.

I made a start on my list a few weeks ago when I managed to get quite a few books that I wanted to read from the library. To tell the truth, I've already finished the first book on my list :-) I read The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society and really enjoyed it. It's what I would call an easy read (for me) and I did enjoy the characters, who not only knit but belong to a book club too (as do I).

So, here is the rest of my list so far (I may add to it over the next week or so) in no particular order.



The SweetGum Knit Lit Society by Beth Pattillo - There is a second book out in this series and also a Christmas book coming out soon I think. Not sure if I will add them to my list because they aren't available at my library yet!






Julie and Julia by Julie Powell - I SO wanted to see the movie with Meryl Streep, but when I realized there was of course a book out, I thought I might read that first. I will watch the movie when it comes out on DVD :-)

Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon - I've read nearly all of the Mitford series (I think I might have the last one still to read, hmm, perhaps I should add that to my list too!) and wanted to read the latest on Father Tim.

Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella - I've read all the other Shopaholic books and The Domestic Goddess and Can you keep a secret! Enjoyed them all so I've added this one too. Oh, and my library has her latest one Twenties Girl, so I'll be adding that one too ;-)

Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs - I read her first novel 'The Friday Night Knitting Club'. It was just ok, but I thought I'd give 'her' another try! There's also a follow up to her first novel called Knit Two, and a Christmas one called Knit the Season. These two will probably be added to my list at a later date.

For the Holidays:



A Dog Named Christmas by Greg Kincaid - thought I'd browse my library website for some holiday reads. This was the first one I saw. I've never heard of it or the author, but it sounds like it might be a nice read.








Skipping Christmas by John Grisham - I've read this before, (long before the movie came out) and I loved it. I didn't like the movie at all the first time I watched it, but the second time was a little better, not one I'd add to my fav Holiday Movies though. I never understood why they changed the title to Christmas with the Kranks! I think I'll read this again just for the fun of it.



With Kristen :
Kristen and I spend half an hour or so each night reading a story together. She really likes the Bunnicula series. We've read about 4 of them so far and just finished Nighty Nightmare which is in the same series.
We have these books out of the library right now that we hope to get through soon:

Celery Stalks at Midnight by James Howe
Bunnicula meets Edgar Allen Crow by James Howe
The Odorous Adventures of Stinky Dog by James Howe
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (currently reading)

So there you have it :-) I love browsing Amazon and my library website to see what books I might like. I may add more to my list but not sure if I'll get them all read by December, but that's ok, it's all just for fun.

Happy Fall

Happy first day of Fall to you all :-) We had a thunderstorm last night and this morning it's very dull, grey and raining as I type this. And I LOVE it! A cold front is moving in, it's only going to be 79 today, ha ha. It's currently in the high 60's which means that most of the day will only be in the low 70's probably. It's perfect for the first day of Fall. I have the lamps on around the house and my Yankee 'Harvest' candle burning. I have no plans to go anywhere today - actually I have to stay in to wait for the cable guy to come and check our box.

I'd like to say thank you for all the lovely comments I got on my last post. I will be painting the mirror as a lot of you suggested. That was going to be my next project but I forgot to mention I would be doing it to match the dresser. Not sure though if the mirror will actually follow the dresser in to the dining room. I kind of like a mirror in the hallway so you can give yourself a quick 'once-over' as you head out the door ;-)

Anyway, on to today. I thought I'd share a couple of yummy things with you. and link up to Lisa and Jen's blogs ... the first doesn't actually have a recipe for it.

Last Friday hubby asked if I would make some cupcakes to take to his work picnic the next day. They have what they call a cake walk... it's a game like musical chairs I think, and the winners receive home baked cakes or cookies. I just used a mix for these cakes but wouldn't you know it, the minute I put them in the oven, hubby called to tell me he'd gotten the date wrong. It wasn't the next day but the following Saturday! Well, I froze a dozen cakes for him and I'll get them out this Friday, but the other 12 I had I thought I would practice decorating. Kristen enjoyed giving me a hand, especially when she got to play with this. . . . .

Has anyone ever tried it? Food color spray, all you do is 'spritz' it on your cupcakes and you have instant color. I've seen cakes done this way in the grocery store but didn't realize you could buy the spray until last week when I was looking for the cupcake holders. So, I piped on whipped frosting and Kristen gently sprayed the cakes and then sprinkled green sugar on top. We finished them off with fun jack-o-lantern picks.

I tried this recipe last week, from the Pilsbury website. . .Grand Taco Melts!

You simply make a beef taco mix and sandwich it between a pilsbury biscuit, it's kinda like a hot pocket or a calzone. They were very yummy (but I forgot to take a picture, the one you see is from the Pillsbury site) and you don't need to stop at taco mix, there's also a recipe for Thai Chicken Calzones. This recipe is for members only though so I couldn't link to it. It's free to sign up at Pillsbury.com The newsletter they send you each month has some great recipe ideas too. I love browsing their site, it always looks so yummy.

More Ballard Inspiration

I must be honest, until I read Traci's post about her 'Ballard inspired' shelves, I had never even heard of Ballard Designs! Looking at their website though I can see that a lot of what they have, I love! Their prices - not so much!

I have a piece of furniture that I don't really like, but I don't want to get rid of it because it's pretty functional and would probably cost a lot to replace it with a similar piece that I would like. It's this.....

a mission style 'dresser' kind of thing that we originally bought to sit a big screen tv on a few years ago (and not in this house I might add). It later was moved to the dining room when we bought a new entertainment unit for the tv (that would be the dining room in this house). It holds a lot of my seasonal table decor/chargers etc, so that's why I don't want to get rid of it because I can't afford to buy another piece like it. As you see it now, it sits in our hallway because I was trying to free up some room in the dining room. I thought that I might stain it a little darker so it stood out against the cream wall. Then, after seeing a lot of 'Ballard' stuff recently I thought "why not black"? It seems all the rage right now, and I really do like the look.

So I did. . . . I painted it black this weekend (without even asking hubby!) Here it is after one coat of matt' kettle black' paint by Valspar.

I did two coats of black paint but honestly felt like the matt look was too 'matt' (for want of a better word). I distressed the edges then added a coat of satin polyurethane and . . . . got this!

It's still in the hallway and I added back the fall decor (except the bird cage is currently on my table and you'll have to wait til Thursday to see why ;-)

So what do you think? Better? Worse?

below is a view from me standing up the stairs a little,

I really like it (and hubby does too, yay!) but I would like to eventually move it back in to the dining room and use it as a buffet too.

It was only after I painted it I thought about going on the Ballard website to see if they had any thing similar, and lo and behold they do -

It looks a little shinier than mine but that's ok. I would like to try and remove the handles on mine and replace them but I'm not sure we can. They aren't just screwed in but actually 'stapled' with very thick metal. Hubby suggested I paint all of the handles black?

What would you do?

I didn't get to post on Friday about my grocery challenge because I didn't actually go to the grocery store! I went mid week for some fresh fruit and other stuff, but I still didn't over spend. I'll update later this week on that.

Pinky!You left a comment on my Thursday post asking me to visit your tablescape, but your name isn't linked to your profile or a website. So, if you're reading this please leave me a way I can return your visit.That goes for anyone else leaving me a comment. I love getting comments, and I love visiting your blogs but I feel awful if I can't. I don't want you to think I'm ignoring you. Check your blogger profile or whatever you use and see if people can find a way back to you :-)

I'm linking to Susan's Met Monday and Cheri's Knock Off Knock Out.

Said the Bells of St Clements

Strange title for a blog post? If you're from England you may know where I'm going with this, and if you're not.... well, you'll soon see where I'm going with this :-)

Are we all ready for another Tablescape Thursday? Don't you just love Thursdays now? I know I'm not the only one! Since I found Susan's blog at Between Naps on the Porch I've discovered a new 'hobby' so to speak, and that's setting my table every Thursday (well actually Wednesday, so I can have pictures ready for Thursday) whether I'm planning a fancy dinner or not! The main goal for me is to have fun, AND not spend much money. Believe it or not, last weeks setting cost me zero dollars. So this week I thought I might 'splash out' a bit and spend some.

My inspiration this week? Remember the 'cheap' napkin rings I used just two weeks ago from Kohl's. When I looked at them closely they reminded me of lemons (even though they kinda look like yellow apples!). So lemons it was going to be. As you can see from the above picture, I started off with fresh lemons in a vase, placed my green tablemats (seen previously here), added the gold chargers, white plates AND my big spend this week....4 green plates from Goodwill, a mere $2.99!

Next I added the yellow napkins (same ones I used here) with the napkin rings, and added a tablerunner (if you can call it that. It's actually just some scrap material I had that has sunflowers on it).

Next (above) I added candle holders. These are a set of 5 from Kirklands (I think) and all different heights, but I still think they look good).

I wanted to add a splash of 'freshness' so I went out back and cut some branches from our Pomegrante tree and a few bunches of basil from the herb garden (which as you can see, if you enlarge the picture, has gone slightly to seed, ooh but it smells so good).

Below is taken from the other side of the table with my terracotta wall in the background... looking rather 'Tuscany' I think!

A close up of the green plate from Goodwill.

So, all the while I was setting this table 'oranges and lemons' kept going through my head. Oranges and Lemons is a very old nursery rhyme. We used to sing it when I was a kid and played a game where two people stood opposite each other with their hands raised high and together to form an arch. Kids would line up to go under the arch as we sang :

Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St Clements
You owe me five farthings, say the bells of St Martins
When will you pay me? say the bells of Old Bailey
When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch
When will that be, say the bells of Stepney
I'm sure I don't know, says the great bell at Bow
Here comes a candle to light you to bed
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head

(at this point whoever was under the arch would be caught between the arms of the two kids as they swung their arms down.

You can read more about these old churches and the nursery rhyme HERE.

So, having just been out to the store this morning where I picked up some lovely mandarin oranges, I had to go get them and 'throw' some on the table :-)

What a beautiful splash of color they give it, don't you think? And total cost to 'play' TT this week.. $5.98, ($2.99 for the plates and $2.99 for a bag of lemons!) I bought the oranges to actually eat, and whereas I will eat the lemons too I did buy them specifically for the table.

I managed to get evening shots too :-) Don't you just love the glow of candlelight?




Hope you've enjoyed all the pics this week. I love to read your comments so don't forget to leave me a little 'hello' before you leave. I try my best to return all of your visits (if you have a link that is) :-)