The luxury of flavor (done cheap)

Louis L'Amour would be disgusted by my coffee drinking requirements no doubt, but I only somewhat recently decided I liked coffee. And when I decided I liked coffee, I decided I liked it better when it was mostly chocolate. :)

Since I haven't been given any Starbucks gift cards in years (and my friend Melody quit working there) I just never seem to go. So I made my own "flavor station" at home.


TWO kinds of sugar because sometimes that Sugar in the Raw adds such a nice molasses type flavor. Some hot cocoa mix and some cinnamon (I need to get another shaker for chili powder when I'm feeling Aztec).

The vintage canning jar has been around for ages but could have come from an antique store. White sugar dispenser came from The Dollar Tree, same with the parmesan-turned-chocolate shaker. The cinnamon (formerly salt or pepper) shaker came from Goodwill. So if we cut back the inflation on the price of the canning jar for how many years back it was bought...that could be...eight dollars worth of containers - that's like two (one and a half?) beverages from a coffee shop. Of course you have to buy what is in them too. ;) But then you get to use them over and over!

How about placing them, your coffee and filters on a handy lazy susan next to the coffee pot?


The lazy susan and glass coffee jar were Goodwill buys and the tin that holds the coffee filters came from the Joann super clearance section.

Well if we don't have more style than a major coffee shop chain then at least we have more character and did it on a super tiny budget!


Speaking of flavor I picked up this little salt cellar (I think?) sans spoon at The Apple Butter Barn for a dollar. It was just too cute to leave there. I'm planning on drying some of my lavender to put in here for culinary use. There is lavender in my Herbes de Provence and I'm interested in seeing what else I can flavor with it.

And if you like drinking your flavorful garden I found this sampler tin of teas at the Grocery Outlet for $1.99. I was terrified of the red lavender (it smells remarkably like cough syrup) but it actually tasted wonderful as do all the others! And when I've sipped my last cup then I look forward to reusing the tin to hold craft supplies.

Mosaic Monday - Turquoise

(Click the image to enlarge)

According to Rhoda (and Pantone), 2010's hot color is turquoise. Oh good, does that count for clothing and accessories as well? Pleasepleaseplease? I love deep turquoise and aqua colors, as you can see. It complements my blue eyes and even makes my sun-starved skin look good.

The heart necklace I bought from Jen Hilton (even people who make jewelry like buying handmade jewelry from other artists). The purse was my $3.99 steal from Goodwill. It's not like it's a fancy brand or anything but ooh do I love the color! My favorite scarf - made by my mom. My new sweater, my favorite winter puffy vest and a necklace I just put together and listed in my etsy. (All with supplies I already had - yay Destash-Along!)

Dahling. Juhst Dahling.

Be sure to visit Little Red House for other fantastic mosaics!

A project that needs "tweaking"

T-w-e-a-k-i-n-g tweaking. (name that movie!)

It started innocently enough. I wanted a silver cup or vase to put my feather collection in. I got the idea from here - a delightful and beautiful blog. So I went to Goodwill and I have to say that place looked like it had been hit by locusts, I've never seen it so empty. I did manage to find this little silver bowl.


$3.99 was a little more than I wanted to pay for some silly little thing like this considering the purse I also bought was the same price! (photos of that later) but it called my name so it came home with me. I'm not even going to polish it, the patina gives it character. :)

What to do with a silver bowl? I'd also seen this project and completely loved it and since my beloved oak tree was felled I have moss almost literally coming out of my ears. I went out and picked up some and put the little moss bowl together quick as a wink.

Now...where to put it? Here's where the tweaking comes in. Not that kind of tweaking. Although...it may sortof look like it. Here's the top of my HUGE dresser.

The thing is like five feet long and it is going to get refinished one of these days...as soon as I figure out how to get it out of my bedroom to work on it!

This is what it usually looks like after a busy few weeks. Papers I don't want to lose, stuff I'm moving around and don't know what to do with. Presents that still need to be wrapped (how do you wrap a unicorn?). Projects I'm half finished with. Books I just finished reading. Ridiculous. It drives me crazy.

I took everything off but the radio and grabbed a bunch of different things I have sitting around. I'm not sure how you'd classify my style. Part shabby chic, part rustic, part natural history museum, part library, part whimsy, part retro, part Spanish, part Moroccan, part clutter. The problem is I love everything! In any case I have a lot of decorating items to choose from and can have a completely different look for every month of the year. This time I went a bit more girly garden shabby chic than I normally do. I think I'm craving spring.

Lavender from the garden tied up with a pretty ribbon, in a pottery vase thing I found at Hancock Fabrics clearanced at two or three dollars. I'm not sure where the book came from but I thought the title Lavender and Old Lace seemed fitting.

My mossy bowl and a pair of white birds.

I was given the rose apothecary jars for my birthday and I filled them with dried rose petals from my garden this summer. The ornate silver box was another Goodwill find from a few years back - it holds mementos like concert or movie stubs, sweet little cards and notes, the occasional photo.

The carved candleholder was also a Goodwill find. It makes a great base for my glass fishing float which could either turn into a gypsy-style crystal ball or a great place for the tiara my grandmother wore when she was on the parade float for her retirement home.

The Book of Etiquette is so pretty it has to be shown. I got these horse bookends when I worked at a gift shop. The other one is around here somewhere...

I still have a few things to add (like a silver vase with feathers!) but I'm having fun playing and moving things around. Tweaking...in other words. :)

Mosaic Monday (at the eleventh hour)

I just discovered Little Red House and Mosaic Monday - so I'm joining the fun (despite the fact that Monday is almost over)!

Out of the billion zillion photos I'm constantly snapping there is a group of them that are consistently in my favorites - here they are. Click the mosaic collage to enlarge.



I was asked last week (or week before last? not important) what kind of camera I use. I just have a little guy!

It's a Fujifilm Finepix E510.

It's ancient compared to what most people have now but I think it works quite well for me. :)

Memoirs of a 200 year old

It's a sad day, my friends. My muse has left me. Or more like...was cut down...with no small amount of frustration, pouting and a few tears on my part.

Two weeks ago I walked outside to find this:

A branch had simply cracked off on a windless, non-icy day. It (the one indicated with the red arrow) landed on the one below it, eventually causing it to break off as well.

A tree man was called and he discovered the entire tree was cracking down the center of the branch convergence near the top of the trunk. I am so very sad. I know that's probably silly to some of you but I get a lot of goodies as well as a lot of enjoyment from my old oak tree. I have never had to buy moss for any project. I have used the fallen leaves as gift tags, I used the acorns in my decor, I even glittered the galls.

My favorite though, was to snap photos. It has such a great silhouette that even getting just a part of it in a photo was always fun for me.

So in memoriam here are some of my favorites. Hang on...I need a tissue...

In Spring,

Summer,

Fall,

And Winter.

I liked standing at the very base to look up - made me feel quite small and insignificant.

Just a corner...swirling in the clouds.

Sunsets.

And rainbows.

(and puppies and unicorns! Oh wait...)

Earlier this week I did manage to get its broken silhouette with the moon and the Christmas lights.

And I'll never forget the insane Canadian Goose that landed in it.

I was taking the photo through a window so just go ahead and pretend the windows were clean, okay?

I will miss you tree.