Yard Saling Memorial Day Weekend

I love going to yard sales, thrifting, or going to flee markets as many of us in blog-land like to do.  It is rare for me to find a yard sale where I find stuff I like.  Most yard sales in my area have a lot of children's clothes, toys, or modern random stuff, but every once in a while I find a good one.

I stopped at a sale that had a lot of vintage stuff.  I wish I would have bought more but this was the last sale I found and I was running out of funds.  I'm not sure where the couple got the stuff they were selling but the guy said he had more stuff in boxes he needed to get rid of.  I had to pick through boxes to find the stuff I bought.

I found a box of reflectors and two Putz style folding fence to go around a Christmas Village or Tree.  I'm still waiting to find a feather tree!

A bag of some vintage and newer style clothespins.  Yes I still hang laundry out on a line and I love this type of clothespin.  Nothing beats the smell of freshly laundered, sun dried clothes and sheets. 

In the far left corner a bolt of lace (newer, but a lot of it), some wooden tie on ornaments  and fuzzy deer.  These actually came from another sale.

A cute baby blanket with some embroidered animals.  There is a few stains on it.  I'm debating on how to clean it...Any Hints?  I was told to oxi-clean it.

This picture is not the best but it is a closeup of the fabric and embroidery.  All those dots on the front is yarn, tied on the back, with a cute floral backing.  I have few quilts but this was cute and so cheap I had to have it.

and Mattel Tuff Stuff Blocks...my siblings had these as a kid.  

I enjoyed my weekend of sales and spending time with my family.  I hope your weekend was just as enjoyable.  I did not let this holiday pass without remembering the men and woman that have fought for our country and visiting my relatives that have passed.

Seeing Stars

I was on Pinterest several weeks ago...No let me rephrase that because I'm on Pinterest almost every day...while I was on Pinterest several weeks ago I came across a post with unique lighting ideas and links to the sights.  While checking out the post I saw this picture and thought to myself that I wanted to make that.

Star Light Star Bright Light Garland ~Mon Makes Things

 I clicked on the link and it took me to Mon Makes Things with a tutorial describing how to make the Star Light Star Bright Light Garland.  If you would like to see their tutorial click on the link above.  She used a strand of 25 count globe lights and sheets of white foam to make her string lights, and she also painted her cord white.  

After seeing her tutorial I went online looking for the supplies.  I was going to have to order the globe lights.  The cost around $25 depending on where you find them.  I was put off on the price so I put off placing my order.  When I was in the city shopping, I stopped at a $5 and Below store and found a cheap set of globe lights that I thought I could experiment with so I bought them.  I still want the real globe lights but this will do for now. 

Here they are.  It's a 15 count Christmas style string of lights with plastic globe covers for the lights.

The first thing I did was remove the plastic globes from the lights.

I next covered the bulbs with tinfoil.  If your not careful the tinfoil will come off.  Use what you have and if you have the real globe lights you would just remove the bulbs for easy painting of the cord.

I also covered the metal plug with tinfoil.  I'm not sure if you should do that but I haven't had any problems with the lights since doing that.

I next removed the lights from the box and left them in a pile.

Then I went to town with Gold Krylon Spray Paint.   In the original post they sprayed thiers white but I thought the gold would be nice.  I did very light coats of spray paint, waiting for it to dry between coats and I also moved the string lights around so everything was covered. 

When I was in the city I also stopped at Michael's to get some craft foam.  They had some pretty glittered white foam sheets so I bought those instead of the plain white sheets.  The plain white sheets of foam was cheaper.  I bought 4 sheets of foam for $1.49 each.  I cut each sheet into 6 equal sections.

Now comes the hard part.  I free formed my stars until I had a star that looked like a star.  

I then used that star to trace my other stars.  You now have an idea of what most of my stars look like.  Feel free to print off a star shape from the computer and use that as a template if you don't like the free form look.

Here is a pile of stars ready for their shining moment.

I took the plastic globe, placing it on the center of the star and traced it to see how big the hole should be.  That was a pain so I just free formed the hole.  I then stuck the completed stars on the string of lights.

The glittery foam gives it a nice glow.  The lights are low wattage so I'm hoping there will be no melting of foam or any fires. 

I had difficulty taking a nice picture of the lights.

They are very pretty in person.

The only problem I have with the lights is the Green Sharpie Marker lines on the back of the stars.  I think I will pop the stars off the lights and give them a coating of the Gold Krylon spray paint.

I definitely want to do this again with the actual globe lights.  This string of lights gives off a nice little glow.  If your interested in making a set for yourself I would suggest you check out the Mon Makes Things tutorial, she has such nice photos.  Let me know if you try this.  My sister-in-law wants me to make a set for her now or give her mine...we shall see!

Destroying My House

So several months ago I purchased a dollhouse off Craigslist for $20.  It came with the house and 3 huge boxes of supplies.  All the supplies were from the 80's or early 90's.  Some of it I'm sure will be useful but I don't like the wallpaper included and a lot of the paint was dried out.  The person that built the dollhouse originally made them for a living so there were a lot of bits and pieces and the dollhouse was put together rather well even though it is a slot and tab constructed doll house.  The dollhouse is a Greenleaf Jefferson house.

When I got the doll it it was in much better condition than it is now however I have been very, very, slowly taking it apart.  Let me say it has sat around for awhile with me doing nothing with it.  I would pop off a window here and there but last night I really went to town taking it apart,  This is  photo heavy post.

So this is the house, missing some of the windows and front door.  It is painted a red color which I don't like.  The photos were taken at 1am, I was up till 4am taking it apart...I couldn't sleep.

The windows and door way that are still attached to the home are still there because they are glued in really well and I am trying to figure out a way to remove them without damaging the siding, even more than I already have.  If you look at the photo below you can see at the bottom right window that there is a piece of siding missing.  It tore off when I removed that window.  I kept it to glue it back together but it seems to be missing now.  (My nieces have been playing with the house.)

In the below photo I had also started removing the electrical wiring.  I had to remove that to get to the layers of wallpaper stuck to the wall.  I don't know how a dollhouse is supposed to be decorated but this one had several layers of wallpaper and floor coverings that were coming unglued because of age.  The wiring was over top of some of it and under some other layers.

Here is the top two floors.  There are pieces and parts of furniture, wallpaper coming off the wall, dusty flooring, and some really stuck on trim.  The attic was not finished so that was the easiest room to tear apart.

This was supposed to be the kitchen area but I think it was used as another living room.  The room had some plastic paneling that was coming off the walls.  The piece on the floor was the last piece removed from the house.  The paneling was all warped so I won't be able to reuse it. 

The downstairs hallway.  Some of the spindles were missing from the stairs and others were broken by the kids.  Some of the bead board is painted and some not.  The bead-board is warping but it is also really stuck to the walls, along with the ceiling trim.  Any ideas on how to remove them and the wallpaper?

The right side upstairs bedroom above the future living room.  My photos are out of sync and my computer wouldn't allow me to adjust them.  This shows the wallpaper coming loose exposing the wiring.

The other living room.  My plan is to not have any colored painted trim in the house.  It will all be white.

The left side bedroom above the future kitchen, again pieces and parts.

The upstairs hallway.  I can't get that piece of green trim off the end above the window, or even remove that window.  I broke my nail really bad trying to remove the stuff. 

The picture before the deconstruction.  That roof flap doesn't normally come on the dollhouse, or at least the ones I have seen but the builder added it to this house.

With the flap up so you can see the attic.

Demolition!

Trim and furniture pieces removed.  Is this what a normal house demolition looks like?

The after photos of what it looks like now.  You can still see the wallpaper and trim stuck to the walls.  Any ideas on how to remove that would be greatly appreciated.  I have been doing research but I haven't found any good ideas yet.  I want to start with a blank canvas.

Future Kitchen.  This room is the biggest problem.  I can't get the stuff off the walls, the non working and broken windows out and the old flooring is still there because it is glued down well.

Another big problem area, the downstairs hallway.  I have removed the staircase.  This is exactly how it looks right now.

The future downstairs living room.

The bedroom above the living room.

The bedroom above the kitchen.  The wallpaper in here is horrible.  It is very thin and does not peal off well.  It feels like computer paper.

The upstairs hallway.

So this is the project I am working on now, very slowly.  I have realized this is going to cost me a fortune to renovate, just like a real home, because everything needs to be replaced.  I thought I could  just go in and decorate but nope it needs a total overhaul.

The windows in this place don't leave much wall space downstairs in the kitchen and living room area for decorating so I have been thinking of filling in those spaces.  Has anyone done that before and have any recommendations?  I want to do this right.  

I have been looking on Pinterest and Google but I am willing to take any helpful suggestions or links you may have.  I will try to keep you guys updated as I go along.

Investment:

Dollhouse              $20

Delivery Fee         $10

Paint                       $16

                            +_____

                                $46

  

Did someone say SNOW? Jinx!

So I just wanted to say that I jinxed myself and everyone else in Western NY and surrounding areas.  

If you remember from the last post I wrote, I stated "When I got home I ran to the grocery store.  I needed supplies to make my version of a Greek salad and chicken gyro.  I had chicken marinating that I needed to use up,  I only make these recipes in the spring and summer time so it was a nice reminder that the snow is finally gone!  I hope I don't jinx myself and others with that statement." 

Well guess what I and many people in Western New York woke to this morning? Can You guess?

SNOW!  To me it seemed like lots of SNOW especially when I was driving in a blinding white out this morning while going to work.  But it is mostly gone now.

Sorry I do not have any pretty pictures of the SNOW.  I didn't feel like taking any pretty photos after waking up to this.  I am so over the snow and I am seriously thinking of moving south.  Facebook people were exploding with complaints about the snow today.  

So I will apologize now to everyone for jinxing them with my previous statement and hope this is the last of the SNOW till October or November.  I hope everyone else had a better day than the people in Western NY!

Greek Dinner...My Way

I have been enjoying the nice weather we have been having, doing some yard work, cleaning, buying other peoples garbage.  Today I went to some old cemetery looking for family plots in my genealogy search.  Note to self, "make sure when you go out walking you wear proper footwear."  I wore sandals and some snakes found me.  There were a few squeals and some awkward sideways dancing on my part when I was trying to get away from the snakes.  Of course the snakes would be surrounding the tombstone I wanted to see.  It had the family name on it.  I walked away hoping they would go away but when I went back there were even more.  I'm not sure what type of snakes they were but I did not stick around to find out...I will go back another day.

When I got home I ran to the grocery store.  I needed supplies to make my version of a Greek salad and chicken gyro.  I had chicken marinating that I needed to use up,  I only make these recipes in the spring and summer time so it was a nice reminder that the snow is finally gone!  I hope I don't jinx myself and others with that statement. 

So when I make this food I follow no particular recipe.  It is just a little of this and that and it is never the same twice.  For my Greek Salad I use:

English Cucumbers

Red Onion 

Black Olives

Garbanzo Beans

Tomatoes

Feta Cheese

Ken's Greek Dressing

I chopped up 1 3/4 English cucumber, a 1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced and in sections, I used 1 can medium sized black olives (retain some of the juice), 2 Roma tomatoes, 1 can garbanzo beans- drained and crumbled feta.  You can use whatever amounts you like, add or delete ingredients.  I toss it all together, sprinkle pepper, garlic salt, a little of the Ken's dressing and some of the black olive juice.  I toss it all again and let it sit for an hour before eating.

Doesn't it look yummy?   When I first started making this all I used was the English Cucumber, Red Onion, Black Olives, and Feta.  Then just made up my own dressing with whatever I had on hand.  My family likes garbanzo beans and I thought it needed a little color so I added the tomatoes.  Did you know I am not a fan of raw tomatoes?  Now you do.  Even though I don't like them my family does so they still get eaten.

I also made up my own version of Tzatziki sauce.  It's not really Tzatziki.  I don't want anyone yelling at me, because the only thing in my sauce that's in the Tzatziki sauce is the cucumbers.  Again I have no particular recipe for this, it's just a little of this and a little of that.

My Tzatziki Sauce:

Sour Cream

Mayo

English Cucumber

Sweet Onion

Garlic Salt

Pepper

Oil/Vinegar Dressing

I throw the diced English cucumber and a little sliced onion into a food processor, garlic salt, pepper, and a little of the dressing.  I blend till it's a pulpy mix.  If I have fresh garlic I will add that.  Once it's at the consistency that I like I put it in a bowl (I don't drain or de-seed the cucumber,  I like my dressing on the thinner side)  I then toss in some sour cream and mayo.  Make sure you use more sour cream than mayo.  you don't want to taste the mayo.  I then mix, taste and adjust the seasoning.  The longer it sits the better it tastes.  I will sometimes add sugar if it's really sour.  Again this recipe is taste as you go.  My family and I really enjoy this version of Tzatziki Sauce.  I usually have these ingredients on hand so it is easy to whip together, 

Now for the Chicken Gyro!  I grill marinated chicken breast, and slice it...

...next chop up some lettuce, tomato (Yuck, but I will eat it on this), and some sweet onion...

...I then grill a pocket-less Pita with a little oil and garlic powder, then top with veggies...

...add the cut up grilled marinated chicken breast, some Tzatziki sauce, and some feta...

...fold it up, serve with a side of the Greek salad and enjoy!

It was really Yummy!  As soon as my family found out I was making this I had a few unexpected guests.  Luckily I don't know how to cook for just one and had plenty of food to share.  I also have enough leftovers for a few more meals.  If you make any of these recipes let me know if you liked it.  Again the Tzatziki Sauce is not your normal sauce so don't compare it to the original ;) and go ahead and make it your own,,,add dill if you like!

This was my first official spring meal.   I can't wait for more enjoyable weather and dinners outside with family and friends!