Thrift Store Globe Made Over

By now you should know how much I LOVE thrift store shopping.  I would go everyday if I could but I must practice restraint!

Steve has always wanted a globe.  We look at them a lot.  Have you seen how expensive they can be?  

When I was at the thrift store a couple of days ago I found a globe!  Here's the base.  I should have taken a picture with the globe on the base before but I didn't.  I knew it had potential!

I knew I wanted a crackle finish so I went to Hobby Lobby and bought the paint for it.  I decided on a gold underlay.

I was nervous to do a crackle finish because I'm a perfectionist and I'd never done a crackle finish before.  I was so happy with how it turned out!

Isn't she lovely?

Thankful Tree

I have always wanted to make a "tree" like this. This is our thankful tree. I found some acorn and leaf die cuts at Joann's today on clearance. And this vase had been sitting in our garage for months. I paid a whopping $5 for it at our local thrift store. I knew it would come in handy one day (told you honey!).

I also bought some bags of leaves at the dollar store and put those on the bottom of the vase.  Then I went into our backyard and started gathering up sticks.  I brought them in and then arranged them. 

I punched a hole in the top of each die cut and tied some ribbon through the hole.  Everyday we will write down something (on the die cut) we are grateful for and then hand them on the tree. 

I can NOT wait to see this full of thankfulness!

Feeding Your Family The CHEAP Way

I really do love to cook.  But there are some things that drive me crazy about cooking at home.  I hate grocery shopping.  I know there are some that love it.  Maybe I should give them my list and have them go shopping for me. 

I hate cleaning up the mess that I make after cooking dinner.  Where are the guys behind every cooking show cleaning up after them?  Why can't I have those?  I really want them.  I also want them to do all the prep work so I just have to show up for the fun.

I also hate the cost.  It's expensive to feed a family of 5 these days. 

I think I've found a solution to all my problems!  Guess what I've been doing lately?  I'm doubling up on my recipes cooking one then and freezing the other one.

I just finished up the grocery shopping for the next 2 weeks.  That includes breakfast, lunch and dinners.  Guess how much I spent?  $105!!  That is without coupons folks.  I used to be a huge coupon clipper but I really don't have the time for that right now.  That doesn't include toiletries and other items like that.  We are eating well too!

Here's the menu:

Chili

Spaghetti Beef Casserole

Quick Pizza Rolls

Chicken & Sausage Manicotti

Creamy Chicken Casserole 

Spaghetti

Chicken, Salad and Bread

Guess what?  I won't have to cook next week!  Sure we'll have to rotate the same menu until I have more meals stocked up but who cares?  I've tried the whole "once a month cooking" thing.  It's great but it's a TON of work.  I've found that doubling up a recipe is really not any more work or mess than cooking one meal at a time.  So what do you think?  Want to try it too?  Want the recipes?