Happy Easter!!

I won’t be online for a few days. I will be busy preparing, cooking and serving Easter breakfast to our church congregation. I’m planning for about 1200, and we are serving scrambled eggs, pancakes, blueberry French toast casserole, breakfast casserole (with hasbrowns, cheese, eggs, green pepper and onion), oatmeal, fresh fruit salad (with THE best ever topping), coffee cake, bacon, sausage, coffee and orange juice-whew! Just typing all that was tiring! LOL!

I have a GREAT crew of volunteers to help this year and I’m looking forward to meeting and working with all of the newbies-as well as reconnecting with some faithful helpers who go wayyy back! 

I hope you all have a great day focusing on and remembering what Easter is all about--the gift of eternal life through Christ's sacrifice on our behalf. Enjoy your time with your families and savor every moment!

Here are the recipes we are using, just in case you are interested in trying them out for your self...

 Blueberry French Toast Casserole                                    

12 Slices white bread cut into 2" cubes
16 oz. Cream cheese cut into 1" cubes
1C. Frozen blueberries
12 Eggs (beaten)
2 C. Milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 C. maple syrup

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Spread half of the bread cubes in bottom of pan.

Spread cream cheese cubes over bread. Spread 1/2 C. blueberries over cream cheese and bread.

In a large bowl, mix the beaten eggs, milk, vanilla extract and maple syrup. Pour over the mixture in the baking pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Pull out of fridge and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour.

Blueberry Sauce:

1 C. Sugar
2 T. Cornstarch
1 C. Water
1 C. Frozen blueberries
1 T. Margarine
In a sauce pan, mix the sugar, cornstarch and water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook another 3-4 minutes. Mix in the remaining blueberries (1/2 C.). Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until blueberries burst. Stir in the butter and pour over the baked French toast casserole.

Garnish with whipped topping if desired.

Breakfast Casserole                                                                 

12 Eggs
1-12 oz. can Evaporated milk
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1-30 oz. pkg. Frozen shredded hash browns
2 C. Shredded cheddar cheese
1 C. Chopped onion
1C. Chopped green pepper
1C. Cooked ham (cubed)

In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Stir in hash browns, cheese, onion, green pepper and ham. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

I learned something new today…

I’ve been noticing some really neat drinking glasses lately, and recently found out they are called Swanky Swigs. They range in size from 3 1/8” to 5 5/8” and were originally distributed by Kraft (filled with their cheese spread). They were first introduced in 1930 and were manufactured until 1976 when they switched over to clear glasses with indented designs. In 2003, they resumed production of a few of the color designs.  The designs that were produced in Canada are rarer and harder to find, and of course, more expensive to collectors!

 The original glasses were decorated in all kinds of bright, colorful designs. One avid collector has cataloged over 230 designs! Some of the most popular designs are stripes, dots, flowers and animals.

The most expensive Swanky Swigs I found in the price book were from 1941 and were $410 each (for a special issue Cornflower #1 with light blue flowers and green leaves and “Greetings from Kraft”, etc). The cheapest one I came across was a special issue 4-H Club glass with 3 green stripes and 2 clovers. This one was only valued at 9 cents!!!  I’d like to find one for that price! The average price for the glasses in between the high and low end is between $4 and $20 each. 

Over the years, other companies (like Welch’s, McDonald’s, Coke, and Pepsi to name a few) have produced these colorful glasses with all kinds of designs-even popular television and cartoon characters.

I’ll be keeping my eyes open for tulip glasses and polka dot glasses-hope I can find a great bargain! 

Saturday Morning Adventures...

This morning, my husband and I took off on a small little adventure seeking out a few garage sales, estate sales and a church rummage sale. It was a chilly 38 degrees when we took off around 9:30 this morning (we aren't real early birds on Saturday mornings).

The first sale we stopped at had really bad signage and was hard to find. It was a really small sale with really high prices. The next sale was probably the best one of the day! I bought a metal folding tidbit tray. I think it is a Princess House reproduction and not vintage, but I really like it and don't mind that it is newer.

At the church rummage sale, I bought a 16 piece luncheon tray set with cups. I already have a set like this, but couldn't walk away from them since they were just a couple of dollars-when we got there everything was marked half off!

At one estate sale I got this glass jar and 4 vintage Christmas ornies-I wonder who might like them...

At another estate sale I got a 1 qt French White Corning ware casserole dish (to replace one that one of my boys (husband included in the word boys) broke) for $1 and I got 8 white linen napkins and an off white soup tureen.

I am thinking of trying to dye the napkins-maybe even tie dye them for something fun.

We stopped for lunch at El Patron- YUMMMM! I love this authentic Mexican restaurant! The service is the best we've ever experienced, the food is awesome, and it is very reasonable-even kind of cheap!

Now off to do some laundry and get ready for our volleyball game tonight!

Fun on a Friday in March...

I can't believe I forgot my camera today! Grrr...how frustrating! It was a fun day, even though I don't have any photos to prove it!

Chicken's Auntie and I went on a short little road trip to Knightsbridge Antique Mall because they were having a big sale-15-50% off store wide! While she found a couple treasures, I didn't find anything this time that I couldn't live without...although I did come really close to purchasing a pretty vintage linen tablecloth with pink hyacinths on it.

We also stopped at Green's Consignment and tried to find a garage sale, but it was already closed when we got there.

After we went our separate ways, while I was driving home, I followed a moving sale sign to a frog of a sale-they really didn't even have enough stuff to even warrant the work of the sale. Then I stopped at Trading Closets a consignment store that carries everything you could need for your home as well as clothes and designer purses.

My only purchase of the day was from Green's a striped linen tablecloth that has most of the Fiesta colors in it.

I found a HUGE bargain when I went grocery shopping today! I bought 2 loaves of pumpernickel bread to use with spinach dip. They were both marked $2.50. When the cashier scanned them, they scanned at 2 cents each! She called the manager over and the manager said to give them to me at that price and she'd tell them in the deli department that the bar code was messed up. What a bargain! That spinach dip is going to taste so  yummy when I think of the great deal I got on the bread-2 loaves for 4 cents!!

I'm trying to decide if I am going to go to an Estate sale tomorrow or just stay home and clean the house and do the laundry---but what fun is that!?!?

Fun in Williamston and Grand Ledge...

Today was the eagerly anticipated Williamston Antiques Open House! I went with Chicken's Auntie and another friend, Pam. We all enjoyed the yummy appetizers they provided as well as the 15% discount and booths loaded with great things to look at and buy!

We enjoy visiting when they have their open houses, but one thing that is kind of frustrating for us shoppers is that they have most of the dealers in the store on open house days. While that can be a good thing-if you want to try for a better price, or learn more about an item...it can also be a bad thing when you have so many dealers all standing around and visiting with each other, that you can't even get in to their booths to shop! I had to say excuse me so many times today just to get in to a booth to look around that it was getting old fast, and a couple of them I just skipped right by.  I'm sure they don't even realize that they are making it difficult to shop, they are just there enjoying the day/event and being able to see other sellers that they don't get to see very often.

One fun highlight of the open house was to meet Mitzi from Mitzi's Collectibles! Hers was the first blog I read from someone I didn't know. She made these really cute pink and green clothespins with her blog address on them, and I had picked one up about a year ago from her booth. I love her booths and her blog! I asked her permission to take some pictures of her booth to update my blog and she was very agreeable. While I was in one of her booths, someone picked up a quilt and was asking everyone who's booth it was, and since I had just met her, I told the lady to look for Mitzi at the front entrance. I hope they connected and she bought the quilt!

This picture is of her second booth.

After we left there, we headed to Lamb's Gate and Salvage Yard (in Grand Ledge). The further west we went, the worse the weather got! We left gray skies and a windy 34 degrees and ended up in a snowy, blowing mess! It was good to head home and out of the messy snow.

We all made purchases at Lamb's Gate too! That is such a neat store! It is so worth the trip! We ate lunch at Sweet Linda's Cafe (just a couple of doors down). Chicken's Auntie and I got the Tuscan Chicken Panini and Pam got the daily special of quiche and salad. It was all very yummy and really great prices.

 It had roasted red peppers and a pesto mayo-yum!

We saw a store when we came in to town that was actually in the opposite direction of Lamb's Gate that had ANTIQUES in big letters on it. After lunch we walked through all the blowing, wet, yucky snow only to find that it was a candle/craft store with a few pieces of glassware. It didn't really live up to the sign. That was the one "frog" of the day.

See the snow on the roof-ugh! So much for the first day of spring!

Other than that one "frog" shop, everything else was a "prince"! Here is what I got today...

 A cute little gingham skirt with hand embroidery, that I am hoping to talk either Pam or Chicken's Auntie in to making it into an apron.

A cute little spring tablecloth (it was only 2 feet inside the door!).

I just love the little flowers on this one!

A pretty little pastel tablecloth.

Where and when is our next adventure??? I'm thinking it will be soon, because Chicken's Auntie recently sent me an email that Knightsbridge Antique Mall in Northville is having a sale through the end of the month 15%-50% off storewide! If the weather stays crummy tomorrow...

Follow up to "What would you do"...

Today the vintage Christmas tablecloth I won in Ebay arrived. I was anxious to see just how bad the spots were...I think they actually look worse than the pictures the seller emailed me, and there was a new long, almost pen mark like stain that wasn't in the original 3 spots she emailed me about.

I love the design, and was very happy when she refunded me a couple of dollars for not noticing the stains when she originally listed it. I'm just hoping that I can get the spots out with Oxy Clean and not cause the bright red and green to fade or run. It's either that, or become very strategic when I place our dinner dishes on it next Christmas!

 Any other suggestions besides Oxy Clean to try to remove the spots? They all look like food stains, so I am remaining hopeful!

Surprise! A Garage Sale in March...

As I was headed to buy shoes with my oldest son today, we passed a garage sale sign that said "Garage Sale-TODAY only 3/19". So, on our way home, I decided to stop. I got some GREAT unexpected treasures-and they were really a bargain!

a divided relish tray

 a purple (cranberry) Pyrex mixing bowl $1

a pair of ceramic egg cups $2

 two vintage tablecloths $1 each

Not bad for just happening to drive by on the "one day" of a one day only sale. All of this for just $6! It was an awesome day to be out and about. The sun was shining and it was 65 degrees-too bad I live in Michigan and they are calling for temperatures in the 40's and rain starting tomorrow and for the rest of next week!

What would you do?

I won a really neat vintage Christmas tablecloth from a seller on Ebay. I paid right away for it...and then I get an email from the seller...she is apologizing that the tablecloth that she listed as having no spots, stains, rips or holes...has two small brown stains she didn't see before.

I asked her to please take a picture of the spots and email it to me. When she sent the email, she sent 3 pictures, because she found a third spot. I really like the tablecloth, but I'm not so sure I would like it so much with the stains-and I'm not sure they will come out.

What would you do? Would you ask for a refund (it was $7 plus $5.70 shipping)? Or would you have her send it anyway and take your chances?

This is only my second time purchasing a vintage tablecloth, so I'd appreciate some advice. Let me know what you think please!

Fiesta's Newest Color...

I got a message via facebook from Homer Laughlin China, that their newest color is "Paprika".

Photos from Homer Laughlin on Facebook

I'm not sure I like the new color. I'll have to wait until I can see it in person. I was really hoping for a hot pink color!

Friday -Antiquing and Thrifting...

Since it is finally warming up here in Michigan and today was my day off, I decided to head out to Livingston Antique Outlet for a little mindless wandering. I was hoping to find some vintage linens at bargain prices! I was very happy with what I found...

My very first vintage tablecloth! It is huge and in really great shape...and it was a GREAT bargain!
I LOVE it!!

I know this purse isn't old, but it is cute and the price was right!

 Cute little embroidered napkins!

Then I had about an hour to kill before I had to pick my youngest son up at school, so I stopped at our local Salvation Army Thrift Store. It was really packed today! I didn't realize they were having a 50% off kids clothes sale until I got in there and heard them announce that you had to be in line by 2:00 in  order to get the special price. I was afraid I'd get stuck behind a million moms and be in line forever! I checked out at 10 minutes til and none of them were even in line yet-whew!

This is what I got:

Easter egg candy dish (minus the M&M's).

Not sure if these are candy dishes, or what they are. I kind of thought they'd be neat turned upside down and used as a pedestal to raise up other dishes...

When I got home, I got the bug to do some spring cleaning and decided to move a recliner out of the living room (it hardly gets used), and move in one of my antique trunks so we could enjoy looking at it. Of course, that meant having my snarly oldest teenage son (almost 19) and his friend move them...after about 5 minutes of him complaining and telling me he hates my trunk-I reminded them who buys their pizza every Friday, and that ended that discussion really fast!

I love this trunk! I got it at a garage sale in Ann Arbor last summer when I went out garage sale shopping with my friend Pam from work. I actually left without it, and went back several hours later, because couldn't get it out of my mind and regretted not getting it, and thankfully it was still there! It was painted white on the inside and had a bunch of Christmas cards glued into the inside of the lid, with what looked like wood glue! It actually was pretty easy to get all the cards and glue off with Kevin's electric scraper.

I touched up the black and brass colored paint. The wood was already in great condition.

The inside I lined with hydrangea wallpaper I picked up at our local Habitat for Humanity Store. Notice my little paint boo boo? I didn't realize the paint ran into the inside until it was already dry. I'd like to add some finishing touches to finish it all off and to try to hide the paint drip.

I'll have to take some pictures of my inadvertent trunk collection and post them at a later date. For some reason last summer, every garage sale we went to, just about, had an antique trunk for sale from between $3 and $20. So, not being able to pass up such bargains... we ended up with 5 trunks!! No more trunks for us!! We both love them all, and probably won't end up getting rid of any of them. We'll spend some time fixing them up and use them around the house...I might give up one...my mom has always wanted a camel back trunk, and we really don't need 2 in the same size.

March 20th...

Mark your calendars!

March 20th is the next open house for the Williamston Antiques Market! They always make their open houses fun with lots of yummy food, great discounts, and actual dealers on the premises to answer your questions!

So far, it looks like 4 of my co-workers will be making this antique trip with me! What about you? Will you be there?

Any Suggestions?

My antique, curved glass, oak china cabinet is way over-stuffed! I need to clear some of it out (mostly the really heavy Fiesta so my shelves don't collapse under all the weight!) and I am not sure what I should leave, or how to arrange or display it...anyone have any suggestions? I am O.K. with removing most or all of the Fiesta, and I do have pink and green depression glass or Fostoria American I could put in its place.

I really want to keep the blue pitcher and glass set (it belonged to my grandma on  my dad's side and she is no longer with us). The rest can move or stay.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

There are too many possibilities!! I could set it all up with just chartreuse, just plum, no Fiesta, and all depression glass...all amethyst glass...see what I mean!?!?!?