Mitzi's having a giveaway...

One of my favorite blogs (and antique dealer) Mitzi's Collectibles is having a giveaway! Click here to check it out and read her blog! She is very creative, and has some really neat and informative blogs! I'm trying to get up enough nerve to try the mirror project!

A couple garage sales, and estate sale and a trip to Hell...

Since my back was still complaining this morning, and my younger son had a day off from school...and there were some really great sounding sales in our area...I talked him into being my chauffer today. He turns 16 next Wednesday and needs all the practice he can get, so he was glad to drive me around. We only had one good sale out of about a dozen. I got a couple more brightly colored vintage tablecloths...I know...I know, I said I was done for a while with linens.... but they were really bright, and really pretty, and really cheap, and really calling out my name---and I just couldn't walk away!

 I already need a 12 step program for my Fiesta addiction-might as well add in one for my bright vintage linen addiction too!

We ended up in Pinckney, and when he saw the sign that said Hell with an arrow, he suggested we go to Hell---Michigan-that is. We joked around a little bit about it and he told me about a show on Food Network where they showcased the Screams Ice Cream Parlor from Hell. He remembered their "Grave-Digger" ice cream special and wanted to try it.

 
They cover the bottom of a foam carryout container with crushed Oreo crumbs (supposed to represent dirt) then they cut a banana to look like a head, torso, arms and legs. Then they add colored coconut for the hair, blue colored chocolate sauce for the two eyes with chocolate pupils, a big pink mouth and then they top it all off with 3 huge scoops of ice cream and whip topping and a cherry if you want it. After you eat it, you go back in and get your "death certificate".

We went outside and they have a mini golf area with a lot of cut outs that you can put your face in...considering he wears a size 15 shoe-we got a good chuckle out of the big foot one!

While we were stopped in downtown Pinckney getting gas, Eric spotted a live bait vending machine across the street and wandered over and took a snap of it-he was pretty impressed! They even had a button for nightcrawlers!

It was a fun day of joking and talking with Eric-I just wish my back didn't hurt so much!!

Weekend Thrifting May Have to Wait...

I was planning for a great weekend of thrifting this weekend...and last night at my volleyball game, my back decided to go "sproing"! Ugh! As long as I don't move much and stay half way sitting, half way laying, it is fine, but once I try to walk it really starts to object! So...I have a feeling my plans are going to have to be put aside for this weekend-I am sooo bummed!

 

Another dollar day, but much nicer weather!

Since my hubby and youngest son are still up north, and my oldest was working today, I decided to try some more treasure hunting this morning. I packed my winter coat with the gloves in the pockets again, but was very pleasantly surprised when the weather perked right up! Right now it is about 65 degrees and sunny with blue skies! See what I mean about Michigan weather!?! Blink twice and it will change!

I mapped out 5 garage sales, and a rummage sale and headed out! One sale was at a former antiques dealer's home. She still had her tags on her items from the shop. She was selling her stuff for half of the tag price-which I thought was still really high for a garage sale. It was neat looking at all of her stuff though!

The rummage sale was at a local church to benefit Mission's in Asia. Unfortunately, they really didn't have much-maybe they sold it all before I got there since they opened an hour before I arrived.


At one sale, I got 6 Christmas linen napkins for $1. One sale had the signs out all over the place and when I finally arrived (it was kind of a maze to get there), the garage door was shut and it looked like no one was home, but they left the sign out at the end of the driveway...hmmm-hope everything is ok there.

The rest of them weren't much and I didn't find anything I couldn't live without until I stopped at one in Milford. It was in an older home on Main Street, that used to be a Tea Room! They were going out of business and selling their china and linens! Woo Hoo! I got 6 tablecloths for $1 each! They had a really neat trunk (but it was 100 $1's), and some neat leaded glass windows that had already sold, and lots of china!

I stopped at a couple more sales that I just happened to drive by. The last one was so outrageously priced that I had to look a couple of times at the tags, because I couldn't believe what I was seeing! They had some interesting antique pieces of furniture, but the prices were really high-even for an antique store let alone a garage sale on the side of the road!

I think I am done (for now) with linen tablecloths, unless I come across one that is just super spectacular and I find I can't live another minute without it! I'm searching now for a blown glass rolling pin with closed ends, not the kind that has a cap on one end. I'd like one in clear and one in amethyst. I found one in amethyst on Ebay the other day, but someone had painted all over it in gold paint...oh well, the hunt is where the fun is!

Dollar Day...

Today I took a little road trip to my sister-in-law's neighborhood to check out their sub sale and spend some time visiting and have lunch together. She was helping a neighbor with a garage sale a couple of streets over. Her friend was very nice, and I enjoyed meeting her and talking with her.

We left and visited the rest of the sales in the sub (there were only 5 all together). It was sooo cold today! I even saw some snowflakes!!! Just last week it was close to 80 degrees-but that is Michigan for you!

We went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant just down the street. It was only $3.75 for Sesame chicken, fried rice and and egg roll-what a bargain!

On the way home, I stopped at several garage sales, the Salvation Army in White Lake and a Grace Center of Hope Thrift Store.  

Didn't find anything I couldn't live without until one of the last sales. I got a Christmas tablecloth for $1. I don't think it has ever been used!

Bittersweet Estate Sale...

When I left work today, there was a sign on the corner for an Estate Sale. Since I recognized the sub the street was in, and it was really close, I decided to drive by and check it out. There were two ladies running the sale, neither of them seemed familiar to me, although they were both very friendly. While I was shopping an older couple came to the sale. They started talking with the ladies and during their conversation, they realized that the younger of the two ladies knew the daughter of the couple. She said the sale was for their parent's things. Their dad had passed recently. She then said her maiden name was Harvey.

My ears perked up, my mind clicked, my heart sighed and my mouth curled into a little smile! This was Dave Harvey's house! Dave was a sweet older man from my church, who lost his beloved wife Blanche several years ago, and was so lonely for her right up until his passing a few months ago. I have missed hearing his voice and seeing him at church! He used to call the front desk every Sunday to see if the bus had left yet, because he was ready to go, and the bus wasn't there yet. The funny part is, the bus always left at 9:30am and Dave ALWAYS called at 8:30am!

I purchased 2 linen tablecloths, a set of  6 sage green linen napkins and a glass cruet with glass stopper-all for $3.50-but to me they will be cherished, priceless treasures that will remind me every time I see them of memories of Dave.

Goodwill shopping online...

In one of the blogs I follow, I was reminded about shopping Goodwill online. I had come across this information a few months ago, but since I didn't see anything at the time that I was interested in, I left the site, not thinking to bookmark it, and I forgot all about it. The website is www.shopgoodwill.com. It is owned and operated by Goodwill of Orange County California, located in Santa Ana. Participating Goodwills across the country list things on shopgoodwill.com from their inventory of donated items and use the proceeds to help people in need. I think of it as a way of checking out lots of Goodwill shops in one trip!

My first purchase was a good one! I got all 5 of these cute little egg cups for just $5-and I'm helping Goodwill help people all over the United States! This purchase was made from Goodwill in Traverse City, Michigan-so it was kind of neat to help right here in my own home state.

 The black one almost seems like it is from another set, it isn't as shiny as the rest, but it is the same shape. They are ceramic and have a white interior. They are in perfect condition with no chips or scratches-what a bargain!  I just wish they had some sort of markings, so I could figure out who made them and how old they might be!

Easter Breakfast for 1200...

Well, it looks like we ended up with about 1125-1135 people for Easter breakfast yesterday at church. We got so busy once we got the buffet lines set, I totally forgot to snap some pictures! We had 50 round tables set up in the gym with half of the tables with white tablecloths and half lilac. The buffet line was lilac tablecloths with white skirting-same for the beverage table and coffee cake table. I did get a few early shots of the food in the fridge though- I love our church's walk in refrigerator and freezer!! They both hold an amazing amount of food! Too bad I'm not doing the church picnic (for 1500) this year-I'd LOVE to show you just how much we can pack in!

 This is called breakfast casserole. It is a recipe from Taste of Home. It has hashbrowns, eggs, ham, green pepper, cheese and onions. We made 15 of these full size pans. We had a little extra ham at the end, so we went back and sprinkled some extra on them.You can find these recipes on the Taste of Home website or scroll back a few posts and I have them here on my blog.

This is Blueberry French Toast casserole. It is also from Taste of Home. It has white bread, eggs, syrup, vanilla, cream cheese and blueberries in it. When it baked, it was taller than the pan! We made 15 of these as well.

This is called Festive Fruit Salad, it is also a recipe from Taste of Home. What can I say, they have AWESOME recipes! The topping for this fruit salad is so good, people were asking for it a couple weeks before the breakfast! The topping has cream cheese, cool whip, lemon juice and powdered sugar-yum!

The bags on the shelves are scrambled egg product from GFS. One of my volunteers who was manning the beverage station, brought one to me during the breakfast rush and asked how much water he adds to it to fill the 5 gallon jug with orange juice! I was soo thankful that he asked me BEFORE he dumped it in the jug! LOL! We went through about 48 bags. What is great about the eggs like this, is you don't have to crack all those eggs, and they boil in the bag! I was skeptical at first, but it is a quick and less messy way to make scrambled eggs-especially for a crowd!

Ten pound bags of pancake mix. We went through 60 pounds. One of the ladies helping with the breakfast panicked and sent someone to the store, and had them buy another 50 pounds-we never ended up using it... We also served oatmeal with pecans, raisins, brown sugar and milk (that they could add themselves), yogurt, bananas and coffee cakes and mini donuts-and of course, sausage and bacon!

 We had 33 gallons of orange juice all made up and ready to go. We used all of it plus another 18 gallons. We also had coffee-regular and decaf.

These are some pretty Easter flowers my hubby got for me! I LOVE the purple!!

Two Months From Today is the Midland Antiques Festival!!!

Mark your calendar!!!  Only 2 months to go-and I can't wait!!!

There are only 60 days until the first Michigan Antique and Collectible Festival in Midland, Michigan!

2010 Dates

June 5-6

July 24-25

September 25-26

This will be their 42nd year. It is held only 3 times a year at the Midland County Fairgrounds.

Saturdays 8am-6pm

Sundays 8am-4pm

It's about an hour and a half drive from where we live but well worth it! When we went last fall, they said there were 1,000 vendors. It's a lot of fun to be able to visit so many different vendors all in one spot!

 

 

Free entertainment...that turned out to be a dud!

Right next door to our house is a soccer field, and tonight, a local town decided to hold an Easter marshmallow drop and moon glow Easter egg hunt. Since our kids are too old for that kind of thing, and we could hear the music and announcements over the sound system, we decided to crash the party and walked over to see what it was all about.

The Easter bunny was there for pictures ($10 for a 4x6), which parents were upset about because it was so expensive. They did tell everyone that if they wanted to take their own picture with their own camera, they could, but not with the Easter bunny!

They were giving out Easter baskets for the kiddies to collect marshmallows and eggs in. The plane dropping the marshmallows made about a dozen passes and never really dropped a lot of marshmallows, and never hit the second target (the biggest field where all the people were). Then the egg hunt fields were unsupervised, so while they were handing our prizes for the kiddos who got a colored marshmallow, other kids were going crazy collecting eggs-because no one was guarding the eggs, and parents were letting them!

The event planner in me couldn't take it any more, and we left and came home! How frustrating! I feel bad for the people who drove long distances, and actually feel bad for all the participants because I think I heard that they actually had to pay to participate!

We did have a nice conversation with one grandma who drove over a half an hour to get here with her granddaughter-but other than that...it was a frog of an event. I hope it was just first year issues, and if they plan to do it next year, that all the kinks get worked out. What a bummer if you were an excited kid and ended up with a big let down!

Hopefully in all the marshmallow egg-citement, the parents remember to remind their kids of the true meaning of Easter!

 Happy Easter!!

Easter bunny photo opp...

  Free baskets!

Prizes!

Plane on one of many passes to test the wind

A couple shots of the gorgeous sunset!
Thank you Lord for the beauty!