Simple and Thrifty

Decorating my home brings me alot of joy and gives me an outlet for my creative energies. Doing so in a thrifty way, also makes it fun and challenging! Antique stores and Goodwill are two of my favorite ways to accomplish that.

Several recent trips to Goodwill and antique stores helped to create this tablescape that has graced and dressed up my dining room table this summer. The fabric cost .99 at Goodwill...a brand new curtain panel in fun colors/plaids. I washed and pressed it, folded it in half, and loved the effect against the oak table.

Next I found a Liberty Blue saucer for 2.00 and a Currier and Ives dish for 2.00 in Ks. City while visiting family. Dishes are my absolute weakness! The silver forks and spoon also came from those antique shops, and the easy detarnishing method of an aluminum pan, baking soda, and water brought them to life.

Another fun and creative idea was to create a gift for my girlfriend from one of her favorite photos of her recent trip to Italy. I printed a 5x7 of the picture, used a front loading frame and scrapbooking techniques, to create this pretty reminder of her wonderful time away. I don't know who had more fun...me creating it or her receiving it!

Being creative can be simple and thrifty. I think a trip to Goodwill is in my plans for today...how about you?!

Simple Table Treasure

A recent treasure hunting trip to our local Goodwill Thrift Store, produced an exciting find. This little pedestaled, wooden table had so much potential. And right in my price range. Home with me, it came!

The glass top was easily removed to reveal the wood. I sanded the whole table with fine sandpaper, to prepare it for painting. A coat of spray primer paint in black, followed. Then several thin coats of spray paint in black eggshell finish completed the job.

Once dry, I brought the table in, cleaned the glass top, and
made a display on the table top. I had purchased a 12x12 scrapbook paper of a vintage map to use as the mat. Then layered on vintage looking travel mementoes including a ticket stub, train schedule, trunk card, postcard, and even a pressed flower from our recent trip to California. Carefully settling the glass top back in place, I stepped back to view my project vision come true! This nice conversation piece table now resides in our family room, and makes me smile everytime I see it. I will be able to easily remove the glass and change out the display at any time, too.











Goodwill is a great place to find 'junk' that is just waiting to be made over into a Simple Treasure. Enjoy hunting and creating!

Simply Special Chocolate Cake

Who doesn't LOVE chocolate cake? And cheesecake too?! Surprise Cake has a bit of both! So easy to make...here's how: Stir up a chocolate cake from any mix, following the package directions.

In a separate bowl, cream together: 8 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used low fat,) 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 egg.

Fill greased cake pans with 2/3 of the cake batter (I used 2 round ones to make 2 one layer cakes...a nice way to have one cake for home, and one to share with a friend). Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the batter in a random way, for a pretty pattern. Then spoon the remainder of the cake batter over the cheese filling. Bake at 350 til the top springs back when poked and a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean.

After a bit of cooling and removing from cake pan onto a pretty plate, serve slightly warm with a shake of powdered sugar over the cake and plate. Also great with a dollop of whipped cream. Must refrigerate remaining cake.

This cake was so easy, makes a pretty presentation, and is so so good. Very moist and not sickeningly sweet. Simply delicious! Enjoy.

Simple Style

Recently I decided that our living room is great for fall and winter, but the colors are alittle heavy for spring and summer. Wanting to spruce it up a bit, yet not wanting to spend much, I looked online for ideas. Making or recovering our living room pillows seemed like the best idea.

Our sofa pillows came with the sofa and are dark greens and browns. I decided to cover them with a removable pillow cover made from fabric napkins. I found some designer napkins on clearance for $1.99 each, plus some coordinating light taupe napkins on sale. Stitching the wrong sides of the napkins together by hand, and leaving the bottom open, allowed me to pull it over the pillow with some velcro closers at the bottom.

Then I took the light taupe napkins, folded them, machine stitched the ends, and made fiber fill rolls to go inside the napkin envelope. I tacked the open edges together, and found large buttons from my grandmother's button box to decorate the front.

They are cute, they coordinate, and they lighten up the dark furniture for the summer/fall. Plus it is fun to know that they each only cost me about $3 and that I made them out of a repurposed fabric napkin. I'm sure there are LOTS of things that can be made from fabric napkins, fabric placemats, and kitchen towels. I even saw a really cute tote bag/purse made from cute kitchen tea towels. No hemming necessary...that makes it quick!

Enjoy...and let me know if you make something simple and sweet too!

Simple Scones

Scones are a delicious treat usually made from flour, butter, buttermilk, and a few other ingredients. Traditional scones are very tasty, but tend to be a bit dry and dense. While on vacation in California, I ordered a Lemon Scone at Jeanine's Bakery in Montecito. What a wonderful surprise! This scone was tender, moist, and delish! It tasted more like a sweet biscuit than a traditional scone. So once at home, I decided to try to replicate that kind of scone. And surprisingly, I've had good results with very little experimentation. Below is my recipe for a Simple Scone that will be tender, moist, and amazing.

2 1/4 cups Bisquick

2 T. sugar

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup light sour cream

Mix just until moistened, adding additional milk if the mixture isn't soft and sticky. If you want to add a flavor such as lemon or fresh fruits such as strawberries or blueberries, do that now. Chocolate chips would also be good!

Drop by large spoonful into 2-3 inch scones on a greased baking sheet or parchment paper. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10+ minutes, until lightly brown on top. Cool for 10 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve on a pretty plate with coffee, tea, or milk.

Mock devonshire cream is very tasty on top of a scone...mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and alittle sour cream together for this tasty topping.

Scones are great for breakfast, a coffee date, or at anytime for any occasion. The best things in life are often the simplest...so enjoy Simple Scones soon! Happy Summer~

Simple Sweets

Recently I needed a quick but yummy dessert for out of town friends who were coming for a visit. Putting several recipes together, I created an amazing Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake Mousse that kept us all 'yum-yumming' til the last bite!

I had just purchased some darling dessert parfait glasses at our nice/neat Goodwill store, so it was especially fun to wash them up all sparkling, and then present the mousse in them.

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake Mousse

1 8oz. pkg. low fat cream cheese, softened

1.5 cups of milk

1 pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix

1.5 cups of whipped topping, thawed

1 T. instant coffee

Mix cream cheese and coffee crystals until creamy. Slowly mix in milk. Add dry pudding mix until creamy and smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon mixture into pretty individual glass dishes. Refrigerate until served. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Feel creative? Add a layer of cookie crumbs or chopped candy bar in the middle of the dessert for an added crunch.

Enjoy!

Simple Memories

Simple Memories
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Today at 12:33pm Edit Note Delete


A year ago I found a fun way to preserve bits of nature that remind me of times or memories of my life. You can choose pretty leaves, flowers, even a tiny tree seedling from a specific place or time that you want to remember. Then press those between paper towels under or inside of some heavy books. After a few days, remove the flowers and leaves and place them between clear contact paper, along with a handwritten or printed label of where or when you gathered these items. Seal, and trim around it to the desired size or shape you like. And voila...a cool book mark for your Bible or other book that will always remind you of something special. My first photo shows some beautiful yellow Aspen leaves I picked up at Estes Park this past fall. The second photo shows a bookmark I made in September of 2007 when our oldest kids first went to college. I loved the tiny tree seedling and leaves that I found at a park that day. It reminds me of the thoughts and feelings I had as I was struggling to let go of my own 'seedlings'...my children.I've also made one of rose petals from my daughter's wedding last July. So give it a try if you like...you can expand this idea to use in scrapbooking or cardmaking. Capture a moment of nature, and enjoy the sweet, simple things of life.