Thursday Threads

With the holiday season in full swing and the madness of it all lingering over everyone it was with great pleasure that I accepted the invitation to spend some time out with my younger daughter. She invited me to go to a tree lighting festival and for a couple of hours we walked the street, enjoyed the lights, had hot cocoa, ate roasted chestnuts and candy canes and stopped for a slice of pizza. There were people singing Christmas carols and policemen on horseback. The firefighters decked out their truck with a multitude of lights and cherished the children's delight for it all. There were horse drawn wagons for riding around town  and decorated trees along the canal. Although it was rainy and a bit chilly we watched the tree lighting and enjoyed the music from a local radio station and it was then that the holiday to me got started.

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family and friend and the food was bountiful. We played games, watched the parade and a long lost movie I hadn't seen in years called Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas.

In my efforts to try and use up fabric and make new decorations for the new chapter in my life I finished these origami folded fabric wall hangings to match some previous Thanksgiving decorations. I'm addicted to folded fabric.

These vintage quilted squares I reclaimed after I fell in love with the bright colors. Although there are wear spots I managed to retrieve enough to make four vintage 16 inch napkins to add to my eldest daughters vintage decor collection.

I've been making some folded star Christmas ornaments for the girls to sell at a craft show and have found myself with this great abundance of leftover scraps. I cut strips down to clean 1 and a 1/2 inch pieces and began to just sew them together until I had four festive quilted coasters. I made a candle cozy out of a reclaimed linen by weaving velvet ribbon in it and hemming it. My candle likes to be involved in every holiday it can.

The only freebies this week was a coupon for a Jif Dipper and some Pantene shampoo and conditioner samples. I am grateful too for a gift of apples to cook with. I hope everyone finds joy in this holiday season and remember to see the blessings that you have. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderful week. 

Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

This little townhouse of ours has been a very busy place this summer. We have learned new things, tried new foods, and although we have one of the smallest kitchens going we have canned and preserved and made the most of what we've grown ourselves, purchased at the farmer's markets and received as gifts.

Ready for this past weekends celebrations were home made Kosher dill pickle spears. These were a gift from some one who doesn't even know me, but got word that I would use them. Three quarts of heaven, well two because we ate into one, are in the pantry for the upcoming year.

The second gift of cucumbers were made into Bread and Butter pickles. I received this fine slicing machine complete with a protective glove for Christmas last year and finally used it. There are now four pints of these yummy goodies in the pantry. The most exciting thing to me about receiving these gifts was the fact that the person who gave them to me became inspired to make her own and discovered that she could do it. 

While I was searching for new recipes I discovered some that required espresso powder. I thought that most recipes just called for ground coffee. Not true. I searched for information on where to buy it, but the price was so high and I began to search for how to make it. Lo and behold it was easier than ever. Just make a pot of espresso in your regular coffee pot, dry the used grounds, a spin through the spice mill and there you have it. Espresso powder. I didn't need it right away so I put it on the list of future investments and went about other homestead activities. Not a week later while on an expedition through Targets, out of curiosity, I started pricing espresso coffee. A little high, but from a 10 oz bag I could make as much espresso powder as I "wanted" not what I "needed". The universe saw my want and there it was...espresso coffee marked clearance. $1.83 for a 10 oz vacuum sealed bag. We took all three that still had their seal and now have it in our pantry. I made two pots of espresso and dried the grounds and put them through the spice mill and I now have a nice bottle of powder to cook with. I also came across a bottle of Red Wine Vinegar marked down on the clearance shelf to $.98. This has been added to the cooking pantry also. 

At the farmer's markets we acquired blueberries, cherries and black berries. I put up a batch of blueberry jam, blueberry syrup for pancakes and cherry jam. I made black berry butter and froze the remainder for the next project which will be triple berry syrup. A favorite around here.

While I was out watering my "covert" container garden I spotted what may be a sweet potato. I felt the soil and it didn't quite feel like there were any in there, but there is still growing time for them and I will be patient until I get the sign that it's time to harvest. I am getting excited and hopeful that there will be some there. So all in all it's been busy and I know a lot of you are also. I keep going and working and it does pay off. I like to add what I get free to my posts when there are some so here they are.

A case of 24 bottles of water, a bag of TGI Fridays snacks and two boxes of Domino brown sugar. One was a gift from that cookie monster friend who doesn't want me to stop baking. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and is grateful for their blessings. 

Quick stop on the way home yeilds great fabric finds.

The funky flowers and yellow leaves are sheets and the African print is yard good. So excited about the bright colors.

Juvenile prints for future scrap quilts to donate. I'm always looking for boy prints.

Race car panels and several yards to make donated quilts. I feel I scored big with these two pieces.

Animal cracker train wall hanging panels and rainbow zebra doll panels. So cute for the little one's. Wish I had time to make them myself, but they are listed on the store.

I also found a vintage Star Wars twin sheet which is the first and so far the only item listed on my second on line shop. (butterflyplace.storenvy.com) I will be adding to that site this week, but I had to shop for inventory. To me that's the fun part. The vintage animal print is so cute. It is actually a crib quilt. I just loved the prints and listed it on butterflyplace.etsy.com to be used as is or as a cutter quilt. I've had a wonderful week thrifting for my stores and more than anything I'm enjoying sharing it with you. See you again soon and be grateful for all of your blessings.

Thrift store finds this week.

Group Photo

Had a good time thrifting this week. Really needed to get out and do something. I found some interesting aminal items, a vintage popcorn bowl with individual bowls for serving, a black and gold mid century fruit bowl, some curtains and linens to reclaim the fabric from. My favorite is the Hippo bank. I'm becoming quite fond of the neon colors.



Cute bunnies.

Salt and pepper puppies.

Mid Century black and gold bowl.

Just a small sampling of items found to use as inventory on my etsy store. butterflyplace.etsy.com. I'm slowly getting things listed so that I can work on fabric. That's where my love is and I have a large stack to work on. Maybe someday I can do this full time, but for right now I'll settle for the time I have and consider myself blessed. Have a wonderful day.

One estate sale this week.

I was not going to go to this estate sale, but it was on my way home from work and the very end of the sale. As I thought, most of the items I had seen in the preview were gone, but to my surprise most of the closets and bedrooms still had plenty to rummage through. Reclaimed linens and fabric are my favorite items and are always fun to me. This picture shows some vintage curtains. Some of a wood panel and kitchen pattern and others with a vintage Dutch ribbon that I will up cycle into something new. There was a linen towel with a country store theme and square linen napkins that I will also up cycle. I moved on to another room and to my amazement had a closet that seemed untouched but once past the old terry towels I found more linens to reclaim.

I found three sheets in excellent condition and to my surprise two vintage pink and white Swiss dot bed spreads with those lovely large ruffles. One is more loved than the other but if not usable as is will be great to reclaim the fabric. The best part of the short visit was that they were so happy not to have to pack all the leftover stuff up that I got great prices. It encouraged me to keep up the hunt and go on your instinct. You just never know. I hope soon to be able to go through these items more thoroughly and list them on my etsy store. butterflyplace.etsy.com. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and keep on going.

Robins Make My Home Theirs Too

For the past couple of weeks we have been watching a pair of Robins take over our back yard. Last spring we knew they were nesting in the hedges, but this year they are out in the wide open at eye level for us to watch. This fascinates me to watch nature take it's course. I've tried to make my back yard welcoming to wildlife and birds and I've seen all sorts of animals in the yard. I've had skunks, possum, rabbits, deer, and raccoons to mention a few. I like the large variety of birds the most and when the cherry tree and pear tree are full we need air traffic control in the back yard. The squirrels and birds will make more noise while I'm trying to retrieve the fruit but believe me they get more than I do. So I thought that I would share this miracle of nature and try to watch and see if there will be chicks soon. We won't disturb it to see if there are any eggs in it. They deserve their spot.