Thrifty Thursday! All about storage...

I really wasn't too lucky at any thrift stores this week. I visited my favorite one on Saturday and found these... a very nice wine crate, two large, divided boxes with hangars on the back, and this glass bowl. I am thinking of using the crate for some additional storage in my mudroom, but I may need a collection of these to make it work. The boxes I think I'll use flat to store beads or some other crafty goodies. The bowl is for a terrarium.

I have been on a quest to find the perfect glass container for a terrarium. This bowl wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it will do. I fell in love with the idea after reading the holiday issue of Fresh Home Magazine. I have the charcoal, but I still need rocks, soil, and plants. My hunt for plants has left me empty handed thus far. I'll have to make a stop at the real nursery on my way home from work one day.

We went to my daughter's science fair at school this evening. My favorite project (other than my daughter's, which was a model of a tsunami made weeks ago) was an experiment involving plants. The student compared how each plant grew when exposed to different types of music (classical, pop, hip-hop, jazz, and country). The one that had to listen to country music died. I thought it was pretty funny, since I'm not a huge fan of country music!

Hope you've had a great St. Patrick's Day! I am honoring the Irish with a cold beverage in a green bottle... but it's brewed from apples, not hops!

Manic Monday! Art appreciation....

"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."
— Pablo Picasso

That was my favorite quote from the Picasso exhibit at the VMFA. It was a great exhibit... and I was so glad to experience it with an old friend from high school, Hillary. It was great to reconnect after all these years!

This was one of my favorite pieces from the exhibit. It is called "Three Figures Under a Tree." The computer doesn't do the colors justice! Hillary and I both thought it would look just lovely on my mantle :) What amazed me the most is the range of Picasso's work. He can be very simple... very abstract... very literal... or very wild. He can create paintings, drawings, sculpture, and photos. Some of his work was even delicate. Others, hard to look at. Some definitely above my head. Some I'd love to take home.

While browsing the displays, I became acutely aware of how old my eyes have become. I had to put on my reading glasses so I didn't have to be right on top of the cards to read them. It was pretty crowded, so I either had to feel rude and kind of push through to get to the card or just wear the glasses. Oh, well! I wore the glasses ;)

Hillary was a great art museum companion, because she actually knew about many of the artists whose work was on exhibit, whereas I had never heard of many of them! Warhol, yes. Lichtenstein, no.

If you are ever in the Richmond area, you should definitely check out our art museum! I had no clue that we had such a gem in the middle of our city. And definitely don't miss Picasso if you have any interest. The
show runs through May 15th, and is the only stop on the East Coast of this tour.

In other news this weekend, I am terribly saddened by the events in Japan, as I am sure all of you are. I feel incredibly lucky to live where I do, where earthquakes are not a real threat. I will keep thoughts and prayers on the people affected by this horrible disaster, and watch closely as the nuclear danger continues. I feel almost guilty that while others on the other side of the globe suddenly don't have food, water, or perhaps even some family members, I was enjoying Picasso.

Have a safe week, everyone.

Photo Friday! Oh, deer....

As my husband and I plan our garden this year, I start to wonder how destructive these guys will be this season. I captured this buck right outside our window one day last summer. He had 2 does with him, and they ate our rose bushes directly outside our window. No fear, I tell you... we came home from vacation to find all of our tomatoes lopped off, our lettuce chewed to the nub, and our fruit trees stripped of every inch of new growth. I guess with the severe lack of rain, they had to find moisture somewhere.

I've heard of several methods to keep these guys away, including hanging bars of Irish Spring, sprinkling Milorganite around the garden (read: recycled sewage sludge), and using human hair around the garden. Have any of you tried these tricks? I may just have to resort to using fences/cages of some kind.

And don't get me started about the squash bugs. If you don't use commercial pesticides, you had no hope of keeping them out of your garden. We must have had every genetic variation possible devouring our plants last year. They were so bad that I'm not even planning on growing any squash this year... which is a shame, because my husband really loves them! I'll have to get them from the Ashland Farmer's Market!

Are you growing a garden this year? Do you have any thoughts in safely keeping the critters away?

I have plans to host a dessert party tomorrow night and to go see the Picasso exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with an old friend from high school on Sunday. It's been years since we've seen each other, and I'm really looking forward to it! Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Thrifty Thursday! Pyrex!

This week was a great week for Pyrex! My older daughter and I went to the big Goodwill store here in Richmond and found a couple of things:

This casserole dish needed a bit of love from a Magic Eraser... but for $1, I couldn't leave it in the store... it was a 1/2 price item. And then my daughter talked me into buying this mug:

It was only $1, too... and I see these all the time. Maybe I'll have a set someday.... but this was my best addition to my collection this week:

After talking to my mother in law about what I was looking for at thrift stores, she remembered that she had this set somewhere, and she found it today. We had dinner over there this evening, and she gifted these to me. I am so happy! Isn't the pattern beautiful? I feel like a lucky girl!

That's what's thrifty this Thursday! Have you found any lovelies this week?

Manic Monday! Beading

It's been a long time since I've made a necklace. I've been a bit obsessed with embroidery lately! This is one I made a few months ago. I had the idea for a while, but it took some time to actually bring it to life. The beads are mostly glass with a few agate beads mixed in. All of the findings are sterling. I really need to play with some of the beads I got for Christmas!

I have been working on an embroidery project with about a hundred woven picot stitches. Don't ask what possessed me to create such a time consuming project.... because I have no idea! It has involved more than one trip back to the craft store for more of the color of thread I'm using.

On the bright side, my older daughter has expressed a real interest in learning how to embroider. So, we made a trip to Joann's to buy her her very own hoop along with some cross stitch fabric and her choice of embroidery thread. I hope this will tear her away from her Dsi!

Anyone else creating this week? See you Thursday!

Photo Friday!

Here's another photo from our trip to Manteo. This lovely lady was part of the garden surrounding the bed and breakfast my husband and I stayed in to celebrate our 11th anniversary. It seems like we just got married yesterday.... I can't believe it's actually been that long! I have the color version of this printed to hang in our home. I still haven't found the time to play too much with my new lens, and I actually have a Lensbaby I got for Christmas and haven't used yet, either. Time is one thing I'm short on, especially time in daylight hours.... how about you?

Thrifty Thursday!

I lucked out this week... I made a mid week stop at our large Goodwill store and found this tea set... they were $8 all together. I love the simplicity of the pieces... no markings, so I don't know who made them. I had a wonderful conversation with one of my patients about tea sets after I told her about this find. She told me that back in the 50's, they would often serve tea from sets like this when entertaining. She reminisced about her favorite sets and who she's passed them down to. I love to hear the stories from my patients!

I think this set will match my teacups and saucers I found a few weeks ago. Now I need to have a tea party!

Have you found any lovelies while thrifting this week?