Button, button . . .

I love buttons!   I am a sucker for a bag of buttons at an estate sale or garage sale.   Some day I’m sure I’ll find a real purpose for all of them.  This weekend I came across a fairly large bag and they were really dirty. 

So, they got  washed . . .

sorted . . .

and put in jars with the rest of my “collection.”

Thrift Store Find

Don’t you just love thrift stores?   I have to check my favorites whenever I am in the area and today I found this lily pad plate.  This picture does not do it justice.

I found it online for $42.00 – I paid $3.75.   Now, do I love it enough to keep it or should I try to sell it on eBay?   Keep it . . . sell it . . .keep it . . .sell it?   I just don’t know.  I’ll have to sleep on it.

A Lovely Giveaway

from Castle & Cottage Signs.  Go over there and comment to be in line for this hand painted sign.   Paula is also selling one on eBay with the proceeds to go to Save the Children to help in the relief efforts in Haiti.  Bless her!!

Pomegranate Wine

Today I was drawn to the wine section of the grocery store in the hope of finding a nice (hopefully blue!) bottle for my bottle tree (see my last post).  I came across this and the bottle wasn’t so special, but I had to buy it because I had never seen pomegranate wine before.   Have you?  It is pretty darn good!

Then  I “googled it and found out that pomegranate wine has 3 times more antioxidants than red wine.   I think I might have found a good excuse to drink wine . . .

My Bottle Tree

I have been wanting a bottle tree for some time and my husband surprised me a few weeks ago by making one.   We finally got it “planted” in the middle of my herb garden.   I almost hate to show it to you now because everything is so dead in the yard, but this will give us something to compare it to in spring when it has a better background and more “blooms” on it.   I have encouraged all of my wine drinking friends to save bottles for me and I’d really appreciate it if they would choose their wine by the color of the bottle – blue, please!  (Since I’m not a big wine drinker that makes as much sense to me as any method.) 

If you don’t know the folk lore of the bottle tree, it is a southern tradition, brought from Africa by the slaves.  Legend has it that evil spirits in the yard are trapped in the bottles at night, keeping them from the house, and the heat of the sun kills them during the day.   Evil spirits are not something I am afraid of, but I just love bottle trees!   Okay, everyone, start drinking (or I’d be happy with vinegar or any long-necked bottle.)

Am I blind?!

I bought this cute little hooked rug for my cherry laundry room yesterday.  The colors were perfect and I thought it was a real find (at Marshall’s) for $9.99.  This morning as I was leaving, I got a real surprise and the laugh of the day – where is the “i” in cherries?   How come I didn’t even notice it?   Also, the first “r" looks like a “p”.  Well, you know what, I still love it and now I will have a reason to smile every time I walk through my laundry room!   (My hubby offered to “fix” it for me with a marker – I declined!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.   May 2010 live up to your expectations!  (Are you a resolution maker?   I am . . .)  My resolution this year is to read at least a book a month.