My recent BEST FIND ......... I think

Don't you just love to locate that cute, extra special thing - you weren't looking for it - so you would not have recognized it, BUT when your eye spots a neat item, suddenly your brain is engaged and the wheels turn fast at first, then really fast. You can not WAIT to get the thing home, clean it; and then figure out another way to use the item. I love to do this and would rather re purpose than most anything. When I saw this neat photo frame on a swivel post with glass - it holds a 4x6 photo, I instantly knew it would never hold a photo - not this cute item. It would be displayed wherever I was holding a brunch, lunch or a hot dog supper or cook-out for any event. It is so neat. I had some card stock index cards that fit great, after trimming to fit. I thought of painting it black, but didn't want to. I would use a black fine point Sharpie to write my menu on anyway. It was done in a few minutes or when I had my mind set on a menu I'll serve next week for Gayle and our friend Debbie who is moving. How cute is this!

Repurposing AGAIN and AGAIN

Can you guess what this item is? Years ago my sister Lois and I discovered a good idea to reuse old bed springs. Imagine that? We spent half a day cutting them out one by one with wire cutters then wiring a short section of picture hanging wire on the sides, spray painted them BLACK and came up with some cute innovative hanging vessels. We talked our brother into cutting stems from goblets because we needed to have the right height inside the spring. I don't think mattress springs are substantial like these were and we thought our idea was so neat. This event took place over twelve years ago; we should have marketed the item, but like a lot of folks, we enjoyed our invention, sold a couple to some friends and family members and after years of sitting - decided to throw the rest of them out. Such a shame now that I see mine. It's so cute. I use it with flowers rather than candles - either one works really well.

Let's squeeze some lemons or limes - your choice

I can not understand my reasoning when purchasing some of the items I have acquired over the years. I have always loved fresh squeezed lemonade and make it often. Of course, those nasty seeds are always a hassle to remove, so I started looking around the house recently for some old ones I knew I had packed somewhere. Months passed and I spotted two old ones, downstairs on a shelf. I knew more had been purchased, so I kept looking and come up with these . I love the glass cutting techniques that must have been used in the production of them. I looked glass juicers up and found that most were made in Australia. There must be hundreds of them around; I'm proud of the ones I have and after seeing such a host of them, intend to display mine better. The best thing about owning one is making lemonade - of course I made a simple syrup and added fresh basil - it's so.....................refreshing. Please try it.

Fresh grown basil meets chicken breast - wow

I love basil. It's used in so many savory dishes and they are so.............good; perhaps basil would be great when paired with lemon and a simple syrup when making lemonade. Fresh basil lemonade was made over the weekend and was well received. Having purchased several boneless skinless chicken breasts for dinner tonight; I thought why not use basil in the marinade - I just poured a small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper, the juice of a whole lemon and about three top portions snipped on my basil plant - chopped fine of course. In with the chicken and back in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. I browned the chicken in my black skillet on top of the stove; then into a preheated 375 degree oven. Baking time was about 45 minutes and I basted them a couple of times on both sides with - you guess it - basil butter - they were so good; I had to take a photo and then I said "why not post this one". My husband paid the nicest compliment when he said "these are much better than the chicken breast I ordered at Lone Star Restaurant last week". Wow - but he was right - they were tender and had a fresh flavor of basil and lemon. Try this - Neither of us have gotten into the grilling thing - we always burn the chicken, so I resort to my oven and very trust worthy black skillet.

Branching out in two places

While visiting my sweet niece Keely at their new home - we HAD to check out the nearby thrift shops. Not too far from her home we found the neatest consignment shop. Two of these jewels were hanging high on the back wall and I spotted them before Keely had the car in PARK. I jumped out first to check and see if they were even open on a Friday afternoon, after 4 pm - no sense in her getting Easton out of his comfortable seat and getting the nice, but difficult to work, stroller, but they were OPEN indeed. The nicest lady greeted us and was so gracious to move items about to allow Keely to stroll through and around things. I purchased these two great pieces for $10 each - they are hand forged and really versatile. Keely found a couple of neat items and Easton was admired and praised by the other shoppers. What fun we had. The match to this little gem is hanging between windows just like these two - in my living room. I think they were made to have clay pots in them, perhaps 4" size, but as gardeners know - you can't grow a good plant in such a small space, so I did the next BEST THING - scouted around the house and found the appropriate size piece to fit in the opening. I will cherish these for quite a while. They are beautiful and most of all, I can think of Keely whenever I see these in my home.

Repurposing a good thing into a BETTER one

When I spotted the two hanging metal wall sconces at our local DAV thrift store, I knew instantly where they would end up. Green was the original color and of course I had to have them spray painted BLACK. Carl, my ever present painter of all things I need, took the task and did a great job I might say. I wired them together to make a single four arm candelabra which hangs above our little bistro table on the screened porch. It's so cute. Excluding the cost of the can of paint, I have only $2.50 in this cute item. Looked everywhere for some glass votives that would fit in the opening, but failing this venture, I thought of several candles left over from Christmas luminaries I could put my hands on without tearing through fifty boxes in the basement. Hope you like it...we are enjoying it so much. As always, with lighted candles, NEVER leave them unattended. Enjoy during the time you are eating and then blow them out, remove candles and store away from sunlight.

Once upon an apron . . . . . . . . . . .

Needing to locate a piece of brown fabric in the correct shade and not being successful, I did my favorite thing.........................check out our local Goodwill. I stopped by and found the apron posted below. The perfect shade of brown - it was a done deal at $1.
This little number would become a cute pillow for my niece Keely's bedroom - Added some neat ribbon trim and the pillow was complete. Don't be intimidated by not finding fabric for a small project, look for a ready made item and redo it. The main thing - you will repurpose something that someone else will treasure.