Sending Cheers to our Military Families Giveaway!

Hi everyone!

I have a wonderful giveaway for a fantastic cause today! The amazing folks at General Mills have created a specially marked Cheerio cereal box.

Everyone can use a little pick me up now and then. But for the millions of military families manning the fort at home while their loved ones are away serving, a gesture of Cheer is especially welcome.

When our troops are called to serve, their families must rise to meet the challenges of service as well. To thank them, Cheerios^® and the USO have partnered in a postcard campaign that spreads Cheer directly to these honorable military families and supports USO programs.
Here’s how it works:

• At your local grocer, specially-marked boxes of Cheerios cereal will feature Cheer postcards on the front of the box. Consumers can simply cut out the postcard from the Cheerios logo, write a message of thanks on the back, add a stamp and mail the pre-addressed card to the USO. The USO will deliver the Cheer card to military families across the country.
• To kick off the campaign, Cheerios has already donated $150,000 to the USO and will donate up to an additional $100,000 based upon the number of postcards received from specially marked boxes.

Sending a “Cheer” postcard is a simple way to say thanks and lift the spirits of our country’s military families. So, take a moment out of your day to spread some Cheer and send a message of thanks!

How awesome is that!

And they are offering one of my readers this fun Cheerio Prize Pack giveaway! 

1 Cheerios cereal bowl

1 Cheerios cereal spoon

1 cereal dispenser

1 “Cheer” box of Cheerios

To win, Just leave a comment on this post saying you want to send Cheer to one of our military families! That’s it!

Here are some great links to check out:

Cheerios website: http://bit.ly/CheeriosCheer

Cheerios Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/CheerioCheer/cheerios

This giveaway will end December 5, 2011

“Disclosure: Cheerios cereal, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.”

Going into Town

Hi everyone!

I’m back! We had a fantastic time! It went by way too fast! I thought I would share an adventure with you.

Yes, when you are at our cabin, you say “Going into town” because it takes almost 30 minutes to get to any type of little store. We weren’t going to do the whole “Black Friday” thing however, my mom, Sandy (my brothers girlfriend and our friend) and myself did want to go and check out a few fun shops in a neighboring town, Gaylord. So we headed out for an adventure. It takes about an 1.5 hours to get to Gaylord but, we were ready for a “girls day out”. With the exception of the 3 of us and the princess, all the other bodies at the cabin were deer hunting hulking guys. Troy and my dad coming in at a mere 6’1” are the short guys of the clan.

So, with all that testosterone, camouflage everything and well, if you have hunters in your family you will relate to this, deer scent everywhere.  We need out for awhile!

We first stopped at this 2nd/antique store. The place was a very tight meandering store. There were a ton of people squeezed into the narrow aisles shopping so, my pictures are not great. Everybody kept bumping into me. The store was a treasure trove of amazing things. You guys would have loved it as much as we did! The down part was that theprices were on the more expensive end so, it definitely was not a thrift store!

We came in through the back entrance so, we went downstairs first to check it out.

The basement, as you can see, was a free for all. There was in organization, you just dug through things.

After taking just a couple of pictures I gave up trying to take any more upstairs. There was just too many people up there.

Outside was a lot of local artist outdoor things. They were all metal and welded pieces. Very cool things.

I really loved this poinsettia metal lantern. But, it was out of my price range.

We each picked up a couple of little trinkets.  Mom got some old metal signs for the cabin, Sandy picked up some vintage purses and jewelry and I got some vintage jewelry and some small china plates.

My mom surprise me later that night with a teacup and saucer that we both thought was gorgeous. I can’t wait to show you it! 

After this store we hit a couple of other little shops and of course, “did lunch” (thank you to my brother Chris for treating us to lunch!). We stopped in a high end consignment clothing shop and we all bought some things. I got a beautiful new winter coat so, I was happy. We had a fun shopping adventure!

This week’s Thrifty Things Friday Linky party is on! I will have the party live at 4:00 Thursday evening!

AND

This Saturday is December’s Monthly Thrifty Tablescape party!

I am joining:

Rednesday

Minutes for Me

Revisit~ Christmas Dinner 2009

Hi everyone!

We should be heading home from the cabin today. So, I will be bck soon!


I can't believe that tomorrow is 2010! What happen to it just being the whole "Y2K" freak out? LOL

This was our Christmas table. We host an International Christmas Evening Dinner for my parents every year. We pick a country and Troy and I create a traditional Christmas dinner from that country. On average, 6-8 courses are to be served. You can see the menu and the recipes of this year's dinner at this post.

I didn't take "break-down" pictures like I normally do. Sorry about that. It was just very busy getting everything ready.

I really like to keep the centerpiece to a minimum. I don't want to have to bob my head around a big centerpiece to speak to the guests sitting at the table. And also, there was enough pieces to each setting that a big centerpiece would distract from the place settings and would be way too cluttered.

The Gold Brocade color on color tablecloth was a awesome bargain at a second hand store this past summer for only $2.00. It is in perfect condition!

Don't you just LOVE the little individual white soup tureens? They are just too cute! I got them at T J Maxx (here is the post I did about them earlier this week). The napkins were purchased last year after Christmas at the Home Goods Store. The set came with 6 napkins and a tablecloth. The whole set was clearanced to $5.00.


The charger plates were new this year. However, they didn't cost me a dime because I used a Target gift card that I had gotten for my birthday to pay for them (along with the gold butter knives! Thanks Sherry! :)

The first salad plate and the matching dinner plate are part of a complete 5 piece setting for 10 people (Yup, 50 pieces in this set). I bought it this summer at a thrift store for $4.75! (all 50 pieces!)

As you can see from the above two pictures, I mixed things up a bit this year. I used two gold charger plates and two red instead of all four place settings the same. I also did the same with the second salad size plate. Two were one pattern and 2 a different pattern. These 4 plates were thanks to the Folks at Marshalls (here's that post)!


The stemware was from Arbys. That's right, Arby's as in fast food. LOL I them years ago. You bought a drink and get the glass either free or for .99 cents.

The little off white and gold "stars" plates were used for bread and then little matching bowls for the bread dipping oil. I have a complete 20 piece setting of these "retro" looking dishes that I got at a thrift store last year sometime. the entire set cost me $3.50!

To see the super thrifty way to make these little Christmas butter pats, check out my post here.

Revisit ~ 2009 Christmas Tablescape

Hi everyone!

Yup, I am still away enjoying my family and the peacefulness surrounding our cabin way back in the middle of the forest.

This tablescape post was from 2009. It is one of the first tablescapes I actually blogged. And this tablescape taught me a lot of lessons when it comes to taking pictures for a blog.

The biggest thing was all that white tablecloth. I didn't realize that in pictures it looks so barren. It's like the white just pops out and slaps you in the face. Doing an "overall" picture of such a simple table with a white tablecloth doesn't really let the settings shine.

Now, if I use a light color tablecloth and do a simple setting, I do more up close pictures and try to avoid taking pictures of the vast empty light spots. Also, what I could have done with just the 2 settings was to place the setting next to each other instead of across from each other. This would have made it more intimate.

This was a table that Troy and I sat down and had dinner at that night. Whats up with the glasses on the left side? Opps. I actually remembered changing them over to the right side when we sat down to eat because it was just to awkward.

One of things I liked about this was that I used "everyday" things instead of Christmas items. To help create the Christmasy feel I just used pretty but cheap ornaments. All the dishes, linens and centerpiece things were everyday things. Using the right colors of everyday things and then just adding small touches of the holiday can give you the look you want without having to go out and buy Christmas dishes or linens.

Overall though, especially in person, this table was very pretty and shimmery. We dimmed the dining room lights and lit the candles and everything sparkled. And, of course, it was a very thrifty table.

I wanted to do a red and white tablescape so, I started out with the floral red and white plates I got at the dollar store. I used a heavy white tablecloth that has silver threads running through it. I bought it at Salvation army for $1.50. And I used my old "workhorse" quilted red placemats. I have had these forever!



The dinner plates and bowls were bought at the dollar store. I really like the fact that they are not Christmas dishes, but I think they can make a pretty Christmas table.



I then added an antique milkglass dessert/salad plate. I paid $1.50 for the two plates. I love the raised fruit design around the edge.





Then I added a red napkin (bought 8 of them at a yard sale this past summer for $1.00) matching red and white bowl and silverware. Yes, I know it is not set correctly. LOL



A couple of glasses. I used sparkly Christmas ornaments as coasters.



Just a pretty white and silver ornament from the dollar store for "picture taking" LOL.



I added a wonderful red and white ribbon across the center of the table.



A little Christmas floral tucked in here and there.



A couple of compot dishes. Both picked up at yard sales for less than $1.00. I love this polished glass chunks I got from the dollar store. It just looks so much like ice to me.







Just a pretty simple red and white table.

Use Those Clemetine "Crates/Boxes"!

Hi everyone!

Don't you just love when you open up your cabinet to get something out and a bunch of bagged side dishes or boxes come tumbling out at you. Of course not, but, it happens to me all the time. Boxes in the pantry are easy to deal with but, all those bags of things, not so much. You can't stack them and they just come flying out whenever I take out a box of something.

I thought I would go out and get some plastic baskets to put the bagged items in to keep them together.

However, this is the time of the year that you can start getting Clementines at a decent price. And don't you love those "crates" they come in? They are so handy!

They work perfect in the cabinet. They may not be all spiffy or anything but, they were free and they work to keep these odds and ends bags organized.





Do you reuse something to help organize that would normally get thrown away?

Coca Cola Finds

Hi everyone!

This is a scheduled post. I am away having a wonderful week with my family!

Awhile back I stopped at a yard sale. The woman hosting the sale was a major Coca Cola collector! And apparently she was selling off half of her collection. She had a lot of really cool stuff but, most of it was being sold at collector prices.

However, I did pick up a couple of things.

I got a set of four vinyl Coca-Cola placemats for $1.00

And a set of never used Coca-Cola flatware. I paid $3.00 for the box.

I think all these Coca-Cola items will be fun to use next summer. I don’t really collect any type of commercial licensed products but, I do enjoy Coca-Cola items. I think it is a fun childhood memory kind of thing.

On one of our many adventures going across this country while Troy was still an OTR driver, we stopped at a Coca-Cola museum. I was completely amazed at how much Coca-Cola memorabilia there was out there!

Do you enjoy stopping at the fun or silly little museums while out traveling?

I hope you all are having a wonderful day!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Hi everyone!

I hope all of you and your families are having the most wonderful Thanksgiving ever!

Although we have had a very up and down year, I am so very grateful for all the wonderful things in my life. I have a loving husband, a beautiful precious little Princess, amazing parents, awesome brothers and nephews and great friends.

Numbers 6:24-26
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee

The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee

The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

I try never to take for granted the blessings I have. I know that many do not have what I have. I am fortunate.

The Psalms

107

1
O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good:

for his mercy endureth for ever

And I want to give thanks for all of you! Yes, the readers of my blog are so amazing! You give me so much joy and pleasure. Thank you!!