Cleaning Woman's Helper

Hey Thrifty Friends!

Hope you all are having a good weekend. It's been a busy eight weeks at our house. We have been in refurbish, updo, redo mode and in it all this little jewel emerged as the winner take all.

I have never used liquid Comet but someone gave me this bottle and in a desperate moment I grabbed it. I have never seen anything like it. The linoleum in our spare bathroom used to be beige but over time and extended use it looked like a herd of circus elephants had lived in there stomping dirt into it. LOL!

But with this product, a brush and some elbow grease it looks like new. We even used it on the tub and all I can say is... Wow! It really works. So it will definetly be added to the next grocery list a.s.a.p. Maybe y'all already knew about liquid Comet. If you did my hat is off to you.

Get some rest this weekend and enjoy your time at home. And as always "Stay Thrifty."

Styling Ideas for Trays and Bowls

   

Hello to my chilly friends,

Well, winter is back with a few flakes to prove it. Here's a ole' saying if you don't like the weather in Middle Tennessee just stick around it can change quickly.

I had lunch with a friend the other day and she asked me if I ever wrote about styling trays. I said no but I have used them when I decorate. When I got home I looked around and realized I had several trays already out. So I thought I would share some ideas about trays and bowls.

The first picture has a tray with a tobacco stick candle holder, a birch bark candle and a left over Christmas greenery swag around it. Now I'm not one to try to keep Christmas decorations around too long but if it's wintery looking I try to incorporate it when possible. Nothing really hard about putting this tray together.

The second picture has one of my favorite trays in it. I have used this oval metal tray in almost every season. It was $29.00 at the flea market before they became so popular and are now $40-$50.00. Good grief! Too Much. I have a faded green metal holder in the middle of it. I don't don't know what else to call it but a holder. LOL! But again I use it in so many different ways. This time I have some little green trees and wooden balls in it.

The last picture has a wooden dough bowl I got at Christmas Village for $20. This bowl is super functional when all you need is a place to put everyday stuff like bananas, apples, a left over cookie and some odd wicker, wooden balls. LOL. I have decorated this for the Easter season with Easter eggs, grass and a chicken. Too fun! I have used it to hold junk too! We all have it don't we??  LOL!

So you can see from these pictures styling a tray or a bowl is not a big deal. It's whatever you have and whatever room you are going to place it in. I hope these pictures have given you some ideas and inspire you to get out some of your stuff and have some fun with it!!

Stay warm this week and remember to stay "Thrifty!"

For Women Only.....Get Togethers!

Good Morning!

Just to quote a famous person: "It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood." Aren't you happy to be alive and well on planet earth today? Aren't you blessed to have friends?

Well, as we all know we are sooo busy now days that we need to step back and spend a little time with our friends. But here's what has to happen. You have to be intentional about it. You have to take a few minutes and plan a little get together.

Listen: It doesn't have to be a seven course meal. It can be as simple as firing up the coffee pot or setting the tea kettle on the stove. It's not what we eat or drink it's the time we spend together catching up with each other.

While there maybe men reading this I can only speak for the women. Women need other women. We understand each other and we are good listeners. We know how to nuture each other. Women are good cheerleaders. They know how to support one another. Oh, I know we can be petty sometimes but when you have really good girlfriends they are truly a gift from God.

What about thinking about making a little "girl" time this week? Time spent with good friends is never wasted. It's one of the "thriftiest" things a girl can do!

Enjoy your week and love on your friends!

January Tablescape

Hello Thrifty Friends,

I hope you are enjoying the springlike weather today. Yesterday we had the March winds that almost blew us away and today its April showers. Can you believe it's January?

Well, inspite of the crazy weather I'm committed to keeping with the normal January weather. I have my snowman porch flag up and our table looks like the real winter. Oh yeah! There is snow in the glasses, a few snowflakes and some icy branches laying around the table.

Now this tablescape is definitely on the "thrifty" side. Those leopard dishes came from a yard sale for the grand total of $5.00. The three tiered serving stand came from the Goodwill "dump" for 69 cents. The white chargers  and the wicker placemats are also from the "dump" for $1.75.

Here's the deal. Those tiered stands will hold most anything your heart desires. I've seen people on Instagram and Pinterest put mugs and picture frames on them. It just depends on what the decorating occasion is. I filled this one with different balls and the odd Christmas decoration that had a winter look to it.

I filled the bowls on the plates with pinecones and more wintery looking Christmas decorations. The best thing I did was fill the glasses up with fake snow and a piece of icy tree branch all because I didn't have any wintery napkins. LOL. That's a part of being "thrifty." You come up with ideas making do with what you have.

Listen if you like what you have created it doesn't matter if other people don't like it. You are the one who will smile every time you enter your kitchen. That's loving your house and yourself by decorating it your way.

So go ahead and see what you've got up your sleeve... in your cabinets and your dining room hutch. You can do it!! Ready! Set! Decorate!

I hope you enjoy your wet weekend and remember to "Stay Thrifty" and smile.

Purge Verses Store

Hello Friends,

Well, we all made it through the wonderful celebrations and now we are in the new year. The new year always stirs up the clean out, sort through and get rid of the old stuff in our house.

I can remember when I was little that my mother would have me go through all my old toys and games to make room for the new gifts I received for Christmas. We lived in a small house and there was absolutely no room to store anything but what we used on a regular basis.

If the truth be told we all have way too much of everything. We are one group of blessed people. But there comes a time to purge. Maybe we have been convinced we simply need to organize and get some of those plastic bins to put everything in. But here's what a storage bin does... contain it. A storage bin doesn't really solve the "too much"stuff dilemma. Plastic containers simply make our stuff easier to stack.

If we aren't using the things we are trying to store what do we need with them? Now I know we don't use our Christmas decorations all the time so we have to have plastic bins for that but what if we are trying to fill up plastic bins with dozens of pairs of shoes or clothes we haven't worn in years? I realize some things are sentimental and maybe we think we will lose that twenty pounds and be able to wear them again. But when we lose that twenty pounds won't we want to get some new clothes?

Maybe we need to take a look at the things we are keeping with a new attitude. We could think about blessing someone else with our stuff. There are so many people who need things and can't afford them. Our stuff could be a real blessing to them.

All of this is just food for thought before you go out and buy more plastic bins.

I hope you all have a blessed week and remember to "Stay Thrifty."