Doting on a Blog Friend!

If you haven't already found this wonderful lady's blog, do yourself a favor and go check it out. Not only is she one of the nicest people in Blogland, but her blog, Nancy's Tidbits is filled with tons of wonderfully creative ideas and information. Also, her daughter Hannah just started a blog, Turley Times, where you can follow her along on her journey as she and her husband build a new home.

We Have A Winner!!!

Congratulations to Lisa Bradford. Lisa does not have a blog (that I know of), but she is a wonderful follower and after a random drawing, her name was picked to receive my give-away. Thanks to everyone who submitted suggestions and also to those who spread the word for me on your blogs. You are a wonderful group of gals!

Google Problems & a Name!

I apologize to everybody for leaving you hanging with my contest. The problem was with Google. I haven't been able to access my blog for several days now. It is so very frustrating as many of you know.

Also, I'm very excited to announce the new name for my business. After much consideration, Denise and I chose "Larkspur Interiors" as our new business name. We both live on Larkspur Circle and it just seemed to fit. We will use the Larkspur as our logo. Thanks to all who participated. I enjoyed immensely reading all of your suggestions. They were both fun and practical. As promised, a random drawing will be used to select the winner of my contest, using the names of those who submitted an entry. If you submitted multiple entries, your name will be entered that many times. I will let my children to the picking, as they have been so excited during this whole process. They absolutely loved reading each and every comment from my wonderful followers, so I promised them they could select the winner. They have been "down the shore" and are returning this afternoon, so stay tuned to find out who the lucky winner is!!!! And again, thank you for all of your fabulous suggestions!

Thrifty Thursday -Meet Candy the Chandy!

If you've been following my blog, you know that I've found some pretty amazing things by the curb lately. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING prepared me for what I was about to find.

For months I have been searching for the perfect chandelier for my very formal Dining Room. I looked almost everywhere - Craig's List, Ebay, Lowes and every high-end lighting store - I knew this was going to be a splurge purchase. I've seen some amazing chandy's on many of your blogs and I knew exactly what I wanted - a very ornate, very formal chandelier just dripping with crystals. As some of you know, last week I celebrated my 40th birthday. Hubby wanted to get me something extra special for the occasion, so I decided this was the perfect time to splurge.

Three days before my birthday, I was out with my BFF when we stumbled across this chandelier ON.THE.CURB. !!!!!

Yep, you heard me right. Someone left this amazing piece of eye candy for the garbage men to haul off to a landfill.

It was surrounded by a huge heap of trash, but I zoomed in on it from the next street over. I barely waited for Denise to pull over before I jumped out of the truck, hyperventilating, and shamelessly threw myself over it, not about to let anyone else within 2 feet of it. Now keep in mind, Candy the Chandy was in need of a little TLC. Okay, ALOT of TLC. Her brass lost it's luster years ago, what few crystals were left had been covered in grime and the top pieces were broken. None of this stopped me from scooping all 50 lbs of her into the back of the truck.

Right about this time, the homeowner pulled up in his own truck, carrying a huge dollhouse HE had just trashpicked for his granddaughter! This wonderful man got out of his truck, walked over to us and I will never forget what happened next. He asked me if I wanted the rest of the crystals! I was speechless with my jaw on the pavement, so Denise graciously stepped in and said, yesyesyesyesyesyesyes! He went into the house and came out with a bag that was at least 20lbs. and full of the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. We thanked him profusely and asked him if he wanted anything in return. Astonishingly, he said no. I will always think of this as God's gift to me on my 40th Birthday. Rich and I were in no position to splurge at this time and deep in my heart, I knew it. So my wonderful husband's gift to me, was helping me bring Candy back to life. It took several hours and a couple bottles of brass cleaner to bring back her luster and the crystals just needed to be left in some soapy water for a while. We were up very late that night, but I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway. I hung each and every crystal with care, marveling at their beauty.


I couldn't have picked a better way to spend my 40th birthday and I couldn't have picked a better gift.


There are bound to be more treasures just waiting to be discovered on some street, in some town, on some curb at the end of some driveway. But there will never be another Candy.


Somehow, some way, Candy and I were meant to be together. She was meant for me and I was meant for her.


No go visit Leigh at Tales From Bloggeritaville for more Thrifty fun!

Contest/Giveaway Extended

While I've received so many great ideas for a business name (and I'm considering each and every one!), I've noticed by your comments that some of you are hesitant to make a suggestion. Even though you may not think your idea is a good one, it may be the one we choose. Therefore the contest is being extended to this Wednesday, August 19th. I've also decided that if no name is chosen from those submitted, I will do a random drawing for the winner using only the names of those who made an entry for a name. So go ahead - you have nothing to lose!

Also, thank you to those of you who already made a suggestion - they are all great! And you can submit an entry as many times as you like. If there is a random drawing, your name will entered for each suggestion you make.

Name My Business Contest/Giveaway!!!

My creative juices have taken a vacation recently so I'm relying on the creativity of my fellow bloggers to help me name my new business. My BFF/might-as-well-be-my-sister-we-are-so-close Denise and I are venturing into the world of Entrepreneurialism. Denise is a paralegal by trade and I am a SAHM capable of so many amazing things yet I haven't been able to choose one in 14 years. At least that's what I tell my hubby when he non-chalantly asks me when I'm going back to work. This is a very exciting time for me as I have truly never felt this passionate about anything. Right now our "business" has no name or location, but we are not worried about that - no sireeee!

Oh, have I told you what we are doing yet??? OOps! So sorry. We are in the Shabby Chic Home Decor business......shocker, I know. We've spent most of the Summer preparing and only have two months to go before we debut. SOOOOO, we can hardly show up on the big day without business cards or a sign. And to have business cards and a sign we first need a name! Normally this would not be a problem for me, but like I said, my juices are on vacation - probably lying poolside on a lounge chair sipping marguaritas with those little umbrella thingies hanging out of them, while I am stuck here, wracking my brain trying to come up with something catchy, like "Not Too Shabby". Hey, don't laugh, it's not that bad.

If you've got something better, and chances are in your favor that you do, the contest rules are as follows:

1. Leave a comment on my blog with your idea for a name. I've given you all the background info you should need, but if you have any questions, just ask.

2. If you are not already a follower, become a follower. This one is not a rule so much as it is a shameful ploy for me to get more followers.

3. Spread the word around blogland that I've got a give-away ova hea!

The winner will be chosen by myself and Denise and announced on Monday, August 17th at 9:00 p.m. and will receive these goodies in the mail.



A sweet little needlepoint pillow, a gold trinket box and three mini tin signs from "At Home America".

Thanks for participating and good luck!

You Won't Believe This - This is where I've been!

A while back I did a post on curbside rescues. I showed some pix of things that my friends and I have been finding by the side of the road on trash day.




So many of you were amazed. I thought I'd do a follow-up post on our most recent findings.

A whitewashed oak entertainment center with glass doors, two drawers and shelves - all in perfect condition.

A pine chest of drawers - also in mint condition. This one was found with a matching dresser and nightstand, but there was no more room in the truck so we were forced to leave it behind.



We went bananas when we saw this one. A solid pine roll top desk WITH the matching chair. Other than a few knicks and scratches, nothing wrong with this set either.

In this same pile was this adorable rocking horse - it measures two feet long. Hand-painted, hand-carved!!! We listed it on Craig's List the very next day and sold it within hours!


This next one is one of my favorites. It's just a little vintage folding chair, but I absolutely LOVE the bones. So unique!


There was a huge rainstorm the day we picked this up, so there was a little water damage on the top, but after googling, we were able to get the stains off with an iron and a cloth napkin - who knew?

It's an antique stereo cabinet. Lots of space inside. Wouldn't this be great fixed up as a wide screen tv console????

Shall I keep going???
An adorable girl's twin headboard - looks like it was hand-painted on the top.



A really old, but really sweet wall curio. It was covered in cobwebs when we snatched it up, but with a little Murphy's Oil Soap and Old English it came out good as new.


A cute little maple end table.


A newer secretary-style computer desk with slide-out keyboard drawer. Absolutely mint condition!


A flame-stitch Queen Anne wing chair. Now people, we only grabbed this one because we knew the guy who lived there. We normally stay away from anything upholstered.


An oak veneer single bowl vanity. Only thing missing here was the hardware. The gentleman was nice enough to come out of his house and help us load it into his truck. Now keep in mind, I had just come from church so I was dressed pretty nice. Imagine what that man must have been thinking!!!!



How about one more???
Another entertainment center. Great shape with glass doors and storage a-plenty!


Now you are probably wondering where I'm putting all of this stuff? Well, funny you should ask! My friend and I just rented a storage unit and spent the better part of last weekend moving things out of my garage. Hubs is SO glad to have his mancave back and I now have a place to go after treasure-hunting, which probably makes the neighbors happy as well.

So what do you think?? I honestly would like to know. During tough economic times, is it wrong to take something that's "free" and try to make some money? Like most of you, I am a Christian stay-at-home mom. The last thing I want to do is give the impression that I'm taking advantage of people. However, alot of work goes into this "hobby". Regardless of their condition, everything needs a good cleaning and there's always the occasional drawer repair or wood putty. I seriously would like your thoughts.

We all have our own impressions of "trash-pickers", myself included. Hubs is still getting used to the fact that his wife is out "working" a few nights of the week picking up trash. Thing is, I don't see it as trash. These are treasures! And by no means are we opening up trash bags and rooting through garbage. This stuff is literally sitting by the curb just waiting to be picked up. There hasn't been a single time where we haven't come home with a piece of furniture. Not one time!! Are you amazed??

It has also turned into a somewhat full-time job. I have been cleaning, snapping pictures, listing and making appointments non-stop. I am contributing to the family income, which is something I've been struggling with for quite some time. And, I absolutely LOVE it! There is a thrill that comes with this "job". You truly never know what you are going to find.