Pressing Onward

Here are a few of my latest treasures which I found over the past couple of weekends. I don’t usually find furniture,but one weekend I could barely get it all into my husband’s car!

The high-backed swivel chair ($3) has a nasty brown vinyl cover,but I’m planning to recover it with this oilcloth,of which I have a bolt!

The shelf is very simple and a little shabby,but it is sturdy and for $2 I will use it for storage.

My FREE find of the day was the silver patio chair. It even rocks. The seat is a bit rusty,but it is in good condition and I think it will be lovely on the porch once I repaint it. Any good suggestions for spray-paint to cover/stop rust. Also,should I keep it silver or something more bold?

Now for the lovely little treasures….  and bear with me as I figure out how to take pictures of these items!

Pottery Barn Ship Pillow $1.00 for Vance’s Bed

Vintage Wooden Man $0.25 (he appears to have been a marionette doll?),also for Vance’s room

Vintage Tailor Clapper,Sewing Susan Golden Eye Needle Pack and the long stuffed pillow (for ironing or sewing?) $1.50/all

Pampered Chef Pot Holder $.50 (I have the hot mitt and love how thick and heat-resistant their products are)

Vintage Christmas Tree Clips for holding Candles made in West Germany $0.49/package

Vintage Pink Flowered Pillowcase $0.25 to remake into an apron for Aletheia

My husband was pleased with the vintage DyanShine Pure Horsehair Shoe Brush $0.50

I also found a vintage Dogwood Marvella Brooch for my collection $0.50 and a Silver Handled Mirror $0.25

With the baby’s birth approaching,we’ll see how many more sales I make it to before I take a little break.  Meanwhile I’ve ventured into the world of eBay sales and I will report on Monday how my first week went!

(This is a repost from 2007 –several of you have asked for the recipe,so I thought I’d bring it back again.)

For many years I was hesitant to cook a roast because so many of the recipes I looked at were complicated &required lots of prep time. I don’t remember exactly what prompted me to try my hand at preparing a roast,but I did. This is what I came up with and which has time &time again proven to work. It turns out moist,flavourful and has always received rave reviews.

Easy Roast Beef

1 roast –thawed or partially thawed,just not entirely frozen.

several heads of garlic

olive oil

kosher salt

black pepper

water

Preheat oven to 250. Place roast in a covered baking dish. Peel 10-20 cloves of garlic. Cut them in half,if very large. With a sharp knife pierce the entire surface of the roast. Insert the garlic cloves into the openings you made with the knife. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over roast. Sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt &thoroughly cover top of roast with freshly ground pepper. Add enough water to just barely wet the bottom of the baking dish (1/4 cup). Put lid on baking dish. Place roast in oven. Let bake for several hours until desired doneness is reached. I usually put this in sometime around 11am or noon and it’s ready by dinnertime. With the low cooking temperature you don’t run the risk of it being overcooked and dried out. Another variation is to put the roast in the crockpot and cook on low overnight. This has worked for our after church feast,being done just perfectly for lunch.

Enjoy!

2010 updates –I must be busier than I was when I first made up this recipe! Now I used the minced garlic in a jar (unless I have super amounts of time on my hands) which I spread in a generous layer over the top of the roast. I also like to add chopped up potatoes,carrots and celery around the roast so I have a side dish prepared at the same time. The vegetables soak up all of the lovely juice and this often forms a tasty glaze. I have also been known to add beef broth instead of water and one time I tried a sprinkling of powdered chicken broth instead of the salt/pepper. Yummy each time! So feel free to experiment…..let me know what you come up with. 

Roast Beef Photo found here.

I enjoy checking my favorite thrifting blogs (links in my side-bar) on Mondays to see what new treasures were found over the weekend and I’ve decided to share some of mine with you….we’ll see if I make it every Monday or not.

At the last yard sale I stopped at,nearly noon,I spied a giant box of fabric. Upon closer inspection I could tell it was full of vintage fabric which were marked 5 and ten cents each. As I continued to dig,I could see near the bottom were quilt toppers. I didn’t even pull them out….just decided to get the entire box and look at them later. The lady running the sale said I could have the entire box for $3!

After coming home,these are some of the treasures I pulled out.

Stack of vintage fabrics,pom-pom trim and a child’s apron marked with a “B”….

One of 5 vintage quilt toppers that were hiding in the box. This one is in the best condition and just needs minor repair on a few of the patches. I love the colors!

Closeup of the piecework.

Does anyone know what this pattern is called?

All in all,it was a great thrifting weekend and I picked up some consignment pieces too:vintage wicker purse,patent leather heels from the early 50′s,Dansko shoes,etc.

Happy Birthday,to me!  Today I turned 30. It was a lovely day and my little family blessed me and surprised me with thoughtful gifts. The kiddos gave me a Mark Knopfler cd that we’d listened to from the library but didn’t yet own. My sweet friend,Sarah,showed up with lunch (curry rice noodles) from our favorite Vietnamese restaurant.

And John gave me this gorgeous necklace that I’ve eyed for some time on Etsy. Three little pearls for my three decades and my three babes. Just the type of memorable gift that makes a day that much more special. Thanks babe!

We finished up the day with a delicious bbq dinner at James &Holly’s. A very relaxing day and a good start to my new decade. I am richly blessed and thankful for all the Lord has given me!

Now if I can just get used to the sound of the word thirty…thur-ty….thirty…. 

Have any of you readers had experience selling on Etsy? I know a couple of people that are considering this as a route to sell their vintage wares (clothing &accessories and home/bric-brac items). Etsy’s fees seem very reasonable,but I haven’t had much experience in online resale. So if any of you have any words of wisdom,I’d love to hear your thoughts!