How I Plan To Furnish A Second Home

I shared with you all this last week that I am embarking on a HUGE project.  My retirement goal.  You can never start planning too soon for retirement.  It happens sooner than we think it will.  One of my co-workers just turned in her retirement papers last week.  She said it feels rather strange and surreal.  It's hard for her to believe that it is actually happening now.  It was only a year ago we had discussed her plans in the break room and I'm sure she'd be the first to agree it came around awfully fast.  I have some time to wait until I'll be turning my retirement paperwork in, but that doesn’t mean I can't get started right now.

I also have a short amount of time, less than two years, to wait until my finances are where I want them to be before I actually purchase my second home.  So while I wait I plan to work on some smaller projects geared toward furnishing my new home.  Not only will this allow me to accumulated the items I will need but it will keep me busy while I wait.  And it will be fun.

My hope is to find a little house around 600 to 800 square feet.  Much like the home my great grandparents had in Spokane, Washington.  Preferably built in the 1940s, my favorite home I've ever lived in was a rental built in 1946, and because I love the warmth and coziness of those little homes.  Especially those hardwood floors and arched doorways.

My home now is more contemporary in style and as you may recall I refurnished it with all new furnishings, on a rather tight budget.  I love how my home looks and feels.  The reality is that the stuff in my  home now will be old and worn by the time I retire.  And honestly, I'll be ready for something different.

eBay purchases

This time I don’t plan to furnish my second home with all new stuff.  Quite the contrary.  I want some used things, vintage things, things from the 1940s and homemade things.  And the reason I want to furnish my new home like this is because I plan to take all the wonderful things I have inherited from my grandparents and finally have a place for them.  My grandma's Tiffany lamp and her china, my great grandma's oil lamps, my other great grandma's framed floral print (a calendar page from 1929), her Boston Baked Beans crock and her mahogany side table, my other great grandma's silver and her pretty vase and oodles of other treasures I am fortunate to have.

My latest doily creation

I want to make A LOT of stuff for my new home.  I'll be searching thrift stores, antique shops, eBay and craigslist too.  Finding things to revamp and fix up will all be part of the process and I'll be posting my projects as I go.  Perhaps you'll be inspired to try a few projects yourself.  And if you do I hope you will share.  J

Time to get busy!

Easy Cheesy Chili Dip

Saturday the gals pals and I got together for a day of snacking and playing pinochle while we visited up a storm.  We try to do this at least once a month and we have a great time together.  To keep us well sustained each of us brings something to share.  This time I brought a delicious dip that is super easy to make.

Easy Cheesy Chili Dip

2 15oz cans of chili

4oz. cream cheese

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Put all ingredients in a slow cooker.  Allow to heat through, stirring occasionally.  Serve.

Yeah that's pretty much it.  That and opening a bag of chips.

I used 4 cups of my own homemade chili and low fat cream cheese which I think makes it a healthier dip.  Certainly less salty.

A Sweet Quilted Pillow

I am no quilter and I certainly don't pretend to be one.  I have made a few quilts in my time but nothing overly spectacular.  I'm not one for fussy or complicated, simply because I lack the time and the patience to make those beautiful quilts with all the intricate patterns.  I won't even take the time to learn how to stitch and cut a fat quarter despite the fact I've been told it is dead easy to do.  Someday when I have more time and fewer responsibilities who knows, I may expand my horizons a bit.

I don't have any fancy mattes, cutters or templates.  No quilting books either.  But I can cut a few squares, or several, and stitch them together.  No problem.  So for now I keep it simple. 

I used a piece of scrap paper to cut my pattern.  I cut a square measuring 4 1/4" X 4 1/4".  Then I picked out the fabric from my stash, which is always the longest part of the process for me.  It takes me forever to make a decision on what fabric or fabrics to use for any project.  Perhaps that is another reason I don't quilt much.

I chose two complimentary fabrics in blues and yellows for the pillow front that I planned to quilt and a piece to make the back of the pillow that would work well with the fabrics I used on the front.  I cut 8 squares of the blue fabric and 8 squares of the yellow floral fabric using my pattern.  Then I laid them out alternating each one. 

I sewed the squares together in rows and pressed my seams flat, then I sewed my rows together and pressed those seams flat as well.  I then cut a piece of the yellow fabric to match the size of the pillow front.

I kept with the theme by piecing scraps of batting I had leftover from previous projects.  I stitched them with a nice wide zigzag stitch and had just pieces for both the front and back of the pillow.

After pinning the batting to both the front and back pillow pieces I quilted the top.  I did a stitch in the ditch on all the seams and then diagonally across all the squares.  I pinned the front to the back and stitched all the way around leaving a 4 inch opening.  I trimmed the edges and corners before turning it right side out.  I stuffed it well with plenty of polyfil.  Once that was done I was ready to press it again and finish the pillow.

I don't skimp on the stuffing.  Once I had enough stuffed inside I whip stitched the opening closed and plumped it up.

It was a fun little project and took about three hours from start to finish, including making the pattern and choosing the fabrics I used.  I thought about adding trim around the edge but in this case I thought it looked nice just as it was.  Maybe the next one I make I'll do a little trim or ruffle.

Have some fabric scraps to use up?  Maybe a little quilted pillow could be on your project list sometime soon.

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Knowing that Thursday was going to be a busy one for us we celebrated St. Patrick's Day early with a traditional corned beef dinner on Sunday night.  I put a roast in the slow cooker first thing Sunday morning and allowed it to cook on high all day.  I added baby carrots and red potatoes later in the day.  Instead of steamed cabbage, which I love, we made coleslaw instead, because that is what we already had. The girls like that better anyway.

Sunday afternoon I took a coupon a friend gave me to JoAnns Fabrics and used it to buy cotton quilt batting that was on sale and a bag of polyfil.  The coupon gave me an extra 25% off my total and I had a little bit left on a gift card.  My final total was under $20.  Not too shabby.

I used up the last of the quilt batting and polyfil I had leftover from all those pillows I made at Christmas.  I pieced the scraps of batting together and had just enough to line another throw pillow I made.  I'll post more about that tomorrow.

I went through my sewing stash and worked on some more handcrafted projects.  I am having way too much fun.  J I bid on and won some items from eBay.  A couple milk glass lamps, a 100% cotton blanket (brand new and still in the package), a beautiful white vintage bedspread and a darling stenciled fabric panel.  I plan to make a quilt out of the panel and I am super excited about it.  I also have plans for the lamps.  As I finish these projects I'll give you all the updates.

I picked up another set of blue 100% cotton sheets at Fred Meyer that were on sale plus I had a coupon for an additional 10% OFF.  I plan to spruce them up like I did the white ones I embellished.

Friday I stopped in a few thrift stores on the way home from work and found a cute lampshade for $1.99, another one for $1.59.  They both will need to be cleaned and I have plans to rework them a bit as well.

My $1.99 lampshade

The chickies have kicked egg production into high gear.  We fed them our kitchen scraps and they rewarded us in kind with 14 lovely eggs.  I sold a dozen this week.   $3 toward their next feed purchase.  Good job ladies.

A friend of mine gave me a trash bag full of leather shoes, brand new, that she didn't want.  Several pair are perfect for work.  What a blessing!

I made a pint of "Ranch" salad dressing.

I composted coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells and veggie trimmings the hens couldn't eat.

I washed out a couple of Ziploc bags to reuse and added water to the dish soap bottle so I could use up every last bit.

How thrifty was your week?

Easter Cupcakes

My oldest and I made these to take to Bunco last week.  If you need a cute dessert to take somewhere or to serve this Easter this is a simple one.

Use whatever cake mix and frosting you like.  Bake the cupcakes, let them cool and frost as you normally would.

Take a jar and put in one cup of flaked sweetened coconut.  Add four drops of green food coloring and a lid.  Shake the daylights out of it until all the coconut turns green.

Place a spoonful of coconut in the middle of each cupcake and press lightly with the back of a the spoon so it sticks nicely to the frosting and makes a slight depression.

With a knife put a little dab of frosting on the back of the "eggs" and place onto the coconut.  I used Whopper eggs, but you can use chocolate eggs or jelly beans.  Pretty much whatever you like.

Pretty dang cute if you ask me.  Taste good too!

A New Project Is In The Works - And It's HUGE!

My next BIG goal is focused on my RETIREMENT.  Until recently, the how and when has been a bit elusive.  We all assume we will likely retire at age 65, but how do we know for sure that will actually happen?  For me, it was to sit myself down and come up with a tangible plan to ensure that it will happen.  And that is what I did.

In order to attain this goal I have broken it down in to various sized projects.  Some are little and won't take much time at all while others are really big.  HUGE.  J  But they all lead to the ultimate goal.  Retirement.

I hope you guys won't mind riding along with me as I embark on this new adventure.  I'll be sharing these projects with you as we go along.  In fact, I already have.  Remember a certain set of sheets I added lace to and a pink chenille throw pillow?  That's right.

So what is the HUGE one?  Here's a clue:

One of the projects I have in mind is to purchase a small one story home with two bedrooms and one bath.  A sweet, cute little dollhouse, just for me.  Then I will work to pay it off, fix it up and get it retirement ready.  I will also need to furnish and outfit it.  That makes for a lot of little projects to lead up to this huge one.  Yaaaay!

For me, it will be financially better if I live outside of Boise in a smaller town where housing and the cost of living is lower.  The bonus in this is that I want to live in a smaller town so this is actually a dream of mine.  Which town?  Still up for grabs, but I have some good ideas.  So exciting!

Lots and lots to do.  Just like I like it.

Easy Homemade Ice Cream

I have received a few requests asking for our ice cream recipe so I thought I'd share it once again.  It has been a few years so we are due for an update.  You can read my original post here.

I love ice cream and my youngest has inherited that love as well.  We are serious about our ice cream.  And making our own is not only fun, but quite rewarding.  Several years ago I invested in an electric ice cream machine that has the gel base that you freeze over night.  It works wonderfully and I can honestly say we have gotten our money's worth out of it.

Believe me I have tried a lot of ice cream recipes and for ease and thriftiness this is the one we use most often.  It’s a winner.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

3 c. whole milk

1 c. cream

1/2 c. sugar

2 tps. vanilla extract

Dash of salt

Combine all ingredients. Stir with a whisk until sugar dissolves.  Pour into your ice cream freezer and freeze according to appliance instructions.  Once ice cream is done pour into a large glass bread pan and freeze additional two hours for a hard serve consistency.  This recipe makes 1.5 quarts of ice cream.

And of course you have to have chocolate syrup!

Chocolate Ice Cream Syrup

½ c. baking cocoa

1 c. sugar

1 c. water

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Dash of salt 

Combine in a small saucepan.  Stir with a whisk over medium heat until syrup comes to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Transfer to a pint canning jar.  Allow to cool.  Keep in tightly covered in the refrigerator.  Stir syrup before each use.

Makes 1 pint.

Ready to make some ice cream?  I always am. Yum!