reflecting the past

I used to thrift to find things that fit my style. On occasion, I fit my style to things I find thrifting. Yesterday was such a moment: I have a small variety of light covers and reflectors, but I don’t recall having seen any so large or so specifically not holiday themed as these. I […]

strutting like a peacock

The final tree is up. Number four in this year’s set: the peacock tree. The teal tree started its life with us two years ago as the first incarnation of what has become the unicorn tree. It sat out last year, the pandemic preempting any plans for a holiday open house, but knowing it would […]

so it begins

You may not think so, but it is time… This year brought a brand new tree for the front room, replacing the retired best-thrift-deal-ever tree. It is my first pre-holiday, full-price tree. Ever. And it is rather stunning, at least the bits of it that can been seen. I succeeded in full saturation of content. […]

skirting the issue

Last year, I retired the big tree I used for the glass menagerie I put up in the front room. I acquired a new tree last week, the first big fancy tree I’ve bought new at full price, I think, in forever. After the big bead garland caper of 2020, this big over-the-top tree needs […]

solar chandelier reveal

Five weeks ago, I brought home a thrift store chandelier because seven weeks ago I saw a DIY garden project on Tiktok. This is it: The project is to strip, paint and convert the fixture to solar lights for use as a garden chandelier. I known I wanted to use multiple colors, so I dismantled […]

additional spice of life

My collecting grows in spurts. I like to browse online and regularly check thrift stores, but there are inevitably moments where availability of things I collect simply opens the floodgates, and maybe I over-indulge my obsessions. Maybe. Recently, I decided I wanted to expand our CorningWare Spice of Life collection into the milkglass Gemco pieces. […]

sock it to me!

Seven hundred and some pairs of socks ago, I had an aversion to licensed characters on my hosiery. I felt they were too much commitment when I only wanted festive socks that supported my clothes. Well, today’s a new day, it would seem… The biggest haul in awhile now. I mean, the Fairly Odd Parents […]

thrifty christmas in july

I’ve been avoiding thrift stores as much as everything else through the pandemic, having gone only a handful of times in the past year and a half. Today, I cleared out some boxes from our front room and carted them off to Goodwill. And if I’m already there… I might miss a rare Wexford find. […]

hobbit house hot cocoa

If anything, this is a hobby and/or lifestyle blog. Although it sometimes includes recipes, I don’t consider it a cooking or food blog. That said, I offer this promise to all of you: you will not have to read through any horrifically long, drawn-out event or memory of my life before you find our recipes. […]

the final invasion

The temperature climbed just enough. The snow is packable again! The frozen cephalopod broke through the surface of the crisp peaceful snow, laying siege to the ship on the surface, but the snow-crew was not caught unprepared. They learned from their mates’ demises in the previous attack those two years back. The harpoons were kept […]