Blue Ribbon Kitchen: Seeing IS Believing: Thrift Store Saves

I bet you need some proof...

I know I always do.

I don't

believe everything I read...

or everything I hear.

I learned this lesson

when I was six years old.

It all started when I

saw a commercial on T.V. for crackers.

The lady on T.V. smiled and convincingly said

" Wow, These crackers just melt in your mouth!! "

I was absolutely determined from

that moment on

my mother

needed to buy our family some of those

"melt-in-your-mouth" crackers.

I pestered my mother to no end...

When she finally asked why

We needed these particular crackers...

I said, "The crackers will melt in our mouth...

The lady said so...

I can't wait to try it."

Surely, in the history of cracker buying,

there has never been a better reason

that has ever existed

for needing to purchase crackers.

My goodness, I was on a mission

to have those T.V. crackers melt in MY mouth.

We did eventually buy THE crackers...

...And guess what??

...Not a single cracker ever melted in my mouth...

they mostly got soggy and and then just sat there,

bits of cracker...

... no melting... none whatsoever.

Nevertheless...this story is taking the looong way

around the barn...

Truth in advertising meets reality...

To make this whole

Thrift Shop Thursday thing

work for you...

I need to show you what I do with the finds...

all the amazing treasures from thriting adventures.

You will need to see it...

to believe it.

If I simply show you a gorgeous glass jar,

or a terrific vase...

it's not as amazing until you see it in action...

being re-purposed,

used and loved in a whole new way.

For starters...

I have a photo of a past Easter table...

See all the good things

I found to

make this amazing table...

and I found them all at...

you guessed it..

the thrift store.

For me, the whole key to thrifting and doing it well,

is keeping my mind open to

the possibility of what might be...

Which is kind of a good way of looking at a lot of things...

No frame must keep it's original color or hold it's original artwork...

Save the frame, the glass and the hardware and make it your own.

I paint a lot of frames and

put in artwork that suits me...

or seasonal touches that make the house feel warm and cozy.

Here, I added beautiful vintage postcards to

add to our Thanksgiving displays...all the frames here
were found at the thrift store ...

even the turkey peeking at us...thrift store!!

A damaged piece of furniture can be

transformed with a little sandpaper and fresh paint...

Anything is possible at the thrift store...

Changing things or thinking about things in a new way can

breathe new life into the ordinary.

Here... 50¢ margarita glasses

Transformed into

individual dessert dishes...

Margarita Key Lime Pie never looked

so cute...

Those cheap glasses made their way

onto a recipe segment...

Anything is possible...

Individual desserts are in fashion
right now...how sweet for a graduation party, a wedding
or a birthday bash... so many possibilities... so many!!

For the Margarita Key Lime Pie recipe
Click Here:
Margarita Key Lime Pie Recipe
and for the squeal
Individual Margarita Key Lime Pies

I happened on a large

collection of these cute goblets...

Here they are staged on the buffet

...waiting to become individual

pumpkin desserts at Thanksgiving.

Look at all the amazing finds from the thrift store...

It's possible 80% of

what is in this photo is

from a thrift store, auction

or a yard sale... really.

Even the corner closets... (far top-left corner of the photo)
all the details of which will be in a future post...
Those corner closets might be my favorite find ever...