Garage Sale Finds

I go to garage sales every weekend in the spring. It's like thrift store shopping but better in some ways, especially if you're looking for furniture. I found some cool things today while I was out that I wanted to share with you! It was nothing I was looking for. My list for weeks has consisted of a wheelbarrow, tomato cages, exercise weights that are 30+ pounds (I know what you're thinking ... they're not for me), a pitch fork, and a small sofa table for our entryway. But here's what I did find!

This cute little chair is perfect for my craft space, and all it needs is a little paint. I love the green zebra pattern. $10

I've been wanting to do some canning this year, so when I saw these antique can holders, I had to get them. $1

I've been looking for a watering can and this cute little one fit the bill. 10 cents

In the next couple days, I'll be posting a DIY on how to make a folding trellis!

Strawberry Blueberry Crostata

Strawberry Blueberry Crostata

Before I get into the crostata, I absolutely love going to garage sales, so I wanted to share a find from last weekend with you: 1950s Steelmaster canisters! The owner said they were his wife's grandmother's, and was not wanting to give them up. I bought all four of them for $4:

 My sister came over for dinner tonight and since she was bringing pizza, I wanted to make something yummy for dessert. I saw a recipe from Buns in My Oven, and changed it a bit to my liking. This crostata was so good, I had another piece after she left .. and I'm planning on having one for breakfast .. and maybe lunch, too.. It's extremely easy to make. Here's how it's done (full recipe is at the bottom).

These are your ingredients, so simple.

Strawberry Blueberry Crostada 
Adapted from Buns in My Oven
1 pound strawberries, rinsed, hulled & sliced
1 pint blueberries, rinsed
2 tbsp sugar, for sprinkling
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 pie crust, store bought or homemade

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix together cream cheese, flour, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl
3. Place the pie crust in your pie pan (or you can use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; this method will allow the crostata to be flatter with a smaller amount of crust on the sides). Use a spatula to spread half of the cream cheese mixture on the pie crust leaving at least a 1" border. Place half of the fruit on top of the cream cheese. Layer the remaining cream cheese mixture, then the remaining berries.
4. Fold up the edge of the pie crust
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool. Sprinkle with sugar. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm. I also enjoyed it cold from the refrigerator.

I Love ... Friday: Tutorials to Try

In moving into our new house, I haven't had much time to make anything .. I actually haven't made anything in weeks! But I'm still constantly looking at blogs online and collecting tutorials that I would love to someday make. Right now, my craft room is a disaster so I'll just pass along these tutorials that I wish I could make to you! 

I see these all over Etsy and love them! This tutorial comes from Shanty 2 Chic

Fabric Flower Wreath Tutorial from Grosgrain

Orange Friday

I absolutely love the color orange. There's no reason and I don't know when it came about because I used to love green, but orange has definitely become a dominant color in my book. It's too bad, though, because not many cute things come in orange. I'm always scanning clothing racks for cute orange clothes with no success. Could it be because orange was voted as the cheapest looking color? The least favorite color? Or because it's seen as aggressive? Maybe, but there's definitely a good way to do orange and I set out to find it. Here are my picks for my I Love Orange Friday.

Orange Cookies

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

Let the Gardening Begin! Here's the Plan..

After a crazy weekend of bailing out two inches of storm water and sewage covering the basement floor of our new house (I know, ugh), I was able to get outside and work on the yard some. I cleaned up the entire front of the house, pulling out dead leaves, sticks, trimming the bushes and dead heading flowers from last year. I've heard of people mulching the leaves then mixing them into the garden, so if I end up making that a project, I'll be sure to share what information I find here.

Cleaning out the front yard in my favorite flannel work shirt

In terms of my vegetable garden, I'm planning on converting a jelly bean shaped space with some perennials in it into my vegetable garden. I was thinking of making and installing raised beds, but I think for the first year I'll give it a shot with what I have. I'm going to move the perennials to the side of the carport.

The jelly bean, plus some dead grass.

This is where the perennials will go from the jelly bean. I'll just move the rocks, dig out the weeds and ground cover, expand the area a little, and transplant.

I'm going to wait until the threat of frost is gone to plant all my warmth-loving plants outside (tomatoes, peppers, etc.) .. In southeastern Michigan, the typical last frost is May 15. A lot of people say it's okay to start planting outside around Mother's Day. I think I'm going to err on the side of caution and plant middle of May. Here's a list of the seeds I started, the ones with the asterisk are from My Victory Garden on Etsy. Can you believe they sell seeds on Etsy?!

Basil*, Chives, Anaheim Chile*, Swiss Chard*, Thessaloniki Heirloom Tomato*, Green Zebra Tomato*, Cucumbers, Mesclun Lettuce, Spinach, Pole Beans, Peas, Golden Patty Pan Squash* (normally I wouldn't plant squash or cucumbers inside first but I thought I'd try it to see if it works. If you do this, they need to be transplanted outside when they're still pretty little)

Phew, what a long post! Enjoy some photos as a reward!

I was so motivated to get my seeds planted a couple weeks ago, I started them before going to a comedy show with friends (high heels and all!). I bought these biodegradable planters on clearance last fall. I think next year I'll either try newspaper seed starting pots or toilet paper roll ones. They're nearly free and a great way to reuse materials.

My seeds all cozy in their greenhouse. I used very very basic potting soil just to see if they would germinate in it. And most have! Once they get outside, they should have better quality soil to grow into.

This is a greenhouse I received as a gift for Christmas. Soo easy to put together and it'll keep everything toasty until it's ready to go in the ground.

This area will be converted into an herb garden. It's on the west side of the house (good for afternoon sun) and right next to the sliding door to the kitchen. Perfect size, too!