Coffee Table Makeover, Part 1

The other day as I was running out to the market, I saw a sign that I just had to follow..."Garage Sale -->." It was calling my name I tell you! (they often do..ha!) Anywho, I was sort of in a hurry, so I browsed quickly. About three minutes later, I was walking away with this beauty I got for a steal- just $5! It's solid wood (perhaps maple or cherry?) with fun, curvy lines and no structural problems. Yay! All it needed was a little paint to give it a face lift. :) I have been wanting a coffee table for our living room so I could put my "Hope Chest" in a different location which currently serves as our coffee table, so this really was a great buy!

Fast forward a week and a half and it was time to start revamping my new find. After some researching on the internet and several failed attempts at sanding it by hand, I decided it would be wise to invest in an electric sander. After a trip to the Home Depot, I was able to find a superb (and fairly inexpensive, only $30) electric sander. I knew this would prove to be invaluable for all my future home projects.

Back at home I got right to work. Step one: sanding. I started with a 60 grit sandpaper, then 120, and finally to 220 working in a circular motion. FYI, the higher the number, the finer the grit. The progression of different grit papers made the wood super smooth to the touch when I finished. I sanded the detailing and legs by hand. If you use an electric sander for these, you will end up with squared off legs..and that would not be good!

After sanding (which was such a breeze! It took less than 30 minutes), I wiped the entire table thoroughly with an old cloth. This ensures you're not getting dusty grime in your paint when you move onto that part of the process.

Step two: priming. I did this very quickly, brushing with a soft 2" brush because the primer I was using dries fairly quickly. I wasn't worried if it didn't look perfect, I knew I could come back with the sander later and smooth out any uneven areas.



About an hour and a million mosquito bites later, I was finished with the priming and happy to push the last steps to completion for another time. I was getting eaten up! Tune in next time for Part 2, it's gonna look awesome!

Baby Shower at the Gaffins

In the name of "every baby is worth celebrating", Matthew and I decided to host a shower to honor the birth of Gwen & Matt's 2nd born little one, Levi Samuel. It was a fun evening and I hope Gwen & Matt, Miles and Baby Levi felt honored and special. We love you! Here are some photos of the evenings fun & festivities:

Sweet sister Glo grabbing some goodies from the refreshment table

I hung large tissue paper flowers from monofilament from the light fixture overhanging the refreshment table with "rubber ducky" lemon curd cookies, lime punch, devil's food chocolate cupcakes, and a bowl full of strawberries. Yum!

Mommy Gwen with Levi Samuel

We played a game called "guess that nursery rhyme". The person up front had to either act it out like charades, or draw pictures. Here's Matt drawing "star of wonder, star of bright..."

I made a "Blessings Tree" from some branches by spray painting them white and affixing them in a large pot with green moss. Every guest was encouraged to write a note to Levi, to be read when he was older.

Levi & Miles surrounded by Grammy & Grandpa Pittman, Great- Grandma & Pepaw Cole, Great- Papa & Mema Pittman, Great- Oma & Popi Sutphin, and Great-Great Granny Grace. Lots of Love!

Mommy Gwen, Brother Miles, and lots of Aunts with Levi Samuel

Sprouts + Me = One happy gal

Today was a good day. I had a Bible study this morning, which made me wake up early (and on a Saturday that is a rare thing...I have been known to stay in my PJs until after noon...yikes!) But today, I was up at 8 am and raring to go by 9. My study was great, and when I got back home in the afternoon, I knew two things needed to happen before that evenings events: laundry and grocery shopping. I had been neglectful in these areas all week and was feeling pretty badly about it. Poor Matt was out of jeans and the fridge was looking bare. :( By the way, that is not a good combination. So, after some procrastination, checking email, and stalling some more, I finally got down to business.

First, laundry. I got a good sized load in, cramming about 6 pairs of jeans in and other shirts of Matt's as well (he was running out of shirts, too). Gotta love front-loaders! They are amazing! You can put 10-15 pairs of jeans in at a time (if you have that many) and they come out wonderfully. So, check for laundry! Yay!

Next, grocery shopping. It can be a daunting task on a Summer afternoon, with trying to juggle grocery bags into a hot car and all, but this time I was actually excited to go. I was going to Sprouts! If you've never heard about Sprouts, shame on you! Just kidding *wink*. But really, if you have never been to one they are in the Whole Foods/health food genre...and if you know me, that's totally up my alley! But compared to Whole Foods, which in my opinion is way too expensive, Sprouts is considerably cheaper. In fact, it has become some what of an obsession to where when I see the ad in the newspaper revealing their weekly specials, I get so excited! I'm a little crazy, I know. Ha!

To sum it up, here's what I love about Sprouts the most:

*It is very clean and well-organized

*The lighting is softly bright, not overpowering, so it makes all the produce stand out in all their glorious colors.

*Their "Sprouts" store brand has wonderful options for just about anything

*They have a bulk section with fine dry goods in large, wood barrels stock full of nuts of every kind, granola, rice and beans, cereals, etc.

*Their produce is wonderful and wonderfully priced, too. :)

*Their organic section is reasonably priced

*The staff is very friendly

*Their meats are great! No added growth hormones or other junk, and usually nice and lean.

*Their beauty section usually has great deals on shampoo, organic soaps and face washes.

Anywho, that's my story for the day! If you have an obsession with a store (be it grocery or besides, do share!)

Happy shopping in the places you love!

Puttin' Up Jam

I have had my heart set on making jam for some time now. To me, that has been the ultimate domestic test: to jam or not to jam. Ha! So when I saw the seasonal summer berries dropping in price, I knew this was my time.

Matthew and I set out for the Dallas Farmer's Market on a warm, June afternoon. That was an experience in itself! If you've ever been to the Farmer's Market, you know what I'm talking about. Walking down the busy sidewalks where the farmers and distributors sell their goods, you are bombarded from every side with, "would you like to try this melon?" or "this is the best peach you'll ever taste" as they hand you a fat slice, practically feeding it into your mouth. You have to be sure you know what you're going for, or you could really end up with much more than you want or need. I had my mind focused on getting some good strawberries for the jam, some blueberries for freezing for smoothies and muffins, and some peaches just for eatin'. An hour and a half later we were on our way home, happy with the deals and the quality of the fruit we had found. And of course, there was a little bit of snacking along the way! :)

A few days later I enlisted the help of my sweet Mom to help make the jam! Thanks, Mom! I had all the materials I needed: glass jars, lids, sugar, fruit, and fruit pectin. We went at it for about 3 or more hours slicing, stirring, boiling and pouring and had the best time! It's nice when you have someone to do it with you! It was fun to just talk and enjoy each others company while we hurried along to the next step or listened for the jar lids to "pop" announcing that they were perfectly sealed. It wasn't as sticky of a mess as I had thought either. In fact, all said and done, my kitchen was pretty clean! Below are some pics to show the fruits of our labors (no pun intended *wink*).

Smoothies, Fresh-Squeezed

Over the past month or so, Matthew and I have fallen in love with making smoothies! The smooth, cold texture, the endless combinations, and best of all- they taste delicious and are healthy for you! So when I noticed myself buying one or two jars of organic juice a week at $4 or more a jar, I knew I needed to do something about it if we were going to continue our morning ritual. My solution? Freshly squeezed juice! After viewing that week's "sales" on jars of juice at the grocery, I headed straight for the produce aisle. Feeling enthusiastic about my idea, I loaded up a good sized bag with large, ripe navel oranges. Mmmm!!

A day or two later, I decided to give my citrus juicer a whirl. It definitely wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, and it was messier and took longer too, but in the end my work paid off- 6 large oranges now equals about 5 cups of juice. Yay! I may not be as liberal with adding juice to our smoothies as I was before, but I like knowing exactly where all that delicious juice came from. It's quite rewarding, and it sure makes for a gooood smoothie!

Gaffin Smoothie:

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup coconut nectar
1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 ripe banana
6-8 frozen strawberries

*Place in a tall tumbler with straw; garnish with fresh mint or slice of orange

God-Conscience Cleaning, Living, BEING...

As a homemaker and as a woman, I can sometimes get into the mindset of, "is what I do at home really worth anything? Who sees what I do?" I'm guessing that at one time or another we've all felt this way, be you a homemaker, a business woman or just a woman! Questions may arise such as, "does anyone see the trouble I go through to do..." or "what would happen if I stopped doing it altogether? Would anything really change?" I'm guessing so, but does that make us feel any better? I'm guessing not.

I love the quote in the movie "Shall We Dance" spoken by Susan Sarandon. She says, "We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'." I love it and it certainly is a romantic idea, but let's face it- whether you're married to a wonderful guy (& I am!), dating a great guy, or live in close relationship with your family or friends...nobody will notice everything about you. It's not possible! And isn't that what we all want? To be noticed, loved, appreciated, praised & known? I have a sneaky suspicion I'm right. But hey, there's hope!

I read a fantastic excerpt from a book of mine called "His Victorious Indwelling" that seems to shed just the right amount of light on this subject. It says:

"Amid the pressures of daily life, trust the Holy Spirit, who is emphatically the Divine Remembrancer, to bring all things to your remembrance, and to recall you to the consciousness of God. There is no duty in life, however trivial and commonplace, that may not be dignified by being rendered to God, as our bounden duty and service. This is indeed the secret of lifting all life to a noble and happy elevation. To do all for the Lord Jesus; to see Him standing behind every human relationship; to do the meanest and most irksome things because He takes them as service rendered to Himself, for which He will give a reward- this is Christian life, this makes the presence of God real, this dignifies the sweeping of a room...Equally in our hours of recreation we may set the Lord always before us. Remember that it is said of the elders of Israel that they saw Jehovah, and there was under his feet as it were the paved work of a sapphire stone (Ex. 24:9-11); they beheld God, and did eat and drink. How many eat and drink without beholding God! How many whose consciences were uneasy might behold God without daring to eat and drink! Happiest are they who are so at rest in Him that they do not hesitate to perform the natural functions of life with perfect ease, though all the while they recognize that He is nearer than hands of feet, nearer than breathing! The sense of God's presence would check immodesty, levity, self-indulgence, excess in eating or drinking, whilst it would give a new zest to all that was natural and innocent." - F.B. Meyer

So carry on with your work and pleasure- you are not alone! You are known, and incredibly worth it!

Gotta Love a Bargain!

If you've ever been on a hard-core bargain hunt, you'll be able to relate to the following story.

It was a crisp Saturday morning. Matthew and I had decided the day before that we would go estate and garage saling. (FYI definition of "Saling"- the act of floating from sale to sale at no particular speed but that which is desirable to you.)I had mapped out our route the afternoon before so we were all set to go. At least I thought so. 4 Frappes and 4 bagels later, we were on our way.

What were we looking for? Matthew and I like to do what we call "turn-around sales". It's where you find something of value at a garage sale or online auction for a great bargain, then turn around and sell it again to someone who is willing to pay what it's truly worth. We've done this numerous times with Craigslist, etc. It's really fun! It's more than a hobby than a necessity for us, but it's also a good lesson in the wonderful world of investing, but on a smaller scale. And of course, no hunt would be complete without a treasured item found along the way to keep! But more on that later. Anywho, back to the hunt!

Sale #1: garage sale. Ya know, garage sales are a funny thing. Here you are rummaging through other people's belongings for a quarter that they don't want anymore and all the while they are staring you down (at least at most sales) to see what unwanted item you are going to relieve them of. It's quite funny actually! And I must say, not for the prideful if you know what I mean. But in the end, the old saying stays true, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." So true! After finding a few of these "treasures" along the way, we were onto the serious sales: Estate sales.

Estate saling: here's where it gets good. Normally with an estate sale someone is downsizing, retiring, or has deceased. It's an open house where you walk through like a retail store and usually anything you see is for sale...and if you know what you're doing, you'll negotiate. This is the fun part in my opinion. For instance, you say, "I noticed you had this listed for $5, will you take $3? If they say yes (and they usually do), you just knocked off $2 bucks! Negotiation done. :) I like estate sales the best because it's the best place to find antiques or vintage items, which if you know me you're aware that I'm a fan. Today I found a beautiful vintage linen tablecloth + 8 matching napkins in great condition and at a real bargain! Possibly my favorite buy of the day! Another thing about estate sales: it's like a mad frenzy in these places! I have to laugh inside because it's literally people rushing here and there trying to seize up somebody's old stuff before someone else gets to it. And I'm right there in the midst! I can't say I'm a six o'clock die-hard hunter (we left at about 10:20), but I can't deny I like the rush just a tad. Come on folks! It's exciting!

In the end we did quite well. Matt got a few items and so did I and we made out without spending much- mission accomplished. But you know what? There's a bit about this whole experience that truly is the best of all, and that's the time we got to spend together- just us. There we were drinking frappes, eatin' bagels, comparing bargains, singing to Nickel Creek cranked sky high and having a ball the entire time. And did I mention the people we met along the way? You'd be surprised what conversations arise with other folks when you're there sifting through their grandmother's heirlooms or family's prized glassware collection. You get to be a part of hearing their history as it is transferred into your hands. No amount of money can buy that.

So after it's all said and done, it's not about the bargains or how much we saved not having bought it from a conventional store, it's about the people. Now isn't that what it's always about? I think so.

Favorite finds of the day:

Matty's find- a solid wood file cabinet


Set of 3 vintage jello molds & a tart pan


My favorite: set of red & white vintage table linens


Another Matthew find: set of 8 silver-plated goblets