STIM-A-LA-TIN....the Tardevil Plan

Sadly, this is kind of what I fear my neighborhood is going to look like this year. We bought in a new subdivision when we moved here, just over a year ago, and houses we at looked in May of 2007, have still not sold. Our builder is about to go under and many others in our area are as well.

So,

Do you like to shop? (Surely, all females have that gene!) Are you tired of all the pre-election ads? While I admire both candidates for being willing to run for office, I'm not IN LOVE with either of them. So, I got this bright idea (do you feel the glow?) on how I could do my part to help this country. You see, GG came home the other day, a little huffy, saying in his most stern hubby voice, "IN THIS DOWN ECONOMY, YOU'VE BEEN STIM-A-LA-TIN IT A LITTLE TOO MUCH"....or something to that affect. Can't you just hear him? That's hubby speak for "you've been shopping too much lately"....kind of like the BLAH, BLAH, BLAH they hear when we speak (sometimes). You see, I'd had a cold for 2 weeks, was feeling better and thought I'd do a little thriftin, so I took a trip over to Goodwill (Hello, I said Goodwill!!!), and had a BIG time! You've heard about the drought in the South, well that's pretty much what I've had with shopping at thrifts all summer. I'll admit, I've had a few good shopportunities lately, but this particular day was probably my biggest haul E-VER from a thrift store. So, I'm going to show you a few of my finds, and then cordially invite you to join me in my plan for getting this economy on track before the holidays...even before the election!

I thought these birds looked fallish. The books are from an earlier thrifting trip...and I didn't buy them to read....just for the colors.

I collect green vintage glass, so I thought this turkey-lurkey toothpick holder would fit in nicely for Turkey Day!

And, I guess, maybe amber glass too???

And the baby bird (dove?)....I already had the mama & papa, so it kind of completed the family...like the 3 of us.

This porcelain treat bowl...

And finally, this sorta majolica-ish looking grease jar (didn't know they made such a thing). It says "grease" on it.

There was more....but I don't want to bore you!

So, I'm inviting my blogging sistas (and brothers too, if there are any), to spend the week of 10/13/08 through 10/17/08, stimulating this economy and helping to get it back on track. We can't afford for the stock market to drop any further! The rule is that you must buy at least one thing (even at a yard sale), and post it to prove (winks) you have helped this nation get back on track. So, shop til you drop and leave me your URL, and I will try to link to you as we share our finds. I was never very good with economics, so I hope this works! Thank you in advance for participatin' in my STIM-A-LA-TIN PARTY!

If we unite, I'm confident we can turn this economy around! God bless America!

I'm Tardevil, and I approved this message.

Halloween Party and Recipes

Several years, 2 houses and cities ago....I had a Halloween Birthday party for my sweet baby (a/k/a Terrific Kid). She was a little goblin then, actually, a witch at her party. We had all kinds of princesses in attendance.

I thought I'd show you a few pictures from her party.

This was the the breakfast nook table.



The party table.


The cake was from Walmart and was made of cupcakes iced in the shape of ghosts. I added the ghost peeps. Those cupcake cakes are the way to go with little ones.

I was trying to do something similar to this photo seen in one of my favorite magazines, the October 2002 issue of Country Living .




I don't know if you can tell from my photos, but this is how I did the veggies.




Photo taken from Frightfully Fun HALLOWEEN Crafts & Cooking

Thought I'd share a few of the recipes that I served....


Sorry the photo is grainy....makes it look like Colby Jack cheese.

Marbled Orange Fudge (tastes like Creamsicles)
taken from the September/October issue of 2001 Quick Cooking Magazine
recipe by Diane Wampler's of Morristown, TN

1-1/2 tsp. plus 3/4 butter (no substitutes), divided
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 package (10-12 ozs) vanilla or white chocolate chips
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
3 tsps. orange extract
12 drops yellow food coloring
5 drops red food coloring

Grease a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. pan with 1-1/2 teaspoons butter. In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, cream and remaining butter. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 4 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in chips and marshmallow creme until smooth.

Remove 1 cup and set aside. Add orange extract and food colorings to remaining mixture; stir until blended. Pour into prepared pan. Drop the reserved marshmallow mixture by tablespoonfuls over top; cut through mixture with a knife to swirl. Cover and refrigerate until set. Cut into squares.
Yields appoximately 2-1/2 pounds.

The punch....

Best served in a black plastic cauldron!

Creepy Crawler Ice Ring
recipe & photo taken from Frightfully Fun HALLOWEEN Crafts & Cooking

1 cup gummy worms or other creepy crawler candy
1 quart lemon-lime soda

Arrange gummy worms in bottom of a 5-cup ring mold; fill mold with soda. Freeze until solid, 8 hours or overnight.

My Mom's Lime Punch (also green as pictured)
by way of Ms. Coy Vance (I have no idea who that is!)

2 pkgs. lemon-lime or lime Kool-aid
2 cups sugar
2 quarts water
24 oz can pineapple juice
1 qt. ginger ale (let's say a liter)

Combine Kool-aid, sugar, water and pineapple juice; place in refrigerator to chill. Chill ginger ale and add to punch mixture before serving.


I hope ya'll enjoyed dropping in on my Halloween Party! Happy Haunts!

Give away....who doesn't love that?

Linda at Restyled Home is hosting a give away of Matthew Mead's

new book, entertaining simple ,

Isn't the cover yummo?

Take a look at some of the photos.

Who doesn't love some chocolate?

But my personal favorite, is the look of Christmas.....doesn't it just get you in the mood?

You can purchase it now, just in time for the holidays, at Matthew's website:

http://www.entertainingsimple.com/index.php?option=com_flippingbook&book_id=2&Itemid=1

or many stores throughout the US and Canada.

What a great Christmas gift to give or receive....Be sure to stop by Restyled Home to see how to be eligible to win 1 of 20 copies of the book and possibly a chance at a Home Goods $25 gift card (now who doesn't want that?). Hurry and enter quickly...contest ends October 9th. Now if that isn't Santa Claus coming early, I don't know what is! Ho! Ho! Ho!

Welcome

Hi and welcome to my blog! I feel like I have just given birth to a 15 pound baby with no drugs! But you all know us OCD types...we have to do-da everything and get it just right!

For my 1st confession, I will have to admit that I am a recovering SHOPAHOLIC....Ok, I'll be honest.....I'm not recovering (and probably won't be until I'm in my 80's....if I should be so blessed to live that long!) Of all my vices, SHOPPING is my FAVORITE! I'm also a JUNKIE (is that a 2nd confession?)....but not in a bad way. Here are a few of my fall Junkie shopping finds from a recent trip to Goodwill.

A rooster from China $3

A chalkware "Bless This House" sign $5

A vintage green Haeger vase with a dried flower arrangement $8

(still trying to decide if I like the flowers. I added the scarecrow...a $1 from Walgreens)

A Happy Tardevil..........$PRICELESS!!!!

BECAUSE......

We all know....if mama ain't happy, NOBODY'S happy!

Have a great week everybody!