THE TOP OF THE WORLD

The other day, Hubby and I took a journey…



And, what a beautiful journey it was!







We went to the top of the world…





I feel so blessed that our Heavenly Father chose to make this world lovely to look upon…



For the benefit of man…



May we all take time to reflect...



Upon the blessings that we have…

Fourth of July for family fun...





Fourth of July for everyone...







Fourth of July was not just fate...







Independence for EVERY state...







To save us from the rule of kings...





Our God blessed us--let freedom ring!





GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

If you love aprons like I do, head on over to The Life and Times of Not Quite June Cleaver and enter for the give-away!

Good luck to all!

DRESSING FRUGALLY

I love to find bargains and be able to use them too…

This outfit was put together relatively inexpensively…

The earrings were reasonably priced. Though not thrift-store cost, I think I only paid around $3.00 for them.

I purchased the necklace on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona last year. I don’t recall the cost right off. It would have been a bit more than I would normally spend, as it was our anniversary trip, and I allowed myself to splurge a little.

My lipstick was only $0.20 new at a second-hand store; it’s Avon brand. If you look closely, sometimes up at the counter there will be goodies like new and unused makeup for a little of nothing.



My bracelet is actually a lanyard for glasses that I paid $1.00 for on close-out. I just wrapped it around my wrist and tucked one end through the loop on the other end, and voila!



My peach skirt was acquired at a nice seconds/vintage store, and I had bought the brown belt some time ago brand new for $3.99. I was just waiting for a chance to wear it.

Best of all, is the deal I got on this light-weight cotton blouse. I purchased it for $0.25 a couple of weeks ago at a garage sale.

A pair of brown, low-heeled, open-toed sandals completed my outfit.



I really dislike to clothes shop so never generally go out specifically for that reason. I think that my mom wore us all out on that growing up! We still talk about it from time to time. ;) So, unlike her, I don’t do big shopping trips but do hit the garage sales and thrift shops for anything that might be a good bargain. If it happens to be clothes, that I find, that’s great!

I also have my clothes for years. I’m not into name brands, and I don’t have to have each year’s styles right when they hit the stores, so I can get away with an extended-wear wardrobe. I mix and match what I have quite a bit—coming up with different outfits each time. So, for not being a shopper, I do alright. :)

When I went grocery shopping the other day, I wanted to wear something cool and light. I put on a light cotton print skirt that Mom had given me (again…several years ago), a nicer stretchy t-shirt top that I bought probably two or three summers ago for $7.00, Gramma’s faux pearls and her clip-on earrings that I acquired. I added some lattice-topped, open-toed sandals, which I bought around three years ago, and it made for a nice quick outfit that was dressy casual…

And…inexpensive! My total cost:

Earrings Gifted
Necklace Gifted
Shirt $7.00
Skirt Gifted
Shoes $7.00

Total $14.00

I didn’t get a good picture of the skirt, but here is the top…



The added bonus is that a person of course wears their outfits many many times (at least I do). In fact, I will wear things that I have had for a decade and still get compliments. I don’t necessarily wear them the same way as I did when I purchased them. Maybe I’ll add a belt or throw a sweater over the dress or put it with another piece of clothing, etc.

So…taking that into account…If you divide the total cost of the outfit by the number of times you wear it or a particular garment in the ensemble, you can have a very inexpensive wardrobe! And, frugality is the name of the game, isn’t it?!

OLD-TIME TREASURES, FATHER'S DAY, AND GOD'S CREATIONS

I have been vintage-store and second-hand store shopping and garage saleing as of late and have found some good deals and some just plain fun deals!

This picture is blurry but is a picture of some long white gloves that I found at a local vintage store. I will use them because I like the style but also to keep the sun off of my arms. Each year my skin gets worse, and I am trying to slow down the damage. (Isn’t it funny how as teenagers we worshipped the sun? I would lie outside with baby oil slathered all over listening to the radio, and the hotter the sun the better!)



This hat was purchased at the same little vintage store. Again, the picture turned out blurry, but try to imagine a black dress hat circa 1950’s with small feathers plumming outwards…



Same store…different trip, I purchased this cute little red gingham apron…





My girls, the grandbabies and I had fun at our local spring fair recently. They have all sorts of crafts, food, and locally made goodies. Last year I bought a rose colored sunbonnet from a woman and was happy to see that she had returned this year. She had one sunbonnet in her booth, and I got it! It is a nice country blue fabric and very well made…



Garage sales were good to me last week…I procured 1 summer skirt, 2 tops, 1 bun pocket, 2 lipsticks, and 6 lip liners all for only $2.70! You can’t beat that! At the next sale, I bought 3 canisters for a total of $2.00…



Well Father’s Day this year was very pleasant. We had a barbeque on that Sunday afternoon. The crowd turned out to be small but intimate and just a perfect day…



The little ones had fun…







The big ones had fun…



And all in all, it was a beautiful day…Thank the Lord for fathers!

And…speaking of beautiful…Hubby and I took a day trip the other day. We saw some lovely picturesque scenery…





Now tell me that that isn’t God’s creation..

Do you see the baby deer in this picture? Mama had just slipped into the brush...



Cows in the distance…



A country lane…



May we all look for the blessings in life. I have been told before that when we pray we should always thank Him first and then ask for our needs. I have found that when I think of all the blessings that I can in my prayers, I keep thinking of more and more, and I end up feeling so very thankful.

May you all have a blessed weekend.