The Brass Armadillo

I'm one of those pastor's wives that drops their kids off for VBS (vacation Bible school) and runs. In fact, one of the ladies at church insisted that I go out and have fun during VBS. My friend Katie was recruited to teach music during VBS, but her husband insisted that she go out with me while he taught music. Who can complain about that? My other friend, Kellee, brought her girls to VBS as well. Without a single child in tow what are three ladies supposed to do? We grabbed our Starbucks and headed to The Brass Armadillo Antique Mall. It was just a hop, skip, and a jump from church. (I'm still thinking about that Horizion Blue piece and turquoise fridgie that I didn't purchase.)

I'm sure you can guess what we were on the lookout for. There was Pyrex in every little nook and cranny.

There were cute little displays everywhere.

If you're looking for an animal head for your wall they had those too. Take your pick!

This booth was filled with mostly salt and pepper shakers. They were so adorable that I wanted all of them.

I just loved this pitcher and matching drinking glasses. If only it was turquoise instead. . . (all of the photos were taken with my phone in case you couldn't already tell.)

There was also some fabulous artwork. Who needs this for their front door?

This was probably my favorite Pyrex booth. There were so many pieces we wanted, yet the prices were a bit on the incredibly high side.

While it was nice to see pieces in their original box, $50 was a little steep to pay.

Butter dish anyone? I already have this and for $25 I had to pass on it anyway. We had a great morning drooling over all the pieces we long to have. If you're in the Denver area you should visit the Brass Armadillo. It's a great little antique mall.

Thrifting Adventures

A few weeks ago I dropped my older girls off at church to help out at the food pantry. I didn't feel like driving all the way back home just to turn around and pick them up a couple hours later, so the rest of the children and I decided to check out some thrift stores that we don't visit very often.  Heather, Kellee and I often text photos to each other when we're out thrifting in case one of us wants needs a piece. Heather refuses to step foot in a Goodwill Outlet, so I had to send this photo to her when I stopped in. While I didn't find any Pyrex I did find a super cute pair of shoes for my little girls. They were just $0.60 and from The Gap. The Goodwill Outlet is crazy place where you dig through bins and pay for your items by the pound. One must have a ton of patience to shop there. (Here's your bird pic, Kel!)

For Easter, Jared's aunt brought me this adorble Verde casserole. Don't you just love the color?

Shortly after I received that piece I scored this entire set of Verde mixing bowls from a thrift store near our house. I couldn't believe that the entire set was there and in wonderful condition too.

At the same thrift store, that very same day, I found the blue, red and yellow bowls that I needed to complete my Primary Mixing bowl set. Isn't it pretty?

Then, again, at the same thrift store, I found this Rainbow Stripes bowl. It was paired with these two other bowls, which aren't even Pyrex. While I really only wanted the striped bowl, the Federal bowls are pretty cute to, so I caved and purchased them. It was a good day at that thrift store. :)

Here are a few of my favorite pieces just hanging out on my newly painted shelves. I've begun blogging about my Pyrex treasures over at the Pyrex Collective III along with other obsessed collectors, so check it out if you're interested.

Project

We received this cabinet from a gal at church. It was sitting in our front room housing books. I had been looking for a way to store my Pyrex while also making it easily accessible. When I realized that this "bookshelf" was actually an old china cabinet, that used to have glass sliding doors on the front, I decided that it should be moved to our kitchen. David suggested placing it where it happens to sit today. It fits perfectly.

I got wind that Valspar was giving away small painting kits along with a small paint sample. I started browsing the colors just for fun. I ended up picking out a fun gray color. When I went to order it I found out that the name is actually Vintage Gray. How fitting for my Pyrex.

The little kit came complete with mini rollers, paint, and paint samples in complimentary colors with my Vintage Gray.

I really wanted the color of my Pyrex to pop while sitting on the shelves, so I opted to paint the back of the shelves white. Guess what? Since I was only painting the front and sides of the cabinet I had more than enough paint to paint this cabinet with just the little sample I was sent. 

I think it turned out quite nice, don't you?

Here's another before photo.

My display is constantly changing because I am always using different pieces. It's been a lot of fun organizing and changing all the dishes around. My children even give their opinions about where I should place different dishes. Pyrex has become a family affair.

Easter Dinner

We couldn't celebrate Easter without a little Pyrex. . . or a lot of Pyrex. It just made everything a little more cheerful. I think I also got a few of the ladies that came over into starting a collection of their own.

The day before Easter I had a little oven trouble. After much research we found out that the outlet, in which the oven is plugged into, is on the fritz. Thankfully another outlet is located just above the oven to the left and the cord was long enough to reach it. I am sure My Lutheran Stud will fix it. . .someday, just not anytime soon. I was able to bake all of my dishes on Easter day with no problems. Yay!

We had many guests coming, so we decided to set two tables for the adults and let the children eat in the kitchen and outside.

This is the children's table, in my kitchen. There's something about a person's kitchen. Everyone gravitates towards it. All of these wonderful men just celebrated Easter at their churches. Now they are in a deep theological discussion.

Before supper we sang.

Yes, those are red hymnals. We still use red hymnals at our church.

The children sang too. It was beautiful. Now I just need an organ in my kitchen.

Supper is served!

I was able to use many of my Pyrex dishes. Exciting isn't it?

Bryan thought it would be fun to photograph me every time I photographed something. Andrew's digging into some delicious brownies for dessert. I didn'tget nearly enough photos of the wonderful food that everyone brought to share.

Mandy made this awesome pina colada cake.

I have no words for this. It's just for your enjoyment.

Afte dessert it was all fun and games in the garage. It's what these pastors do best after a fabulous Easter celebration. It's their way of relaxing, I think? Our home was filled with the wonderful company of 20 friends (plus our 8). It was a great evening. You never would have known that there were 16 children running around. Happy Easter!

Double Fisted Starbucks, a Couple Flea Markets, and Some Pyrex

Earlier in the week I met up with a few friends to trade Pyrex. We live all live in different areas, so we can hit up a lot of different thrift stores between the three of us. Well, we met at Starbucks and then moved on to a few flea markets. It was fun to look around and get ideas for DIY projects. Look at this old drawer that was turned into a coffee table.

Heather found some Jadeite. She also had to have two Starbucks' drinks because one just wasn't enough. ;) Okay, she was actually kind enough to carry my drink since I was pushing a stroller without a cup holder. It makes her look like an addict though, doesn't it?

This little dish was just beautiful. We oohed and ahhed over it, then put it back.

I made a new friend. I tried to convince her to come home with me and become my nanny, but she just wouldn't talk to me.

Kel found a couple cute dishes while my children were checking out the deer mounted on the wall. There were many random and strange things to see at the flea market.

Here are all of my fun dishes. I actually only ended up buying two. The other ones were given to me. I say it was great trading day for me. 

6 Thrift Stores, 2 Starbucks, and 1 Fancy Tiger

After working a few hours in our garden on Monday, I met up with Heather and we went thrifting. I meant to get some more photos, but we wanted to hit as many stores as we could, so we hurried. We made it to 6 stores and hardly have anything to show for it. I'm sure our husbands were happy about that though. These two bowls were the bowls I needed to finish off my Daisy set. The little yellow bowl was the one I broke a few weeks ago.

Isn't that sad? The poor bowl was quite loved in its previous home. . . or not too loved and did not get cared for very well. I really wanted this bowl, but couldn't buy it in this condition. :( I'll just keep hunting.

We ended up stopping at Starbucks twice during our outing. A gal needs to keep up her momentum and Starbucks is the way to do it.  We also stopped into this awesome craft store called Fancy Tiger. If you're in the Denver area and love to sew, knit, crochet, or do pretty much anything crafty you must stop in and see the store. They have the cutest fabric. I, of course, had to buy a few fat quarters even though I have no idea what I am going to do with them yet. And, there's my little Pyrex purchase. Just a little Spring Blossom to add to my collection. There must be a Pyrex drought in Denver. How do you go to six different thrift stores only to find a few pieces? Bring on summer. 

A Day of Thrifting

My Pyrex collection just keeps growing. There's a thrift store just minutes from our church. Last Wednesday evening, before our Ash Wednesday service, I decided to stop in before church. I saw these pieces, but talked myself out of purchasing them because I thought they were too expensive, but I loved the design and the color so much that I couldn't stop thinking about them. I took a picture of the bowls and left the store. I guess my children liked them too because they told me I should go back and get them. The next day we decided to do just that. Come to find out there was another price sticker underneath the sticker that I had seen and the big bowl ended up being cheaper than I originally thought. Score!

The fun didn't stop there because my children wanted to go to another thrift store and then another. We ended up stopping at 4 thrift stores before we made it home. My children are becoming quite the thrifters. They usually spot Pyrex pieces before I do. They love going to the thrift store. Some children ask to go to the park or the toy store, but mine ask to go to the thrift store. Yikes! What have I done?

Weekend Sales

It's rare for me to go out shopping with all of my children on the weekend, however a few thrift stores in the area have most of their items for 50% off on Saturdays. Since my children can't seem to keep holes out of their jeans and I can't fix them fast enough we decided to brave the crowd and look for jeans. . .and some other things. While we were successful in the hunt for jeans I also scored this Pyrex casserole. After returning home I did a quick search online and found out that it's a promotional piece and there are no others to go with it. I just love the 2 1/2 quart oval casseroles. They're a great size for almost anything.

The lid completely sold me. I love the cute little flowers and how they sort of jump off the lid. It's such a fun design.

Spaghetti Squash

We had a lot of spaghetti squash in our garden last summer. Because it's a winter squash it keeps extremely well. We just store in a dark cool place and it keeps. I don't know much about how to prepare this type of squash as I'm not a big squash fan, but I'm also not very picky. I eat what we have in the house. After talking to some ladies at church I was given this recipe and we just love it. Nothing is left when we're finished with this dish.

First of all you want to cut your sqush in half lengthwise. Then cook it in the oven or microwave until the squash is soft and tender. (About an hour in the oven.)

Then just scoop the flesh out with a fork. It comes out so easily.

It looks just like spaghetti noodles. How cool is that?

Now for the casserole we're going to add just a few things: bacon, green chile, cheese, eggs, and cream. Pretty easy, right?

Scramble up your eggs and pour it over the top of the rest of the ingredients already waiting.

Next add some heavy cream. Yum!

Mix it all together and put it into a cute baking dish.

Place it in your fridge overnight. We want all the flavors to have time to marinate together.

The next day bake it in the oven for about 45 minutes.

Voila! It's perfect for breakfast or brunch.

Serve it up in a cute little Butterfly Gold bowl. ;)

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

1 large spaghetti squash

3 eggs - beaten

½ cup cream

1 1/2-2 cups cheddar cheese grated

1 can green chilies

1 lb bacon – cooked and broken into small pieces

Mix all ingredients together. Place into greased baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning stir and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 min or until eggs have set.