Fish Sticks

We did our fair share of thrifting this summer. Lots of fun finds to share. But one of my favorite scores was a pallet of old fence pickets. I'd been hoping to find some of these for a good long time. Ever since I spied some that were turned into fish.

Luckily, BSD is getting pretty darn handy with the woodworking tools these days. And he was able to make these....

 

From these...

Well...not all by himself exactly. Nope, we had a little help from our friends. In the form of a Fish Sticks and Friends Fiesta. 

We set out some tables. And some paints. And some drinks. Of course. And went to town.

The ballerinas and their friends got busy too.

There may have even been some input from a chicken or two.

And when the sun went down. We moved the party indoors. We wanted to serve fish sticks for dinner. But spaghetti and peach cobbler seemed a whole lot easier. 

 And a lot more fun too.

 

I love these little guys! They are so bright and happy.

Luckily, we still have enough pickets to make....oh, say another 200 or so. Anyone wanna come over for a Fish Stick Fiesta?

Ten on Ten: September 2010

It's Ten on Ten! I made it. I'm alive. I'm on the road to wellness (with a little help from some massive antibiotics). Whoohoo!

Here's a peek at my day...

Off to the library

  Target Pig Stop

 Just me...Hi!

 

A whole week of stickers for good behavior

Today's $1 Yard Sale score. BB's been begging for this game. All the pieces are in tact after 25 years!

Visiting BSD at work

Dinner with BSD at work

Lines

A little after dinner fishing

LB's reward for a week of good behavior

Hope to see what others were up to today!

 

The Eel Deal

I'm back with a little more motherly advice. OK, so you've had your spring/summer baby and your birthday parties are in the bag. Good going. You're on the road to easy street. 

Fast forward to 4th grade. The year of the animal research project. 

When your baby comes home shouting, "I chose an eel!" Don't roll your eyes and mutter, "what the heck were you thinking?!" be discouraged. An eel may be the most boring animal in the kingdom, but boring animal= not much info= easy research. You'll be done in no time. And then she can spend the rest of the week getting creative with her project. 

Instead of just drawing a picture of the eel in its habitat, she can get out the new basket of paints you scored at last weekend's rummage sale for $1...

and get busy painting....

and crafting and hot gluing in her artist studio until she's made a model like this. Extra bonus points if she's a ballerina because she'll have plenty of those lovely hair nets lying around to add authenticity.

And then, instead of making a ho-hum word search or crossword puzzle to teach her classmates about her animal, she can create a REAL game and call it, what else...

Eel or No Eel?

Finding Nemo and a Little of Myself Along the Way

One of my favorite weekend indulgences is to go yard sale-ing. When we lived in San Diego, my friend and I used to go all the time. Since moving to Virginia, um over EIGHT years ago, I stopped cold turkey. Not sure why. Maybe it just didn't seem the same without my partner-in-yard-sale-ing-crime. Maybe it's because I had two kids. Maybe it's because I never met an old chair I couldn't live without, and BSD would have shot me if I brought home one more stray wing back.

Lately, the whole family has been bitten by the yard sale bug. And I couldn't be more excited. Those old dormant feelings are stirring. As long as the sale is in our little neighborhood everyone is ready to roll bright and early. If it requires actually driving the car, BSD is not interested. Better that way, I guess. Then he can't give me stink eye as I'm off in the corner petting an old dresser, wondering how I can stuff it into the back of the car.

Since it's hard to sneak tables into the house without BSD noticing, I've been trying to curb my furniture fetish. Instead, I've been hunting for little oddities for the garden or accessories for the house. Some weekends have been epic while others have been complete duds. The thrill of the hunt is definitely an addiction. Kind of like my weekly visits to HomeGoods, only much easier on the wallet.  

So far, my absolute favorite yard sale find has been this old, craggy fish ashtray that I snagged for $1. At least, I think he's an ashtray. Whatever he is, he makes my heart sing. I think he could be a long-lost cousin of my new whale butter dish. 

I planned to hang him up somewhere in the yard, but he needs to be part of a grouping that hasn't presented itself to me yet. Maybe after a few more yard sales, he'll have some friends to hang with. For now, he's found a home at the end of the gravel path that leads to our back yard. Every time I stroll down the path and spot him, I can't help but grin.

What about you? Do you like to yard sale? Any favorite finds that make you giddy?