Author: thefunkyfrugalista

I live in a cozy old home in the Piney Woods of east Texas. This is my journal Follow me on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/stacy.kappelmanbruce Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefunkyfrugalista

Sweet.

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

Today several sweet things happened. I made strawberry cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting.

i made our favorite drink – sweet tea. If you live in the South, this is a must have, always, in the fridge. Homemade is best. This is how I make it and it’s fool proof.

Bring about 6 cups of water to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. Sounds strange, but it takes any bitterness away. Add 10 small tea bags of black tea. Let steep for 30 minutes. Remove tea bags and add 1 1/2 cups sugar. Give it a good whisk and then pour it into a gallon container and fill the rest up with water. Y’all, it’s so good.

We also found this treat at Aldi. It was surprisingly good. I mean it’s not Kumori, but it’ll do in a pinch.

i also made a sweet little side table for our vintage glider. I’ve looked for one, but nothing suited what I wanted. I used a marble table top from my childhood home and a plant stand that I had lying around. It’s the perfect height and cost nothing.

Please ignore the chicken pen, that’s STILL in our living room. They’re growing like crazy. Only a few more weeks until they can go outside.

Since it’s officially Halloween month we’ve been watching spooky movies. I do love Halloween.

Drug Emporium

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We have this wonderful store right selling the corner from our home. One half is drug emporium and the other half is Vitamins Plus. Today I picked up these.

They are so good! Next we need to try the salted caramel.

i also picked up dune socks for Jackson because they have some really fun designs, are well made and less than four dollars.

it’s such an old fashioned store where nothing is scanned but keyed in by hand. They carry my Mad Hippie face products and my favorite zum products also, at a much better price point than any other place around. There’s also Jeff, who works in the vitamins plus side, who knows everything about everything and is such a great help to all the customers. If you have one of these stores in your town you really should visit it.

i also forgot that I bought this cute little chickadee hand painted on wood by Jerri when we went through yesterday. I don’t know why Jerri is, but it makes me sad to see a piece of art that someone has taken the time to paint end up at a thrift store. She’s found her home now.

my walls are white. No idea why they look yellow in this picture

Muffins + Thrift date

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This morning when I woke up I decided to make donut muffins. They are so good, not too sweet and easy to make.

I had completely forgotten that I bought these Halloween baking cups last year. What a perfect time to find them.

Here’s the recipe. I have it saved to one of my pinterist boards, so I can’t take the credit for it.

Since Hannah had to be at work by 11 and Jackson and I hadn’t had our weekly thrift day due to sickness in the house, he went with me to drop her off so we could go to our 3 favorites that we always go to. The first one was kind of a bust. I only found 2 books, Where the Crawdads Sing (I loved the movie so I definitely wanted to read the book) and another one that I can’t remember right this second.

At the second one, which is my favorite, I found a vintage Streams in the Desert book. I had the newer version but for some reason I can’t find it anywhere. I have no idea where it’s gone. I actually like the cover of this 1980 version so much better. I’ve never read a Dominick Dunne book so I picked up People Like Us.

And I found this moon. I have absolutely no idea where I’m going to hang it. Maybe the bathroom, but I couldn’t pass it up for the price. I think it’s pretty cool.

When we went to checkout there was a prize wheel you could spin. Jackson spun it and we got 30% off our purchase, so everything was super cheap!

At our last one they were having 25% off everything in the store. I found this vintage Warren Kimble cow frame. I went through my old family photos and found a picture that exactly fit the frame. I guess it was meant to be.

We don’t always buy a lot, sometimes nothing, but it’s just a fun time spent with my son.

Does anyone remember the discontinued Hamburger Helper Rice Oriental? I have had the copycat recipe pinned for a while. It was one of my favorites back in the day. To me, it’s comfort food. I’m going to share the recipe in case you want to relive the goodness of Hamburger Helper.

I used unsalted butter and added about 3 Tablespoons of soy sauce. My kids really liked it too so that’s a win.

Fri-yay

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i had to get up and get thing early for my annual doctor’s appointment. During the summer I hardly ever wear my hair down because it’s just so hot. Today the morning started off cool so I actually blow dried my hair and wore jeans and a 3/4 length sleeve shirt. And I was wrong. It was so hot waiting to be called back that I was hoping the other waiting patients didn’t think I was stroking out because I sweating. Really sweating.

Not a cloud in the sky and just look at that sun.

Donny was off today and surprised me with breakfast when I got home.

This delicious creation, from Panera Bread, is a croissant souffle with spinach and artichokes. It was so good. I wish I could figure out how to replicate it.

We had to make a quick run to Drug Emporium and this greeted us when we walked in.

They taste just like Buc-ees Beaver Nuggets! The Drug Emporium ones have more flavors than Buc-ees and they aren’t as sweet, which I prefer. I can’t wait to try the cinnamon ones. Go Drug Emporium!

We also got the cover on the greenhouse. We still have a lot to do in the backyard, but with the temperatures in the high 90’s we got as much done as we could.

And because we are still getting over this virus that’s been going around, Donny surprised me again by ordering us some chicken fried steaks from Jucy’s. Probably the best meal around.

Now we’re full and sleepy. Time to relax and watch a movie. I’m ready for the weekend.

Estate Sales Date

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Just about every Thursday, if there is an estate sale, we’re there. Today there were 2. The first one was at a gorgeous home. While we were walking around looking at everything we met the owner’s sister. This was here dream home and she lived in it a little over a year before she passed away from cancer a few years ago. Her husband just couldn’t see living in this big house by himself so he moved to a smaller place and it’s going on the market next week.

It’s hard to tell from this picture, but this house is HUGE and the grounds are just beautiful.

This tree had the prettiest flowers.

We met up with the sister in the backyard. She showed us where the vegetable garden was and how her sister used to have plants all around the pond. I can only imagine how beautiful it looked.

I hope whoever buys the house restores it to its former glory.

Because this was the second day of the sale there wasn’t a whole lot left. I saw this cute Santa made our of tree bark and these vintage TV trays that were super cute.

I found a Harlan Coben book and Donny found a combination hoe weed puller. While I was waiting for him at the checkout table I saw this cool little eye rug that was almost brand new and was only $2.

Donny walks through every sale like this. I guess it is a safe way not to break anything.

We headed to the second one and didn’t really see anything that we thought we couldn’t live without except this vintage oak glider rocker. They wanted $150 for it. Although I loved it, I couldn’t justify paying that.

It was yellow (my favorite color). It was well made. It was so comfortable.

This evening Donny and I had to run to pick up some supplements and afterwards he said, “what do you want to do now?”. I told him we should just go by the estate sale to see, if by chance, the glider was still there. At 5 everything goes to half price. It was almost 6, so I knew we’d probably be out of luck.

When we got there we saw it and while Donny helped a couple carry out a dining room table and chairs I bought it. I’m not exactly sure where it’s going yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I’m so thankful that Donny likes the same things I do, well most of the time.

And our 3 legged cat Tommy is deathly afraid of the vacuum and when I got it out of the laundry room, ran and pretended like he was dead underneath my car.

Burning Man

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The best thing today is that it’s almost over. Today was hard and I’m ready to go to bed. I was warned that the inflatable I was working on today had been in sand. The owner told me it was at the dump in Tyler. I thought he was using a euphemism. No, it was at the dump at a party for the sanitation workers.

It turns out it wasn’t sand but a very fine alkaline dust. If you know about burning man, it was like what I’ve heard playa dust is. It didn’t want to come off and it was everywhere. It’s also one of the hardest bounce houses there is to clean. It’s 3 rooms with pylons that whack you in the head and a tunnel that is definitely made for small children’s bodies. It took over 3 hours and I took a vinegar shower after because my skin felt like it was shriveling off my body. There are official names for each inflatable, but I give them my own special ones. This one is now officially called burning man.

i am so tired, but I’m off until Tuesday so tomorrow I’ll hit the ground running.

Homesick + Home Tour

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Today I was tired. I went to work for the first time in 6 days. When I got home there was so much that needed to be done. My kitchen was still in disarray because I still needed to paint the wall that was repaired. I had groceries to put up and move the bakers rack back in with all that entailed. The chick pen that is still in the living room needed to be cleaned out. It’s days like these that I miss our house in Baton Rouge.The square footage was only about 100 more than where we are now, but it had so much storage and vaulted ceilings and I really loved it. It was actually the 3rd home that Donny and I have bought and sold during our marriage and it’s my favorite. It’s the smallest and the one that needed the most work, but when I saw it on Zillow that Sunday morning, I just knew that it was the one for us.

I don’t think I’ve ever put an actual house tour of that house on here. I tried to find the before pics, but I can’t find them anywhere. We knew when we bought it that we were going to remodel eventually, we just didn’t expect it to be all at once when our whole neighborhood took on over 4 feet of water. Here is our sweet little home on Holly Street.

Our plan was to paint the brick a charcoal color.

Walking in the front door.

The sliders led out to a little patio.

We completely reconfigured the kitchen. When we bought the house it was a galley style. We kept the upper cabinets, but had to replace all of the lower ones. We did the work ourselves and because we were on a budget we used wood for our countertops which I loved. The island was just a high table that FEMA gave all of the flood victims. I stained it and added the distressed wood to the front.

I found this navy blue oops paint that was perfect for this small area.

This main bathroom.

Our main bedroom. The home is 3 BR 1.5 Bath. The french doors led out to the covered patio. The carpet in all the bedrooms are carpet tiles that I laid myself.

And one of the main reasons we bought this home was the backyard.

Home is where the heart is and we are very happy where we live now, but this house held so many really good memories for us and sometimes I still have homesickness pangs for this sweet little home.

The Wall

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The best thing that happened today was our leak was fixed and the wall got put back together. I just need to repaint the area tomorrow. They also found out that the pipe was going uphill instead of downhill so I guess something good did come out of it. Old houses, gotta love ’em.

i need to find a place for these cuties. I’ve had them stored in the shed. I got them last year at our neighborhood grocery store, after Halloween, for 90% off and have been looking forward to finally get to use them.

And here’s disco ghost or seizure causing ghost, whichever. I didn’t realize it was going to flash different colors like it does. Sorry, you only get the purple, but I’ve saved you from a seizure so there’s that.

it’s actually much cuter in person 🤣 Sorta.

Sunday.

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Today I woke up knowing exactly what was on my to do list. I was going to steam clean the rugs, touch up the paint in the bathroom, start on the Halloween decorations and finish up the laundry. I had deep cleaned the bathroom the day before and had noticed that there was some water marks on the baseboards behind the toilet and next to the vanity. It seemed dry. It wasn’t. I ran the sink to see if any water came out onto the floor. It did. I don’t know why these things always happen on a Sunday. We rent our home and our landlords live 5 streets away. I immediately texted them and they were over in less than an hour. The easiest access to the leak was from the kitchen. This is how my kitchen looked.

You can see the water damage. Luckily the pipe is just dripping. they will be back tomorrow at 8 to cut open the wall all the way to fix it.

I had to move everything out because our kitchen is small and they need all the room to gain access.

It feels so empty and not like my home. When we were looking for a house to rent, it was smack in the middle of quarantine. Our lease was up at our other house and although it was twice the size there were problems with it starting to pile up. They were also raising the rent quite a bit. We just didn’t really like the house. We started looking and we found only 2 that were in the right school district. The first one was already rented so we came to see this one. There were no pictures of the outside and when we drove up we knew why. It was just a plain box. No landscaping and the whole house was white with chipped grey shutters.

When we walked in and both Donny and I looked at each other and said nope this isn’t going to work. It was small, half the size of what we were coming from, but the backyard was huge. There was only one bathroom, but everything had been very well maintained. There was carpet. Everywhere. And not pretty carpet either. Then we talked to the landlords. They were just so nice. They don’t ever raise the rent once you move in. Ever. And the price was less than most one bedroom apartments. They said we could put in flower beds and I could paint the front door and shutters. The only stipulation was that she didn’t want me painting the walls. They had been freshly done, in white, and I loved it. So that’s how we got here and we’ve been here for 3 and a half years.

I just covered the carpet with rugs. Lots of rugs. Now all clean rugs because I did manage to steam clean them today.

Cute runner I ordered off Wayfair.

Woven leather rug we got 90% off from Ashley and a vintage wool rug I got for $30 at an estate sale. The leather one is super hard to take care of though. You can’t use the vacuum on it. I have to use the brush attachment, but it was such a great deal I don’t mind.

I did get some of my Halloween decorations up outside. Yes, they are super cheesy, but the kids still like them because we’ve had them for years. We used to have 3 tombstones, but one blew away last year. We just make it work, cheesy or not, but most of the time cheesy wins.

I do love Halloween!

Thrift Style

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Most of my home is thrifted. I love estate sales and thrift stores. I like that I have things in my home that no one else has. I fill my walls with things I love. I am running out of room, but that doesn’t stop me.

Some of the more recent things I’ve purchased I was able to hang up today. I think my favorite is the antique frame with the hand drawn daisies. I found it in the garage of the last estate sale we went to. The woman was an artist and had some amazing pieces, but this little picture was just sitting in the dusty garage. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it because it was just too pretty to be sitting by itself away from all the other paintings and drawings. I guess whoever set the sale up deemed it not special enough because they only priced it at a dollar. Thank you L. Richards, I will appreciate your drawing of one of my favorite flowers.

It has found a home next to my vintage clown head. Another thing is, I love clowns. No hate please. LOL

I also painted the frames that hold our antique sheet music that we found In Gladewater at an antique store that was going out of business. I had originally painted the frames grey, but all of our frames are either black or wood, so I decided that black was just more cohesive and it made everything come together.

I guess you could call me a maximalist.

The vintage Mexican pottery also found a new home on our shelving unit.

I repainted the little terra cotta moon I picked up recently because for some reason it just seemed flat and you couldn’t really see face. I used my go to favorite go to paint , Tuscan Sun. I very rarely use word signs , but I just really loved this one. The cross in the middle is from the same estate sale.

Now it’s late, well for me. We’re going to get cozy and watch the final episode of Shelter.

If you are wondering what that cylinder thing is, it’s my bongo.

Also, one last thing. Donny got the frame up for the greenhouse, but it was so dang windy yesterday the cover is going to have to wait a few days.

Yes, those are kiddie pools. They make good, cheap planters and we have used them for years.