Thrift Store Finds

Last Sunday, I had a chance to go thrifting. When I saw two rolls of aida fabric and blank thank you cards at a Goodwill store, I got an idea for cute Christmas cards. I am going to cross-stitch white or pale blue snowflakes on dark blue or purple aida fabric. Then I will glue the designs to those blank cards and voila!

The two rolls of aida fabric and a box of fifty cards with envelopes were less than three dollars.







I also bought several books. One of them was this beautiful book with lots of cross-stitching designs. It was only two dollars and forty-nine cents.

Another great book that I bought was Tennyson’s Poems. When I opened it and saw the year it was published, I was astonished - 1870!

I'm linking to Thrifty Things Friday link part at The Thrifty Groove

Blueberry Coffee Cake

I made this coffee cake last week when I had girl friends over for tea. It was a big success.



The recipe is quite simple.

1/2 cup butter
1 1/3 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups blueberries

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 by 13 inch pan. Sift together 4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter and 1 1/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated. Stir in blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. In a small bowl, combine 2/3 cup flour and 2/3 cup sugar. Cut in 6 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over top of batter.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

I'm linking this recipe to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Getting Ready for the Big Trip

I am very excited as this September, my husband and I are traveling to Europe. We are going to visit three countries – France, Poland, and my native Ukraine!

Traveling and visiting new places is lots of fun! Visiting family and friends who live overseas is so exciting! But one thing that I am not looking forward to is packing!

That task can be quite overwhelming. While I still have several weeks before my trip, I should start working on it.

The first thing would be to buy a good quality luggage. But there are so many possibilities that this along is a big challenge.





Should I buy a hard or soft one? A hard one wouldn’t get wet and will be easier to clean. But a soft one wouldn’t scratch and should be lighter in weight.

The issue of weight is important. Many airlines have restrictions on luggage weight. So my suitcase should be light but at the same time sturdy.



The choice of color/pattern is not that essential, but since I want my suitcase to serve me for many years, I should go with a classical one. Bright colors are in fashion now, so a bright yellow suitcase, for example, would look chic and stylish this summer (and perhaps the next one) but in a couple of years it won’t.

I started window shopping for my luggage, but I will wait until the end of August to actually buy one. I hope there will be end-of-summer sales.

All the pictures in this post are from Oldrids and Downtown website.