Thrifted Artwork

We had this great antique and thrift store right by our house that I always loved going to.  Unfortunately now Walgreens has decided that they need to have a presence right there (which even more annoyingly is literally next door to a CVS) and so my beloved shop has disappeared.  I had been eyeing these colorful, hand drawn images for some time.  My husband and I happened to stop by the store when they were having their going out of business sale and I saw that the art pieces I loved were not only still there but they were marked down to $2 each.  To top it off, my husband liked them.  Can we say SOLD?

I quickly snatched them up and then took them to my framer for ideas.  Originally I thought that I would get all new frames, mats, glass, etc. but the frames were actually in decent shape and I liked the antiqued look they had rather than something new and perfect.  The pictures themselves are antiqued so I liked the frames they had.  (Plus, I'll be honest: keeping the original frames saved me hundreds of bucks.)

Here they are in their original state:

So, all that was required were some new mats and I went ahead and got new glass just since the old glass was pretty dirty.  Individually they are really cool but I love seeing them all together.

I wish I knew more about their origins.  They are definitely hand drawn in ink and then hand colored.

They are currently residing in my bathroom which is NOT the ideal spot for them but I'm a little tight on wall space in my tiny house.  I can see these being displayed awesomely (yes, that is a word to me) down the road one day...

#thriftedart

Fiesta Pork Chops

I'm baaaaack.  Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I have no excuse really but it seems that maybe my creative juices took a vacation because I've not been crafting, knitting, needlepointing, blogging or much or anything fun these days.  I am still totally addicted to Pinterest but even that makes me feel kind of guilty just collecting thousands (and yes, I mean thousands) of pins and not really executing any of them.  So, today, I am getting off my butt and executing one...Fiesta Pork Chops.  It took a few minutes to assemble it but it was super easy and definitely workable for a week night.

What You'll Need:

6 pork chops (boneless chops about 1/2 - 1 inch thick)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilis
1 (1 oz) packet taco seasoning
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 cup onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I used a sharp cheddar mix)

What You'll Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat and brown pork chops (about 2-3 minutes each side, turning once).

Spray a 13x9" baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour the chicken broth, tomato sauce, green chilis, taco seasoning, uncooked rice, and onion; mix together until completely incorporated. 

Place the pork chops on top of the rice mixture and top with the green and red peppers. Cover with aluminum foil and cook for about 60 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Remove from oven and top with cheese. Let the cheese melt.

Pretty simple.  Enjoy!

Recipe slightly modified from here.