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Bathroom Art On A $10 Budget

Posted by sew4tejhtr6ier Kamis, 07 November 2013 0 komentar

This bathroom makeover is on an extremely small budget, which means I'm going to need extremely small budget art. Sometimes you have to be a little clever and do a lot of mixing and matching to get your desired effect on a minimal budget.

Cheap Frames
I picked up some cheap frames from Walmart. Yep, let's call it what it is...cheap, not just inexpensive, cheap. The set of 3 identical gold frames aren't even painted wood, just some mdf wrapped in printed paper, and it didn't even come with glass or a backing. Of course, they came in the golden hue I was looking for, and I couldn't beat the price at a $1.97 each.
So how do you create an art arrangement without glass or backings? Well, I made a visit to my local Goodwill and picked up a few really ugly framed art for 50 cents each in the same general size as my Walmart frames! Sneaky huh? I now have glass, mattes, and backing for my new frames. It doesn't even need to fit exactly, see the tiny gap? It doesn't seem to make a difference once the tabs from the Walmart frames are pushed down.

I was pretty thrilled to find two other (much nicer) frames for 50 cents each (yay for half price day!)...I love Goodwill!

Making It Pretty
Bring some quality to your art with the little things. Matte for one, a double matte always looks more professional than a single layer. I salvaged a few black and off white mattes to pair with the ones I got from the Goodwill pictures.

Don't stop there! Thrifted frames can often use a little something-something, like spray paint, or super glued bling! *grin* I used a few braces to style the painted vanity in this bathroom, and I wanted to repeat it in another area of the room. I think it would have made an even greater impact with gold braces on a black frame...but since we are going for gold on gold in this bathroom...

With this frame, I sprayed it gold then rubbed it with some gel stain. A final coat of clear protective spray, it was ready for its debut! In the next post I'll share how I turned it into a hair clip holder!

Free Prints
Maybe it's just me, but I seem to have horrible luck when it comes to finding great art. I sift through Etsy, then get scared off by the idea of paying $20+ per print. Not that there aren't rooms I want high quality art in, but let's be realistic...when you crack open some pretty framed print you found for $50 at a home decor store, you might be surprised to find a flimsy piece of paper that has been printed on, and often a matte with a painted rim made to appear that it has been double matted! It gets me every time!
Sometimes you can find lovely prints that are public domain online. I decided for this project to only use prints from a great website called Vintage Printable. Here are links to all the prints I used (and a few I considered)!

Home Printer vs. Professional Printers

You can easily print these pictures from home, but if you don't have a special photo quality printer, you might want to save your ink and take them to your local office store. Of course, it depends on the print... prints with a lot of black or dark colors seem to do better printed from a professional printer, as do prints of photos. However, if you like the muted colors and it is a print of a painting, you might prefer to save your pennies and print from home. I started by printing mine out at home, but took three prints to Staples to preserve the dark hues and get a smoother print.

Testing The Arrangement
I like to hang my frames before deciding which print will go where. Sometimes you get them up there and aren't thrilled with the compilation. Use a little painters tape (or regular tape at the very edge) to see the grouping and figure out what you like.

My first take... I really liked the butterfly, but it didn't make the cut after adding a matte. Two others were also cut, while others where simply moved around until they complimented each other properly.

Some people consider art the icing on the cake, the cherry on top, the finishing touch. Well, I may not be finished with my bathroom makeover, but sometimes the art helps set the style and tone of the space and needs to come just before extra decorative touches.

Project Cost Breakdown

Walmart frames: 3 @ 1.97 ea. = $5.91
Goodwill pictures (frames, mattes, & glass): 5 @ 50 cents ea. = $2.50
Staples prints: 3 @ 49 cents ea. = $1.47 (minus my Staples reward = $0)
3 extra mattes: Salvaged from old photos I already owned and hated = $0

Not too bad for an under $10 project right?

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Pretty Magnets & Push Pins

Posted by sew4tejhtr6ier Rabu, 14 Agustus 2013 0 komentar

What is the point of creating a beautiful pin & magnetic board if the pins and magnets are ugly?
A few days ago I showed you how to make a half-pin half-magnetic board (read about it here), and today I'm sharing how I made cute push pins and magnets to compliment the new board.

Making Lovely Magnets & Push Pins
I found some lovely clips at Michaels and had to have them for the pin/magnetic board!
They were the perfect variety of sizes for stick-on magnets, tacks, or push pins. I simple bent and broke the back clips. Other options I considered were buttons, jewelry, and scrapbook stickables...I found these first and was enticed at the final price of $1.

A bit of superglue was all it took to adhere the push pins and tacks. Because the clips fit so snugly over top of the pins and magnets it made for a sturdy seal. I haven't had any problems with them popping off.

I purchased round magnets that have a peel and place backing to it...so they did not require glue. And presto, I have a lovely variety of magnets and pins!

MAGNETS: My daughter loves these magnets. She is able to display pictures and other items she doesn't want pin holes ruining. Call me biased or a proud mama, but isn't my 7 year old's superhero drawing stink'in awesome!

PUSH PINS: Flat headed tacks are my favorite, but I thought it was a good idea to give a variety of push pins a makeover. After all, tacks are easy to hide behind an attractive clip, but push pins are more practical for little fingers to pull out easier.

Nothing is more attractive (or more useful) than a pretty pin & magnetic board with pretty pins and magnets!
I did happen to find a jeweled set of tacks to compliment the ones I made, but I love the design and diversity of the DIY ones so much more.

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Must Stop Shops For Frugal Decorating

Posted by sew4tejhtr6ier Selasa, 30 Juli 2013 0 komentar

When you are decorating on pennies like I am, you rely on hand-me-down furniture, and great discount shopping sources!
I know I tend to rejoice over those ridiculously discounted finds in my posts, and I've gotten quite a few emails and comments asking "where did you get it?" and "how can I find it at that price?"! *grin* I always use to hate it when someone else seemed to get these great finds and I couldn't catch a break! I figured I had bad luck... turns out I just didn't have the 411 on where to get those "fantastic finds". Now I'm reveling in my new found "good luck", and I thought it was time to pass it on!
In my last post "Barely Budget Decorating" I shared my tricks to frugal decorating, but I thought I should give you a few more details on how to find that must stop shop to aid in that endeavor.

Used & Vintage Goods
We all know the perks of a great garage sale, estate sale, or thrift shop. But what about other shops that may not fall under the google search "thrift stores". To start, broaden your internet search to key words like "resale shops", "consignment" + " furniture", "vintage" + "home goods", etc.
The difficulty is that these small businesses often do not have a very large online presence (if any at all), which often makes them hard to find, and you will have to visit to see how good the shop is.

A great example of a center that sells great goods at great prices is the Habitat for Humanity Restore! ReStores can be found all over the U.S. and in Canada, click here to find one near you.

ReStores are a DIY'ers dream! Not only do you find used furniture there, but they often carry old doors & windows for projects, closet systems, building materials & paint, cabinets & hardware, and many many other home goods!

New Home Goods
I love a great home goods store, but lest you think you are getting their rock bottom prices during sales, think again. Often stores like Marshalls, Kohls, Ross, Target, and more, will hand their unsold items over to an outlet, warehouse, or discount center where you can find the same new good for a fraction of the sale cost.

One great example is an awesome discount center a friend introduced to me not far from my mother-in law. Every holiday season that we visit, I reserve one afternoon to make a run over to the Frese Discount Center in Dowagiac Michigan. Moral of the story, when you can't find that great discount store nearby, just hit one up when visiting your friends and relatives! *grin*
The Frese Discount Center gets quite a bit of goods from Target (one of my favorite stores for home goods!), and they slash the original price (even store sale tag prices) in half! Can it get better? YES! They are great about "haggling" and often mark or round it down even lower at the cash register!

Just a few (of the many) fantastic items I've found at Frese at a fraction of the original cost.

I hope you are convinced to look for your own local "must stop shops" and keep your money where it belongs...in the bank!

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Barely Budget Decorating

Posted by sew4tejhtr6ier Kamis, 25 Juli 2013 0 komentar

The biggest expenditure I have ever made on any one item in my house is the washer/dryer because it was a necessary evil, but besides the necessary appliances, I would have to say it is the $80 I spent for my daughters twin sized mattress, a close second is the $60 I spent on a couch. To say we are frugal may be the understatement of the year. When you add my husband's impossibly practical cheapness and his lack of decor savvy to my frugality, you have basically end up with no decor budget. Of course, our priorities are paying off our house by the time we turn 32, having college funds for our 3 kids, and we've spent the last 9 years of our marriage paying off college and cars so we could be completely debt free. These goals have been much more important than purchasing new furniture when hand-me-downs suffice, or putting money into purely decorative items. So yes, for the past 9 years I have been lucky to spend $30 per month on household goods, and I choose to live with hand-me-downs, mismatched dishes I scored off of freecycle, and do without many niceties.
That being said, I ADORE a beautifully decorated and organized space more than most. So finding the pennies to create my dream home is an ongoing challenge I am willing to work hard to achieve. How am I doing it? Slowly and carefully, pinching every single penny along the way. *grin*
That's what this blog has been about, creating a beautiful house little by little...patiently growing a home.

Here is my key to decorating on a non-existent budget...

Thrifty Shopping
I'm always excited when I find a consistently good thrift shop. However, thrifting isn't the only answer. Often you can find a discount center or warehouse that will sell brand new items at a fraction of the original cost! But I'll tell you more about that in the next post... click here to read.
Then of course there are methods to get discounts at the dream stores themselves: such as signing up for floor (display) models, shopping discount aisles & racks, using discount codes & coupons, price matching, and more depending on the policies of that store. It is still a pretty penny (at least where my budget stands), but for those big ticket items it is worth the wait to invest in a sturdy as well as lovely piece of furniture. Lol! I'll let you know when I finally get one of those!

Couponing for Decor & DIY
I am such a huge advocate of couponing, and clearly not just for groceries! There are often printable coupons for many products I use for organizing and decorating. I have used brand coupons for paint, plastic storage, command strips, hardware brands, glassware, fabric, etc. etc. etc.

I recommend shopping at fabric/craft stores and hardware stores that accept competitors coupons. I recently bought a gallon of Martha Stewart (Glidden) paint from Home Depot on sale and used a 40% off coupon from Sherwin Williams! I also use Michaels store coupons that include sale prices at Jo-Ann Fabrics so that I can combine a coupon with Jo-Ann's sales. Jo-Ann Fabrics do produce their own coupons, but they exclude sales.
I do the same for organizational products at office supply stores such as Staples and Office Max. I wait to purchase until I have a coupon from them or from their competitors, then I use it on a sale or combine it with their rewards programs and coupons. You can find coupons in the Sunday papers, search online (codes, or printables), or by signing up for their rewards programs and store emails.

Here is the thing about couponing, or saving for that matter: When you are sticking to a budget, it isn't the total amount saved that counts, it is the total amount spent. Don't get excited that you saved 70% if it means you had to go into debt for it or blew the rest of your budget. I'm not saying there isn't a time or place to use your budget on one "investment" item, but that means you have to be willing to sacrifice and consider your spending done for that period, and fyi, this should never be the rule.

My favorite time of year for couponing is the Thanksgiving to Christmas season when stores such as Kohls mail out coupons for $10 off any $10 or more purchase. Every time they send me one of these, I score a nearly free item... just look for a $10 item and only pay tax! If you can combine these types of promotional gift-card coupons with sales or other coupons (when allowed) you can score expensive items nearly free. See that picture of the receipt at the beginning of this post? That was a nice white dish from Kohls I had been eyeing that cost $24.99. I waited for it to go on sale at 50%, then used my $10 promotional coupon. My final cost after taxes was $2.66.

Supplemental Money

Saving money is the obvious strategy when decorating, but not the only strategy! There are many reward programs that pay you to get bombarded by ads from their sponsors. My preferred program is MyPoints. They will give you points for every email/website you open, every search you do, shopping online, using their coupons, etc. Honestly, I do the bare minimum, things I ALREADY do... I use their search engine from time to time, and I print coupons for groceries...that's it, and amazingly I make enough points to redeem a $10-$25 gift card every 4 months or so. I get a few extra bucks to spend guilt free wherever I feel a whim, usually at my beloved Target. If I'm being diligent I save up my points and get a $50 gift card to some snazzy home goods store a few times a year. Let these gift cards do triple duty by combining them with coupons, and sales, and if you are smart about it, those $25 gift cards can get you $50+ worth of home goods!
There are other point based programs out there. I'd love to know if you have discovered one that works well for you.

Repurpose, Reuse, UpCycle!
I have a love-hate relationship with upcycling, more accurately an adore-despise relationship. When every major piece of furniture you own is either a hand-me-down, or found on the side of the road, you learn to adore upcycling, it becomes the saving grace to the ugly and mismatched. So while it is a lot of effort and creative energy to make the ugly amazing, it is well worth the effort! Sometimes you have to have a little vision and revamp something entirely, but other times all it takes a is a little sanding and paint!

I admit I'm a little shy about looking at someone's thrown away furniture sitting beside their trash can...but it is a shyness worth over coming! Not only have I found many wonderful pieces of furniture that just needed a little TLC, but occasionally I will stop and raid a piece of furniture only fit for the trash so I can salvage hardware from it. I also love Freecycle.org for scoring items to repurpose or salvage goods from without having to sit near someones trash can. It is a network made up of (your local) groups, where people post things they no longer want/need, or things they are looking for! It is fantastic!
I have also purchased thrift store items at a few dollars because it had really great castors (wheels which are really really expensive!), or to salvage the drawer gliders (also adds up when purchased from a hardware store).
Start a small collection of useful salvaged hardware (bolts, castors, gliders, pulls, etc.) so you can build or revamp things yourself. That will save you a huge wad of money!

DIY'ing
When push comes to shove, make it yourself! I may not have the skills for big building projects, but the way I figure it, after 10 years of trial and error I will become an expert. "I don't know how" just isn't a good excuse in this information age. My whole world opened up with websites and blogs, and online video tutorials that share all the how-to's! DIY'ing makes for a healthy hobby worthy of pursuit, and skills worthy of teaching your children.

Finally...
Remember that frugal decorating means patience. We won't get the same satisfaction of seeing a room go from ugly to amazing in a weekend. It will become a labor of love that may just take a while. I'm still waiting for all the elements to come together in...well almost every room. In the meantime I make do with what I have, and make it look its best!

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Under Bed Storage

Posted by sew4tejhtr6ier Minggu, 23 Desember 2012 0 komentar

My middle munchkin likes to keep her papers and projects in defined piles on the floor. Fine, at least she "organizes" her stuff (or something like that). In case you were wondering, why yes, yes I am twitching.
Of course, I want her to learn that a truly clean room means keeping her floors clear enough to vacuum. The solution was almost too simple, under bed storage bins. That way her items are still in the piles she loves so much, but now those stacks are more easily confined and out of the way for vacuum day.

New Use For Old Drawers
I am cheap, well let's say "frugal" it sounds better. So after dramatically grabbing my heart in the store aisle because of the outrageous prices of under bed canvas and plastic bins, I decided instead to "shop" my garage for past salvaged goods and see what I could make for my munchkin. Oh, by the way... when my friends want to know why I was on the side of the road salvaging old ugly drawers (and not even taking the broken base they came from), well let's just call it "creative vision". And don't worry, I'm a germ freak as well as a salvager... I'm still choking on the Lysol fumes.

The How

It was a very very easy process, just the way I like my projects. That is the best part of salvaged items, the work is already done for you, all that is left is to customize to your taste.
1. Sand, prime & paint: I admit I was a bit lazy and barely gave them a once over with some fine grit sandpaper. The drawer fronts were a glassy laminate finish, so that is what I focused my light sanding on. I used a spray paint to prime, since it is a laminate drawer. My favorite primer is Kilz brand, it hasn't failed me yet! Then I slapped on two coats of leftover white paint used on other pieces of furniture in the room (Behr brand "Bleached Linen" in a satin finish). I wasn't too concerned with covering up brush strokes, since I like a little texture.
2. Attach wheels or furniture gliders: Attaching wheels would have made the drawers too tall to fit under the bed, instead I attached furniture gliders so it would slide easily on the carpet. You can find nail-on gliders, adhesive gliders, or rubber adhesive strips which work wonders.
3. Attach handles or pulls: I considered using cute little drawer pulls, or even a white rope with a nautical tie. Since both options required a purchase, and I had already determined this would be strictly a "salvage" operation, I opted to use some leftover ribbon from gifting and use the same principle of the nautical rope. Drill a hole in the center, squeeze your ribbon through, then tie off the back and pull taut before tying off the front and clipping the extra ribbon. I didn't use any special type of knot, but doesn't it look kind of like a tie knot? If your little one is prone to "pick at" anything pretty and you want to prevent the ribbon from fraying, use a little super glue along the edges, or if the ribbon has a waxier base, you can simply singe the edges using a hot glue gun.
4. Enjoy the fruits of very little labor: Nice and easy, who could ask for less? Just make sure you leave the organizing to your munchkin. It encourages them to take responsibility and find pride in their work!

The Result
I think my munchkin did a fantastic job organizing her things! The other day I asked her how she liked her new under bed system, and again I explained "your things are literally a foot from where they were before, but isn't it so much tidier?". Her response, "and much prettier too mom!"....ahhh sweet victory!!

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Spice Cabinet

Posted by sew4tejhtr6ier Kamis, 04 Oktober 2012 0 komentar

I have the messiest spices in my cupboard. It's a good thing the insides are a natural wood color, because my turmeric would have made them yellow either way. My spice & seasoning storage has annoyed me for the last time! I can't find anything, I have spice redundancies, I tend to use the same three spices over and over, and when I attempt to purchase a new spice it slowly get's pushed to the back and into oblivion.

Solutions:

I have been eyeing some gorgeous modular containers. They are oh so wonderful, and I can't afford them. Oh sad longing, maybe one day I will be able to have a few in at least one cabinet or drawer of my house. In the meantime, it's the inexpensive solutions from Walmart and the Dollar Store that will have to be my best friends. I have been buying one or two container/spice jar every month for the past year, and I am glad to finally have most of my items stored away.

Large Seasoning Storage: There are the seasonings and spices you use for less than a handful of recipes, and then there are the ones you buy by the bagful and use in practically everything!
While they aren't modular containers, I like these inexpensive containers from Walmart. You can buy them for $2 and change, and they do the job. They are not dishwasher safe, but then again, how often are you going to have to wash them, spices last a while. I figure I can handle washing them by hand two-three times a year.
Notice the little yellow scoop in one of the containers? You know those scoops that come in the powdered baby formula you buy? Yeah, I'm glad I never threw any of them away! And they are dishwasher safe.

Medium Spice Storage: Oh happy dollar store day! I love these sugar storage jars, and who can beat them for a dollar? I love that when I need them I can easily grab and shake. Now, there are a couple spices I have stored in these jars that I don't use daily, and to ensure that they are sealed well for freshness, I cut a small square swatch of clear package tape to neatly seal the pour spout.

Small Spice Storage: Then there are those spices you use for one or two dishes, or those dishes you have ambitions to try, but haven't "gotten around" to cooking. You know what I'm talking about, we all have them. I needed some way to store these, and fortunately I discovered that Bed Bath & Beyond has small spice containers for a dollar. Unfortunately I also discovered about 50 other items I wanted much more badly while there, and another fantastic product won out over the spice containers. Sooooo, I pulled out another freebie from my maternity/baby days.

The hospital gave us several sealed packages of breast milk storage containers which we never used, and I kept sealed for years. Turns out they made the perfect small spice storage! They hold more than the containers I saw at Bed Bath & Beyond, but still had the small stature I needed!

Organizing my spice cabinet is an excellent time to
enrich & diversify our meals.
I firmly believe in exposing my kids to worldwide cuisine, why not broaden our family's horizons? Step one for me in attempting new dishes from various cultures and regions was to enrich my spice drawer, which did translate into some really wonderful new dishes! I was inspired to try my hand at a few Thai curries, some dishes from East India, and even a few Caribbean dishes! Now I have an ever increasing repertoire of deliciousity.
Keep in mind when choosing your spices/seasonings, that while many herbs & spices can have great nutrient value, others may be a stomach irritant. Start slowly and only introduce one or two new spices at a time. See what agrees with you and your family, and avoid those items that fight your system.

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