Decorating your home and life the thrifty + fabulous way
Sometimes a piece of furniture comes your way and it takes a while to decide what to do with it.
Should I re-stain it, maybe a darker cooler color like a walnut?
Should I white-wash it and put new, fun knobs on it?
But this dresser had it’s destiny before it became mine. [Read more…]
I cannot tell you how beyond excited I am about how our Outdoor Living Room turned out!!
Enter a squeal and a giant happy dance, and that is a start.
This space has been a project that has evolved over the span of three summers, and each summer we have accomplished a bit more.
But this year was more of the frosting on the cake, the super fun decorating part.
With life and bills and budgets, I knew I could not lose my ever loving mind out here and spend a small fortune on everything new.
And I really didn’t want to, I wanted our covered patio to have a warm eclectic vibe like the inside of our house. And I didn’t want it to look like a showroom floor at our local outdoor furniture store.
Trust me, at times I wanted to as the weeks went on and I didn’t think the time spent scouring our local thrift stores and a neighborhood curbside find would happen and payoff. The patience, elbow grease and some paint paid off! [Read more…]
Well I wish I had a better reason than just being plain old crazy busy that this project has taken FOREVER to share….
but it’s here in your inbox now and I can’t wait to show you how EASY this was!!
I have had this piece of wood, which is actually a painted shelf that went in an old entertainment center on my mind for weeks.
I have used it in a variety of ways around my house, but I kept thinking that a giant watercolor feather would look amazing.
Having said that, and not being a trained painter by any stretch (literally, stick figures are pushing my drawing talent for real!)
I was not really sure where to begin to get the gorgeous feather I wanted.
Our style (there really isn’t one so it’s funny to use the word “style” ha!) is a mix of Farmhouse, Bohemian, and stuff-I-like finds and DIY’s
all seem to come together.
Until I get a wild hair and decide to switch it all up and move things around, and paint, and drive my family crazy during the oh my gosh Mom has lost it and is pulling furniture all over the place and we are concerned (CREATIVE) process. [Read more…]
click here to begin slaying it with your free printable
The balancing act of life/work/family/kids/money/and-everything-else has admittedly felt overwhelming to me many times.
More than I would like to admit.
But this is a keep it real zone and to pretend that I get up every day and feel like a rock star could not be further from reality.
I know I can’t do it all, at least on my own. And to be honest the weight of thinking that I have to do everything effortlessly and flawlessly is just too much.
Enter…grace.
Grace to be imperfect, and very human.
Grace is sufficient, and will help me see my humanity, and have grace with others as we bump into each other having a human experience.
And we get to encourage each other. I didn’t think writing a crafty DIY blog with my recipes and thrifty ideas would allow other people to be themselves and feel ok about having one clean room in their home. Or one hot meal on the table that week.
There was a season I became very quiet on this space, where I didn’t have the energy to write, and my heart was heavy with fear. [Read more…]
Oh yeah….
It’s about to get really cheesy up in here.
And…
Gluten free y’all!
I LOVE THIS RECIPE, there I did my all caps and freaked out a teeny bit about how super easy and kid friendly this skillet dinner is.
I love pasta, but pasta does not always love me back so much. So I use gluten free pasta, and make something sensitive tummies and hard-core-wheat-tummies can eat too.
This is a 30 minutes or less recipe and there were no traces of this cheesy goodness on my family’s plates when we finished.
That is always a good sign right?
We almost missed this huge lantern when thrifting recently.
There it sat, super dirty and full of cobwebs, looking sad and sitting on the dusty floor of our local thrift shop.
It was the price tag that got out attention, $6.99 at Goodwill for a huge metal and glass lantern that is screaming for a makeover. For a minute I wondered if this was a joke because this was a seriously good deal. This beauty is over 24″ tall and did she land in our cart fast, as we discussed what her new life was going to look like.
Here is the before…..EW. [Read more…]
I am probably a bit of a cleaning nerd but I like to clean.
Well, more the enjoyment over the end result perhaps than the process itself.
This last weekend I took full advantage of the 3 day weekend and did some serious deep cleaning in our home.
Lifting a layer of winter dirt and grime (and it never ceases to amaze me how bad it really is lol!) makes my house sparkle and my heart happy as I put my feet up and enjoy the end result.
This year I used a combination of store bought items and homemade cleaning supplies too. [Read more…]
Even before breaking up with gluten six years ago, I had tried numerous times to create a crispy and sweet version of one of my restaurant faves.
Each time it was ok, the sauce was pretty good but the chicken pieces were kind of……meh.
Not great and I would eat it of course but not be thrilled.
UNTIL NOW Y’ALL!
Since making this a few weeks ago the fam has requested it over and over.
So I have had to get creative and use BBQ dipping sauce and a few other things to make this crew of chicken fans happy. [Read more…]
We have had a long winter for the Pacific Northwest, and I don’t know about you, but I am SO ready for Spring.
Everything coming to life, longer days, more sun and those first signs of blooms, little buds on the trees and beautiful blooms saying hello after so many months of being tucked away in the cold.
We have been noticing our days are a bit longer and enjoying a bit more daylight after 5pm than in weeks prior, another sign Spring surely can’t be too far behind.
I wanted to make something that was bright and pretty for my kitchen (but I will probably move it 10 more times) and as I looked at what I had on hand I found pretty pale orange, white and peach blooms along with a pretty green-blue ribbon I have had for a while.
I wasn’t sure what to use for a container and since we recycle and reuse much of what we buy I saw these two cans and thought they would make perfect vases.
A bit of flat white spray paint, some hot glue to secure the ribbon on the back of each can, and some moss tucked down to hold the flowers in place. [Read more…]
I am SO excited to share this quick and easy before and after with you today.
Sometimes a dramatic change is simple and does not involve any fancy tools or lengthy amounts of time to complete.
And sometimes…
With a little paint, and some dry time…
A beautiful swan emerges from a dark old piece of furniture that is tired and in need of a refresh.
I found this wooden plant stand/garden stool piece for $9.99 at a little thrift store locally that I have not been to before.
It was nice and solid and initially I thought I would make a padded seat for the top, I love the direction it went once the paint began to dry.
Admittedly, I do paint a lot of things white. But with grey walls and our larger pieces of furniture being fairly dark, a fresh, crisp white gives a space a whole new feel.
I love this Chalky Finish spray paint by Krylon. I used less than one can and it covered over this dark wood very well. [Read more…]
