Decorate Your Home for Free-or Almost Free

March 5, 2024February 29, 2024Leave a comment

This post was from a couple of years ago, but it all still applies! It’s a new season, so it’s time for a refresh!

Good morning! I just had to show you pictures of our new floor in the living and dining rooms of our home. I’m so pleased with how it looks!! It’s exactly how I envisioned it! We still have the trim work to do and other small details, but it its moving along!

Today I thought I would share some ideas on how to decorate for little or no cost. When my girls were younger, we didn’t have much money for extras, so I had to get pretty creative. I loved making things to make my house feel homey. I still do a lot of the same things. There is no reason to spend lot of money when you can decorate for less!

Garage sales, yard sales, thrift stores

I still shop these sales!! This is such a great way to find new items for your home. Since you don’t spend a lot, it’s not so bad if you only use it for a little while. Thrift stores are my favorite. Goodwill gets new, returned merchandise from Target and have found some amazing pieces for half of the regular price. I think for me it’s the thrill of the hunt! You never know what you might find! I’ve been able to find home decor, dishes, throw blankets, quilts and so much more.

Finds and Fashions

Salvation Table

Craigslist, Facebook BuySellTrade, Auctions

I’ve been able to find some great items on these sites too. Craigslist, in my area, seems to be a little more expensive, but there are still plenty of items to choose from. We have a local online auction house and it’s so interesting to look through the items for sale. You never know what you might find. I always seem to find something I ‘need!’

A New Dresser…Finally

This is what we started with

Paint

Never shy away from something just because the color is wrong for your home! Paint to the rescue! I can’t even tell you how many items I have painted-furniture, dishes, frames, file cabinets, baskets, and on and on. You do have to spend a little money on paint, but it can transform a piece of furniture into a showpiece! And don’t forget about spray paint. My mom always laughs when I say, “Just spray paint it!”

Steps to Painting Farmhouse Chairs With a Brush

Robin Egg Blue Beachy File Cabinet

Blue and White Folding Chair Makeover

Springtime Concrete Painted Planter

Rattan Plate Holders

kitchen chair makeover painted cloud white

file cabinet makeover front drawer files and warrenties

folding chair makeover blue and white completed chair

Shop Your Own House

It’s amazing what we already have in our own homes! Think of new ways to use things. Books are a great way to add interest. You can either use the colorful spines or turn them backwards if you want a more neutral look. Baskets look good and work hard to corral little stuff. Painting different baskets the same color will give them a more cohesive look. Pitchers, jars, bottles, and pretty glasses all make nice vases.

How to Style Your Bookshelves

Pink, Blue, and Gold Party Tablescape

family room shelves, basket of old books

party tablescape blue pitcher with flowers

Bring the Outdoors In

Use plants in your yard to place in those pitchers, jars, bottles and pretty glasses. This is a great way to bring a touch of the different seasons into your home. You can use budding branches or fresh flowers in the spring, greenery in the summer, fall leaves and branches in the fall, and berries and pine in the winter. Fruits and vegetables can work grea

Beachy Dining Room Refresh

Green Black and White in the Dining Room

dining room refresh welcome flowers in bottles

Printables

You can find free printables all over the internet, especially on Pinterest. There are so many out there, for every season, occasion, decorating style and holiday. I have a couple of clipboards I use with gallery walls and then I can just change out the printable for different times of year. I have used many from The Cottage Market over the years. Please go take a look!

Use mementos and family heirlooms

Don’t forget those items you have picked up on family vacations or that just have a wonderful memory attached. I have a bowl full of rocks and shells we picked up at different places over the years. I wrote on each one where it was picked up and what year. What a great way to relive some of those great moments! Don’t forget family pictures! Pick up some simple frames and put them out on display. Keep frames in the same color for a clean look. if you have something special from a grandma or great aunt or other relative, find a way to get it out of your closet and display it!

Pillows and throws

Pillows and throws are another great way to decorate for the seasons. Like I mentioned above, Goodwill usually have quite a few items from Target. You might find them in the wrong season, but hang onto them and you will be ready to decorate when that season comes again. I really love pillows, but they do take up quite a bit of space. I have found lots of pillow covers on Amazon at really good prices and they are much easier to store. You only need a few pillows and then slip on a new cover when you are ready for a new look!

Green, Black and White in the Living Room

Christmas in the Guest Room

fall 2017 green and black living room green bow pillow

Rearrange Furniture

Try moving a small piece of furniture to another space! Maybe it will work better there and if not, you can always put it back. You can completely change the look of a space by switching out a chair, small table, or maybe artwork. You will feel like you have a whole new room!

Desk Chair Makeover

Dining Room Refresh

turquoise and white spring tablescape bar cart

Have a Yard Sale

Need some extra money to buy some new decor pieces? Have your own yard sale to get rid of the stuff you no longer want or don’t work with your decor. Other people are looking for those items just like you are! Try Craigslist or Facebook to sell some of the larger items. I have some great tips here for holding your yard sale.

Well, I hope that gave you some new ideas to use around your home! I enjoy changing things up once in awhile, but don’t have a lot of money to spend, and these ideas really help to keep things fresh! I would love to hear what you do in your home to keep it fresh without spending a lot of money!

Valentine Vintage Place-setting Tablescape

January 30, 2024January 24, 20246 Comments

Good morning! I was able to set up my table for Valentines this weekend. After Lauren set up her Valentine table last week, I decided to put one together too. I received the pretty glass pink plates from my mom a couple of weeks ago and knew right away they would work for Valentines. The plates came from my great aunt. I always love using pieces that have been passed down from my family. The white and blue teacups and saucers were my wedding dishes. I love being able to pull them out once in awhile and use them.

One of the reasons I enjoy Valentines Day is from an experience in high school. I went to a private high school with small classes, about 75-80 kids in each grade. There are a lot of special things you can do when the school is so small. What I remember most is Heart Sisters.

Heart Sisters was a special time for just the girls and it included all the female students and teachers. Each of us would pick the name of another person and secretly give them gifts each day leading up to Valentines Day.

My freshman year is the only year that really stands out to me. I got a seniors name, which was really intimidating to a shy freshman like me. I remember my mom and I shopping for little things to give her each day.

On Valentine’s Day, we all met in the gym at lunch time. We sat in a big circle. The person you had sat on one side of you and the person who had you sat on the other.

This was the 80’s, mind you. I can still remember what I was wearing, partly because the teacher who had my name commented that the sweater I was wearing was pretty. It was royal blue with white angora clouds on it.

It was such an awkward lunch! What do you say to a senior girl and a teacher when you are only a freshman? I’m sure I didn’t say too much!

Even though it was so awkward for me, I still enjoyed the idea of giving secret gifts to someone during Valentine week. It was fun to see what you would get and all the different ways you would receive your gift.

When my girls were small, we even did it as a family. It was a little difficult with only 4 of us, but it was still fun.

For the past few years, we have even done it at the preschool where I work. We have 9 of us ‘girls’ working and it’s fun to have a little something special for us to do for each other. Some days are hectic and stressful, so it’s great to have a little something to encourage us each day.

I hope you enjoyed my Valentine table today and thanks for coming by!

Five Easy Valentine Ideas to DIY

January 18, 2024January 11, 20242 Comments

Good morning! This is a post from a few years ago, but I still think these are all cute projects to make for your special Valentine!

I’ve enjoyed seeing some of the Valentine ideas I have been seeing, so I thought I would share a few of my own. I am even adding a new DIY for you!

Valentine Gum and Candy Basket

Get your Valentine’s favorite gum and candy and put it all together in this cute little basket! Add some pretty ribbon as an accent.

2. Valentine Pixie Stix and Flower Vase

Here is another candy idea, but with flowers! It’s a great way to up-cycle a tin can too! This would make a great teacher gift!

valentine mantel pixie stix flower vase 2016

3. Faux Flower Heart for Valentine’s

Here is another project with flowers, this time shaping them into a heart! Of course, you could use any color you want!

4. I Love You Wooden Blocks

This is a little simple project to decorate your home for Valentine’s Day! You could use blocks and letters to spell out whatever you want.

5. Stamped Heart Treat Bag

Here is another sweet idea to make for your Valentine! You could fill the little bag with stickers, jewelry or candy!

I started with a plain muslin bag, pink paint, heart shaped cookie cutter and foam dauber. I wanted to use a rubber stamp, but I couldn’t locate one in my stash, so a cookie cutter was my next choice. It worked great! Just make sure to wash it well before you make your Valentine cookies! 🙂 I added a little bit of paint to the foam dauber and added it inside the heart. Be sure to put a piece of paper or cardboard inside the bag so the paint doesn’t go through.

Once the paint was dry, I got out my letter stamps and some black ink. I picked out the letters I wanted to use. I started with the word ‘love.’

I pressed the stamp into the ink pad and then pressed it onto the bag and the heart. I didn’t worry about keeping the letters straight or even. Obviously!

Don’t they look cute! They are perfect for adding just a little something for your special valentine!

Aren’t these fortune cookies the cutest!! I found them at the Dollar Tree and they come with a special fortune inside. I can’t wait to see what the fortunes will be!

pink painted valentine bags fortune cookie

pink painted valentine bags i love you be mine

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day! If you create one of these projects, I would love to know! Have a great week!

Parisian Halloween Witch Hat

October 12, 2023October 1, 20238 Comments

Hello! I remembered I had this Halloween Witch Hat post from last year, and it turned out so cute, I thought I would share it again! Enjoy!!

It’s time again for the witches, ghosts and goblins to come out! I don’t decorate much for Halloween anymore, now that the girls are older, but we did when they were little. Planning the costume was always a big deal. Then there were the pumpkins to carve or decorate. I have a couple boxes full of foam pumpkins that have been made into elephants, dragons, Garfield, and our dogs! I even have a light up hedgehog! I will have to show you that one sometime. It’s pretty cool! Even though I don’t do much Halloween decorating, when I saw this cute witch hat over at Madeinaday.com, I knew I wanted to try one too.

I didn’t make mine quite as large as Kim did. I wanted to make one for Lauren, because she collects these little decorative hats to display in her bedroom and I thought this would make a nice addition. Here is the list of the supplies:

Supplies:

Floracraft® Make It: Fun® Foam, (2) 3inch discs, (2) 6 inch disc and (2) 17 inch cones
1 sheet of black poster board
2 7/16×36 inch dowels, cut down to around 19 inches each
Black & white contrasting fabric, 1/2 yard of each
Black fuzzy fabric, 1/2 yard
Coordinating ribbon for base
2 flowers
Roll of black tulle
Hot glue & gun, low temp
Black acrylic paint and brush
Black aluminum floral wire 4.6m
Scissors

The cones I bought were only 6″ tall, so then I needed less fabric too. I only bought 1/4 of a yard. I used felt in place of the fuzzy fabric too. In other words, there are lots of ways to make this!

I started out by painting the foam disks with the black paint. This gave them time to dry while I worked on the other parts. I also painted the dowel black.

I traced around a bowl to make my circle (I forgot to buy black poster board, so I just used cardboard, but I did have to cover both sides so the cardboard wouldn’t show). Then I cut the piece of sparkly felt a little bit larger so it could wrap around the edges and be glued down.

I added another piece on this back side to cover the cardboard.

I cut about 2 inches of the styrofoam off the end of the cone. This gives the wire more room to bend once you add the fabric. Poke the piece of wire down into the cone until it feel secure.

Here is the fabric I bought. You could never guess who this was for, right?!

I wrapped some around the cone just to see how much I would need, and then cut a piece off the end of the fabric. After I figured out just how I wanted the design to go, I glued it around the cone. See how the tip bends over? Make sure you have enough wire so you can make the tip of the hat floppy!

After the fabric was glued to the cone, I glued the sparkly felt brim to the bottom of the come. Now for the decorating and embellishing! Here are a few of the things I found: glittery tulle, a feathery ponytail holder and a pink flower clip and some black and silver ribbon.

I don’t have pictures of adding this to the hat, because I couldn’t glue and take pictures at the same time! I first added the tulle in ruffles around the middle, then added the feathers with the flower on top of the feathers. I added the ribbon around the edge of each of the black disks. Once everything was ready, I Poked the dowel through the disks first then the brim of the hat. I had to use a sharp tool to get through the felt. Then I pushed the cone onto the dowel. Once it was far enough on, I put glue on the brim and pushed it up against the cone and let dry.

Here it is!

I think this came out adorable! I want to try one in more neutral colors too. I would love to see yours if you make one too!

How to Make Spooky Books for Halloween

October 5, 2023September 29, 2023Leave a comment

Hi all! This is a post from a couple of years ago. Enjoy!

Good morning friends! Can you believe we are in October? Are you ready for fall? We will have some time to go here before it gets cool. It doesn’t get cool here until about Halloween. But, I have a wedding to plan and it will a traditional wedding, but then a gothic pirate themed reception. So this is the time of year to find the perfect items to decorate with. It’s also fun to find different things I can make ahead of time. Today I am showing you how to make spooky books!

Item List:

Hardcover books
Plastic bin that the books will fit into
Tea
Paper towels
Mod Podge and brush
Bleach and water
Stickers, wood decorations, any other decorations you want to use
Black, gold, and silver paint and foam bruss

I found some outdated hardcover books at a thrift store. It doesn’t matter how new or old they look. Just find the size you like. Next, make yourself some tea! Not to drink though! I made some sun tea and then poured it into a plastic bin. Now, dip your book in! I just did the pages, not the covers. You could also use a brush if that is easier. I dipped in all the sides, letting them soak for about 5 minutes. Then I set them out on a towel to dry.

If you don’t think they are dark enough, go ahead dip them again. The pages get a little wrinkly, but that’s ok. It gives it an older look!

Now that the books are dry, you can move on to the next step. Take your pieces of paper towels and trim them to fit the book. I cut the top and bottom of the paper towels the same size as the books, but I folded in the ends. The books won’t be opened after I am done.

Fill a spray bottle with water and spray down the paper towels on the books. Crinkle them up a bit once they are wet. This is going to give you the old weathered look you want in the end.

Once you have the paper towels the way you want, brush on the Mod Podge. I poured some onto the book and then used a foam brush to spread it all over the book on all sides and edges. Let the books dry. I let them dry overnight.

Now you get to decorate the book! I am making these for the wedding, not just Halloween. I found the scrolly piece and wood piece at a thrift store. So I laid them out the way I thought they would go. I also added stickers. My stickers go along with the wedding theme and last name initial. It won’t matter the colors you use because you are going to paint over it all. Once you have your pieces how you want them, glue them on. I even glued on the stickers so they wouldn’t fall off later.

Once your glue is dry, paint the book. I used black spray paint, but you could also paint the books with acrylic paint. Make sure to get in all the nooks and crevices. Now you can see how the paper towels give it that old look.

Just the black looks kind of boring, but now you get to add the finishing touches! I used a silver paint and lightly went over the raised areas of the book. I used a little gold paint as well. You don’t want too much gold or silver, just some slight touches.

I also bought a strap to keep the book closed. I found it in the fabric department at Hobby Lobby. I glued it on the front and back of the book.

Here are the stickers once they are painted. Looks good, right? Since I didn’t want the books to open, I used some rope, also tea dyed, to tie two of the books together.