Budget Decorating – Page 12

Stand Alone Cabinet – A Side of the Road Rescue

My friend, Lisa, picked up a little free standing jelly cabinet alongside the road and brought it to church, asking me if I wanted it. It was pretty icky… …bruised and battered with stains and a couple of bandaids stuck to the shelf. Gross! But I saw its potential. Wayfair.com has a similar cabinet for $138.99. Amazon has one for $137.99. Well, when I say similar” I mean if it were new. And clean. And never before touched by human hands. The “saving” process… My DH cut off part of the legs so it would fit under my kitchen cabinet island. After cleaning it up a bit, I cut paintable textured wallpaper to fit the shelves. At first the plan was to just paint them, but there was no white spray paint to be found. So when trying to figure out what else would suffice (I’m not one to wait … Read more

Ningxia Red Bottle Upcycle 2

I have a second upcycle project using a Ningxia Red glass bottle for you today. Materials: (Affiliate links) Chalkboard Spray Paint Decorative Rope or Sisal Twine Tag or Sign Bottle Candle Holder And, of course, a bottle… Spray with chalkboard paint and decorate – do a couple of light coats so you don’t get drips. I randomly wrapped twine around the upper part of the bottle and tied in a knot and then a bow, adding a color to accent the bow. The twine is very easy to work with. I wasn’t careful, I just wrapped it around until I ran out of twine. Use this project to experiment – you can’t really mess this up. Just decorate it in a way that you like, in a way that will go with your decor. I added a curtain clip on the twine at the knot on the bottle neck … Read more

Ningxia Red Bottle Upcycle

Greetings my Young Living peeps and other glass bottle throw-awayers… What do we do with all the glass bottles we use every day? Do you throw them away or recycle? The Ningxia Red bottles from Young Living are such nice bottles – heavy and nicely shaped. There are so many products that come in pretty bottles. Here is an upcycle glass jar/bottle project for you. Materials: Chalkboard spray paint (my preferred brand) Decorative rope or twine Beads or any sort of decorative bauble Just spray and decorate – do a couple of light coats so you don’t get drips. I sprayed the bottle with chalkboard spray paint. And then wrapped around the neck with decorative baker’s string. I wrapped it around the bottle neck and threaded beads and a leaf from my jewelry making supplies. The options are unlimited – just play with your design until you are satisfied. … Read more

Do You DWO or DIY?

Do You DWO or DIY? We are now through the Christmas season and it’s time to think about perspective and balance with the new year just around the corner. I heard complaining – a LOT of complaining about the “cost” of Christmas and how it has become a boring/stressful/unremarkable/frustrating time of year. This set me to thinking. Why do some people dread this holiday season? They forget (or don’t care) about the reason for the season. They wait until the last minute to buy gifts and end up spending too much money. They take no delight in the music or decorations, seeing them as commercial and garish – reminders of the stress of the Christmas season. They see their family and friends as sponges, trying to suck the life out of them – they are hard to buy for or appear unthankful and selfish. Their gift giving becomes an expected … Read more

Mother-in-law Apartment Reveal

Today was graduation day for my mom. She stepped through the gates of heaven at 12:23 this morning. God is good. Can I say that again? God is good. His grace is sufficient. I thought it fitting that on this day, on this my DIY blog, that I share with you the before and after pictures of her apartment. This one is for you mom… We bought our quad level home two years ago after nearly 2 years of searching for a home in the country with a yard for our grandkids and a MIL apartment for my mom. It was in rough shape, but we knew we could make it ours (and hers). Here are the before pictures. What do you think of that black flowery wallpaper? B.L.E.C.K. The carpet had been…uh…let’s just say, the animals graced the carpet with their presence. When we first walked into the house, … Read more

Dresser Turned TV Stand

It is a new day. I woke at 4:45 this morning and couldn’t turn my brain off. As always my mom pops in my mind and since the stress of her dire condition is ever present, I couldn’t get back to sleep. At least it wasn’t like yesterday. I woke at 2am and didn’t go back to sleep until 6:30 and then it was only for 45 minutes. I had to go to work that morning and by the time I got to the hospital at 2:15 that afternoon, I was dragging. Fortunately they have a nice family lounge and I took a few zzz’s listening to music while Jillian and Taylor continued their vigil. Thank the Lord for power naps and music apps. So, I am delivering my Dresser Turned TV Stand I told you about. It seems so nostalgic to me to tell you about this project. Making … Read more

Holly Jolly Christmas Word Art {Love My DIY Home}

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas Word Art – FREE Download

Decorating with FREE Christmas Word Art Don’t you just love Christmas? All the sneaking around secretive gift buying just gets me into my happy zone! Yet the gift wrapping, tree decorating, and figgy pudding making is so much fun for me that I tend to run myself ragged. Ya know, good activities, like we have during the Christmas season can be stressful too! Do you stress over Christmas Decorating? Let’s keep it simple this year. Let’s enjoy the time with family and friends and just marvel over why we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior. This truly is the best time of the year. Let’s be content, at peace, and not stressed. We have worked hard all year. We deserve a Holly Jolly Christmas! Please enjoy my FREE printable Christmas Word Art. The different download options are listed below. Just click which one suits you best! Holly Jolly … Read more

Thanksgiving Kid’s Table

I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving! Did you lavishly decorate or keep it simple? We focused on the kid’s table this year. Since the kids tend to get a bit impatient with us when we are getting the food on the table, I gave them something to do… The kid’s Thanksgiving printables are from here at Busy Bee Kid’s Printables. Their appetizers (apples, peanuts, pretzels, carrots, string cheese and gummies) and the placemats kept them happy AND busy. Our three year old grandson, Myles, had a hard time waiting to dig in. The adults? We ate on paper plates and drank from pop cans. I didn’t decorate the table other than a single lantern in the middle of the table with a lit candle. Funny how the food tasted just as good as last year when I went all out on the fall tablescape. This was last year’s (the … Read more

Free Word Art!

Happy Sunday! Things have been crazy around here. My mom had open heart surgery a month ago – oh boy, I’m not going to give you all the details, but suffice it to say it’s been tough. Can you see the stress in my face on the day of surgery? We bought a truck – a life long want of my DH. Yep. It won’t start. Oh, and I got sick the day my mom came home a week ago, just on the heels of my 63 hour work week. (I’m not going to show you a picture of me blowing my nose.) And I’m behind on my blog, our holster business, church work, and house work. I’ve only been to church once in a month. (totally unheard of) Family stress. Health stress. Vehicle stress. House stress. Business stress. I’m not going to give you the line, “When life gives … Read more

Pallet Project – DIY Deck Island

While in Virginia visiting our DD and SIL, we worked on a couple of projects – an island made out of pallets and a rocking chair painted with homemade chalk paint. This is a tutorial on the DIY Deck Island. Project List (affiliate links): Hammer 3″ Deck Screws Cordless Drill Pry Bar Spray Paint Glue 2x4s Ceramic Tile DIY Deck Island Since pallets come in all different sizes, we won’t give you exact measurements, since it would do you no good anyway. BUT, I am giving you detailed pictures and will try to answer any questions you may have – just leave them in a comment. Find two pallets that are the same size. Pry off pieces that you won’t use, carefully. Build a Frame with 2×4’s. Keep in mind what size you will need the frame to be in order to accommodate the size of tile you plan to … Read more