Decorating on a Dime and a Dollar

I love decorating. But I am on a really tight budget too. I think this works as an advantage to engaging my creativity. I also realize my kids are learning how to have beautiful things but be thrifty too. We just finished Mini Boden's bedroom re-do and she and I decided to change the color of her desk and chairs. I let her pick. She went out to the garage and rummaged through the spray paint and decided on metallic chairs, and a Watermelon Pink table. We picked up this table and chair set at IKEA last year for $24.00 They are just natural wood color out of the box. I think they are super darling with the color added.


The chairs look like metal ones. I also had to cover them with a clear Krylon seal spray, because the metallic especially kept rubbing off. I am moving them into her room today. Super cute huh?

I have been needing a new Living Room Rug for awhile. My regular one is completely shredded on the edges. I keep cutting back, but I have been saving for a rug and looking for awhile. I found for $90 that I thought would work, and have been putting money away for it. Then a few weeks ago I went to Lowe's with my sis, on a project we are working on. We found the most amazing clearance items and I decided it wouldn't hurt to take a stroll through the rugs. Most of which are out of my budget right now. I was so glad I looked. I found this beautiful thing for $25. Yep that is right 25 buckaroo's. I almost did a happy dance in the aisle. I brought it home and I AM IN LOVE with it. It is super soft and makes me feel sooooo happy. What do you think?





I was at the Dollar Store the other day and found these great fall flowers and greenery. I thought it would be so stunning in some of my crocks. Take a look at our new fall additions.

I am loving the colors and feel like they add a lot to our little Family Room. What are you decorating for a Dime and a Dollar? I would love to hear.

August Decorating

As we sit in the middle of August the end of summer and approaching fall, I am in the mood for change. I think I always feel this way as fall approaches. It is my favorite time of year and I love the transformation the earth makes to prepare for winter. It is as if God gives us one beautiful blast of color and splendor before we embark on the stark coldness of winter days. Here are a few of my fun changes.

My fun new front door wreath:

The twine covered wreath was all over blog land awhile ago, and I made one, burned my fingers so badly on hot glue and will never attempt one again. The wreath was too small for my door so I went a scavenger hunt around my house. I love this fabric I picked up at Jo-Ann's and thought it's color's were perfect for that summer to fall transition time. I ruffled the fabric and some muslin fabric on my sewing machine. Then just hot glued them onto the back of the wreath. I love it. It makes me fee so happy.


I found this plant stand for $1 at yard sale, painted it with Krylon Blue Ocean Breeze. I found the metal tin at DI awhile ago for about 50 cents. I have all these yellow flowers from the flower decorations from last year's Gratitude Gathering and wallah. I think it is bright, happy and full of the last bit of summer sunshine.

Next up is the red mantel. I love the red mantel and change it frequently. Currently this is what it looks like. The red rock's are from our trip to St. George this past year...I love that I can look up and see those every day. I love this cute owl. He is going to be used at Hedwig in our upcoming Halloween Harry Potter party, but for now I liked him so much I decided to have him perch on my mantle.
My family room is a work in progress. I'm not sure what to do with this wall. I love the new pictures with this super cute fabric. It makes me happy. It needs something in the middle. Not sure what yet. So this is the beginning. I will post when I have more inspiration.

or how about this one. I love this picture. It is a paint by number my Dad did when he was a little kid. It has to go somewhere in my house. Trying it out here.

And these are my new pillows. I made the blue one and green one below were made out of two dish towels I found at the Dollar Store. I thought the colors worked perfect.

So I found this darling blog called Dear Lillie.
I love her style and the Jane Austen themed rooms. I decided to add a few Jane Austen accents to my bedroom. I found this silver lamp at Walmart for $4.99. I loved the silver on it. It is actually plastic and was in the Dorm type section. The shade I picked up at Ross for $3.99. It is simple and has a thin brown detailing. The picture frame says: "There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart." - Jane Austen. I also picked up the green at Tai Pain for $1.00 and the little pot for $2.00 I think. It just makes me happy. The journal's underneath are my kid's journal's that I keep with things about them.


Our wedding photo, on a piece of muslin. I wrapped burlap around the vase and put our wedding date on it. The handkerchief under the flowers was my Nan's.
These books were a birthday gift from my sister. They are some of the work's of Louisa May Alcott. And the sand castle was a graduation gift from my sister too. This little display reminds me that she believes in me.
I had to add a silhouette, but wasn't sure where to add one. So I made these and put them on these mirrors. The shell's are from my honeymoon in Florida 10 years ago. This one is my side...the girl silhouette.
This is Mr. M's side. The shelves are plastic and I picked them up at the Dollar Store a few years ago. Painted them red, then cream and sanded. Don't you love them.Mr. M. Doesn't like a lot of decorative things on his side. So I just put a picture of our family and a quote.

Here's the whole bedroom. Can you see my favorite fabric. I love the yellow, brown and red together. It is so inviting and makes me feel warm and cozy.Hope you are having a wonderful August. We have brilliant thunderstorms and big rain drops right now. A perfect day to curl up with a good book.

Happy Day.

Em

Mini Boden Room Re-do...In Progress

I have been planning on updating and re-doing Mini-Boden's room for awhile. She switched rooms with Lego Man about a year ago. So we just hodge-podged things together. I was planning on painting her room grey. She however loves the blue so we went with what we have. I also wasn't planning on doing this room for awhile, however her room flooded this week and so after getting everything out and dried we decided it was a perfect time to start. Here are some before's...unfortunately I didn't take any with the furniture in it. But it was super packed.

Before:


After: I recovered the existing picture boards with this darling fabric from Hobby Lobby. It took almost 5 yards of ribbon. I bought it at Walmart for 24 cents a yard. The buttons are from Jo-Ann's fabric 5 for $1.00.I made this new curtain and hated it down...so I tied it up with grey ribbon from the Dollar Store. The Fabric was 30% off from Hobby Lobby. It picks up the pink, gray and blue. I love it.
We kept her existing bedspread...but I recovered the pillow with the same fabric as the curtains.

I took this frame I had, painted it pink, used the fabric from the Curtain, and some grey scrapbook paper...the G was originally from Hobby Lobby.


My favorite thing is her Paris picture. I saw this a year ago at Target for $19.99 which was a bit out of my budget at the time. Then a few months ago I found it at Ross for $9.99 and took it as a sign. I LOVE it. It just makes me smile... especially since I found it for 1/2 the price. I am loving her room. It makes me so happy and is less cluttered. The rug is from IKEA....$19.99 I love it.

I am working on a little table and chairs for her room too. Will post soon.

Enjoy.

Love,
Em

Sunday Thoughts

This past week I went to a church workshop. I went mostly to get out of the house and have a few minutes to myself. It had been a day full of stress. I had yelled at my little one when he almost broke my car window, then again when I went up to my bedroom and found my once made bed in pillow piles on the floor and two baskets of clean folded laundry know strewn from one side of the room to the other, it looked like a tornado had hit inside my room. I had missed taking Lego Man to Scouts completely forgot about scouts because we were supposed to be at Swim lessons too. Which also meant I had forgotten to pick up another boy in the neighborhood who rides with us.

So as I sat down at the workshop and realized the topic was Charity, I almost got up and left. I wasn't feeling charity for anyone and didn't want to feel the guilt trip I foresaw coming on. But I stayed.

The presenter discussed the scripture in 1 Corinthians 13:4-6
She listed out what Charity is:
Charity is....
the pure love of Christ
suffereth long, and is kind
envieth not
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up
doth not behave itself unseemly
seeketh not her own
is not easily provoked
thinketh no evil
rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth.

The thing that really captured my attention was the realization that as I thinketh evil of myself, by comparing and criticizing who I am, I end up not being able to accomplish any of the other aspects of experiencing the pure love of Christ. It really is a reciprocal thing as we learn of Christ, and try to become like Him, I think we start to see in ourselves what He sees in us. We therefore see ourselves and are able to become like Him, and so we look for ways to show Charity to those around us. I left feeling like I needed to change but not knowing how.

The next morning I had an email from a dear friend who sat by my side during our workshop and could tell I was struggling. She in her loving amazing way told me how she sees me and also sent this little bit of inspiration here. I realized that it is an every day choice we make to be patient, to be loving, to let others grow and make mistakes. It is an every minute choice to be tolerant, to not allow a problem to outweigh our love for others or ourselves.

I would love to say I had a perfect week without getting upset or being provoked by those who frustrate me. I didn't, but little by little I feel myself trying to make the choice of Charity become who I truly am.

I loved this quote that our presenter gave by Bruce C. Hafen "Charity is not developed entirely by our own power, even though our faithfulness is a necessary qualification to receive it. Rather, charity is bestowed upon the true followers of Christ. The purpose of the endowment of charity is not merely to cause Christ's followers to engage in charitable acts toward others, desirable as that is. The ultimate purpose is to transform His followers to become like Him."

In my ongoing quest to live a provident life, to find joy in my journey and to simplify my life I think this is a starting place. It seems that if I can become more like Christ than I will turn my life towards the things of purpose and therefore find the treasures for which I search.

Ever Feel Like You Are Just Barely Hanging On....

Sometimes I feel like I am just hanging on. Barely making it. My sister sent me this video today. It is amazing. Intense and truly spectacular. He gets committed, takes 1,000 feet free solo climbing, no ropes and does it just one moment at a time, one move at time. He is literally hanging on for his life and yet he seems calm.

Maybe the lesson for me becomes to just focus on my course, take one moment at a time and hold on for dear life. Hope you enjoy this. It is seriously six intense minutes. But awe inspiring.