Cheap Decorating Ideas

Having two boys with balls flying around the house, wrestling matches, much more I hate to spend money on decorations that may end up broken.  So I shop a lot at thrift stores.  Below are some things that I have in my house that cost under $5.

The birds in the picture I got for about a dollar a piece.  I primed and spray painted them white.  The bird nest I got from under our deck after the robin was done with it.  The green piece was black when I bought it at the thrift store, so it also got primed and spray painted and rubbed stain on it to give it more detailed look.  Below is a closer view. 

 

 

This wreath is made from a straw wreath they sell at craft stores.  I hot glued lima beans onto the wreath and spray painted it orange to match my kitchen.  I used a scrap of fabric from pillows I made to tie it all together.

 

 

 

This is one of the shelves in my kitchen.  The vase and birds were bought from a thrift store.  I just primed and spray painted them.  The dried flowers I got from Walmart on clearance. 

 

 

As you can see this is also in my kitchen.  I got the  owl at the thrift store, I know a shock, right!  It was a lawn ornament , all grey, and had a broken ear.  I recreated an ear with plaster of paris and you can't even tell.  I pulled out the spray paint once again (I need to really buy stock in a spray paint company!).  The bowl and oranges/lemons I got at Walmart too.  The bowl was on clearance after Christmas a couple years ago.

 

 

 



 

 I found this bowl for $3 at a thrift store and it worked perfect the way it was. The basket is filled with various balls.   I spray painted some old balls white that I had because they no longer matched the color scheme in the room.  I bought a couple twig balls and spray painted them to match the room.  Then I used a foam balls I had in my craft room that I was not using,  Elmer's glue and cut old fabric into strips to make 2 balls to match.  Lastly, I used a foam ball, push pins, and spray paint to make the glossy yellow ball.  I like all the different textures and colors in the basket. 

 

 

So there were some of the cheap decorations I have in my house.  I find it so fun to go to thrift stores and find treasures.  That way if I get tired of them after a while or the kids break them it is not like I spend much money on them. 

 

 

Keep on junkin'

Homemade Bow and Arrow for Kid Fun

Santa brought my kids a bow and arrow for Christmas, but they could not pull it back.  They were pretty disappointed until recently we saw something similar to what we made below.  It is really easy and cheap. Buy 1/2 inch cpvc and a 1/2 dowel.  Cut the cpvc to 36 inches, put the nylon masonary string through the pvc and pull it taught.   See below:

The kids were having problems with pulling the arrow back and letting it sit right so Justin put a rest on the bows, like a real bow.  That is what the black electrical tape is.  He used a picture hanging piece, shortened it, and bent it to work.  

For the arrows, we used the 1/2 inch wood dowel and cut it to 24 inches.  A notch was put on one side so it would rest on the string nicely, a saw was used for this.

I then used scrap fabric from making pillowcases (I will post about that)  and used stuffing from an old pillow to make the "arrows" soft tipped.  Our arrows are painted at the end because we made several of them for our kids and the cousins and we did not want then to fight over the arrows.  This way each had their own color so there was no fighting.

To personalize the bows we let each kid decide the colors they wanted to spray paint it.  Here is one:

This bow and arrow for a couple dollars has resulted in endless fun for the kids.  Very quick and easy to make.

Have fun!

Painting a Fireplace

A little over two years ago we bought a foreclosure.   The house was not old, but the previous owners destroyed it. We moved from a house we had built and just finished remodeling to a house with dog poop smeared on the carpets.  They took all the shelving out the closets, all the light fixtures, and much more.  It was a little overwhelming emotionally and on the pocketbook.  We are still working on it so in some pictures you will see we still need quarter round on the floors and other items. Oh well, we will get finish within the next 5 years, hopefully!  With all that said we had left the fireplace as is, because we could not come up with the money to reface it.  The fireplace stone was an off white/tan color and had many stains on it.  I was not sure what I should do with it, so after many internet searches I decided to paint it white.  I read on some sites that you have to spray the stone down with water and then put the primer on it while the stone is still damp. However, other sites did not mention this technique.  I decided to go "waterless" and used Behr Premium Plus Ultra: Exterior Semi-Gloss Enamel, Stain Blocking Paint and Primer in One that I purchased from Home Depot.  Painting a fireplace is quite easy and I just followed the steps below:

1. Your fireplace needs to be clean with no cobwebs, loose dirt or soot.
   
2. You must use a primer for the stone.  You can do a primer separate than the paint or all in one. I choose the easier route and did the all in one.  Get an enamel paint and make sure it states it is good for stucco. The paint will take longer to cure, but it will save you time in the future on touch ups.
   
3. I used a paint brush and did the grout at the same time I did the stone.  I also read that you can use a nappy roller.  I did not do this and mine turned out great.
   
4. Apply one coat and let it completely dry.  I came back the next morning and did the second coat.  It only took 2 coats to cover for me, but I had no heavy soot stains.
   
   

I also had to buy Veneer Stone Mortar that I picked up at Menards for $4/ 60 lb bag.  I did not need that amount, but it was the smallest they sold it in.  When we installed the wood floor we
got up as close as we could to the stone, but it was too hard to match all the contours of the stone.  So I had to fill that with mortar and then came back and did 2 coats of white paint over that.

I started painting before I remembered to do a before photo.



And the after picture:

I still need to do something better for decorating the mantle, I just have not decided what yet.  Also, the picture on the mantle was from a thrift store that I spray painted the frame and mat to match.  I plan on replacing the brown rug with a white one to pull it all together.  Just a little nervous on how long the white will really stay white with my kids.  I better do some stain removing research before I make that purchase!

I saved hundreds of dollars by just painting it.  If you decide you want to paint more of a natural look here is a site that might help.

Happy Painting!

Cheap Rug

I love rugs because we have hardwood floors on most of our first floor.  With 2 boys the floors tend to get dirty and marks in them quite a bit.  In my attempt to keep at least some areas gauge free from toys,  I place rugs everywhere.  I recently bought two matching wool rugs at a local store.  With the sale price and coupon, I still paid $22 a piece.  A little more than what I would want to spend, but since they were wool I thought they would last longer.  Boy was I wrong, after about 4 months they started falling apart and this was without ever washing them.  I was not happy and did not want to spend that much money again in such a short time.  So I went to Jo-Ann fabrics (one on my favorite places) and bought 2 yards of burlap.  It was $13.89 for two yards, but of course I buy nothing there without a coupon so I paid $6.99 for two yards.

I just used an old white twin sheet and cut it the size of the burlap.  I turned over the edges, pinned and sewed to made a rug that works and looks great in the house for $7.  I was a good day!

You can do this with any heavier fabric, but make sure you wait until it is on sale.  If you cannot sew you do not have to line the rug and you may be able to just use fabric glue to turn the edges over.  I have never tried it, so if someone has, please let us know how it has worked.

Keep on savin'!

Picture Make-Up

I scored when I bought this at the thrift store for $6.99.  It was too great of deal to pass up because it was signed and the print was numbered.  The picture does not work in our house, but would be great in the cabin except the color scheme is wrong.  The blue mat and whitish blue accents in the frame (may be hard to see in picture) drew out way too much blue to match the room it is going in.

An easy way to solve this problem if you come across it,  is disassemble the picture and spray paint the mat the color you want.  No need to prime the mat first. This frame was wood so I ran a light sandpaper over the frame one time and stained it.  This removed the white/blue color to it.  If you have a non-wood frame, just prime it with a spray paint primer and then spray paint it the color you want.

I get almost all my pictures from thrift stores and do this to them.  

Before:

Close up of the frame before (there really are no marks on the mat, the picture I took just makes it look that way)

After:

 Frame after stain.  It's hard to see the difference from the pictures, but there definitely is one.

I went from a picture that would not work to one that will look great for $7 some spray paint and stain.  I love saving money!

Keep on junkin'!

Pallet Creations

Below are some pallet creations my husband has made over the last couple years for our house. If you are not sure where to find pallets look along the road on garbage day or ask a local store that has a lot of pallets. Many times they are willing to sell them very cheap.  We are fortunate because my husband passes a pallet shop on his way to work and every so often they will have pieces in the dump he retrieves.

The top of this side table was made from pallets.  The legs and side pieces were made from wood my husband had in the garage.  The wood was distressed by a torch, hammer, and hitting it with a chain. Then it was stained and covered with couple coats of water-based polyurethane.
The table was inspired by the coffee table we purchased at a store made of reclaimed wood, see below:

We also have two shelves made of pallets:

My favorite piece was designed for my craft room.  I love this one because it stores my yarn perfect and I still have room to put more stuff on it!

I hope the next time you pass a pallet you pick it up and make something of it. It is a cheap way to add furniture to your house, plus keeps it out of the landfill.

Keep on junkin'!

I'm Kristy, a married,  working mom of two boys ages 7 and 3.  I love looking at something others find useless, ugly, or outdated and make it fit in our house or cabin.  All one needs is paint, stain, and  fabric to have endless possibilities.

I am a thrift store and flea market junkie!  I will drive an hour and a half just to hit a good flea market.  My husband is not as thrilled of my hobbies, because somehow or someway it results in work for him.

I will be posting on how I revamp the stuff I buy/find, kids crafts, recipes, information I find interesting, sewing and knitting projects, gardening and canning tips, cheese and wine making, and anything else I do throughout the year.  I won't be posting everyday because of my crazy life of running my kids to their sports events and clubs but I will post a couple times a week.

I hope my page will inspire you to look at other's junk just a little differently and help you save some of your money to use for family outings.


Kristy