A new look

A fresh new look for the winter months... Well more like the new year.  I was playing around with the wall art and liked this one the best.  How about you? What do you do? Rearrange furniture, photos, place simple flowers on a table?

Blessings~

Sorry Charlie

This is no Charlie Brown Christmas Tree- True it is little and sparsely adorned. But it seems perfect in every way- sitting on the dining room table. The whole little tree and pot was less than $5.00. I hope you are enjoying your Christmas holiday

Day 23, Just a sprinkle of snow...

Print out the beautiful calender

Gently draw on glue where you would like it, I placed mine on the top of the branches.

Generously sprinkle with glitter

Shake of all the extra glitter and step back and admire your beautiful calender.

Today's project was just a fun project. Not a gift, but just to make myself smile. Creature Comforts offers a free calender every month, which I just happen to adore. So I went with her suggestion and enhanced my beautiful calender. If you would like to make your own head on over and print one out and I guarantee you will have a sweet smile on your face just like I do.

BTW- I had to see some snow, we haven't had but a smidgen and nothing in over a month!

Finger Knitting

Last week I took the time to whip myself up a little gift. A soft, warm neck cozy. I managed to use up some left over chunky yarn and learn a new skill. It took all of 25 min. to make. Time well spent if you ask me, I know my neck thinks so!

Graceful...

Yesterday while doing my shopping, I found these wonderful fillers in the floral shop at my local grocer. So I scooped up two types of floral filler- green branches and babies breath. They have now found a home in the dining room and on my little desk. They make a statement with little fanfare, they are simply graceful. They have added a little life to the otherwise dreary winter!

On the writing desk...

In the evening...

In the morning light...

Blessings~

An added bonus: the fragrance is amazing. The scent of fresh eucalyptus is permeating the air!

Just hanging around...

The cute guy hung a nice coat rack for me! It is located by the front door, which, makes it easy for me to disrobe my junk! I found the lack of door knobs in the entryway to be somewhat insufficient, as for opening the door to the closet, well that's just to much work! I like it better this way, I am no longer tripping over my purse, my chair backs are now coat free and I can find my hat. It makes me smile, and that to the cute guy is worth it all (at least, that is what he says).

Blessings

P.S- The cute guy makes use of it also! :)

All dressed up...

I love sewing baskets!! I found this one for .75 at the thrift store. But it was a little plain, it needed to be beautified like my other vintage basket. So for now it is being adorned with a lovely holiday pick. For now I love it, and it's a great addition to my teeny tiny collection.

All topped off...
What do you think? Mom, I must figure out how they did the decor on my (your) basket. Stiff fabric or something...
~Blessings~

Easy Menu Planner

So here is my simple fix for my ugly menu problem. I usually hang a piece of paper up on the fridge with my bi-weekly menu. I need the menu because I forget to take anything out to defrost until around 4:00 p.m. Not good when you have a family that likes to eat... Well I didn't like my lovely white printer paper menu... Kinda tacky!!! Well I fixed the problem with a picture frame. For the inset I used a piece of scrap booking paper (because I stink at scrap booking). I use a dry erase marker to write the menu, wipes right off. So there you have it a simple fix for my ugly problem. If you notice I don't have days on my menu instead I have numbers. That's because I am a noncommittal flake. I like choices!! I don't feel obligated to fix Monday's meal on Monday. I know weird... But anyone that knows me will understand. So are you a menu user?
~blessings~

Getting settled!!

My old curtains~ too short...
Needing to find a quick and easy fix that wouldn't break the bank (just paid cute kids tuition), I found my self in the paint section of the local home improvement store. The solution to my troublesome short fall... a painters tarp. It fit the bill... inexpensive, natural soothing color, and long~ very long. A 9x15 tarp split down the middle gave me full, stylish window treatments, they even puddle at the bottom.

The living room

the dinning room

It was it a good choice & I love them!

Talk about going green!!!

Today I decided to make homemade liquid hand soap. I used some soap that Audrey and I purchase this past Christmas while we were at Colonial Williamsburg. The scent smells so good, bayberry. Not thinking about the color, we set to work, and ended up with split pea soap. LOL Fortunately, it goes perfectly with my bath room. And this is a great frugal fix, less than 33 cents for huge container.

Step 1: grate 1 bar of soap (any brand will work, so pick your favorite).

Step 2: Poor 10 cups of hot water into the soap flakes, I used 8 because they were small balls. Stir until all flakes are dissolved. Allow to cool completely several hours. It will be watery in the beginning, but will thicken once cooled. It looks like slime.

Step 3: Poor into a storage container for refills. And fill up those empty containers. It will thicken while it sits, just give it a good shake and its fine.

Here is a shot of the colors in my bath, see perfect color.

Enjoy and have a blessed day

partial preview of living room

Shopping deals

The other day while grocery shopping, I hit the jack pot on meat.... The total for this grand purchase $53.12. This will last us over a month. Most of it was broken down into smaller portions, as most were family packs. The only thing not natural (w/o hormones) was 3 pks of ground beef.It was half off, all but 2 items. Here are my treasures from the thrift store. I am so in love with green ware right now. I can't seem to get enough of it. I finally found a set of coasters, I have been looking for some for quite a while. They were the most expensive item I purchased that day.
Have a blessed weekend!

frugal fixes- Water marks on table

Have you ever had water marks on your wood tables. You know, when you place a glass on the surface not using a coaster, or from hot items setting on your table. There is an easy, no cost fix to remove the marks from your tables, with out painting or tossing.

Step one- break out your steam iron, and a bath towel. Set on steam, or high. You need the steam for this to work.
Step two- place the towel over the marks on the table. Now here is the scary part, take your iron with the steam on and place on the towel over the mark. Hold over the area for a few moments, ( maybe a min. or two) I lift the towel to check to make sure I am hitting the right area. Continue until the mark is gone.

How do I know this works? Two years ago the cute guy gave me a dining room table, and a hot pan left a mark on the table. I was so upset so I googled and found the procedure and tried it. I was so nervous, I didn't want to make it worse and cause more damage. But to my amazement it really worked. There is no sign of a mark on my table, two year later. Yey! I don't know how it would work on wood laminate, my table is cherry wood. Now that is a really cheap frugal fix.

Tomorrow is our final cake class. I will post a picture of the finished cakes, at least Audrey's.

Frugal Fixes- The swiffer broom

Do you have a swiffer broom, do you get tired of spending money to use of the those quick fixes. I sure do, but I love my swiffer. Here is some money saving advice, that will give you a better bang for your buck. I purchased this particular one, but you can make your own. It is a simple flannel rectangle cut the same size as a disposable cloth. I have also purchased the microfiber cloths at the dollar store and used them. I love the way microfiber works so well on dust. I just toss it in the wash when I am done, and voila ready for the next time.

The flannel cloth for a swiffer.

Look, it works just as well. Sorry this was from my bathroom after blow drying my hair. I didn't even show the dirtiest part. Yuck!!!

Enjoy!

Frugal Fixes

Have you ever had a smell in your washing machine. The kind that offends your nostrils each time you lift the lid? Well, with our wonderful apartment we got the use of some "lovey" machines courtesy of the landlords. They are small, the ones in my garage are big and nice. But they wouldn't allow me to remove the said machines and replace with my own. Needless to say, the said machines came with some serious funk. So I ran them with bleach, and hot water trying to kill the stench. I couldn't get it gone. So I did what any good, kind, loving, domestic woman would..... I googled. I found many products to treat this condition for lots of $$$$$, and also needing monthly treatments to follow to keep the offender from returning. So I resorted to a little old fashion trick. Baking Soda, and 1 cup of $ store vinegar. It was gone, not to return. Well I should say I repeat this trick on the 1 of the month (usually). Well that makes this lady one happy lady. I now deem this product a frugal fix.