Practicing Spelling Words is FUN!

I have to give credit to my husband for this one. He was going over our kid's spelling words and my daughter wanted to write with a marker so my husband went in my desk and grabbed a "window" marker. Gabrielle told him that she couldn't use that on paper, so he said, "write your words on the window!" Now, she asks to practice her words all the time! Way to go hubby!!!!

Easy Learning Fall Craft for Your Kiddos!

I have a bag of these foam leaves that we used for this project.

I cut the leaves like a puzzle and then had the kids use bingo markers to put dots on one side of the leaf.

On the other side of the leaf, I wrote the corresponding number.

The kids would count the dots and then have to find the correct number to put the puzzle leaves together!

We did it! We got all our leaves back together!!!

Bucket of Get Well Wishes

A friend of mine was having surgery, so I thought I would put a little gift together for her while she recovered. 

This is one of those empty paint cans that I decided to "jazz" up for this gift.

I cut scrapbook paper to fit the can.

I added a matching scrapbook paper to the top of the lid as well.

I made a little "tag". It says, "A Bucket of Get Well Wishes"

I added yellow ribbon to the top and bottom edge of the can. I also added felt flowers (with button middles) to the outside of the can.


Here are some of the contents of the can. 

The tag to this little nut mixture says, "breakfast in bed".

This is the Cashmere Glow lotion from Bath & Body Works so my tag read, "You will be 'glowing' again in no time".

A can of beer - "Here's to a speedy recovery. Cheers!"

A small bottle of antibacterial hand soap - "Keep the germs at bay without having to leave the bed."

Gum - "When your throat gets dry"

Cluster candy - "Indulge in some quiet time"

More chocolate - "Take 'pleasure' in a little down time"

Green tea - "Green tea to help flush your blues away"

Chapstick - "Because your lips always feel dry after surgery"

Small candle - "Peace and relaxation"

I also tied a bundle of magazines up and the tag read, "Catch up on some reading"

I just wanted this "bucket" to be a can of sunshine to brighten my friend's day after surgery. Most of these things you may have laying around your house. You can come up with sayings for "tags" for almost anything! I would love to hear what you come up with! 

Why I Stop at Yard Sales!

I thought I would take some pictures to show you why I stop at yard sales! I have found some of my favorite things from yard sales and it keeps decorating (which I do often) cheap! I love a good bargain. Here are some of my favorite ones:

I LOVE OLD SUITCASES! But, they are hard to find. I was lucky to find all three of these at different yard sales for about $2 each! They make a great side table in our porch. The old fisherman's basket was a find by my mom and I filled it with old horseshoes (all pointed up for good luck!!!!).

I have posted this before, but I just love this little area. It is right inside our porch and all we did was add some all door knobs (from my grandpa's garage) to some old wood we had in the garage and then hung them on the wall. Great place to hang coats and backpacks. The old ladder was also a score from my grandpa. My husband cut it down to fit and we added old baskets (yard sale score for $1!) to it. It houses a lot of our shoes and whatever else we throw in there. All this keeps everything off the floor, which we need in this small space. 

My husband made this bench out of old wood and an old wood shutter we had in the garage. Again, it is nice storage for shoes and what not. The quilt I scored at a flea market for $5 and the pillow was only $1 (it is a needlepoint bird - I LOVE BIRDS right now). The rocking chair was a thrift store find for $15!

This desk is an old sewing table. I scored it and the chair for $20 at a yard sale. The sign above it I got for $3. The lamp was a birthday gift from my husband (got it at TJ Maxx). 

This old record cabinet sits in my living room. It is an orange/red color that adds some "pop" to the room. 

This is a favorite! I got the bench for $20. It was not painted (just raw wood) so I painted it white and roughed it up a little bit with sandpaper. The seat opens up which adds much needed storage! I got the wool blanket from a friend who was getting rid of it and the pillow was a plain pillow until I stenciled the word "cozy" on it (I blogged how I did this on a previous post).

I got this round table from my grandmother. I covered it with a round table cloth I found and topped it with a round mirror that my aunt was getting rid of. The mirror fit perfectly (that is sheer luck)! The lamp was a $3 find and the old boat was $1! I put magazines inside the wire basket.

This sits right at the top of our stairs when you come into the front door. It was at a moving sale for $15! The bench has storage which is where we house some of our toys. The star is something I had previously and just hung it on the hook. The iron horse was an incredible find at a sale. It was $2! The original Pier One price tag was still on it ($99)! The basket is a recent find from a yard sale for $3! (I want to start carrying that basket around - it is too cute)

This is the wall in my bathroom. I always get compliments on this. All I did was measure out a rectangle that would fit these three pictures, and painted it a darker color then the walls. It makes it a little more interesting then just pictures hanging on the wall.

I couldn't pass up these old cabinet doors (75 cents each!!!!!!!). I loved the way they looked (old and beat up). I had these horseshoe hooks laying around (waiting for the perfect project) and screwed them on the doors. This display hangs on the wall in my bedroom for all my "pretty" things (as my daughter calls them - she made me the tissue paper flowers on the left side).

I love this side of our bed (minus the phone all the cords in the bottom). I bought the table for $3 and then the suitcase (another old suitcase!!!!) at a barn sale for $5. I laid the suitcase on the table which made the table more interesting. I got this lamp at Target on clearance for $3 and the doll was a $2 find (my mom had one when I was little in our house so this one reminded me of that, I had to take her home).

This chair was $1! It had a dark green, fake leather seat. I took the seat off and stapled an old feed sack I got for 25 cents to it. I screwed the seat back on and now we have this great chair in our bedroom (it only cost $1.25!)

I am sorry this picture looks so off-centered. I basically wanted to show the pictures above our bed. Instead of just hanging them from the backs, I wanted my height/drama, so I just added some black ribbon to them and hung them with that. It makes the inexpensive pictures look much more substantial!



These are some of my favorite things in the upstairs of our house. I will take some pictures and post some of my favorites from our basement. I would love to see and hear about some of your great bargains too!

Turkey - Fall Craft For Your Kids

This is a fun craft to do with your kids. With all the colorful leaves that are out right now, this turkey makes for a great craft.

Cut a turkey body (peanut shape) out of brown paper. Collect some colorful leaves. Glue the turkey's body to another piece of paper and then glue the "feathers" (colorful leaves) all around the turkey's body! We added googly eyes, a beak and some feet. They turned out really cute!!!

Cute, Easy, Fall Craft For Kids!!!!!

This was a great little acorn craft we did today. I cut an acorn shape out of some thin cardboard. Then, I had the kids crumple up little pieces of brown packaging paper (stuff left over from a package that came in the mail). They glued the crumpled paper onto the top of the acorn and then painted the bottom half brown. We taped a stem on the top and viola..... an acorn!

Fun Recycling Apple Project for Kids

Have you ever received a box in the mail that is full of brown packaging paper? Well, here is a great little project to do with your kids that uses some of that paper!

I cut two pieces about the same size.

The kids crumpled up one of the pieces and we put it in the middle of the other one.

We gathered the flat paper around the crumpled ball and tied it with a rubber band.

The kids painted the "apple" red.

 



Add a green felt leaf with their name and you have a cute handmade apple!

Upcycled Old Lockers

I got this pair of old lockers at a yard sale for free. The owner said he was just going to take them to the dump. I didn't know if I should take them because I thought they looked pretty rough. My husband was with me and he was the one that convinced me to get them. He said since they are free, let's try and keep them out of the landfill and fix them up! I am so glad he did. I think they came out really nice. He was able to take the rusted bottoms off and rebuild some nice wood ones instead. They still have that "old" feel to them, but with all the sanding and priming, they really came out great!

My New Projects - Furniture Face Lifts!

Here are a few pieces that have been waiting for me to bring them to life! Now that the school year is starting, I will have some time to work on these. I am really excited!

I bought this table for $1 at a yard sale. The bottom shelf was broken, but my husband just fixed it by putting a piece right across the bottom of the shelf. The weathered, red look is pretty cute, but I think I want to try something else. I started on the top of it, but am still working on it. I will take final pictures when I am done.

I bought this piece from an antique place that saved some of its stuff from a flood. It was $20. It was all painted white. I have removed the hardware and started painting it a brown color (of course I forgot to take a before picture). I love all the drawers in this. Ample storage piece!!!

I bought this for $10 from my neighbor who is moving out of state. I have not touched it at all yet and remembered to take the before picture! YEAH! I would really like to put a chevron pattern on the front of this so we will see!

Here are the outcomes of these furniture face lifts!

 

 

For the small table, I used some mismatched paint I got at Menards for 50 cents. It was a mustard yellow which I didn't like so I took some dark brown (more mismatched paint) and dry brushed that over the edges and all over it. I love the way it looks now!

 

For the eight drawer chest, I painted it a robin's egg blue and took that same dark brown paint and dry brushed this one. This one came out looking more "old" then the yellow one which looked more like a paint technique.

 

For the three drawer chest, I painted it the robin's egg blue and then I sanded the entire thing to make it look old and worn. I am so happy with how all of these came out! They will make someones space look extra special!