Finally....I put up a spring mantle

I've been busy and completely uninspired....I have no other excuses.  I didn't want

to spend money (my normal mantra!) and I just couldn't motivate myself to take

down the sweater vases....I really liked them!

But alas....seasons must change and so must mantles!  So here's my spring version....

It was really quite simple and inexpensive!  

I made the spring banner from brown paper grocery bags and some acrylic paint

that I had on hand.....I had my artistic husband draw the letters and then I colored

them in with Crayola markers!

I had spraypaint leftover from my tiered rack so I just sprayed some Mason

jars that I grabbed at our local thrift shop for $0.40 each!

I stuffed some Dollar Tree flowers in the jar and voila.....

....a spring mantle for under $5.00!

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Easter Decorating: Tiered Rack

 

Here's my second "installment" of inexpensive Easter table decor.

I went to my local Goodwill and grabbed an assortment of dishes.  These

may have cost me a grand total of $3.00.

The poor man at my local True Value as I tried decided on a paint color....I

went back and forth on the color until I drove him crazy and picked

this color by Rustoleum....Strawflower.

I gave my dishes several light coats.  I didn't want it to bubble or run.

I already had glass candlesticks from The Dollar Tree, so I 

glued everything together with Gorilla Glue...love that stuff!

I wanted to grow wheat grass, but my local True Value didn't have the type that I've seen referenced elsewhere, so I had to grab this...

......FIVE pounds of spring oats.  Here's a snippet of the conversation 

that ensued on the car ride home.

Son #2:  Hey, don't we we eat "Toasted Oats" for breakfast?

(that would be the generic version of Cheerios!)

Daughter:  Yes....do you think that this is where Cheerios come from?

Son #2:  What if we would grow a whole section of this in our backyard

then we could make our own Cheerios??

Daughter:  Mom...can we grow our own Cheerios from now on?

Anyway.....grab some oats, soak them for at least a day to soften the

seed coat.  Layer them on the dirt and put a light covering of 

dirt over the seeds and  wait....

Before you know it, you will need to start trimming your wheat (oat!) grass!

You still have plenty of time to grow some wheat grass for Easter!

 

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Frugal Easter Table Decor

I have determined that while I'd like to have a pretty Easter table this year, I just

don't want to spent a whole lot of money....that just seems to be my continual mantra...*sigh!*

So I went to my local Goodwill store and found these treasures....

Yes, they are lovely, I know!

I took some some Gorilla Glue and glued the melamine saucers to the lovely 80's styled candlesticks...

Then I used some Rustoleum Spraypaint...

and voila....custom candlesticks!

I can't wait to show you what other inexpensive ideas that I'm working on!!

For another resource on decorating savings, find Promo Codes online.

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Shabby Desk Redo. . . .

The completion of the basement has started a chain reaction of change.....first, we moved the school room to the basement....

That allowed us to turn the former school room back into a dining room.....no real pictures of that room yet because I am not happy yet with how it looks.....you can read all about my paint disaster!


So then I decided to rearrange the "music" room...I am a piano teacher and my music was just stuffed in these el cheapo wooden half-painted crates....

I moved an IKEA white storage cabinet from another room in there for the music and then decided to paint my desk to match....

UGH!!!  I just realized as I was typing that I deleted the before picture of the desk and don't have a back-up of it......so I'll describe it for you...

It was an ugly 80's wood desk that I rescued from a yard sale and spray painted oregano.....

So in my overhaul of room, I went and grabbed some Rustoleum Blossom White and sprayed the desk again.....spray painting is such a quick and inexpensive transformation!

I distressed the desk with sandpaper by hand and let the oregano show through....

We had leftover beadboard so I attached it to the sides of the desk and distressed it, as well....

I also painted a satin polyurethane sealer on the top of the desk so that it won't scratch with the heavy use that it gets.

I just love the new look and now that it's white, it will match whatever color I decide to put on these walls!

Now lest you think that my desk always looks like this.....here's a picture of what it really looks like....

Just keepin' it real!

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Chandelier. . . .

1 Habitat Restore Chandelier + 1 can of Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze Spraypaint =

1 "Brand New" Chandelier

The End!

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Gilding a pumpkin....

Bon Jour!  I am Karen from the blog Redoux and I am happy to be guest
posting here at Thrifty Decorating today!

I don't know about you, but I am really ready for the Fall. This is my favorite time of year, the leaves change color, and the air gets crisp.  I have done a little "prepping" for Halloween decor already.

Here Goes my 1st project:

Materials needed:

• White or Orange faux pumpkin purchased from Craft Store
• Metallic Silver and Copper Spray Paint
• Metallic Silver and Gold Craft Paint (I am really loving the Martha Steward brand, much better than the cheaper stuff)
• Small paintbrush, (I used a 1 inch brush)
• Very fine Gauge Wire, about 3 inches per pumpkin
• Nail, or other sharp object (for puncturing the stem) 

This is your pumpkin before:

Start by Spray Painting your Pumpkin in Silver or Bronze (only one color per pumpkin!)

 

After paint dries, use metallic craft paint and "dry brush" from the stem down, all around the pumpkin.  (This mimics the natural color variation you would see on a real pumpkin, but not gold and silver....)

When craft paint is dry, paint stem in metallic craft paint.

While Stem is drying, use about a 3-4 inch piece of the wire and wrap around a pencil to make a "ringlet"

When Stem is dry, use a sharp object (I used a large nail), to "make a hole" for the wire.  Stick one end of the wire into the stem, until it feels secure.  (You can also stick the wire in, then do the ringlet)

Now you have a beautiful Fall/Halloween Gilded "Jacque - o - lantern"!

Ahh, so much better!  From Orange to Ooo la la!

-------------------------------

Karen has a wonderful blog called Redoux and she

also has a weekly link party...

You can head over and see what other fall ideas

are linking up!

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Desk Makeover....

Months ago, a friend dropped off this old desk....she was moving and wanted it out of her house, so it came and sat...on my front porch....like a "hill-billy-house-with-a couch-on-the-front-porch"....for too many weeks!

Hubby finally said....Enough!  Get this thing out of here!  But the problem was....I was feeling uninspired!

I had spray primed it and tried spraypainting it, but it wasn't turning out like I pictured in my mind....

I let it sit....for many more weeks and then pulled out the roller and paintbrush and painted it the "old-fashioned" way!

After all of my hard work, I grabbed that sandpaper and started to distress it....

....and distress it some more!

But then....I hit this little snag...the drawers!  I had the brilliant idea to use scrapbook paper instead of fabric.  I wanted to mod podge it to the drawer....the only problem....the scrapbook paper was too short!

So....it sat some more until I finally went and bought some contact paper....so much easier to work with!

Then...I spraypainted the handles with my favorite go-to color Krylon Oil-Rubbed Bronze!

But....alas....I had drip marks....so that caused another week (month!) of delay as I tried to decide what to do....I just started over with primer and it covered my mess!

So finally......here is my desk in all her glory!  After about 5 months....I think that she turned out beautifully!

Have you ever had a project that you've been "stuck" on?

Places I party!
Also linking to Beneath my Heart Best DIY projects.

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