Thrifty Thursday #60

Oh my gracious.....life has been a little c-razy!!  Why do I feel like I

say that every week???

About a week or so ago, my hubby had to officiate a wedding in the Pocono Mountains.

An hour before we were to leave, we realized that his car had been broken into the night before.

All that had been taken was....our garage door opener.  They passed over the checkbook, 

gift cards, a passport and some loose change to grab access into our home....lovely!

We resolved that....changed codes, locked down our house only to realize Tuesday

night that at some point over that same weekend, my hubby got bit by a tick...

and not just your average, ordinary tick...it had to be one carrying Lyme's Disease.

And that tick couldn't just bite him and be done with it, but had to cause a serious infection

in his skin.  So....hubby is currently in the hospital getting dosed up with

IV antibiotics and I am on "worry" duty!

Joking.....I am on prayer duty....I've been just praying that God would give me peace of mind

and peace of heart and He has....with only a few moments of panic-striken anxiety!

Needless to say....I haven't had a whole lot of time to look through your projects from last week, so this week's features are going to be on the slim side!

The Hell on Heels Housewife made these awesome chevron window boxes 

out of yard stakes. Aren't they beautiful?!

Cookin' Up Good Times shared these sinfully good chocolate cupcakes...yum!

Your pictures make me want to lick the spoon!!

Cherished Bliss made these mason jar party cups using ribbon and lace....

I'd love to sip some pink lemonade in these cups!

Saving 4 Six painted her Grandma's hope chest and recovered the top....I always

love to see the transformation that paint can make!

Finally, Design Dreams by Anne painted an old children's wardrobe and 

transformed it into her kitchen pantry.....love the aqua!

Thank you to everyone for linking!

If you were featured this week, feel free to grab one of my buttons!

Here are some very simple suggestions for the party:

1. Please become a follower of Thrifty Decorating.

2. Be sure to link to your POST and not your blog.

3. Please copy and paste my link button somewhere in 

your post or blog so that others can link back.

You can also party with Johnnie 

at Saved by Love Creations!

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Slowing Down....

I've been feeling the need recently to just S-L-O-W down...

It seems that each week my kids grow another inch....tackle a new task

and edge just a little bit older....

In the midst of all this, I am realizing even more that these moments are 

precious and few and will be gone in the blink of an eye...

It seems that only yesterday, I was measuring my son's life here under our

roof as "halfway" to eighteen....have almost 4 years slipped away since then?

This summer, I want to enjoy each and every moment with them....

I desire to have "free time".......

So what that means is that I'll be stepping away from frequent and regular posts here.

At this point, I still plan to host my weekly party....it's a chance to spotlight projects 

that may not get the exposure elsewhere....but, I am not tied to it.

As I continue to do projects here at home, I will share them with you....and

I will continue to do projects....that's just who I am!

But, instead of doing projects for you....I'll be doing projects for me...

Instead of worrying about taking perfectly staged pictures and rushing

to make sure there's a project (or two) to post a week, I'm going to live

life first and share projects...second.

I'll miss seeing you all on a "regular" basis, but I'd regret even more, my 

kiddo's seeing their mama on a regular basis...

So I'll be back occasionally....maybe even in a week or so because I've been 

inspired to FINISH MY DINING ROOM!!!

Yes...it's really happening and you've all patiently watched me paint....repaint...repaint...whine and complain...and paint!

I also have a few giveaways that I have sitting in my queue that I

still want to share with you!

But, if you see long breaks between posts, just know it's because.... 

I snuggled on the couch watching National Treasure instead of editing photos....

I was picking strawberries and planting beans with my daughter instead of editing posts....

I am sitting by the pool watching my boys perfect their dives instead of

trolling Pinterest for my next project idea....

....and you know what....it feels GREAT!

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Rosemary Ranch Chicken for the Grill

Last summer, when chicken went on sale, I stocked up and did my own mini-version of freezer meals.  I marinated the chicken tenders, threw them into reusable bags and froze them.

My hands-down favorite was this ranch chicken recipe by my friend Cheryl.

Rosemary Ranch Chicken

1 1/2 .b chicken tenders

Marinade:

1/2 c. olive oil

1/2 c. ranch dressing

3 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 T. minced fresh rosemary

2 t. salt

1 t. lemon juice

1 t. white vinegar

1/4 t. black pepper

1 T. sugar

*Marinate chicken over night (or freeze until ready to use, thaw) and gill.

 It is just yummy goodness!!!

As a side dish, you can try another one of Cheryl's recipes....sesame green beans!

Happy Mother's Day!

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Thrifty Thursday #59

So for weeks it didn't rain and we were actually under a strict burn ban because of

the low humidity and high winds...now it just keeps raining....and raining..and raining!

My seeds that I started are desperate to live outside and my children who are just about finished with their homeschool year are driving me a

little....bit....BATTY!!!!! because they have been stuck indoors!

So what do I do??.....browse through your projects dreaming of the day when it will be sunny and warm and I can play outside again!  My first place to work on is my front porch!

I especially like what Taryn at Design, Dining, and Diapers did with her front porch.....simple and pretty!

A little something in the meantime shared how she took rainboots, buckets and planters to create a cute arrangement for her front porch.

I am also dreaming of chickens.  I even had hubby on board with the idea, 

but we're not allowed to have them because of zoning....bummer because

Sunny Simple life shows us how to make an inexpensive coop out of an old cabinet!

2 Crafty 4 My Skirt shared this potting bench from pallets and old 2 x 4's....honey, if you read my blog, I'd LOVE this for Mother's Day!!!

Frugal Adventures....you are BRILLIANT!!!  What an awesome idea for spray paint storage!!

(and you have quite the spraypaint stash!)

I just love crock pot recipes and Miss information shared this one for
Crockpot Buffalo Chicken....yum!

Finally, just in time for Memorial Day, Fancy Frugal Life shared her 4th of 
July trifle recipe...it looks easy and delicious!

Thank you to everyone for linking!

If you were featured this week, feel free to grab one of my buttons!

Here are some very simple suggestions for the party:

1. Please become a follower of Thrifty Decorating.

2. Be sure to link to your POST and not your blog.

3. Please copy and paste my link button somewhere in 

your post or blog so that others can link back.

You can also party with Johnnie 

at Saved by Love Creations!

Read more ...

Decorating with drop cloth....

I originally shared this idea at Craftomanic......I've been going a little crazy with the drop cloth!

I've recovered furniture....

stenciled pillows....

I just love how inexpensive the fabric is and how much you can do with it!!

So I had a bit left over and decided to make a spring-y table runner.

To make the table runner you will need a length of drop cloth and some coordinating fabric.  

I bought 1/4 yard of each color, but used less.  (Ignore the tan fabric....I'm 

not sure how that jumped into the picture!)

You do not necessarily need a sewing machine for the next step.  I've

been know to use hot glue to finish edges!

To finish the edges....

Fold the side seam over 1/4 inch and iron a crease. (#1)  Fold it over again (#2) and iron another crease. (#3)  At this point, you can sew that seam or hot glue it! (#4)

I then decided how wide I wanted my ruffles and cut a strip of coordinating fabric.

I am definitely not the sewing contributor because I don't measure anything!!

I eye-balled a straight line and threw in some pins to mark where to put the ruffles.

It is super easy to make these ruffles.....I just fold the fabric back and forth

and sew over it...no measuring, all eye-balling!

When I got to the end of the ruffle, I folded the piece of fabric under and

sewed right over the end the make it look like a "finished" edge.

The possibilities for this type of table runner are endless!  You can do strips of red, white 

and blue for summer or red and green for Christmas.  I've also used fabric sewn on burlap!

The total cost was easily under $5.   

I just love that it's an inexpensive way to get a very custom look for your home!

If you like the candlesticks, you can find the tutorial HERE.  They were made 

from pieces from the Goodwill!  (and please excuse my wrinkles....I took the table runner

off the table during our dinner get-together and it got wrinkled....)

I love finding inexpensive ways to make my home a beautiful place!

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Epsom Salt Crystals

I've had the total pleasure of teaching an elementary Chemistry class this year.

Once a week, twenty-two 5th and 6th graders would gather and we would

explore high school level topics with some elementary level fun!

A few weeks ago we studied solutions...saturated, unsaturated and supersaturated.

A fun way to demonstrate this is by making crystals.

Many of the kids had tried making crystals before, but it hadn't worked because

they missed this crucial step.....they did not make a supersaturated solution!

Here's my recipe for awesome crystals! 

(and the ones above are just beginning to grow!)

1/2 cups of water

1/4 cup of Epsom salt

Important....you must heat the water to near boiling or boiling.  More crystals are able to dissolve in the hot water.  You can even add an additional 1/4 cup

of Epsom salts to dissolve if the water is hot.

You will want to stir the water with the Epsom salts until it turns from cloudy

to clear.....this indicates that the salt is being fully dissolved in the water.

We took a pipe cleaner wrapped around a wood split (You can just use a 

pencil)and hung our pipe cleaner over a Styrofoam cup.

Some of the kids made really cool shapes with their pipe cleaners...snowflakes, circles, triangles, and double circles.

Place your cup in a warm, sunny place.  This aids the rate of evaporation of the water.  You want the water to evaporate.

If you notice our cup, it is now half-full of water.  It was 3/4 of the way full when we started.  

Be prepared for NOTHING to happen for up to a week!  We kept coming back and checking

and we had an empty pipe cleaner....but have faith, as the water evaporates, 

the crystals will grow!

I've also heard that you can pour the solution over a sponge and the crystals will grow on the sponge.

I'll keep you posted....we're still hoping for some bigger crystals!

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How to add a watermark....

Are you feeling lost without Picnik?  I'm still trying to adjust to

PicMonkey...I really wish there were a way to open multiple photos.

Did you use Picnik to add a watermark to your photos and now that is gone?? Well, 

a {day} with lil mama stuart has developed an awesome tutorial 

for how to add a watermark to your photos.

Watermarking has become absolutely essential with the invasion of Pinterest.

So many photos are being pinned without credit being given to the creator.
From what I've read, you want to add a watermark to any photo in your post.

If you get a chance, head over to a {day} with lil mama stuart
and learn how to create your own distinctive watermark!

Thanks so much for sharing with us, Mindy!

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