Thrifty Thursday #46

Well....I'm back....a little jet-lagged!  We flew all night and lost 5 hours simultaneously....whew!  


I can't wait to share our experience in Hawaii with
you all.....fun times, but also some 
that involved my hubby riding with a complete stranger who was 
carrying a gun, the Honolulu Police
Department and Google maps to snag a criminal!!


C-R-A-Z-Y!!


I checked in at one point at the Apple store and saw that there were
178 LINKS last week....WOW!!!  Thanks so much!


Creatively Living shared this easy-to-make DIY Ruffle Lampshade....

The Painted Hive shared this amazing tutorial for how to make your own decal transfer label....

she also included a FREE printable for these amazing labels!!

Jessa Jill crafted this beautiful ruffled wreath with some inexpensive white fabric...

And some Valentine inspiration....


Cheap Crafty Mama made these marbleized hearts from paint and shaving cream....

Happy Hour Projects made these quilted heart coasters...

The Crafted Blog Stalker made these pretty paper hearts.....

More Style than Cash gives step-by-step instructions to make these chocolate roses....

A Little Inspiration shared a wealth of free printable ideas.....

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!

Or Erika at Thrifty and Fabulous!

Read more ...

Dining room....progress??

Way back when.....I embarked on a project.....the week before Thanksgiving I decided to "redo" my dining room....what a DISASTER that was!

It didn't start badly...in fact, I really like my Craig's List hutch that I painted with homemade chalkpaint....

I also like my Habitat Restore chandelier that got a new life with a little bit of spraypaint....

The disaster was (and still is!) the paint....

In fact.....I am so paralyzed by the paint color that I've been ignoring the room for 2 months now....I just can't pick a color.  I'm not sure what is wrong with me.....maybe it's the fact that I  had FOUR colors on the wall in a span of 1 week??

The other problem was that I had a dining room table and no chairs.....it's a long, confusing story, but I sold the chairs on Craig's List because at the

time I had no dining room....it was a school room.....but then the flood came....and we redid our basement and I moved our classroom to the basement.....told you it was confusing!

So I was left with a table that I hauled out of our basement and no chairs....

But I recently saw these on our Habitat Restore Facebook page....

They were $10/chair and there were SIX of them!!  I tried to bargain them down, but it didn't happen....$60 for 6 solid wood chairs is a good deal, I guess....

I still have no idea what to do with the walls.....but I know what I'm going to do with these chairs!  It involves homemade chalkpaint, drop cloth and faux grain sacks!!

I'll keep you posted!

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Inexpensive Valentine Art.....

I made this project last year and despite all the excess glue....it still remains one of my favorite projects....

I took an old frame from Goodwill and painted it with white paint.  I then rubbed glaze onto it....you can also use stain.

I grabbed some foam board....you can buy it at The Dollar Tree for $1.00.  I had some scrap lying around...

Take some red cardstock and cut a circle and then cut a spiral...

Start in the center and begin to glue your rosette.....use SMALL dabs of glue....I used GLOBS!

I ripped some strips from the want ads in the newspaper and then glued my rosettes in the shape of a heart....

I had leftover scrapbook stickers and added the word LOVE...

It was a quick and easy project that can be customized however you like!




If you like this project....would you PIN IT??

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Being featured....

My cake pops are being featured today at the 14 Days of Love

over at Design, Dining and Diapers!

Be sure to stop by and see the other great projects linking this week!

Read more ...

Easy Chocolate Truffles

Rebecca from Sister-Dipity is guest posting for me today while I am hopefully

enjoying the warm beaches of Hawaii!!

Her post is just in time to make some wonderful treats

for Valentine's day!

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

This chocolate truffle recipe is so easy and so delicious! They are very rich, filling little chocolate bites that would make the perfect little treat for your Valentine!

Here's what you need...

• 1 12oz. bag of milk chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup sweet cream butter
• 1 bag Heath English Toffee Bits
• 1 bag Andes Creme De Mint Baking Chips
• miniature cupcake liners

In a medium sauce pan melt the entire bag of milk chocolate chips with the whipping cream and the butter on low heat, stirring frequently. 

When the chocolate is smooth and the butter is completely melted, remove from heat.  Pour into a glass pie plate.

Refrigerate for about two hours.  The chocolate should become firm, but not too hard to scoop out.

Set out the cupcake liners individually so they are ready to go!

Pour the toffee bits in a small bowl.  Pour the mint chips in a separate bowl.

Using a spoon (I actually like to use a small cookie dough scoop), scoop out small spoonfuls of the chocolate.  Shape into a ball.  Drop ball into one of the bowls of toppings - either the toffee bits or the mint chips and roll until completely covered.  Then set the truffle into a cupcake liner.  Repeat process...over and over and over!  Roll some in the toffee and some in the mint chips for two different types of truffles.

Refrigerate truffles until ready to serve.

I like to put these on pretty plates or tucked in fancy little boxes to give as gifts.  I always get tons of compliments on these little treats!  And they are so easy!

I usually use the mint chips and toffee chips when I make truffles, but you can try lots of other tasty toppings too.  In the past I have rolled them in nuts, coconut, sprinkles, and cookie crumbs.  I have also rolled them in red and white peppermint bark pieces as seen on the left side of the first photo.

Surprise your sweetie with these homemade treats this Valentine's Day!  They are sure to impress!

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Be sure to go visit Sister-Dipity!  Here are some of Rebecca's other projects....

{Peaches and Cream French Toast}

{Canning Jar Ring Wreath}

Thanks so much, Rebecca, for visiting!

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Aloha....

Not sure if any of you remember my 40th birthday disaster....

Hurricane Lee dumped over 12 inches of rain on our town in less than a day...

It resulted in a very flooded town and it happened to be on my birthday.

So, I gladly spent it bailing water out of our friend's basement and

checking our backyard to see just how high the water had risen!

The hard part was when water started pouring into OUR basement that night!

Yeah....I had a little weepy pity party!

But, my "glass is half full" hubby knew that months later we would

be stepping on a plane and heading to a very warm place.....to celebrate both

of our 40th birthdays and 15 blissful years of marriage....and continued

to remind me of that weekly!

I can't believe that the day is HERE and as you read this, I will be sitting

on a flight with my Kindle loaded with tons of free books from Amazon (thanks

to The Frugal Girls giving me a heads-up) and thinking happy thoughts...

Actually....I'm a terrible fly-er so I am probably gripping the seat and burying

my face in my hubby's arm!

At some point, I'll have to share his travel secrets.....he regularly finds us deals

to cruise for $300 a person or fly for $100.....this trip

to Hawaii is costing us probably half of what you think it is!

So...hopefully Blogger will cooperate and automatically publish my scheduled posts,

but don't expect to hear back from me.....

I'm going to be visiting this....

and hiking by this...

and lying on this....

Aloha!

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Thrifty Thursday #45

I know that I say this every week, but your projects just keep getting
BETTER and BETTER!  I have so much fun looking through the links, but
I struggle because I want to feature ALL of you! 


The rest of the blog world is noticing your talent, as well, because you all are
starting to pull in the pageviews!  I hope that you are seeing traffic
back at your sites from it!


Here are some of this week's top projects.....


Mama with a Dash of DIY Drama created this stunning wreath.....

Just a little Creativity shared this amazing Ballard Design knock-offs.....what a great idea!

551 East Furniture Design showed as that if you don't like your first DIY attempt....try again!

Fancy Frugal Life made these PB Knock-off Valentine chair backs....so cute and easy to make!

The Brown Eyes Have It whipped up a batch of super moisturizing  lotion 
and lip balm in her MIXER and is sharing her recipe with us!

Redoux took a scruffy looking changing table that she picked up for a few bucks
and turned it into this beauty!

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!

Or Erika at Thrifty and Fabulous!

Read more ...

14 Days of Love

  


I just love all the fun projects that are out in blogland for Valentine's Day....


Have you seen my Valentine's Day Pinterest Board?

{Valentine Cookie Bouquet}

{Lunch Box Treats}

{50 Decorating Ideas}


Taryn of Design, Dining + Diapers is holding her own Valentine Party...you
can go to ONE place and find a bunch of creative bloggers sharing their ideas....

The party starts today!!

Be sure to stop by Design, Dining + Diapers and tell Taryn, "Hi!" from Thrifty Decorating....

Read more ...