Vintage Recipe Box Makeover

I found this cute little vintage recipe box at our local thrift store. She was in sad shape.

I thought she could use a little dressing up, so out came my scrapbook paper, glue and paint.

I painted the edges with some brown paint.

Glued on the scrapbook paper,which I had distressed with ink.

Here she is all prettied up...costing me a total of 74 cents....

...now she is a great little file for my office/scrapbook room.

I'm linking this post to Coastal Charm Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Tools are for Women Too

A New Use For An Old Item

Recently I made a scrap room/office for myself, and I needed a storage area for my ink pads. I'm THRIFTY so when I saw these old cassette tape cases,I knew right away that they would work great.

I started out by taping them off with masking tape and paper ....




next came the spray paint.....





tada.....what a great storage solution they make!




The total cost was only pennies for the paint, everything else was FREE!

I'm linking this post @

Decorating for Spring on a Budget

Where I live signs of spring are showing up all over; the beautiful spring trees are in full bloom.

I've also added some spring decor in my home.

I created this cute little cloche by taking a cheese dome and painting the base black. I then added some moss and a birds nest purchased for $1.99 at wal-mart. The eggs I found at a cute local shop.

This little vignette sits on my dinning room desk.
I started out with this.....
I painted the pear with an ivory spray paint. Then I added the cute little plate my daughter gave me as a gift. Finally adding a Goodwill plate I found for 99 cents. The little flowers were left over from my daughters wedding.

I love the colors in this little vignette!



I created this with my thrift store finds. Isn't the little table runner cute! It was only $1.49 and the candle sticks and greenery pot were previous garage sale find for a total of $2.50.The cheese dome 49 cents and little blue plate...free from a thrift store. The place mat was 13 cents, making the total cost....under five dollars.

Lastly my dinning room table runner and at home America candle holder were garage sale finds last spring. The runner came with a price of only 50 cents and and the at home America candle holder (new with tags on it) for a mere two dollars.

I'm Linking this post to My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday
A Stoll Thru Life ~ summer cloche party

80 Year Old Cedar Chest Makeover

I had the wonderful privilege of inheriting my grandmother's 80 year old cedar chest.

It came to me in very poor condition. There was a leg broken off, hinges disconnected, veneer chipped and missing and part of the trim molding was missing.

My husband thought it was beyond repair; and maybe the dump was the best place for it. I'm a very sentimental person and said "but it was grandma's!"

It sat in my husband's shop for quite some time, but then one day I was surprised and delighted to find my husband (who's very good at restoring and building furniture) busy working on the chest. I don't have a photo of it at it's worst, but here are a few of the chest in the restoration process.

The veneer was in such bad shape we decided simply to remove it altogether.

We then sanded the cedar wood followed by 3 coats of Valspar black satin paint.

Here it is all finished sitting pretty in my living room.

What do you think of my transformation?

Joy

I'm linking this post to

Show and tell @ Blue Cricket Deisgn


Trash to treasure @Reinvented

Tools are for Women Too

DIY Craft Room Project

I like things pretty so coordinating or matching objects in my craft room was a must on my project list. The first project I did was an easy one that even a beginner crafter can do.

It takes only a few supplies.
1. An old mouse pad, coasters and canvas

2. Craft spray adhesive (or another other glue to use for bonding)
3. Scrapbook paper of your choice
4. Self adhesive cork scrapbook paper
5. Ribbon

Mouse Pad make over instructions:
1. Take your old mouse pad and trace an outline on your paper of choice.
2. Cut this out on lines marked.
3. Spray the old mouse pad with spray adhesive.

4. Attach paper to mouse pad.
You can now admire your new mouse pad !


Coordinating coasters instructions:
1. Do the same as mouse pad instructions (listed above) and add a little bling to them by adding some ribbon.




Coordinating Note Board:

1. Using an old canvas cut the cork board paper to fit canvas.
2. Cut a piece of coordinating paper and place it at the top of the canvas.
3. Glue a piece of coordinating ribbon between the two papers for an added boarder.
4. At the top of the cork board I put the word "notes" with sticker letters.
5. I added some cute tacks that I purchased at Wal-Mart, but you could add your own bling to some cheap tacks by painting them or covering them with scrapbook paper.

Joy


I'm linking this post to Frugal Friday at the Shabby Nest
Tools are for Women Too Centsational Girl ~ Where do you blog partly

Welcome to my blog!

I’m a thrifty and creative gal. I enjoy all things thrifty, from garage sales to thrift stores.
I like taking old things and making them into something fresh and new.
I fill many rolls…pastor’s wife, mother, interior designer, chef, seamstress, teacher, nurse and taxi driver to name only a few.


I love making the parsonage our home.
Those of you who do not own your own homes will appreciate the fact that the parsonage, with its builder’s grade white painted walls, is rather bland and impersonal. I’ve enjoyed taking these white walls and adding color and texture to them, while adding softness using my sewing skills to add curtains, pillows and quilts. All of these things give our house warmth and coziness so we can call it HOME.


I hope that you’ll enjoy following me over the next weeks and months as I reveal some of these things. I’ll be giving you some helpful tips on how to be thrifty and save money for your families.


I’m starting out my blog with a few photos of my craft room/office.
It was while searching for ideas for this room, that I was inspired to start writing a blog. I thought it would be fitting to include this room in my first post...

...as this is the room I create , sew and blog in.

Joy
Linking this post to...Centsational Girl ~ Where do you blog?
Perfectly Imperfect Link Party