Frugal Kitchen Decor

I have wanted to change the wallpaper in our kitchen for a while now.  I really started thinking about it when a few little people got a head start on taking some of it down.

Here is a little tidbit I'm offering free of charge today.  I helped my mom put up the wallpaper 13 years ago never knowing that 2 years later my husband and I would be living here.  I have lived in this house for all but 3 1/2 years of my life.   Don't you feel better for knowing this?  I am just full of information like this.  My husband really doesn't like it when I go off on these tangents.  I think I am just trying to help him be a more patient person when I do things like this.

Anyway, I got the bright idea Monday that I wanted to go for it.  I had a few ideas for switching some things around and my husband was fairly agreeable.  So, this is what my daughter and I did after breakfast on Tuesday.

That afternoon we headed to town to get some paint.  After the kids were in bed I put two coats of primer and a top coat on the walls.  Don't ask what time I got to bed.  Wednesday morning I put my finish on top.  It was dry in no time.  By the afternoon I had one whole wall done.  Only three to go and the laundry room.  Well, there is still a lot to do, but I am loving the wall that is finished.

I used one of the aprons my friend had given me and a doily to decorate this small section of the wall.  I used a cup hook and tied the apron strings to it.  I also used a thumb tack to help it lay evenly.  The doily was one of my grandma's (like I used for these pillows).  I simply placed it into a yard sale embroidery hoop and let it rest on a small nail. 

Here is a better view of another doily I did the same thing to.  Nearly instant decor.  Plus, I like not having all of the doilies I inherited stuck in a drawer.  You can also see how the wall looks in this picture.

I painted the wall a dark yellow.  Once it was dry I mixed water and some brown paint in a 1:1 ratio.  Then I dipped a rag into the paint, wrung most of it out, and then dabbed it on the wall in a circular motion.  I have done this technique in our basement and like how it hides a multitude of flaws and is an easy finish.

I am not going to share any more about the kitchen until I am finished, but wanted to share one more project that is now displayed in my kitchen.

I purchased this old cookie sheet at a yard sale for 25 cents.  I spray painted the entire tray with red spray paint.  When it was dry I used some chalkboard paint to cover the inside.  I added a twine loop and hung it on a cup hook.  I think it will be fun to change the sign, or to let my children draw on it when I am trying to cook.

Now, I better get back to work.  That wallpaper isn't going to strip itself.  Have a great day.

I am linking this post to:
Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
Friday Fun Finds at KoJo Designs

Frugal Kitchen Decor

It's My Blog and I'll Brag If I Want To

Don't worry, I'm not going to brag about myself but about my daughter and her 4-H projects.  She worked very hard on them, so I thought she deserved her own post about them.

This is Julia's third year to be in 4-H.  She has entered arts & crafts projects as well as sewing projects all three years.  She did very well in both 2008 and 2009.  This year was no exception.

On Thursday afternoon she was judged on the modeling of her dress.  That evening the public was invited to watch the girls model their outfits. 

Julia's smile lit up the room.  She won champion of her age group and junior grand champion of all the third through seventh grade girls.  As soon as she won James said, "I knew she would win because she was the best."  How is that for brotherly love?  :-)

On Saturday she was judged on the actual sewing of her dress.  She was champion of her division and was selected to have her dress go to the state fair.  I am happy that she was rewarded for her hard work.

The dress was fairly advanced as it had a zipper and seven skirt panels.  However, we took our time and worked on the dress a little each day until it was finished.  Julia just sets the machine to the slowest speed and goes for it. 

If you want to know the particulars the floral print is an Alexander Henry 100% cotton fabric.  We chose a pink cotton fabric that matched for the hem, sash, and ties.  The pattern we used was Simplicity 2683. 

She has plans to wear the dress to church, but that will have to wait until after the state fair.  She is hoping she can still wear it next spring.  I am sure it will fit width-wise, but if she keeps having these growth spurts I am not sure it will fit length-wise.

Her arts & crafts project received a blue ribbon as well as an honor ribbon.  She made a felt pin cushion like the one I posted about in April.  We searched for several months to find a dessert plate and dessert cup that she could glue together (using E6000 glue) to use as a cake stand for the pin cushion. We found the plate at the Goodwill and the cup at a yard sale for 59 cents total.

She made six flower pins out of Shrinky Dinks to finish off her entry.  She really wanted to use the pin cushion when we were sewing her dress because of the magnets on the layers.  I wouldn't let her because I didn't want it to get ruined.  I think it will be fun to have next to our sewing machine after the fair.

On Saturday night we went to the fair to see how Julia's projects and my open class entries did.  We had fun and the boys loved seeing the animals.  Joseph made the sound of each animal we saw.  :-)

Thanks for letting me brag.  That's enough for today.

It's My Blog and I'll Brag If I Want To

Our Trip

We set out last Monday morning on our vacation.  We stopped at a train museum on our way to my aunt and uncle's.  My boys have all loved trains, but none more than Joshua.

Everything in the museum came from one man's collection.  If it pertained to steam engines and the old time railroads, it was probably at this museum.

Joseph was mesmerized by this little train set and wanted to touch it so badly, but was able to refrain.

It is amazing just how big a train engine really is when you put your family in front of it.

We arrived at my aunt and uncle's house in the late afternoon.  We hadn't seen them or my cousins for a year, so it was fun to catch up.  While my husband and uncle played golf on Tuesday and Wednesday, the kids and I enjoyed swimming with my cousins and their children.

Joseph really didn't think he wanted to get in the water, but he ended up loving the pool.  It went from 1 foot deep to 7 feet deep. 

On Thursday morning we left my aunt and uncle's house and headed to Lake Michigan.  We didn't know what kind of day we would have since it was pouring down rain.  However, we had an hour drive and I prayed the weather would cooperate. 

Even though it was overcast and it rained for about 5 minutes close to lunch time, we had a fabulous day.

When we left the beach we headed to our hotel.  Let me just tell you about this blessing for a second.  My dad had earned points with a chain of hotels and offered to let us use some of the points.  We were able to stay the night for free.  It was very nice.  Thanks, Dad and Mom!

We ate dinner out and then went to an IMAX 3-D showing of Toy Story 3.  We haven't been to a movie in a year either, so it was quite a treat.

On Friday morning we leisurely headed home and were able to have lunch with another aunt and uncle.

We were thankful for safe travels, fun times, and lots of special memories. 

I am linking this post to Finer Things Friday at The Finer Things in Life because spending time with my family on vacation truly was a finer thing.

Our Trip

A Few Details About Our Trip

Last week we were gone from home for four nights.  This was only the second time we have been gone for that long.  Obviously, we are not well-traveled and don't have lots of experience in taking a family of six on the road.  However, I thought I would share a few things with you that worked to help us have a frugal and fun time.

I first wanted to tell you about coming home from our trip.  Yes, I know I am out of order, but stick with me.  We came home to a clean house that had no dirty dishes in the sink, all of the rooms were picked up, and there were fresh towels in the bathrooms and clean sheets on the beds.  It felt like we came home to a hotel.  All of the time I spent cleaning and preparing were so worth it and made us so happy to be home. 

Last year I wrote a post about how we saved money on food while traveling.  I didn't have to pack quite as much food this year since we only stayed one night in a hotel.  However, I did take lots of cucumbers, zucchini and green beans to share with my aunt and uncle who were gracious enough to have us stay with them for three nights.  I also made some homemade bread, cole slaw, marinated cucumbers, pancakes (made ahead of time and frozen), and food for my son who has allergies.

Taking these foods made me feel like we weren't sponging off of our relatives just to save money on a trip.  My husband grilled out two nights and I did as much as my aunt would let me with the food preparation.  Thanks to the food we took and what we ate with family we only ended up eating in a restaurant two times during the whole trip. 

I tried something new this year.  I packed the kids' clothes in large zippered bags according to which day they were going to wear them.  This was really a time saver. 

Another helpful thing I did was to wash all of the dirty clothes and diapers on Wednesday evening.  This cut down on the amount of laundry I had to do when we got home. 

Last year I talked about cloth diapering on vacation.  I did it again this year.  There was a part of me that thought it might be easier to just buy a package of diapers, but I decided to stick with cloth.  The diapers I used are just as easy as disposables, and since I am used to using them it didn't feel like any extra work. 

Another thing that I did was to let each child take one bag of things from home.  It is nice for the kids to have something familiar when we go on a trip, and it helps keep them busy on a long van ride. 

Tomorrow I will share with you about the more fun aspects of our trip.

A Few Details About Our Trip

The Fruits of My Labor

Yesterday I shared with you that I planned to can some green beans, pizza sauce and blackberry jelly.  I am happy to report that I accomplished my goals.  Here are the fruits of my labor.

That sink full of tomatoes...

...became 4 pints of pizza sauce.

Those two buckets of green beans...

...were processed into seven quart jars.

Those four containers of blackberry juice...

...became ten pints and thirteen small jars of blackberry jelly.

I even made seven jars of blueberry jam with the blueberries my aunt and uncle gave us last week on our trip.

In addition to all of that canning, I was able to find time to play with my children and help my husband with some projects.  I think I had a pretty productive day. 

Here's hoping you have a wonderful and productive day today.  :-)

The Fruits of My Labor

Plans for Today

Tomatoes in need of juicing so they can become pizza sauce. 

Green beans freshly snapped just waiting to be canned.

Blackberry juice ready to be turned into four batches of blackberry jelly.

While this is a lot of work and buying these items already made at the store would be easier, I honestly enjoy canning and preserving our garden harvests.  I get great satisfaction knowing that with a little hard work we can enjoy our harvest all year.

Are you doing any canning or preserving today?

Plans for Today

There's No Place Like Home

We have been gone on vacation since Monday morning.  You may not have even noticed we were gone due to the fact I scheduled all of the posts for the week ahead of time.  Next week I will be sharing about our trip. 

We had safe travels and many fun times.  I am so thankful for the memories we made this week and the hospitality of family.  

Even though we had a great time I think my daughter summed it up best when she said, "There's no place like home."

There's No Place Like Home

Swimming Suit Alteration Tutorial

A few weeks ago I posted about how I altered my daughter's low-cut swimming suit.  I had to do the same to my suit and thought I would share the process for any of you who may be like me and wish the suits weren't so low-cut.  :-)  Warning:  You are about to get up close and personal with my swimming suit top. 

I found some swimming suit material that matched my suit pretty well and purchased 1/4 of a yard which was more than enough.  I also purchased some stretch needles.

Then, I measured the distance from the center of my suit top to the height I wanted the panel to be.  Do this on both sides of the opening.  My measurement was 5 1/4 inches.

Measure the width across at the pins you marked in the previous step.  My measurement was 6 1/2 inches.

I added 1 inch to the width of my opening making it 7 1/2 inches.  I also added an inch to my height measurement and then doubled it making the length of fabric needed 12 1/2 inches.  I used a rotary cutter to cut my piece of swimming suit fabric at 7 1/2 inches x 12 1/2 inches.  Remember, your measurements will vary.

I folded the piece of fabric in half and stitched 1/8 inch from the fold.  This made my fabric 7 1/2 inches wide by 6 1/4 inches high.

Pin the fabric to the inside of your swimming suit with the seam line at the top (which is actually at the bottom in my picture above).  Make sure to center it on your suit and place the fold at the two pins you inserted in the first step.

Turn the suit over and sew along the opening.  Make sure you backstitch at the beginning and end to keep your sewing in place.

Cut off the excess fabric close to your stitching line.

It really was a simple process, so I hope I didn't make it more confusing with this tutorial.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Swimming Suit Alteration Tutorial