FREE paint at Ace Hardware + dining room re-do

Head over to my other blog, The Frugal Homemaker, to find out how to get a free quart of paint at Ace Hardware each Saturday in March!

And while you are there, check out my before/after dining room re-do –  decorated with thrifted finds, furnished with hand-me down furniture + some DIY projects completed by us!  Love this new room so much!

Enjoying summer… celebrating Independence Day

(Thought I would share pictures of some our patriotic décor and food from the weekend.)

I hope you enjoyed celebrating Independence Day weekend  We did. :)

We had a gathering with friends and saw a firework display on Friday night.

Then I picked blueberries with my adorable nieces on Saturday.  And took them coupon shopping with me (gotta train them young!) – they pushed their own mini carts, filled them with food, and even gave the cashier their own coupons! :)

The nieces helped me make yummy desserts for Sunday using our freshly picked blueberries.

Red, white, and blue triffle – recipe found here.

and a Patriotic version of fruit pizza – recipe here. 

Sunday brought a picnic after church and another firework display in the evening.

My husband was actually off on 4th of July, which gave us a 2-day weekend – yay!  ( He works every Saturday so no long weekends for us usually.)

We had friends over for games in the afternoon. 

(My patriotic summer mantel.)

And planned to join in some of the local festivities in the evening.

But it rained on and off throughout the afternoon and evening, so my husband and I just opted to have a quiet movie/game night at home.

I made country style BBQ ribs in the oven, with smashed potatoes and peas.

And then I was inspired by this picture and recipe on Pinterest.  Doesn’t that look delicious??!!

And decided to make my own mini version for dessert! :)

(I just made my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, baked it in mini springform pans, and topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.)

    

I think we had more fun just staying home together, than trying to fight the crowds to watch noisy fireworks (we had already seen two fireworks displays on Friday and Sunday night anyways.)

We’ll have to remember to do that more of that this summer instead spending money running around to different events. 

How did you spend your 4th of July weekend?

Happy Summer!

Décor on a Dime: Decorating the outside – Before/After Deck reveal!

So just a reminder of the before…

And here is the AFTER!

So much prettier!!  I actually want to spend time out here now.  It is quite hot right now, but during the spring, in the evenings, and into fall we will enjoy many fun times out here. 

(You can read all about the metal star here.)

We stained the deck just a few weeks ago and it really changed the look of it.

I am loving all the space! :)  This deck is close to twice the size of our old one.

I am going to just leave you with before and after pictures today (as those are my favorite part!)  I will be back with all the details (stain color, where we got the furniture, my super clearance flower pots, the lights that saved me $100, and much more!) in a post next week.

You can read all about how I created the vintage window/planter box here.   

Thanks for visiting our new deck! :)

Décor on a Dime: Decorating the outside (part 3) – vintage window!

I shared with you here about these old, vintage-looking windows that I scored for FREE at the flea market.  Some of you, I am sure, thought I was crazy and wondered what I was going to do with them. 

I knew exactly what I had in mind…

Turn them into some almost-FREE, vintage-looking outdoor décor! :)

This frame already had the glass broken out of it, which was fine because it made it lighter, easier, and safer to hang. 

I already had the deck hanging basket from off my old deck.  I did have to buy a new coco liner ($2 at Walmart) and two 6 packs of flower ($1.68 each at Walmart).  Other than that, everything else was FREE or I already had it! :)

 

I just attached the basket directly to the window using screws, planted flowers, attached large picture hangars on the back of the frame, and talk my husband into helping me drill 2 screws into the concrete fireplace.  I already had the small grapevine wreath and just added some coordinating flowers from my stash and hung it from the latch on the window with some jute string.

I left the white chippy paint on the window, the handles, and the latch on the top to keep that vintage feel.

We have a 2 story house with a very tall fireplace so this helps bring the eye down and make the deck really feel like an outdoor room!

   

I have more projects planned for the other windows as soon as I get a chance to work on them.  So the next time you see some old, chippy windows in the trash pile… think twice about passing them by. :)

Enjoy reading this post?  Get inspired by more of my Décor on a Dime projects and room makeovers!

Lowe’s: cheap Home Décor alert

In their ad starting tomorrow, Lowe’s will have these lanterns marked down to $4.00!  This is a great price (not sure if you could find one at a yardsale cheaper right now as they are popular).   These are great home décor items and even work outside too!

I was there yesterday (didn’t realize the ad didn’t start until today!), and the cashier was nice enough to give it to me at that price even though the ad didn’t start until today.  Thanks, Lowe’s! :)  I got the silver one but actually plan to probably paint it white.  I have a set of black ones but I have wanted a white one (but didn’t want to paint my set!)

Also, if you are wanting an area rug, here’s another reason to run to Lowe’s right now!  I read on 320 Sycamore that Lowe’s had rugs on clearance and hurried to check out store.  Sure enough they had them!  They are 5x7 foot rugs in these colors -

photo borrowed from Living with Lindsay

marked down from $68.00 to $17.00!  (75% off)

(For my local readers, the Conyers Lowes only had the zebra print and the floral print, not the green quatrefoil print. And they had at least 2 of the zebra and 3 of the floral left.  I found them in the flooring department with all the other rugs and they were tagged as being $17.)

I am not sure where mine will reside yet.  I was actually hoping it would say it was an outdoor rug and I could use it on my deck, but think it needs to be indoors. :(

I have it in my living room right now. 

(Do you put an area rug on top of carpet???  HGTV does all the time ;)  They say you need a rug to anchor your furniture or it looks like it is floating away. My husband just laughed when I told him that :)

It also would match my kitchen or dining room and I have tile in my kitchen, so I will trying it out in different places for the next few days! :)

Let me know if you take advantage of either one of these deals at Lowe’s this week! 

Décor on a Dime: Decorating the outside (part 2)

So remember the fun vintage finds I found at my favorite yardsale a few weeks ago?

I had long been looking for a large metal star and was excited to find one!  They run $15-20 on sale at Hobby Lobby and even this one had a price tag of $24.99 on the back.  I got it for $6.00! :)

I knew exactly where it was going to go.  Our newly built deck! :)

Since it was not heavy (it is made out of tin), I just used a little hook to hang it from the frame of the siding around the window.  Although, I think I might have to put some sort of felt or backing on the bottom tips of the star because when we have a storm it sort of bangs against the window.

I love it!  The red is perfect with our deck furniture and it just adds the perfect touch! 

I have a few more decorations to share with you and then I will post the big reveal and before/after of the whole deck!

Enjoy reading this post?  Get inspired by more of my Décor on a Dime projects and room makeovers!

Décor on a Dime: Decorating the outside (part 1) – Before…

Since we are in the midst of outdoor season, I want to share with you some ways we have spruced up our outdoors starting with a huge project – a new deck! 

At the beginning of last summer, this is what our deck looked like – beautiful, right??!

Needless to say, we weren’t enjoying spending any time out there!

It pretty much looked like this when we moved in 6 years ago and we knew that one day we would need to tear it down and rebuild another one.

The boards were deteriorated, warped, and beyond repair.  Plus when we had our home inspected when we bought it, the inspector said it was not anchored to the house properly – (aghh!)

We were determined to pay cash, so we saved up money and finally were ready to start building a new deck in late July of last year.

I am going to keep in you in suspense for the big AFTER picture! :) I have a few projects that we have been working on that I will share and how I have used some recent yardsale/flea market finds to decorate!  And the big reveal post will be in a few weeks! :)

Come back later this week as I share my favorite décor so far on the deck!  Best part, it was basically FREE since I had everything already. 

Enjoy reading this post?  Get inspired by more of my Décor on a Dime projects and room makeovers!

Spring…

I love Spring!!  The beginning of all things new – blooming flowers and trees, new life springing up everywhere.  (Of course, I am blessed to not suffer with allergies so maybe I enjoy it more than others do.)  I love the outdoors – gardening and planting … even though the extra work involved in getting the yard back into shape can be a little burdensome on an already busy schedule. 

But the satisfaction of a hard day’s work and the beauty that comes afterwards are worth it!

I purchased tulip bulbs at Home Depot last year with a Buy one, get one free coupon I got as a member of the Home Depot Garden Club.  I planted them late (mid-January), so was anxious to see if they would actually come up and bloom this year.

They bloomed and were gorgeous!!  I think I will plant them clumped together more next year, but I enjoyed their blooms for a few weeks this spring!

I still have a lot of work to do on this bed (actually it is almost finished now!)  Before and after pictures coming…

My brother gave me this red rose bush for my birthday, and my husband got me 2 white rose bushes for Valentine’s Day.  There are already blooms on them!

   

Spring officially begins for me when ferns are blowing in the breeze on my front porch! :)

 

The fern closest to our front door has been a favorite nesting place for 4-5 years for a family of house finches (I think?).  Even before the ferns are hanging, I can hear the birds chirping outside the door, looking for their nesting spot. 

As soon as I hang the ferns, within 4-5 days the nest is built, eggs arrive a few days later…

And a few weeks later, the babies hatch!  All 5 eggs hatched this time.  (They are actually about 2 – 2 1/2 weeks old here, almost ready to leave the nest!)

The mother bird usually nests 2-3 times during the season, and it is always fun to watch and hear!  (My blogging partner keeps entertained in the window for hours watching the parents come and go, bringing the babies food.)

How does Spring look at your house? 

I am still working in the yard and plant beds (added a whole new bed this year splitting and using plants I already had to fill 90% of it!), but I am almost done!

Will share “finished” and before/after pictures later in the month.   Get your pictures and posts ready, and I will host a All things Spring linky party!

Decor on a Dime: 50¢ plate turned centerpiece/message board

I got this white plate for 50¢ (how could you pass that up?) at my favorite flea market a week ago. 
I had always wanted one of these pierced plates that you can change the ribbon out on (I still want a cake plate like that!)  And when I saw it, I knew immediately what I would do with it

Wash it up, change out the ribbon, and make it a message board using dry erase markers! :)

Here it is on my table as the centerpiece for Easter. 

By the way, the green topiary is the other half of my topiary ball that I showed you in this post on top of a Goodwill white pot that I got for $1.91.

I picked the wild daisies out of my yard.  But I just planted some daisies in my front plant bed, so hoping for some beautiful cut flowers to use later this summer!

I can now change the saying on the plate out when I want.  It will say, “Happy Mother’s DaY!” this weekend
.

What thrifty finds have you found recently? 


Or have you repurposed an item into something else?

Linking up to: