Happy New Year!!! And Decorating on a Dime

Rachel and I were talking the other day about her moving into her apartment and not having much furniture or decorations. She said she had to do it with basically no money. Well, I've been there (for the last 7 years) and I have a thing or two (or ten) that I thought I would share. All of these things have been free or upcycled (making something new from something you already had). But first, some pointers!

Pointers on getting furniture for free:

• Humility: don't be afraid to post on facebook, or ask relatives. We got free couches that way.
• Constantly check these sites for freebies or cheap furniture. Don't be afraid to bargain. I always ask for about 1/3 less than I want to pay. Usually people will barter. I have even gotten a few things for the price I asked for. And freecyle? I love it!! I have gotten many good quality things from there (including 2 solid wood dressers). Just be careful with these sites. Be smart. Cash only, meet at a location other than your home, etc. Most people aren't weirdo's but you can't be too careful. 
• http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites 
• https://groups.freecycle.org/group/ProvoUTFreecycle/posts/all (I just googled utah freecycle. You can type St. George, Rachel.)
• http://www.ksl.com (under classifieds)
•  Watch for things on the side of the road. Sounds really gross, but that is how I have gotten a few pieces of furniture. Make sure it is good quality. Depending on how broken it is, you may be able to fix it. I have seen cribs, desks, clocks, baskets/organizing tubs on the side of the road. They all need cleaned REALLY well, but just keep an eye out. Go to a place one way, go home a different way. Take side roads through neighborhoods. Pointer: Students are notorious (at least here) for leaving furniture on the side of the road (or by the dumpster) if they weren't able to sell it on craigslist or give it away. They have to leave their apartment, and they don't know what else to do with it. Or have a car to donate it. Check the roads!! It is a little embarrassing, but it's worth it!
• Dumpster dive!! Ok, don't climb in the dumpster, but lots of times people will set things by the dumpster that they don't need anymore, it's not really garbage but they don't know what to do with it (mostly because they are moving and don't want to take with). Prime areas for dumpster diving are complexes with young married families. Especially college families. This generally happens around the end of the semesters and in the summer when people are moving on to new and better things. They are hopeful for the future and don't want to take their hand-me-downs to their new life.
• Make it yourself with reclaimed wood. Those broken down pieces of furniture on the road? They might have potential to be something other than what originally was. Also, pallets. Look on pinterest to find ideas.  
• Be a garage sale person. Go often. You can find great deals. People are trying to get rid of stuff. If they don't get rid of it, it will go away for free, so don't be afraid to barter here too. 
• Oh, and duh! Goodwill/DI/Salvation Army/Privately owned thrift or antique stores

I know some of these things can be embarrassing, and that's why I put humility down first!

Found this near a dumpster. It is a little old, but in REALLY good condition.

Found this on the side of the road. Fixed it up, painted it, and I love it! The chair is from a garage sale. Super cheap. I also painted it.

Ok. Now the fun part! (Although I do actually like finding stuff for free and fixing it up.)

Decorations:

Two words: FREE PRINTABLES. Don't be always and forever on pinterest, but if you are looking for specific decorations, or a specific room, pinterest can give lots of ideas and links for these. Just type "kitchen free printables" or "lds free printables" or whatever you are looking for. Seek and Ye Shall Find! They take up wall space, look nice, and are free! (Except for the frames...which aren't that expensive if you look at a thrift store, or buy the cheapo frames at walmart, or even the dollar store.)

Free kitchen printables. I get lots of nice comments about these!

Free Christmas printable...although I did mess with it a bit on photoshop. The original looked great too!

Toilet Paper Roll Art. Yep. You read that right. These are made from toilet paper rolls and spray paint. Check pinterest. I have the square one in our bathroom, and two flower ones in the kitchen. You could make a TON of different designs. Just save up some used t.p. rolls and get to work!

Spruce up a bookshelf by wrapping cardboard in fabric (measuring the cardboard to fit the back of the shelves). Also, painting can be like magic! This bookshelf was a really ugly 80's dark brown and the white transformed it! Tip on buying paint: If you are working on a small project, buy the sample sizes. It's usually enough. That way, you don't have a bunch of extra paint lying around. Depending on what you paint, finish it off with sealer.

 See that vase with ornaments in it? I know you have a million vases. Who doesn't? Use one to hold ornaments, beads, candy, acorns, or whatever seasonal item you would like. Cute. Free. (Unless you go the ornaments route. Dollar store.)

 Paper is awesome - especially for seasonal things. You can make snowflakes, hearts, 4 leaf clovers, spiders, etc. There are a TON of tutorials on the internet. Check them out!

 Do you eat jam? Save the jars and use them to hold things like candy canes. They look cool on a bookshelf, but can also be used to store other stuff. I have also seen tutorials where you paint the lid and it looks like you bought an expensive storage jar. I have also seen a bunch of mason jar tutorials/ideas. Google/Pinterest it.

Quote wall. Remember in college when you and your roommates made a quote wall? Well, you better believe your kids will say funny things too. So innocent. So precious. We right down funny/interesting quotes down here. When the board gets full, I write them down in a journal (I have one for each of them), and start again. I wasn't sure if I would keep it there or how it would work out, but everyone loves looking at it! Simple, cute, free!

For the kids room, I wanted to do something cute and special. We thought Winnie the Pooh would be a great gender neutral theme. Daniel loves the original stories, so I went with it. I got a Winnie the Pooh coloring book and went to town. (Heather helped on a few...as you can see on Christopher Robin.) I cut them out and "laminated" them with contact paper. I put them on the wall with tape. We have moved with these, and they are still intact! Another great benefit is that I don't get heart broken if one of them gets taken off the wall (which happens regularly now that they have a bunk bed) and bent. It's pennies. And easy to fix. Really.

Another thing you can see is their names are made of sticks. Yep. Sticks and hot glue. It's cute and goes really well with the Winnie the Pooh theme. Also, you if these get broken, it's totally not a big deal. The shelf I made with a square dowel and a short thin board...also in the dowel section at Lowes (I think), wood glue together, spray paint.

Here's a concept of the whole room. This is in Iowa, but you get the idea. Man! I miss that house! Sooo much more room!

 If hanging curtains with nails will get you in trouble with your landlord, use the large command hooks. Also, I made the rod using a thicker dowel and some tips with screws coming out of them (also in the dowel section). You will need a drill to help put them in the dowel, or it will crack. (Yep, learned that one from experience.) It's also not expensive. Obviously, I made the curtains. And yes, I velcroed them to the wall...My kids (have been trained to) like the dark. In fact, they have a light for an alarm clock. That's good and bad, as you can imagine.

You can paint your "rod" if you want, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Now, here's a fine example of asking around, or at least making it known that you are in need of/want something. It's also an example of making it yourself for cheap. This is a toddler bed bunk bed. We got it from a  friend who was moving, and whose girls were getting too big for it anyway. I mentioned to her how much I loved it, and she offered it to us when she moved. It saves SO much room. Before, you could barely walk between their two beds (that picture up there, is not this house). Is it pretty? Not really. Is it functional and sturdy? TOTALLY!

This is all made from the same size of wood. I am pretty sure they kind of made it up as they went. There are plenty of free plans for bunk beds online. (Check Ana-white.com)

 If you have girls, these are great space savers. And free. Paint an old frame (the glass broke on both of these), hot glue ribbon, twine, wire, whatever look you want on them, and use to keep the little hair accessories on them. It is really nice, because it fills hard to decorate bathroom walls, and also keeps the cute clips from being forgotten about in a drawer. It's also really nice to say "which accessory do you want today?" And when the kiddos get old enough, they can get them on their own.

You can also do it for jewelry for yourself. On this one, I screwed little hooks on the bottom to hold necklaces and headbands.

 Toys, toys, toys! They are SO hard to keep organized. Actually, anything that belongs to kids is hard to keep organized. I have found that diaper boxes work really well. We have lots of those. But they are so UGLY! Not anymore, sister! You know how they sell that colorful duck tape? Get a few rolls and cover the outside of the boxes. You can do a lot of different designs. It not only makes the diaper boxes more sturdy, but it also makes them pretty. It does cost a little bit for the duck tape, but it's worth it. We use ours for everything. Toys, shoes, puzzles, hats and gloves, more toys. I have found that it has helped keeps things relatively organized. Cars in one box, little people in another, trains in another, play food, etc. I keep the boxes in our laundry/food storage room, and they can "check out"  one box (per person) at a time. If they want another box, they have to clean up the contents of the box that's already out and give it back. Of course, I am lenient (read: lazy) sometimes and don't make them, but either way, things are staying cleaner, and pick up is WAY faster. Just put it in the box. Another great thing about diaper boxes is that they have handles! Here are some examples:

I know this one needs cleaning up a bit, but I like the diagonals.

I hate all the clutter that kids make with their art projects. It lays around until I can't stand it anymore and throw it away. (Does that make me a bad mom?) I saw lots of those little boards with "What I did today" or "Masterpieces" or whatever written on them. But I had no money for that. So. Yarn and these little hooks and aren't really hooks, they are circles. I have no idea what they are called, but they work great. I just tied the yarn to the hooks (see below) and hang kids art on it with clothes pins. Pointer: You want the yarn to be taut when you first hang it up. It will make the pretty curves when you hang stuff on it. When I originally put this up, I intended to replace the hooks with knobs (like for a kitchen drawer), and use twine for the string, but I ended up liking the minimalist look.

I don't know what this hook is called, but it can't be more than a couple cents per hook.

 Want your kids to remember their grandparents or cousins that live far away?  Use clothes pins, string and a frame. Made exactly the same as the accessory frames.

Girls, now you can see why I need updated photos! Your families have grown by 1 since these were taken.

 I love this mirror. It was a Goodwill find. It apparently used to go on top of a dresser/vanity, and because of that, was being sold super cheap. It is SOLID. This is one of my most favorite items. It bounces light around, and makes the room appear larger. (Please ignore the decorations...I'm not done yet...and I took it this morning right after taking the Christmas stuff down. I should have taken it before, because it looked really nice...oh well.) I hang garlands up, put those dollar store window clings on it, hang a wreath from it, and lots of stuff. It was well worth the approx $5 I spent on it.

Another thing I want to say, but don't have a photo for,  is to use nature. For Christmas, we didn't have a big tree. We had a small tree (we found at DI for 50¢ when we live in UT), I put it up, but the display looked really lopsided. We have some huge fir trees in our "yard" I went out and cut off some branches and put them in a large ceramic pitcher. I hung little bulbs from the branches. It was cute. I used pine cones and acorns for fall decorations (go on a hunt for them with your kids. They love picking up stuff like that), and I use sticks a lot too.

I hope some of this gives you inspiration in what to do in your own space on a very small budget. Rachel, I'm so excited for this new step in your lives! Good luck! 

Sarah: Update!

O. K!  So not that we finally got internet I can keep up with this blog better. I haven’t started the whole squat challenge yet (just saw it tonight….maybe I’ll do it before bed) well…I can already feel my legs getting sore just thinking about it. That means growing muscles though, right?

A new thing that I’ve kind of done this last week at least is making recipe’s I have not tried yet and “healthier” too. Well, some of them…anyway I have to share the links because they were awesome! I have to tell you about the yam/sweet potato (? Whatever?) nacho’s. Ummmm YUM! They were surprisingly awesome! I was a little scared to try them because sweet potato nacho’s doesn’t sound very appetizing…and maybe they were AMAZING to us just because I was worried they would be disgusting. Anything NOT disgusting is…awesome right? Well I have to show the picture too cause, they were just really good. The picture isn’t mine though. I need to be better at cooking breakfast for Leo. I am either sleeping or nursing when he gets up…usually I try to freeze breakfasts but, I should be better. So one of my goals, in the future, will be to try all the breakfast recipes that sound and look amazing. It’s more motivating to get out of bed when you –found an amazing looking recipe, have the ingredients, and are excited to try a new, or favorite, recipe.

Honey-Garlic Chicken: AMAZING! If you’re in the mood for Asian tasting food? Yes. Easy too! (just make sure the chicken is COMPLETELY thawed before cooking, we had to microwave ours a little). Tons of spices used, I didn’t have sage or thyme, so I just put a few tsp’s of Italian seasoning in place. (Leo votes = Tastiest…I think it probably had the most flavor too)

http://www.nlrockrecipes.com/2012/04/doube-crunch-honey-garic-chicken.html

Lasagna Soup: LOVED IT! Tastes just like lasagna, except not all the layering (although it is prettier that way). Okay, so maybe not on the super healthier side…. (Leo votes = another great way/easier way to make a favorite dish)

http://www.shugarysweets.com/2013/03/lasagna-soup

Chicken Salad wrapped in Lettuce: GREAT!!! Less carbs, still filling…I would have something on the side though next time. I think this was one of the prettiest. (Leo votes =”Those were just good”)

No link: Just make chicken salad with whatever you had. Grapes, Apples, nuts? Mayo, salt and pepper, peppers, onions, uhhh seriously whatever. I kind of branched off from the Usha’s(?) chicken salad that was used at steph’s and my receptions. ANYWAY wrap them in romaine or any really, lettuce leaf and enjoy. Mine kind of cracked in places so you might just want to pile it on top of the leaf and enjoy!  

Sweet Potato Irish Nacho’s: Surprisingly yummy! I didn’t have a lot of the ingredients like yellow and red peppers. Just had green. Didn’t have cilantro. I think These actually would be gross with salsa, but had sour cream with them, ranch wasn’t bad either. We added just a sprinkle of browned ground beef with onions and garlic with it…Leo thinks that it made it a lot better than it would have been. Basically, you can put whatever nacho toppings you want on them. (Leo vote: Most creative of the week. He really likes them too)

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/10/sweet-potato-irish-nachos.html#_a5y_p=1025305

Okay, so has anyone else gotten into bad habits DURING pregnancy and are still in them or working to get out of the habit? Um, I have! (I won’t mention some…any of them) I have been trying to change. It’s hard. I am totally rambling, and need to go to sleep.

P.S. no one look at what time I posted (bad habit) J   

This is what I'm doing this month. Join me?

Happy November

Hi again:)

On the day of or before November, dad was preparing a Thanksgiving speech type thing and I was......massaging his back.    Well , the next day I was supposed to babysit for the people I work for and I was kind of nervous cause I can sometimes have a hard time with them.....well, I was kind of praying the whole day that  I would be able to have a good time babysitting and that all would go well and that I would be ''gentle and loving in deed and in thought'', i kept on thinking about babysitting while i was massaging dads back and all of the sudden he started thinking out loud saying....''gratitude...hmmm...gratitude....an attitude of gratitude gives latitude.''  That was from an insurance company or something....so then he typed in on the search bar, words that end in 'tude''.   He found aptitude, so he came up with  ''An attitude of Gratitude gives Latitude in Aptitude''.  I asked him what aptitude means and he said, "like skill or something.' So i was like oh, if i have an attitude of gratitude then it will bring latitude in my aptitude.  So, what did  i do the next day?  i remembered that an attitude of gratitude brings latitude in aptitude.  So, i encourage you all on this Thanksgiving season to practice gratitude and you will be able to have latitude in what ever thing you work on, even if its cooking, cleaning, having to watch your kid every second so they won't knock down the book shelf on themselves on accident or fall down the stairs etc....  It is still hard for me but it has made it easier. So, if i start working on gratitude now and keep on going i will probably have a happier life because attitude is something naturally contained but a good attitude has to be obtained and the bad attitude has to be tamed:)     I hope this post wasn't boring or confusing to read, and i hope that we all will someday have our good and grateful attitudes obtained and maintained so we can all have a better and easier life both here and in our afterlives.  Cause wouldn't you think that a attitude of gratitude would spiritually bring latitude?

Love Ya!   Jessica                                P.S this is what it looks like when it rains here...just a thought.;)

Hi!

Hey girls,
sorry if you all got an email for a password recovery type thing....i changed my password and  forgot it. And i can't remember if i wrote it down or not which is kind of.....blond.  :]

I  was wondering if any of you have some suggestions, sites or songs that you could help me with. I was thinking about doing a group lesson for my piano students this December(if any of you don't know what  a group lesson is, its kind of like a piano lesson just with all of the students in the same level...for example; all students in level two combine at a time and all students on level 5 would combine at a different time. I teach them about a certain composer, have them do activities based on their level and skill on the piano and each of the students performs a song they have memorized for the students in their level and for me as well. This is just for the teacher and the students in that level.  I think that group lessons are good every once in a while because it gives the students more than one opportunity a year to perform a memorized piece of music for other people, it helps them get to know eachother and helps them have the (good) competitiveness  to practice hard.. And of  course we have a little treat afterwards.:D )  Anyways, if you have any sites that might have music for beginners i am all ears. And eyes. : )  If you have any suggestions of anything for me, just let me know.  Thanks!
                            Love you all!!

                                                  Jessica : )

So I have a few minutes! I just want to say thanks to steph for the 'Run for Ice Cream' poster. I am not good at waiting till the end or even waiting in general to have a treat, BUT it is really nice to see my progress in exercise and it helps me see how much I have done and can do in the future. Anyway, Things have been going great here! Caleb is starting to crawl now!!! I can't believe how fast time fly's. Today I listened to "The Heart of The Five Love Languages" It was short and really good! It made me think of ways I can help Leo know that I'm still in love with him (not that he's been doubting it) and understand ways that I feel loved too. I thought it was great and thought I would invite you guys to listen (or read) it too. Love you all!!!

Long Time NO Talk...

Hey girls,

Sorry it's been a century since I've done anything on the blog.  I've been a little pre-occupied. ;)  And, it isn't just Efren, it's mission too. :)  So about my mission, I've been thinking about making a blog.  BUT, as we all know, I can't be the official "blogger" while I'm out there.  Anyways, so I was wondering if any of you would be willing to be the blogger person for me.  I just want a blog that all of our extended family and friends can see, as well as the immediate family.  If none of you can do it, I understand...but I thought I would ask because I don't think people here (we know who those are;) would keep it updated.  Well, I love all of you!  Thanks for all you do for me.  I am going to miss all of you soo much! :(
Have a fabulous day!  Love, Johannah