House Update!

For those of you asking how our cheap house project is going...here's a video for ya! 

It's pretty much done, just need some curtains for Alex's playroom and a computer desk for the kids.

We moved into this house with nothing and in just a few months, using only freecycle, friends castoffs, yard sales, and thrift stores we turned the house into our HOME!

We spent less than $300 for everything in the house, will it ever be featured in a magazine? Nope, but it serves its purpose!

Sure, it's got some ugly stuff in it *coughcouchcough* but it does its job perfectly and that's fine with us! 

It's part of our family

I've been getting some emails asking if we still have our ugly couch (the only one we could find at the time, it was that...or the floor!).....and the answer is "Yup, we sure do!".

It's grown on us! :-p

I have added some more "homey" items to the living room though. Curtains, wall art, bookshelves, my awesome antique dresser from freecycle, photos etc.
Only spent a few dollars more, most of it came from freecycle or were items we had in storage. It's still not going to be featured in any magazine out there but it only cost us $55 for everything in it and it's a room....that you can sit in. So we are pleased.

Before:

After:

See how happy Mr. Ugly Couch is to have a family to love him! :-P

Free Funny Dresser for $0.00!!!

I have two boys.
They are a bit destructive.
They don't mean to be, they just play rough at times, as most boys tend to do.
I have 7 brothers so it's not new to me but you can bet I'm not going to spend a bunch of money on their bedroom since it's possible their furniture will end up being taken apart to build a raft or castle during one of their "It's raining, we can't go outside, so we must breakdown and rebuild everything we see while mom naps" episodes.

They have a dresser. A dresser that was given to me by a kind woman off freecycle. It's perfect for them because it press board, so I don't have to worry about them ruining a perfectly good wood dresser, and it came already broken in (a middle bracket is missing). At first I had given thought to painting it all neat with a few different paints, each drawer a different color. But then I realized that I'd have to buy all that paint. And I'm not going to spend money on a press board dresser that probably won't last to our next move. So...I decided I'd have to make them an awesome dresser using what I already had on hand.

I had black paint so that part was easy....but what to do with the drawers?? Then it hit me....comics! I have tons of comics because I save them to use as wrapping paper.

So...I took out the drawers, hauled it outside, and sanded it down.

Then I got out my Kilz and black paint I already had, leftover from Rebecca's room.

I did one coat of kilz, let it dry...

And then did a coat of black, let it dry...

And then did a final coat of black. Looking good. One of these days I might try to fix that missing bar in the middle.

While the coats were drying I got out my Mod Podge and my comics.

And glued the comics on the drawers, and all over my clothes, and my hair too. That stuff is sticky!

While those were drying I got a little crazy and took these two photo frames, that Aunt Alice gave us...

And filled them with comics too! You can't have too many comics.

And this is what it looks like when you put it all together, along with a freecycled lamp!
(I'm thinking this would look a lot better if I framed the comics in somehow...I might have to get some crown molding or such and try to frame each drawer.) (I still have to put the drawer pulls in too, just have to figure out how to paint brass first.) (I also left the comic whole so the kids could read them...but now I'm thinking it might look better to do more of a collage, like we did Rebecca's....I might do that the next sunny day we have.) (But for now it works just fine!)

The boys now have a fun dresser, one that maybe they won't destroy, but it they do somehow crash into it and it breaks into a million pieces...as least it cost me ZERO dollars to make!

Tween room is DONE! Total was $62.00!

Rebecca's room is done! Well for the most part, I still don't like her curtains (The light is so bright here she needs some heavy black one to block out the sun.) but since she does has some form of curtains right now we'll say it's DONE! And for only $62 it looks awesome!!!

SIXTY-TWO DOLLARS! That's less than most folks spend on just a bed set! And we did her whole room! And she thinks it's the greatest room in the whole ride world! How awesome is that? 

Let's post her new bedset again just for fun:

And her book shelves!

And her dresser!

Ooooohhh, wait I have a better idea!

Let's post a VIDEO of her room! So you can get the 3D effect!




What do you think?!

Weee!

This morning Rebecca and I snuck (Isn't that a word? My spell check is saying it's not. My spell check needs to install the hillbilly version.) out before all the boys woke up and went yard sale hopping with Aunt Alice! We had a blast, as we always do with Alice, she's a hoot. There weren't a lot of sales because it's Saturday and apparently all the sales are on Thursday because that's how it's been done forever and ever because that's when the mines always had payday so that's when the miners wives had money. They never had any left by Saturday so if you wanted to sale anything by golly, it better be on a Thursday, Aunt Alice informed me of this while she navigated us around town and I drove.

Have I ever mentioned that there are no yard sales in N. Ireland? That's a whole other post, we'll get to that soon.

Anyways, today I had $50 and I wanted a bed frame for Rebecca and a bedset for Rebecca (Trying to get her room all done as it will be the guest bedroom when my parents come visit in a few weeks...I hope they like pink and black! lol) and some weights for Jason and some lamps and some alarm clocks and a dresser for Alex and summer clothes for Jarod
. Now of course I knew I would not find ALL of this but I got pretty darn close! I also went to some thrift stores and checked out the clearance section of some department store and then went to Wal-Mart to get my first week of E-Mealz!

For $50 I got......*drumroll*

Bedset (bedspread, sheets, pillow cases, bed skirt) for Rebecca!
Bedframe for Rebecca!
40lb weight set! (With a pic of a hunk on the box which Jason assured me he would look like in no time at all. Heh!)
2 lamps
5 accent pillows for Rebecca
1 pink magnet board for Rebecca
A car sunshade for Alex

Not too shabby!!!

Oh and a little portable DVD player toy for the kids, which they loved! Rebecca was really suspicious when she saw it at the yard sale for so cheap, "Does it really work?" she asked the lady. Heh. I know why that mom was selling it though....it's loud and annoying! She probably would have given it to us for free!

Ok....are you ready to see Rebecca's new bed setup???!!!

Can you handle the awesomeness?!

Do we need another drum roll?

Thanks Alice for hanging out with us today! Let's do it again on a Thursday so we can find more sales!

Poor Widdle Couch

A reader sent me this link:

"Your couch is so ugly! Cover that thing up!"

Notice the first line of the article...."Are you getting tired of that retro, 1970s couch in your living room?" lol

Ok, Ok...I get the point guys! You hate my couch! There are some pretty opinionated comments HERE on my poor little couch too.

 You know when you go to the pound to pick out a dog and there is always one that is really ugly and she doesn't even look at you as you pass by because she knows no one will ever love her? Well that's my couch and I saved her from a life on always getting passed by and possibly ending up at the dump.

And yes in time, when I get all the kids rooms done, and find a sewing machine...I do plan on making a slipcover for the couch but for now it's not a concern for me. The couch is comfy and works perfectly for what it is supposed to be....a place to sit upon. We don't care that the fabric is "outdated" and love her anyways and have since the day we brought her home.

So just get used to her! :-)

5 minute lamp redo

Today Rebecca informed me that her swimsuit was too small.

Not sure why she couldn't have let me know this earlier, perhaps when I was SHOPPING FOR SWIMSUITS a few days ago! Or any of the other hundred times I was in the big town. Nope, wait until the last day before we leave for our vacation. lol

Of course I wasn't too unhappy about having to run to the thrift store again....I always find something worth my while. I did find her the perfect bathing suit, new with tags even, for $2.

I also came home with this little guy.

And when I got home, we spent 5 minutes turning it into something that matched with her room better. 3 minutes of that time was spent trying to pry those diamond mirrors off...which didn't work so we just left them for now. I had also found a pretty shade at the same store.

Lamp: $1 - Goodwill
Shade: $1 - Goodwill
Paint: Already had

$2 lamp in 5 minutes!

And since it's a wood base, if we ever decide to redo it with a more complicated design that won't be too much of a problem.

She loves it!

Yard Sale Finds Friday

These are all future projects!

A sturdy coffee table that I plan on turning into a bench for my entryway. I'd like to paint it and make a cushion seat for the kids when they are dealing with winter boots and frostbite. $1

This is also for the entryway, not sure yet what to do with it, something awesome though. 25 cents

These were free! I'd like to attach legs to them and make 2 end tables. I've seen table legs at the Restore so I'm sure it's possible. Would be nice to have some sun in my living room. :-P

These two chair will be a bit of work, not even sure where I'll put them (perhaps one for each boy in their room? Reading chairs! With a cool lamp beside?) but they need paint, the seats fixed, and new cushions of course. I just thought they could turn out so pretty! $2 each.

Whew, looks like my summer is all planned out. lol

Boy's Room

Now that we're almost done with Rebecca's room, it's time to start planning the boys.

They could care less, (I asked them both and they just gave me a blank look and mumbled "colors? what?") so I'm thinking primary. And bunk beds. I think I saw a whole bunch of bunk beds at the Restore last time I was there. And once I get a sewing machine I could make a tent for it!

Jarod has a dresser I'd like to paint, perhaps do each drawer a different color like this:

And I'd like to find one of these rugs:

My problem is that I only need a tiny bit of red, blue, and green paint. Can you buy tiny containers of paint? Or I guess it wouldn't hurt to have leftovers for future projects. Hmmmmm.

Money Saving Mom

Just wanted to give a shout out to all the new readers from:




Our freecycled home was mentioned on the site this week! 

Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave any tips you have for our home!

~Mary

Thrifty Pink & Black Bedroom for $30!!!

Rebecca's tween room is looking awesome and she's having a sleepover tonight to show it off! :-P

I'm going to go ahead and post before and after photos now, even though we are still trying to find her a bedframe and a black bedspread with lots of little pink pillows. (Right now she's got a cute afghan we found at the thrift store on it.) I know, I know...the bed will be the center of the room that ties everything together...but it might be a few weeks before we find one and I don't want to wait that long to show how cute it's looking.(We also plan on moving her pink curtains over to her closet opening and getting black curtains with pink dots for her windows....the sun here is bright and wakes her up early so she needs some dark ones.)

We spent around $5 for knick knacks, $20 for paint, and $5 for brushes - everything else was free....I love looking at her room and thinking it only cost $30! (Click on the tag "tween" to see all the posts about us finding freecycle items and fixing them up for her room.) (And remember, we know it would look even cuter if we could paint the walls....but we rent so that's out.)

The best part is that my tween and I did everything TOGETHER. Did we just walk into a store and let her pick out a premade bedroom? No. We showed her that you can have the bedroom you want, using unwanted items, not give in to consumerism, AND have FUN doing it. We spent hours cutting, fixing, painting, and chatting and ended up with a room that she's so proud of!

Ok enough talking....photo time! (Click to enlarge)


                                  Wall 1: Before

                                               After

                    Wall 2- Before

                                   After

                              Wall 3- Before

                                               After

                                      Wall 4 - before

                                              After

And some detail shots!

So...how's that for a $30 teen room makeover? :-P

Teen's decoupaged dresser!

We are done with our weekend painting marathon!

Just in time as the rain clouds are rolling in...whew!

I had fun with my hyper, creative girl but now I really do need a nap!

She painted her dresser black and then decoupaged magazine clippings and scraps of paper to the front.
We ran out of mod podge so it will look a bit better when we get some more and can do a few more coats of shinny. Isn't it cute though?!

And here are all her bookshelves and wall shelves!
Since we rent we can't put holes in the wall so we will have to wait to hang them up until I can find some of those picture strip things.

Not bad for 2 days, huh? :-P

Free Wall Shelves!

Whew, wore out! We painted all day!
We got about half done and hope to finish the rest tomorrow!

We found these four block things when we moved in. They were waaay up on top of a shelf and covered in years of grime - a nasty gray color. We painted them and attached some awesome scrapbook paper, that my sister sent to Rebecca, to the back. (Thanks Rachel!) She's going to put them up on her wall and perhaps put candles inside. (Unlit candles!)

This shelf I got at a yard sale, it was in horrible condition and said "free or trash". lol
I think it is supposed to go over a toilet but we'll use it for knick knacks. :-P
We painted it black and put polka dots all over it. 

This little rack I found at the free sale and thought she could hang jewelry from it, or scarves.
Not fun to try to paint the pegs a different color as the base! lol

We got two of the bookshelves done so tomorrow we have 3 bookshelves left and her dresser.
And then I'll need a nap.

We are actually running really low on pink paint so I really, really hope there is enough left!