Browsing Tag

budget friendly

DIY Projects

How I Fake Calligraphy

Hey guys! Hope you’re having a great day! I just got in from mowing the lawn (yuck). It’s hot and sticky outside, and I’m pretty sure my outdoor quotient has been met for the day. Now that Memorial Day has passed, summer is here, and that means BBQ and fireflies and porch sitting and bringing a little red white and blue into the home. Yesterday I took out a few patriotic decor items out of the closet, and I put a few things together. I made a little hand-lettered print, and I realized it’s totally something I should share!

Now, a little background. It seems like everyone is on this hand-lettered kick in decorating, and I’m all about it. I have seen some really beautiful calligraphy around, and I just don’t have that sort of talent. I’ve never taken a class or anything, I really would not consider myself someone who actually knows something about the matter. I do, however, love creating little prints for our house. It’s basically free art, and there’s no way I’m not getting on that train!

So here’s how I, someone who is totally not an expert, create simple hand-lettered pieces from my home. I bought a multi-pack of pens from Hobby Lobby. I don’t see them listed online, but it was a three pack of square tip pens in various sizes. Are they good? They work for me, and that’s good enough.

You may still be able to find this pen in the store, and with their 40% off coupon, it only cost me a few dollars.

This pen has a square tip, which is pretty much the secret to creating pretty writing.

When I’m writing something, I use a normal cursive font, the same that I would write with using a normal pen. The trick to using these calligraphy pens is holding them at about a 45 degree angle. It took me a little while to get used to holding the pens correctly without moving them.

For this little print, I used a page from my old hymnal, the page with My Country Tis of Thee on it. Perfect for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. I printed a line from the song, and this is what I came up with:

Easy. (I think that might be my motto around here: do I do anything that’s not easy.) I have little prints around the house, and I love it because it’s so cheap and quick. And on the hymnal, I love it even more. It adds such a nostalgic touch for me. And the mini clipboard is from Hobby Lobby. I got it recently, and it’s perfect for switching out seasonal prints.

Have you ever tried hand-lettering? I promise, it’s much easier than it seems! Well, that’s all for today, friends. Have a fabulous day!

May 31, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

Rusty Porch Bar Cart

Good Morning, friends! Today is my first official day of summer break, and as I’m typing this, I’m lounging around in my pajamas. I’m ready to have a nice refreshing break from work this summer!

Now that summer is officially here, I have lots of plans which include porch sitting, painting things, lounging, and not much else. 🙂 I’ve been working on making our porch a little bit more enjoyable this season, and I wanted to share a new addition to the front porch. A month or so ago, I added our cable spool table to the porch, and it has been wonderful! I knew that I wanted to add more, so when my father-in-law sent me a picture of a rusty old bar cart asking if I wanted it, I jumped at the chance.

I’ve been desperately trying to keep a few plants alive (not very well, I might add), and I knew an old bar cart would be the perfect thing to house my little plants. The problem was that it was so rusty, I couldn’t even tell what color it was originally. I wanted it to be rusted, but I wanted to see if there was a way to scrub some of the rust off so that some of the original paint was exposed.

I didn’t really want to buy anything to remove the rust with, knowing I would only use it for this project (assuming it even worked) and would then be destined to cluttering the back of my cleaning supply closet. So, I figured I’d do my own thing. Recently, I shared my DIY all-purpose household cleaner, and I’m happy to report that it truly does work for all purposes. You can check out the full article in the link above, but it’s what I used to expose some of the original paint on this little cart.

I generously sprayed the cart completely. I let it sit for about an hour, spraying a bit more at that time (the Texas heat didn’t quite allow for a soak, as it just dried it up). After about two hours of the solution on the cart, I began scrubbing with the same brush we generally use to clean the grill. As I would scrub a certain spot, I would hose it down. If it needed more scrubbing, I would spray a little more solution on it, and immediately continue scrubbing.

Eventually I began to see little spots of green paint emerge from behind the scrub brush. I’m not going to lie and say this was super easy; it took quite a bit of elbow grease. I did intentionally stop at this point, since I wanted the cart to keep a bit of it’s rusty charm. If you have a bit more muscle than I do, you could certainly scrub off more rust than I was able to.

This little cart makes the porch just a little bit more cozy! And I’m absolutely thrilled with how it turned out, with it’s rusty, chippy goodness. I think once I get up from this couch, I’ll make my way out there to enjoy this little spot. Do you have something old and rusty? I’d be willing to bet you can clean it up a bit with some elbow grease and some items you have around the house!

Well, that’s all for today, friends! Have a fabulous day!

May 27, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

Organization

DIY Household Cleaner

Hi friends! Long time no chat! I’ve seriously been so busy lately I haven’t had a spare moment to update here and I feel terrible! I’m so glad I could finally carve out a little time to stop by and say hello! School (which is work for me, since I’m a teacher) is moving full steam ahead into the end of the school year and I’m struggling to keep up. Thankfully in just two weeks I’ll actually have some free time!

Well, I’ll be short and sweet today, but I wanted to share with you a little homemaking tip for you fellow budget conscious friends. If there’s one thing I hate spending my money on, it’s cleaning products. They can be so expensive, and it seems like you need a different product for everything! I don’t know about you, but I’d rather spend my money on pretty things for the house than boring cleaning supplies. A while back, I shared my DIY laundry soap, which has saved me tons of money over the past few years. If you didn’t catch that post, you can read all about it here.

Recent’y I’ve started making an all purpose cleaner, something that takes the place of many of the bottles that I previously had under my sink. So here’s the super easy all purpose cleaner that I make for my home.

I use about 1.5 cups of vinegar and put it in a jar, and then add one small lemon, thinly sliced. I place the lemons in the vinegar, and leave the jar to sit for a few weeks. This will allow the lemons to fully soak into the vinegar. I don’t really know much about chemistry (I barely passed that class in high school), but I know both lemons and vinegar have some super strong stuff in them, so working together makes them doubly great I suppose? Who knows. I just made that up.

After two weeks, I pour the liquid into a spray bottle, and that’s about it! My spray bottle has a pretty narrow neck, so I don’t bother trying to squeeze the lemon slices into it. I just throw them away. My spray bottle was something I picked up for a dollar or so in the cleaning section at Walmart. Lemon and vinegar are both pretty inexpensive, so this is something that comes out to be much more budget friendly than typical cleaners.

I use this spray for just about anything. Countertops, stove top, sinks, shower walls, and even the inside of the fridge and microwave. The lemons take away the strong smell of the vinegar, and it smells more like citrus than like vinegar. I absolutely love using this method because it saves me a couple dollars, and I do enjoy making the things I use in my home. It’s also chemical free, which I know is a big deal for a lot of people. Safe for expectant mamas, and easy to make!

I told you I’d be short and sweet today, but once my summer vacation has started, I’ll be around much more frequently. I hope you enjoyed this little post, and that you’ll give it a try. I would definitely recommend this one, I can’t stress enough how easy it is! Well, that’s all for today, friends! Have a fabulous day!

May 9, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

Home Decor

How to Make Grocery Store Flowers Look Expensive

Hi you guys! I’m so glad you stopped by today! I feel like I haven’t been able to consistently post for a while, but I have a ton of ideas for some upcoming posts that I’m super excited about! I was thinking about it the other day, and I realized that it was almost exactly one year ago today that I started this little blog and posted my very first post! Since then I have shared some really fun projects that I’m proud of, as well as a few personal pieces. In the next year, I want to continue to add more things here on the blog that encompass more things that I love, branching out a little bit from my main focus which has been DIY projects. I hope you don’t mind!

So today I wanted to share with you a recent hobby that I’ve taken on (which if you can’t tell by the title, is all about flower!). I’ve always loved florals, and when I grocery shop, I usually pick up an inexpensive bunch of flowers and stick them in a vase. For my wedding, I did my own flowers (which were admittedly pretty simple), and since then, I’ve been a little obsessed with floral design. Now, I am in absolutely no way any type of professional, nor do I even really know what I’m doing. All I know is that when I buy a four dollar bunch of flowers from the grocery store, it doesn’t look the same as the pretty floral arrangements I find on Pinterest.

With a little bit of fun experimentation, I’ve been able to figure out how to make the florals I buy at the grocery store a little bit more expensive looking (without the high florists’ price tag). Here’s what I do:

I purchased a few hydrangeas, a bunch of mini pink roses, and a bunch of greenery. I like the mini roses simply because they are much cheaper than the large ones. Most bunches of individual types of flowers at my grocery store are just a few dollars. I tend to stay away from the pre-made bouquets, because they can get procey pretty quickly.

I like to make a floral arrangement from one basic large flower type, one smaller flower type, and some greenery. This is just my personal opinion, and I’m sure someone who has some actual floral knowledge might cringe reading this, but it’s just what works for me.

So here’s what I came up with:

Like I said before, I have no experience with arranging florals other than just for fun, but boy is it fun! Keeping flowers in the house is a simple way to brighten the room, and I love the way this arrangement looks! For this arrangement, I placed the hydrangeas in the vase first, and then added small bunches of roses, followed by the sprigs of greenery. I usually just mess around with arranging it in different ways until I loke the way it looks. I don’t follow any proportion rules, but I think it looks pretty good (if I do say so myself, 😉 ).

How about you? Have you ever played around with florals? It sure is fun! I’d love to hear all about it! That’s all for today friends, have a fabulous day!

April 2, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

DIY Projects

Antique Window Project

Hi you guys! I’m so glad you stopped by today! This week is flying by, and it’s hard to believe that Easter is just a few days away! Despite the weird highs and lows that we’ve seen in the tempurature the last few weeks, I’m so glad that spring is officially here!

I wanted to share with you guys a fun project I completed this week, which I think is in perfect timing for the upcoming Easter holiday. A few weeks back, I was roaming around my favorite flea market (why does it seem like half of my posts start with that sentence?), and I found this super old, really pretty hymnal. It was way older than me, but it was still super nostalgic, because I grew up singing hymns from a hymnal. I grabbed it for five dollars, and I immediately had this project in mind.

I went through the book and found some familiar songs and cut those pages out. I know you may say that by doing that, I’m not respecting the integrity of the hymnal, but I think that I will enjoy what I’ve done with it far more than anyone else was going to use the hymnal for. If that even makes sense. I carefully sliced the pages I wanted with an X-Acto knife to be sure I had a clean cut.

Then I used scotch tape (very teeny tiny pieces) to tape the pages I had cut out onto the panes of an antique window I had. The window was something I already had, it was hanging on the wall previously with nothing on it. So here’s what I came up with:

Each hymn is a title that I’m familiar with, and each one is a sweet reminder of His love and all that He has done thoughout our lives. If you look super closely, you can see the tape, but I didn’t want to use another method that would either damage the pages or make it so that I was unable to recreate something using these materials.

I placed it above our bed, and I absolutely adore it.

I really think it just adds a thoughtful touch to the decor in here. Really, what’s the point in putting together a home if it isn not meaningful? I’m already thinking of other projects I can do with the rest of the hymnal pages, seeing as how I’ve barely used a few.

There are Chrsitmas carols and classic American choruses, so the seasonal possibilities with this little hymnal are pretty endless. Plus, there’s just something about the yellowed pages of sheet music that is just beautiful. I seriously can’t get enough. Can you tell I’m excited about this one?

What do you think of this project? It’s such an easy thing, I don’t know if it can actually be considered a a project! I hope you enjoyed this little project, and that it insires you to do something meaningful with the decor in your own home! That’s all for today, friends. Have a fabulous day!

March 22, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

Organization

DIY Laundry Soap

Hello friends! I hope this week has been treating you well! Spring Break is winding down for me, and I am silently crying tears of regret after not having accomplished everything that I had planned. Just kidding. Sort of.

We did have a super fun and relaxing week of camping for a few nights, which was wonderful! Even though we were only about twenty minutes from home, it felt as though we were truly out of town. And it just feels good to get away! Coming home from camping, everything in our bags smelled like campfire smoke. Which is wonderful while you’re actually out, but once you come home, it’s not so great (in my opinion anyway). I had a bunch of laundry to do, and I realized it would be a great idea to share my homemade laundry detergent recipe with y’all.

I’ve been making my own laundry soap for about three years now, and I have not had to re-buy supplies since I first started. Talk about thrifty.

So here’s what you’ll need:

3 Tablespoons of Washing Soda

3 Tablespoons of Borax

2 Tablespoons of Original Dawn Dish Soap

Any scent of essential oils (this part is totally optional)

Here are the (super simple) steps:

First, you’ll mix your washing soda, borax, and dish soap together in a gallon size container, adding about one cup of hot water. No need to boil the water, I just use the hottest water I can get out of my faucet. This amount of water is just enough to dissolve the power into the water. You’ll need to shake well until everything is dissolved.

Next (and you will need to do this in your sink), you’ll fill your container with the cold water. I just use the tap water from my faucet. This process will create a mess load of bubbles, so I cannot tell you how important it is to do this in a sink! Once the container is filled, I close it up and shake again. This will allow any particles that didn’t disolve before to fully dissolve.

Last, and this step is optional, I like to add a few drops of essential oil. No need for the expensive stuff, I just bought one bottle of lemongrass oil from my local grocery store, which may have cost about five bucks. The oil will make the laundry soap scented, which I prefer in a laundry soap. It is totally optional though. The cool thing is that you can make it any scent you want. After adding a few drops, I close it up and shake thoroughly.

That’s it! It really is that easy. like I mentioned before, I have been making this laundry soap for about three years, and I have yet to buy new supplies. I would estimate the total cost at about fifteen dollars, but for three plus years of laundry soap, I would say that’s a pretty good deal! Now, I use this recipe mainly for economical reasons, and not necessarily for all-natural health reasons, so if you’re looking for an organic or suchandsuch-free product, this is probably not for you.

Personally, I love it. It takes just a few minutes to make, and my clothes and linens smell and feel just as fresh as with any other laundry soap I have purchased. I use about a cup of the soap per load, and one “batch” will last me a few weeks. I would definitely recommend making your own laundry soap!

Have you tried making your own laundry soap before? If so, I’d love to hear about it! That’s all for today, friends. Have a fabulous day!

March 18, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

DIY Projects, Home Decor, Tutorials

DIY Boxwood Topiary

Hi you guys! I’m so glad you stopped by today! I don’t know if it’s feeling spring like where you are, but here in North Texas it definitely is! I was coming into the house after work the other day and I noticed little green buds popping up in the tree in the front yard. There’s no better sight! Not to mention that the weather has been warming up, which means it’s closer to time for front porch and grilling! I think it’s safe to say that spring is my favorite season (and it’s not just because I have a spring birthday…)!

Today I want to share with you guys a super fun super cheap DIY that totally has me ready for spring. I’ve been adding pops of greenery in the house everywhere, whether it be fresh flowers, or faux greenery I’ve collected from Ikea. I’ve been eyeing some of those adorable boxwood topiaries that seem to be everywhere (okay, maybe just Target and HomeGoods, but everywhere important!), but with my monthly free spending allowance, it didn’t seem worth it to pay for them. I’ve seen some at multiple places, usually anywhere from $20 – $30. Which isn’t a ton of money, I know. I’m just Cheapster McGee, as you all already know.

So I did what I do best, which is set out to make my own DIY version. So here’s what I came up with:

This is a very basic little craft that cost me just a few bucks.

I purchased all of my supplies at Hobby Lobby. The pots were under two dollars, and the boxwood balls (I’m fairly certain that’s not an actual phrase) were about five dollars for both, as they were seasonal clearance.

The rest of the supplies I had on hand. First, I put a coat of wax on the pots, mainly because I had never used strictly wax on something before, and I wanted to see how it would turn out. Since it was clear wax, it didn’t change the color at all. Duh, I should have known. However, I then immediately did a quick drybrush over the wax coat. Because the wax was not yet dry, it allowed me to wipe the whole thing with a rag, giving me the unfinished look I was going for.

I used sticks (the free kind from the front yard) and hot glued them to the bottom of my pot. The pots had a small hole in the bottom, which I covered with a small piece of duct tape so that the glue wouldn’t come out the bottom. After a few minutes, I filled in the pot with Spanish moss, something I had on hand already.

The boxwood balls have sort or a net texture under the leaves, which was perfect to just wedge them onto the stick. I did add a dab of hot glue just to keep them in place. Including paint and dry time (they dried incredibly fast, since I used my drybrushing technique), this project took me about fifteen minutes.

The cost of supplies I had to purchase was about seven dollars, making these cute little topiaries about $3.50 each. As opposed to the $20-$30 range. So I consider this little DIY a definite win.

I love how the fresh, springlike vibe they have. Even Ethan commented on how cool they looked, so I’m pretty pleased with how this one turned out. I think the best part is how well they’ll transition into summer as well. I do hope you try this one! It was definitely a fun project for me, and just about anyone can do this!

I hope you have something awesome planned for today! That’s all for today! Have a fabulous day, friends!

February 29, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

DIY Projects

DIY Magnolia Market Inspired Wreath

Hey y’all! I hope you had a fabulous Valentine’s weekend! We had a low key weekend that was just perfect. Now that Valentine’s Day is over, I’d be lying if I said that I don’t have spring on my mind. Since Christmas, our front door has been bare, and I knew I needed something fresh for the door. Today I want to show you guys what I did for my front door on the cheap. Because if it wasn’t cheap, it wouldn’t be for me!

It’s no secret how much I adore Magnolia Market in Waco, TX. I’ve been several times, and each time I come home feeling refreshed and inspired. A few weeks ago, we drove down to visit their Scratch and Dent sale. I was able to snag a few things, but there was one thing I’ve really been wanting that I wasn’t able to find on sale. I’ve been eyeing their signature Magnolia wreaths for a while, but with the $95 pricetag, I couldn’t quite get on board.

While I was there, I realized, duh! Why don’t I just make my own wreath? So that’s exactly what I did.

All I did was hot glue some leaves onto a wreath form. Not even worth the explanation.

The wreath was something I had already at home, and just took off what was on the wreath previously. So the cost of that was free. The florals came on a stem from Hobby Lobby that were priced at $4.99. Since Hobby Lobby rotates their inventory to be 50% off every few weeks, I was able to snag two stems for the price of one. To make this wreath, it took exactly two stems, making the grand total $4.99.

The leaves were all the darker green, but I turned some of them around to make it more dimensional.

I am simply in love with this little DIY! It took me maybe ten minutes to glue everything on, and the total cost to me was five dollars. Can’t beat that!

And sure, the quality of the leaves isn’t quite the same you would get from the original wreath. I’ll be the first to admit that. However, this was about 5% of the cost of the original. And that’s good enough for me.

Have you ever made a knock-off version of home decor? Us budget conscious girls gotta do what we gotta o!

I hope you have a wonderful Monday! Thanks for stopping by! That’s all for today, have a fabulous day friends!

February 15, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

Home Decor

Valentine’s Day Styling and a Free Printable

Hey you guys! I hope you’re doing well! Can you believe how quickly we’ve flown through the month of January?! I’m not going to lie, but springtime is already on my mind. Obviously I’m a bit premature, but the tempuratures have been in the seventies the past few days, and the birds have been chirping in the mornings when I’m waking up. It’s a beautiful feeling y’all. I’m sure it’ll turn cold again, but for now I’m enjoying the hint of spring. Anyway, now that January is coming to an end, Valntine’s Day is just around the corner!

Now, I’ll be the first to say that Valentine’s Day decorating is not really my thing. I”m just not into the bright colors and seasonally distinctive decor, especially right after all the Christmas decor has come down. I did however, want to give a little nod to the upcoming holiday in the most neutral way possible. I hand lettered this print you see here one evening.

Although it’s not technically Valentines-y, I do think it gives a little nod to the theme of the holiday, and it doesn’t hurt that it comes from a favorite passage of scripture.

I’m definitely going to leave this up after Vaentine’s Day though, because I think it works well in all seasons. Which, in my opinion, makes the best decor. The less stuff I have to change out after each holiday, the better.

I wanted to share with you guys this little print that I made. I’ve never done this (or anything like this before), but I wanted a way to share my new hobby with y’all. My writing is totally imperfect, and this print IS handmade, but if there’s someone out there who doesn’t mind the imperfections, then I think it’s worth sharing. I’m always looking for cheap ways to decorate my home, and hand lettered notes have become my go-to accessory.

If you’d like your own downloadable copy, you can click here. Mine is printed in an 8×10 format, but it will look great as a 5×7 print too. Thanks for letting me share my little hobby with y’all. I’d love to know how you’d use this little print in your own home.

Well, I’m off to run some errands, I hope you have some fun things planned today! That’s all for today friends, have a fabulous day!

February 2, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

DIY Projects, Home Decor

DIY Gallery Wall Update

Hello there friends! I hope you’re having a wonderful Monday! It’s a three day weekend for me, so you know I’m having a great Monday! This past weekend has been really really awesome. I’ve gotten SO MUCH done, and I’ve been inspired to do several new projects. On Saturday, Ethan and I took the trip down to Magnolia Market (Joanna Gaines, Fixer Upper, fabulous home decor, my idol, you get the point). It’s only about an hour drive for us, but it was the first time we had been since they’ve opened their larger store.

I bought two small items while I was there, and it inspired me to update a little gallery wall we have in the corner of our bedroom. Now, since I had spent all my money at Magnolia Market, I didn’t have any more money to buy anything new. So, I had to get creative.

This is what this little corner of the room looked like before. I made/put together most of these pieces immediately after moving into the house when we got married. Let’s not talk about the multicolored canvas with washi tape all over it. Just, don’t even mention it. Obviously, this isn’t really my style. So when I brought home something new, I knew I needed to update this whole little corner. Here’s how it looks now:

The entire theme is a bit more neutral and monochromatic, which fits in this room SO MUCH BETTER. As you can see, some of the pieces stayed the same, but the overall look is something I’m much happier with. So let’s talk about how I got my creative on without any money.

This is what I purchased from Magnolia Market this weekend (pardon this blurry picture, I don’t really know what was going on). The frame and the wreath came separately, but I attached the wreath with some thin black ribbon to the back of the frame.

The hand lettered sign on the top right was something I whipped up with a Sharpie. Nothing fancy at all. The frame was something I had in storage with something else inside. I had never hung it because I wasn’t a fan of what was previously in the frame, but with a little art swap, I was good to go. I also moved the burlap arrow frame to the other side of the wall and painted the frame from a metallic silver to a matte gray. Just another way to go a bit more neutral.

This piece is the biggest statement on the wall, and my personal favorite. It took Ethan a bit to figure out what “all those numbers mean,” but it’s our anniversary date. I used the same canvas from the first photo, peeled off the washi tape, and painted white over the cringe-worthy painting. I used stencils and a Sharpie to create the numbers, which was so easy anyone could do it! I believe this canvas was originally a picture of Audrey Hepburn I had in my college dorm room. It has now lived many lives! No one will be able to say that I didn’t recycle!

The other pieces from the original wall got trashed, as they had been reused one to many times, with the exception of our wedding photo, which will be relocated.

This little corner may not look totally different to everyone, but to me, the entire mood has changed now that it’s underwent its little makeover. It look me maybe an hour to update and make the three pieces, and aside from the new mirrored frame, it didn’t cost me anything.

Bringing new life to old gallery walls doesn’t have to be expensive! Look at the pieces you have already, and imagine new ways to rework them. Canvas can always be painted over, frames and always be painted. I’ve been known to hang wrapping paper in frames as cheap art, or free printables found online. Handwritten notes or drawings can also make great (free) additions to gallery walls. If you’re strapped for cash, look around your home and see what you can come up with! You might be surprised at what you find you already have.

What’s your go-to piece for artwork? Have you ever made a gallery wall mistake like I have? I’d love to hear about it! That’s all for today, friends. Have a fabulous day!

January 18, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

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