Our Spaces: Kolt's Bedroom Makeover

The tweener stage generally refers to middle school aged children, but in this case it applies to my 18 month old son. He's a bit of a tweener in my eyes because he's no longer a baby in need of a nursery, but he's not quite ready for his toddler bed & boy room.

The thought of him in a toddler bed is just way too much freedom for my busy body!! I've been a bit bored with his room lately and decided to make some changes.

Here's a before shot of his room:

And here's Kolt's new & improved bedroom....

PAINT:
The biggest change we made is adding a fresh coat of paint. It's the most gorgeous and soothing shade of taupey brown-Behr Antiqued Leather. It's so nice to have some color on his walls-and best of all, the gallon of paint was just $20!! Behr just may be my new fave paint brand!!

BEDDING:
During my Goodwilling trips, I've scored a few more key pieces that were used in his makeover. First up-a Pottery Barn star quilt that I found for just $3. It was marked $5.99, plus it was another 50% off. Gotta love Super Saturdays!! This quilt would've retailed for well over $50 so this was a major score.

I also picked up the new sheets during a Super Saturday shopping spree. The entire brand new 4-piece Circo toddler bedding set was just $7.50!! I wasn't crazy about the comforter that came in the set, but the sheets alone were worth the purchase price!!




DECOR:

I'm all for decorating on the cheap-especially in kid's rooms.

For starters, I anchored the wall behind his crib Added some DIY canvas art frames!! Such an easy peasy way to dress up your walls. Also, spray painted an old frame that I had and added a star for an extra special touch.

To anchor the wall behind his crib, I used a star picture that was hanging in our Americana Guest room. I also re-used letters to spell out his name. Love the way it looks.

Used cardboard letters and a star emblem purchased at Hobby Lobby to spell out his name!

Love DIY Canvas Art! Such a cheap and easy way to personalize your walls!

Wish Upon a Star art-Kohls, Piggy bank-gift & Star lamp-Goodwill $5.

Kolt's changing table & other goodies!

Love his little toy basket!

I reused frames and just created easy DIY art using Publisher. You can probably use Word too.

Old Smokey loves his cozy updated space!

Easy DIY art inserted into frames!

View from the hallway door!

Love the simple canvas art pics!!

Another view of his room!

Kolt's closet!

Wasn't quite ready to get rid of his crib mobile-so I hung it in his closet!

Don't you just love decorating? Especially decorating on the cheap!? This makeover rang in at less than $50 since I repurposed a lot of items from other rooms, shopped Goodwill and was able to use just a gallon of paint!!

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for popping by!

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DIY Decor: Dollar-Store Deco Pumpkins

Supplies used!

It's been a while since I've posted any of my fun Fall Decor projects, so here we go!!

I've seen so many cute & creative projects all over Blogland, but these Deco pumpkins at Crafted Niche's blog really caught my eye. I had to make these adorable pumpkins!!

You can hop over to her blog for a step by step tutorial, but here's my quickie version!!

Supplies: Mod Podge, Primer (or white spray paint), a sponge brush, Book pages, Dollar Store pumpkins, moss, tree branches, paint, glue gun and fabric scraps.

1) Cut off the stem from the pumpkin. See pic!!

2) Time to Prime-just cover the pumpkin(s) with a coat of primer and allow to dry.

3) While the primer dried, I began tearing my dictionary pages. I used "P" pages for Pumpkin!!

4) Once the pumpkin was dry, I began applying Mod Podge directly on the pumpkin, then sticking the torn pages on top of the Mod Podge, then sealing it with another coat of Mod Podge on top of the page.

5) Repeat until the pumpkin is completely covered and allow to dry for a few hours.

6) Place the stem onto the pumpkin and glue in place. (See picture)

7) I applied glue around the stem and just stuck some of the floral moss onto it.

8) You can stop here or jazz your pumpkin up with leftover fabric scraps. I free-handed a couple of leaves because I felt like my poor pumpkin needed a splash of color.

I'm loving my easy-peasy Deco Pumpkins! Thanks again to Crafted Niche for such an awesome idea (and thorough tutorial)!!

There's nothing better than decorating on the cheap and the total cost of this project was just $3 since I had most of the materials on-hand!!

Finished product-I love it!!!

Instead of Mod Podging both pumpkins-I sprayed this one with Rustoleum's brown and glued fabric onto it!

 I think it's so much fun to get creative by making your own holiday decor using the colors, fabrics and embellishments that you want to use! I love that I was able to use the same fabric that I've used on other Fall decor so it all ties together nicely!

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for popping by!!





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Thrifty Finds: Goodwill=Great Halloween Costumes

He wasn't too excited about his costume!!'

My little guys last Halloween!

Last year my little guy celebrated his first Halloween! I lucked out by finding the most adorable costume at Goodwill for just $1!! He looked so, so cute and I couldn't have been happier with the price!!

Although Goodwill seems to have increased the prices of their Halloween costumes this year, I managed to score an adorable one for just a couple of bucks! Yippee!!

Tazo Zen tea & Pumpkin-Cranberry Pecan Bread Recipe

There was a time when I was truly addicted to Starbuck's. I'd go there once, twice and sometimes three times a day. Chai tea lattes, Grande Zen tea, Pumpkin loaf....you name it!! That habit got a bit pricey so I've changed my ways.

I now purchase the same tea that they sell at Starbucks (Tazo Zen) at either Target or Walmart. It's a delicious green tea with lemongrass & spearmint-oh so tasty with honey & cream. I now pay around $3 for a box of 20 tea bags vs. paying $2-$3 for a single cup!

And I now make my own breads--which saves me big time!! I recently found the most delish  Pumpkin Cranberry-Pecan Bread recipe at MyBlessedLife.http://www.myblessedlife.net This will definitely be my go-to recipe this Fall!! Click here for a link to the recipe!! Hers is a blog worth checking out-it's amazing and inspirational!!

Pumpkin-Cranberry Pecan Bread

• 2 1/3 cup flour {I use spelt}
• 1 1/2 cups sugar {I reduced this from 2 cups}
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 can (15 oz) solid pumpkin
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce {I used cinnamon applesauce}
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup craisins

*I followed this recipe but added 1/2 cup of brown sugar too!!

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, oil, applesauce, eggs and water. Mix well. Stir wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, just until combined. Fold in pecans and craisins.
Spoon into two loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
Enjoy!

31 Days of Thrifty Finds: Goodwill Furniture Shopping Tips



I purchased my matching desk and chair during two separate GW shopping trips!

 

Bought this sporty shelf for my sons room for $6.99!

When I first started Goodwilling, it was mostly for furniture. I was fresh out of college and was on a tight, tight budget. Secondhand furniture definitely fit the bill!

When shopping for furniture at Goodwill and other resale shops, here are a few tips that might help you out.

1) If you even remotely like something-grab the tag and grab it quickly. Sometimes the worst thing you can do is overthink a purchas

e. You've gotta act quickly or someone else will beat you to the punch!!!

2) Have an open mind. You might go into a store looking for one thing yet something else might catch your eye. While it's always good to have a Goodwill Wish list, it's also great to be open. You never know what you might stumble upon.



My GW coffee table-7 years old & still going strong!



3) Don't be intimidated. Scoring great deals often comes at a price. There are rare times when you stumble upon a beauty, but often times you'll have to bring out the beauty in the pieces you find. A few years back-I found what resembled a coffee table at one of our local GW stores. It looked a hot mess-the previous owners must've had kids so they'd glued gray rubber hosing around the entire table. I wasn't intimidated!

I scored this awesome table for $20 and scrubbed like you wouldn't believe. The good news-once it was cleaned up, it was a beautiful table. I'm almost positive that it was originally purchased from PierOne and likely retailed for upwards of $100.

It's been with me through three moves and is still one of my most cherished pieces.

I'd love to hear your secondhand furniture shopping tips!!

Thanks for popping by!!!

31 Days of Thrifty Finds: Dollar Store Shopping tips

I'm a big fan of Dollar Stores! The biggest reason is due the convenience of knowing that absolutely everything in the store is just $1 (no guessing or dealing with searching for prices).

Fave things to buy at Dollar Stores:
-Storage Items (baskets, bins and drawer organizers to name a few!)
-Party Supplies (cups, plates, plasticware, tablecloths, balloon weights-you name it)
-Gifts (not actual gifts-but I do buy the majority of my gift bags, wrapping paper & tape here)
-Cleaning Supplies (they actually have amazing products-dish soap, window, toliet & bath cleaner..etc)
-Tolietries (especially when heading on vacation-toothbrushes, travel size items, body wash, etc)
-Misc food items-dollar stores are starting to sell more and more food items-ours even has a freezer section. (flour, baking mixes, syrup, olive oil, raisins, cereal & even candy)

There are lots and lots of ways to be thrifty! Shopping at Dollar Stores is certainly one of them.

Hope you enjoyed this post! Thanks for popping by!!

31 Days of Thrifty Finds-Day 11: Kids Clothes Shopping Tips

My kids are often complimented on how adorable their clothes are. People are always shocked when I tell them that the majority of their clothes come from Good old Goodwill!!! In fact-one of my fave things to look for at thrift stores is kids clothing because their sizes aren't as particular as mine are.

My boys rock Goodwill gear!

My tips for shopping for kids clothes at Goodwill:

1) Find out when your local Goodwill stores have special discount days. For the most part, the only time I hit our stores is on Super Saturday-the first Saturday of every month-because everything is 50% off their already low prices!!

2) Grab any and everything you see. I often load my cart up with anything that has potential, then I go through everything a couple of times to pare down before heading to the cash register.

3) I always buy everything that I like, then head home to wash the entire load of clothes before trying them on my kiddos. Most Goodwills don't use paper tags (they use plastic tags) for this very reason-in fact, they encourage you to take clothes home to wash & try on!! You can return anything that doesn't fit within 7 days.

4) Don't be afraid to go up a size or two. It's highly likely that the majority of the clothes you'll find will be used, so they've been washed a time or two! Some people throw jeans and etc in the dryer-which can cause a bit of shrinkage, so it's always good to be open to not only buying clothing in their size-but also a size or two up. Another perk of Goodwill shopping is that you don't have to be as careful with washing their clothes as you would if you'd paid an arm and a leg for them.

5) It's great to shop for clothes when the seasons change because people are often pulling out clothes that have been stored away and getting rid of whatever doesn't fit. I'm looking forward to hitting Goodwill soon in hopes that I'll find some cute jackets for my boys!

GOODWILL LOOK #1

Kolt's Gap jeans-$2 & Polo shirt $1

VS.

Gap Distressed lil loose jeans-Reg $34.99 Sale $29.99

Goodwill Price (Reg.$3.99-just $2 on Super Saturdays!) VS. Gap Price ($29.99)

So basically, I scored both the jeans and a nearly new Polo shirt for far less than the price of the jeans alone at Gap!

                                              GOODWILL LOOK #2-for my 6-year old...

Old Navy bootcut jeans-$2 (reg $3.99) & Gap long sleeve 2-in-1 shirt $1 (reg $1.99)

Just wanted to show you how CUTE this shirt is! Love the back!

Old Navy camo fleece-$1 (Reg $1.99)

                                                                                VS.

Gap Boys 2-in-1 polo-$19.95

Old Navy Boy's Fleece Pullover-$14.94

Gap Boys Original fit jeans-$24.95


Total Cost of this Gap & Old Navy Boy's Look-Approx $65
versus
Goodwill version
(Jeans-$2, shirt-$2 & fleece pullover $1)=$5

So there you have it! Since I've started shopping for kid's clothes at Goodwill, I just can't bring myself to shop regular retail. Even when Old Navy deeply discounts their jeans to just $10 a pair-I know I can do better!

Hope you enjoyed these shopping tips!! I'd love to hear about your Goodwill buys!!

Thanks for popping by!