{31 days} paper bag flowers

October 11, 20146 Comments

~secondhand and created~

I absolutely LOVE sunflowers and love this craft.

It’s perfect to add a neutral early fall touch to your decor, but packs a punch by being 3 dimentional.

I used a few in baby girl’s room with some tissue paper puffs leftover from her first birthday party!

Click here for an awesome tutorial {it looks like she uses lunch bags, but I used full size brown paper grocery bags}.

{You can also read my original post happy paper flowers from January 2013}

home is….{31 days} secondhand, created paper flowers.

Join me while I link up with The Nester every day in October for #write31days.
Click here to find a list of all 31 posts as they are published.

{31 days} flash card art

October 10, 20149 Comments

~secondhand, created and thrifted~

You need:

flash cards
background paper (I chose a paper bag)
frame
scissors
glue
sharpie or pencil

Cut paper to fit frame.

Arrange flash cards.

Glue into place.

Place into frame.

Hang on your wall.

I also made this one where I added the year we were married, the year the little guy was born, and the year baby girl was born.

home is…{31 days} secondhand, created and thrifted fun with flash cards.

Join me while I link up with The Nester every day in October for #write31days.
Click here to find a list of all 31 posts as they are published.

{31 days} pyrex collection

October 9, 20145 Comments

~thrifted~

Remember back on {day 4} where I posted a photo collage of a bunch of the things I collect and then encouraged you to display your collections? Well, this post is about how I display some of my pyrex collection as storage in my sewing hutch.

{That little jar was covered with a vintage tea-towel that I received from my grandmother. Just used mod podge to stick it on and the wrapped twine around the top and hot glued it!}

The pyrex is stacked on top of other items, stacked on top of other pyrex, and used to hold trim and fabric.

And, a mini-globe bank that I picked up in Central Oregon.

I also use some of my vintage scale collection to hold the pyrex.

{I also have a huge collection of Mary Engelbreit stuff…not thrifted or secondhand, but from the dollar bins at Michaels.}

Through thrifting, I have been able to finally turn my house into the home I had imagined on a budget that is realistic.

home is….{31 days} a thrifted pyrex collection.

Join me while I link up with The Nester every day in October for #write31days.
Click here to find a list of all 31 posts as they are published.

{31 days} office supplies

October 8, 201491 Comments

~thrifted~

Clipboards hung outside the office door create a useful display space for kids artwork, calendars, photographs, and other bits of whimsy.

Notice Meg’s beautiful prints? They are some of my favorite.

I found all the clipboards at Goodwill. Sometimes you just hit the shop at the right time and they have a bunch of one item. That’s what happened with these clipboards. I picked out a bunch of different style clips, so they don’t all look the same.

I even cut one of them with a jigsaw so that it fits around our thermostat.

This is one of the first things you see as you enter from our garage. It is also one of my favorite walls in the house. {oh, and sorry about the lighting…little to no natural light hitting this part of the house when I took these photos}

Right now, I have information from the kids classes on a few of the clipboards…a sharing calendar, important information from the little guy’s back to school night, and monthly calendars with school holidays and the PE/music schedule.

I also put up the full-sized ruler growth chart that I made a couple of years ago. Go to Pinterest, and type in “wooden ruler growth chart” for tons of tutorials.

If you aren’t interested in a DIY project, go to Etsy and type in “wooden ruler growth chart” for all kinds of awesome shops that can create one for you!

home is…{31 days} thrifted office supply art display.

Join me while I link up with The Nester every day in October for #write31days.
Click here to find a list of all 31 posts as they are published.

{31 days} book wagon

October 7, 20145 Comments

~secondhand~

I turned a garage sale radio flyer wagon into a mobile book case in our playroom!

In addition, Goodwill (and other thrift stores) are a great place to find used children’s books!

home is…{31 days} a secondhand book wagon.

Join me while I link up with The Nester every day in October for #write31days.
Click here to find a list of all 31 posts as they are published.

{31 days} mason jar pendant light

October 6, 201412 Comments

~created~

This is actually an update to one of my most popular posts of all time as well as one of my most pinned posts on Pinterest.

We had existing pendant lights in our kitchen, and I was getting tired of the shades so I cut some holes in mason jar lids and used the mason jars as “shades”.

After posting a photo of my kitchen on Instagram, I decided to write my first ever tutorial for a mason jar pendant light!

{I find my light kits at IKEA, but you can find something similar in the lighting section at Lowes or Home Depot}

IMPORTANT NOTE: After noticing that air needed to be vented from the jar somehow, I added some vent holes to the top by tapping extra holes in the lid with a hammer and nail.

{You can also read my original post {diy} mason jar pendant light from July 2012}

home is…{31 days} a created mason jar pendant light.

Join me while I link up with The Nester every day in October for #write31days.
Click here to find a list of all 31 posts as they are published.

{31 days} outdoor fall decor

October 5, 20145 Comments

~secondhand, created and thrifted~

Everything but the flowers and pumpkins was thrifted or secondhand.

I use thrifted canisters, kettles, and colanders as flower planters during the summer. I removed the dead petunias and bought $3 mums and decorative kale to replace them.

The upside down door/shelf, white stool, and white ladder came from a friend down the street who used to own a booth in a local antiques mall. SHE is an ultimate thrifter and has amazing style. When I grow up I want to be like her…seriously.

The red ladder was a $5 garage sale find a couple of years ago.

In the Pacific Northwest, we go through a lot of rain boots…the ones on display are some that the kids have outgrown.

The little guy and I took a trip to a local pumpkin patch on a day off from school and added the mini pumpkins and gourds.

Your outdoor fall decor does not just need to go by the front door where you rarely see it. Put a display outside of your kitchen window so you can look at it when you do dishes!

This display acts as a screen between our deck and our neighbors yard. I can see it when I look out the kitchen window, dining room window, or back door.

It makes me happy!

home is…{31 days} secondhand, created, and thrifted outdoor fall decor.

Join me while I link up with The Nester every day in October for #write31days.
Click here to find a list of all 31 posts as they are published.

{31 days} collections

October 4, 20144 Comments

~secondhand and thrifted~

Collections add your personal touch to your home. Display them!

home is…{31 days} secondhand and thrifted collections.

Join me while I link up with The Nester every day in October for #write31days.
Click here to find a list of all 31 posts as they are published.

{31 days} a handpainted sign

October 3, 201411 Comments

~secondhand and created~

I had old boards that the previous owners of our home used for a floor in a makeshift greenhouse. They had been sitting around for almost 5 years and I decided to do something other than use them for firewood.

I didn’t take photos for a tutorial, but here are the basics:

found a font I liked
printed it the size that would work (trial and error here)
traced over the edges with a ballpoint pen that left an indentation in the wood
penciled in the indentation
painted inside the lines

I’ll need to put another coat on the paint, but I was anxious to get it up on the fence. I just screwed the boards into the fence.

This is what I call “the best seat in the house”. It’s where I sit and share my coffee with Odyssey or watch the kids play (if I am not playing with them).

We have lots of campfires…on outdoor movie nights, just to have smores, or to enjoy and evening with friends and neighbors.

You could do the same thing with different words and any size piece of wood and use it in your home or in your outdoor space.

home is…{31 days} a secondhand and created sign.

Join me while I link up with The Nester every day in October for #write31days.
Click here to find a list of all 31 posts as they are published.

{31 days} the perfect table

October 2, 201411 Comments

~thrifted and created~

One Saturday Lorelai and I took a trip to Goodwill and found the round table I had been picturing in my mind for months.

A large, round pedestal table.

Solid wood.

Two leaves.

It was priced at $59.99.

Less 50%…for only five more minutes.

That made it less than $30!

I jumped on it…especially when I saw another lady eyeing it.

I texted Ryan after I left and said that I would need to use his truck to pick something up at Goodwill later that afternoon.

This is what I brought home.

I had a vision…for the table.

{this is by no means a tutorial on how to refinish a table…i used google and pinterest to find what made sense to me and just kind of dove into the project…which is how i handle most of my DIY projects}

I promptly started to sand the thick speckled finish off the oak.