Quick Easy and Cheap

Yep, that's how I like it, quick, easy, and cheap, decorating that is.  When your time and space are limited and you're on a budget there is no other way to go.  Here are some quick tips to spruce up your home and/or creative space.

I have these ugly utility shelves, I hate them but unfortunately they are a necessity right now, I lined the edges with some of my lace trim from my craft stash, mine are temporary so I just hot glued it on but you can use hook and loop tape if your shelves are more permanent, it actually makes a huge difference, especially if you have several lined up your wall

Apothecary jar --$12 @ Winners
Decorative sand --$1 @ Dollarama
Seashells -- couple bucks @ Walmart

At Christmas time I replace the sand and shells with fake snow, bottle brush trees and glitter

Spruce up an old plain lampshade, hot glue some lace trim to the edges

Old napkin holders are perfect for storing scrap supplies such as packs of embellishments, cards, letters, your mail...I used this one for some watercolor and memory pencils, I think I paid  50cents for this vintage one at a flea market

This is easy if you don't have time to sew, or don't know how and need to cover something up. Last year Alex made some misc pieces in woods which were odd sizes, one was this adorable barstool. I found a topper cloth in the closet, draped it over and just tied the corners into knots and am using it as an accent table to hold a lamp, this also works with just a piece of unhemmed material, cut the material into a square, quite larger than the table top you are covering, then cut about an 8 to 10 inch slit at each corner and tie into knots...you can't even tell it's unfinished material once it's tied up and it looks very homespun if you use linen and other neutral colors.

 

 

Using It Up

One of my goals for this month is to use up alot of the supplies I have had gathering dust for far too long to make room for new papers and other scrap stash.  All of the challenges over at Love is in the Details this month will help considerably.  I did this layout for the Creative Team Layering challenge and was able to use some older papers and embellishments with some new.  I really enjoyed doing this sort of silly, whimsical page and just piling on the little scraps of paper, lace, and other little pieces.

Love Parade

Corny title I know but Valentine's day is not that far off and I thought I would get a head start on some cards.  We don't do any celebrations here for the day except for the exchange of cards and a little chocolate, I love getting cards for this day especially because the boys are older, I miss helping write out all their little Valentine's cards and putting treat bags together or baking something for the class party.  Do you do anything special to celebrate this day?  Any decorating or gatherings?  Do you share cards with friends as well as loved ones?

I used some old and new products, I am trying to use up product I have had for far too long and some of  the items used I can not even tell you where they came from as they were lovely Christmas gifts from my boys.  I used alot of black and grey, I am really loving those colors right now for all kinds of projects!

Word For 2011

I'm a little late for my New Year's post, this cold has knocked me down a bit.  I have been thinking about a word for myself for 2011 and I feel that Forward is best for me.  I'm a procrastinator, not on purpose mind you but I am and it's something I want to change.  I want to move forward, get ahead, do things I have been wanting to do, make progress, finish projects I promise myself I am going to finish and the best way for me to do that is to go "Forward". 

I'm starting off with a little project I started quite some time ago, a little something I have been wanting to make for myself, that I put off to the side to complete other things.  I finished it off and am quite pleased with how it turned out.  It's a happy mish mash of a journal that suits my style perfectly.

There are actually only six regular pages but there are also six little inserts in between.

I used a mix of old and new supplies in my stash, paint, paper, some vintage items and papers from antique music books.