home art: 2012

Haven conference, finally!

Well, it finally arrived – after a year of planning, the Haven Conference happened last week and I really find it hard to put into words how wonderful it was. I know you’re probably seeing a lot of these recaps all over blogland today, and I know how hard it is to see these if you weren’t able to attend or just plain have no idea what the heck we’re talking about. So for those reasons, I’ll try

Home decor giveaway

**This giveaway is now closed. The winner has been contacted! Hollaaaa! I’m closing out the week (while I’m away at the Haven Conference) with a giveaway from one of my favorite sites! You may know them as Wuslu, but they’ve changed their names to Decor Steals, which I think is totally appropriate! I love this daily deals site – they have a fantastic selection of home decor items that are

Carpet cleaning giveaway

**This giveaway is now closed. The winner has been contacted via email. Hello there! As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m off at the Haven Conference, so I have a few fun giveaways planned for you all. The first one was for a decor item, which is always fun, and this one is more of a cleaning/necessity giveaway. Sometimes those are my favorites! Remember when I wrote that HUGE to do list in

Rug Giveaway!

**This giveaway is now closed. The winner has been contacted via email. Hello there! I’m off at the Haven Conference this week so I’ve got a few fun posts coming for you – and I’m kicking it off with a GREAT giveaway. The folks at Rugs USA contacted me about a giveaway and asked if I’d like one to try out myself and I was all HECK YEAH and WHOOHOO and YOU DON’T HAVE TO ASK ME TWICE! They

Show us your outdoor spaces!

Hello all! How was your weekend? Great I hope! Today we are continuing the Show Us Your House linky parties with a look at outdoor spaces. I’m really excited about this one! (I say that every month, I know.) Last year our backyard underwent a HUGE redo – we built a large deck on our sloping backyard soon after moving in years ago, but other than that we hadn’t touched it. We finished

Inspiring kid spaces

Hello there and how the heck are ya? I’ve been working my tail off this week and am getting ready to reward myself with a glass of wine and a bowl of (stovetop…YUM) popcorn. And now my mouth is watering for that popcorn so this post may be a quick one. ;) Today I’m showing off some of your kiddo rooms you all shared at the May Show Us Your House party. Take look here if you missed it – more

Butcher block love

Heya! I kinda feel like my head is about to explode this week – the house is a mess (again) – more on that in a bit, the kiddo was sick, I’m trying to tie up presentations for the Haven Conference (NEXT WEEK??) and did I mention we are hosting a party the night before I leave for the conference? Yeah. I. am. insane. Anyhoo, when I stress I either curl up in a ball in the corner and rock… or I

DIY orb light fixture

Hello all! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! My Dad came down and we got a TON done in the dining room – I am so excited about it! And yesterday I worked on a quick project that I’ve been dreaming up for a while. I had a light installed over my DIY craft table in the basement so I could have some task lighting when I needed it. I’ve been trying to think of something fun and funky and that I

Giveaway Weekend!

**This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to winner Doreen at House Honeys! (Email me to get your winnings.) Hey there! Welcome to the weekend! :) I am ready! I’ve got a lovely giveaway for you all – the folks at Saffron Marigold are back! Saffron Marigold sells a selection of hand block printed home linens that are just beautiful. I love that they continue the hand block tradition without the

read more "Giveaway Weekend!"

Months in review and winners!

Well hello! I’m been slacking on the months in review and I know that makes you sad. ;) Seriously, I just forget to do it, but I like recapping posts every month or so just in case you missed something! This time I’m going through two months so I won’t link to every single one cause I know you have lives. First, I need to make sure everyone who won recent giveaways gets their winnings! I haven

Trying out Annie Sloan paint

Hey there! First of all, have you seen the 400 awesome before and after projects linked up this month? Fantastic! (You can see them here.) But come back soon cause I want to show you a fun little project. ;) I was lucky enough to get the chance to attend an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint™ Workshop a few weeks ago at a fun shop called ReStyled here in central Indiana. I’ve never used this paint and was

June before and after Party!

Helloooo! It’s that time again! Another month has come and gone and we’re here again to show off your before and afters. I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with this month. :) First, as always, I want to share a few of the awesome projects from last month’s party. It’s always so hard to narrow the highlights down to just a few – I’m always blown away by your talent! We’ll kick it off

DIY vintage crate storage

Hey hey! I’ve got a very, simple, quick project to share today – one I’m pretty smitten with. It has all of my loves – it was inexpensive, easy and cauuute! And it’s a knock-off of sorts, so that’s an extra bonus. :) A few weeks ago I saw these cute crates in the Serena & Lily catalog and knew I could DIY them: I wanted to make some myself because, well, these are CRAZY expensive. This

Picking out (basement) paint colors

Hey there! How the heck are ya? I’ve been really excited to tell you about the paint colors in the basement – really excited. I don’t know why exactly, I guess maybe because it’s a whole new floor to decorate. (About the best. thing. ever. for someone like me.) But it’s also that I’m going a direction with colors that I’ve never gone before. And it’s got me giddy. I finally finished the

Dining room turned library progress

Hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend! I almost started five different projects over the three days but decided I just needed to FOCUS SARAH. Remember my list? Well the end of the month is quickly approaching and I’m not even half way through the to do list I wanted to complete by the 31st. So I decided to tackle a couple of the items and I didn’t touch anything else all weekend. I need to get a

Avocado banana ice cream

OK, bear with me here. When I first heard about this dessert I was pretty cynical. I like bananas. I LOVE avocados. But together? Frozen? Um, not exactly appetizing. But because I have been known to eat an entire vat of guacamole all by myself, and I have been known to do this often, I just had to try it. A friend told me about it earlier this week and was raving. She said she couldn’t

An update on the basement

Hey hey! It’s been awhile since I’ve updated on the basement progress because…well, there hasn’t been much progress. ;) It kind of pooped out because…WELL. Money doesn’t grow on trees. Drats. About seven weeks ago we had the drywall put up and mudded. That felt like a HUGE accomplishment. It obviously transformed the space into real rooms. Pretty awesome. Since then the guys have primed

Canon Rebel Giveaway!

**This giveaway has ended. The winners have been contacted! OK, I’ve been SO excited about this people. You are. gonna. DIE. I’ve partnered with a few of the most awesome blogs out there to put together the best giveaway I’ve ever seen. For real. Hands down. We are kicking off summer in a spectacular way peeps: Up for grabs is TWO (yes, you read that right – two!!) Canon Rebel Cameras!

Refreshing the living room

Hello there! I hope you had a fantastic weekend! It was a good one here – I got SO much done. And had some fun. Just the right mix. ;) I’ve been making some changes to the living room over the past year or so and I am really loving how it’s coming along. I know living rooms are typically more “fancy,” but I don’t really want fancy in our house. It’s a big, open room so we spend quite a bit of

I think I have a problem

Do you ever have one of those days/weeks/months where it seems like everything in your house/life is a total disaster? Not relationship-wise, but clutter and crap-wise? Like you go to look for something, and for the fifth time in one day, you can’t find it because your closet/car/desk is a total and complete and utter DISASTER? And do you feel like a horrible wife and mom at those moments?

Show us your kids rooms!

Hello there! It’s time to share another space in your house! I can’t wait to browse through this party, because this month we’re showing off the fun and pretty spaces that are all about our schmushy faces – the kids: Both nurseries and older kids spaces are welcome! I’ll kick it off with another little trip down memory lane -- the Bub’s nursery was an absolute joy to create: *wipes a tear

The Laundry List

Hey all! I hope you had a lovely weekend! Mine was jam-packed – we fit in a baseball game, strawberry picking, a Costco trip for the moms (and some kids), a couple naps, two ice cream trips, eating out (uhh, a LOT) and a trip to Lowe’s and the nursery for my Mother’s Day gifts. Oh yeah! I am slowly but surely filling in the landscaping around our patio and I’m really excited about it. I’ve

Giveaway Weekend!

**This giveaway is now closed! Congrats to winners: 1. hazelhatcher1(at)aol(dot)com 2. Michelle (carpoolmch(at)aol(dot)com Well peeps, this is probably the most special giveaway I’ve ever done, because it involves one of the most special people in my life – my BFF. :) And when I say BFF, I mean, my real, true, I’ve known her for 25 years, best friend. (And I had to count that out a few

read more "Giveaway Weekend!"

Easy peasy banana bread

Helloooo there! I’m back today with a very quick, YUMMY, very easy recipe – and I just had to share it because for years I thought it was way harder than this. I love when I think something is difficult for so long and then do a quick search on the net and realize it’s not hard at all. Or maybe I hate when that happens, because I’ve denied myself of awesome all that time. Whatever. This one

Privet House at Target

**This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to the winners!: 1. Kristina A at janhander(at)yahoo(dot)com 2. Lisa at A Cottage to Me 3. Jen at Lily Atlantic 4. Kelly at hargrave1695(at)yahoo(dot)com Please email me at thriftydecorchick(at)gmail(dot)com so I can get you connected with your goodies! Hey all! WOW – more than 400 projects linked up already at this month’s before and

May before and after party!

It’s that time again! It’s almost summer, can you even BELIEVE it?? I can’t. Today we kick off May (I know it’s already been around for a week, whatever) with this month’s before and after party! First, some of the awesome projects linked up last month! Rasha updated her IKEA sofa with a little somethin’ and it looks fantastic!: I’ve had the supplies to the do the same and this has inspired

How to make a succulent terrarium

Hey hey! Happy end-of-weekend to ya! I hope you had a great one. I got a TON done outside – I worked my tail off and sweat off about five pounds. (I hope.) There’s something about working in the yard – it’s a feeling of accomplishment like nothing else. I fall even more in love with our home when I work in the yard too. :) Today I’m sharing a little project I worked on weeks ago. I’ve been

Weekend ramblings

Bear with me folks, it’s one of those posts with no real point and not much focus. ;) Excuse me while I ramble a bit. You know the list? The one with a meeeellion projects I want to get done in less than 30 days? Well, I’ve been SUPER busy. I’ve accomplished three things on the list and about ten that aren’t. That is how I roll. :) I’m gearing up for a TON of painting and need to figure

Hydrangeas hate me

They do. They really, really do. I’ve mentioned this a few times over the years and this year I am determined to do something about it. Oh yes. Hydrangeas, of course, are one of my very favorite flowers. And of course, I can’t grow them to save my life. Of. course. This is the primary reason I love Trader Joes. Cheap, fluffy hydrangeas. And their salads. I like their salads too. But I

Board and batten kitchen island

Well peeps, it had been FOREVA since I had done a DIY project and man, I missed it. :) While working on this one I was in my zone, and it felt good! I have been planning this project for the longest time, but was just trying to figure out one little detail before I got started. This one is in the kitchen and involves…can you guess?? I’m sure you’ll be shocked. The kitchen island: This

Wall Decor Giveaway

*This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to winner Tina Matteson -- singin(at)compuserve(dot)com. (Tina, email me at thriftydecorchick(at)gmail(dot)com to get your gift card!) Well hey! Hope you have some super fun stuff planned for the weekend! Like watching movies, laying around, painting your toenails – you know, the fun stuff. ;) I’m back with another AWESOME giveaway this weekend – EvgieNev

My to do list

Oh me oh my. I worked long and hard painting a DIY project today and had hoped to show you, but my right shoulder screamed begged cried uncle. I try to paint with my left hand and it just doesn't go as well. :) So I’m going to baby the shoulder tonight and I hope to finish up the project tomorrow. (I am really excited because it’s a big color change and I LOVE how it turned out!) So anyhoo,

Dressing up the patio

Hey there! How was your weekend? We had lots of baseball activities and I did get my DIY project half done. Now onto painting…my favorite part. Yay. Whoo. Hold me back. You wouldn’t know it from the past few days, but the weather around here has been just unbelievably beautiful. I held off of buying most of our outdoor flowers though, because…well. They are just SO DANG EXPENSIVE.

(Your) Beautiful Kitchens

Hey hey! How are you? Any fun plans for the weekend? I was supposed to be on my way to the SNAP Conference to speak on Saturday, but the Bub’s first big baseball event is this weekend and I just could not miss it. So we’ll be doing lots of baseball and I’m hoping to sneak in a little DIY project. It’s in the kitchen, so it’s fitting that I’m highlighting some of the ahhhhmazing kitchens you all

Forever home?

Hello there! First of all, my dear friend Chris over at Just a Girl is hosting a bunch of bloggers to share their “must” lists – and mine was power tools (surprised??). You can see my list here: Go ahead and check it out. I’ll wait. ;) Drums fingers. Checks watch. :) Tonight I’m talking about our home…your homes. How long do you plan on staying in yours? Are you in your forever home? Did

Let’s talk basement flooring

Well hello there! Wow, be sure to check out the more than 150 dining rooms linked up on the last post! Beautiful. :) Today I’m sharing the final frontier in the basement finishing process -- we’re hoping next month to get the flooring installed. After that there’s still plenty to do – it’s just going to be lots of smaller projects, most of which I can do. Tile, painting, trim work, etc. We’ve

Show Us Your Dining Rooms!

Hey hey! Hope you had a lovely weekend! These third Monday’s sneak up on me – I can’t believe it’s time for another show off partay! This month we’re sharing dining spaces – any size, any type, you are good! If you’ve been around for awhile, you know I’m making some BIG changes to our dining room, but more on that in a bit. First, let’s take a little walk down memory lane shall we? This

The Decrapification of 2012

OK, first of all, let me hear it for all the door ninjas out there! Double thump to the chest! (If you’re confused, go here.) I loved your responses to my last post! And thanks for all your ideas and links! :) It’s about this time every year that I get the BUG. I usually purge throughout the year but it’s the spring that I feel the need to GET RID OF EVERYTHING. And this year, I think the

A glass door…could you do it?

OK, I’ve had an idea runnin’ around in my head for a while now. I think about it EVERY. single. day. lately and can’t shake the thought of it. Every time I walk by our foyer, especially during the day, I think of how awesome it would be: (That’s an old pic from last summer, the latest full shot I could find of our foyer!) For years now, I’ve been wanting a screen or storm door on our front

We have walls! (And dust!)

Hello there!! Hope you had a lovely weekend! I’m so excited to share the progress on our basement with you – the process has gone much faster than we thought, but some parts have taken way longer than we expected. The drywall happened sooner than we thought it would, only because the guys doing the work gave us a stellar deal on the installation if we went ahead a couple weeks early. They did

Month(s) in review!

Well hello! Sorry of the lack of posting last night – we were enjoying one of our last evenings of spring break and the time got away from me. We just plain relaxed, and it was awesome after a week of getting MUCH done around here. I love that hubby and I are both homebodies and are perfectly happy to putz around our house all week, organizing, sprucing, mowing…I love it! Anyhoo, since I’m still

Dining room transformation, part 2

Hello all! I feel like everything around here is in a state of in between – so many fun projects on the horizon, but some dirty (and not as fun work) that needs to get done first! I am NOT complaining – I’m just trying to be patient, and it is not my virtue. ;) One of those projects is our dining room turned library that I first told you about in January. My plan was to get rid of the

The case for the basement laundry room

Hello there! How the heck are ya? I’m GREAT cause it’s spring break for the kiddo and the hubs – and I LOVE having them both home. Problem is, hubby does things like go and buy 12 cookies from Paradise Bakery and I cannot resist them. There aren’t many left, and it’s only been 12 hours. So anyway, the basement progress is moving along…faster than we planned, but slower than we were told. I

April Before and After Party!

Hello hello! I am back among the computer living! WHOO! My hubby was able to get my computer to work some last week, but then it went completely kaput. My BFF’s husband was able to shine ‘er up this weekend and it’s working awesome now! I’m so relieved. :) Not having a computer brings on the shakes, I tell you what. It’s time for the APRIL Before and After Party! First of all, can I get a

Winners! (And computers hate me.)

Please, someone PLEASE hold me back from throwing the computer in a lake. I’ve fought with one computer all week and now I’m on our archaic one and it’s power cord is jacked so it shuts down randomly while I type.
…like just now.
Technology hates me.
Anyway, I hope you’ll understand the reason for this brief post tonight, and I hope to be back shortly (maybe even this weekend if I can get one

It's a spray paint party!

Hey hey! We’ve been dealing with a blue screen of death around here tonight –
but Hubs saved the day. :) And then Live Writer decided to hate me...so this post looks a little different because I'm publishing in Blogger. Because I’m getting this up later than I had
hoped, this will be a quick post, so you all can get to linkin’!
I'm just glad to have it GO UP.

Today’s party is the last in the

A spring welcome

Hello there! How the heck are ya? Hope you had a GREAT weekend! I thought the Hunger Games was awesome – I felt like an idiot cause I knew what was going to happen (duh, read the book!), but I still was jumping out of my seat one minute, nervously covering my face the next, moving around in my seat with anticipation…it was just ridiculous. But it was GOOD. :) Anyway, today we are partying up

Home Decor Giveaway!

Hello hello! I’m ready for the weekend because the weekend means the Hunger Games movie! So psyched! (I swear I’ll stop talking about it after this weekend. Probably.) I haven’t been this excited for a movie in…well, ever. And then Titanic comes out in 3D in a couple weeks! Hubby isn’t quite as excited about that one. ;) (Although I think he secretly loves it.) But first, one of my favorite

The grass is greener on the door

No need to adjust your computer screen – yes this is two posts in one day. ;) Blogger had some issues last night and I couldn’t the post up, so it went live this morning. Today I’m sharing a fun little craft project I’m linking up to Kate’s spring crafts party as a part of our Spring Fling linkies: Soooo…I had a total blogger brain fart and forgot to mention Layla’s mantel party on Tuesday.

We have (basement) lights!

Well HEY! Today was a bit crazy because we’ve had some last minute progress on the basement, and I spent the day reading the second Hunger Games book all in one day as well. I’ve been both super productive managing the basement process and crazy unproductive reading like mad. So confusing. I’m as hooked on this one as I was the first!! Only about 20 more pages, so this post may be quick. ;)

The Moon Chairs

Sooo, I don’t go into Goodwill nearly as much as I used to. I was going a couple times as week there for awhile and it contributed way too much to my crapification problem. ;) Now I am dropping off stuff a lot more than picking up. I probably go in once a month now. And last week I went in and found a couple really fun items. There were six “moon chairs” for $15 each and I kept walking past

Show Us Your Kitchens!

Hey hey! Well, first, I have to say THANKS for making me feel a little less weird. ;) I loved your comments on my last post. So either I’m not weird or I am and a whole bunch of you are too. ;) Either way we’re golden. It’s time to show off more of your houses and I’m really excited about this one! This month we’re sharing kitchens at the Show Us Your House party: If you’ve been around for

All about…me?

Hello there! I for one am THRILLED the weekend is here. This has been an insane crazy week and I’m looking forward to slowing down a bit. Today’s post is one I’ll admit isn’t the most comfortable for me. I don’t particularly like talking about myself. My house, yes. Me? No. But I promised you more of “me” earlier this year. Pictures of the person writing this blog. Action shots if you will.

I love you honey (oak)

This post isn’t about my Honey, although I love him bunches too…even more than my honey oak. And that’s saying a LOT. A few years ago I would have turned up my nose at any piece of furniture with “oak” as the finish. I’ve always been a cherry kind of girl. But over time my tastes are definitely changing. But I’m a honey oak lady now and I’ll sing it from the rooftops! Or this blog. Whatever.

Dining room transformation, step one!

Hey hey! How was your weekend? I spent half of Sunday finishing up the first Hunger Games book – whoa, SO good. I’m avoiding the second one until I get a few good nights of sleep under my belt – I go to bed wayyy to late when I’m into a book. ;) Anyhoo, I did get a little something done this weekend. Or I should say started. Or I should say my Dad and brother got it started. ;) Remember when I

Giveaway Weekend!

Hello there! Well it’s the weekend and it’s beautiful out and I’m feeling like maybe we may avoid any more snow till next winter…maybe. And that is reason to celebrate…with some free stuff! I’m back with a great giveaway from one of my dear friends and she’s no stranger to TDC. Cause I love her and her message and her products. She makes me happy, just like spring. :) It’s been amazing to

read more "Giveaway Weekend!"

How you doin’?

No how YOU doin’?? ;) I’ve been planning this post forever, because there’s lots of projects that I do up in here that I’ve been meaning to update you on. When I see projects out in blogland, I love hearing how they work in real life and how they hold up. It’s like those extreme makeover shows when they show the person a year later and you’re all like, ohhh, they look GREAT. Or ohhh, that’s

March Before and After Party!

Hello! It’s time again – party hardy at the March Before and After Party! This year is FLYING. As I mentioned earlier this year, I’ll be highlighting some of the fabulous projects from the month before at each party. (So be sure to link back if you want to be included!) First up, let’s admire the simple but beautiful transformation of Julie’s classy brassy Goodwill lamp: OK, wait.

Have a settee

This post is proof that good things come to those who wait…at least it came to me. This time. ;) For about the past, oh…YEAR, I’ve been looking for something very specific for this spot at the bottom of our stairs: I thought a little settee would look quite lovely there, but it wasn’t really something I needed, so I just kept my eye out. Forever. I looked at shops, I looked online, I

Spring Fling and more!

Hello all! Happy Friday to you all! I’m the late one making this fun little announcement, but I had to let you know…we’re baaaaaack!! ;) We have so much fun doing these linkies and I hear you all get some darn good traffic from them, so we are really looking forward it again this spring! For this Spring Fling, Layla will host spring mantel decor, Rhoda will have the door decor party, Kate

We’ve been framed!

Hey hey! How are ya? I mentioned recently that we’ve had some actual progress happenin’ in the basement over the past couple of weeks. It is SO exciting!! The very first project was framing out the bathroom and storage room. We did it that way because I was trying to figure out how big to make the laundry room. Initially I had planned to make it all one room – storage, exercise, craft stuff

Trimming out the drapes

Well hello! Hope you had a lovely weekend! I got a project done that’s been harassing me for months. Well, not really. It just seemed like the window in the living room that had been nekked forever was mocking me every time I walked by. And the extra fabric I bought six months ago to go on it was yelling at me to JUST GET IT DONE. Sheesh. Chill out already!! Anyway. You might remember when I

My new favorite room

Happy Friday and how the heck are ya? I’m ready for a weekend of NOTHING because I’ve been working my tail off on the basement for the past week. Lots of good stuff has been happening that I can’t wait to show you!! But I had to share the best first. It’s a little ridiculous how excited I am about this part of the basement. I’d be more than a little embarrassed if you had seen the happy dances

In the air

Hey there! Have you seen all the closet posts from earlier this week? You MUST check out those links! I’m truly inspired! I took the dog out this morning (without a coat!) and couldn’t help but notice all of the buds on the trees and plants!! Uhh, am I wrong or is it still February? It has been the mildest winter for us, and I although I thought for sure we’d get a nasty dose of not-so-fast

Show Us Your Closets!

Heya! Are you ready to show off more of your house? Some of you are totally ready for this party, and some of you will be hanging back checking out the links for some organization inspiration. I get you. ;) This month I’d love to see your closets – anything closet related. A laundry closet, master closet, linen closet, pantries (big or small!), or closets you turn into something else to meet

DIY craft table

Heya!! Hope you had a lovely weekend! I had a great one – got plenty of stuff done and then today spent the day with my sis and family as we shopped for her wedding dress (my wedding gift to her). We found it and it’s just beautiful! She’s beautiful in it. I was doing OK till she put the veil on, but then it was pretty hopeless. ;) I put together a project this weekend that I’m pretty smitten

The Basement: Step 1 of 587

Hey hey!! I’m SO excited about some work that started around these parts today. SO. EXCITED. This may not be the most beautiful post to read, but it is beautiful one to write! We have finally, after eight years of saying it…started taking some steps to finishing our basement. GoodNESS. OK, I know some of you are shaking your heads and saying “Geesh woman, more pictures of cement walls and

Gaining some space

Most of us would love a little extra room in the house, am I right? I mean, we don’t personally need any more square footage in our house, but I do like making changes that make a room feel more spacious, you know? I first blogged about my little obsession a few years ago (and I just realized I’ve been blogging for almost four years. That. is. crazy.) Anyhoo, I have a bit of a problem. I keep

You’re Kool

Hey there! I’m posting early today (for me anyway) because I just had to share a Valentine’s project we worked on for the Bub’s (little bitty cutie patootie) friends. I figure if you want to use them for your kiddos for school tomorrow or for friends, you could still get it done tonight if I posted this early enough. OK, so I think I actually came up with an original idea here. (Yeah right –

Giveaway Weekend!

**This giveaway is now closed. Well hello there! Thanks for the awesome comments on my pantry redo! I’m just thrilled about it and hope it helps any of you who have pantry you want to change up or organize. :) Since Valentine’s Day is coming up next week, I figured it’s time for you to treat YOURSELF. :) The kids and hubby’s do a great job, but sometimes we need to get exactly what we want.

read more "Giveaway Weekend!"

No more wire shelves!! (A pantry redo)

So here we go – my little pantry redo! It’s nothing super fantastic, but I just love how it turned out, for more reasons than one! Let’s start with the before, and then I’ll go through my thought process and the actual process. Umkay? Here’s the pit of despair: (Excuse the awful cell phone pics!) I’ve blogged about cleaning out the pantry quite a few times and it ALWAYS ends up back like

Pretty pantries!

Hello all! I’m pretty much done with my little pantry makeover – there’s a little bit of painting left to do, but I may just leave it primed and call it done. ;) I’ve been able to load all of the food back in and I’m having fun (yes, I said FUN), reorganizing everything so it works better for us. It’s lot more enjoyable when there’s plenty of space to work with! I’ll share the finished

February Before and After Party!

Hey hey! It’s time for another Before and After Partay! I can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to! I mentioned earlier this year that instead of posting my own projects every month, I’ll be sharing some of the knock-your-socks-off projects linked up from the month before. And I’ve got some stellar projects to share from the January party to kick this off! Gail blew me away with this one –

Winners and more

Hey hey! Happy Super Bowl Day to everyone!! Hope you had a lovely weekend. I got SO much done on the pantry this weekend, I can’t wait to reveal it this week!
I also got downtown again this weekend with some girlfriends and it was SO FUN. I’ve never seen a crowd like that in my entire life!
Indianapolis was the place to be:

I wanted to announce the 20 lucky winners of the Shaklee giveaway from

Family in the family room

Heya! How the heck are ya? I finished up a project the other day that was a LONG time comin’ – and in the end it only took about an hour to complete. I don't know why I put it off for so long! When we had our corner fireplace covered up with a more lovely corner fireplace (confused? Go here.) last fall, it meant I had to change up what was on the wall to the left of it. I decided to go

January in review!

Hey hey! I can hardly believe the first month of the year is DONE. I know I say that every month, but for real. It’s crazy. I’m back with another month in review for January! I kinda skipped over December, just because I was a little tired of looking at Christmas decor by the 31st. (Remind me of that come September when I’m chomping at the bit for Christmas to come.) I started off the month

If you visit

Helloooo there! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Today I’m going to brag on my hometown a bit…cause this is the biggest week of the year for us here in Indianapolis. You may have heard of a little thing called the Super Bowl? ;) I’m a born and bred Hoosier and I SO love this state. I think the general thought when people think of Indy is that it’s may not have much to offer, but oh ho ho,

Pretty work spaces

Well happy Friday and weekend to YOU!! I gotta say, your responses to my last post made me feel SO MUCH better. I certainly do not feel alone, especially since so many of you feel the way I do. There were SO many great suggestions (yes, I read every comment) and a couple of you mentioned the Sleep Cycle app on the iphone. I had heard of it before and decided to give it a try. You see, I don’

Morning bird/Night owl

I’m at a crossroads in my life people. I’ve been a certain someone most of of my 36 years, and I desperately want to become another. It’s time. It needs to happen. Change is good. (I keep telling myself that.) You see, I’m a night owl. (source) That’s me…usually wide awake at midnight. (But I don’t need coffee -- I don’t even drink it.) I’m making a conscious effort to try to become the

Styling the new bookcase

Hey heyyyy! Hope you had a GREAT weekend and Monday! I spent a bit of time styling a new bookshelf – which I find just plain fun. If I’ve got time and the resources (aka STUFF from the basement), I find it oddly relaxing. I totally get in a ZONE. It usually takes me some time though, so I go through a process. A lot of placing something, stepping back, moving something, stepping back,

Giveaway Weekend

Hey hey! I’m so excited about this weekend’s giveaway and I know you all will be too. Cause I know you all LOVE TO CLEAN!!
Whoohoo!!
Am I right?
I said, Am I right??
Crickets.

OK, I’m really excited about this giveaway because I really love this stuff. And I love giving away stuff I use and love. The love affair started a couple of years ago when I did my first Shaklee giveaway.

I was

Underground family room

Well thank you for the lovely comments about our sweet, sweet kitty. You all always make me feel like I have a few hundred extra friends around the world. :) This post is about a space I’m kind of obsessed with –- the basement. I freakin’ LOVE basements. Something about them – they are just super cool spaces to me. I may have mentioned one or 800 times how excited I am about finishing ours…

Office deets and show off yours!

Hello all! Welcome to the first Show Us Your House party! I can’t wait to see the rooms for this month – your craft spaces and offices! I had intentions of getting this first house party up last night, but we had a bit of a family crisis that was my priority. Around ten last night we noticed one of our kitties was looking just…not right. Her sweet face didn’t look like her and right away I knew

Well, finally. The office reveal!

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (OK, it was middle America) there was a beautiful (it’s my story, OK?!) blogger named Thrifty. Thrifty decided it would be fun to redecorate her office. She thought she would slap some paint up on the wall, move some furniture around, and it would be done! A new office, easy peasy. It only took a few months. And she lived happily ever after. The end.

New at TDC

Hello hello! I was so hoping to share the office redo with you today, but the last project is taking the longest. (Why is that how it ALWAYS is with me?!) And because this part being such a bugger, I came up with a new idea for it anyway. In my head it’s pretty darn cool, but we’ll see how it turns out. So I will finish it it up this weekend and share it with you first thing next week!! I’m

Dining room turned…

Hey all! I shared some of my home plans for 2012 with you here, but there’s one I held off on mentioning. It’s one I’m kind of sort of really excited nervous anxious about. :) There’s actually two drastic changes for the house I have going on in my noggin – both are HUGE projects. One I’m still hashing out in my head. This one I’m more ready to move forward on. It’s a bit of an usual makeover

How to make your own printables

Hey hey! Hope you had a lovely weekend! Our temps here are unusually high for this time of year – today we took a long walk and even played at the playground. Crazy! It’s supposed to be in the 50’s again this week! I still say we’ll be paying for this soon enough. I have no doubt we’ll be under five feet of snow in a few weeks. We shall see. :) So if you have looked at oh…a few blogs lately,

Target Luv

OK, if there’s a go-to place that always makes me happy, it’s Target. (Or Tarjay, as we’ve always called it. That started cause sometime back in high school someone told us Target was a French company. It’s not. But we still say it.) Fun little fact: Target was my very first job. Even at 15 I had good taste. Either that or I REALLY loved the red shirt and khakis combo. (Not.) Anyhoo, my love

Making Money Blogging

Hey hey! How about that title eh? Just putting it all out there. I just couldn’t think of anything more appropriate, so there you go. I’m joining a few of my favorite lovely blogging ladies today for the next post in the Growing Your Blog series my pal Kate dreamed up: Yesterday Nester shared her thoughts on authenticity in blogging and her post and the comments were a great read – check it

Anticipation

Welcome to the second most wonderful time of the year people. At least I think it is. Next to the Christmas season, the beginning of the year is absolutely my favorite time. I just get plain giddy about all the possibilities…mostly for my house. ;) Beyond just that new year feeling, it’s the first time in months that I can focus on more DIY again, instead of holiday decor. And that holiday decor

Before and After Party: Updates

Hey all! Happy New Year to you! And YOU. :) It’s time to kick off the first Before and After Party of the year! Whoohoo!! This time I’m doing a little update on my 2011 plans – I’ll show you what I had on my to do list last January and show you the latest photos I have of each space. Let’s just say I didn’t get most of what I wanted to to do done. I think I should just stop saying things out

About Me