Saving 4 Six: November 2011

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Wednesday's What I Found - Christmas Curbside Find

"STOP!!!"

That's what my Better Half hears many days we are out and about. I'm not yelling at his driving abilities. He's a good driver...at least in the forward position...not so much in reverse. That's a whole different post though! I'm typically yelling STOP because I have just spotted someone's trash that is inevitably going to be my treasure.

When I spotted this beauty I really couldn't believe they were getting rid of it. My Better Half actually went to the door to make sure that it was not decorating their trash can but that indeed they wanted it gone.

Do they not know that a simple swag of greenery...cut right from their own pine trees (which they had in their front yard - BTW) can make their trash look so beautiful!? Maybe I should have suggested that to the owner instead of laughing with glee as I loaded it into my van.
Anywhoo, it's mine now! I snagged a swag of greenery, cut from my own pine trees and tied it with a bow.

There you have it!

Their Trash...My Christmas Treasure.

Blessings,

Linkin' up to these frugally fabulous parties:
Friday
Creation Corner
French Country Cottage
The Shabby Nest
At The Picket Fence

Tatertots and Jello

Thirty Handmade Days

Life As Mom

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

The Frugal Girls

The Grocery Cart Challenge

Saturday

Be Different Act Normal

Young An Crafty

Sunday

C.R.A.F.T

Monday

Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday

Today's Creative Blog
A Bowl Full of Lemons

Coastal Charm
Home Stories a to z
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Chef in Training
Someday Crafts

Wednesday
733 Blog
Passionately Artistic
The Trendy Treehouse

We Are That Family
Raising Homemakers
The Thrifty Home
Wicked Awesome Wednesday

Sew Much a Do

Wow Us Wednesday
Ginger Snap Crafts

Power of Paint
Night Owl Crafts
Thursday
Somewhat Simple
The Shabby Chic Cottage
House of Hepworths
Just a Girl
Delightful Order
The Frugal Girls
Thrifty 101
Diaper Diaries
A Little Knick Knack
The 36th Avenue

Monday, November 28, 2011

Our Decorated Staircase

Since our staircase rebuild this spring, I have been looking forward to decorating it for Christmas. It is no longer a staircase I want to hide but something I want decorated and beautiful. It is however, the staircase that leads to the bedrooms and a bathroom so the decorations had to be practical and not "in the way". I came across some baluster swags on BHG and it inspired me to make these.

I'm beginning to tap into the craft supplies available right outside my door...why didn't I think of this sooner!!?? I clipped some branches off the bushes in my backyard and used them for these swags.

I took several branches, cut just over a foot of artificial greenery and tied it together with some of the ribbon from my over 100 spools of ribbon find.

Finally I added some berries to give them more color.

I grabbed a picnic basket that I found at a garage sale for $1 this summer and filled it with greenery, some of those branches from my backyard, and artificial berries that I picked up at the dollar store...inexpensive and very handy this time of year!

I'm so thankful to have a beautiful staircase and I love it decorated!!

Blessings,

Linking up to these inspiring parties:
Friday
Creation Corner
French Country Cottage
The Shabby Nest
At The Picket Fence

Tatertots and Jello

Thirty Handmade Days

Life As Mom

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

The Frugal Girls

The Grocery Cart Challenge

Saturday

Be Different Act Normal

Young An Crafty

Sunday

C.R.A.F.T

Monday

Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday

Today's Creative Blog
A Bowl Full of Lemons

Coastal Charm
Home Stories a to z
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Chef in Training
Someday Crafts

Wednesday
733 Blog
Passionately Artistic
The Trendy Treehouse

We Are That Family
Raising Homemakers
The Thrifty Home
Wicked Awesome Wednesday

Sew Much a Do

Wow Us Wednesday
Ginger Snap Crafts

Friday, November 25, 2011

Shop My Sponsors on Black Friday

Happy Black Friday!! I don't do the crazy Friday shopping instead, I stay at home and enjoy putting up Christmas decorations. The past several years I have thoroughly enjoyed the ease and convenience of online shopping and I wanted to highlight my sponsors. They all offer some pretty great gift options.

My newest sponsor is Jewelry For Five. They sell some amazing jewelry all for just $5. It is great quality for the price and would make a wonderful gift or stocking stuffer. See my review HERE.

There are also consultant opportunities available through Jewelry for Five. I'm told that this jewelry sells itself and I imagine that it would. It is really nice! You can contact Michelle at jewelryforfive.blogspot.com or click on the button below.

My next sponsor is Shabby Apple. Shabby Apple offers some beautiful dresses. If you're still looking for that perfect Christmas dress or an outfit for your Princess, Shabby Apple has some gorgeous options.
Check them out at the link below.

Finally, is My Memories Suite. They have just released their new Version 3. I haven't tried the new version yet but was impressed with their previous scrapbook software.

My Memories is offering all of my readers a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Version 3 Scrapbook Software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - a $20 value!!

All you have to do is enter this coupon code at checkout - STMMMS29230

I hope these gift ideas are helpful.

Happy Shopping!

Blessings,

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Cookie Cutter Christmas Wreath

I came across a bag of cookie cutters at ReStore for $2 and although I'm not a major baker I knew they would be great for some sort of project.

BHG has a bunch of great wreath ideas and a cookie cutter wreath was one of them. I was sooo excited that I had this bag of cookie cutters just waiting for this project.

All I did was shape them into a circle and then hot glue them together.

I got a little aggressive with the hot glue so I had to add some little berries to hide my glue.

I added a bow from my amazing ribbon find and...

VOILA!

I really like this. I can't wait to hang it in the kitchen window.

Blessings,

Linking up to these great parties:
Friday
Creation Corner
French Country Cottage
The Shabby Nest
At The Picket Fence

Tatertots and Jello

Thirty Handmade Days

Life As Mom

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

The Frugal Girls

The Grocery Cart Challenge

Saturday

Be Different Act Normal

Young An Crafty

Sunday

C.R.A.F.T

Monday

Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday

Today's Creative Blog
A Bowl Full of Lemons

Coastal Charm
Home Stories a to z
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Chef in Training
Someday Crafts

Wednesday
733 Blog
Passionately Artistic
The Trendy Treehouse

We Are That Family
Raising Homemakers
The Thrifty Home
Wicked Awesome Wednesday

Sew Much a Do

Wow Us Wednesday
Ginger Snap Crafts

Happy Thanksgiving

What an abundance I have. I am so thankful for the MANY blessings I have been given. The blessing of my wonderful Saviour, the blessing of an amazing Husband, the blessing of my four incredible gifts, and SOOOO much more.

I wish you all a blessed day filled with a heart of gratitude.

Thank you for being a part of Saving 4 Six. You too, are a blessing.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Wednesday's What I Found - Dollar Store Boxes - Drab to Fab

I've made a couple trips to the dollar store lately. You know, the stores where everything is only $1. Those stores are just crazy. I know, there can be a lot of junk but there are certainly a lot of possibilities there too. I was looking for some storage containers for the mudroom and came across these collapsible boxes.

The colors were very limited...burgundy and a blue striped variety. I really wanted black but I knew if I had to get them elsewhere I would pay quite a bit more for them. So, I picked them up for $1 each {CRAZY} and pulled out my trusty spray paint and got busy.

The weather here has turned wintery so I can't spray paint outside or even in the garage anymore so I've been using this big box as my spray booth. It works really well and keeps all the mess contained to this one space.

Pretty cool, huh? What an easy and cheap solution.

Once again spray paint to the rescue!!

I started thinking that I would like to spruce them up a bit further so I took a strip of material from my curtains and pillows, folded it over and sewed one side...leaving the other side finished.

Then I took a piece of felt and traced a circle on it using the bottom of my spray paint can as a guide.

Next I just started hot gluing the strip of material around the felt, working my way to the center.

When I got to the center, I just tucked it in and hot glued it.
Finally, I hot glued the rosettes to the smaller dollar store containers.

On the bigger containers I added a piece of material around the outside and then glued the rosettes on the front.

{LOVE IT}

Such an easy, inexpensive way to make something drab look fab!!

Blessings,

Linking up to these frugal, fun parties:
Thrifty Decor Chick
Friday
Creation Corner
French Country Cottage
The Shabby Nest
At The Picket Fence

Tatertots and Jello

Thirty Handmade Days

Life As Mom

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

The Frugal Girls

The Grocery Cart Challenge

Saturday

Be Different Act Normal

Young An Crafty

Sunday

C.R.A.F.T

Monday

Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday

Today's Creative Blog
A Bowl Full of Lemons

Coastal Charm
Home Stories a to z
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Chef in Training
Someday Crafts

Wednesday
733 Blog
Passionately Artistic
The Trendy Treehouse

We Are That Family
Raising Homemakers
The Thrifty Home
Wicked Awesome Wednesday

Sew Much a Do

Wow Us Wednesday
Ginger Snap Crafts

Monday, November 21, 2011

Finishing Touches on the Mudroom

We are putting the finishing touches on the mudroom. Curtains and pillows are the task at hand. I made a trip out to the fabric store last week looking for material to make curtains and pillow covers and was blown away at how expensive material can be. Several of the home decor fabrics were $44.99 a yard!! I was carrying around a 40% off coupon but still yet, when I wanted 8 yards of the material...that was still completely out of the question. So, I began browsing the rest of the store for something less expensive but something that would still look great...and I found something I love!

This material was in the quilting section and was only $5.99 per yard minus 40% making it just over $3.50 per yard...what a deal!!
I wasn't sure I wanted to be this bold with the curtains but now that they are done, I couldn't be more thrilled.