Thrifty Decorating

No Peek Chicken

2012-02-27T12:01:00.001-05:00

I spend my Monday's giving piano lessons from about 2 pm until 6 pm with

no time to make dinner.....so on Mondays I need a meal

that is easy to prepare and cooks itself....

This is a favorite "Monday meal".....

Ingredients:

1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain Wild Rice (original recipe)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can water (an extra can optional for moister rice)

Chicken breasts or tenders

In a greased 9 x 13 pan, mix the box of rice, cans of celery and mushroom soup and

can of water. I always add the extra can of water because I like moist rice.

Arrange the raw chicken on top of the rice mixture....

Cover and seal with foil......

Bake at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours and "Don't Peek!"

Your house will smell amazing!

St. Patrick's Day Ideas

2012-02-26T14:30:00.000-05:00

For some, St. Patrick's Day is know as one of those "lesser" holidays...

celebrated by some and ignored by others.

Growing up....my family basically ignored it and then, I met my husband!

St. Patrick's Day ranks right there behind Christmas in his mind!

I'll never forget our first married St. Patrick's Day....I had never before

set my eyes on corned beef or Irish potatoes!

Let's just say that it was the LAST time I ate corned beef!!

Here's some Pinterest Inspiration to get you inspired for St. Patrick's Day this year!

{Key-lime Shamrock Cake}

{Party Favor with free printable}

{Treat bag with printable}

{Party Printables}

{Preschool Activity Kit}

{Lucky Bingo}

{Math games and more}

{Paper roll shamrocks}

{Crocheted Shamrock}

{Rag Wreath}

So glad that there's a lot more to this holiday than corned beef!

Winner of the Minky Blankie!

2012-02-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to....

Kimberly said...

I let Faith know you sent me on Facebook (Jason Rubio).

Woohoo!! Kimberly, you win the Minky Blankie!! I'll be contacting you soon!

If you didn't win, don't fret! Faith is offering Thrifty Decorating

readers 20% off their ENTIRE ORDER!!!

Just enter the code "ThanksThrifty" until March 12th!

You can head over to Mom's Creative Touch and

design your own custom blanket today!

There are 16 Minky options, 27 satin options and

17 cotton options to choose from....all at 20% off!!

Thanks so much, Faith!

Sheet Music Wreath

2012-02-24T17:21:00.000-05:00

I should have posted this months ago, but, I just forgot!

If you have an empty space on your wall that needs to be filled, you can fill it

for pennies using a sheet music wreath? My friend, Jenny, made one for over her fireplace.

Just cut a circle out of a piece of cardboard and start gluing! HERE is

a tutorial for how to make it using wire coat hangers!

I'll be picking a winner of the Minky Blankie tonight!! You still have a

few hours to leave a comment!

Friday is the last day....

2012-02-23T22:19:00.000-05:00

Don't forget that Friday is the last day to leave a comment

to win one of these adorable Minky Blankies from Mom's Creative Touch!!

Go HERE for all the details and to leave your comment!!

I'll pick a winner Friday night.....

Thrifty Thursday #48

2012-02-22T19:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome toThrifty Thursday!! It's time to get the party started.....

It all started with paint shared this amazing board and batten bathroom....WOW!

A Blossoming Life shared this recipe for DIY vanilla....I'd love to try this sometime!

Knick of Time created these Restoration Hardware knock-offs from paper stencils!

Loopy Loop Creations made this pretty spring wreath from felt pinwheels....

The Turquoise Piano turned her $20 thrift store table into this beauty....

The Crafty Blog Stalker shared how to make this cute ruffly apron....

Scout's Stitches linked these yummy peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes....

If you were featured this week, feel free to grab one of my buttons!

Here are some very simple suggestions for the party:

1. Please become a follower (would you Linky Follow??) of Thrifty Decorating.

2. Be sure to link to your POST and not your blog.

3. Please copy and paste my link button somewhere in

your post or blog so that others can link back.

You can also party with Johnnie

at Saved by Love Creations!

Or Erika at Thrifty and Fabulous!

Homeschooling. . . .Assignment Books

2012-02-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Repost: I wrote this post almost a year ago.....since then my blog has really increased in

size, so I wanted to share it again with all of you who homeschool or are considering it.

I definitely get a lot of interesting responses when people find out that I homeschool......I once sat beside a woman at a spaghetti dinner fundraiser....she was a complete stranger who looked at me and said, "What makes you think that you are qualified to homeschool?" Hmm....how do I answer that one?

Another frequent question that I am asked is.....how are you able to homeschool multi-age/grade levels.....I find this question very interesting because it make an assumption about the public school classroom....it assumes that all 20-something students in a public classroom are operating at the same skill level in the same grade.......which they are NOT! You can have a very wide range of skill and reading levels....especially in an elementary classroom.

Honestly.....one of my fears about homeschooling was looking at the minimum 6 subjects per child and multiplying by 3....that would be 18 subjects per day?? How would that be possible?? Wouldn't I completely lose my mind trying to do that??

I came about our current system that we use by accident....My son spent a couple of years in public school and his first grade teacher had a great idea for how she had students complete their morning work....each morning she would have a "to do" list on the board.

Students would work their way through the list and check-off the work that they completed.......the problem that our son had was that he would finish his work very quickly and then spend the rest of the morning making 11 trips to the library to check-out books.... he ended up spending a lot of time in class "waiting" for the other students to get their work done.

I use a variation of my son's first grade teacher's "To Do" list.....

I write out a daily list of work for my kids to complete....I make little check boxes that they cross off (or scribble out!) when they finish that assignment. I always write History and Grammar or Science and Grammar last because they complete those assignments with me. They also always do Math with me.

I have combined my kids together for science and history so that cuts down on 2 subjects for each.....and a lot of their work is completed independently with me looking over their shoulder and making corrections.

I also keep a master lesson plan book for each of my kids. Usually in March or April, I start to plan for the following year. I pull together all of their curriculum and start writing lessons plans. Donna Young has amazing free printables......here is the link for the lesson plan forms.

My plan book keeps me on-task and helps me to see the bigger picture of where I am going....assignment books allow my kids to start their work even if I get tied up throwing in a load of laundry (or writing a blog post??).

How do you making homeschooling work in your family?

Beef Taquitos

2012-02-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Last week, I shared my recipe for "homemade" salsa.....you'll

need that recipe for these beef taquitos.

You can use ground turkey or ground beef. I have only been using ground

turkey for the past couple of years and my family has been protesting, so

I made these with ground beef.

I made a "kid" version and an "adult" version.....the kid version had only

beef, a little bit of taco seasoning, and cheese.

The adult version had about 1-2 Tablespoons of salsa mixed with

2-3 Tablespoons of cooked beef and then sprinkled with sharp cheddar cheese.

After trial and error, I found that it's best to spread a thin layer

of the mixture over the entire tortilla and then pick a side and roll

from that side otherwise all the meat is in the middle.

To get the tortillas crispy, my trick is to spray them with non-stick canola oil.

I baked them at 425 degrees keeping a close eye on them until they were browned....about 10 minutes.

I just added some guacamole, sour cream, corn (leftover from the salsa) and my "homemade" salsa and it was a dinner that was a hit!

What are your favorite family dinners?

Minky/Satin Blankie Giveaway

2012-02-19T11:35:00.002-05:00

Updated: This giveaway is now closed!

I am so excited about this giveaway from Mom's Creative Touch!

Faith makes these beautiful 18" x 18" and 36" x 36" baby blankets....

and she is going to GIVE ONE AWAY to one lucky Thrifty Decorating reader!

The winner gets ONE 18" x 18" blankie of your choice with free personalization!

Faith has 16 Minky options, 27 satin options and 17 cotton options for the blankets at

her website Mom's Creative Touch and you get to CUSTOMIZE your blankie!!

Faith is a homeschooling mom of 4 who hand-makes each one of her blankets....I wish
she made a 60" x 60" one for adults! They look so cuddly!

In order to enter you MUST be a follower of Thrifty Decorating....either through Google Friend Connect, Linky Followers or subscribing through the RSS feed.

Entry #1: Visit Mom's Creative Touch leave me a comment telling me one of

your favorite blanket combinations.

Entry #2: "Like" Mom's Creative Touch on Facebook and please leave a comment on her wall letting Faith know I sent you and then come back here and leave a comment on this post!

Entry #3: Tweet or put a FB post tagging Mom's Creative Touch and Thrifty Decorating,
sharing this giveaway. Leave me a comment on this post telling me that you did!

I'll pick a winner on Friday!

Please be sure to leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry! Please make sure your email is

enabled in your profile or else leave your email in your comment, so I have a way to contact you!

Winner will be picked via Random.org. Giveaway will run from 2/19/12 - 2/23/12.

Hutch Makeover

2012-02-18T00:05:00.001-05:00

I recently had the opportunity to refinish a few pieces

of furniture for a friend. I forgot to take before pictures, but

here are some of the afters.

This was just your average pine hutch....the back was wobbly and it

had wooden knobs to match.

My Dad helped with this project....he actually did a lot of the work!

First he took a $15 piece of wood from Lowe's and cut it to fit the entire back.

This made the whole piece more solid and less wobbly.

Then he primed it with a sprayer and sprayed two coats of an

off-white satin paint by Behr.

I complained to him because my job was to come in and distress it...he

did such a good job painting, I had a hard time taking the paint off!

After taking a hand sander, I added one coat of Satin water-based polyurethane

sealer and some snazzy new knobs....

I didn't want to give this piece back!

Ice Cream Floats

2012-02-16T08:09:00.001-05:00

Our Valentine's Day was a great success...

I have no idea how Bloggers post their holiday pictures before the actual holiday...

Do they stage the holiday a month before??? Post last year's pictures??

Tell me...how do you all do it??

I'm lucky to get pictures loaded on the computer, edited and in a post 2 days after the holiday!

I wanted to share these ice cream floats that we made because I think that they would be

WONDERFUL for St. Patrick's Day with just a little bit 'o tweaking!

I waited until....oh, Valentine's DAY to actually prepare.......it's been a busy month!

As I was driving to the Goodwill, I was just asking God..."Could there please be something

that resembles ice cream float cups at the Goodwill??"
I had seen THIS idea and wanted to try it!

Now there was a reason that I wanted to make this day "extra special!" We had

our dear friends and neighbors with us...well, 2 of their kids.

The rest of the family spent the night at the hospital...again....the 2nd time in a week...

the kids were worried about little sister and I wanted to make the keep their minds

off of missing Mom and Dad...so I prayed!

And God answered my prayer!!

There were 10 ice cream float cups on the top shelf at the Goodwill!!!

I really felt that was a blessing from God that day!

We decorated our floats with pink....but I can also see green shamrocks,

green sherbet, Ginger Ale and green sprinkles working for St. Patrick's Day!!

We added the sherbet, poured Cranberry Ginger Ale over them, added

whipped cream and Valentine heart sprinkles....

The best part.......the smiles!

Hope you all had a "love"ly day, too!

Winner of the Valentine Pendant!

2012-02-15T23:08:00.000-05:00

And the winner is......

Congratulations to Melysa - Moments with the Montanos!!

I'll be emailing you soon!

If you would like to make your own pendant....all you need is a scrabble tile

and this tutorial from Artsy Vava!

Thrifty Thursday #47

2012-02-15T19:00:00.002-05:00

Did you all survive your Valentine's Day festivities? We had SO much fun!
If I can get myself organized, I'll try and post some pictures in the next couple of days.

Before we begin this week's Thrifty Thursday I just need to give a couple of "etiquette" reminders.....sorry for those of you who are already polite! :)

It's not polite to link your giveaways at someone else's party.....the party is designed for others to find creative (and original!) craft ideas.

When you link to a party, it's important that you are linking your own work and
not someone else's. If a blogger comes to a party page and see a thumbnail
of her project and she has not linked it.....she's liable to get a little bit angry...

Please don't link your party to my party unless it's a blog hop. If you would like for me to advertise your party, then send me an email and we can talk
about the possibility of adding your button.

So sorry about that for the 95% of you all that link wonderful and creative
projects each week....which leads me to this week's features!

Loop Loop Creations made some amazing DIY sisal placements with rope and a glue gun.

With a little bit of ribbon and burlap, At Home in the Northwest created this beautiful pillow.

Made in a Day used burlap to create this easy wreath!

Sister-Dipity made these "banana splits" from cakeballs!

Happy Hour projects made her own basket with a little bit of yard and clothesline!

Are you thinking spring yet? If so Miss Kopy Kat has some great tips for making a terrarium!

Design Dreams by Anne made a garbage can enclosure for $30!

If you were featured this week, feel free to grab one of my buttons!

Here are some very simple suggestions for the party:

1. Please become a follower of Thrifty Decorating.

2. Be sure to link to your POST and not your blog.

3. Please copy and paste my link button somewhere in

your post or blog so that others can link back.

You can also party with Johnnie

at Saved by Love Creations!

Or Erika at Thrifty and Fabulous!

Dining Room Chairs....

2012-02-14T14:26:00.000-05:00

Remember how I found these dining room chairs at the Habitat Restore for $60? I am working on transforming them with a little bit of homemade chalkpaint....

I took some sand paper and started the distressing.....6 chairs + 1 table adds up to a lot of painting and distressing!

I ripped off the disgusting seat covers...

When I am doing a project and I need to keep track of screws, I always put them in a baggie and tape them to my piece....

I recovered the seats with drop cloth....the same material that I used to slipcover my wing back chair......

{Notice.....I didn't finish the legs yet???}

I love the look of faux grain sacks....

{source}

I plan to add the faux grain sack stripe to the seats, I just have to first decide on a paint color for the walls......which may take another 5 years!

Although.....would a scroll-ish stencil in white look good??

Still painting....

Looks like homemade salsa....

2012-02-12T19:30:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure why my brain never thought of this idea, but sadly....it didn't!

This is the creation of my wonderful friend, Cheryl, who is an amazing cook!

We had a homeschool Mom's night and she brought this amazing looking salsa.

When we asked her how she made it, she said that she just "spruced up" jar salsa!

Here's what you'll need.....

I started with corn, red and green pepper and tomatoes.

I also added some black beans and Cheryl suggests fresh cilantro.....I never

have fresh spices, but if you do....add them! She says the are the best part!

I just chopped the veggies that I had leftover in my fridge....many times I get

the $0.10 and $0.25 ones off the "not-so-fresh" veggie table at our local country store....

that's mainly what I put in my "homemade" salsa.

The salsa was a healthy part of this beef taquitos meal....I'll share that recipe with you

later in the week!

Doesn't it look like it's made from scratch!

Pendant Giveaway....

2012-02-11T19:56:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, Virginia from Artsy Vava linked these beautiful DIY pendants to Thrifty Thursday...

I just fell in love with them.....they are beautiful! For a complete
tutorial of how to make it, you can go HERE

for her step-by-step instructions......she made them from Scrabble tiles!!

So I emailed her and asked her if she would ever be interested in giving one away and she said YES!!!

So as my Valentine gift to you for reading.....I am giving away this beautiful pendant!!

All that you need to do is follow me and leave me a
comment.....and would you be willing

to follow me using the new Linky Followers??

If you get a chance, hop over to Artsy Vava.....here are some of Virginia's other fabulous projects!

{Shredded Paper Heart}

{Valentine Bouquet}

I'll pick a winner on Valentine's Day!!

Linky Follower Tool

2012-02-09T13:09:00.000-05:00

Before I went away to Hawaii, I had the opportunity to be a

part of a group to test the new

Linky Follower Tool...

Can I just say "kudos" to Brent for developing this AMAZING program

in such a short amount of time!

As many of you know Google is taking a lot of their
"extras" away from the blogworld......I can't even talk yet about the loss

of Picnik!

One extra leaving for all non-Blogger users is the Google Friend Connect (GFC).

It is also rumored to be eventually disappearing for Blogger users, too!

Linky Followers is and awesome replacement for GFC.
It is very easy to use AND it's FREE!!

If you want a complete tutorial for how to use it, check out
THIS POST from At The Picket Fence.

To celebrate this fun new blogging tool, Cheri from
It's So Very Cheri is hosting a party?

So break out your poodle skirt and saddle back shoes

cuz’ we’re having a LINKY FOLLOWER PARTY HOP!

RULES:

1. You MUST have the LINKY FOLLOWERS tool on your site to participate.

{You can have both the LINKY FOLLOWERS & GFC on your site but you must have the LINKY FOLLOWERS to participate in this party hop.}

2. You MUST follow the person who has the party on their site as a thank you.

3.Just add your blog button to the LINKY PARTY below.

4.Then grab the BLOG HOP code

You will find the code right under the Linky Party where it says CLICK HERE TO ENTER–

just under that it says: WHAT IS A BLOG HOP? GET THE CODE HERE

Click on GET THE CODE HERE and enter it into a post on your site.

You can grab the party button code in the FOOTER at Its So Very Cheri

You can grab info from my post if it helps you with your post.

5. Then you follow other bloggers–(as many as you want)
–leave each one of the blogs that you follow a comment letting them know you are following them and ask them to follow you back.

If you want to add the BLOG HOP to your own site you will get lots of new followers–(see rule #2)

…So do ya want to go Cruisin’?

I plan on HOPPING from BLOG to BLOG to follow everyone who follows me.

Thrifty Thursday #46

2012-02-08T19:00:00.001-05:00

Well....I'm back....a little jet-lagged! We flew all night and lost 5 hours simultaneously....whew!

I can't wait to share our experience in Hawaii with
you all.....fun times, but also some
that involved my hubby riding with a complete stranger who was
carrying a gun, the Honolulu Police
Department and Google maps to snag a criminal!!

C-R-A-Z-Y!!

I checked in at one point at the Apple store and saw that there were
178 LINKS last week....WOW!!! Thanks so much!

Creatively Living shared this easy-to-make DIY Ruffle Lampshade....

The Painted Hive shared this amazing tutorial for how to make your own decal transfer label....

she also included a FREE printable for these amazing labels!!

Jessa Jill crafted this beautiful ruffled wreath with some inexpensive white fabric...

And some Valentine inspiration....

Cheap Crafty Mama made these marbleized hearts from paint and shaving cream....

Happy Hour Projects made these quilted heart coasters...

The Crafted Blog Stalker made these pretty paper hearts.....

More Style than Cash gives step-by-step instructions to make these chocolate roses....

A Little Inspiration shared a wealth of free printable ideas.....

If you were featured this week, feel free to grab one of my buttons!

Here are some very simple suggestions for the party:

1. Please become a follower of Thrifty Decorating.

2. Be sure to link to your POST and not your blog.

3. Please copy and paste my link button somewhere in

your post or blog so that others can link back.

You can also party with Johnnie

at Saved by Love Creations!

Or Erika at Thrifty and Fabulous!

Dining room....progress??

2012-02-07T12:06:00.000-05:00

Way back when.....I embarked on a project.....the week before Thanksgiving I decided to "redo" my dining room....what a DISASTER that was!

It didn't start badly...in fact, I really like my Craig's List hutch that I painted with homemade chalkpaint....

I also like my Habitat Restore chandelier that got a new life with a little bit of spraypaint....

The disaster was (and still is!) the paint....

In fact.....I am so paralyzed by the paint color that I've been ignoring the room for 2 months now....I just can't pick a color. I'm not sure what is wrong with me.....maybe it's the fact that I had FOUR colors on the wall in a span of 1 week??

The other problem was that I had a dining room table and no chairs.....it's a long, confusing story, but I sold the chairs on Craig's List because at the

time I had no dining room....it was a school room.....but then the flood came....and we redid our basement and I moved our classroom to the basement.....told you it was confusing!

So I was left with a table that I hauled out of our basement and no chairs....

But I recently saw these on our Habitat Restore Facebook page....

They were $10/chair and there were SIX of them!! I tried to bargain them down, but it didn't happen....$60 for 6 solid wood chairs is a good deal, I guess....

I still have no idea what to do with the walls.....but I know what I'm going to do with these chairs! It involves homemade chalkpaint, drop cloth and faux grain sacks!!

I'll keep you posted!

Inexpensive Valentine Art.....

2012-02-06T12:05:00.000-05:00

I made this project last year and despite all the excess glue....it still remains one of my favorite projects....

I took an old frame from Goodwill and painted it with white paint. I then rubbed glaze onto it....you can also use stain.

I grabbed some foam board....you can buy it at The Dollar Tree for $1.00. I had some scrap lying around...

Take some red cardstock and cut a circle and then cut a spiral...

Start in the center and begin to glue your rosette.....use SMALL dabs of glue....I used GLOBS!

I ripped some strips from the want ads in the newspaper and then glued my rosettes in the shape of a heart....

I had leftover scrapbook stickers and added the word LOVE...

It was a quick and easy project that can be customized however you like!

If you like this project....would you PIN IT??

Being featured....

2012-02-05T13:37:00.001-05:00

My cake pops are being featured today at the 14 Days of Love

over at Design, Dining and Diapers!

Be sure to stop by and see the other great projects linking this week!

Easy Chocolate Truffles

2012-02-03T10:00:00.001-05:00

Rebecca from Sister-Dipity is guest posting for me today while I am hopefully

enjoying the warm beaches of Hawaii!!

Her post is just in time to make some wonderful treats

for Valentine's day!

---------------------------------------------------

This chocolate truffle recipe is so easy and so delicious! They are very rich, filling little chocolate bites that would make the perfect little treat for your Valentine!

Here's what you need...

1 12oz. bag of milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sweet cream butter
1 bag Heath English Toffee Bits
1 bag Andes Creme De Mint Baking Chips
miniature cupcake liners

In a medium sauce pan melt the entire bag of milk chocolate chips with the whipping cream and the butter on low heat, stirring frequently.

When the chocolate is smooth and the butter is completely melted, remove from heat. Pour into a glass pie plate.

Refrigerate for about two hours. The chocolate should become firm, but not too hard to scoop out.

Set out the cupcake liners individually so they are ready to go!

Pour the toffee bits in a small bowl. Pour the mint chips in a separate bowl.

Using a spoon (I actually like to use a small cookie dough scoop), scoop out small spoonfuls of the chocolate. Shape into a ball. Drop ball into one of the bowls of toppings - either the toffee bits or the mint chips and roll until completely covered. Then set the truffle into a cupcake liner. Repeat process...over and over and over! Roll some in the toffee and some in the mint chips for two different types of truffles.

Refrigerate truffles until ready to serve.

I like to put these on pretty plates or tucked in fancy little boxes to give as gifts. I always get tons of compliments on these little treats! And they are so easy!

I usually use the mint chips and toffee chips when I make truffles, but you can try lots of other tasty toppings too. In the past I have rolled them in nuts, coconut, sprinkles, and cookie crumbs. I have also rolled them in red and white peppermint bark pieces as seen on the left side of the first photo.

Surprise your sweetie with these homemade treats this Valentine's Day! They are sure to impress!

-----------------------------------

Be sure to go visit Sister-Dipity! Here are some of Rebecca's other projects....

{Peaches and Cream French Toast}

{Canning Jar Ring Wreath}

Thanks so much, Rebecca, for visiting!

Aloha....

2012-02-02T12:00:00.002-05:00

Not sure if any of you remember my 40th birthday disaster....

Hurricane Lee dumped over 12 inches of rain on our town in less than a day...

It resulted in a very flooded town and it happened to be on my birthday.

So, I gladly spent it bailing water out of our friend's basement and

checking our backyard to see just how high the water had risen!

The hard part was when water started pouring into OUR basement that night!

Yeah....I had a little weepy pity party!

But, my "glass is half full" hubby knew that months later we would

be stepping on a plane and heading to a very warm place.....to celebrate both

of our 40th birthdays and 15 blissful years of marriage....and continued

to remind me of that weekly!

I can't believe that the day is HERE and as you read this, I will be sitting

on a flight with my Kindle loaded with tons of free books from Amazon (thanks

to The Frugal Girls giving me a heads-up) and thinking happy thoughts...

Actually....I'm a terrible fly-er so I am probably gripping the seat and burying

my face in my hubby's arm!

At some point, I'll have to share his travel secrets.....he regularly finds us deals

to cruise for $300 a person or fly for $100.....this trip

to Hawaii is costing us probably half of what you think it is!

So...hopefully Blogger will cooperate and automatically publish my scheduled posts,

but don't expect to hear back from me.....

I'm going to be visiting this....

and hiking by this...

and lying on this....

Aloha!

Thrifty Thursday #45

2012-02-01T19:00:00.000-05:00

I know that I say this every week, but your projects just keep getting
BETTER and BETTER! I have so much fun looking through the links, but
I struggle because I want to feature ALL of you!

The rest of the blog world is noticing your talent, as well, because you all are
starting to pull in the pageviews! I hope that you are seeing traffic
back at your sites from it!

Here are some of this week's top projects.....

Mama with a Dash of DIY Drama created this stunning wreath.....

Just a little Creativity shared this amazing Ballard Design knock-offs.....what a great idea!

551 East Furniture Design showed as that if you don't like your first DIY attempt....try again!

Fancy Frugal Life made these PB Knock-off Valentine chair backs....so cute and easy to make!

The Brown Eyes Have It whipped up a batch of super moisturizing lotion
and lip balm in her MIXER and is sharing her recipe with us!

Redoux took a scruffy looking changing table that she picked up for a few bucks
and turned it into this beauty!

If you were featured this week, feel free to grab one of my buttons!

Here are some very simple suggestions for the party:

1. Please become a follower of Thrifty Decorating.

2. Be sure to link to your POST and not your blog.

3. Please copy and paste my link button somewhere in

your post or blog so that others can link back.

You can also party with Johnnie

at Saved by Love Creations!

Or Erika at Thrifty and Fabulous!

14 Days of Love

2012-02-01T08:00:00.034-05:00

I just love all the fun projects that are out in blogland for Valentine's Day....

Have you seen my Valentine's Day Pinterest Board?

{Valentine Cookie Bouquet}

{Lunch Box Treats}

{50 Decorating Ideas}

Taryn of Design, Dining + Diapers is holding her own Valentine Party...you
can go to ONE place and find a bunch of creative bloggers sharing their ideas....

The party starts today!!

Be sure to stop by Design, Dining + Diapers and tell Taryn, "Hi!" from Thrifty Decorating....

Thrifty Decorating

No Peek Chicken

St. Patrick's Day Ideas

Winner of the Minky Blankie!

Sheet Music Wreath

Friday is the last day....

Thrifty Thursday #48

Homeschooling. . . .Assignment Books

Beef Taquitos

Minky/Satin Blankie Giveaway

Hutch Makeover

Ice Cream Floats

Winner of the Valentine Pendant!

Thrifty Thursday #47

Dining Room Chairs....

Looks like homemade salsa....

Pendant Giveaway....

Linky Follower Tool

RULES:

1. You MUST have the LINKY FOLLOWERS tool on your site to participate.

2. You MUST follow the person who has the party on their site as a thank you.

3.Just add your blog button to the LINKY PARTY below.

4.Then grab the BLOG HOP code

5. Then you follow other bloggers–(as many as you want)–leave each one of the blogs that you follow a comment letting them know you are following them and ask them to follow you back.

…So do ya want to go Cruisin’?

I plan on HOPPING from BLOG to BLOG to follow everyone who follows me.

Thrifty Thursday #46

Dining room....progress??

Inexpensive Valentine Art.....

Being featured....

Easy Chocolate Truffles

Aloha....

Thrifty Thursday #45

14 Days of Love

5. Then you follow other bloggers–(as many as you want)
–leave each one of the blogs that you follow a comment letting them know you are following them and ask them to follow you back.