All Things Thrifty Home Accessories and Decor

Grey Damask Rug Details {ON SALE NOW!!!}

2012-05-23T11:58:00.001-06:00

I have had a TON of e-mails asking me where this grey rug came from for Jilly’s dining room, and for awhile it was sold out. But, I just double checked that they have it back in at Overstock. You might die from excitement to hear that it is TOTALLY ON SALE TOO! It is 5’X8’ and since I have seen this rug in person, I thought I would pass on the information. The rug is quite thick and hand tufted wool!

Guess how much it is!?!?

IT IS ONLY $154.69 for a 5’X8’If you missed Jill’s house reveals, you have to check them out! You can get to all three room reveals by clicking HERE.

I’m in love with this rug, and I honestly want one for myself. :)

I might buy it {just don’t tell the hubby, ahem, I mean I’ll tell him when the time is right.}

Sometimes deals are just too good to not share!

If you ever come across a deal that you think I will like, don’t hesitate to send it to me!! :)

{I am not getting a penny from Overstock, I just love to share information about products I love from time to time.}

Navy and White Fabric Obsession!

2012-05-22T13:02:00.001-06:00

Kalah Blue by Duralee Imperial Trellis II (SHUMACHER) Ivory/Navy (this link shows a similar option)

Santorini Print Marine by Trina Turk Duralee Dalesford Blue

Ok peeps, I am OBSESSED with navy and white fabric right now. I am searching for the right choice for some curtains, but I have found that it is hard to find this color without a HEFTY price tag. Plus, I am pretty picky about what I need it to look like. I can see the vision of what I want it to look like!!! So, check out my these pictures of inspiration fabrics so you can get a feel of what I am looking for. :)

Riley Blake Navy and White Chevron Stripe Trina Turk Yard Louis Nui Print Ocean

Anyone have any fabric hook ups!?!? I have been trying to find dark blue and white for my curtains for awhile now, but paying $20+ a yard is NOT what I want to do {especially since I need about ten yards}. So, if you see a navy and white fabric in your area that is fabulous for a great price {I’m talking less than $10.00 a yard} take a picture and send it to me because I am on. the. hunt! {And I don’t have access to great fabric stores here in little ol’ St. George, Utah!}

I’m thinking I might have to go to Vegas for the search! But, I already called my favorite fabric store and they don’t have anything like this right now! DARN! But if you are looking for bold colors of velvet, they said they just got in some fun options.

Anyone run into fabric like this!?!? If so, where and how much!?!? :)

DIY Children's Profile Plaques using Woodgrain!

2012-05-19T07:26:00.000-06:00

Hey again ATT readers! Beth here again from Sawdust and Embryos! ...it's great to be back! So this time around, I'm going to change things up a bit. Instead of a furniture tutorial, I'm gonna show you guys how to make these adorable woodgrain Profile Plaques for your kiddos, or to give as gifts!

Using a child's profile as artwork is all the rage right now, and I've seen it done with bright contact paper, or fabric as the profile, etc. But I set out to make one using woodgrain (similar to our coffee table makeover) because it's classy and chic! And oh so easy!

You'll want to start out with a slab of wood with routed edges. You can get these at any craft store, or you can have one cut at your local lumber yard. Just make sure the one you choose has beautiful woodgrain!

We wanted a dark stain (to contrast with the white paint we were planning to use), so we went with Minwax Ebony. Slather your stain on and let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes. Don't forget to wear gloves! MESSY MESSY!

The longer you let it sit, the darker your stain! Wipe the excess stain off with a dry cloth to reveal your beautiful woodgrain! You can always reapply for an even richer color. No need to bother with the edges of your wood, because that's going to be covered in paint when it's all said and done!

Poly your plaque and let it dry for at least 24 hours, if not longer.

Next, you'll take a photograph of your baby or child's profile. Since my girls were just a couple months old, it was easiest to do this while they were sleeping.

Using Avery Clear Sticker Paper, print out your child's profile directly onto the sticker paper.

...and carefully cut around their profile!! (creepy, right?!)

Next, we had our girl Dana (our vinyl dealer!) cut us a decorative name vinyl. If you're cool enough to have a Cricut or Silhouette, you can just cut your design directly from the Sticker Paper! When applying your vinyl or sticker to the plaque, make sure you have it perfectly centered! (If you'd like Dana's contact info, shoot me an email!)

Lay your baby profile onto the plaque and decide exactly where you want it. And simply peel off the backing...

...and slap that sucker on! Make sure you put it right in the center, and press it on good firm!

Next, slather on a coat of polyurethane, and let it dry for 4 hours.

Then you'll prime using Kilz spray. Let that dry for 1 hour.

And finally spray-paint with your color choice! We went with white.

IMMEDIATELY after you're done spray-painting, you'll want to start removing the stickers. If the paint gets too dry, it'll start pulling up paint that's not supposed to pull up! Believe me, you don't want that! We used a razor blade to pull up the corners.

Pulling back the stickers to reveal your beautiful woodgrain is SUCH instant gratification!

And you're left with a beautiful (and sentimental) piece of artwork that will stand the test of time! And it will LOOK like you paid someone BIG money to handcraft it for you. Get ready for bragging rights!

Now that you see how simple the process is... back awayyyyyy from the computer, and go make one for your child! (or niece/nephew/neighbor/grandchild/etc!)

As usual... come on over to Sawdust and Embryos. And here's a link to more of our crafty projects!! Enjoy your weekend!

Time to purge.

2012-05-18T13:19:00.002-06:00

I have a three car garage. Guess how many cars I can park in it right now.

ZERO. {don't judge}

So, I decided to join Mandilicious {from Vintage Revivals} and have a humongous yard sale.

TOMORROW!! 8:00 am {Saturday 5/19}

You will find projects that no longer have a home and are just gathering dust in my garage, but that doesn't mean that they aren't FABULOUS!!

Like the top of this hutch turned tv cabinet:

And this fun dot wall art piece that was in my girls' room {HINT...WAS in my girls' room!}

Plus I have too many projects that were taking up space because I just couldn't get to them quite yet. I've decided that I just can't keep it all anymore. I need to start fresh, and since I have a lot of projects coming up in the next few weeks, I need a place to paint, and since St. George is already over 100 degrees, I need to paint in the garage. SOOOOOOO.....

It is time to PURGE, and I'm purging almost all of it. Every single thing that doesn't have a home right now...is FOR SALE. :)

Guess how many cars will fit in my garage by Saturday evening!?!?

THREE. {Well, if I owned three cars that is.}

E-mail me at allthingsthrifty at gmail dot com for the address. We are starting at 8:00 am tomorrow {Saturday May 19th}. Check out Mandi's stuff that she is selling. You cannot miss this, I'm tellin' ya we have some AMAZING stuff.

Latest article in Elan Woman Magazine!

2012-05-17T12:40:00.000-06:00

Every month, I have the privilege to contribute to Elan Woman magazine, and the latest issue is out!! You might recognize my good friend Mandilicious (from Vintage Revivals) in the spread below, and I love that we get to contribute to the magazine as a team!!

Check out our newest article about board and batten in full size at Elan in the DIY section.

If you would like to see more details of my project featured in this issue {Jilly’s House} please check out the reveal posts found below:

Cottage Style Entry Way Design Reveal

Cottage Style Living Room Design Reveal

Cottage Style Kitchen Design Reveal

Love all your guts! :) xoxo.

Branding Cows a family tradition! {Round up May 2012}

2012-05-14T14:50:00.001-06:00

We have some fun family traditions around here! In the Fall, we carve TONS of pumpkins for fun! {If you have never seen our pumpkins, you MUST check them out!} But along with the pumpkin carving extravaganza, almost every year, Dan {my cute hubby} goes to Jacob Lake, AZ to help with the Round up. It is a fun family tradition that has been going on since he was six or seven years old. He grew up in the city {Murray, Utah} and so it is fun for him and his family to go play “cowboy” for a few days. Well, since I grew up in a small town where the population in cows was higher than the population of people, I feel right at home on these trips. I try and go, but since we started having kiddos, I have opted to stay home with the kiddos a few times so that Dan could go and have fun with his family and friends. Well, Creed is one years old now and so it was a little easier to make the trip since he isn’t an infant anymore. YIPEEEEE! We had a blast and the kids were absolutely stoked to come.

I tried to explain what would happen for the kids’ sake, but all they cared about was getting the ride the horses. :) And they rode, and rode, and rode. Creed got on a horse for the first time, and as you can see, he LOVED it! Connelly held him tight. :) Londyn rode solo for the first time, and her smile says it all! Creed loved the cows, and he took a few naps here and there in the car to relax out of the wind. Then the kids rode the horses again! This time bareback! They found some lizards to play with too!

Then the work began! The calves are branded with the owner’s brand to indicate ownership {it only hurts for a minute}.

The “cowboys” lasso and “throw” the calves old school style. Here is a fun picture of Dan and Connelly {my seven year old son} throwing a calf together. By the time we got home, we all looked like this: D.I.R.T.Y!

We loved every minute of it! Did you do something fun this weekend!?!? Did you have a great Mother’s Day? My family spoiled my ROTTEN! I even got to take a nap! {What a RARE thing around here these days!}

xoxo, Brooke

Garden grow boxes {INSTALLED}

2012-05-10T11:31:00.001-06:00

We have been working on our backyard for YEARS!! Ha ha. First things first, my cute hubby built the kids a swing set to play on {in the dirt!!}. Then, we installed the block walls, put in a sprinkler system next came sod and curbing, planted trees, laid a flagstone pathway, installed an in ground trampoline, (LOVE THIS!!) and laid concrete for our patio, laid weed mat and rubble mulch around the play set, painted an AWESOME backyard mural, (Especially LOVE this too!) wheel barrowed a ba-dillion loads of landscape rock, {Didn’t love this part particularly!!} HA!! AND FINALLY revealed the entire backyard a few months ago. The entire project started with this fun backyard design that I drew up in my Photoshop as my husband explained his vision of the project. I am a VERY visual-minded person, and I wanted to “see” what it would be like. It was a very overwhelming project to start. Sometimes it seemed unreachable and that we would NEVER. BE. FINISHED. But, we have worked steadily on it for a very long time. Have you ever had a NEVER-ENDING project!?!? Ha ha. This meets that definition to a “T”. :) It feels good to see progress!!! The backyard started looking like a dirt pile and now it looks like this!!! It all began with our backyard design that helped us to stay on task!The other day, a good friend said to me {while at a BBQ in our backyard}, “Hey, I LOVE your garden!!” Ha ha. She was being sarcastic because she has heard me wishing and hoping for a garden for three years now!! This is what she was looking at: Don’t you love it!?!? After Dan got home from a work trip, he proudly announced that he had already bought my Mother’s Day gift. I was excited, but I’m the type that like to be surprised so I figured he would wait until the actual Mother’s Day to reveal his gift. Well, he had something else in mind! He planned to get my garden planter’s boxes installed for my Mother’s Day gift. I was so excited!! I grew up having an amazing garden, and I’m sure I am going to need all the advice I can get because I’ve never grown much myself. He brought home two of these kits that he bought at Sams Club, and they were SOOOO easy to put together. We started clearing out the crap and got busy the next day!

We laid out weed mat like the instructions said.

We already had a ton of landscape rock left to make the area look finishes, so we started shoveling away {with a little help from our four year old Princess}. :)

In no time it was already looking a MILLION times better! All we need now is a small shed in the back corner for the Hubsters.Then a few days later we were ready to make our garden soil. After seeking the advice of several professionals and lots of family and friends, we bought four ingredients: Peat Moss, Top Soil, Steer Manure, and Vermiculite. {Let me also let you know that our soil is not good where we live. It is FULL of rocks and lots of clay.} That is why we decided on the grow boxes instead of planting directly into the ground.

We poured the peat moss into the grow boxes and the kids broke it up into small smooth pieces so that we could spread it evenly throughout the boxes. {Do you like my daughter Londyn’s “garden gloves!?!”} Ha!

The kids did a great job and then we took over with the other mixing. {It was GROSS and we didn’t want the kids putting the manure or vermiculite in their mouths.}We mixed up the soil by adding a bag of each ingredient at a time. Well, except the vermiculite. We only used one bag of that, and we spread it out between the four spaces in the boxes. We spread out the soil and watered the boxes {per the instructions}, and then we are waiting to turn the soil one last time before planting!

I’m pretty darn STOKED! Dan did good this year on his Mother’s Day gift!!!

Do you have a garden!?!? I can’t wait for mine. If you have one, what do you grow!?! I am planting: Tomatoes, strawberries, onions, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, green peppers, carrots and garlic. I can’t decide what else to plant! I’ll have to see what I have room for!

Upholstering a bench is EASY

2012-05-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

I promised you it was easy, and I was not kidding. I upholstered this bench in less than 20 minutes. {Well, except that I couldn’t find my staple gun and that took five minutes more than it should have!!} I’m an idiot like that…I don’t ever put things away!!! Remember when I showed you this FUN colorful IKAT fabric!?!? I couldn’t wait to reupholster this bench with it! I bought the bench at DownEast Home (one of my favorite stores) for $50.00. It was on major clearance because the fabric was totally stained with kids footprints and such. I don’t have a before picture, but it wasn’t all that unfortunate looking. You probably wouldn’t have even been able to see the stains. But THIS is more my style. Colorful. Funky. It makes me HAPPY!!!! Don’t forget, if you need instructions on how to upholster a bench, check em out! :)

DIY: How to upholster a bench.

2012-05-04T16:41:00.001-06:00

One of the most common questions I get is, “How do I upholster a bench?” I always practically SCREAM, “IT IS SOOOO EASY!!” I have helped dozens of people with this task. So, today I want to share the simple and easy instructions on how to do this yourself! You can even take these instructions and apply them to upholstering other items also. The same instructions work on upholstering dining room chairs too! Before moving on to the next step, observe where the original fabric is stapled. You need to make sure you have enough fabric! Then, you will need to decide if you would like to remove the original fabric. I make this decision on a case by case basis depending on where the furniture came from and if it is in good shape or not. Don’t be shy, just start shredding it with your scissors and remove the staples with pliers. Make sure you have enough fabric to pull tight. Plus, make sure you use a fabric that is heavier than cotton. I use at least a canvas fabric when I upholster furniture. I have used cotton before and it is not strong enough when you pull hard. {Yes, I am speaking from experience when I say that your fabric can rip if you use cotton.}
Once you have removed the legs and chosen a heavy enough fabric, lay out your fabric on a clean surface. DON’T try and upholster your bench out in your garage…YES, I am THAT dumb…I’ve done it before. I now prefer to upholster inside, but you can’t have little ones around since there will be sharp objects, tools, and random staples all around you by the time you get finished. Make sure that your fabric pattern is EXACTLY centered. Remember that the goal is to make it look like you BOUGHT the bench. :)The nex step is my favorite. Maybe it is because my husband teases me about this stuff ALL THE TIME. I’m a dufus. I start projects all the time without checking if I have the right hardware or tools handy. PLUS, I never put stuff away when I get finished with a project. SOOOO, I’m constantly looking for the hammer. I’m awesome like that. {Thumbs down}. I usually use my electric staple gun. But, if the fabric I chose is super heavy duty, the air compressor is a much better option. Sometimes I get started with my electric staple gun and realize that the wood is made of STEEL {not literally, but it is too hard for the electric stapler to penetrate the surface}. So, I end up switching to the compressor in that case.

I have tried to explain this process without images and it is super hard, so I decided to draw up an illustration for you to see. I have this down to a science, so I have made a LOT of mistakes along the way. If you take my advice, and do it meticulously, I promise your bench will look amazing. No cutting corners peeps. You want your upholstery job to look profesh, NOT homemade. :) You will need to cut small slits into the black fabric so that you can replace your bench legs.

VOILA!!!!

P.S. I kind of need attention after pressing “publish” today since my computer was giving me fits all morning {restarting itself and crap}, and my 1 year old is sitting on my lap as I finish this post. So, do a girl a favor and comment. Ha ha. I might need to hear a little ♥love and affection from my amazing readers♥. How’s that for begging!?!?

xoxo,

Have a great weekend.

Gallery Wall Design {Photoshop Decorating}

2012-05-02T14:33:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite things to do is to decorate with Photoshop! There’s something fun about seeing a preview of what a wall will look like. I tend to play around with Photoshop when I’m deciding on a paint color in a space too! I’m a freak like that sometimes. I am a visual person, so I tend to make decisions based on how things LOOK {or how they will hypothetically look since I draw them in Photoshop}.

I keep rearranging things, so when I moved my huge IKEA mirror to the other wall, it left a free wall in the house. I need more pictures of the family in my house. So, I headed to my trusty Photoshop abilities to design a fun gallery wall for the space. I stole some images of picture frames from Google Images and began arranging them on the wall.

I haven’t decided on the colors of all the frames yet, but this is the final design that I liked the most. Now I just need to start acquiring the frames in the correct shape and sizes. :) If you missed the post about our old electric movie theatre sign {peeking across the old bricks}, you should check out that post! Plus if you want to know how to paint brick to make it look old, you should check that out too!

Great Mother’s Day Gift Idea {one of my new favorite things}

2012-05-01T10:58:00.000-06:00

I LOVE helping husbands decide what to get their spouses for special occasions. Do you want me to tell your husband what to get you for Mother's Day? :) My cute hubby bought me Shellac for Christmas, and I LOVE IT!! My bestie Jo gave Dan the idea. Let's be honest, that girl has my back these days!! Thank heaven for great friends!

I took my Shellac set to Arizona for my brother Court’s wedding, and I did 50 sets of shellac in a two day period {ok, that MIGHT be a little bit of an exaggeration}. We had sooo much fun!! If you have little girls, this stuff is especially amazing. BUT…I have to admit, my girls don’t leave theirs on as long as I would like them too. They peel it off in a day or two. DARN IT. But, the great thing is that you don’t have to worry about smudging and with a four year old smudging is inevitable. I love it on my toes because I have a pet peeve that my toes must always be painted {pretty perfectly}. Shellac lasts for at least 6 weeks on my toes!

If you have never heard of Shellac, you are in for a treat, my friend.

Basically you paint your nails with a base coat, cure it with a UV light for 15 seconds,

Paint a coat of Shellac color, cure it for 2 minutes (repeat, I usually do two coats of color). HINT: Make sure you are super duper careful with painting the color on. If you mess up, you need to wipe it off before you cure it. If you don’t, you will cure the polish in the wrong place! :) Take my advice on this one. I am speaking from experience. I have learned that I keep a tooth pick nearby during this process.

Paint your nail with the top coat, cure it for 2 minutes. Then wipe it off with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol and VOILA your nails LAST and are completely dry. No smudging!!! It takes a little practice to perfect your painting skills, but after you get the hang of it, it is totally easy!

I don’t have a ton of colors, but I want them all!!! My most recent favorite colors (I don't own them all, but I've seen them) are:

Asphalt Clearly Pink Tropix Hotski to Tchotchke and Rock Royalty

The colors are a bit pricey {about 15.00 a bottle, but I think they are totally worth it}. Plus, I know that the Shellac peeps say that you need a “Shellac” light do cure their nail polish, but guess what folks, I got mine on Amazon for about $30.00. It works like a charm, and it even has a timer so that I know when my two minutes are up!

Don’t forget, you will need the base coat and top coat too!

If you need me to send a special “hint” to your hubsters, just let me know! (I linked all of the images above to the best prices I could find on Amazon, so if you want to buy them easily, just click over to Amazon. :))
Do have a favorite Shellac color? Which one is your favorite!?!? I want ALL OF THEM!!

Jake’s Grilled Chicken Marinade {All Things Delicious}

2012-04-30T11:20:00.001-06:00

Meet Wendi and Jake. These two amazing people are good friends of ours, and they just found out they are having TWINS!!!! Can you imagine!?!? I am soooo excited for them. They even found out that one is a girl and one is a boy!!! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for them. These two amazing friends of ours are THE. NICEST. PEOPLE. on the planet. I have known them for a little over four years now and they were our neighbors when we moved into St. George. I snapped this picture of them and their cute family a few years back. Well, the other day, Wendi was in charge our BUNKO night. {She always does an amazing job}. Her cute hubby made THE. MOST. DELICOUS. chicken I have tasted in a really long time. And since you all know that I am watching what I eat, I basically FORCED him to give me the recipe. Ha ha, no he actually gave it freely. I made the recipe that weekend for my own family and they LOVED IT. And when I find something that my kids will scarf down, I declare a success. Not only that, but I made this recipe again for my biggest loser peeps last week, and almost everyone requested the recipe. When that happens, you know you have a winner! I don’t share recipes here at All Things Thrifty very often, but when I do, you better bet they are tried and trusted. Maybe it’s because I don’t cook as often as I should, or maybe it’s because I’m super picky about which recipes I share. You be the judge. :) If you plan to make this delicious recipe, you will need: 1/2 c. Olive Oil, 1/3 c. Soy Sauce, a few swirls of Honey (I used raw honey), 1 1/2 t. Cumin, 1 t. Oregano, 1/2 Lemon {freshly squeezed}, 1/2 t. Kosher Salt, Pepper {to taste}, and 2 cloves Garlic {pressed}. Combine all of your ingredients into a large bowl and stir well. Then, place thawed/raw boneless skinless chicken TENDERS into the marinade for 2-3 hours. {I love the fact that you don’t have to marinate them for too long because I am terrible at planning that far ahead}. When making the chicken you can try other types of chicken, but I have only made this recipe with chicken tenders. AND when I try a recipe and it knocks my socks off, I don’t deviate from what the boss says. {The boss being who gave me the recipe to begin with}. I figure that if I want my recipe to taste as well as theirs, I better do what they say…..to a T}.

After the chicken has marinated for a few hours, place the tenders on a pre-heated BBQ. After you start the cooking process, turn the BBQ down to medium and cook them SLOWLY. Since they are chicken tenders, they will still cook quite fast. Turn them in a few minutes. I know I should have timed this process, but I’m lame like that sometimes. I just turned them when I thought they looked like they needed it. I’m telling ya, peeps, this chicken is soooo delish.

For this many tenders, I doubled the marinade recipe, but I could have put a few more in with them if I had thawed a few more pieces. I bought my tenders at Costco. :) If you missed some of my other All Things Delicious posts, check out some of the most popular recipes by clicking the images below.

Let’s get real {We are the CHAMPIONS!}

2012-04-27T09:20:00.001-06:00

Beware, this post is RANDOM with a capital R! First things first…I would like to announce that:

MY BIG LOSER TEAM WON!!!!.

I joined a local weight loss contest through the Washington City Community Center and the Planet 94.1 Radio Station here in St. George, and this was my team. I had a GREAT experience, and I’m excited to share some details about the results! I have gotten sooo many messages from you readers giving me encouragement. I have gotten before and after photos, heard terrible stories of why people gain weight, and I am soooo grateful for all of you who have reached out to me. I knew I had to DO SOMETHING. I was in a bad place with my self esteem and body image. I joined this amazing team {with a little coercing from my best friend Jo to be honest}.From Left to right: Tiffany Forsey, me, Kaysha Price, Cari Ellet, Suz Papa, Terica (the scarica) Bishop, JoLinn Meier (my bestie), Allison Herring, Karen O’Conner, and Leslie Meier. Then on the bottom row, the only man on our team, Chris Mertlich.

If you missed the first parts of my weight loss journey, you can find them below:

Part 1: Let’s get REAL {I hate my weight}

Part 2: Let’s get real {I thought I was going to DIE}

Part 3: Let’s get real {the number went UP!?!}

Part 4: Let’s get real {establishing my new “NORMAL”}

Kaysha (on the right) and Terica (our fearless trainer on the left) were a definite highlight of this journey. In fact several of us have been working out every morning since the competition ended. I laugh at Kaysha every morning. She is a crack up {and looking super hot might I add…and she happens to be single.} So if you have a nice/super amazing man for Kaysha, let me know. :) Remember that we live in Southern Utah. :)

YEAH BABY!!

Terica is fabulous. I have never had someone care so much about my weight loss success. She took the time to listen to all of us individually. She made a point to change up our workouts each week so that we were getting a new work out. She put together workout after workout after workout for all of us. I am excited because as part of winning one of the challenges, we all won an individual training session with Terica {the scarica} and mine is next week. I am ~~terrified~~ I mean excited. Ha!

I wish I had better pictures of the team, but I had to steal these from my friends’ Facebook pages! I'm classy like that, and since I NEVER remember my camera to events like this, I HAD to show you all of these amazing friends! I wanted you to be able to put a face to each name! This team has been an absolute BLAST!! The last ten weeks have been a blur. I am super duper proud to be part of the Dark Blue team! I started my weight loss journey at the first of the year, but I joined the local Big Loser competition at the beginning of February with nine of the most amazing people EVER. I am soooo lucky to have these amazing people around me every morning!

Ok peeps, I am super pumped because I got my second bod pod results back. Over the course of ten weeks,

I lost 18.022 POUNDS OF PURE FAT!!!

I gained 6.514 POUNDS OF MUSCLE!

which means I lost 6.5% BODY FAT!

I think that is a HUGE success. I am quite proud of these results. Remember when I posted about the scale going UP!?!? I was ticked. But, now I know why. My body weight was shifting from FAT to muscle. I am super excited to keep going on this journey, and I realize that I still have a long way to go. I am grateful for the support system that I have gained through this process. I never thought I would be able to share my weight with anyone and actually be ok with it. BUT, I have learned that being accountable to a team is really motivating to me. SOOOOO…I am sticking to it.

As a part of another local 94.1 The Planet (radio station) contest, my weight loss buddies and I made this funny video while we were working out the other day! Do you remember when I told you about Justin’s class!?!? {It is basically pure hell in 60 minutes!!} Well, we convinced him to wear short shorts, long socks and sing at the top of his lungs for the video! We have a lot of fun at the gym (even when we are getting our butts kicked, and our sweat is dripping off of our faces!). I thought you might get a kick out of this video!

And, another random tidbit for the day…I chopped off my hair! I HATE self portraits of people taking their own photos in the mirror, so don’t make fun of this picture, ok? Ok. If you do make fun of it, I understand, and I probably deserve it. BAHAHAHA.

I hope you have a great weekend. I’m actually headed out for a run right now. I am trying to convince myself that I can be a runner. I want to like it. BUT, right now I HATE IT. I’ve heard that it is all mental, and I’m going to keep trying to enjoy it. Give me some pointers about learning to like running, will ya!?!!!
I love my readers and I wanted to personally thank you for putting up with me over the last couple of months. I realize that All Things Thrifty has suffered a bit from this weight loss journey. Don’t worry, we are back, and things are going to be as GREAT as usual around here.
XOXO, Brooke

DIY personalized apron {Teacher Appreciation Idea}

2012-04-26T20:02:00.001-06:00

I am guest posting over at Skip to my Lou today! Head over and check out these CUTE personalized aprons we made for the kiddos teachers!

Amazing Wedding Invitation Design by Linsey Laidlaw

2012-04-25T11:47:00.001-06:00

Remember my brother Court!?!? He’s a stud, and he got MARRIED this last weekend!! We drove to Mesa, AZ and it was tons of fun (the wedding…NOT the driving 8 hours with four kids part.) Ha ha. It was a blast, and all I could do was cry. My brother is one of my best friends, and I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing he is. He and Carrie are sooooo great together, and I am so excited for both of them. Finding the “right one” was not easy for both of these gorgeous, amazing people, so for me, I was an emotional wreck….ok, ok, I kept it all pretty under control on the outside, but on the INSIDE I was a wreck. I am so happy for them. Isn’t this the most good looking couple on the planet!I snapped a few pictures and this one was one of my favorites. I LOVE how Carrie did her hair! I will be sharing some of the wedding details soon, but I wanted to show you their wedding invitation. I LOVE IT! It was designed by Linsey Laidlaw, and I love everything she does. In fact, I’ve contacted her in the past to design All Things Thrifty for me, but she was too busy at the time (I wasn’t surprised…she absolutely rocks). Don’t you just LOVE this wedding invitation!?!?I loved that the invitation was white with gray graphics. I loved how unique it was, and I asked Court if he minded if I posted about it. Of course, he said yes!I kind of want to get married again (to the same hubby of course) so that I can make different choices on EVERYTHING!! HA ha. Head over to Linsey's website to check out her amazing portfolio!

Teacher Appreciation Idea {Silhouette Sketch Pens Project!}

2012-04-24T09:40:00.001-06:00

Since Teacher Appreciation week is right around the corner for most schools, I have been thinking about what I could do for the amazing teachers in our life! First of all, my kids LOOOOOOVE their teachers, and I am sooooo grateful for them. I love that they are excited to tell me what they have learned at school that day, and their teachers have a huge impact on them. My Silhouette CAMEO™ electronic cutting tool is one of my FAVORITE crafting tools hands down. I use it a ton. If you don’t have one yet, you should get one. {Hint, hint, MOTHER’S DAY IS COMING UP!!} I recently had to get a new blade because I wore my other one out!! The Silhouette CAMEO™ is amazing. If you missed some of my past Silhouette projects, you should check them out. :) Here are a few links to my favorite CAMEO projects: {click on the pictures} I love when I get to use something new in the Silhouette family, and Silhouette Sketch pens are soooo much fun. I decided to try them to make some teacher appreciation cards for the kid’s teachers. They are VERY easy to use. They basically just draw whatever the Silhouette would cut with a blade. This might sound nerdy, but I LOVE TO DOODLE, and these pens open up sooo many possibilities. I can doodle the image in my Silhouette Studio® and the pens will draw it! I decided to experiment with the pens, and I designed the teacher’s cards. I had to adjust the placement of the design so that it would be in the perfect spot on my 8 1/2 by 11 inch white cardstock. {This took a few adjustments, but it was super fast and easy}. I bought the “best teacher ever” graphic in the Silhouette Online Store for 99 cents and designed the card in less than five minutes. I switched out the blade for the glitter pen and then I pressed “cut” for the pen to begin drawing the front of the card, and voila, the glitter pen worked perfectly. Look how cute it turned out! I hope you can see the glittery texture on the writing. It is REALLY fun!Next, I changed the graphic to say “Mrs. Brinkerhoff” for my daughter Oaklyn’s teacher! I changed to the pink sketch pen because Oaklyn loves pink! Listen, peeps, these pens change the world of card and craft making. All it takes is a 99 cent image and you can draw whatever you want! Heck, the fact that you can use any of your fonts on your computer ALREADY changes things! They both turned out darling. Next, I designed the inside of the card and flipped the card over so that the writing would be in the correct spot. The entire process was super easy and really fast. Silhouette is offering a deal {running April 24-April 30}… 1 Silhouette CAMEO, 1 $25 download card, 1 Silhouette Metallic Sketch Pen pack, and 1 Silhouette Glitter Sketch Pen pack for $269.99Don't forget to use the code THRIFTY! This bundle would regularly cost: $344.97! If you ALREADY have a CAMEO, you can get the sketch pen packs for $6.99! Head over to Silhouette and check out the bundle deal! Tell your significant other!! Mother’s day is only a few weeks away! I will be posting my 2012 teacher appreciation gift over at Skip to my Lou on Thursday, so stay tuned for a fun Teacher Appreciation Gift idea! (I also used my Silhouette for that idea!!)

Tutorial: How to get bubbles out of epoxy {and make an awesome coffee table}

2012-04-21T08:45:00.000-06:00

Hey Guys! It's ME again... Beth, from Sawdust and Embryos! It's great to be back, and I'm ready to throw down another tutorial for ya! Sooooo, here's how it starts. You wouldn't know it by looking at my house, but I think I have all the warnings signs of becoming a hoarder, because:

A) I value/keep/display things that are sentimental to me, or things that carry a special memory.
B) I 'gather' things that MAY be useful someday. Things like this:

Yep, that's a stack of credit cards from my college days. When I was young and silly, I used to open a store card to get the 10% off my purchase, and then I would immediately pay it off, close the card, and stash it away with the rest... for a future project!!! DUH! It seemed perfectly logical at the time.

Being a lover of stained glass and mosaics... one day, lightening struck when I realized that a mosaic could be made of ANYTHING! Broken china, tile samples, colored glass, old pottery, broken mirror, and most definitely... cut up credit cards!!! At this point I'm feeling so satisfied by how I've validated one singular part of my 'stashing habit'. Yes, let's call it stashing.

First things first... snip snip!

(NOTE! Think of how liberating this project could be for you emotional spenders!)

After cutting each card into randomly shaped shards, I started haphazardly laying them out on the surface of out little coffee table, leaving a slight space between each. It didn't take long for me to realize that I wouldn't have quiiiiiite enough to cover the whole top surface, so I did what any perfectly normal person would do... I took a mirror off my wall and broke it! Perfect filler! (and I should point out that since then, I've had remarkably good luck).

Once I had all the little pieces arranged in a way that I call 'purposefully random', I tediously lifted each one and put a little dot of glue on the back to hold it in place for the next step.

Next, we mixed up our epoxy that we bought at our local hardware store. Made me feel a bit like a chemist!

Of course you know I didn't take a before picture of this little table we decided to use. I'm classy that way. But it has a perfect little 'lip' around the edge, which will serve to corral all the thick goopy epoxy that we dumped over all the bits of credit cards and mirror! (Sorry about the following fuzzy-ish photo).

Should you choose to try this, plan on throwing away any bowls and mixing utensils you may utilize. Using an old plastic spatula, we spread around the thick mixture so that it reached all the corners and covered evenly. Kinda like spreading brownie batter into a pan!

Then Nick had the opportunity to play with fire... his FAVE. If you don't have a blow torch, borrow one from your redneck neighbor. There will be tiny bubble here and there, and the heat from the blow torch squelches them out. What a fun word! SQUELCH. Use it in a sentence today.

Warning: Fire has a tendency to be hot. Consider using caution and common sense.

Finally, we stood back to admire our creation!

After letting it set overnight, the epoxy was rock hard and glossy-awesome! And we're left with a very custom, colorful, functional conversation piece!

Thanks for stopping by, and we hope you drop in to our blog Sawdust and Embryos and have a look around! Happy weekend!

Miche Bags for Children’s Cancer

2012-04-16T15:43:00.001-06:00

If you have been around All Things Thrifty for awhile, you know that I have posted about Chase a few different times. If you are new around here, let me tell you a little about him. Chase lives around the corner from me, and he is THE. CUTEST. little guy ever! Chase was diagnosed with Leukemia in July of 2010. Dani {Chase’s Mom} and I are good friends. I even got to help paint some furniture for Chase’s room too {back before he was diagnosed!}
Chase and his little friend Taleah are teaming up with CureSearch to help raise money for Childhood Cancer. They have launched their own website for their cause and you can find out more about these two little cuties by going to their Together for a Cure website.
Since Chase’s diagnosis hit us all quite suddenly and by surprise, I want to do my part by spreading the word about this amazing cause. Dani and her family have been steadily working to raise money for Childhood Cancer since Chase was diagnosed. They have done everything from lemonade stands to 100 mile bike rides. I am so proud of them. This week is a Miche Bag Fundraiser that 100% of the proceeds will be donated to CureSearch. Have you heard of Miche bags!?!? If not, you are in for a treat, my friends!
Below is a video explaining what Miche bags are, and in my opinion, these purses are BRILLIANT! Basically, you get a base purse that you love and then the outside shells are interchangeable! So, if you need to change your purse because it doesn’t match, you don’t have to transfer all your stuff over to the other purse, you just change the shell! Watch the video!

What a great idea for MOTHER’S DAY!!
Here are a few of my favorite shells from the fundraiser.

Head over to Together for a Cure 2012 for more information on how to participate in the Miche bags fundraiser or for information about how to donate. No donation is too small!

Brilliant Ikea furniture revamp and more!

2012-04-13T12:42:00.000-06:00

Featuring amazing {ahem I mean FABULOUS} furniture is one of my favorite things to do here at All Things Thrifty. I am obsessed with furniture, and I get inspired when I see fabulous things happening out there! Here are a few inspirational transformations that I thought you would like! xoxo, Have a great weekend!
Katie from matsutakeblog turned her ordinary IKEA table into something that belongs in a magazine!I love that the entire transformation cost about FIVE DOLLARS!! Great job! Natasha over at Schuelove featured her amazing friend Jamie Antonioli’s teal velvet tufted headboard!

I loved it soooo much that I had to feature it! The greatest part? The entire tufting tutorial on how to create this bad boy can be found over at Natasha’s site!

If you have missed my other recent Freakin’ Fabulous Furniture posts, check them out by clicking the button below:

Colorful Ikat fabric

2012-04-11T14:58:00.001-06:00

My cute hubby and I recently got back from a fun vacation to L.A, and shopping in the fabric district was a ton of fun!! I picked up this amazing colorful Ikat fabric at Michael Levine’s upholstery store, and I cannot get over it. Finding fun fabric is my favorite part of decorating. Ikat fabric has a distinctive look to it. The best way I can describe Ikat fabric is that it looks like the colors are blurry or bleeding into the others. Does that make sense!?!? I love how many colors this fabric has in it, and I especially love the cool blues mixed with the warm oranges and reds.Ikat is a very popular fabric trend right now, and I love how colorful this fabric is. I love how the perfect fabric choice can tie in all sorts of colors into a space, and if you know me, you know that I LOVE COLOR!! Here are some more pictures of this amazing fabric. I know someone is going to ask me the brand and name of this fabric, and I wish I knew. But, I really have no idea. My receipt doesn’t say. But, I purchased it about a week ago in L.A. at Michael Levine’s upholstery fabric store in the fabric district. It cost $25.00 a yard so I didn’t buy much. I loved it enough to buy it though even though it was a little pricey. I know it’s different, but I LOVE IT!!It reminds me of a peacock in a weird way. Random sidenote: Speaking of peacocks, do you remember my diy peacock rug!?!? That was a fun project!

Downton Abbey

2012-04-10T09:49:00.001-06:00

Do you need a new series to glue your eyes on? If you start watching Downton Abbey, you will lose at least a week of your life. I started season 1 after a few recommendations from friends and family, and I got sucked into the drama and storyline immediately. My laundry may not be done, but I just finished season 2, and now I’m depressed. It reminds me of how I felt after I had read all four books of the twilight series in a two week span. I DIDN’T WANT IT TO END!!

Season one of Downton Abbey is on Netflix and since I was fully ~~addicted/~~committed after watching season one, I bought season two on iTunes. Take my advice, watch it. You will love it! :) (Your family may not have a fixed meal or clean clothes to wear until you finish, but those things are over-rated, right!?!?)

Let’s get Real {Establishing my new “normal”} Weight Loss Journey Part 4

2012-04-02T17:59:00.001-06:00

Sometimes implementing a weight loss plan into an already “busy” life is tough, but things are going really well. It takes effort to constantly think about what you eat. It takes effort to get up at 5:20 every morning. Of course it takes effort, all things that are worth it do, right!?! I was talking to a few blogger friends about dieting the other day and some of them mentioned that they can’t diet AND take care of their blogs at the same time. It makes sense. It is hard to do both. I love my blog, let’s be honest it is like my fifth child. It needs nourishment, love, and lots of $$ to get through life. Ha ha. So, if you have noticed that I have posted a little less lately, you are correct, BUT, it is ok because I am trying to establish my new “normal” around here. The same thing happened when I had my last baby. It took a little while to adjust to change. After I had Creed, it felt like I was constantly swimming to keep my head above water for a few months. It feels exactly the same lately. Don’t worry, it will be ok. I have learned that staying up late to do projects and posts can’t happen anymore because getting five hours of sleep turns me into a BEAR. My life is adjusting and soon it will be ok. :)

Over the last nine weeks, I have worked out six days a week, and when I say that I worked out, I don’t mean that I walked around the block. {When I went to Disneyland, I walked all day, so I am counting those days!} If you have been following this new chapter of my life, you know that my weight was impacting everything in my entire life. It impacted my self confidence and my ability to be myself. So, after a few months of feeling sorry for myself and eating everything in sight, I decided to do something about it. I started my weight loss journey at the beginning of January, and I joined a local “Big Loser” competition at the beginning of February. If you missed Part 1 {My weight loss journey begins}, Part 2 {I thought I was going to DIE} and Part 3 {My dirty Laundry} you should check them out to bring you up to speed.

Here is my weight loss team, doesn’t Terica {the scarica} look soooo nice!?!? She is the cute blond in the middle. She is our trainer, and she is VERY nice, but scary at the same time. Ha ha. I hear her voice ringing in my ear, “Don’t you QUIT!” It makes me crack up inside as I think about it. She is tough, and we are lucky to have her.

Let me be clear about something, I have never been a “thin/tiny” person, and I know that getting pregnant and having children FAR outweigh the challenges that come with it. So, please don’t think that I am ungrateful because I am not. I have a lot of friends/family members who don’t easily get pregnant, and I do not want to seem insensitive to those who have not had the chance to have children either. Having said that, when I get pregnant, I gain weight, a LOT of weight. Every time I get pregnant, I struggle with gaining weight. Today, I weigh fifty pounds less than I did when I had my son Creed 14 months ago, and guess what, I still have a lot to lose.

The REAL problem is that I have been a "yo-yo” dieter for the last ten years of my life, and my metabolism was screwed up because of it {emphasis on WAS}. So, I sought the help from an expert {my amazing brother, Court (from The Skinny School)}, for those that have been around for awhile, you know that my son Creed Courtney is named after this brother (or brotha as I call him). When I called Court, I poured out my heart to him because I was working out harder than I ever had, and eating 1400 calories a day, but guess what, I wasn’t losing an ounce. My weight was staying the exact same. Court was patient with me and explained that what was happening was my fault {in a nice way of course}. He calmly explained that my body has dieted too much, and that when I start restricting calories, my body reacts and says, “I can survive eating 1400 calories, I’ve done it before LOTS of times.”

Isn’t that great!?!? {sense the sarcasm in my voice}.

Do you want to know his advice for me? He suggested to switch to the Paleo Diet. He said that it could heal my metabolism and that I wasn’t eating near enough. I trusted him. I have learned a LOT about diet since I started down this new road, and I was willing to try anything at this point. I have done things the wrong way A LOT of times in the past, and we all know how that ended up. :) So, if you want some education about the Paleo diet and what you should and shouldn’t eat while trying to lose weight, check out The Skinny School. He really knows what he is talking about.

Eating the Paleo diet is not that hard, and guess what happened when I started eating Paleo? I started to lose weight. I had been stalled for weeks. It worked for me. I’m not sure if I could eat Paleo all the time for the rest of my life, but I could eat Paleo MOST of the time forever. I am not hungry, and I don’t have to count calories or “points” like I have in the past {if you catch my drift}.

I have been quite proud of myself for a few reasons on this journey. First of all, I ran my first 5k ever. I ran ALMOST the entire way. It was a miracle. I am hoping to get better at running, and I am still working on it. I haven’t missed a day at the gym {if I was in town}, and I’m grateful for my weight loss team for making it fun every morning.

Our lives never slow down these days! If you have any tips for me, let ‘er rip!

This Little Piggy Activity

2012-03-29T09:26:00.001-06:00

Last night was a really fun night! I am the committee chairperson for my Relief Society Activity Committee and last night we had a “This Little Piggy” activity night. Every March, we celebrate the Relief Society Birthday Party, and this year we celebrated it in a fun, spunky way.

I made these cute piggy decorations for the cultural hall and I thought they turned out really cute! I used my Silhouette machine to make a window for each part of the poem. I made tissue paper pigs and glued eyes noses and ears on them. I thought they turned out pretty darn cute! {Decorating with “pigs” was a little challenging, because we weren’t sure how to do it!} But, I think they turned out really cute when all was said and done.

I had several old windows laying around, so we used them for each part of the poem. You will have to forgive my pictures, I left my camera at home, and the pictures were taken with my phone.

Since we used the piggy poem for our inspiration, and we had corresponding activities for each part of the poem.

This little piggy went to market: a brief (10 min) presentation on how to shop smart [by using coupons, shopping sales, when to shop…]

This little piggy stayed home: a brief (10 min) presentation on home decor on a dime {guess who got to this part!?!..ME!!} and the top ten trends in home decor this year.

This little piggy had roast beef: a delicious roast beef dinner.

This little piggy had none: a brief (10 min) presentation on making good financial choices.

This little piggy went wee, wee, wee all the way home: a French dessert {get it, wee, wee, wee} served to the ladies right before heading home. :) {AND yes, I am aware that wee is spelled OUI in french.} :)

We had a great turn out, and I hope the ladies in my ward had a good time. It is always fun to spend the day serving the ladies around me. I always walk away feeling great because the ladies come, they chat, they re-connect, they get to know each other on a more personal basis, and THAT is the most important part!

Our invitations for the event were these ADORABLE piggy cake pops that my committee made, and then we hooked our 4X6 invitation to it!This is an example of what the cake pops looked like. We forgot to take a photo, but the inspiration came from this photo found HERE.

I got to design this fun invitation for the event too! I loved the color scheme of pink, black and white! This theme would be fun to use for any girls’ night activity. It was a blast!

Living Room Transformation review!

2012-03-26T11:51:00.001-06:00

When we bought our house almost THREE years ago, the house was very neutral and BOR-RING! So, we have been adding pizzaz and character ever since! The pictures below, demonstrate our journey of this process!

In the picture above, you will see colored arrows that point to the part of the room that needed love and attention.

Pink: the wall to the left of the mantle needed LOVE, and the room needed color!

Yellow: The walls needed molding to add character.

Purple: The decorative drywall plant shelves need molding and paint to help give contrast to the room.

Green: The entryway needed some color and style.

Red: I dislike the tile around the fireplace, and I want a mantle. {Still on our to do list}

Turquoise: The light switch is located directly on the tile by the fireplace.{Still on our to do list}

Luckily we have done almost everything on our list!! One of my favorite parts of making over this spec house of ours was adding the fun orange stencil that you can see in the “after” picture! If you missed the post about how to make a stencil for $3.00, you should check it out! {After all, It is our MOST POPULAR post of all time here at ATT.} We also added molding to the plant shelf {and painted it white}. We painted our entryway turquoise and installed a birdcage chandelier. We added molding to the wall to add character and style.

Now that you are up to speed on the transformation process, we can begin DEMOLITION phase of the next project, right!?!?

We are working on our MANTLE!!! If you have any awesome inspiration photos of mantles, send them to allthingsthrifty at gmail dot com because we must finalize our plans ASAP!

Step 1: Remove the tile Step 2: Move the light switch.Step 3: Move the television cables above the fireplace. Luckily I know an awesome electrician {aka my Hubsters} who is a jack of all trades.

The television needed to be above the fireplace because of the layout of the room. Moving the television there wasn’t the easiest thing we have ever done though. We bought two sets of hanging hardware because we wanted it as close to the wall as possible. After we installed the first set, it was too far away from the wall. It drove me crazy, so we ended up getting a different one.

Step 4: Rearrange the furniture! {I know someone will ask where I got my lamps because they are soooo fun and unique…they are from Alice and Jay, and I LOVE THEM!} Don’t you love our beautiful/torn apart living room!?!? Ha ha. Don’t worry, it won’t be that way for long! The baby gate is protecting our television components from the destroyer {14 month old Creed} until we figure out where to house them. Ha ha.

Stay tuned for the mantle project coming soon, but so far, I think the room is transforming nicely! :) Here is another reminder of the before and after so far.

Brandon Bryant from So you think you can Dance!

2012-03-26T10:09:00.001-06:00

I JUST HAD to share this cute picture of my daughter Oaklyn and Brandon Bryant from SYTYCD. I LOVE THAT SHOW, and this weekend Oaklyn had a dance competition and he was a guest at the competition. She even got to take a masters class from him. HOW FUN!!! I kind of wanted his autograph because I loved him on the show. I was totally star struck!

On the flip side, my little one {Creed who is 14 months old} is super sick. We spent the evening at the urgent care clinic, and the Dr. said he has “almost” pneumonia and double ear infections. He is miserable. We got a prescription and the medicine to do some breathing treatments, and I hope he starts feeling better soon. I should have taken him in sooner, but I thought he had a virus since his brothers and sisters have all been sick too and gotten better on their own. Now I feel like the parent of the year. I feel so bad. His fever was pretty low grade before yesterday, but then yesterday it spiked up past 103 degrees. I waited to see the Dr. for nearly 2 hours, but I’m glad I went.

Is it me or has this winter been EXTRA bad with sickness? I’m ready for warm weather and for my kiddos to stay healthy for longer than two days at a time! Have you had a hard winter with sick kids like us?