All Things Thrifty Home Accessories and Decor

Restoration Hardware Birdcage Chandelier the Thrifty Way!

2012-02-12T22:53:00.001-07:00

The good thing about Restoration Hardware is that it is definitely eye candy. I love looking at their catalogs, their home decor style, and their rugged/industrial type accessories are breathtaking. The bad thing is that everything in the entire store is very pricey. I love it though. I wish I had unlimited funds! Wouldn’t THAT be nice!?!? I’ve been eyeing the amazing birdcage chandeliers for awhile now.

So, instead of paying $2300 for this Restoration Hardware birdcage chandelier, we MADE OUR OWN!! This is one of my favorite projects that we have ever done here on All Things Thrifty!!

Once upon a time there was this prince who journeyed to other lands {let’s call him Prince Dan}. While visiting these other lands, the Prince would sometimes find treasures along his way. Prince Dan found a birdcage abandoned and ready to be thrown in the dump. Prince Dan knew that his Princess was OBSESSED with old things so he decided to bring it home in case she ever wanted to do anything with it…and they lived happily ever after. The end. Ha ha. Just kidding. Of course the story isn’t over! The story is just beginning! BAHAHA.

This is the birdcage that my super amazing Hubby brought home from a business trip for me…yep, you read that correctly…FOR FREEEEEEEEE!!! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this bad boy, and Dan decided to tackle the project without my begging/nagging for his help. In fact, I was doing a completely different project {that day} and he made the entire chandelier without me! ♥ What a hunk ♥.

Step 1: Find a large birdcage.

Step 2: Use a grinder to remove the bottom portion of the birdcage.Step 3: Find a small enough chandelier to fit inside the birdcage. We bought our chandelier at the local Habitat for Humanity Restore for around $25.00. Step 4: Disassemble the chandelier, but make sure you save all the electrical wires and parts to reuse and put it inside the birdcage. Drill a hole in the top of the birdcage for the electrical wires to fit through.

Step 5: Make the rope. The next step was a little challenging. Since we both LOVED the Restoration Hardware rope, we wanted to recreate it. So, we bought 3/4 inch rope and cut them into four equal lengths. Then we wrapped the rope around the existing chandelier chain to make it look like a large rope. If you can see the Restoration Hardware Rope below, you can see that the top and bottom of the rope had a metal cup to finish off the rope. We used spray paint lids to create the same look. We also wrapped smaller twine around the top and base of the rope to mimic the Restoration Hardware rope. Step 6: Add teardrop jewels. We drilled small holes in the chandelier to add jewels. You can buy chandelier jewels in the lighting section at your local hardware stores. We bought ours at Lowes. We simply drilled small holes and stuck the jewel wire through the holes to attach them. Step 7: {take off the jewels temporarily} then Paint your chandelier. Make sure you tape off your rope before you start painting. We used Rustoleum Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze paint and primer in one for this project. To make painting easier, we hung the chandelier in our garage. I was super careful to paint every angle inside and out of the birdcage. I also painted the spray paint lids on the top and bottom of the rope.

Step 8: Hang the chandelier. Make sure you have someone that is experienced in electrical wiring. {I’m lucky that Dan knows how to do all that}.

The birdcage chandelier is the first thing that you see when you walk in my door, and EVERYONE loves it! I particularly love the design from the chandelier's shadow.

So now we have the look of the Restoration Hardware Birdcage Chandelier, but instead of paying $2300.00, it only cost right around $60 to recreate the whole thing. Now that’s what I call THRIFTY!!!

Change the fabric to update drab dining room chairs!

2012-02-11T17:56:00.001-07:00

Reupholstering the seats of old dining room chairs is one of my favorite things to do when I have gotten sick of my current decor in my home. I originally refinished these chairs back in November of 2009, but if you know me, I need something new quite often!

I loved the chairs originally because they only cost me $4.00 from the thrift store! To check out the original tutorial, go to my original post in November 2009 about how to refinish furniture. Gotta love thrift store shopping (click on the link to the left for my tips on thrift store shopping)!The chairs looked like this for a little over two years. The kiddos have basically destroyed these two chair seats, and since it is VERY inexpensive to reupholster seats, I decided it was time for a change! For those of you who may be new to All Things Thrifty, I painted the chairs with Krylon Ocean Breeze and glazed them using my glazing 101 technique. I love how they turned out, and they have been one of my favorite things in my home ever since.

I bought the fabric at a store in Southern California called Dorrell Fabrics, and I WISH I LIVED CLOSER TO IT! Holy cow, I could have stayed there all day! I have a love affair with fabric stores, and I had a blast walking through their humungous fabric warehouse! This fabric is called “Dahlia” by Thomas Paul. I love the slate color of the fabric, and of course I love the turquoise, cream, and olive green combination. (I’m a little obsessed with the color combo lately!)

It was super easy, and in less than ten minutes, I had the change that I needed!! If you need instructions on how to reupholster seats or benches, check out my tutorial HERE.

How to save Money when Decorating your home

2012-02-11T10:33:00.001-07:00

All Things Thrifty has quite a few fans in the UK, and I was contacted by Castle Cover Home Insurance to do a guest post here on All Things Thrifty today. If you are visiting from the UK, I would like to personally welcome you to my site! It has been fun to see All Things Thrifty grow internationally! Being a thrifty decorator can take place ANYWHERE, and I'm super excited to have readers from all over the world. Without further adieu, I'm going to allow Castle Cover to discuss Saving Money when Decorating your home:

Castle Cover House Insurance

The cost of living in the UK may be rising, forcing homeowners to tighten their belts where possible, but this doesn't mean you can't be house proud and try some cheap decorating to keep your home looking its best. On the other hand, you may have a larger budget to play with for more ambitious home improvement projects like a conservatory, loft conversion or extension. If you are thinking of undertaking bigger renovation jobs, don't forget to protect your investment with Castle Cover Home Insurance.

The best way to keep decorating costs to a minimum is to put in a bit of your own elbow grease and do the job yourself, cutting out the need for professionals who are often pricey. Of course, not all jobs are as simple as DIY projects and some will require the handiwork of an expert. For these jobs, set yourself a realistic budget before you sign up to anything to see if it is feasible in the first place. Don't forget to apply this budgeting rule to any spending on your home, as this will help you avoid overspending and getting yourself in a financial pickle.

If you are thinking of doing a complete makeover of your home, you need to make a mental note of the theme you want to work with for each room. Whichever one you choose, there should be a consistent theme running throughout your property to bring all rooms together, paying special attention to connecting areas like hallways and landings. Choose a design that will withstand the test of time - one that you won't get bored of for a while - as this will save you money on future home improvements. The best way to do this is by sticking to plain walls in neutral hues, and adapting each room each season with accessories like throws, rugs and picture frames. You can always add more character with items you have collected over the years - why not make a feature of your bookshelf and display some of your most precious reads? Reworking furniture and other items you own will also help you curb your spending.

If you are a reader from the UK, go on over and check out Castle Cover House Insurance!

Fantastic Furniture: Down East Home Wish List

2012-02-10T08:06:00.001-07:00

Whenever I am helping clients search for furniture, Down East Home is seriously the first place we go. Specifically, our Down East Home here in St. George is amazing. If you go, make sure you tell Brad {the super nice manager} that I sent you. They have great, stylish choices, and their prices are excellent. So, today’s freakin’ fantastic furniture post will show off the fun couches that we bought this last week at Down East! Look at the fun diamond tufting on these bad boys! {Maybe I should call them dainty little ladies}. Ha ha. I love their curvy lines, the amazing tufting throughout the back and the seats, and the linen-y texture is TO DIE FOR!I wish I had some better pictures!!!! We wrapped them up so quickly that these two pictures were all I snapped! I’m not going to lie, I wish this chair and a half was in my house RIGHT NOW!! It is really comfortable too! The best part?….They only cost around $1500 for a couch AND a love seat. The fabric is durable too! I love that they have these cute spindly legs too.

Doesn’t it make you want to get new furniture!?! Me too!

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

(I am not currently affiliated with Down East Home and I simply share items that I like. All opinions are 100% mine).

Let’s Get Real: My weight loss journey {I thought I was going to DIE}

2012-02-08T12:17:00.001-07:00

Ok, so last week I told you my deepest and darkest, and you told me that you would like me to blog about my journey. You might be sorry. Ha ha. Just kidding. To those that missed it, I joined a local big loser competition with my besties. Today I will share what I’ve been doing this week. It all started Thursday morning with my alarm going off at 5:20 AM. I thought I was going to die. {AND, I will say that is definitely the motto of the week.} I woke up with a small moving lightning bolt in my vision. Yep, an oncoming migraine headache. I seriously thought, “Are you freaking kidding me!?!” So, I drank a butt load of water, took 800 ibuprofen and left for the gym. I couldn’t be the one to not show up on our FIRST workout. I drank a bunch of energy crystal light for the caffeine content to help the headache, and luckily I was ok. I wasn’t 100% by any means, but I was there. I’m actually super surprised that I didn’t have to quit the workout half way through because when I get a migraine, sometimes it can put me down for an entire day. Phew.

Our trainer {Terica Bishop} is awesome. She is super nice, and she makes us all want to work our butts off. We are tracking everything that we put in our mouth at myfitnesspal.com. She set up a work out schedule for us, and we were ready. Our team has so much fun, and I look forward to seeing everyone’s bright {sarcastic} faces every morning. I am super glad that I joined the team. It took a little coaxing from my friends because I was super scared of failure. But, it feels good to be part of a team. It feels good to work hard so that I don’t let them down.

It all started at the 6:00 AM Circuit Training class at the Washington City Community Center {Justin is the teacher} and in order to get into the class, you have to be one of the first 28 in the door. So, we were there {me and my big loser team} at 5:45. We had 28 stations that consisted of agility exercises, medicine ball calisthenics, running ladders, throwing around a freakin’ humongous rope they call “Jill,” jumping up and down, ab workouts…etc. Basically everything that my body CANNOT do right now, Justin made us do. I WANTED TO DIE, and I thought I was going to die. At the end of the work out I honestly thought I was going to throw up. {I had drank too much water trying to stop that darn headache}. But, I didn’t halle-freakin’ luiah. My heart was beating out of my chest. My face was as red as a tomato, and my lungs burned for the rest of the day.

BUT GUESS WHAT!?! I didn’t die. In fact, I was quite proud of myself at the end. Even though I had to stop and rest {a lot}, I still felt like I accomplished something.

The next morning was spin class. Yep 6:00 AM came WAY TOO EARLY, and once again in order to get a bike, we had to be there at 5:45. When my alarm went off again at 5:20, I thought, “SHUT UP, it is not already time.” I was soooo freakin’ tired. The first thing the teacher said was, “To those of you who are new, THIS IS NOT A BEGINNER’S CLASS.” She wasn’t kidding, and my butt still hurts. Ha ha.

Then Saturday we slept in a bit and went to Zumba at 9:30. It was a blast, and I’m sure I looked like a total idiot. But, it was a good workout and my face was red once again.

We took Sunday off, and enjoyed our Superbowl with shrimp, veggies, and absolutely no carbs the entire day. :) Monday morning was another class by Justin…I hate him (and love him at the same time). I died, and it sucked. Tuesday morning was Power X by Molly, and I was the last one done on each of the exercises. But, I finished them, and they kicked my trash. I have never pushed my body to hard in my entire life as I have pushed it this week. I actually didn’t know that it could handle exercise like this.

On last Thursday, I went to the local hospital and had my body composition tested at the Gateway to Wellness center, and I sat in their “bod pod.” It was SHOCKING. It told me what % of fat I have, and I’ll just say that I am in the “Risk” category. It was good to see all those starting numbers even though they are quite embarrassing. It told me how many calories I burn each day by just breathing (a little more than 1500 daily). It was pretty cool. I am still unsure of how many calories I should be eating every day though. I have been staying below 1260 calories (because that is what myfitnesspal puts me at). I have made an appointment at the Gateway to Wellness center to have my exact RMR tested (resting metabolic rate). I was pretty shocked that a test like that only costs $40.00.

Here is the frustrating part. I did actually “officially” lose weight {as far as the big loser competition goes thank heavens}, but when I weighed in the first time last Wednesday night I had shoes and stuff on. So, this morning, stripped down {took off my shoes, jacket…etc) the scale showed a loss. BUT, unofficially {according to my home scale} I have actually GAINED 1 pound in the last 7 days. Mathematically the calories in/calories burned ratio does not make ANY sense. I am not an expert {obviously} but this seems totally wrong. I did not cheat. I stayed below my calories, and I didn’t eat any sugar either. I worked harder than I EVER HAVE, and it seems like the pounds should be melting away. I am excited to talk to the dietician and get that RMR test.

Do you have any suggestions? Tell me all I need to know {but please be nice about it} because this is a SUPER sensitive subject.

Tutorial: Fork and Knife Curtains

2012-02-06T06:00:00.001-07:00

I am really excited to show you how I made Jilly’s fork and knife curtains from her kitchen/dining room makeover today! The curtains are inexpensive, easy to make, and most of all they are whimsical and UNIQUE!! But before I get started on the instructions, I want to show you the inspiration photo that gave me the idea for the curtains.
Photo Source: Marie Claire
I searched for store-bought fork and knife curtains to no avail! When I love something THIS [--------------------------------------------------------] much {that was me holding my arms out as far as I possibly can}, I absolutely cannot sleep until I figure out how I CAN HAVE THEM. So, I started to formulate a plan to re-create the fun curtains! Since I love you, I am going to share step by step instructions on how YOU can make these bad boys yourself. In fact, if you want your curtains to look exactly like mine, then I’ll even give you the opportunity to buy my Silhouette designs for super cheap.

Items needed for this project:
1 new paint drop cloth (I bought mine at Lowes since I recently found out at some of the Home Depot drop cloths have a horizontal seam in the center of their drop cloths) No bueno.
1 super nice HOT iron (not a 10 year old Sunbeam brand that I used the first time)
A sewing machine and ivory thread
A Silhouette CAMEO (or access to a friend's CAMEO)
Fabric paint in the color of your choice (you can use fabric ink from Silhouette’s store, or you can buy fabric paint elsewhere)
Two long pieces of vinyl the height of your fork and knife (I made my fork and knife 84 inches tall {7 feet} so I needed 14 feet of Vinyl) Just buy the cheapest color, you are just using it as a stencil.
Two pieces of vinyl transfer paper in exactly the same lengths as the above vinyl.
The All Things Thrifty Fork Silhouette Image and the All Things Thrifty Knife Silhouette image (purchase below)
Stencil brush
Curtain Rod and Curtain Clips

Step 1: Buy your drop cloth and wash and dry it. I bought a 9 foot by 12 foot drop cloth.

Step 2: Cut it in half. Cut it vertically into two 4 1/2 foot by 12 foot pieces. Jill’s ceilings are 10 foot ceilings, so it gave us the perfect amount of curtain to fold over the top and create a ruffle. (You may have to adjust the length of your curtains depending on the height of your ceilings.

Step 3: Iron your drop cloth. (This part took me three hours for one side because my ten year old iron did NOT cut it. Jill brought me her super nice Rowenta Iron, and it worked like a champ. {Random Sidenote: My husband Dan bought me a Rowenta Iron for Christmas after he saw how much frustration my terrible iron caused.}

Step 4: Hem the side of your curtains that you cut. The other three edges will already be hemmed. {Fold 1/4 inch over and iron it, then fold it again 1/4 inch and iron again. Sew it in place}.

Step 5: Cut your fork and knife images onto your vinyl. You do not care what color the vinyl is because you are only using it as a stencil. My fork and knife images were 7 feet tall. (You can buy both of my images for only $13.00, or if you would like to buy one or the other, you can purchase those for $9.00 each).

Before you cut such a long piece of vinyl with your Silhouette CAMEO, let me give you a few little hints {that I learned the along the way}.
Make sure that your vinyl is loaded completely straight.
You might want to choose “Load with carrier” {not load media} even though you don’t load it with a carrier. It just sucks it into the Silhouette longer when you choose that option, and it will be easier to load it straight that way.
Before you load it into the machine, cut the edge of the vinyl along one of the lines before you load it into the machine.
Adjust your rollers to be on the 12” marks and make sure your rollers are locked down. I had a small issue with my lever being stuck in the {in between} spot and I thought it was locked when it actually wasn’t. I ruined A LOT of vinyl because of it.
Do a test run the first time. Take the blade completely out to make sure that your vinyl is loaded perfectly straight. This way if it is crooked, you aren’t actually cutting the vinyl yet. The machine will just act like it is cutting the image and you will know if the vinyl is loaded straight when the image is about half done “pretend cutting” if it is crooked, start over until you have it in perfectly. Step 6: After you have your image cut, remove the inside of the fork and knife vinyl and discard. Be careful and use your hook tool if needed.Your image should look like this: (except, I accidentally ruined part of the design on the handle, so I had to re-cut it). {That is the gray part in the picture below}.
Step 7: Use the vinyl transfer paper to transfer the image into your curtains. You will need another person’s help for this to make sure that you align your vinyl perfectly straight. Use a credit card to rub the vinyl onto your drop cloths and remove the transfer paper slowly and carefully.

Step 8: Use a stencil brush to stencil on your images. {Don’t forget to use fabric ink}. Hint: Put a little paint on your stencil brush and then dab it off onto a paper towel. You don’t want your paint to be too wet or you risk it bleeding under the edge of your vinyl.
I wanted my images to look uneven and vintage, so I stenciled dark around the edges and stenciled a little uneven and lighter throughout the inside of the design.
This is what they looked like before I took off the vinyl. Step 9: Wait for the ink to dry and remove the vinyl. You will need your hook tool for some of the small intricate parts of the design. VOILA!!! Your fork and knife designs are done!!!

Think of all the variations you can do with different colors of fabric ink! Make sure you follow the instructions on your fabric ink to set the fabric paint. With the paint I had from Silhouette, I had to iron over the image after it was dry.
If you would like to buy my Silhouette Images, I am only charging $9.00 for the fork and $9.00 for the knife! OR, you can buy BOTH images for only $13.00. Why!?!? Because I LOVE YOU!!

The curtains were definitely one of the best elements in Jill’s makeover! I loved the custom look that the curtains gave her dining room/kitchen.

Refinishing Furniture is my FAVORITE!

2012-02-03T11:18:00.001-07:00

Well, well, well, WELCOME to our Friday ritual where you get to see some fun furniture transformations, occasional retail wish lists, and maybe even some WIERD furniture every so often to keep us entertained and on our toes. Today is going to be short and to the point.
Whenever I need a break, I tend to go thrift shopping. I know, relaxing and thrift shopping in a RELATED sentence? Yeppity yep. That’s the way I roll. I enjoy it. I stroll along with the kids as they ask me every two seconds, “MOM…can I have that, can I have that!” No, I’m kidding. THAT part isn’t what I particularly enjoy about thrift shopping, but I do enjoy the PRICES. I know that some of you may disagree with me, because it will depend on your area, but I scored an amazing deal this week. I consider myself a treasure hunter and every so often, I HIT GOLD {which is harder and harder to do these days}. The stars aligned the other day and I picked up this beauty! It may not be so “freakin’ fabulous” yet, but don’t you worry my little pretty, it is going to be fab-a-dab-dabulous.
She may be dirty and dingy now, but all she needs is a little love and elbow grease. Stay tuned. Look at her fun curvy legs.

And I even scored five of these bad boys.
It makes me want to get my PAINTING clothes on! :) If you need some help on refinishing furniture, check out my tutorials, tips, and tricks from my past tutorials:

My FAVORITE Sugar Cookie Recipe!

2012-02-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

I posted about my favorite {tried and tested} Sugar Cookie Recipe last year, and since Valentine’s is just around the corner I thought I would post about it again. If you are making sugar cookies soon, you should check it out! Since I am dieting, I won’t be having any sugar cookies anytime soon. So, eat one for me will ya!?!? :) I promise, I have tried a ba-dillion recipes and this one is my very favorite!

Let’s GET REAL.

2012-02-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I’m going to get personal on you today. {You are going to be nice, right!?!?} I’m not going to lie, this is HARD FOR ME. My goal this year is to be more OPEN about what’s going on in my head. I need to GET REAL here on All Things Thrifty, and I’ve decided that I need to be able to vent sometimes. I know that may sound simple, but because of my personality, it is hard for me to do this {here} in the public eye.

So, prepare yourself for some venting. I tend to over analyze things, and I worry that by sharing {personal} struggles, you might think I’m a weirdo or something. So, try and go easy on me since I’m not a strong person {in this area}.

I have ALWAYS had to worry about my weight. It is a constant roller coaster. It goes up and occasionally it goes down, but mostly it just seems to keep climbing higher and higher. A few years ago, I got the motivation bug and lost 50 pounds. It felt good and I was quite proud. Then I got pregnant again.

I could give you a million excuses including genetics, having babies, and a really bad car accident {even a compound fracture ankle injury}, but I won’t. I know that my weight is completely MY FAULT. My appetite is large and my physical activity isn’t where it needs to be, so as a result, so is my toosh. It seems quite simple.

One of my biggest downfalls about myself is being self conscious. I am really hard on myself, and I’m especially hard on myself about my body. I get emotional about it. I know that there is nobody in the world that can lose the weight for me. Whenever I have a baby, I gain weight. I gain a LOT of weight. I’m not going to put a number on the weight I gained during Creed’s pregnancy because quite frankly, I can’t even say it out loud. I know that me and food are kind of enemies. I let my guard down for a week and I gain five pounds. That is no lie. I can eat and eat and eat. I don’t really have a “stop” button.

I had been losing weight on weight watchers before the holidays and I had done pretty darn good. I had lost about 20 pounds!! YAY ME!…Then the holidays come and I wasn’t careful {because it’s the holidays} ya know!?!? Well, I gained a lot.

So ever since the holidays have been over, I have been trying REALLY hard to lose weight again. Overall I have lost 25 pounds so far, and I’m really proud of myself. BUT, I have a long way to go. I know that to be at a healthy weight for my strapping 5’5” frame I need to lose a lot more weight.

So, I did something DRASTIC. I joined a community “BIG LOSER” competition {a spin off of biggest loser} here in St. George, Utah. I will be participating in a weekly challenge on my 10 participant team {7 of which are my good friends}. I am going to be working my butt off {literally} for the next 10 weeks! Try and be patient as I add {just one more thing} to my plate.

I decided that I should share what I am going through personally so that maybe you {might} get a glimpse into the mind of Brooke from All Things Thrifty for a minute. So, tell me, is this something that you would like me to blog about? {My weight loss journey?} The competition starts tonight!

Just to be clear, you won’t be getting any before pictures of this girl. But, you can imagine quite accurately if you watch the real “Biggest Loser.” :) Ha ha.

Marriage proposal ideas, The good news and the bad news

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

I’m going to start with the good news since it’s more than just good, IT’S GREAT!! To get right to the point, my brother Court {the person that my baby Creed Courtney is named after} is one of the most amazing people I have in my life. AND, I got to help him PROPOSE to his beautiful girlfriend a few weeks ago. I didn’t want to post about the proposal until they had told all of their friends and family themselves, so I gave it a few weeks! BUT, I have to say that it was one of the coolest proposals I have EVER seen!!
AND I GOT TO SEE IT ALL! :) Look how cute they are!!! If you look closely at the picture below, you will see “Carrie, will you marry me?♥” in a field below. Court and Carrie were in a helicopter on a fun helicopter tour in Northern Utah, and as the pilot got closer and closer, Carrie figured out what the message said below! I wish I could have heard her reaction, because Court said it was priceless. As soon as she figured out it was for her, Court whipped out the ring and popped the question. AAAAAHHHHHH, isn’t that the cutest thing you have ever heard!?!?Rewind 1 day. We had a few challenges. #1: We needed power, #2: We needed a big enough spot in the helicopter flight path to set up our boards, #3: The helicopter could not wait until it was completely dark before flying overhead because of the logistics of the tour, so the lights needed to be BRIGHT enough for them to see at dusk. #4: The words needed to be BIG because she needed to be able to read them from FAR above the ground. #5: We had to have enough lights to make these bad boys, BUT there was absolutely no idea how to know how many lights to buy.
The entire family {well those that were available at the time!} helped.Everyone else was there in spirit. We bought the most inexpensive ply wood available at Lowes, and I painted it black We painted it black to help the lights look as BRIGHT as possible from above. Then my Mom wrote the words onto the boards with chalk to mark where the lights needed to go.

After my Mom had written out the words, Jason, my hard working brother in law, drilled holes about 2 inches apart along the chalk lines. We wanted the words to be as bright as a Las Vegas sign. :) We came across a few little challenges. Our bulbs would not fit through the drilled holes {even with the biggest drill bit available}. So we had to remove each bulb, place the wire through the hole and replace the bulb on the other side of the board. It ended up being better this way because the bulbs were held into the right spot by the tension in the wires. BUT, while we were doing it, we were well aware that if one bulb was damaged, we stood the risk that all or part of the string would not light up! Ya know how annoying it is when half your Christmas tree doesn’t light up!?!? Well, this would NOT be ok. It couldn’t say “C RRI W LL M RR M ?” Ha ha. So, we were VERY very careful.
After we had our system down, we started an assembly line. My sister Natalie was a rock star and so was Dad and my 12 year old nephew Bracken! We were on a roll! {Not to mention it was 2:00 in the morning!!}

My little brother Eric helped a lot too and took over the drilling at times. Plus, we decided to use some red lights. OF COURSE, the heart had to be red!! {Isn’t Eric Handsome!?}
The end result was absolutely perfection! Here they are standing up in my parent’s garage!!

BUT, we weren’t out of deep water yet. My parents live in Central Utah, and these bad boys needed to be in Northern Utah by 4:00 the next day. So, we loaded the bad boys into my van oh-so-carefully! We even put blankets in between them and crossed our fingers that when we got there all the lights would work!
On our way, we stopped by my in-law’s house and borrowed their rolling gas powered generator! {Thanks guys for letting us borrow it!} Then we went to the specified park and began setting up the boards.
When we started unloading the boards, we found broken bulbs LIKE CRAZY. I was freaking out. I’m not one of those “calm” people in a crisis either. I start yelling at people. Ha ha. But, my little brother Eric had “MAGIC” fingers and was able to find the trouble areas in a Jiffy. Then we plugged in the bad boys and started the generator…SUCCESS!!! They all worked perfectly. We had some guardian angels helping us that day. Here is my Mom and Dad, my sister Nat, and my brother Eric! The boards were all hooked together with extension cords. We used LED Christmas lights because otherwise we couldn’t have used that many Christmas lights all hooked together on one circuit. But, with LED lights, you can hook a lot of Christmas lights together no problem! My other sister Adrian came down with her four kiddos to see it all too!
Then we waited {for what felt like a million years} until we saw the helicopter!! We were hiding underneath the tree! I wish we could have heard what Court was saying, but I can only imagine how cute it was!! It was seriously so much fun, I was like a little kid! We could even see the flash from their camera in the window of the helicopter as they took pictures of the words below! Here is another shot of how good it looked!! After their helicopter tour ended, Court and Carrie came to check out the boards in person and see us all before they went to their dinner reservation that night. We leaned the board against the baseball backdrop so they could see them better. We were all so excited for them! What a cute way to propose!!!
Oh, and the bad news!?!? I won’t be going to SNAP after all. The wedding is April 20th in Mesa Arizona, and I wouldn’t miss it in a million years. BUT, I know that SNAP is going to be awesome with or without me. :) If you are thinking about going, you should. There is absolutely no question. GO to SNAP. You won’t regret it.

Refinished Craigslist Dresser: Freakin’ Fantastic!

2012-01-27T10:12:00.001-07:00

For those that may not know, every Friday here at All Things Thrifty, I highlight some amazing furniture for you to see! I love furniture, and creating fun, colorful, unique pieces of furniture for your home is a GREAT way to make it your own personalized space!

Today’s freakin’ fantastic furniture post is being pulled from All Things Thrifty’s archives! {BUT, more importantly, it is a PREVIEW of what is happenin’ around these parts.}

I refinished this NOT-so fabulous 70s dresser in March 2010. All it needed was some love, Krylon Ivory paint, elbow grease and glaze. But with time, this crazy decorating chica needs change. So with the help of a master rearranger (who cares if that isn’t a word…it fit perfectly!) my friend Liz. We moved around the furniture a ba-dillion times. I had already decided to place my IKEA mirror on the stencil wall due to the advice of my other go-to girl Jo. Do you remember my $3.00 stencil tutorial…it’s one of my all time favorites!

The furniture placement in my home is not an easy decision, and I sought the advice of my favorite girls. Do you have girlfriends that help you with decisions like these!?! I definitely need back up sometimes. Can anyone tell me what is missing!?!? I’ll even give you a hint…check out the original post when I refinished the dresser!

Oh, and since I know someone is going to ask where I got the amazing rusty spring lamps, I got them at Alice and Jay. Finding the perfect lamps has been a CHORE, but these bad boys were THE. PERFECT. ONES. The peeps at Alice and Jay were soooo nice and sent them fast! The lamps remind me of growing up on my family alfalfa farm, and I loved the industrial touch!

My house doesn’t have enough installed lighting in certain areas, and it is very dim. So I have been searching for a pair of lamps for this spot for awhile. I think we are going to need to install some can lighting in our ceiling in the long run because our house is just NOT bright enough. These table lamps definitely help! Do you have the same problem in your home?

I can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on! I have been sewing pillows, designing walls in Photoshop…the whole nine yards. I LOVE CHANGE!!! Stay tuned for some fun tutorials coming up soon! Have a great weekend!

The lamps were provided by Alice and Jay. All opinions are 100% my own.

My love affair….with Pinterest {a rant while I’m experiencing insomnia!}

2012-01-25T01:34:00.001-07:00

Yes, yes, I know that it is 1:21 in the morning (at least that is the time here in UT). I tried to go to bed. I really did. I laid in bed for an hour and a half, and for some reason (~~OK let’s be honest…I took a nap today!)~~ I CAN’T SLEEP, and when I can’t sleep, I either blog, or I PIN! Pinterest is totally addicting, and I love all of the amazing spaces I see! For someone like me who is ADDICTED to decorating, pinterest is pretty dangerous. It makes me want to re-decorate my entire house!! Ok not really, but it makes me want a farmhouse, a cabin, a house by the ocean, a house in Texas, and a house in New York….heck I want a house in every style and color after looking at all those BEEEUTIFUL pictures.

Random sidenote: For someone who is trying to lose weight…all those delicious looking recipes….no bueno. Ha ha….Sorry, back to loving Pinterest…

Are you as addicted to Pinterest as I am!?!? For heaven’s sake…it has the potential to replace magazines in my eyes. You can find the. most. beautiful. pictures on Pinterest. I love to search for inspiration. I don’t allow myself to get on Pinterest every day due to the fact that my laundry wouldn’t get done, and my kids would be behind on their homework forever, but when I get to spend a little time, it is REALLY fun!!

What do you think about the above saying? Is “pinning” the new “commenting” in blogland? Is that how you show a blogger that you like something? I’m interested…tell me your thoughts.

If you are a pinner who has found All Things Thrifty through Pinterest, first of all WELCOME!!! I am super excited to have you here on my site, and I am honored that “someone” thought my project {whichever project it was that lured you in} was cool enough to pin. That makes a girl feel good. :)

What did I learn today!?! Napping is great in the moment….but when I am WIDE AWAKE at 1:30 in the morning, I regret it! (I’m sure I’m going to be SUPER NICE tomorrow, and by NICE I actually mean grouchy). This Mom doesn’t do well without sleep. So, I’d better say ta ta for now. Maybe I’ll be able to close my eyes now! Thanks for reading my insomnia rant!

Interior Decorating a cottage style kitchen, Jill’s House reveal part 3

2012-01-23T10:53:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe that this is the last post of Jill’s house reveal! (sadness) It seems like I should have a LOT more to post about!! Showcasing the house is definitely the fun part though! I will have a tutorial or two to share, but this is the last reveal post. I hope you like it! If you missed the living room and entry way, don’t forget to check them out!!
One of my favorite things to do is bounce decorating ideas off my friends, family and clients. THEY might not enjoy everything that rants out of my crazy/decorating mouth, but I SURE DO! Ha! When I told Jill that I wanted to make fork and knife curtains for her kitchen, she looked like she was going to fall off her chair! I think I even followed the comment with, “You will JUST have to trust me!” I had a vision, and I was really excited to show her what that vision was!!
The cozy cottage style kitchen is decorated in the same serene turquoise, white, grey and olive pallet that I love. It is very clean and bright, and I cannot get enough of it! I wish it were my kitchen/dining room! When I was making decisions for Jill’s House, my main agreement (with myself) was that I would not put anything in her home that I would not put in my own. I stayed true to that guide throughout the entire decorating process.

My favorite part of the dining area is the curtains! (They are Jill’s favorite too!) The curtains were really inexpensive to make and I will be sharing a tutorial soon! The curtains add just the right amount of whimsy to the room in my opinion, and I loved how the ruffle at the top turned out. The amazing blue hutch is one of Jill’s fabulous furniture that she had in her son’s room. I think I probably ranted the sentence, “THAT FURNITURE IS COMING OUT FROM BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, LIKE NOW,” when I saw that bad boy. (Yes, I was yelling at the top of my lungs too!) Just kidding. The only thing we needed was to repair the glass and it was ready to go.

Since Jill’s cottage country style living room and entryway were painted blue, I decided to change it up and tone the kitchen a soft creamy tan color. I chose this color for a lot of reasons. Jill loves neutrals, and for her dining room and kitchen, I decided to tone down the wall color to naturally showcase the amazing furniture and cabinets in the room.

We added a pot rack (that we constructed ourselves) and hung it with rope (because of my love affair with pottery barn and restoration hardware who have both used rope in their designs this season). I loved the idea and even secured the rope with legit bailing wire. As a farm girl from central Utah, I couldn’t help myself!

The chandelier was another item that Jill had in her garage that was not being used! (I KNOW!!!! I WAS DYING!!!) After a few repairs, the chandelier was perfect for above her mismatched dining table and chairs. And, you might recognize the intricate dresser (below) from the before pictures of Jilly’s entry way. It now fits perfectly in the dining room and serves as the seasonal decorating area in her home. The authentic old window is adorned with a wreath that is intended to be switched out for the current holiday or season. Plus, the fun apothecary jars can also be filled with candies of all kinds, colors and seasonal items!

The before and after photos are always a favorite of mine, and hopefully you will enjoy them too! After Shelley from House of Smiths painted her pantry room door, Jill and I agreed that giving her pantry door that extra pop of color would be a PERFECT way to add more of the serene blue color from the other areas of her home. (The blue color is called Sauna from Allen Roth Valspar Brand from Lowes). I glazed the door to add some character.

We painted the kitchen island white and now the curvy wrought iron bar stools can be seen due to the new-found contrast.

If you have been a reader of my site for a little while, you know that mismatched furniture is definitely a love of mine. So, I’m sure you aren’t surprised by the mismatched chairs around Jilly’s dining room table. The green velvet chairs at the head and foot of the dining table were purchased from Marshalls, and the others were made over by yours truly. Of course I used my FAVORITE spray paint from Krylon!! I showcased them in my fun week of chairs posts.

Most of the accessorizing was done by Leslie Thomas, a good friend and talented decorator who placed most of the accessories above all of the cabinets. I made the fun confectionery shop window and I loved how fun it turned out! Making boutique-like items for Jill’s house was a lot of fun for me (and super duper thrifty too!)

One of my favorite subtle details of the kitchen includes “his” and “hers” aprons that I also made for Jill with my Silhouette CAMEO machine. AND, the magic machine also helped me make the fun fork and knife curtains displayed earlier in the post. I’m telling ya, my Silhouette CAMEO was my right hand man (or girl) during this makeover!

Most of the other accessories for this space was purchased at HomeGoods, Tai Pan, and Michaels crafts. The fun sugar and flour glass canisters that I also labeled using my Silhouette CAMEO are pretty cute, and they were simple canisters bought at a big box store. The amazing rug for in front of Jill’s sink was a STEAL of a deal on Hautelook a few months ago.

I worked really hard on Jill’s House. In fact a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into this transformation. I am really happy to be able to be sharing the final result with you! If you have any questions about where be bought any of the items in this room, please don’t hesitate to ask. I am willing to share every single detail.

The fun farmhouse style table came from Down East Home (on of my FAVORITE home decor stores in St. George Utah). The rug beneath the dining table was super duper cheap from Overstock.com. (Similar to the one linked here, but a different size).

I hope you love it, but above all else, the fact the Jill loves it is enough for me!

Empire Patio Covers Giveaway!!

2012-01-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

We all know that preparing for winter time is essential out in our yards, and protecting our patio sets should be higher on our priority list. I am one of those people that always wishes after the fact that I had taken better care of stuff like this. My husband probably thinks so too! So, when Empire patio covers contacted me and wanted to give away $100 worth of FREE patio covers to my readers, of course I was in!! I was really surprised how INEXPENSIVE these bad boys are. I hopped over to their site and browsed a bit, and found out that they really are super duper affordable.
For example: These chair covers are only $20.00!
And I even like that they have some stripy options! I’m going to keep this giveaway simple. In order to win $100.00 worth of FREE patio covers, all you have to do is:
1. Mandatory Entry: Head over to Empire Patio Covers and tell me which covers would work at your house. (don’t forget to leave a comment)
2. “Like” All Things Thrifty on Facebook (and leave a comment)
3. Follow All Things Thrifty on Twitter (and leave a comment)
EASY PEASY PEEPS!! Head over to check out Empire Patio Covers. I’m impressed by their inexpensiveness. (Ha ha. Why do I want to put “ness” on the end of every word lately!?!?) I’m a dork. Have a great weekend!

Stay tuned for the KITCHEN reveal of Jilly’s house coming up on MONDAY!! :)

Update: The winner for the empire patio covers giveaway was announced on the All Things Thrifty Facebook page. on 1/27/12

Freakin’ Fantastic Furniture!

2012-01-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today I’m going to show you some of my favorite blogs (and feature some amazing furniture while we are at it!) I have met a few of these ladies in real life, and I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing I think they all are! I hope to be able to meet all of them someday, and today I am going to show off their FREAKIN’ Fantastic Furniture! If you aren’t already an avid reader of these four blogs, you should be. I’ll tell you why I like them and why they have influenced me in my blog journey.

The first freakin’ fantastic furniture comes from Amy at the Idea Room! Check out the cuteness of her girl’s bed that she MADE!!! I got to meet Amy for the first time at the Scentsy Blogger event, and she was so kind, warm and fun! I enjoy getting to know other bloggers, because sometimes I get so wrapped up in my “to do list'” that I miss amazing posts from my blog list.

This cute little bed is adorable. I love the stencil across the back, and the colors are so calming! I love the white too. Amy is as cool in person as she is on her blog. She is soooo stinkin’ nice, AND more importantly she is soooo funny! Whenever I have chatted with her, she hits my funny bone with her sense of humor. She has sooo many fun crafting ideas, and her blog has been on my “favorite list” for a really really long time. (Could I say sooooooo any more times in this paragraph!?!?)

To check out Amy’s post about this adorable (ahem I mean freakin’ fantastic furniture) visit her constructing a bed post.

The next freakin’ fantastic furniture comes from a blog superstar (in my book, and probably yours too!). Marian at Miss Mustard Seed is one of the most talented people I know in blogland. I say blogland because I have yet to meet her in real life. It’s on my bucket list peeps, believe me. I would probably be so “star struck” that I wouldn’t even be able to talk in her presence. It was hard to choose which furniture to feature today from her site because she has SOOOO many pieces of furniture that I would. die. for. This amazing sofa caught my eye, so today you get to see one amazing transformation! Check out how this dainty (and dirty) girl looked before Miss magic hands (ahem Mustard Seed) got a hold of it!

I know, you want to die right now with lust. It is absolutely gorgeous. I dream of having furniture like this. To see the furniture transformation post from the master, head over to Miss Mustard Seed’s post. In fact, while you are there, check out ALL of her before and after posts. I could look at them all day.The next amazing blogger that has some freakin’ fantastic furniture is Kami from No Biggie. Kami was also at the Scentsy Blogger event, and so I have luckily gotten to meet this amazing, talented blogger in person (checked off of bucket list). I have been thinking about Kami for months, but I’m not great at keeping in touch sometimes.

I have adored this lovely credenza over at No biggie for months and months, and today I went to check in on her blog, and found myself crying my eyes out. (And that is not the first time either). Kami’s little baby Afton passed away two months ago after being born really early. My heart just breaks for her. I cannot imagine what she is going through. I love Kami’s credenza, but I mainly just wanted Kami to know that I was thinking about her. Last, but certainly not least is the furniture goddess Ana White. Ana is freaktasticly amazing. She inspires thousands and thousands (if not millions) of DIYers every single day. I have admired her for years, and cannot even begin to tell you how amazing she is. I love this fun apothecary table plan that she drew up. She is mega talented, and I hope to meet her in person someday. Ana gives people confidence by the way she so brilliantly organizes her building plans. She is great at helping people feel that “they can do it,” and I love that about her. Heck, she makes me feel like I can do it, and I haven’t even built any of her plans yet! (I will, though, someday).

Who are some of your favorite bloggers?

PartyLite Party Details and Photos!

2012-01-19T22:00:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PartyLite Simple Pleasures Holiday Sweepstakes for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

As you all know, my PartyLite party was a few days ago, and it was a lot of fun to get together with girlfriends (as always!) and eat, smell yummy fragrances and chat. Debbie our PartyLite consultant drove two hours to come and host our party (now THAT is dedication!).
We had tons of pizza and diet Coke too! You can't go wrong when pizza and diet Coke are involved, right!?!? Check us out passing the different products around to get a closer look!

Mandi from Vintage Revivals even made it too!

I love my home to smell good (I'm kind of a freak about that, actually) and I use a variety of products to help me make my home smell the way I want it to. Before my party, I had never heard of PartyLite (sad, huh!). PartyLite products smell great, and after smelling all of Debbie's samples, I think my favorite one was the "pleasure plum" scent. It was fun to learn how their candles melt and consume the ENTIRE candle. I have never seen a candle do that.

Here I am with Debbie, our PartyLite consultant!

PartyLite even has these cool candles that automatically go out after a certain amount of time. I thought that was pretty cool! If you are unfamiliar to PartyLite, you should like them on their PartyLite Facebook page. They have great photos of their products and I bet most already use candles in your decor in at least one of space in our home. The new Winter/Spring catalog just came out on December 16th, too!
Although the PartyLite Simple Pleasures Holiday Sweepstakes is now closed, you can check with your local PartyLite consultant for the newest promotions and sales!
In fact, one of the girls that came to my Party signed up to be a PartyLite consultant! If you want to throw a PartyLite party in the Southern Utah area, contact Kristen at kristenlee08@gmail.com.

Interior decorating a Living Room, Jill’s House reveal Part 2

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Decorating Jill’s House has been a lot of fun, and she LOVES country cottage style. It was a lot of fun to add some really fun conversation pieces to her living room, and I have to say that the sliding barn door is my absolute favorite part of this room. I love the entire room, but I especially love the authentic chippy white barn wood that we got from an old Barn in central Utah. (Thanks sis for hooking me up). Yes, you heard me correct, the wood is ACTUALLY from a barn!!! Doesn’t it make it THAT much cooler now!?! Jilly’s hubby Matt built the door and installed the board and batten. He did a fantastic job, and I’m sure he won’t miss me (or my to do lists) around his home.The wood on the door was literally chipping off white paint chips, and to prevent a huge mess in Jilly’s house, we sanded down the wood and even used a wire brush to remove the lose pieces of the paint. The barn door hardware came from Crown Industrial, and they did a great job customizing the hardware to the specifications of our door. Matt did a great job adding the “Z” to the front to add that extra barn door feel. Remember the chair we had reupholstered? Look how amazing it looks! Since I love before and after photos, I am going to show you what each space looked like before Jilly’s makeover. Like I said in Jill’s House reveal part 1, the house was mostly “all neutrals” so we added a calm color pallet to jazz it up! The color pallet we chose was a calm turquoise blue, olive green, white, tan, teal and a warm grey.

Take a gander at these amazing transformations!!! As you can see, the before and after pictures demonstrate just how BIG this makeover was. It looks like a brand new home! It even feels brand new when you walk through it in person. Here is one last look of the before picture from the day I met Jill’s House. And now she looks like this!! Don’t you want to MOVE IN!?! I do.

The media cabinet came from Living Eclection, and the TV frame was built by Shawn over at Aspen Mills. Most of the accessories for this space were bought at HomeGoods here in St. George, Utah. I have an absolute LOVE for that store. I became a regular shopper, and we found some amazing accessories including pillows, photo frames, lamps, decorative trays, birdies, a canvas picture, lanterns, bird cages, glass jars…etc. A few items came from Tai Pan, Passport, and Michaels Crafts also.

My favorite pillows in the space are the beautiful tan, turquoise, and olive/lime green ones you can see on the couch below. I posted about the pillows in a previous post because they were LOVE at first sight. I carried the pillows EVERYWHERE as an inspiration piece, and to use as a color matcher for every choice along the way. As you can see, we cut them in half to better fit the couch. They were another GREAT find at HomeGoods.

One of Jilly’s main requests was to create a gallery wall to display her beautiful family. She has three adorable kiddos and a gallery wall is a great way to show off her kiddos, her faith, and her spunky life! I love it! The only frames we had to buy (since Jill was a photo frame hoarder…..just kidding Jilly….kind of) were the big collage black frames from Hobby Lobby.

Along with Leslie Thomas’ help (contact me for her contact info), we created a beautiful cottage airy feel throughout the house. Leslie is my friend I told you about in Jill’s House reveal part 1 who has an amazing talent for vignettes. I made a few tiny adjustments here and there, but she was the main mastermind behind most of the accessorizing. After we decided to put this amazing mirror on the mantle, we had a hard time because it reflected NOTHING. It actually reflected the ceiling fan when you walked in the front door. NO BUENO. So, I opted to put three airy wreaths (from Tai Pan) to create a place where your eyes can land. Jill already had this mirror by the way. I’m tellin’ ya, Jill has GREAT taste. She just needed some help with execution.

Speaking of Jill having good taste, like I’ve said before, Jill had some AMAZING furniture pieces! Her hutch has already been introduced in the entry way post, but check out this amazing chest of drawers! Jilly has a little boy (Jo Jo), so this chest is a place for Jo’s toy storage. I wish you could see how HUGE this bad boy is. It wasn’t even being displayed when she hired me! I made her bring that bad boy OUT from behind closed doors. Doesn’t it make you want to go paint something teal, like NOW!?!?

The white finials were in Jilly’s garage! I painted them white with my trusty can of Krylon Dual (Flat finish) since they needed a little update. The beautiful green and white ikat fabric, on the pillow on the chair by the barn door, is from Hobby Lobby and so are the adorable brown, white and green poof balls that adorn the edges. I got the beautiful curtain fabric from my favorite fabric store in Las Vegas called Home Fabrics and Rugs (I WISH THEY HAD ONE CLOSER!!). I hired Tonya Stoor (contact me for her contact info) as our seamstress for Jilly’s house, and she did an AMAZING job sewing the lined curtains and pillow for us! (Sidenote: her prices were GREAT!) I tied back the curtains with fun rusty tie backs from Hobby Lobby. The tufted velvet bench was a yard sale find that Jilly found for $20.00. :) And the sofa table below was the PERFECT fit for behind the beautiful couch. This spinney legged table was bought at Passport (a great furniture store located here in St. George, Utah). Doesn’t it look like it was MADE for this space!?! I love how narrow it is too! Something big and bulky wouldn’t have worked in this walkway to the kitchen.

As you can see, we’ve been a little busy. HA! And do you want to know the coolest part of today’s reveal!?! I’m not even done showcasing this house!! I get to show you the kitchen next! Here is a little sneak peak.

Sorry about the picture overload! Hopefully you don’t mind.

The photos were taken by Natasha from Photo Love Stories.

Interior Decorating the Entry Way, Jill’s House Reveal Part 1

2012-01-16T07:59:00.001-07:00

For the last several months, I have been working on Jill’s house, and it has been an absolute blast! We have worked really hard, and I cannot wait to show you how it all turned out! I have broken the spaces into separate posts for organizational purposes, so stay tuned for the other spaces soon! Since the entry way is the first thing you see, I decided it made sense to start there!

When I entered Jill and Matt’s home, the first thing I noticed was the BEAUTIFUL furniture that they owned. I was blown away by the pieces of furniture that were at my disposal. As you know, I LOVE FURNITURE. So, I was like a kid in a candy store when I got to see the amazing pieces they had lying around the house! Just take a gander at the amazing hutch and dresser they had in their entry way!

As you can see, the entry was beautiful to begin with. I LOVED the dark wood floors, the high ceilings and the welcoming layout of their home. It just needed a little pizzazz that reflected the style of their liking.

After several hours of space planning, I quickly realized that the hutch could not be moved because it would not fit anywhere else! Plus, it was the perfect scale and size for the entry way, so the bad boy was staying put. All it needed was a little update with accessories and changing the paint color on the wall made it pop right out! The cute cream dresser had to be moved though. I didn’t like that it had to be angled to fit in that corner. But don’t worry, you will see this beautiful piece of furniture again. :)

The hutch was gorgeous! The handles were intricate and the paint was chippy which I LOVED! For the inside accessories, I bought some perfect old books at the local thrift store for $2.00 each, used a lot of Jill’s accessories that she already had, and bought some fun photo frames at HomeGoods. The people at the local TJMaxx/HomGoods store began to recognize me. I was often the first person in the store and the last person to leave at night. It was great because every day they would bring out new items. So, I learned to return every day until I found the perfect items!

A great friend of mine, Leslie Thomas, helped accessorize the space. She even helped me shop at times! Leslie is wonderful, and I appreciate the time and effort she was willing to give during this project. She has 15+ years of experience, so it was great to have her stop by on a few occasions and offer her expertise and skills. If you are interested in a fantastic vignette designer, Leslie is the one. She is MEGA talented. I’m just lucky I could convince her to help me! I love the airy cottage feel that the accessories help create!

The clock on top of the hutch was bought at a local St. George store called Passport, and the rest of the accessories were from HomeGoods and Tai Pan.

The paint color I chose is called Sauna from the Allen Roth Valspar Paint line at Lowes. It was the perfect choice (if I say so myself) because it is a breath of fresh air. The atmosphere is calm and bright. The entry way rug is an Amy Butler rug that we got for a STEAL of a deal on Overstock.com. I have checked lately, and the exact same rug is being sold for almost DOUBLE what we got it for! YAY for finding great deals!

It helped that the home was a blank canvas when they hired me. They were stuck in “all neutrals.” So, they needed a little boost to add some color. :) Jill has great taste, but may have lacked a little confidence to make such a bold move. You can see in the picture below that the walls were tan before I got my hands on them! Are you like Jill and find yourself surrounded in neutrals and tan!?!

Look at the new paint, it’s soooo pretty! Plus, the light post I bought at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore makes the PERFECT entryway accessory. It fits perfectly tucked in the corner and is the last thing people see when they are leaving. The cool thing is that this bad boy will soon be wired to turn on! How cool is that!?!? I want one for my house. Heck, I wish this WERE my house! I want to move in.

I hope you like the entryway, because as you can see, there is A LOT more to see of this makeover. Stay tuned for more pictures of Jill’s House coming up soon! Can you believe what a difference it makes to case in the doors and windows!?! I love window casings. It helps create the cottage style looke. Plus, take a look at that gorgeous board and batten! Matt (Jill’s hubby) did an amazing job with this finish work! Just wait and see what else Matt built for this transformation!

Random side note: The entry way beams were already there, and I LOVE THEM!! The only thing we have left to do is to order shutters or roman shades for the windows on each side of the door.

So……don’t be shy! What do you think!?!?

The after photos were taken by Natasha Williams of Photo Love Stories. She did a fantastic job!

Sneak Peek of Jill’s House

2012-01-15T10:29:00.001-07:00

Remember the AMAZING piece of furniture I featured on freakin’ fantastic furniture on Friday?

(Random sidenote: that was a lot of words that started with F!) I’m a little A.D.D….back to the original topic…

Well, here is a little sneak peak of the furniture in Jill’s House. I cannot wait to show you more!! It is pretty FREAKIN’ FANTASTIC isn’t it!?!? I wish the pictures would do it justice. This picture is a better showcase of the amazingness. Look at the amazing chippy turquoise paint! I love that the doors are reclaimed too! If you are interested in where to find this furniture, please visit the previous post.

This photo was taken by Natasha Williams of Photo Love Stories.

Let the saving begin, Mickey Mouse style!

2012-01-14T11:55:00.001-07:00

We haven’t been to Disneyland since 2008, and we are really excited to take the kids again this year! We have already set the plan to go in March, but every time we go, we make a Disneyland jar so that the kids feel like they are earning their trip! It was a lot of fun last time because they earned $112.00! They can use this money on whatever they want at the park. They could buy souvenirs, treats, and chocolate covered bananas to their heart’s content because they had earned their own spending money. This picture is cracking me up because these two crazies are sooo little in these pictures! We haven’t taken Londyn (my four year old daughter) to Disneyland yet, so I am FREAKING out with excitement. She LOVES princesses, so we are going to let her dress up each day. When Oaklyn went, she did the same thing and the Disneyland workers were soooo cute with her. They called her “your majesty” and bowed to her everywhere we went. Londyn is going to LOVE that.

We started the “Disneyland Jar” this morning. I’m excited to see their faces already on the day we go to the park. They are going to LOVE IT! Heck, I LOVE it!

Give me advice about your Disneyland trips. I want the trip to go as smoothly as possible!

Freakin’ Fantastic Furniture

2012-01-13T00:49:00.001-07:00

For those that may not be familiar with my freakin’ fabulous furniture posts, every Friday I feature some super sweet furniture. Sometimes I will feature furniture that I refinish myself. Sometimes I will feature furniture that is refinished by you, and sometimes I will feature furniture on my wish list from retail stores. Today, I get to show you a dream come true, (kind of).

I love amazing furniture, and this piece has been on my wish list for YEARS! I am not kidding. A few years ago I took a picture of this AMAZING media cabinet/buffet on my phone, and I have wanted it every since. It is the perfect turquoise color, and the doors are ULTRA unique. Ever since that first phone photo, I am telling you, I have DREAMED about this furniture.

I love that the doors are reclaimed from South America, and each one is slightly different because of that. The doors are chunky, chippy, and just plain magnificent.

Since we have been working on Jill’s house, I have had this piece in the back of my mind. I wanted the media cabinet to be masculine and this piece was THE. PERFECT. choice. I was freaking out when Jill and Matt loved it as much as I did! Oh my gosh! You are going to LOVE when you see it in Jill’s House. (Which, by the way, I am HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE WE ARE TAKING FINAL PHOTOS OF TODAY!!!) Can you hear be screaming with excitement because I’m pretty sure I’m screaming loud enough that you should hear me around the world. Are you excited to see it!?!?

Just look at these amazing doors. The knobs are fantastic and the colors are a fantastic turquoise chippy paint mixed in with the original stained wood.

When we were searching for the perfect media cabinet for her house, we had a lot of concerns because we wanted her components to be functional. But everywhere we looked, we found wooden doors or drawers that would prevent the function of the remote control. How annoying would it be to have to stand up and open the door to your media cabinet every time you wanted to watch your favorite tv show!?! BIG time annoying.

So, the amazing peeps over at Living Eclection (where this bad boy came from) informed us of these special remote control systems that you can buy online that go through wooden doors, walls…etc. As soon as we knew that it was going to function correctly for a media cabinet, we were FREAKING out. I might have done a little jig in the store because it was sooo amazing.

As always, the pictures don’t do this bad boy justice, and one of the coolest things about choosing this cabinet for Jill’s house was that Jilly’s husband Matt lived in Honduras for two years, and he said that the doors remind him of the time he lived there. I love that!!

The media cabinet is just a little glimpse of what you get to see next week of Jilly’s house. Stay tuned. You won’t want to miss this! Here is a little sneak peak! Gotta love the amazing TV frame I’ve already told you about from Aspen Mills, too!

The Living Eclection is a great place to find AMAZING unique furniture items. They have the coolest reclaimed wood furniture. If you are ever in St. George, you should really stop by and check it out. PLUS. they just opened a second store in St. George right next to Paradise bakery. You should stop in and see their cool stuff. I bet you’ll like it.

The store Living Eclection is located at 2051 E. Red Hills Parkway St. George, UT 84770
Their phone number is (435) 656-1708 if you have any questions about their furniture.

I was not paid by Living Eclection to post about this freakin’ fantastic furniture. I simply shared it with you because I LOVED IT!

Come to my PartyLite Party

2012-01-09T11:12:00.001-07:00

Since I love yummy smells, I am throwing my first PartyLite party! If you don’t know who PartyLite is, check out my Previous PartyLite Post explaining who they are and what they do! I am super excited to have Mandi from Vintage Revivals on board. Come HANG OUT with us at MY HOUSE. I won’t be posting my address on my blog, so if you would like to come you must RSVP to allthingsthrifty at gmail dot com.

If you don’t live in Southern Utah and would like to participate in my party online, check out Debbie's Website!

Refinishing Furniture { an intricate sofa table }

2012-01-06T16:22:00.001-07:00

I a lot of you may already know I am obsessed with furniture. Some people love shoes or clothes, I love furniture (and fabric, but that is beside the point!). I have a love affair with furniture especially. I consider myself a treasure hunter and I love to search for THE PERFECT furniture pieces for my home. I have refinished a lot of furniture, and even reupholstered a few furniture pieces. Choosing the right furniture, or customizing it to your space is ESSENTIAL in having a home that feels like YOURS. So, I’d like to announce a brand new series that will take place EVERY FRIDAY here at All Things Thrifty. Here’s the gist: EVERY FRIDAY you will get to see some FREAKIN’ FABULOUS FURNITURE where you will find furniture that I refinish myself, along with the occasional feature of someone else’s furniture. (so yes, I could feature YOU if you have something to submit). I am excited to showcase some amazing stuff out there, and I might even showcase some of the furniture on my “retail wish list.” Over the last three years of interior decorating, I have realized: The furniture that you have in your home defines your style and definitely helps to BRIGHTEN and LIVEN it. I love furniture, and I cannot wait to show you my FIRST FREAKIN’ FABULOUS FURNITURE post!
My friends Dani and Ashton asked me to refinish their intricate entry way sofa table. They had inherited the furniture from a relative, and they were chunky, intricate, and AWESOME (the furniture, not the relative, he, he)! Not only did they recieve this amazing sofa table, but they also got the matching coffee table and side tables too! Lucky freakin’ ducks. I loved the intricate carvings, and for some, the tables might have been perfect without refinishing them. However, for Dani and Ashton’s home, leaving them this wood color would have been a BIG mistake.

Just check out the intricate details of these bad boys. If you have been around All Things Thrifty for awhile, you already know that furniture like this is EXACTLY my specialty. I love to glaze furniture and when you add glaze to refinish furniture like these it makes those nooks and crannies just POP! I knew the work that was ahead of me, and I got to work. ~~A month after she brought it to me, ahem.~~ First I washed the furniture carefully to get all the dust out of the intricate details. The furniture had been sitting in my garage for a few weeks and had started to collect a bunch of dust. Then I primed the furniture with KILZ. I followed my painting furniture post techniques to a T. After the primer dried, I sanded it down with 220 grit sand paper. I even used my electric sander to do most of the work. I did have to sand by hand to get into the nooks and crannies. (Be aware the you need to shake the can well before you prime furniture). AND, you must make sure that the KILZ can is not cold. If you try and paint with a cold can of KILZ, it will come out in spurts instead of an even spray of primer. Next, I glazed the furniture. I have some great videos showing my techniques in my glazing furniture 101 post.
As you can see, the furniture turned out GREAT! I wish I had this in MY HOUSE!!Just take a gander at all those beautiful intricate details!

Want another look at the before picture? And the After photo…just to remind you of how stinkin’ SAWEEEET it turned out!?!? NO PROBLEM!

I’m telling ya, I love before and after photos. I’m a little OBSESSED! As a part of my FREAKIN’ FABULOUS FURNITURE series, I am accepting submissions for features. I will be featuring my own transformations as well as an occasional feature of others. So, if you have a FREAKIN’ FABULOUS piece of FURNITURE, send me a GOOD photo to allthingsthrifty at gmail dot com.

White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake

2012-01-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

I still remember the day I tried this cake for the first time, it was my niece’s baby blessing. There were an array of cakes, treats and snacks to choose from sitting on the table. But then, I heard a ruckus. People were excited about something. They were all talking about some “cake” that was “to die for.” I heard words like “delicious” and “moist” and “I’m going to have to have another piece of this.” So, if I remember correctly, I was on a diet (bahaha as always), and I took one bite. That one bite turned into two, three, and so forth. It was the most delicious cake I had ever tasted. My brother and sister in law’s friend made the cake. Well, as time went on, we tried to get the recipe. After a few months persistent bugging on my part, Chris called with success. He had gotten the recipe. Chris has the BEST recipes! (Maybe I’ll convince him to share his Ruth Chris’ sweet potato recipe next!)

Don’t ask me why I am sharing the recipe to this cake right now. The first week of January. The week that everyone is “doing better” the week that we have all sworn off sugar forever. I made the cake over Christmas a few times for a few different parties, and as always people RAVED over this cake. So I figured I would take a few pictures of the cake to share with you. If I don’t share it soon, the pictures will be buried and lost FOREVER.

So, this is what I expect of you. I expect you to PIN THIS recipe for later or save it if you don't have Pinterest. Capeesh? I don’t want to you to go and make this recipe today or tomorrow. Make it the next time you need a new recipe to take to a get together. You will NOT be sorry, I promise.

Just remember that it is NOT my fault that you ruined your diet. Consider yourself warned:

WARNING: You will eat the entire bundt cake yourself if you make this cake.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Instructions:
1 (Betty Crocker) White cake mix (make as directed)
Add 1/2 cup applesauce (no cinnamon)
Add 1 small package of instant vanilla pudding (just the dry mix)
Mix batter well.

Now that you have your cake batter mixed up nicely, you need to separate the batter into two bowls. So pour 1/3 (approximately) into another bowl.

Defrost 1 cup frozen raspberries and mash them up with a fork. I usually do this on a paper plate so that I can mash them easily.
After the raspberries are nicely mashed, add 1 Tbsp flour and mix.
Add the mashed berries to the bowl containing 1/3 of the original batter and mix well. Set bowl aside.

Take your 1 c. melted white chocolate chips and melt them gradually in the microwave. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. I put them into my microwave in a bowl for 30 seconds the first time, and then I stir the chocolate. Then I put it back into the microwave for 10 second increments while stirring in between until the chocolate is melted completely.

With remaining 2/3 batter add the melted white chocolate. Mix nicely.

Grease bundt cake pan well (I use "Bakers Joy"). I use a silicone bundt cake pan, and it has a nonstick surface that is fantastic. I have never had it stick!

After your pan is greased nicely, coat bottom of pan with 1/2 of the white chocolate/cake batter mix.
Then add dollops of all of your raspberry/cake batter mix to the pan on top of the white chocolate batter.
Then add the remaining white chocolate cake/batter on top of the dollops.

Next you need to create the marble look, so make an S pattern through the batter using a skewer or handle of a wooden spoon. Be careful not to touch the bottom of the pan. This will mix the two batters perfectly to create that marbled look.

Bake 42-45 minutes.
Let the cake cool in the pan for a bit, then turn it out onto a cooling rack.
IMPORTANT STEP: Triple wrap the cake in saran wrap and put it in the freezer (yes I said freezer) for 5-7 days (yes I said DAYS and I meant it). (I'll be honest here though, we have only done this part ONCE. We are much too impatient.) So, this is what we do, we place the cake in the fridge until it is COMPLETELY cool. Then I frost the bad boy. After the cake is frosted, I place the cake BACK IN The fridge to cool the frosting again, and then we serve it cold. It is a MILLION times better cold. Don't get impatient and eat it warm. You WILL be dissapointed if you do.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING RECIPE:
1 stick softened (NOT melted) butter (1/2 cup)
1 brick softened cream cheese (8 oz)
Mix butter and and cream cheese until soft, add 2 tsp vanilla, beat until light and fluffy.
Add 4 1/2 cups powder sugar, one cup at a time. Beat frosting until smooth. (Oh, and I added a few drops of red food coloring to make the frosting pink, and added a few little sprinkles to make it pretty).

I can't wait for you to try it. I'm tellin' ya, you have to trust me on this. You are going to love it!

Winner, Winner, Chicken dinner!!

2012-01-03T18:29:00.000-07:00

Giving away amazing prizes to my readers is one of the best perks of having a blog, I tell ya!!! I am super excited to announce the winner to THREE giveaways tonight! YIPEEEEEE!!

Our first winner that wins this amazing Silhouette machine is….drum roll please…CONRATS KERRIE @ TFK!!!

Don’t forget that Silhouette is running a deal right now where you get a Silhouette Cameo and an Ink starter kit for just $299 when you use the promo code “THRIFTY”, plus if you already have a Silhouette, you can get 20% off all things in the fabric ink kit (starter kits, inks, stencil vinyl).

Kerrie @ TFK said...18
I follow ATT on Twitter! @shaolinmamma
December 31, 2011 7:54 PM

Our next winner wins an amazing BALI HA'I dress from Shabby Apple! Congrats Artbird!

Shabby Apple is also having a sale right now that is 20% nearly everything in their entire site! Go check out their womens’ and kids’ dresses, and you will fall in love!

artbird said...108

New visitor, liked you on facebook.

December 21, 2011 1:42 AM

The next two winners each win this adorable Pookie the Polar Bear Scentsy buddy from Kristen Mabb, an amazing Scentsy Consultant in the Phoenix area. Congrats Nancy Couture and Chenae!

Scentsy is one of my favorite products that I use on a daily basis! I love my home to smell nice, and I constantly warm their fragrances! My current favorite scent is Eskimo Kiss!

Nancy's Couture said...30

Shared this post on FB

December 16, 2011 9:12 PM

Chenae said...15

My favorite is Cinnamon Vanilla scentsy bar! :)

December 16, 2011 11:45 AM

All winners must contact All Things Thrifty at allthingsthrifty at gmail dot com to claim their prize within seven days. If you do not claim your prize, I have the right to give the prize to another contestant. All giveaway prizes are donated by the advertisers. I would not give a product away unless I liked the product myself.