Thrifty Parsonage Living

NEW WINDOWS

2013-05-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Life has been very busy at the Parsonage. Even though you haven't heard from me in a week, I've gotten a lot of things accomplished. I finished my nursing continue ed course, attended a lot of graduations, done more painting and varnishing.

The best project to have completed is the windows. Back at the end of February and first of April the construction began on the Parsonage. The siding and windows were removed and replaced with new. Since then this is how our windows have looked, no casing or trim.

Every evening we hung table clothes, sheets and drop cloths over the windows for privacy.

The carpenter finished making the casing and trim for the windows and dropped them off at the house. Now the work was up to me to keep this project moving. The first job was to stain all the wood to match the rest of the woodwork and trim in the house. Followed by two layers of varnish with a light sanding after each coat.

As soon as I had it all finished I called the carpenter to let him know it was ready for installation. It only took a few days for him to come and hang everything.

This is how they look all finished.

It's such an improvement over the old windows.

Now comes the fun part - picking out new window treatments. My plans are to buy some blinds but also make a few coverings as well.

I've been getting inspirations on Pinterest.

I love the stenciled curtains made by Rita @ Harbour Breeze Home

Source: harbourbreezehome.com via Joy on Pinterest

Source: remodelaholic.com via Joy on Pinterest

These damask stenciled curtains are lovely too from Gardener 2 Bergers.

I also love these Roman Blinds that Simply Mrs. Edwards made.

I know it may seem like not much is getting done at The Parsonage, since you have not seen many finished projects. I'm hoping to be able to show you some of the rooms in The Parsonage soon, now that the windows are in and finished. I can move on to finishing rooms!

Have a great day!

Joy

DO YOU USE GOOGLE READER?

2013-05-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

The announcement came back in March that Google Reader will retire as of July 1, 2013.

I personally am sad to see it going away. It seems like when you've learned how to use something in blogshere, they take it away or change it. I've been doing a little research since the announcement and found this article about some options to use in place of Google Reader.

I have decided I'll be following my favorite blogs using Bloglovin, since I've followed a few fellow bloggers there already, and I'm already a little familiar with the site. I just went to this page and did an import from my Google Reader account to Bloglovin.

If you currently follow Thrifty Parsonage Living

via Google reader.

I hope you'll still follow along via Bloglovin or

you can also follow me using Linky or another feed source.

You can find my buttons over on the right side of this page,

listed under

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and

Follow Me.

Have you found another way to follow along? I'd love to hear from you.

Have a great day!

Joy

PAINTING, PAINTING AND MORE PAINTING

2013-05-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Have you been wondering what I've been up to this past week? I've told you that almost every room in the Parsonage is getting a makeover with paint. This past week, I've been painting in one of the basement bedrooms.

Here's a little reminder of what the room looked like before we started priming all the walls.

A bright sun and clouds on the ceiling.

My loving husband primed and painted the ceiling for me since I deal with an old neck injury.

While he painted the ceiling, I primed and started to paint the walls.

Once the walls and ceiling were painted in the room, I moved on to priming and painting the trim and baseboard in the room. I was horrified, however, when I went to remove the painters tape from the wood work! This is what happened. The former painter must not have done the correct prep work of sanding and priming the wood before painting. My mistake was to assume it had been done properly the first time, so I primed over the paint and this was the result.

The trim had varnished edges exposed and this is what the door looked like. Yikes!!!

What a mess I had to deal with. We don't own this home so what is one to do? My best solution was to sand the spots down on the trim and completely sand the doors down creating a rough surface for the primer to adhere to.

Then they were ready to add primer.

I decided to let the primer dry thoroughly, so I moved on to yet another painting project, the kitchen ceiling.

I was so thankful that a friend from church (thanks Kristi) came to help me with this never ending ceiling painting.

The ceiling runs down the hallway, into the dining room, kitchen, and finally the back hallway and entrance to the garage.

I now have painting projects going on in the hallway and downstairs bedroom. In the midst of all my painting, I'm also working on my continuing ed for my nursing license. It needs to be done by May 15th. I'm hoping to get my continuing ed done this week, and share a finished project/room with you soon.

Have a great day!

LIVING ROOM REVEAL

2013-04-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

I know you've waited a long time to see what I've been up to in our new parsonage. In my last post, I gave you a little peak into the living room when I showed you my diy bookcase makeover. Today you get to see the whole room. It's the only room in the whole house that I can say is finally finished. The room had a long list of to do projects, but thanks to the helping hands of church friends the room is finished. While we were still in Washington I received a call from a member of the church. She told me they would paint my husband's office and living room for us, and asked what colors we'd like the rooms to be. She also told me they were installing all new lights in the parsonage (including pot lights in the living room), and updating the electrical outlets. I remembered from living in the house 16 years ago, that the living room could be very dark because there were no lights in the ceiling.

After a lot of labor pealing off a wall paper boarder that had been painted over, the new paint color is on the walls and it looks wonderful! It is a soft gray, (Portand by Valspar); and the ceiling is a bright white ceiling paint. I love how it brightens up the room!

We took down the old curtains and put up new blinds. The color of the blinds is Storm Whisper ordered them from blinds.com. They are the perfect soft gray blending well with the walls. I put up my diy curtain rods that I had in our living room in Washington, but decided not to put up the dark brown curtains.

They would make the room look too dark, and I wanted the room to be light, bright, and cheery. I decided to put up the curtains from our previous family room instead. They're a blue green, but this photo makes them look more blue.

When moving to a new home, there are always costs for new items. Using what you have helps to keep these costs down. I love reincorporating things and seeing how different they can look in a new space.

The new pot lights really help to brighten up the room.

The view of the living room as you come in the front door.

I placed a new mirror (Christmas gift) on the wall next to the coat closet. I find myself using it often before I leave the house.

I struggled where to put my husband's black recliner chair. It had been in our family room in Washington. My sisters helped me; and we decided to put it angled across from my grandmothers black cedar chest. This helped to balance the black pieces of furniture in the room.

To add a touch of black on the other side of the room, I hung the light house photos we took while vacationing in Oregon. The longer lighthouse print was a gift from a dear friend who died from cancer a few years ago. I love the verse on it - The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

We received the large photo above the sofa as a going away gift from friends in Washington. It is such a lovely reminder of living on the coast in the Pacific North West.

The accents in the room include beach decor. On the coffee table I was able to use some of my garage sale finds along with shells from our beach vacations.

On the wall next to my DIY bookcase makeover, I hung two new frames with our daughter's and son-in- law's wedding photos. Our son and daughter-in-law's photo will be added after their wedding in June.

I did a high/low project on the top of my desk, setting up a photo arrangement. I used my new 99 cent thrift store frames to frame our cute little granddaughter's photos.

I found very similar frames at Pottery Barn. The Pottery Barn 4 X 6 cost $34 and the 5 X7 cost $44. That would have been $154, while mine came to a grand total of $4.

Source: potterybarn.com via Joy on Pinterest

To add a bit of nature and texture to the room. I placed a basket with blankets under the window,

a faux plant on the side table and grass on the cedar chest,

and drift wood with a few shells on the curio cabinet.

It feels great to finally have a room complete.

What do you think of the makeover?

Joy

I'm linking this post to -
Best DIY Projects of April at Beneath My Heart

DIY BOOKCASE MAKEOVER

2013-04-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

I know you haven't heard from me lately, but life in our new parsonage has been very busy. Not only did we have to unpack all our household items, but we've had so many projects going on. Almost every room in the house is getting repainted. The living room is finally coming together; and I'll be sharing the room reveal soon!

Here's a to do list for the room.

Did you happen to notice the bookshelf on the right side of the picture? For several weeks after moving in, I wondered how to transform that space making a focal point in the room. An idea came to me suddenly one day when a friend said she would use the recessed bookcase as a display area. I thought this was a great idea and added it my to do list.

DIY BOOKSHELF MAKEOVER

The first thing I did was remove the shelves from the bookcase.

I then added three battery operated lights to the top of the bookshelf.

If I owned this home I would have painted the inside of the space, but since we don't own the home. I had to come up with another option. I decided to buy quarter inch mdf board, and had my husband cut it to the measurements of the back of the book shelves.

Then I gave the board a good coat of primer, followed by paint.

I chose the same color as the walls in our master bedroom in the Washington Parsonage - Seascape by Valspar. A piece of duct tape was added to the bottom of the board (making it easier to remove the board from the space). I trimmed the tape shorter than you see in the photo. This tape will be tucked neatly under a mirror so that it's not visible when looking at the display.

After the board had two coats of paint and was completely dry, it was ready to insert into the back of the bookcase. My husband used his pin-nailer to tack the board to the back of the bookcase. The holes from these pins won't even be visible when the board is removed and the shelving put back in.

Then came the fun of adding the decor. I bought a mirror, vase and flowers using discount coupons. The mirror was placed under the vase to add reflection of the vase.

Here's the full view of the bookcase turned into a decorative display area.

The lights at night add ambiances to the room, even though my photo doesn't show it very well.

This was a thrifty low cost makeover with a big impact.

Total cost of $20!

DECORATING PUT ON HOLD

2013-04-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

My house decorating was put on hold this past week because of bad weather. We've had quite the ice storm, and I'm starting to wonder if it really is spring. It started last week Tuesday morning with freezing rain followed by snow. We lost our electricity Tuesday evening and didn't get it back until Saturday evening. No electricity = no Internet connection and explains why you haven't seen any posts for a while. We were so thankful to have a generator. We were able to alternate having our furnace on and kept our refrigerator and freezer running. This is the worse ice storm I've ever seen in my lifetime. The trees received major damage! I don't think there is a street in town without tree limbs down. We lost a large limb on a tree in our back yard. It missed hitting our new patio door by mere inches.

This is how our bushes all looked - totally covered with ice.

A view of one of the streets in our city.

There were hundreds of power poles broken completely off and laying in the ditch.

The city, along with many volunteers started the clean up on Saturday and it continued today. Trucks filled with broken tree limbs went past my home all day.

A BIG thank you to all the people who put in so many long hours to get our electricity back up and running and everyone who helped with the clean up.

We have the majority of our yard cleaned up and I'm hoping to get back to the projects in The Parsonage. I'll be sharing them with you soon.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT PAINT COLOR

2013-04-09T11:54:00.002-07:00

When decorating, choosing the right paint color can be difficult. In my last post I told you that I've been struggling with the correct paint color for the kitchen and my office. I can envision in my mind what I want, but I've been struggling to find that perfect paint. Paint sets the mood for a room, and it's important to remember the other colors in the room. Tip: think of upholstered items, counter tops and fabrics in curtains and drapes as the "artist's palette" from which to select potential colors for your walls.

Keeping that in mind, I've found it very difficult in our kitchen because I don't want the color to conflict with the counter. The counter has dark green, light green, taupe, and a little black in it.

While the vinyl floor covering has shades of green and taupe in it.

I brought home many paint chips to look at. My first thought was to pick a paint color that had some shade of green in it.

I highly recommend buying paint samples and paint them on the wall. View the samples in different light, bright sunshine, overcast daylight and night using the lighting from the room.

My plans for the kitchen is to paint one accent wall (the wall with a new sliding glass door and kitchen cabinets) and have the rest of the room a neutral color.

My first sample was Rhino (top left) and Dolphin Fin (bottom left) from Behr. On the paint chip the Rhino had a grayish cast to it and the Dolphin Fin looked like a greige ( mixture of gray and beige).

This seemed like good color combination, but there was problem with the lighting in the room. Both looked too blue! In fact, the Dolphin Fin looked baby blue....not the look I'm going for. The next test was Portland (Valspar) top center, and Hearth Rug mixed at Menards. The Portland was too gray and the Hearth Rug too yellow. I next put up a sample of Seascape (Valspar - left over from the master bedroom.). I even tried mixing some left over paints (bottom right photos), but color was too blue-gray. Moving on to the bottom right side of the far right photo, I gave a darker green a try - Smooth Slate (Menards Pittsburgh Paint). It reminded me to much of the green from the 1970's - I hated it!

After debating over this for several days and talking it over with my husband, he gave the suggestion to forget about the green in the flooring and counters and try more the beige and maybe a brown. We also decided to not put the accent wall next to the counters and sliding doors but rather on the wall next to it. This way the accent color is not right next to the counters. I liked his suggestion, and moved on looking for brown paint and a neutral paint. I like gray but that didn't work in the room so decided to find a greige paint (a combination of a gray and beige). It's a more subdued color with a combination of both warm and cool tones. It has both gray and brown in it making it the perfect color to go with the brown. One thing about paint is that if you hate the color you can always paint a new color over it.

After much agonizing for days over paint colors, we finally came to a decision and could start the painting process.

Bye...bye stencil and green walls. Hello primer!

It's going to take several days to paint this area because the kitchen runs into the back entry as well as the hallway. I'm anxious to see how the room will come together once the painting is finished.

LET THE CONSTRUCTION BEGIN

2013-04-03T07:18:00.000-07:00

The old saying it has to get worse to get better is true for our home. The construction or should I say destruction has begun.

They have begun the removal of the siding and take out the old windows.

Our home looked like an old shanty this past weekend with only the old tar paper exposed.

A close up shot of the window to be removed. You can see why these windows needed replacing, they're original to this 1962 home.

The old window.

My office with the window removed.

The new window looks so much better, even with out the trim on. The new vinyl is so much brighter and lets in much more light. These windows will be easy to clean, as they have a fold down feature making it easy to clean the window from the inside. No more step ladders on uneven ground trying to clean these windows...yeah!

Getting ready for the patio door in the dining room. Making the opening larger and almost ready for the removal of the old windows. Some of the electrical lines need to be moved first.

The framework is started.

The door is in, along with all the wonderful light that comes shining in! I know I'm going to love having this door just off the dining area.

Almost every room in the house is getting new paint, but I've been struggling with the color for the kitchen and dining room. I tell you more about that in my next post.
Have a great day!

Joy

HOME TOUR [part 3]

2013-03-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today you'll finally get to see the rest of our home - The Parsonage. I left off last time showing you the bedrooms . I've found a photo of the 5th bedroom since my last post. I'll begin the tour today with that photo, and move on to the bathrooms and the rest of the basement.

The church is still in the progress of finishing this room. The room was a larger room with cement block walls and a small closet. They have moved one wall over and added insulation, dry wall, new closet and new escape window. The room still needs all the trim work, baseboard and flooring.

They have also added a new bathroom in the basement. Previously, it only had a cement block shower. The new bath is a 3/4 bath with a walk in shower.

This bath will be getting a little make over with new paint, but it's near the bottom of my to do list right now.

Upstairs has a half bath located near the back door and garage.

This bath was redone at the same time as the kitchen makeover. At that time a new pedestal sink, toilet, window and new flooring were added. The walls are green with a sponge paint on the upper half. The plans for this room include new paint, light fixture and a new mirror. ( Or something to dress up the mirror a bit.)

The main bath also was made over at the same time as the kitchen ( I think 8 years ago). A shower stall with a new door was added at that time along with a new window, cabinets and flooring.

This room has a row of stenciled fern about 12 inches form the ceiling.

Back to the basement -

As you come down the stairs in the basement, you enter a large room. When we lived here sixteen years ago, this was the children's play room. The plan for this room now is to use it when we have larger groups of people over. We'll set up a seating area along with table and chairs.

All of the carpet in the basement has been pulled up since we lived here sixteen years ago. We have had a small amount of water coming in this spring. I'm guessing that is why the carpet was pulled up. The building committee has said in the future this area will be getting some fixing up, but right now they have the large project of replacing all the windows in the home and adding new siding. They've already replaced a lot of the electrical work and replaced all the light fixtures just before we moved into the Parsonage. Last year they added a new deck and new roof...both big ticket items that really improved the "curb appeal."

If you missed the tour of The Parsonage you can see the rest of the tour at

The Parsonage Tour

Home Tour (part 2)

The New Parsonage

HOME TOUR OF THE PARSONAGE {part 2}

2013-03-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today I'd like to continue with the tour of our new home/parsonage. Last week I showed you the living room, dining room and kitchen. Today I'll show you the bedrooms. First I'll take you down the hall to view three of the bedrooms.

The hallway to the bedrooms is just off of the dining room. The same paint color and stencil design (only minus the berries and leaves) from the kitchen and dining room continues down the hallway. The first door on the left is a linen closet and the door on the right is to the main bathroom. The next two doors on the right are bedrooms and on the far left is the master bedroom. The hallway and bedrooms have hardwood floors. The hallway floor has been refinished, but the bedrooms floors need refinishing. They are on our to do list for this summer.

The first bedroom on the right is the smallest of the bedrooms and had wallpaper on the lower half of the walls along with a boarder. The paper was removed by the building committee before we moved in, but I'll need to remove the paste residue left on the walls, repair dings and dents in the wall and of course paint. We'll be using this for our TV/family room. This is how the room looked when we moved in.

The next bedroom is the room I'll be using for my office.

Across the hall from this room is the master bedroom.

The bedroom had stenciled walls with the same brown colored ceiling as the living room. The room isn't large, but we'll be able to fit all our bedroom furniture in it.

The other two bedrooms are in the basement.

This bedroom was decorated for a girls with a floral boarder painted around the baseboard, along with a sun and clouds on the ceiling. Both of the basement bedrooms have had new escape windows added since we lived here before. The walls also were updated with dry wall, before they were just cement block walls. The second bedroom in the basement I don't have before photos. (Camera had died at that point of the photo shoot.)

In my next post I'll show you the remainder of the home.

Have a great day!

Joy

PARSONAGE HOME TOUR

2013-03-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

I know you've all been waiting a long time for a tour of our new home/Parsonage. Today I'll begin a tour of this 1960's ranch 5 bedroom two and half bath home. The photos of the home where taken back in August 2012 when we flew out to meet with the church council and stayed in the Parsonage for a few days. I have a limited number of photos, because they were taken with my old camera and it was acting up at the time. I'll show you these photos and later show you what we have done to change the look of the Parsonage. The tour begins at the front door where you walk into a small entry area and the living room.

When we lived in this home 16 years ago the rooms where all painted white, making this room look very different. The entry and living room had a light beige carpet at the time and no laminate flooring. Two years ago, the church installed new carpet and laminate flooring. The laminate was installed to prevent constant tracking on the carpet. The wall colors in the rooms where all painted by the former pastor and his wife.

The walls and even the ceiling were painted a dark color. A trim board was placed near the ceiling to cover up a wallpaper boarder. The majority of the rooms in the house had stenciled walls or wall paper .

The view of the opposite side of the living room. The room does receive natural light from the large East window, but with heavy drapes covering them the light was blocked. There were no ceiling lights in the room, so side lamps gave the only reading light.

My husband's office is to the left (south) of the front door. I have no previous photos of this room. The former pastor and his wife used it for a bedroom, and had wallpapered the walls and added a floral wallpaper boarder near the ceiling. The floor covering was a dark green carpet.

There is a large opening/doorway between the living room and dining room area making the home feel open.

Once again, more stenciled walls. This stencil was in the dining room, kitchen and down the hallway. I'm sure this took a lot of time and patience to do. It looks like some of it was done free hand - the painter was obviously very talented.

The kitchen and dining area open to each other with an "eat in" counter height bar.

The kitchen was remolded 8 years ago. The ceiling was redone; and a new floor and kitchen cabinets were installed.

I'm really enjoying the ceiling height cabinets as they provide so much extra storage. The full size refrigerator is also a big plus.

I'll give you more of the tour in my next post.

Have a great day!

THE NEW PARSONAGE

2013-03-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, I know it's been a while since I wrote a post, but it's been extremely busy here. We've been trying to get settled into our new home, and at the same time busy with projects. I know you've all been wondering where we live, so without further delay welcome to...

The Parsonage

Here's the outside of our new home.

It's a ranch home built in 1962. It's also the same home/Parsonage that we lived in with our first charge back sixteen years ago. It's kind of a strange feeling to be moving back into our former home, this time minus our five children. The home was originally a 3 bedroom, bath and a half home. With a fourth bedroom/office. There have been several updates since the home was built. A new deck was added back in August replacing some very worn cement steps. It has received new landscaping since we lived here and the three large oak trees that lined the front of the home were removed because they had become dangerous do to their age. They'll be replacing the siding along with adding new windows mid-March.

It has a two stall attached garage.

(The garbage cans will not remain in the front of the house. We just have to make a place for them elsewhere.)

When they replace the siding on the house they will be installing one large garage door. This will give the added height needed to get our pickup in easily.

The Parsonage sits next door to the church.

The view down the street to the north.

A ball field and park sit directly across the street from us, making it a lovely location.

It seems so flat and open compared to being surrounded by evergreens and mountains.

It also seems different to have snow on the ground compared to green grass. We definitely will be experiencing more winter weather here.

I'll be showing the inside of the Parsonage soon.

Joy

MOVING ACROSS COUNTRY

2013-02-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I'm glad to be back after being absent for a few weeks while we were moving across the country. A BIG thank you to everyone who helped me with guest posts. I'm thankful to report our move went well. I was a bit nervous about the thought of moving and traveling 1700 miles on winter roads, and many miles on mountain roads. I'm thankful for answers to prayers, the Lord provided dry roads and safe travel.

Today I thought I'd share a few photos of the final days - packing up the trucks. The final day of packing we woke up to a beautiful morning and this was the view across the road from our home. Oh how I will miss the breath taking view.

We rented two 26 foot trucks along with a dolly to tow our car. Four men from our new congregation in Minnesota flew out to help with the packing and driving the trucks, while my husband and I drove our pickup pulling out boat.

Everything had to be packed very tight to save space and ensure no shifting while on the road. Heavy items such as books where placed in the front of the truck.

You can't have to many blankets. We had 10 dozen blankets and used all of them.

The furniture was covered with blankets first, followed by shrink wrap to keep the blankets in place. We wrapped the legs on the furniture with bubble wrap and then shrink wrap. We used up two small and two large shrink wrap rolls. I think we also used up 10 + rolls of packing tape for all the boxes.

My husband built a plywood ramp out of the house for easier loading, eliminating the need to go down steps.

We were so thankful for all the people who helped with our move. We had help from our congregation in Lynden along with the men from Minnesota. Our granddaughters even gave us a little help.

One to supervise and the other to help pack boxes :)

My husband built some wracks to place odd shaped furniture on. This made it possible to stack other items on top of furniture. He also built crates around items like the lawnmower and exercise equipment. By doing this we were able to make use of all the space in the trucks.

The men giving their backs a rest.

We finished loading the trucks by noon on Saturday, giving us the opportunity to show our guests the beautiful country side we lived in.

Mt Baker and the Twin Sisters - view behind the Parsonage.

The Puget Sound.

Deception Pass

My next post I'll share about our new home....

The Parsonage.

DIY LEG WARMERS FOR BOOTS

2013-02-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Today I welcome back Brie from Breezy Pink Daisies to share one of her genius thrifty DIY projects. Thanks Brie for being here today as my guest!

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Hi Thrifty Parsonage Living readers! I'm Brie from Breezy Pink Daisies and I'm so excited to share this mini project with you because it is so easy, it took me all of 30 seconds!

Do you have an old sweater? Do you not sew very well? Well, go ahead and make your own leg warmers with only a pair of scissors! (Well, and that old sweater we were talking about..)

My inspiration: This old short sweater with stains.

So, project #1 with the sweater involved chopping off the sleeves and putting them on my legs. Make perfect sense of course. (Since the bottom of the sleeve is already finished, I wear that part on the top and don't worry about the bottom since that will be covered by the boot anyway.)

Okay, I don't walk around like this...but don't you love my Christmas socks? :) I might recommend wearing these leg warmers only when you plan on keeping your boots on. haha

Yay for leg warmers that look so cute with my boots!

(Yes, I cropped my head out on purpose. I promise it looks cuter this way)

But...here's a cute picture of me with my head included just because it is cute and so is my hubby. Oh my, don't you wish it was summer time again?

Oh well, at least I'll be enjoying my new leg warmers in this fabulously cold January weather!

Thanks again for having me here! Don't forget to stop by Breezy Pink Daisies and feel free to follow me on GFC, Facebook, or Blog Lovin' so we can get to know each other!!

DIY STENCIL WALL

2013-02-11T05:30:00.000-08:00

Today I welcome Brie from Breezy Pink Daisies as my guest. I saw her stenciled wall and fell in love with it and asked her to share it. Thanks Brie for your help while I'm away!

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Hi there Thrifty Parsonage readers! I'm Brie from Breezy Pink Daisies and I'm so happy to be here while Joy is busy moving. {Good luck Joy!} So I found Joy on Pinterest and knew we'd be great bloggy friends right away. We have so much in common (Love of garage sales, thrift stores, God, and decorating!) Funny fact, we both made similar camera bags inserts (here's mine) before we even "met".

Anyway, onto this post I'll be sharing with you guys. So I can be very indecisive. I got a stencil in September and just finally used it to stencil one of our walls over Christmas break. O my, I am IN LOVE with how it turned out! Why did it take me to long to do it?! My excuse was that it was so hard to decide which wall in my house to stencil because I don't have many nice small rectangle walls and my family room has wood paneling so that entire room wasn't an option. I thought about doing our bedroom - but not many people see that room. So I ended up doing a random wall to the right when you walk into our house.

The stencil I used was from Cutting Edge Stencils and I won it from one of my favorite DIY bloggers - Sam at The Junk House. The stencil I choose was the Harlequin Trellis Allover Stencil. The background wall color is Comforting by Behr and the stencil color is Metallic Silver by Martha Stewart.

Metallic paint is so much fun! So glad I choose that after MUCH debating over what color I would use. Surprisingly, it didn't even use half of the paint to do the entire wall! So, I have a lot to use on other projects...hmm. However, it is really difficult to take pictures of because it reflects light, but that's what I love so much about it in real life!

It took about 4-5 hours to complete. And that was with my standing back and admiring my work after each stencil and also "erasing" a few sections when I decided they looked funny or didn't match up perfectly. (The paint was actually pretty easy to wipe off even after being on the wall for 10-15 minutes!)

You can see in the progress pictures that the stencil does not go directly to the corners - don't worry I didn't forget about those! Well, thankfully Cutting Edge Stencils gives you three stencils - the large one, and two smaller ones to help fill in those smaller areas.

Painting the corners was the most difficult part of this project for me. Cutting Stencils recommends to bend the stencil so you can reach the corners, but this was really hard for me - probably because I didn't have any help.

After a little self convincing talk, I decided to cut the small stencil so that it would line up nicely against the wall. See the difference that made in the pictures above. It saved me a lot of time and frustration and probably some tears too. Just being honest here!

Isn't my wall beautiful?! I could just stare at it forever :)

In these next two pictures you will meet Raphie and Francis. Can you guess who is who? :)

Thanks so much for having me over here!

Feel free to stop by Breezy Pink Daisies. I love meeting new people, so don't be shy! And you can see all the crazy and fun things I've been up to lately...like dressing up as a fire dancer at a murder mystery party and coloring light bulb with sharpies :)

ORGANIZATION AND MONEY SAVING TIPS

2013-02-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Today I welcome April from Countryside Life as my guest blogger,
she has some great money
and organization saving tips to offer.
Thanks for helping out April!

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Hello, My name is April, and I am a Christian homeschooling mom, a farmer's wife, and a minister's daughter and a gardener from Missouri. My husband works full time outside the home and I for the most part am at home, although I do run a small business as a CPR instructor our of my home. I also volunteer as an EMT, as a Girls Scout volunteer, 4H leader and help with Church camp each summer. It seems as my girls get older (the youngest two are 14 now), I put more on my plate, so needless to say, I stay busy.

In order to be a stay at home mom, I hove learned to cut back where I can. I am frugal (although my kids sometimes call me cheap!). We have an orchard, garden and fruit trees, and I can, freeze and dehydrate our food, we also grow our own pork, beef, and fish. I cook from scratch, bake our bread, sew, and I make my own soap...As I said, I keep BUSY!

However, busy can often cause disorganization, and disorganization can cost money. One way I save is by having a large pantry. Upstairs, in my kitchen I have a standard built in pantry. But downstairs, is "the Emporium" as my husband calls it.

I had someone ask me why most homeschooling families have large stock up pantries. I don't think it is a matter of being a home-school family, but rather I think it is being more common for single income families to have a stock up pantry, and, most homeschooling families are running their household on a single income. Therefore, we tend to be a little more frugal. I also take into consideration the fact that for me, it is 5 miles to the nearest grocery store, and almost 30 to the nearest Aldi or Wal-Mart. I can't afford the time or the gas to run into town daily to purchase one item I lack for making dinner.

I don't stock up on everything. I don't on TP, paper towels or paper items, because I have lost those items before to to a broken water pipe, and they are a fire hazard. They are also bulky to store. Items in plastic or cans are easier. I also don't stock up on short shelf life items.

Most of my stock up nonfood items come from sales at CVS, Walgreen or Dollar General. By combining the sale price and coupon you can often get the item for free. I have a year of supply of shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, soap, dish soap, deodorant, razors, shaving cream...but a good part of it I got free or close to it. For example, every so often CVS has VO5 shampoo on sale for 77 cents. I usually have 4 coupons for VO5 for 75 cents off that appear in the paper on a regular basis. So, I get 4 bottles and pay 2 cents each, so 8 cents for 4 large bottles of shampoo. If I just waited to get it when we needed it, I would be paying full price possibly, my current coupons would be expired and they may not come out with another sale and coupon combo when I needed it.

I also am not brand loyal to many items. This allows me to take advantage on any shampoo that is on sale and combine it with coupons, instead of having to wait for a certain brand to come on sale. Each week you can count on at least one brand being on sale.

My coupon book is always with me when I shop, so if I find unadvertised sale items, I can take advantage of the sale price with a coupon. However, if it is an item I can still get for less by purchasing it elsewhere or a different brands, then it isn't a good deal. I keep it organized by keeping my coupons in pockets divided by categories. Expired coupons I send off for overseas military personnel to use.

My pantry shelves are all labeled. This keeps my items organized. No matter who puts items away, they can tell by the labels where it needs to go. You can also tell at a single glance what items we are low on. Organization is the key for stockpiling a pantry. You must know what you need, what you don't need, and when items will go out of date. You won't save any money if you pay for items and have them expire or rot on you. Keeping it organized also prevents you from making a special trip to the store to buy pickles when you already have 4 jars on the shelf

My husband built my pantry, out boards, and some concrete blocks from the barn and some extras that my dad had. In a few weeks, we are getting ready to add on to my pantry, by adding another section.

Couponing and pantry stocking don't have to be on a large scale. You can even do it on a smaller scale by taking advantage of using an empty closet or space under a bed.

You can also use this to not only help your own budget, but that of others as well. Each week I take into our local crisis center items to donate that I don't use or need that I got for free. I get a receipt for taxes and someone in need gets shampoo, diapers, tuna or Rague that they need.

April

KITCHEN MAKEOVER

2013-02-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

Today I'd like to welcome Grace from Sense and Simplicity as a guest blogger. Thanks Grace for helping out !!!

Joy, thanks so much for having me as a guest blogger while you are busy moving across the country. It was fun to revisit my kitchen (not that I don't visit it daily to cook) and see how it has changed over the years since we moved into our house. Feel free to pop on over to my blog, Sense and Simplicity, to see what life is like for me as a Speech Pathologist by day and a design-loving Mom of three by night in Toronto, Canada.

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When we moved into our house over eleven years ago our kitchen was far from my dream kitchen. While it was functional, it certainly lacked in the beauty department. However, I knew that mostly it needed some cosmetic changes that I could do with a little time, money, and energy (okay, a lot of energy). I thought it might be interesting to show you how the kitchen has changed over the years and to give you an update as to whether I would change anything or not.

July 2001

When we bought our house the kitchen (which you can see below in the previously-never-been-revealed photo of a photo) had bleached oak cabinets with a horrible white laminate countertop that always was dirty no matter how often you cleaned it. The previous owners had put up flowered shelf liner as a backsplash (thankfully it wasn't real wallpaper so it was very easy to remove). And there was no dishwasher!

April 2004

We took down the fruity shelf liner backsplash (cheerful though it was) and put up beadboard. At that time the beadboard was painted green because the colour of the cabinets would have clashed with white.

August 2008

We had the countertop replaced with a slate gray laminate. You can often see the laminate counter in photos I put on my blog as it is a great neutral background (like for this salad).

At the same time that we had the countertops changed we had the contractor build a shelf at the end of the peninsula to store dishes. We also had the counter on the peninsula widened so it is about six inches wider than a regular counter now. And we had a dishwasher installed (finally!!!). This was how our kitchen looked for another two years (you can see more photos here).

July 2010 I painted the cabinets and backsplash over a grueling three week period. It took forever (or seemed to at the time), but was so worth it. You can see how our family room looked for those three weeks. Yikes! You can read more about the process here.

I love what a difference painting the cabinets made. I chose to paint the upper cabinets and backsplash in BM Chantilly Lace (OC-65) and the lower cabinets a medium gray colour, BM Steel Wool (2121-20) (you can see my inspiration photos here).

October 2011 You can see in the photo above that the open shelves were initially all white. In October 2011 I painted a foam core board to place at the back of the shelves to add a little interest (which you can read more about here). I used leftover gray paint from the lower cabinets and painted a design that was neutral enough that lots of different patterns and colours could be displayed on the shelves.

And I do use lots of colours to decorate the shelves. Here they are decorated in yellow and white.

And here they are decorated for Christmas last year in red, orange, and white.

And how they are right now in blue and white.

UPDATE Having lived with the kitchen makeover for over two years, I thought it would be interesting to review the decisions we made to see if there is anything we regret or would change.
Painted cabinets - I love white kitchens so I knew that I would love the cabinets painted. The biggest leap of faith I took was painting the lower cabinets gray instead of white. It turned out to have been a good move as I love how the gray on the bottom helps hide the dirt that manages to be attracted to lower cabinets. I also like how it looks a little different than an all-white kitchen. I painted the cabinets in oil-based paint and before I wrote this post I checked to see how the paint was holding up. There is only one little chip on them (that you can see in the photo below) - I think maybe the vacuum cleaner hose made it when it got pulled past. I'm impressed at how well the paint has stood up through two-and-a-half years of heavy use.

Laminate counter - I love the neutral colour we chose and I love that nothing (and I do mean nothing) stains it. I'm careful about using a cutting board and hot mats as laminate is not durable that way, but so far we do not have any scratches or nicks.

Beadboard backsplash - I love how the beadboard makes the kitchen look cozy and relaxed. It was very inexpensive (less than $50 including the glue we used) and was quick and easy to install. People often think that it will be hard to keep clean, but we have had no difficulty with it. The paint slightly filled in the cracks between the boards so it is easy to wipe any spots that get on it.

Painted design in the back of the open shelves - I love how it adds interest to the kitchen, but is still neutral enough that I can decorate the shelves lots of different ways.

I hope you enjoyed the diary of my kitchen renovations. There are still things I would love to do to the kitchen - top of my list would be getting stainless appliances (our fridge is leaking water at the bottom so things are looking hopeful there). Despite my wish list, I enjoy using our kitchen and appreciate how much it has improved - it is now a great blend of functional and pretty.

My dream is to do a complete gut renovation on a kitchen some day. Have you ever done a kitchen renovation - little or big? Any regrets or did it all go according to plan?

FAREWELL AND SAYING GOODBYE

2013-02-01T05:30:00.000-08:00

Saying goodbye has always been a difficult thing for me to do. I guess I'm like my Dad in that respect, he and I would always cry when our vacation ended and we'd leave my Uncle and Aunt in Michigan and have to go back home to Minnesota. Tears come easily for me, and I know how hard it is to move! I remember our last move all to well. I have such a mixture of emotions - excitement for the move, making new friends and settling into a new home, but sorrow for what we will leave behind.

The Parsonage that we called home for sixteen years.

I'll be sad to leave behind family and also the friends we've made in this home. When you're leaving a place it always has you reflecting back on the past. As I think back over the past sixteen years, (it will be almost 16 years to the day that we moved in - Feb. 14, 1997). I remember driving up to this home with my husband and children for the first time. The children's ages at that time were from 3 years to 16, they're now 19 - 32 years of age. ( Oh, how time flies by). There are so many joyful memories here. In this home we celebrated many birthdays and Christmas's, planned two weddings, welcomed two son-in-laws and two granddaughters into the family. The Lord has blessed our family richly!

There were many changes made in this Parsonage to make it out home. The first was to add hardwood floors to the dinning room and kitchen. (this photo was before the trim was even added).

Bathroom makeover

Master Bedroom Makeover - Board and Batten added to the walls.

Living-room made over.

The laundry room and kitchen where made over too.

And my last project that I've enjoyed a few short months - my office.

I'll miss the mountain view from the kitchen window

and the Pacific Northwest with all of God's beauty that surrounded us while living here.

The change of the seasons here was breath taking!

Farewell Washington!

WHY THRIFTY PEOPLE SIGN UP FOR SAMPLES

2013-01-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today I'd like to welcome Kristen from Joyfully Thriving as my guest blogger. Thanks Kristen for your help while I'm busy with moving.

Kristen writes about all things frugal (including free samples) at her website, Joyfully Thriving. A pastor's daughter who now teaches in a parochial school, she is well equipped in the art of thrifty living. Kristen writes to encourage others in their frugal journey so we may all thrive joyfully in the process!

There are many thrifty and frugal strategies that one can employ, but my favorite technique is one that anyone can quickly do. What is that, you ask? Request free samples. Take a look at what samples arrive in my mailbox on any given day.

Now, what samples, and where do you find them, and why should you? Let me give you my top five lists of all things relating to samples. Here are my top five reasons for signing up for samples.

It’s nice to open my mailbox and receive something other than bills.
It doesn’t take long to regularly see the results of my sample requests, as evidenced by my full mailbox.
I like getting something for nothing.
My travel bag is always lighter thanks to the little shampoo and conditioner samples.
The coupons that come (most of the time) with the samples help round out my coupon box. I’m saving money by requesting samples!

I request many samples, but my favorite samples / freebies to request are as follows.

Shampoo and conditioner. We all need to wash our hair so these samples will never go to waste.
Laundry detergent. Nothing makes laundry easier than knowing you are washing your clothes with free detergent.
Deodorant. These samples come in mini containers that are perfect for travel and last for at least a week - perfect for vacation time!
Food samples. Why shouldn't we try new foods for free?
Magazines. I haven't paid for them in years because free samples / trials abound with no risk and prompt delivery!

In my years of requesting samples, here are the top five things I’ve learned about samples.

Always use a junk / spare email account when registering for samples. Most times, you won’t receive email but you don’t want it filling up your main email account.
Don’t be disappointed if a specific sample doesn’t come. 9 times out of 10, my samples arrive but I don’t expect them until I see them in my mailbox.
Request samples through reputable sites such as Freebies4Mom, Money Saving Mom, or the ones that I post at my site, Joyfully Thriving.
Don’t spend lots of time searching for samples. When a good one comes along, sign up quickly and then go on your merry way.
Have fun with the little frugal moments as well as the big!

Kristen

MOVING TIPS (part 3)

2013-01-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

Here are just a few more trips to help make your move a little less stressful.

Relocation Reminders

(I have this in my moving binder.)

Change of address forms sent to post office.

Change of address to all subscribed papers and magazines

Transfer insurance policies or set up new ones before leaving.

Notify electric, water, gas and phone companies when to discontinue your service.
Children's school records
Doctor and Dental records

Pack a box with first arrival essentials.

(When our daughter went off to school , I told here she needed one of these boxes.

She thought it was a bit silly, but thanked me for it later!)

Light bulbs and flashlight

Medicine, Shampoo and soap

Trash bag

Towels

Toilet Paper

Paper plates and cups along with plastic silverware

Basic tools - hammer, pliers, screwdriver

Paper towels and napkins

First aid items

Make sure this box is in an area in the truck that will be taken off first, and placed in an area that is easily accessible.

(Here's my arrival box that I've started to pack.)

Pack a car bag for your trip, if moving a long distance.

Snacks and beverages
Maps and or GPS
Games for the children
Hotel reservations
(Making the reservation before leaving your home can take the stress off while traveling).

I'm hoping to share more about our move in the future, but for the next few weeks I'm very thankful to have some blogger friends willing to do guest posts for me.

TIPS FOR MOVING (part 2)

2013-01-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

In my last post Tips For Moving , I covered making a moving binder and packing essentials . Today I'll be adding a few more tips. We have always done all of our own moves, and never had the privilege of having professional movers do the job for us. The tips I'm giving are what I've learned doing our own moves and could be different if you are dealing with a moving company.

3. Pack efficiently.

-Try to pack one room at a time placing items for the room in clearly marked boxes. If you mix things from different rooms in one box it makes for mass confusion when unpacking.

-Make sure all the items you're packing are clean and or laundered.

-Place sheets for bedrooms in a dresser drawer . This makes it easy to find the bedding when you are setting up the beds.

-Use suitcases to pack extra clothing to save space.

-Fill every available space - we have packed clothing in our freezer. Dishtowels in our microwave and light weight items in the washer and dryer.

- Do not pack items that are combustible. If packing liquids such as laundry soap, place it in a plastic bag and then in a plastic tub with a lid. If the liquid leaks it will not be running over all your other items in the moving truck. When moving in the winter time and cold weather, I don't pack any of the liquid items just to avoid any items freezing.

4. Label Each Box Well

Place a label on each box and at the top of the label write which room it is for.

Under the room name include some of the main contents in the box,

marking fragile items clearly. ( I mark FRAGILE in red).

-I used recipe cards and self stick labels for marking our boxes. I also use some of the labels from The Project Girl that you can print yourself. I found these labels after half my packing was done, otherwise I would have used them for all the boxes.

Source: theprojectgirl.com via Joy on Pinterest

-Number the box and in your moving binder write the number of the box with a brief description of what is the box. This helps when you are searching for something while unpacking.

- Color code your labels or numbers according to room. (Example - kitchen = red, bedroom = blue, etc.) -Designate one box (I use a plastic shoe box) to place all screws and brackets in. I place each set in baggies marked with what item it is for. Example - screws and curtain bracket for bedroom curtain rods.
-Pack a box with important documents, jewelry, and money. Transport this in the vehicle you are traveling in for easy assess .

TIPS FOR MOVING

2013-01-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I'm planning to share a few post over the next few days on moving tips. My post may be a bit brief for a while because of being so busy with moving.

Tips For Moving

# 1 Create a moving binder.

Keep track of everything in a binder - moving costs, estimates and an inventory of your items.
Keep a log of transfer of records - school, dental, medical records, newspapers, magazine, change of address and change of email address.

#2 If you're doing your own packing,

get the essential supplies.

Collect boxes from grocery stores or buy them from a moving company or large stores such as Home Depot. Mattress bags or boxes are a must to prevent damage to your mattress.

We have found these items to be essential along with many rolls of packing tape and paper. We usually go to our local newspaper office and buy unprinted paper end rolls. This works great for wrapping and does not give off ink like newspapers do.

Shrink wrap and bubble wrap are also two must haves.

You can use this to wrap around mirrors, photos, and other delicate items. We also use the shrink wrap to keep the moving blankets and padding around the furniture.

To save on space in the moving truck pack bedding and pillows in space saving bags. These bags also help protect your bedding from getting soiled.

Come back and in my next post I'll share more tips.

I'm off to more packing :)

AN UPDATE ON THE PROGRESS OF OUR MOVE

2013-01-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

I know I've been MIA this past week, but it's been a bit busy here with packing in full bloom. You might be wondering about the progress of our move. I'm starting to feel like I'm drowning in a sea of cardboard boxes. The parsonage isn't that large and with everything having to be placed in boxes, we are now walking through allies of boxes.

If you've ever done a large move across the country yourself, you'll know what a HUGE and daunting chore it is. First it's the going through and sorting of everything. Then the endless yards of paper and wrapping of each item. There are the many trips to the grocery stores for FREE moving boxes, and numerous trips to Goodwill to get rid of the stuff you've purged.

I feel like I'm living in limbo, our house doesn't feeling like home anymore. Once the pictures come off the walls and curtains come down the house starts to have an empty feel to it.

I'm hoping to do a post (if I have time) on tips for moving. I think I've learned a few things along the way that are helpful, since this is our 13th move in 33years of marriage. I'm also still looking for a few more people willing to do a guest post for me. The post doesn't have to be a new post, you could share a post you've done on your blog already. Please send me an email if your interested.

thriftyparsonageliving(at)gmail(dot)com

Thanks!

Joy

LIFE CHANGING NEWS

2013-01-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

I wanted to pop in quickly and let you know that I haven't forgotten about you completely. There are many changes taking place here at Thrifty Parsonage Living. In fact we have taken on a HUGE life changing project.

My husband has had several inquires over the past months and now has received a call to serve as pastor to another church. This new position means we will be moving! It's life changing in the fact that this has been our home for 16 years. We'll be leaving church family and four of our five children and grandchildren behind. We'll also be leaving the beautiful mountains and ocean in exchange for the vast and wide prairies. The move will involve almost 2000 miles of travel.

We've already started the major packing process because of all the work involved. We will be very busy over the next weeks packing and saying our tearful farewells. I'm asking for a little help from you my blogging friends. No, I'm not asking you to come and pack boxes, but rather if any of you are willing to write a guest post for this blog. I would greatly appreciate the help.

I ask that the post would be related to makeovers, DIY'S, things dealing with being thrifty, a great craft project or projects for your home. You can just send me an email if your interested and I'll get back to you on the details.

thriftyparsonageliving (at) gmail (dot) com

This is how my newly made over office is looking. I'm sad to leave it behind after just making it over.

I'm hoping to keep you up to date on our progress and the move. I'll also have a lot rooms and projects to share with you in the " new" parsonage. The "new" parsonage is actually a home of 50 plus years, but recent renovations make it very lovely.

Have a great day!

Joy