Monday, October 24, 2011

$5 Halloween Decor

I know not many people read this blog. I don't update it, so it's pretty easy to pass by. But I thought I'd share with you all today some Halloween decor I made for our "front door area" (we live in an apartment, so technically it's not porch).


It all started with a sign I saw on Pinterest: {Halloween Sign}. I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, but I like the cute,  non-spooky things that are floating around. The sign in the picture is obviously store-bought, but since I'm trying to be frugal and thrifty I decided to make my own! I went to my local Roberts Arts & Crafts store and picked up a piece of ply wood and ribbon. Lucky for me it was 2 for Tuesday, so that meant I could use 2 coupons instead of the usual "40% off your entire purchase!" Score! So, the total was $5 + tax. Not too shabby. I had most of the other supplies I needed, such as paint. For the broom stick I literally just gathered a bunch of sticks, so it was free! I love that word. :)

First things first, I had to weather my wood a little bit. Since it wasn't a solid piece I couldn't do too much with it except hit it with a hammer. I also "stained" my wood using extremely watered down black tempera paint.


The next step: Finding the right shade. This took a little patience. I first tried a brighter color, much like the weird green color that Carter's baby clothes are sporting this year (it's a cute color for girls, but hard to match things to...). Here it is:


Not my best paint job, and definitely not the best color mixture! It literally looked like I painted it with a hi-lighter. Ugh. Try #2 was much more successful. I just added a little more green to my previous paint mixture, and voila!

Next came the words. I wanted the sign to look kind of witchy but still nice. Lucky for me and my Pinterest skills, I found {this tutorial} for transferring printed words onto wood-no Cricut or Silhouette needed! Perfect!


I learned the hard way to not let your paper get too wet. I had to get my board wet and rub off the excess paper, sometimes rubbing off part of the letters. I ended up painting over my printed words, but still totally worth it.


For the edge I used the same painting technique as stenciling- just dipped the tip of my brush in the paint, "dabbed" it on the side of my plastic, and then "dabbed" it on my board. The flash doesn't do my sign justice in this picture--there is a much more gradual look to the edges in real life.

Before I hung the picture on the wall, I gave it a little sanding, so everything looked a little more muted/old.

Hung with 3M hooks
Like I said before, for the broom I just went "stick hunting" with my little girl. I found this awesome road in our apartment complex that doesn't look like it's used much anymore. It's not paved and it's completely lined with trees. The main stick was forked, but my handy and strong husband snapped one side off for me (we don't have a saw). Thanks, babe!

The shorter sticks are put on my broom in layers. I used floral wire from the Dollar Tree to keep them in place and just stopped adding sticks when I ran out of wire. It's not the fullest broom, but it works for our "front door area!" Happy Halloween, everyone!

What frugal decorations have you made this year?

Friday, July 29, 2011

Samples Anyone?

 I'm on a samples kick and I think it's going to last a long time. Sure, they're sample size, but you can't beat free, right? I just scored free diapers at WalMart and Target. Best. Feeling. Ever. So go ahead. Just search for "free samples" at Walmart or "Sample Spot" at Target. You won't be disappointed.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Kid To Kid

Kid to Kid is a franchise selling gently used children's clothing at ridiculously reduced prices. I just bought my little one a swimsuit for $4.50. And it's cute, trendy, and pink--just the way I like her clothes! Check out their website to see if there's a Kid to Kid in your area!

Friday, June 10, 2011

Savers

{picture souce}


I just came across this wonderful thrift store that sells gently used merchandise. Talk about a poor frugal person's heaven! I found 2 cute board books for my little one for only $1.40. Total. They also had tons of cute clothes, shoes, toys, accessories... It's pretty much like TJ Maxx for people with tighter budgets. I'm in love. I'm definitely going there again. Check out their website to see if there's a Savers in your area by {clicking here}.

FREE Personalized Father's Day Card from Tiny Prints

I just came across this smokin' hot deal for Father's Day! Tiny Prints, an amazing print company, is giving anyone a free personalized Father's Day card! No purchase necessary! Just enter the code FREEFD at checkout. You can send it to yourself for free or have Tiny Prints send it to the father of your choice for 44 cents (the cost of normal postage). There's nothing better than a free card that has your own special touch!

Browse the collection by clicking on this sample card

Thursday, April 28, 2011

50% off ERGObaby carrier and Giveaway


Hurry over to babysteals.com for up to 60% off an ERGObaby carrier! This deal is only good for today (4/28/10), so quit your lolly-gagging! Babysteals.com is also offering one lucky winner a FREE ERGOBaby carrier in adorable Petunia Pickle Bottom fabric! Click {here} for details! Giveaway ends May 1, 2011 at 11:59 p.m (MDT).

I've been hunting the internet for a cheap ERGO for months, and I'm SO excited to finally be able to afford one!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Deals, Deals, and MORE Deals!

Did everyone have fun at the Gifts of the Heart Exchange? I got away with a darling button-up shirt for my little girl. It had spit-up stains, but that was nothing a little Oxi-Clean couldn't handle! Best of all... it was FREE! :)


I've been finding a lot of good deals lately, particularly for my little girl. Have you been following the Hip2Save blog? If so, you'll probably recognize some of these deals. A while back she had a post about $25 off a purchase of $50 or more at the Gap! I quickly snagged that up and made a quick trip to Baby Gap  because I knew that $50 would go a lot farther there, and Baby Girl was in desperate need of clothing. I came away with 3 shirts for this summer, 1 shirt for the winter, and a cute pink winter hat. My total? $3.80 (roughly). I happened to have a $25 gift card from a baby shower last July that I never had the heart to use... until now!

Next on my list of awesome snags is Baby Girl's Easter dress. We got a $10 gift from Kohl's in the mail, so I headed on over to our local Kohl's to see what their dress selection was like. To be honest no one has super dressy dresses for babies, but I managed to find a sweet pink sundress on sale for $12. With my gift in the mail the dress cost $2.14. Steal. 


Last but NOT least, are you a member of Pampers Gifts to Grow program? If you are, there is an awesome 50 point promo code, which I found on Hip2Save (did I mention how much I love this website?). Check it out {here}. If you're not a member of Gifts to Grow, head on over {here} to join! You'll get 100 points just for joining! These points are used to get free stuff from photo books to diapers.com gift cards! I'm up to 800+ and I haven't even entered all my codes! Codes can be found on the inside of any Pampers diapers, training pants, or wipes package.

Well, that's my frugality for the last few weeks! Keep your eyes peeled for more great snags and clip, clip, clip those coupons. You never know what hidden treasure you'll find!

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