Pins That I've Tried and I Love

floor cushion tutorial via Living With Punks

For three months Pinterest has been my constant companion in the wee hours of the morning while I nurse my Little One.  I've discovered some pretty great recipes and tips/tricks in all my scrolling.

The following 8 are currently my favorite pins.

1.  DIY Floor Cushion (mine is in the first picture):  I got the itch to make something on Labor Day and had about a yard of fabric on hand.  This project was perfect.  The cushion looks great and it was fairly easy.  I'm pretty proud of myself for getting the piping right!  Pin / Link

2.  "Man-Pleasing Chicken":  Maple syrup, Dijon mustard on chicken thighs....so good.  Pin / Link

3.  Homemade Cheese Crackers:  I had some cheese that I needed to use up before it went bad.  This recipe is so simple and so good.  Little Man and I ate them all in one day!  Pin / Link

4.  NY Times Best Chocolate Chip Cookies:  This has become my go-to cookie recipe.  Crispy on the edges and soft in the middle.  Pin / Link 

5.  Brownie In a Mug:  Really great when you need a quick chocolate fix.  I have eaten way too many of these.  Pin / Link

6.  DIY Microdermabrasion:  I can't really say whether or not this DIY version is comparable to the real thing, but it's a good exfoliator and my skin looked smoother afterwards.  Pin / Link

7.  Homemade cleaners:  All purpose cleaners, natural disinfectants...this link has it all.  Pin / Link

8.  3 Day Potty Training:  I used this post as a guide to potty train Little Man and just like the title says, 3 days is all we needed.  Pin / Link

If  you have any favorite pins to pass on, just leave them in the comments!

Advent Inspiration

Can you believe tomorrow is December 1st!?  I'd planned to have a complete, home-made advent calendar by well...tomorrow, but I haven't even started yet.  I've actually had the plan for my calendar in my head since last Christmas.  I have the ornaments, I just need to buy a few more things and get going.  I really want my calendar to be a special tradition for my little man, and since he's still pretty young I think it's OK that we won't really be able to use it this year, but I'd hate for next Christmas to roll around and still not have a calendar.  I think I'm going to work on the ornaments little by little over the next few weeks to get all 25 done.  Hopefully I'll have a little ornament tutorial by tomorrow.

Since I don't have my own calendar yet, I figured I'd post some that I think are pretty inspiring. 

1.  Don't you love those little mittens?!
2.  I like the idea of having a separate little tree for advent ornaments.
3.  Love advent action cards that encourage children to do things for others.
4.  So pretty!
5.  Genius!  Little magnetic containers that you could put on any magnetic board or even on the refrigerator. 

Have a great Wednesday!

Thrifty Inspiration: Laundry Rooms

Very few people see my laundry room (mainly because I always keep the door shut to prevent the clothes from flooding our hallway) and it's tiny (slightly larger than the appliances themselves), but I've decided  to put some effort into making it a more organized and attractive space.  Plus, I have most of the supplies that I need and the ones that I don't have should be pretty inexpensive.

Here are a couple cheap laundry room projects that seriously have me believing that it's possible to create a pretty space out of the hole in the wall that is our laundry room.

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Tamsyn at Max and Me created this gallery wall for her laundry room as part of the Pinterest Challenge.  I'm a big fan of gallery walls (here and here) and something like this would look great in my laundry room.

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Diana at Our Vintage Home Love has a fantastic laundry room.  It looks amazing without fancy cabinetry or a front-loading washer/dryer.  So inspiring!  I love the shelves and the little counter top she created on the dryer.  Anyone could achieve this look without spending a fortune.

I'll probably only have time to clean our laundry room out this weekend, but I'm gonna try really hard to get it painted.  Of course I'll update on Monday!

Y'all have a good weekend!

DIY Sunburst Inspiration

It's official! I'm jumping on the sunburst bandwagon!  I didn't find one tutorial that's exactly what I'm looking for, so I'm going to use pieces of different tutorials to make a mirror that will fit perfectly in our bedroom.

I even went out and bought a few supplies yesterday.

I'm kind of working by trial and error right now and I've already discovered that I need a smaller mirror.  Once I figure out what I'm doing I don't think the process will take quite as long as I thought it would. 

When I'm done my mirror should be 30" in diameter and cost between $15 and $20.

I'm really looking forward to getting started and sharing the process with y'all!

1.  Crafty Nest
2.  Momtastic
3.  Addicted 2 Decorating
4.  Third Floor Design Studio

Thrifty Inspiration: Fall Decor

I've already mentioned this once this week, but I don't really have any fall decorations up because all of my hard earned Craigslist dollars are going towards more permanent items for my home.  Thank goodness these ladies posted some incredible and practically free fall decorating projects this week.  I may have to copy a few of them this weekend.

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Amanda at Girl in Pink made this lovely fall leaf garland from book pages.

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Erin at Stumbling Tongues made this adorable book page pumpkin.

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Courtney at A Diamond in the Stuff covered dollar store pumpkins with book pages.

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How cute are these corn husk pom-poms fro Centsational Girl?!

In other news that's completely unrelated to fall decor:  I have three of the four Wal-Mart sheets I need to line the Ikea curtains in my bedroom.  Woo hoo!  I'm hoping to have plenty to share next week.

Y'all have a great weekend!

Thrifty Inspiration

I've got to do something with my Salvation Army bedside table this weekend.  Hopefully I'll have a wonderfully re-done nightstand to share by Monday or Tuesday.  Also,  I sold the old curtains in my master bedroom so now I have some money to work with for new curtains.  Yippee!

Check out these pretty and thrifty projects these ladies posted this week!

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Teryn at Vintage Romance made this adorable ruffled bunting out of burlap.  She has a great tutorial that makes it look super easy.

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Pamela at PB&J Stories gave a fantastic how-to for stripping and re-finishing a piece of furniture.  Can you believe that table cost $15?!

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Kim at Keller Creative got "antique" maps from a calendar and framed them to make a very pretty display in her master bedroom.

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Victoria's project over at Vixen Made is not home decor related at all, but it is the epitome of thriftiness.  She made jeggings for her little girl from an old pair of jeans she didn't wear any more.  Amazing! 

Have a great weekend!

Thrifty Inspiration

It's been a pretty slow week here at The Thrifty Abode, but I'm getting my rear in gear this weekend.  I started painting our bedroom yesterday and I really love the color.  It's already made such a big difference. 

The following ladies have had a much more productive week than I have and they've created some wonderful things.

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Kim at Cheap Chic Home made this burlap basket that was inspired by a basket at Pottery Barn.  Her version is fantastic and I may have to copy her copy for my bedroom. 

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Debbie at Bungalow made a skirt (with piping!) for her wine rack and it looks fabulous.  A lot of the items in her lovely vignette are also home-made!

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Michele at Scrap Shoppe created the mother of all meal planners.  Talk about organization.  Check out her final product here.

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Kim at Keller Creative made no-sew pillows form napkins that she found at World Market.  Isn't that fabric pretty!?

Y'all have a wonderful weekend!

If you have a thrifty project you'd like to share please contact me at aaron.thethriftyabode@gmail.com

Thrifty Inspiration

Need some inspiration for a project to complete over the long weekend?  Go check these out!

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Victoria at Vixen Made created these darling pom-poms for her daughters Pinkalicious birthday party.  These are definitely going in my "If I Ever Have A Girl" file.

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 Erin at How to Nest for Less made this fabric wreath....it's also going in that file.

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Emily (a fellow North Carolinian) at Crisp Interiors created this chalk board to display house rules from an old pull-down map.

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Shanna at Swoon Style recovered the seats of six cane back chairs.  She got a really great deal on them and she made them look even more fabulous!

This week turned into a pretty busy week for us and I think this weekend is going to be busy as well.  Between the coming and going we'll be doing, I'll be checking Craigslist every chance I get and hopefully I'll come across the perfect end table for our living room.  Wish me luck!

Thrifty Inspiration

Check out the amazing thriftiness these ladies have been up to!

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Diana at Our Vintage Home stuck foam letters and numbers on old milk bottles and painted them.  They look wonderful!  Our Vintage Home is becoming one of my favorite blogs.  Diana does some amazing projects and takes beautiful pictures of her home. 

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Rinni at Rinnie's Playground gave an old triple dresser a beautiful blue paint job. 

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Jennifer at Blissfully Ever After painted letters onto the fabric liners of her industrial baskets for a Restoration Hardware look at a fraction of the price.

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Speaking of chores...Anne at Hello Newman's came up with this clever and cute solution for keeping up with weekly chores.  She used scrapbook paper and magnets.

All of these projects are fantastic and I'm definitely adding a couple of them to my to-do list!

Any thrifty projects up your sleeve this weekend?

Have a good one!

Affordable Chevron

I love a chevron rug....like this one from the set of the Nate Berkus show...

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...and this one from Joni's nursery over at lay baby lay. 

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A rug can be one of he most expensive pieces in a room and it could end up costing a pretty penny to get this look, but I came across a couple of chevron rugs that are reasonably priced.

This 5x7 is from Overstock and it's $80.  It comes in black and tan.

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This 5x7 is from Urban Outfitters, its $74, and it comes in black, gray, and a fun aqua color.

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Of course you could always just paint a chevron pattern on a cheap-o rug.

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I think I like the painted rug.  May have to try it sometime!

Nursery Inspiration: Pennant Banners and Gallery Walls

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Pennant + Gallery

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My pennant banner is done.  Now I just have to get moving on my gallery wall.  These pictures certainly give me motivation to get it finished.

Happy almost Friday!

Boy Nurseries Are Difficult

I'm having a hard time with my son's nursery change-up.  Right now it's a disaster area and completely unusable.  All he can do is sleep in there.  I have to do something about it soon.  Like, this weekend soon.  I'm still not totally sure what it is though. 

Maybe one day I'll have a girl and she'll have a pretty room like one of these.  Girls' rooms just seem to be so much easier to decorate.

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This one's been floating around Pinterest lately.  via

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Any boy nursery inspiration you'd like to share?  Are girls' rooms really easier?  I'd love to know!

Y'all have a good weekend!

Blah!

I'm  having a super, super, super, busy week and I really didn't expect to be as tired as I am.  My students tested last week and we're re-testing/make-up testing this week.  It is exhausting. 

On top of that, I still haven't recovered from our weekend at the beach.  Does anyone else find that "vacationing" with a toddler is more work than relaxation?

Despite all the ideas floating around in my head and how anxious I am to get started,  I'm gonna be putting them off 'til this weekend.

Until I have some of my own work to show, here are some gorgeous inspirations pics.  Are you tired of me posting pictures of homes with white walls?  No?  OK.

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