Thrifty, cheap, broke and stingy can still produce good design.

My Finished Parlor Done on Shoe String Budget.

CHAIRS: Salvation Army - $20 each. CHAIR CUSHION: Sewn from flocked yardage found in NY - $15.

TABLE: Decoupaged with Chess Board (See tutorial)

CHINA CABINET: Salvation Army: $100. CHANGED HARDWARE: $10 from Home Depot. BASKETS: Collected from gift baskets given to me.

WINGBACK CHAIRS: Salvation Army - $35 each. MICRO SUEDE SLIPCOVERS: Target - $40 each. PILLOWS: Big Lots - $20 each.

CAT PAINTING: Done by me. RUG: Big Lots - $40.

OLD END TABLE: Thrift Shop - $10 (Decoupaged and Painted).

OLD TRUNK: Side of Road. TIN: Gift. LUNCH BOX: $15. VINTAGE SILVER TRAY: Swap Meet - $10. CANDLE STICKS: Big Lots - $10 each. FRAME: Big Lots - $3. PRINT: Cut from Calendar.

Home Sweet Home Flag Banner (with printables)

While I was away on a business trip to Utah this winter, my kids surprised me with a "Welcome Home" flag banner they made with notebook paper and crayons.


I loved how it looked in the location they hung it so much I left it up for months.


While they were gone I decided to design a permanent banner (that would also welcome them back).

I designed the letter flags in Photoshop (see printables at the end of this post) using Googled images of "damask" and "vintage border" for the backgrounds. I used free fonts (found on DaFont.com).

I printed two sets on cardstock.

 

After cutting out the flags I lined them up accordingly and matched the two sides (so it reads "Home Sweet Home" from both the kitchen and the parlor).

 

I taped the two top edges of each flag together and and then on to twill ribbon tape.

 

I stapled the bottom points together.

Printables (click to enlarge and print).

Revamp: Old and Cheap BBQ

I have a terribly cruddy old gas BBQ I inherited on my patio.

As ugly as it is (I can't stand looking at it outside of my sliding glass doors in my dining room!) it actually works fine.

I figured before I threw it out, I'd see if I could make it pretty (for almost no money).

First:

I disassembled it as must as possible. I unscrewed the wooden slates on either side and the wooden handle, and removed the top portion from its hinges. Of course, I also removed the gas tank.

Next:

I scrubbed and scraped grease and residue until I couldn't stand to do it any more. I then dried off all the parts, lay them on a tarp and painted each component a different color (using outdoor spray paint).

I used a redwood color for the wooden pieces (which I also needed to touch up a rocker that I keep on the patio), a hunter green for the lid (and the wheels - for fun) which matches my patio umbrella and a specially formulated heat tolerant black BBQ paint for the body (cost the same as the others - about $3.50 at Walmart).

I let the pieces dry and then reassembled.....and it's almost pretty! Should last another season, anyway. Super frugal and makes me pine for springtime.

*Update: the burner in this cheap BBQ was rusted out, but they sell them at Lowes and Home Depot ($27) so I bought one and easily installed it myself! Works like new now.