July in review and no-spend August

Hello everybody, happy Friday to you! I hope you’ve had a great week – I’m still at the Haven Conference and having a blast! Well…I hope I am anyway. I wrote this before I left. ;)

I’ll be back next week with some more DIY, but for now I’m reviewing the big posts from July and I have a fun little announcement at the end that I’m getting excited about. :)

First up last month I shared how I tackled my first true floating shelves:

These are great storage for some of the Bub’s Lego sets – I love having them on display but these also get them out of the way.

Next I shared the details on the powder room redo:

I covered the sources and details for everything in the room, so if you had questions on anything it should be answered there!

I did a little organizing (and prettifying) in the dining room – those skinny little cabinets hold a TON of stuff:

I’m so glad I decided to incorporate that closed storage in the built ins!

I shared more about our latest RV trip and the little cabin in the woods that we stayed in:

Many of you asked the name of the cabins/RV park and it’s called Neshonoc Lakeside in LaCrosse Wisconsin. :)

Next up I showed you a FUN new DIY product – painters tape that comes in shapes!:

This is the first chevron in our house and it may be the last. We’ll see – I’m still not hooked. I do like this little touch of it though. It’s staying for awhile at least!

Next up I hope to use the wave version of the shape tape. ;)

I shared my plan for our mud room redo in this post, including some lovely inspiration pics:

Drool.

I was busy working on our master bedroom in July and I shared more about our new bed here and the how-to on the tufted headboard here:

I’ve made a few more changes in there since and I’m SO pleased with how the room is coming together! Our bed is still my favorite part. ;)

Last week I shared the ways I deal when cash is low. I’ve learned over the years it’s a horrible feeling and I’ve always had a few tried and true methods to keep my spirits up:

I loved your thoughts too – there were some great ideas in the comments!

This week I shared how I’m not killing my hydrangeas anymore:

I’ve made a concentrated effort to learn more about them and it’s paid off!

So I’m excited about August! This month I’ve decided to do another “no spend” month. I first did this a couple summers ago and actually quite enjoyed it! I have so many projects that need to be finished up, so many spots that need decluttering, and I just enjoy trying to work with what we already have.

So this month I won’t spend any cash on DIY or decorating projects. I have one that we’ve scheduled that will probably happen, more on that later. But otherwise I hope to stick to only what we’ve got! I hope you’ll be inspired!

Take care all and have a great weekend! :)

*P.S. As soon as I get back from Haven we head out for the NKOTB concert.

AWW. yeah.

Can’t wait!!

June in review!

Hello friends! How was your holiday weekend? Ours was wonderful – I’m hoping to get a ton done outside today since we’ve had so much rain over the past few days.

And what WHUT, yes I’m posting on the weekend! I figured I would get the month in review up while it was still somewhat recent. :)

June was a doozy for us – a vacation, lots of family news and visits, and the hubby was traveling most of the month so the Bub and I had LOTS of time together! ;) It was a wonderful month and I never wish away time – it was just busy and I’m ready to move on to the rest of the (lazy??) summer!

I’ve mentioned our temps have been ahhhhmazing here in Indiana – I took advantage of those to install some quick, cheap hardware on the garage a few weeks ago:

I got it from Home Depot for $10 and I LOVE the little change! Did you find any there?

Next up I recapped some of the projects in the kitchen over the past few years and how I’ve tried to transform it from dark to lighter and brighter without painting the cabinets:

  

Our vacation this month was so special to us – the first trip to Disney for both the Bub and I!:

I still miss it and can’t wait for our next trip!! (By the way, there were some great thoughts on when to visit in the comments of that post!)

I finally assembled and hung a huge map from IKEA for the basement:

And I added a little personal touch to mark where we’ve been too. :)

Next up I shared a few of my thrifty finds of late, including these awesome letters:

I’m still trying to decide exactly where they will go!

I FINALLY finished the powder room that has been a mess for years now:

Are you tired of seeing it yet?? I’m not. :)

I also shared more about the vintage boat oar I made into art, and details and sources for everything else in the room:

YAHOO, so happy it’s done and that I really love it.

I shared my favorite sangria recipe – it does take a lot of ingredients but SO GOOD and so worth it:

It’s such a great drink for a summer party! (Or heck…any party. I’m not picky.)

Now that the bathroom is done I’m focusing on some much needed organizing around here. Or as I like to call it – decrapifying:

I started with the overflowing utensil drawer in the kitchen. It overflows no more.

I finished up the month by making my first true floating shelves:

I forgot to give you the cost on those – my original plan cost $35 for materials, but when I had to go back and get something different the final cost was $40. I’ve not found long ready made floating shelves for that. (The short one is four feet and the long one five.)

So there you go, the big ones from the month of June! Did you miss anything? I’ll be back tomorrow with the July Before and After Party – just a little late. ;) If you’d like to go ahead and add the button to your post here it is:

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/" title="TDC Before and After" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/beforeAndAfterButton_thumb1.gif" alt="TDC Before and After" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 

See you tomorrow! :)

Month in review and hydrangea update

Hello all and WHOOT for Friday! We’re having a blast so far this summer, hope yours has been great! I’m back with another month in review for May, and I’m a little behind. Whatevs.

I’m trying to keep up with questions in the posts too, so if you’ve had any in the comments on these posts, go back and take a look – you should see a response! Or you will by the end of the weekend. :)

First up was a super yummy, super easy dessert I found:

Only two ingredients and it’s SO GOOD! I tried it with cherry filling too, but I still prefer the pineapple. YUMMO.

We had an interested discussion about shopping Goodwill and how the prices have changed:

I guess I wasn’t the only one who has noticed a change! I will continue to shop there, it’s just not as often as I used to.

There was a lot of powder room progress, finally! I shared some of it here and the new paint color here:

And my cheater crown molding method here:

No, I haven’t abandoned the room again. Well, kinda. It’s thisclose to done!! I just have to finish painting some trim and I’ve been putting it off. It WILL be done next week, stay tuned for the reveal!

I shared a small change that I thought made a big difference in the living room:

Go here to see what it was. :)

I celebrated five years of blogging in May and shared my thoughts, advice and what I consider my top five projects here:

Ripping the carpet off those stairs was high on that list. :)

I have a favorite resource for inexpensive and fun knobs:

Their selection is HUGE too!

Towards the end of the month I showed you our backyard garden, as it is now:

We’ve already added a few new things back there, but what I’m most excited about is the hydrangea progress! If you remember back on this post last summer, I told you how I cannot get them to grow! I moved them around last year and they did OK, but still didn’t bloom.

This was one set of plants as they were in that post:

And this is them now, just two weeks later!:

Those are BLOOMS people!! 

We have had the MOST glorious summer so far – seriously amazing. Low temps, lots of rain – they LOVE it:

 

That one has a ton of blooms going on it, and the others are flowering as well:

Here’s the area on the back of the patio before:

I took out the one that had died and replaced it with a new one, so I can’t take credit for the large one on the left:

Well, I guess I can take credit that it’s still alive and blooming. ;) But the others are doing much better. Oh yeah, and there’s a tree there now too. We put it there for shade on the patio, but I’m hoping it gives those hydrangeas some much needed relief from the sun in the hotter months as well.

Have I mentioned how happy I am that for the first time ever…I have blooms!!:

Awesome, eh? I am so excited!! I have hope hydrangeas don’t hate me anymore.

Finally, I finished off the month with a spot in the master I call the “man nook”:

That corner used to be dark and gloomy, now it’s a pretty spot that the hubby loves to use! I’m starting on some big changes in this room this weekend!

That’s it for the month of May – did you miss one? :) How has your summer weather been so far? Have a great weekend peeps, I’ll see you back here next week!