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Book Nook

Bekvam Spice Racks from Ikea $3.99 each

Cheap & Easy storage solution!

oh, hi

So it's been, oh, sevenish months since I started this blog. And I have 2 posts...not including this one. Lame!

But we are finally making forward progress on our house. Enough that I'm finally ready to show it off :) I hosted a huge play date today -15 littles under 3!- and the house was in tip-top shape so I decided to take some sneak-peek pics before the clutter starts creeping back in.

First up, the Front Room. This is what you see as you enter the house. This room also has our laundry & some storage cabinets, along with benches & crates my husband DiY'd. Pictures of those are coming soon.
We bought the buffet at a yard sale for $5 more than 7 years ago. It was my first refinishing project, and it shows. The whole thing could use a sanding & repainting, but I've got bigger fish to fry these days. So it stays.
The mirror was a wedding gift. It was originally distressed so you could see raw wood under the black. But it was totally clashing with all the white & cool tones I had going on in the room. Nothing a little paint pen can't fix. I just "drew" right over the raw edges with a white paint pen. It's a small change, but it makes a huge difference.
I have another post lined up to tell you about the lamp. Pssst...it has a twin :)

Up next, the Bathroom. Just a sneak peak though. I'm dying to upgrade to Oil Rubbed Bronze fixtures in here. We already have the bathtub/shower fixtures - a $15 clearance deal from Lowe's. But I'm not having as much luck finding a sink faucet.
Moving on the the Kitchen. My pride and joy...my baby! I spent millions and millions of hours planning this kitchen from the ground up,, and it is all that I dreamed of. I'll do a post on just the kitchen another time...lots & lots of details & a price breakdown.
Okay, that's enough for now. I don't want to burn myself out with too much blogging too soon!

All About Me

Hi! Thanks for stopping by. I’m Alyssa, a thirty-something lover of cherry Chap Stick, pink sugar sprinkles & French manicures. I’m happily married to my awesome Husband – going on seven years. And we have a baby boy, Trevor – who’s on his way to Two!

I started this blog to keep me accountable. Accountable for lots of things – like being frugal, going green-er, & simplifying our lives. Here I’ll document oodles of DiY projects, a few organization tips & tricks that help our family & just some random ramblings about our lives.

As a family we decided that me being a stay at home momma is something that’s worth sacrificing for. I’ve been out of the workplace for over a year now, and couldn’t be happier with my new “Housewife” title. But that title comes with some obstacles ;) It means that we don’t have 2 incomes anymore… forcing us to be much more frugal & resourceful. And along with that we’ve decided to downscale & simplify our lives.

We’ve adopted a new motto around here

and we’re sticking to it! That means raiding the bathroom closet for all those ½ empty bottles of shampoo before I pick up a new one at Target. That means cutting the feet out of T’s pajamas to stretch another 3 weeks out of them before having to buy new. That means DIYing projects out of stuff we already have before buying the latest & greatest from Pottery Barn (love!).

So stick around and keep me in line!

Cheap Christmas Decorating

I was going to wait until the new year to start this blog, but I just finished decorating for Christmas & thought "why not start now?" I'm all about being frugal nowadays, so here's what I came up with on the cheap for this year.

Our front door wreath (and this total blows my "eighteen arden lane" cover, huh!)

I wish I had a before picture of this wreath. I bought it at Michael's or AC Moore about three years ago...it was pretty fall colors, made of faux eucalyptus leaves and I absolutely loved it. But 3 years of direct sunlight did a number on it, and one whole side was totally faded to almost white. In an attempt to save a few bucks by not having to buy a Christmas wreath I decided to spray paint it...what's the worst that could happen? I'd lose out on my $4 can of spray paint. Well, it turns out that I love it! It's not perfect by any means, and it could probably use a few more coats of paint...but dangit, it's freaking cold outside. So for now, it stays. And if it doesn't last through season, oh well. I was going to throw it out anyway!

I added these glittered snowflakes to all the interior door knobs. They're five or six years old....probably from Walmart or Target. And I'm sure they were less than $1 each. A nice little touch, yes?


These glittered ornaments are from Christmas Tree Shop - 3 for $1.oo. They have words (joy, wish, love) stars, hearts & snowflakes. We have a toddler running around, so breakable ornaments are a no-go for the next couple of years. I thought these were a great alternative.






Tree skirts are expensive. So I rustled around in my storage closet & came up with this faux fur throw. Perfect. And free!


I picked up these large glittered snowflakes at a flea market. Only $2 each. I just bent the wire loop and stuck them into my apothecary jars. Easy!


And the "Jingle" is from Target's after Christmas 90% off sale (my own personal version of heaven) a few years ago. I don't remember off hand, but I'm sure it was less than 50 cents. I also have "Believe". They came with the aqua ribbon, which just so happens to tie in nicely with my blue Restoration Hardware ornament frame from a few years ago (also bought at the after Christmas sale for pennies, I'm sure)


So, there you have my cheapo Christmas decorating. All said & done, I don't think I spent more than $10. Do you have any other cost conscious holiday decorating ideas?