Repurpose: Hall Cabinet

 In my search for a small, slim profile cabinet/table for our entry way, I found this one at Salvation Army earlier this week for a mere $15. :)
Ugly, but workable...

I removed the hardware, sanded it down a little, and started painting.

I very much dislike painting furniture, and this was no exception. :P With the help of Pandora, I made it through though. :)

I spray painting the hardware black. Notice how I got them to stand up.. clothespins. ;)

In it's new home! :)

Ahh.. Much better than nasty looking gold!

Nice low profile. :)

Total cost: $20 approx. I bought paint for it, but only used less than a quarter of a $11 can.

Oh look.. it's me! ;)

Claire *loves* watching me and getting under foot when I'm doing projects. :P She's pretty cute, though.

Repurpose: Cupboard Door

This project has taken me forever to finish. I kept coming to a standstill, unsure of how I wanted to finish it. I finally did a couple of days ago, and it turned out so cute!

I found this old cupboard door out in our barn, the mirror was facing the wrong way, so I removed it, filled the hinge holes, sanded it, and painted it tan.

And then it sat for a month or so. :P While I was painting the ceiling in the great room, I had an idea to throw a little white paint on it, and distress the edges with a sanding sponge...

I bought a Martha Stuart stencil from Home Depot, and using a darker tan from our house paint, decorated it a little. :) I wanted to decorate it so I could use the mirror vertically or horizontally. 

Total cost: around $5, including the stencil, which I plan to use for other projects.

Jute Letters & Wall Decor

I love the look of jute-wrapped wall letters.. how cute is this, right?! However, they looked fairly simple, and I wasn't about to pay $20+ a letter.
Soo.. I purchased a roll of jute at Home Depot for 3.99, and wooden letters at JoAnn's for .99 each.

Just look at all that fun stuff!

I wrapped the letters with the jute, using hot glue occasionally to keep it secure.
The end result? Jute letters, for a fraction of the price! I used maybe a 1/4 of the jute per letter, so that's roughly $2 a letter!

I also bought some wood plaques for around $2 at JoAnn's, slapped some tan paint on 'em, and glued some wall decals I got for free on the front, and filled in the empty spaces on my hallway wall. :)

Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

I found this on the ever-inspiring Pinterest, of course. ;)
All you need is a clean, dry pint mason jar and a soap dispenser. I saved one off of a bottle I was going to throw away. I don't like having a big, ugly Dawn bottle sitting on my kitchen counter, so I whipped one of these up before company came on Saturday.

Drill or punch a hole big enough for your dispenser through the lid. My hubby helped me with this part, and it took him all of thirty seconds with a step bit to drill it. Watch for metal snags underneath, you may have to file them off.

Glue dispenser to the lid using E6000 glue. It says to let it dry for like 72 hours, but since when do I follow directions?

SO easy, and so cute! I love it! I want to make one again when I find a metal dispenser and use a blue mason jar.

Frugality: The Value Of Patience

Shopping clearance and out-of-season in stories is probably a no-brainer, but for me, it's not always easy. I can be an impulsive buyer, especially heading into a season and seeing something I would love for the winter or summer. It can be difficult for me to just walk away from the "cutest pair of flip flops ever!" or those "super soft winter gloves". Last fall I was shopping summer clearance in Shopko and came across three pairs of adorable gloves. I wanted them all. And now. :P I carried them around the store with me for a while, as I often do with purchases I know I shouldn't be making. The gloves were 12.59, 9.99, and 9.99. No, I wasn't going to buy all three, but I sure wanted to! Eventually, as I walked around the store, I became more and more disillusioned with the price. Even if I only bought one pair... I still had my gloves from last year,  and though they were missing buttons and a little frayed, they could last one more year, right? Right. back on the rack they went.

Fast forward to today. Shopping Shopko for winter clearance. And what do you know, there are the exact three pairs I had wanted. For 90% off. By having a little patience, I saved 42.40, by just having a little patience. And hey, I got my gloves. ;)

Laundry Soap: Update

I thought I would do a quick update on my thoughts about the homemade laundry detergent I posted about a couple of weeks ago.
Well, I've given it a thorough test on anything and everything I could find, from my husbands work clothes, to soiled pet bedding, and...

I LOVE it. Seriously, it makes me want to do laundry more often! :) It has surpassed my expectations. My laundry is clean, smells amazing, and and is so soft!

I have been impressed with how it has whitened my whites, as well. I honestly think it does a better job cleaning than my previous Tide detergent.

So, if you have any doubts, try it for yourself! And let me know how you liked it. :)

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Citrus Scouring Scrub

One word. AWESOME. I found this idea originally on Crunchy Betty, for a grapefruit scouring scrub. I had some grapefruit, oranges, and lemons fading fast, so I processed all of them. I dried the peels in the oven at about 225 until they were dry. The oranges took less than a half hour, the grapefruit and lemons would have taken about an hour or so... Unfortunately, I was out of the house and burnt those. :/ I was quite disappointed, since I love the smell of grapefruit and most wanted to use those peels. However, I still had the good orange peels, so I decided to make the best of it.

I used:
3 TBS. dried, powdered orange peel
3TBS. borax
5 TBS. baking soda
Note: make sure to rinse thoroughly after you've cleaned with this, borax is not fun to get off after it's dried! Also, borax may be toxic to babies, so use caution!

I had saved a parmesan container, and it works perfectly! You could use any type of container, or as Crunchy Betty did, punch holes in the lid of a tin or jar.

As soon as I finished it, I knew exactly what I wanted to test it on. Since I moved into our house, I have been trying to get our kitchen sink clean. It was nasty! The corners were all scummed and rusted up, and the drain was gag-worthy.
See? Yuck.

A few minutes later, I was a very happy girl! All the built up nastiness-GONE.

Isn't she pretty now? :) I am very pleased with it, and as soon as my dishes are dry I'm going to do the other side. I finally found something that works! I seriously have tried about everything I could think of!
Overall, I love it. Can't wait to try it on other tough spots!

What are your favorite uses for citrus peels?