Fall decorating bug, its spreading!

Looks like some other ladies who's blogs I read had the same decorating itch today!

Motherload
I love her white pumpkins!

Life on Hackberry road I wish I could paint a cute bucket like this!

It is very inspiring to see other ladies decorating on a budget.

Moved around already!

Yeah, that didn't last long did it?

Small pumpkins placed on big candle holders:





I found this sign I had already purchased from the dollar store:




With the small pumpkins, and white pillar candle removed it looks much better:

Simple, inexpensive fall decor.

Fall is here. I would like to decorate for it. We have minimal storage (read no garage, no hall closet, no utility closet, no linen closet!) meaning i cant store a ton of pretty things to be used once a year. But I would like to have a few things. My stop at Joanne fabric was temptation city. I left with just 2 items, but it was close. I think a cute fall sign will make its way home with me next week! This week i bought a cute harvest sign for the yard, and a cute Halloween tray. Dh and I are not big Halloween people, neither one of us was allowed to trick or treat as a child. I don't care for creepy decorations either but I LOVE this tray. Its cutely painted and very inexpensive. Best of all I didn't move anything or store any of our regular decorations to put it up.

Normal:


After:



The tray was normally like $4 on sale for $2.80.

Front door:


Rug was purchased mega clearance last year, I want to say for $3. Door bell was .95. (We use one year round, supposedly it helps potty train dogs. They learn to ring it with their nose when they need to potty. Big dog did it for awhile but he used it to go play outside more then potty! We need to teach them again.) We were married between the candle holders, they stay in the living room year round. I think they need some orange candles.


My thrift store pumpkins:


SO CHEAP! The two big ones were $2.50 total, the small ones were .70 total, and the medium one was .95. The bell for the back door was .95. The big ones will go on the porch.



This display I'm having problems with, it does not look quite right. The 3 drawer chest (Bombay $9 at thrift store!) has to stay dh stores his man stuff in it. Of course all the video game systems and TV equipment have to stay as well. Hmmm must think.

Quilt:


Purchased for $5 at a garage sale. Its going to sit on the couch, but its not out yet.

The harvest sign purchased today was $7.50 half off. I dont have a picture yet.


Confession, ALL these pictures were taken in the living room. Its being painted. The surgery threw off my painting but I'm hoping my mom and I can finish on Sunday. The first picture is the color being painted. LOVE it!

Total $23.15 so far!

Wow. Economic scare anyone?

The latest bank closure has hit too close to home. We have a Washington Mutual account. I opened my first checking account there when I was 16. Until dh and I combined finances that was my only bank. It has not been our main bank since then, but it shocked me to my core when it went down. I'm not a doomsday sort of a woman, I tend to ignore dire predictions. But 3 major banks in one week?? HELLO! Whats the point of recording history if we dont learn from it?? Until the latest bank failing I've been pretty calm but watchful. Now I'm scared. We wont pull our money out of banks, that WOULD make more fail. But I intend to invest in some items, and keep a good stash of cash at home. If the banks fail we wont have access to dh's paycheck, the military makes you use direct deposit. There is no other option. We talked about what were going to do to prepare last night.

Build the Pantry back up.

Buy a flashlight/solar charger we saw for $25

Buy more solar lamps.

Get a filled propane tank for the bbq

Store some gas in the shed.

Buy a small child wagon

Store some water.

Get rid of clutter

Sell the good extra car, donate the van

Being afraid wont help anything, the economy is going to do what its going to do. I can't keep it from failing by being afraid. But I can prepare, calmly. If i have a plan I feel better.I am very thankful for our house. We live close enough to walk to base. Where dh works. Where there is a grocery store, and a store with general merchandise. Little bit of everything. If gas becomes scarce we can manage without driving. It would be tough but doable. The wagon would be for groceries, and dh can grab small items on his way home from work. We live up the street from a hardware store, and a Rite aid. They would be a pretty good walk but we can do it. I wish we had a wood stove or a place to put one! But we have fur heat. All our animals and us and one room would heat it up quickly! We can cook on the bbq if necessary. Solar lamps do not produce enough light to compete with an electric light but they help. I put one in the bathroom (when I remember I have to charge it in the living room) and its enough light to see when the house is dark, close to a night light. A cleared out drivieway would allow us to park an rv there if my parents need to live with us.

I'm thankful my dh will not lose his job. His pay will not go down. It may not go up but it will not go down. I'm thankful we own our cars. I'm thankful we have savings. I'm thankful I know how to bake bread, bagels, muffins etc. I'm thankful we know how to be very very frugal if needed. I'm thankful we will still have store access if we cant drive, in some of our old homes that would not be true. I'm thankful the base store sells animal food. I'm thankful we already live a wonderful life on less, taking it down a notch would be fine for us. Kitty litter might be a problem! Newspaper anyone? Oh wait i've been wanting to train them to use the toliet, looks like now is a good time.

In the land of the organized

I like to organize. I get a secret (okay not so secret my husband figured it out) gleeful thrill when I take chaos and mold it into a neat system. Just this weekend we spent $16 (SIXTEEN HOW RIDICULOUS) on 2 spring loaded drawer organizers. They divide a dresser drawer into 3 compartments. I used them in our sock drawer, and its excellent. REALLY excellent. Then I took small baskets I already owned and organized my under garment drawer. No pictures of that! Between the two drawers there was a small garbage bag of things I no longer needed, and a big one full of things that didn't go there. Its so nice now. The drawer opens easily and I can quickly find what I need.

Yesterday i wanted to simmer my orange peel, cinnamon and cloves on the stove for an easy air freshener. But I couldn't find the whole cinnamon in the disaster pit of a baking cabinet. I pulled EVERYTHING out, cleaned the shelves, and organized it all back in nicely. Since it has been organized before I had most of the items I needed. 5 dollar store items are used for the majority of storage. A pretty heart shaped baking tin that is not used often holds bottles. Empty Ragu jars hold baking chocolate and wheat germ. Just the other day I was teasing my hubby for saving them when we didn't have a purpose for them, and now I'm glad he did! This time I added an inventory to the cabinet door. We know exactly what goes in there and what does not.



Its so pretty now and it did not cost a dime!

All that organization set me off, the bottom cabinets were next. I've been buying organizational tools for those, it really helps and is worth the extra money. I think the lid holder was $4, the baking pan holder was $5, the stack holder was $4, and the shelf was $5. $18 for sanity? Yeah I can do that. My mom is looking for a lid holder that goes onto the cabinet door, the only ones I have seen have to be shipped. I don't like paying for shipping, I will wait. For your viewing pleasure (? lol) my halfway organized kitchen. Keep in mind its not finished yet, the plate cupboard is still messy.

This cabinet uses a metal shelf, and a slot holder. The slot holder has cake pans and is behind the mixing bowls.



This cabinet uses a stacker organizer to hold cookie sheets, a serving tray, muffin pan, and the sides of my cheesecake pan. The bottom is holding the yummy cheesecake in the fridge!



No organizer was used in this cabinet.


Or here! See the mess?


This one uses a lid organizer. The extra lids were placed in a bread pan.


I've gone through and organized many times before but it always gets sabotaged. My husband puts things away where ever is convenient, and forget stacking. I'm hoping the inventory on each door will help. If not I'm printing out these pictures to go inside the door.

The upper cupboards will be far more difficult, small pieces. And I'm not sure what to do with the plates. We're passively watching for a new set of dishes. While my brain mulls this over I will enjoy my pretty cabinets.

Sigh.

How is it a small, cheery little room is an emotional mine field? The pretty little nursery jammed with baby paraphernalia. I ha vent been able to work on anything in there for weeks, its too sad. Every once in a while I'll do a load of laundry and discover an article of baby clothing waiting to be washed. Tiny little pants make me wonder will I have a baby that small? Will they be brand new from the hospital or an older toddler who is already mobile? Will they be a girl or a boy? When will we get the call, weekday, morning, afternoon, 2 am? What will it be like to go from a young couple to a young family? And when? When?

Free doggy fun.

We have 2 goofy dogs that LOVE to play. They also love to chew and rip their toys. Even If i buy them clearance I hate to let them tear them up, they only get the 'good' soft toys when we're playing too, to prevent ripping. But there are several free, no effort toys they love.

Ice cubes They love to chew on these! The corgi especially loves them, he comes running when he hears me break the ice cubes in the tray. He even loves to 'fish' for ice cubes in their water bowl. His whole body wiggles with joy when he is given an ice cube. He rolls onto his back and side kicking and wiggling while holding it in his mouth.

Plastic bottles We only use bottles that used to hold safe, non toxic yummy substances. Like milk, pop, vinegar, etc. I make sure its mostly empty, screw the lid back on then slide it across the floor. They chase, pounce, and flip the bottle. I take the lid as soon as they get it off. They love to lick inside the bottle and chew away. As soon as it gets broken down (a piece removed) take it away. This is fun recycling before the real recycling begins.

Pants legs off old strong pants Dh's uniform wardrobe includes Dickie type pants that are much less Strong then Dickies. (we used to buy Dickies brand but this command wont allow it) Usually the legs are still in tact when the rest of the pants give out. I cut the legs off for a dog tug toy. Sometimes he tie knots in the leg but often we leave it plain. They are free to rip, tear and bite till the pants are rags. They play tug with us, with each other and alone. (big dog stands on one end with his paw, then rips the other end with his teeth) The pants can be wadded up and thrown like a ball for retrieval (yeah right lol) and chase. The dogs often grab one end of the pant leg in their teeth, shake their heads and flip the other end around like some kind of dog ribbon dance.

Sticks We throw sticks outside for chase. Long ones allow both dogs to grab on and tug. Sometimes they get chewed on as well but I tend to discourage that they don't need chunks of wood in their stomachs.

Slightly more expensive toys they adore.

Old balls from the thrift store. I give them a through vinegar disinfection before the dogs get to play. We buy footballs, soccer balls, and volley balls. All are pumped fully before going to the boys, and even then big dogs still pops them quickly. Generally those balls go outside, and are used to play with us. Even popped they have excellent play value and can last months. Big dog LOVES footballs best. Dh taught them to step back and get down on their tummy's or front legs when we say 'Ready? Set? HUT!' its SO cute. And it keeps the excited jumping on us down because they know the throw is coming. We wont pay more then $3 for a ball and it has to be in good structural shape, we often find them for less.

Dollar store rope toys These last for a month or more, and they are kept down all the time. They make great tug, flip, and throw toys. ($1)

Laser pointer Before the city put in horribly bright street lights we used to take them outside in the dark so they could chase the laser point around the yard. Now we have to play inside, there is less room but they still adore running after it, full speed! Big dog pounces on the laser point. Little dog likes to chase. They scurry across the floor as hard as they can slipping and sliding. They love it so much if we get a remote out of the crock its kept in they get excited. Its great for getting that last bit of energy out at the end of the day, or for me to work them out when I'm ill. I like the ones from Walmart, on the battery rack. They are long, silver, with a 'flashlight' and a laser pointer in one. Usually around $4.


Now don't think my dogs are deprived, they get new expensive toys and bones. They have doggy toy chests full of fabric toys that squeak, squawk, and make all kinds of noises. But those don't stand a chance of surviving all day play. I have made them fabric toys in the past but sewing is hard for me and I hate to see them ripped apart. If you sew well you can make all sorts of nice, store bought type toys. Pets mart sells the plastic squeakers for $3 a package.

Budget decorating

I started re-doing the bathroom a few months ago. Its nearly done. I had a hard time deciding on the paint colors, dh requested the room be 'soothing'. He gets up very early and did not want to be startled when he walks into the bathroom. The paint kind of chose itself when I found a shower curtain I LOVED. Dh gave his approval (its his house too!) and it was settled. It took awhile to get the paint finished, I don't mind painting the middle and bottom of the wall, but heights scare me!
I spent $30 on the shower curtain, $26 on mildew resistant paint, $10 on art, $6 on the fancy hand towels, $4 on a basket and $5 on picture frames. The white cabinet was purchased last year for $12.

Before picture:



I couldn't change anything major, the linoleum, shower stall, and vanity have to stay till we have a MUCH bigger budget.










Please ignore the painters tape still on these, I'm not done yet. The photos came from last year's Monet calender. I don't think the pictures will be staying, they don't seem quite right but for now I like them.







I have a sarong I already owned up for curtains. (our bathroom faces a retaining wall, we don't need much privacy) My seamstress (loving mother) has fabric for the curtains but we havent come up with the correct treatment yet. The makeover took me a fair amount of time searching for bargains, painting etc but it only cost $93. And I LOVE it. Most soothing room in the house!