Recycled Magazine Coaster

Look what I made at naptime this morning!

 I have a stack of Entertainment Weekly Magazines just sitting in my bathroom, and I hate to throw them out, so this is the perfect solution!

I just followed This Easy tutorial  over at   How About Orange 

Incidentally, this is now one of my favorite sites on the internet.  Her DIY collection is incredible and makes me want to run to a craft store and blow hundreds of dollars on lovely supplies.

Alas, there is not enough time in the day or money in the bank to do as much as I would like to.  But these little beauties are both free and earth friendly (although slightly time consuming- this one took me about 40 minutes, but I bet the next one would be a little faster)

We're back!

Well, we're back after 4 nights and five days away! And I've just gotten all the unpacking done.  Phew! Now I just have to face the enormous pile of laundry...  


And I'm delighted to announce that we had a wonderful time!  I will post more about it in the coming days, but for now I will just leave you with a brief synopsis.


Here's a list of things we did:

•  Remick Country Doctor Museum (which I highly reccomend!)
• The Lincoln Falls
• The North Conway Children's Museum (possibly Emma's favorite stop of the trip)
• The Mount Washington Discovery Weather Center
• a cupcakery (sooo freakin good)
• paddleboating
• Ben and Jerrys
• a lot of shopping
• a few restaurants

and a whole lot of sitting in a hammock........ :)


And the best part is that we spent under $250 (including gas) for the whole week!!!


This picture is not from the vacation, but it was taken while mommy was packing up to go, and it is highly amusing!

Front Door Bling

This was my morning naptime project!  It was inspired by This Tutorial  over at V &Co and the fact that I have several yards of that orange plaid flannel and I had no clue what to do with it.  My husband may or may not have worn it as a kilt to a college event back in his "glory days"... But I think it paired nicely with some jean scraps, and the cream and brown fabric.  The frame we had laying around, so that makes this a 100% free mini project.  (Took an hour and a half start to finish, including picking out fabric)

Obviously my wreath isn't as gorgeous or classy as the tutorial but I think I love it all the same.  I also added the jean initial because I thought it needed a little something.

What do you think? Cute or cheesy?

The Play Kitchen #1

A few months ago, Adam and I stumbled across this Tutorial on making a playkitchen out of a nightstand, and we fell in love.  We then spent the next few weeks scouring Craigslist for cheap/free nightstands that we could turn into little works of art like Jane did ( Jane is the name of the talented woman who writes at "Out of the Crayon Box")

After a lot of dissapointments and false offers, we scored big and grabbed this nightstand for $6.00!  Sweet, right?  It was, except that the top turned out to be a veneer nightmare!  It looked like this:

(Bella decided this was her new favorite sun spot and refused to move, so please ignore the sleeping kitty)

But now, about a month later, I'm excited to say it looks like this:

Hooray!!! Obviously we still have a ton of work to do, but the bones are there and they're pretty :)  Kudos to my awesome handy husband and all the friends whose tools he has borrowed over the last couple of weeks.    We're hoping to have it done by the end of the summer.  It was originally going to be a birthday gift for Peanut, but we couldn't wait until November!  So now her gift will probably be a super cute set of pots and pans from Ikea to go with her new stove. 

Also, I got excited and made her an apron to wear that matches the curtains (that I have also made already but will show you all when we do the big reveal!)

                                                                          (I love ruffles!)

So this is the project that has been keeping me busy and away from the blog at night.  Again, apologies.  But I think the end result will be worth it!

ps.  Welcome TTA friends!  Be sure to leave your blog name so I can find you and follow you back!

A Young Recessionista!

While out and about this weekend, I scored some sweet deals on some summer clothes for the peanut. So here is a peek into a small part of her spring/summer wardrobe!


Shirt: Dollar Store! 0-6 month dress, also happens to be the perfect size for a tanktop for peanut
Shorts: Target Easter Clearance (90% off) $ .40
Total: $1.40 (a shining moment for this frugal momma!)

Shirt and Bloomers: $2.50 in the dollar days section at Target. I thought this was a dollar, and probably would not have purchased it if I knew it was $2.50. Yup, sometimes I am that cheap.

Shirt:$5.00 Kohl's

Skirt: $5.00 Kohl's

After an $8.00 store credit was cashed in the total came to $1.98

And that brings us to a grand total of $5.88 for three brand new outfits, and one very self-satisfied momma.

new shirt for Emma :)

With the warm weather coming our way in the next few days, I was inspired to make Emma-Jean a top from some fabric I've had hanging around since a college project :) Patterns are expensive and I don't have a working printer to print one out, so I just made a pattern from a dress that fits her really well. I cut out the sleeves and strung a ribbon I also had laying around through the top and voila! A super simple, light and airy summer top is born in 30 minutes time! Next time I get a free hour I am thinking of making her a dress following this same pattern! Hooray for free clothes!