Graduation Party Ideas

It is that time of year for Graduation parties!  Recently we held our annual grad party for our group of seniors in our youth group.  Its such a sweet and sentimental time.  We have shared the last 7 years with these students and have had the opportunity to laugh, cry and watch them grow and mature into young men and women of Jesus.  Its pretty cool.  So I thought I would share some of the details of the set-up for any future party ideas.

Since we do this on a pretty large scale I try hard to do things as inexpensively as I can.  Throughout the year I am always on the look-out for things on clearance that would work for us.  I also utilize the dollar store and the Target dollar section as much as possible.  I love little details at parties.  I know its not everyone's thing but for a celebration like this I love recognizing the Seniors in little special ways.  We set up their table special for them with little fun treats like these.  All of the little 2015 stickers I found in the Target dollar spot and the glasses are from the dollar store.

Flower arranging can sometimes be intimidating for people.  To make these bigger arrangements I chose hydrangea - they are the most simple way of adding fullness to your arrangements without really doing much.  I also literally just used a grocery store bouquet of flowers and added a few hydrangea to them - the key is to trim down your flowers to the correct height.  Don't be afraid to cut down your stems!  

The rest of the tables were really simple.   Either a centerpiece of balloons or a simple pail with one hydrangea.  I would say using balloons is an inexpensive way to decorate- but not if you are using helium! Filling a ton of balloons adds up.  I have been going to more ceiling decorations like lanterns and poofs because of the helium cost.  I constantly search the Target clearance section for lanterns because they are often there and marked way down.  

This year we went with cake and cupcakes for the seniors.  I love this little table.

For a little added bonus, here is a little bit of last years graduation party....

I try to change it up a bit every year with colors and the little details.  These little star balloons are from Oriental Trading company and the turquoise mason jars are from Target.

Decorating is one of my favorite things, its almost therapeutic for me and its all in the little details that make it special.  Hope you all have a great week!

PS - If you are looking for more decorating ideas here is another graduation party we did a few years back!

Five Tips to Save on Home DIY Projects

Something about me you should know, I like being thrifty and finding a good sale.  Through the years I have found a few ways to be able to save money on all of those home projects.  Whether it be for smaller decor items or bigger ticket items, there are ways to save some pennies.  Check out a few below and some project ideas too!

1. Paint - One of the easiest ways to change up your spaces in your home.  When we moved in we had to paint pretty much every inch of our house, in and out.  All of that paint really starts to add up.  There are ways to find paint very inexpensively.  Depending on your project you may not be that set on a certain shade or, if you are really patient you might just luck out.  My favorite place to check out every time I visit Lowes or Home Depot is the Oops paint section.  Usually its a little shelf nearby the paint mixing area.  Gallons go for $5 and quart for $2.50 (usually).  I painted the inside of our walk-in closet and our laundry room floor with paint I found on the oops shelf!  I have also painted several pieces of furniture with oops paint as well.  Like I said, I check every time and if its something I like I usually grab it...you never know! Another great place to check for discounted paint is the Habitat Restore, another place for finding paint for those furniture projects!

2. Fabric - I mentioned this earlier this week when talking about recovering our ottoman, but I get creative when searching for fabrics for different home projects.  Fabric from the fabric store can often add up if you need a lot for a project.  So, I'm always on the look-out for discount fabric items I can re-purpose into something.  I'm talking about shower curtains, sheets, table cloths - anything.  Target is a great place to look for these kind of items in the clearance section (usually the aisle end caps).  This is another thing I often check when I have the time.  Also, don't throw away any of your scraps.  I have used fabric scraps for jewelry, wreaths and garlands.  I never waste a inch.

3. Repurpose - Lots of times you have things already in your house you can repurpose into something new.  Anything from gift bags and paint chips turned to artwork to chop sticks and washers into a fun mirror accent - you never know.  What items are lurking around your home that could be reused and made into something cool?

4. Get Thrifty & Creative - You don't have to be a thrift store pro to find a good piece to redo.  I don't have time to constantly check craigslist, go to yard sales every week or even to thrift stores every week.  But, if I'm on the hunt for a certain thing I will always check these places first.  You never know what you might be able to find.  Every so often I will pop into our local restore and just check out what they have.  I have found some awesome deals, especially when they have marked down an item.  After an item has been in their store for over 30 days it gets drastically reduced.  Restore is also a great place to find doors and old wooden chairs.  Two things I love.  A cabinet door plus some chalkboard paint can become a really cute project at almost nothing - thrifty and creative!  And, don't forget free things like pallets!  We have made chalkboard signs out of pallet wood and recently repurposed one into a shelf.

5. Be Patient - This one is hard I know! But, just taking some time to research prices and wait for sales is huge.  Also being patient will allow you to really figure out what you need.  Sometimes we can be drawn to something but realize later its just not going to work.  Being patient helps weed out those impulse purchases.

Those are just some of the ways we have saved on diy projects around our home.  Do you have any more ideas?  Share with me!

Spice it Up - A Desk Redo

I shared yesterday that we had a lot of paint projects brewing over here in la casa.  One of those projects happens to be a sweet little secretary desk that was given to me by Justin's Aunt right after we moved in.  Justin's mom, sister and aunt are like the superior masters of finding hidden jewels at yard sales and thrift stores.  So no surprise I was gifted a little jewel by them, this little desk.  I knew I wanted to paint it but wasn't sure right at first what color exactly.  I could go with a standard white - always chic and fresh.  But, I just wasn't feeling it and I wanted to add a little spice to this little corner of my kitchen.  Here's the little desk before anything has been done to it.  This desk had definitely seen better days but it was still really sturdy and working properly so it really just needed a face lift.

First thing I did was to remove the drawer for easier painting and remove the knobs.  I decided to replace them with something else I already had on hand.  I also washed down the desk with a little warm soapy water and then this little baby was ready for some spice.

So spice it up I did.  I hate priming things and will honestly skip that process whenever possible.  And it was no different in this scenario.  I decided that I would just go straight to paint and it worked out, I did however apply 3 coats of paint but it was really easy and quite quick.  I used a little foam trim roller for most of the painting and It worked like a charm.  I think I will always use a foam roller for furniture painting from now on.  I also have another tip to share.  If you buy paintbrushes at the dollar store in a pack of three - you get what you pay for.  Awful.  I'm sure most of you are thinking "duh" but I have always wanted to test those dollar paintbrushes.  Luckily for this project I was just needing a paintbrush for a few corners I couldn't reach with the roller.

You can see the first coat wasn't that great and I started to fear it was going to take a lot more than 3 coats but thankfully after the second It was covering really well.

So here it is now, in all of it's coralish, rusty, pinky-orange glory.  I have to say I absolutely love it.  I wish I had a picture of the knobs before I spray painted them white, but take my word for it, they are way more cute now.  I love the color contrast between the wall and the desk and we can't help but walk by it and smile a little.  Everyone needs a little bright color in their home somewhere.  It has definitely cheered this little corner right up.

(Ignore the random items sitting on top, I'm still working on that.)

So there you have it, our little desk redo.  Oh, and it only cost me $9.44 for the paint!  So under $10 and this desk is looking good.

Check back soon for some more paint projects we have been working on!

Linking Up at:

 Thirty Handmade Days

The Shabby Nest Frugal Fridays

Etsy Treasury - Vintage Inspiration

I really am so in love with all things vintage, especially for the home.  Vintage items just add so much interest, personality and classic style.  I love to think about the stories that could be behind an old piece and wonder what tales it could tell.  Here are some great vintage finds for the home that offer lots of  inspiration that I found looking through Etsy.  There are so many awesome and interesting vintage treasures buried in the land of Etsy that need to be discovered - this is just a sampling.

'Vintage Love for the Home' by daydreamdesign

All things vintage for House and Home

vintage gooseneck l... experimentalvi... $46.00	Fenton Hobnail Milk... BarkingSandsVi... $46.00	Vintage Mid Century... uglysanta $28.50	Vintage electric fa... moxiethrift $37.50
Vintage Brass Deer ... rhapsodyattic $56.00	The END...vintage m... HamptonHouseVi... $15.00	Electricity Free Vi... TheOrangeColle... $23.50	Vintage Pair of Met... havenvintage $64.00
Vintage Lux Mid-Mod... OurLadyVintage $45.00	Aqua and White Fold... mostazaseed $31.00	Vintage Victorian S... theblackbicycl... $25.00	vintage drawer pull dkgeneralstore $4.00
vintage industrial ... RecycleBuyVint... $33.00	Vintage Lime Green ... OliveVintage $16.00	steel stars industr... mightyfinds $45.00	SOLD Herman Miller... CoMod $650.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

It's a Rug's Life

Rugs are on our agenda today and we have been on the search for a few to add some pizazz and style to some of our rooms.  Rugs can also add a feel of softness and comfort to a cold or stark room as well.  We have not only been on a hunt for rugs, we've been on a hunt for affordable rugs that we love.  We don't want to settle on something just because it's cheap, we want to like it too.  So after much searching and scouring we have found just what we were looking for.  

First off, our main bathroom rug.  I'll be honest, I debated like crazy about this rug - not because I didn't love it but because I thought I might be able to find something less expensive.  After going around and around my mom finally helped me realize I was debating over $3 and to just get the one I wanted.  And I'm glad I did.  I love the added softness, texture and style this rug brings to our bathroom.  This is seriously the softest rug we've ever stepped on.

For our kitchen we wanted to find a neutral rug in a a more rectangular shape.  Silas and Chatham both love this rug.  It's given Silas a little favorite place to play in the kitchen and Chatham a favorite place to sleep.

Finally we're stylin' up our bedroom with an area rug that ties in our curtains that we just added.  We love how it just pulls everything together.

We have been working on a lot more things in our bedroom so we will be sharing those with you next week!  We might even get to finishing our bathroom.  There is still time to enter to win two products from Etsy shop SweetsNThings, you can enter our giveaway here, we will announce the winner on Monday!  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!