Frugal Friday: Fun With Scrapbooking Paper

I wanted a little something to spice up my kitchen, so I bought chipboard letters and got creative. I was going to use the letters as templates for tracing onto paper but I decided I liked having some dimension for this project. I mod-podged paper onto the letters then layered it with two other coordinating papers. I glued ribbon to the back (yay for hot glue guns!) and hung that bad boy on the wall. The best part is, aside from the letters at $1 each and ribbon for 99 cents, I had the other supplies on hand.

Here is a close up of the E, I added some little jewels. I like shiny things.

I was feeling very proud of myself, so I made continued my paper crafting with this cute little joy sign. I had a empty frame ready for a project of some sort, so I used my stencil set for these letters. It's a pretty self explanatory project, I'm not very good about taking pictures of the process. I fixed the crooked ribbon on the y, but didn't take a new picture. I already had the frame and scrapbook papers, and the ribbons were 99 cents with a lot left over for more projects.

Check out The Shabby Nest for more Frugal Friday ideas!

About the name and a little houseography

Okay, thinking of a blog name is really hard! I decided to pick something that has always frustrated me (dusty baseboards) and something I love (gleaming hardwoods). My house has both!

I bought my first home in April 2009 (closed on April Fool's Day!) and have been busy fixing it up and decorating. It was a foreclosure and had been empty for about 18 months before I bought it, the yard was crap and the interior was filthy. Slowly but steadily I've fixed up the front yard, tamed the backyard, cleaned up the inside etc. The first major project was ripping out the carpet downstairs and installing the wood floors. That was accomplished that before we moved in, however the moldings and trim are still a work in progress.

The house was built in 2004, it's two stories, 4 bedrooms (3 upstairs one down), three bathrooms (two upstairs, one down), and 1900 square feet. The master bedroom and children's rooms are upstairs, there's a Jack n' Jill bath between their rooms. That's one of the features that sold me on the house, a JnJ is perfect for twins!

My style is comfy and casual with a little dash of luxury, I want my home to feel lived in but not run down. I love combing thrift stores and flea markets for little treasures, but I'm also happy at Target or Marshall's. I have a sewing machine and while I'm not a gifted seamstress, I can limp along and make things like curtains and pillows. I hope to refine my skills gradually, we'll see how that goes.

Welcome to my blog!

Introducing my new home decorating and frugal living blog!

This space will be where I put up my craft projects, housekeeping tips, frugal family fun ideas, etc.