This weekend, my husband, father in law, and I tackled the kitchen counters using the Giani Granite kit.  Our counter tops are the original ones in the house when it was built and they definitely needed a little updating.  (And yes, the walls will be next!)

Here’s before photos:

Prepping took about an hour or so, taping everything up, scrubbing counters, washing counters, and all.  This was probably the longest part of the whole process.  Making sure everything is properly prepared is essential to making the counter tops look great.  We followed the instructions completely.

Here’s the difference as we painted on the first coat:

Makes a big difference!

Next comes the fun part!  Stamping on the colors!

We followed the directions again and stamped the colors all over in the way the instructional dvd suggested.  Here’s how one of my counters looked after the first color:

We got the other colors applied and then it was finally time to seal!

I’m loving it!  Doesn’t it look great?  Here’s a closeup:

And final photos:

(ignore the stuff piled in the sink!  That’s what happens when you have to have everything off the counters! lol!)

My thoughts and tips?  It went much smoother and easier than I anticipated.  Be sure to have an entire weekend free.  It’s best if kids can go to Grandma’s and plan to eat out or prepare meals in advance to be warmed in the microwave.  I LOVE the end result and can’t wait now to finish up the rest of my kitchen so it will be all up to date!

For more information on Giani Granite, please visit the Giani Granite website and their facebook page.  Lots of before/after shots on their facebook page!

HUGE thanks to Giani Granite for my kit to try and for providing this giveaway!  The winner will get to choose between the 7 different Giani Granite colors available.

To enter the giveaway, fill out the rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As I’ve posted before, we’ve been working on repurposing a lot of things in our house rather than buying new things for $$$ and less quality.  I had this dresser that we no longer needed that really didn’t match anything in our house.

First we removed the drawers and sanded the dresser down.  We removed the old drawer pulls as well.

Next it was primed and ready for it’s color.

It’s color we bought from the OOPS paints at Home Depot.  I love the color and it was just $5 for the entire gallon!  I love checking the OOPS section for nifty colors!

Next my husband cut plywood to make a top shelf and used braces and brackets to keep it in place.  We put new drawer handles on, cut a hole in the back for cords and it put it back together.

Finished product!  My husband needs to add one more brace in the middle of the shelf to support the weight and then it will be perfect.  We were able to fit all our dvds in the drawers, all neat and organized, and away from little fingers pulling them out every 2 seconds 🙂  I’m very pleased and can’t wait for my next project!

Project total was probably around $15.  The most expensive part was the new drawer pulls.  We had the plywood leftover from a previous project.  Much cheaper than buying new!

My other Do It Yourself On a Budget Projects:

• Repurposing Dresser into Bookshelf
• Padded Headboard

Today’s Weekend Boredom Buster is different than the typical fun and carefree ideas we post to help you get rid of the weekend bores.

Many of you may remember me posting back a few months ago about a sweet little girl in our church named Piper.  Piper passed away from Leukemia in April of this year, after fighting nearly all of her 2 3/4 years of life.  Today Piper would have turned 3.

In Piper’s memory, her parents are planting something special today to remember their sweet girl.  You can read her mom’s blog post HERE about their plan to plant.  Piper’s mom has such an incredible strength that can only be described as God-given, and her faith is tremendous.  If you ever have some free moments, I encourage you to read HER BLOG.  You will be encouraged and strengthened through her words.

Keeping with the spirit, we are joining Piper’s family in planting something special today.  We took the kids to the local plant nursery and they chose a gorgeous butterfly bush to plant in memory of Piper.

Piper was just 5 days older than my Anna.

If you feel led, I encourage you to take a moment and grab something to Plant For Piper today.  If you do, I’d love for you to take a photo, email it to me, and I’ll pass it along to Piper’s family.  If you can’t, head outdoors and weed your gardens, play with your kids in the sunshine, or snuggle with them on the couch.  I also encourage you to keep Piper’s family in your prayers – her mom Susanna, dad Chad, and sister Linley.

Happy Birthday Piper!

A couple weeks ago, I went over to my good friend Ashleigh’s house.  I think Ashleigh is awesome and her house is just gorgeous.  You never find clutter and she has inspired me in many of my “re-purposing” projects.   When I was at her house, and in the middle of canning strawberry jam, I poked around like usual checking our her latest design ideas and I asked her about one problem I have – Where to find room to store all those darned cleansers.  Her answer was simple.  She makes her own and only needs a few ingredients!

On one of her recent blog posts, she has shared her “tried and true” recipes for making cleansers.  I can’t wait to give them a try and toss all my chemicals.  Ashleigh says “Vinegar is my best friend when it comes to making my own cleaning supplies.”

Below is one of her recipes:

Wipe it Away Spray

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vinegar
• ¼ tsp. Natural soap, I often use Dr. Bronners, but dish soap will work fine
• 7-10 drops Tea Tree oil
• 7-10 drops Citrus essential oil or whatever essential oil you prefer. (Optional)

Directions:
Pour all ingredients into a spray bottle and shake well to mix. I use this solution to do most of my cleaning. I use it to clean windows, mirrors, showers, bathroom counters, and toilets. I use it in the same way I would use a conventional disinfectant, spraying down my counter tops, door knobs, and more.

Conventional window cleaners leave a film on your windows and mirrors. The natural soap in this recipe removes the film. Once you go through your first bottle, the soap isn’t imperative, but I usually add it anyway.

I typically add Orange essential oil to this because I like the fresh smell and citrus essential oils lighten earthy essential oils. Tea Tree gives an earthy smell by itself. You can add whatever essential oil you prefer or none at all. Citrus essential oils are energizing and can help naturally cut through grease. Be sure not to apply these oils directly to your skin.

To check out her recipes and to find out how to make your own cleansers, visit her Rose Petal Cottage Blog.    I’m hopeful she’ll share her natural bug spray recipe with us soon!

I received an email today asking why I haven’t been posting much lately.  The answer is simple – we are enjoying our summer!  The kids are growing up much too fast and so we’ve been enjoying trips to the movies, finger painting, playdates with friends, trips to Atlanta, and working on their Summer Bucket Lists.

When I started this blog 2.5 years ago, I just had 3 kids and they were younger and we were home more.  Now that they are getting older, we are on the GO most of the time.  When we’re not, we’re baking cookies, playing on the slip n slide, catching fireflies, and just loving life.  So much to do, so little time!  Next week we’ll be super busy too with our church’s VBS program.

Enjoy your summer!

 

 

 

This weekend, hubby and I set out to finally make a headboard for our bed.  I had been checking out craigslist, yard sales, thrift stores, etc and couldn’t find something that I liked for our bed.  Our room is black and white themed so whatever we found had to already be black or able to be painted black.  I just about gave up when I started checking our pinterest.  I found several ideas that we liked and we meshed the favorites together to make our perfect headboard.

Materials needed:

• Plywood the size you’d like your headboard to be
• Nailgun
• Hot Glue Gun
• Jewels or Buttons
• Bedsheet in the color you’d like your headboard or fabric
• 2 x 4s
• Batting

First we sanded the edges where it was cut

Next, my husband built a support system with the 2x4s to hold the headboard up.  You could space the legs according to your bed frame if you want, but we didn’t.

Here’s what the “naked headboard” looks like:

Next comes the batting.  We did a double layer.  Put the batting on the front only.  Curve the excess around the back and staple into place.

Take your material or sheet and arrange it to cover the front and staple it in place on the back.  Make sure to watch out for wrinkles in the batting and be sure to pull it tight.  We used a sheet we bought from the thrift store for $2.99!

Next, take yarn or a ruler and determine where your jewels or buttons will go.  I used yarn to make a grid so I knew it was even.

Hot glue your jewels or buttons onto the headboard

Now just prop it up behind your bed!  Works great and only cost us about $20 to make!

 

This year, we’re just growing a few things in the gardens.  I’m very happy to finally have our first year with lots of blueberries!  They aren’t quite ready yet, but they are finally growing!  It took a few years for them to grow into something more than a 3 blueberry producing bush.  Can’t wait to see them turn a nice shade of bluish purple and turn them into blueberry jams, muffins, pancakes, and whatever else I come up with.

We also have grapes growing for the first year ever!  They are so cute watching them get bigger from the little tiny “are those grapes??” clusters we originally saw.

And lastly we have a mishmash of tomato plants.  I wasn’t going to do any this year but saw some clearanced and droopy outside of Publix and decided to bring them home to love.  They are doing pretty good as well.  I love fresh tomatoes!

So there you have it!  That’s all that is growing this year.  What is growing at your house or what do you wish you could grow?

It’s been one dreary day today and my kids have been rather grumpy with the weather.  Grumpy kids make for a grumpy mom, so before we all turned into grump-monsters, I decided to put some fun into action.  This morning I asked on the Mommy Octopus facebook page about your favorite dreary day activities. Here are some of those ideas:

• We build forts, have a movie showing at some point. NAP(my fav) and if no thunder or anything I let them go out and just PLAY ~ Jennifer 
• Fingerpaint, baking cupcakes,dancing in the living room! ~ Rene
• We will crawl back in bed and watch movies and Ill make us a big snack tray to munch on all day. Sometimes we will throw in some board games. ~ Haley
• Crank the movie up loud and have the dance as silly as they can ~ Casey

Taking a vacation with the family doesn’t have to break your bank.  There are many ways to take a wonderful trip and still stay within the budget.  Here are some ideas that my family has found helpful.

When planning a trip, first choose your destination.  It helps if you are flexible on dates or locations.  You can look online for free travel brochures.

Hotels:

Once you have an idea where you’d like to visit, go to Groupon and signup for that city’s deals.  We were recently able to get many deals for our trip to Savannah such as discount photography, half off smoothies, discounts to Paula Deen’s Store, and more.  I’ve also seen most of the cities offer some sort of hotel deal.  You also can use this to find great deals on restaurants and other attractions in your destination area.  There is even an entire Groupon Getaways section.  Browse through that and see all the places you could visit on a discount!  These deals change weekly, so check back often.

Another place to check out for hotel deals is Priceline.com.  This can help you find good rates without having to call a million different hotels.  If you do decide to book through Priceline.com, be sure and click through Ebates so you can earn cashback on your trip.

Consider staying at a cabin in a State Park.  We have done this many times when we travel.  It’s cheaper plus they usually have good playgrounds for the kids to unwind.

Dining:

Now that you’ve figured out where you will be staying, time to think about the next necessity- Food!  This doesn’t have to be much of a worry if you plan in advance.  Our family typically brings our food along with us, allowing to dine out maybe once or twice on a vacation.  It’s much cheaper for us since our kids are very hearty eaters.  Some ways to frugally dine out while traveling is to take along gift certificates.  You can purchase some from Restaurant.com or also from Groupon.  Also consider doing a search for daily deals in that city.  There are TONS of daily deal sites where you can purchase deals.  Also, I frequently talk on my blog about joining survey sites and Swagbucks.  That’s where these sites will come in handy!  On some of them, you have the option to cash out for a prepaid visa card or for gift cards to restaurants such as Long Horn, Chili’s, and Macaroni Grill to name a few.  A few weeks before you take your trip, cash out so you receive your prize in time.

Attractions:

I mentioned using Groupon above, but there are also other ways to save on attractions during your vacation.  Before you leave home, do a search for coupons, discount codes, etc on the attractions that you plan to visit.  Check out their facebook page to see if they are running any promotions.  Call and ask them if they have any coupons out and how you can obtain one.  You may be surprised at all the options out there to make your visit cheaper.

 

These are just some ideas that I thought up about how we make our vacations more affordable.  Do you have any ideas that I’ve missed?  Leave a comment and tell me what your tips are for dealing with vacations on a budget.

For this weekend’s Boredom Buster, be sure and check out Craftsy, where you can download free patterns and find other goodies!

Craftsy is the fastest growing online community for Crafters – with over 500,000 monthly unique visitors, having just launched in May 2011. This rapid growth results from two primary offerings which Craftsy users love:

• Terrific online classes from amazing instructors for beginning, intermediate and advanced quilters, knitters, crocheters, sewists, jewelry makers, and other crafters.
• Astonishingly good deals on crafting supplies: organic yarn, lovely fabrics and fat quarters from top designers, high quality needles, etc…

If you love Crafts, be sure and sign up for Craftsy for some amazing Daily Deals.  You never know what incredible deals you will find!  I found an entire section of FREE patterns, including the one pictured below.  Can’t wait to make some new things!