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My Semester Pledge + Thrifty Finds

I am back at my apartment for school and have decided I need to change my spending habits.  After buying my digital SLR camera I realized I like to buy things, and although I think I am better at not spending my money on frivolous things than a lot of people my age, I can still do better.  San and I have promised one another that we will only go out to eat three times together over the course of the next three and a half months.  Even though we both love to cook (he is in the food business and graduated from culinary school as a pastry chef), we are tired on the weekends and go out to eat instead of making food ourselves.  This adds up every week and is unnecessary, so we’re cutting it out.

I have personally pledged to buy as little as I can from retail stores.  Instead, any clothing, home accessories, cooking items, etc. will be purchased second-hand from consignment stores.  San and I like to walk around stores when we spend time together because it is free, but in reality, it causes me to splurge on things I don’t need, and when I say

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Working Through Frustrations to Sew a Beautiful Apron

After getting a new sewing machine for Christmas and looking over many sewing crafts I want to try, I went to a fabric store and bought some fabric to make an apron.  I went with this pattern online, which I would recommend, however I think while I gain sewing skills, I should stick to store bought patterns.  You’ll see why as you read on.

The fabric I chose was a beautiful light blue and chocolate brown fabric pattern and a darker turquoise fabric for the pocket.  I chose a similar color thread and bought a set of four metal D-rings for the adjustable neck strap.  All together, the supplies took me back only about twelve dollars.  Not bad when most aprons of similar quality sell for $30 or more in stores.

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Because this pattern was found online, I had to make the pattern using measurements online.  This was very simple, but took a little more time than having the pattern already in my hand.  For a free price tag, however, it was very easy to do.

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Two Craigslist Finds Turned Fabulous: Inspiration Board

With all the snow around me and all the extra time on my hands since I don’t go back to school until the beginning of February, I seem to be feeling a little down that I can’t spend much time outdoors.  All this winter makes me truly appreciate the spring and summer.  I decided to catch a few moments of springtime happiness by creating a spring-inspired dining room inspiration board which includes the two main pieces of the room (the table and buffet) found on Craigslist.  I wanted the room to feel completely feminine, fresh, and happy with lots of bold bright colors. 

I started with this great solid wood buffet for $150.

image In my imagination, I painted it Benjamin Moore’s Fuchsine.

image Then I found this solid oak round pedestal table that can be extended into a long oval for $300 with a set of five chairs, which I did not include in the design plan.

image This table

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A Little Bit of Christmas Decorating

My apartment isn’t very big and I will only be here two more weeks, so I didn’t want to go overboard with the decorating.  Also, I have three other roommates, so I have to consider their tastes when decorating.  I decided to make an ornament wreath using Eddie Ross’ tutorial.  I started with purple, silver, and gold large ornaments and some blue and silver small ornaments that were either purchased at Goodwill, Home Goods, or given to by friends.

Then I took a wire hanger and some hot glue and went to town.   One tip: Go overboard on the hot glue.  I did not and once I got to the finishing ornaments, others started to pop off which led to some cursing and frustration which left the wreath sitting on the floor for a couple weeks.  It is not easy to put the ornaments back on once they pop off, so use lots of hot glue!  Here is the finished project!  I love it! A Little Bit of Christmas Decorating

Losing My Sanity to Four Cheap Chairs

I went on a date with the boyfriend last Friday, planning on having a laid back night of shopping for upcoming crafts as well as feasting on delicious southern-style cooking.  However, I find that I have a tendency to mess up plans, especially when furniture is involved.  When we pulled in to the parking lot of JoAnn Fabric, we noticed there was also a Savers right next door.  Uh oh!  I should’ve known right at that moment that the whole night would be flipped on its head.

We went into Savers after being harassed by rude JoAnn workers, ready for solace.  San stopped right away to look at books while I cleared a path across the store to the furniture section.  I was on the lookout for a mirror to use as a chalkboard.  I had my bargain-scouting eyes on and wasn’t going to let any cheap plastic tv stands get in the way of a good deal.  Before I had even scoured the place, my eyes wandered to the top of a magical platform which held the most incredible chairs I had ever seen, well the most incredible chairs with a $5.99 price tag I’d ever seen.  They were curvy,

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