Thursday, September 10, 2009

Frugal Friday
















Hello, Hello...





I discovered a blog called The Shabby Nest http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/ and she usually does a frugal Friday post. This week she is hosting a frugal Friday Link party so I decided to add my two cents to the pot of frugal inspiration. I am constantly on the lookout for thrifty ideas to decorate with or for fun gifts. I have a wonderful garden with lots of flowers and I love making up bouquets to give to friends and family. By doing this I have been forced to get creative in terms of vase options. One day I literally had nothing left to put the flowers in, at least nothing that was meant for that purpose. I went to the recycling bin hoping for an idea and I found it. I ended up using a washed out tin can from spaghetti sauce that I covered in some leftover wallpaper. I tied some ribbon around it and attached a small note card and voila.. pretty flowers to give to a friend. As those of you who have read my blog before probably know I love to wander the thrifts shops in my area. The last few times I was out I had the brilliant idea of picking up vases and other things that would work well as a vase from the thrift shops. Now I have a box of vases ready to go when I need them.




Another thing that I have done in the house I have mentioned in an earlier post but I have so much fun with this idea it is worth mentioning again. I will use just about anything as artwork. Two of the pictures above are from my guest room. The sailboats are postcards. The two larger scenes are from magazines. The bird above the bookshelf is from a calendar and the floral picture is actually wallpaper boarder. The letters are something I found on the web and thought they would be great to frame in black frames using the initials of our last name putting them up with black and white photos of our family. I haven't tried it yet but I want to.
My last idea of the day uses my beautiful china tea cups. I have been given several gorgeous tea cups over the years and since I never use them for tea and I have no great place to display them I have come up with other ways to use them and have them out where I everyone can see them. I have one in my bathroom of all places. This is on the counter top and it is currently holding q-tips. On my dressing table I have two pretty cups. One holds lipsticks and the other holds bobby pins and hair elastics. It may seem frivolous to use these delicate cups for these things but I like it and this way I can enjoy them whenever I see them.
I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with. Have a great day everyone,
Kibbygirl

10 comments:

  1. I actually just framed a magazine picture. It's from an old magazine, but it has me thinking that I should pay more attention to magazines and even mail order catalogs.

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  2. Love the letter idea! I saw an idea on a blog, where the gal put each letter of her last name in different font and individually framed them on her mantle. Your idea is equally darling!

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  3. These are all fabulous ideas! Thanks for linking up to the party!!

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  4. I love the letter idea too! I wish I lived close to you- the decorated can of flowers sounds like it would be so fun to receive! Great ideas!!

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  5. Those flowers are BEAUTIFUL! We just moved into a home with a very neglected rose bush. I've made it my mission to make that little plant healthy, even though I know nothing about rose bushes. :) It already looks a little bit better than it did when we first moved, I just hope it survives the winter.

    Thank you for coming by!

    Tiff

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  6. Great ideas! Gorgeous flowers. So sweet to give bouquets to friends. Who doesn't like to get fresh flowers? So thoughtful.

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  7. Oops. I just realized that I was signed in as my husband. I actually wrote that last comment! Sorry about that! : )
    Tiffany

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  8. beautiful art!

    stop by my Goodwill party every Wednesday and link up your thrifty finds!!

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A little more of what I have been working on :)    This Joy sign is metallic, it just doesn't show well in the picture ...