August month in review!

Well hello there! First of all, I need to announce the winner of the Stella and Dot giveaway (I have been bad at this lately!) – the (randomly drawn) lucky winner is Kelsy from We Weren’t Crazy! Congrats Kelsy! Please email me and I’ll get you in touch with Jennifer.

Okie dokie, onto the review of August and the fun stuff that went on around TDC!

At the beginning of the month, I showed you the series of desks that have graced our office, including a DIY desk gone wrong, wrong, wrong. :)

The heavens opened up when I found this farmhouse table through a friend, and it was only $15!:

It was exactly what I was looking for! It was a mess though – more on that later. :)

At the August Before and After Party, I shared how I turned an 80’s clock from Goodwill into a purdy little cloche:

Not bad for four bucks baby!

I shared my debt story and how this guy has inspired us to change our lives:

That was a VERY exciting day – Dave Ramsey’s peeps linked to my post on their Twitter and Facebook pages!! It was a THRILL and an honor. :)

We have since started Financial Peace University and are more motivated than ever to get rid of our debt! As of today I OWN my car outright – we paid it off!! And tomorrow we are paying another credit card. We are so close but yet still so far away…but we will get there and live like no one else!!

I was thrilled to announce my partnership with True Value hardware stores:

I am in great company in the blog squad!! Check out the post for a list of other DIY blogs involved.

I had two fabulous giveaways this month, and the first was from Wuslu.com:

You have to check out the deals every day over at Wuslu! Such a fun idea.

I finally (FINALLY!) finished the staircase project that I started months ago. I used mdf to add some detail to the staircase wall and love it!:

I finally found a good before picture, by the way, from my Houzz interview a year ago:

Lurve, lurve, LURVE. Sigh.

I showed you my transition from white faux wood blinds to bamboo shades throughout our house:

It’s taken a few years, but I’m pretty much done getting the bamboo up! There are pros and cons to the roman shades, but I love them!

I am seriously obsessed with the fall season, and this year was the first I really, truly enjoyed summer:

It was the first summer I was a 100 percent stay at home momma, and I have a feeling that had a lot to do with why I fell in love with it this year.  ;)

Thanks to True Value, I was able to change out some knobs on a couple pieces of furniture, and I showed you the difference they made:

I just love those glass knobs – so much better than the black knobs that came with the buffet!

Towards the end of the month I shared our warm and cozy family room:

I decorated it with the colors of fall and it works OH so well. :)

I swooned, you swooned, we all swooned for the Stella and Dot giveaway:

Congrats again to Kelsy for winning!

It took some help, but I finally got my farmhouse table turned into a desk:

It was covered with lead paint, so I left the paint removal to the professionals. I have to tell you – I LOVE THIS DESK. It is so huge and the absolute perfect height. You can tell I’m already right at home:

;) You can see a sneak peek of the parson’s chair cover I grabbed for $15 at Cost Plus World Market! Love the color – but I’m going to have to make some adjustments to it.

Many of you asked the color on the walls – it’s called Fired Brick from Sherwin Williams. It is a lovely color – but I’m hoping to get the new paint up next week! :)

I am feeling the itch for fall decor, so we all drooled over the latest Pottery Barn catalog:

And I held an impromptu fall linky party – check out over 100 inspirational links to get you in the mood for fall decorating!

Finally, we lost my dear father-in-law last week, and I celebrated his life and legacy with you all:

And again, I can’t thank you enough for your comments and prayers. I miss him so very much.

Yet again, I have to thank my wonderful advertisers for August! You can click their buttons to get to their sites…

ALL items over at Cute as Pie Office Supplies are less than $35 – and they are adorable!:

Every one of the beautiful pieces at Amy’s site are made using fine materials such as sterling silver, gold-filled, gemstones, freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystals:

If you are interested in a photography class that teaches you the basics of beginner photography, how to better use your camera and its settings, etc., then Angie’s class is for you!:

If you need quick, easy dinner recipes and family meals, check out Quick and Easy Dinners for a ton of ideas!:

Dimples and Dandelions is a family owned company that sells the most adorable and unique products available for both baby and child!:

Bomobob’s shop is full of fine carnival, bird, flower, nature and travel photography -- all shot with vintage film, digital, and Polaroid cameras. And ALL unique and original!:

PhotoJewelryMaking.com is the world's largest photo jewelry supplies super store, offering a large selection of photo jewelry making items such as bracelet, brooch, pendant and ring blanks. (And more!):

Need help decorating a room in your house? The designers at My Design Guide will help with everything from choosing the perfect paint colors to picking furniture, lighting and accessories:

And thanks to my additional lovely advertisers for August – The Vintage Pearl, Thirty-One and The Rusted Chain:

And thanks AGAIN for what was by far the biggest month ever at Thrifty Decor Chick – I nearly passed out when I looked at my stats tonight. ;)

I couldn’t do it without all of you!

Have a fabulous Labor Day weekend!!

July Month in Review!

Hello there! I’m baaaack with another month in review! Can you even believe how fast this month has gone? Nuts!

To start out July, I showed you the progress I had made on my kitchen redo (with help from American Express!):

And see? I said I hoped to get the kitchen done in July, and looky there…NOTHIN’ else has been done. It’s the kiss of DIY death to say it out loud. :) (Well, I did work on the window treatments, but they did NOT go as planned. More on that later!)

I still don’t know where I’m going to place the glass doors in the upper cabinets – but now I’m contemplating doing all of them. Hmmmm…that depends on if I can get the not so pretty stuff hidden away in baskets. There’s that itsy bitsy cost issue too. ;)

Next, my love of Craigslist blossomed. And I had a ton of fun decorating my new, loverly  buffet for our foyer:

I have plans to add beautiful crystal knobs to this beauty, once I find them. :)

I continued my blogging series and discussed how/when/where/why I’ve accepted ads and what’s worked for me:

Many of you asked how long I had been blogging when I was up to the 2,000+ hits a day and decided to start accepting ads. I started this blog in May of 08, so it had been eight months total at that point. My site did not really take off till the fall of 08, so I had been actively blogging for five months.

I showed you how I took Walmart and Target jars, and black craft vinyl and made adorable cereal jars and “chalkboard” labels:

The vinyl is the stuff you use for craft cutters, like the Silhouette. I found mine at Meijer, but I think you can find it at Walmart and Target, and for sure at Hobby Lobby and Joann’s. If you loved the idea of Chalk Ink markers, you can find them here.

Some of you asked if the cereal has stayed fresh, and so far so good! The lids aren’t air tight, but they provide enough of a seal. I just munched on some Cheerios to double check, and they were nice ‘n crunchy. :)

I showed you my next Craigslist find, which was actually my first Craigslist find, but whatever. I originally bought a dresser for the foyer, but it was way too big, so I ended up moving it to the family room, and now this spot:

Now looks like this:

Sigh. Isn’t she lovely?

I admitted to my love of faux and showed the nonbelievers that yes, it can look good!:

At least I think so.  ;)

I showed off Emily and some of her fab projects, including these DIY Willliams Sonoma candleholders:

Oh yeah, hers were only two bucks EACH. I do believe Dollar Trees all over the country are cleaned out. :)

Next, I dissected the beautiful catalog pictures we all drool over:

And I still love them, even with the fake menu falling off the wall. ;)

I showed you the chore I loathe…and the torture I go through to get this:

To this:

Let’s just say there’s some sweating involved. And a clear schedule for the day.

One of my lovely readers let me know that these bins were recalled:

I was annoyed with them anyway (they “shed,” you can’t sit on them and the lids don’t stay up – hence the recall). I took them back and got a store credit – if you have them, you may want to see if you can do the same!

I discussed one of my most frequently asked questions – how to pick out and mix metal finishes in your house:

And also mentioned my hatred of shiny brass. ;)

Many of you have asked if I have tried spray painting door knobs – I haven’t, but my friend Beckie has, and she gives you the low down here. I think they’ve held up pretty well for her!

Last weekend, Saffron Marigold offered a fantastic giveaway of their luxurious linens.

One of my favorite (and mostly FREE!) changes of late was taking the massive hutch off the beautiful buffet in our dining room:

I “made” a mirror, Emily’s candleholders (from above) and got some fabuloso lamps from HomeGoods, and it was complete! (And loverly!!)

Finally, I showed you how some of our rooms have progressed over the years, from this:

To this:

It’s taken six and a half years to get from the before to the after, and there’s still more I’d like to change up!

I have to give a BIG shout out to my wonderful advertisers for July as well! You can click their buttons to get to their sites:

If you are interested in a photography class that teaches you the basics of beginner photography, how to better use your camera and its settings, etc., then Angie’s class is for you!:

If you need quick, easy dinner recipes and family meals, check out Quick and Easy Dinners for a ton of ideas!:

Dimples and Dandelions is a family owned company that sells the most adorable and unique products available for both baby and child!:

Bomobob’s shop is full of fine carnival, bird, flower, nature and travel photography -- all shot with vintage film, digital, and Polaroid cameras. And ALL unique and original!:

PhotoJewelryMaking.com is the world's largest photo jewelry supplies super store, offering a large selection of photo jewelry making items such as bracelet, brooch, pendant and ring blanks. (And more!):

Need help decorating a room in your house? The designers at My Design Guide will help with everything from choosing the perfect paint colors to picking furniture, lighting and accessories:

And thanks to my additional lovely advertisers for July – The Vintage Pearl, Thirty-One and The Rusted Chain:

 

And thanks to YOU for what was the BIGGEST month ever at TDC!!

HOLY CATS.

I couldn’t do this without you Squeeeeeezies!!  ;)

* The Before and After Party is on for this coming Monday – it will go up that night!

** If you are interested in my primary or secondary advertising, or a giveaway post, email me at thriftydecorchick (at) gmail (dot) com.

*** If you have any additional questions about this month’s posts that I didn’t answer, please leave them in the comments and I’ll respond back this weekend.