Salvaging the Meaningful from the Messy and Mundane
What should you do when your chandelier is old and just has to go? Build a new one - but make it even older than the first one! Here is the one that is headed to our local Goodwill: Now... here's how we made our new/old one. We've compiled all of the materials and instructions... Continue Reading →
Before we go into stores (and while we are walking through them), I often tell my children, "Be careful, we want what we see!" It is true for them, and it is true for me. Too true, in fact! I didn't know that I desperately needed a new shelf or a collapsible strainer or a... Continue Reading →
I know it's fall now, but have I told you yet how much I love our community's Spring Clean-Up days? I love them for two reasons: 1) It is the one time a year when we can conveniently get rid of all of our "random" trash. Old fence posts the previous owner left behind, piles... Continue Reading →
"[North American Christians] are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth. Period. Yet, most of us live as though there is nothing terribly wrong in the world. We attend our kids' soccer games, pursue our careers, and take beach vacations while 40 percent of the world's inhabitants struggle just to eat... Continue Reading →
There is a deep kind of pleasure - more than just pride - that comes from creating something yourself. So powerful is this pleasure, that it drives us to make things that we know will not last. Gorgeous displays of art - in a cookie. Sculptures - made of snow. And more than just the... Continue Reading →
We just had a "nursery corner" in our bedroom when his big sister was born. We installed a ceiling track from IKEA around the crib so we could close it off with blackout curtains. Baby boy is lucky that he has his own bedroom (his sister slept in a corner of our bedroom until she was almost two... Continue Reading →
Let me preface this post by saying that I can't remember ever having made homemade Christmas gifts before. I may be thrifty, but I don't think of myself as very crafty. The word "craft" makes me think of popsicle sticks and paint and the fabric-covered cardboard that I turned into a journal in elementary school.... Continue Reading →
I don't know about you, but I am forever losing or breaking my favorite pieces of jewelry. One earring disappears... three necklaces get tangled in a knot... you know the drill. Anyway, I happened to find a free knick-knack shelf that someone had painted a creamy white color. When I picked it up, I wasn't... Continue Reading →
When Todd and I first got married, we inherited a couple of great dressers and a metal bed frame. So we didn't bother to go shopping for a whole bedroom set - instead, we found a decent headboard on sale at Big Lots and called it a day. But seven years (and four homes) later,... Continue Reading →
From the time we moved into our house, our bathrooms bothered me. The old white paint, faux wood cabinets, and hollow wood doors made me cringe every time I had to use the bathroom. And because I was very pregnant and thus had a very small bladder.... I was in the bathrooms often. So in... Continue Reading →
Sometimes it doesn't take much. In the listing, our house was described as having "updated kitchen appliances". I don't know exactly how the real estate agent rationalized that statement - except that, yes, they had been updated from the original appliances. But that update had happened 30 years ago. And I don't know of anyone, except... Continue Reading →
Just yesterday my sweet husband said to me, "I don't want to do any house projects for a while." And I COMPLETELY agree with him. (Well, maybe except for replacing the ceiling fan in our bedroom... and don't forget about the bathroom faucets, sweetie! 😉 Todd lived in our basement for almost two months -... Continue Reading →
I love all things "real". Wood, metal, stone, and glass beat out their plastic counterparts any day in my book! But because the vintage look is so popular right now, finding sturdy, well-made (non-plastic) furniture and decor is not always cheap. You might think you were shopping at Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn for the... Continue Reading →
Our house is just about the perfect size for us - except that right now, our guest room furniture is in what WILL be a nursery (in about 6 weeks), and there are toys, craft supplies, puzzles, and stuffed animals in pretty much every room of our house. So when we bought the house last November,... Continue Reading →
At the end of last school year, while we were living in Seminary housing on a University campus, we did something ultra-thrifty.... we went dumpster-diving! In our defense, you would not believe the kinds of things college kids throw away when it's time for them to clean out their dorm room and head home for... Continue Reading →
