DIY Girl can tile with the best of them!

Here are photos of our kitchen - built by us, tiled by ME : )

Stock cabinets & stock tile from Home Depot, counter top (laminate) and drop ceiling tiles by Lowe's. I love the tile - it isn't flat - just a bit wavy, and it reflects light and is bright & beautiful!

We did not replace our appliances - one giant step at a time! Here's a post with my tiling tips and a link to more directions: http://save-reuse-share.blogspot.com/2011/07/great-diy-tiling-directions.html

Spreading the Salvation Army Happiness!

It's been too long since my last post. Christmas is fast approaching, and I am looking for ways to save money AND have great gifts for my family and friends. While I work on all of that, I thought I'd post a photo from a very successful trip at Salvation Army stores!

My friend Laura, post baby number three, was just a little hesitant about SA shopping and has no way of scouring racks with her children in tow, so, Daddy was in charge this particular Saturday. We scored BIG TIME in one day with less than $115.00 AND helped people in need at the same time. What has your shopping done lately?

Teamwork is key, ESPECIALLY on Family Day when the stores are extremely busy! Lunch time is just crazy so if you can take a 1/2 day Wednesday, hit the store in the morning, right when they open.

As we walked through the two stores, I put things in my cart that I thought she might like and she did the same for me. I needed a bigger couch to successfully show off her new wardrobe - the pile at right is two to three items thick. Style and Service to Others + a few hours of fun with a great friend = one great day!

So, during this holiday season, consider the Salvation Army. I found gifts at a FRACTION of retail, both clothes and other items. Your frugal friends will appreciate the time you spent on the hunt for the perfect gift and there is nothing more GREEN shopping than buying pre-owed!

People Helping People - another reason to shop at the Salvation Army

A friend of mine's daughter and her husband had time to grab their pets and some underwear before the Texas wildfires consumed their home. The only organization in the Austin Area that helped them in their time of catastrophic tragedy and need was the Salvation Army. They invited them to their stores to pick out clothes (for free) so that they could continue to go to work. 

Please shop at and donate to the Salvation Army - people helping people in need.

Like It or Not, It's Fall!

It's Sunday and it's September 11, 2011 - 10th Anniversary of our national Tragedy. I've spent hours watching TV specials on the event. I've cried and smiled, been in awe and angry. I think the memorials are beautiful and I will definitely visit them. I need to do something creative or I might lose my mind.

So, I turned to one of my favorite sites, Better Homes and Gardens, and found their Fall Decorating page. I found this quick, fun, awesome idea. They show, photo at left, a paper mache letter with autumn leaves glued on and used as a very cool front door decoration, in lieu of the all too ordinary wreath. I LOVE non-traditional front door decor and this is a real winner. Click on photo to enlarge, but know that they went a little initial crazy. Double 'M' sidelights, 'M' doormat and 'M' door decor? We get it - 'M' people live here... One initial for the front door is quite enough.

Now, just because they used a paper mache letter, obviously store bought and adding to the American Waste Problem, I am choosing to use cardboard from a shipping box that came to the house earlier this week. Will it look as good as the 3D store bought base? We shall see! But, regardless, the cost will be some Aileen's Craft Glue and my time. And right now, I need to get up and do something productive and welcoming with my time, to celebrate the fact that I am an American - to create, to dream. Because my freedom is protected by the best fighting force in the world. THANK YOU U.S. ARMED FORCES and GOD BLESS all whose lives were lost and those they had to leave behind to keep calm and carry on...

$12 Park Bench from Craig's List finds a new life for $6.00 more!

The price was odd, yes, but I was pretty bleeping excited to find this bench on Craig's List. It took about 8 days, for reasons unknown, for the sellers to square away a time with me to come and get it. 30 minutes and bad directions later, the disassembled bench was mine! Home it came, the wrought iron frame and seven 4 foot long boards.

I scraped, sanded and painted the seven slats, and soon realized I needed one more - the seller neglected to mention this. Fortunately, I had 1"x3" boards from another project, so I used a hand saw to cut it to length. I had a five-in-one tool  - what no woman should be without (now I think there are 6-in-one tools), gloves and sandpaper, but I bought a $2.00 wire brush and spent $4.00 on a can of flat black Rustoleum Restorer paint for the iron frame. The blue paint for the slats was left over in a quart from painting the front door this summer so I was good to go!

After the work, I moved the bench to its prime location in the yard. I placed bluestone under the legs to keep it level as I have seen benches in the yards of friends that sink into the ground. Not for me, thanks! I slid all the slats in their place and, low & behold, the holds in the slats did not line up with the holes in the iron bench! NO WONDER the seller was so happy when he offered to disassemble it for me easy transport! The bag of hardware he attached? 9 screws and seven washers. 16 screws and washers would be needed for this bench. SO... I have decided that only one slat really needs to be attached, as there's plenty of overhang for the rest.

I am currently working on gardening around the new sitting area, but have some photos attached to show you the process. A few days ago, I planted some perennials and put some quick spreading ground cover under the bench. When the ground cover gets going, you won't see the stones at all.

Even with the odd sellers and misaligned holes, I am still thrilled to have this bench in my yard (and love the polka dot pillow sitting on it!), but lesson learned - when buying something, make sure all the parts are in place!

'Tis the Season for Estate Sales Galore!

Bargain Hunter Alert

It's getting late in the summer which means people that want to have yard/garage sales know that they are running out of time. Some are families who finally had time to clean-out a deceased relative's home. Others are moving before the start of the school year. Whatever their reasons, if you are even a SMIDGE like me, (meaning you love to save money and don't mind the thrill of the hunt), now is the time to head to Craig's List and your local paper's online classifieds (why online? you get the listings of sales faster and can copy & paste addresses and times of sales to print for later!) and use the search term "Estate Sale." Note about Craig's List - people aren't always bright (shocker!), and, often, the dates of the estate sale are not in the heading of the ad. The date on which they posted the sale will be on the left, but ads may be posted a week or two in advance of the sale, so you need to click and read.

Dust Bowls - Literally

If you can be an allergic mess, know that dust is the free stuff at estate sales. Often, items are taken from their dusty corners to be put on display - there will be dust! Pop a favorite allergy preventative about 30 minutes before you arrive.

Money Talks

You are often digging in boxes and milling around garages, so this is no place to have to deal with a purse, (lock it in your trunk before you get to the sale). Keep in mind that while some sales are UBER-lame, many of these estate sales are awesome, but CASH IS KING. Take money - it's usually the only means of acceptable payment. Don't be afraid to make offers. It isn't rude to have, say, $65.00 worth of stuff and offer $50.00. The worst thing they can say is no, but if they say yes, you just saved $15.00.

LOOK

Open cabinet doors and look in drawers. I've found some real treasures in the forgotten areas of homes. If you find something in a not-marked-off-limits area, take the item to the cashier, tell them where you found it, and either offer a price or ask for one. My mom still loves the potato masher with the cool red handle that I found in a kitchen drawer at an estate sale (paid $1.00) and gave to her for Christmas many years ago.

Be Sensitive to the Situation

Many estate sales are being held because of the death of a relative, usually a parent or grandparent. As you browse, keep your negative comments about Granny's old, torn furniture and stained doilies to yourself. Touch things respectfully. Be kind to the people running the show. You never know whom you may run in to as you peruse - often, estate sales are being run by an entire family. You don't want to be the jerk that jades little Jimmy's faith in people as he wanders around the beloved home that's about to be someone else's.

No Early Birds. HA!

As you know, the early bird gets the worm. Good things come to those who wait?  Only the crap left behind by those who hustle! Pay attention to the start time of the sale. Even if the ad says, 'no early birds:'  If a specific item is listed that you want to see, don't be afraid to arrive early (even an hour) and say something like, 'I know you aren't open yet - I respect your 'no early birds' request and I will certainly wait - I just want to make sure the _____ is still here.' Why would I share this with you? I once drove 40 minutes to a garage sale that listed, "ABSOLUTELY NO EARLY BIRDS" (yes, all caps, too!) and, since I wanted to see the oak card catalog described in the newspaper ad, I arrived 30 minutes early and waited in my car until the 8am start time. No one had come or gone while I was waiting, just the gentlemen setting up. At exactly 8am I got out of my car, walked up to the man, told him how excited I was to see the card catalog, only for him to tell me that a man came at 7:15 and bought it. !!!!!!!! I quietly said, 'So, absolutely no early birds,' turned, and as the man apologized and started listing everything else in the sale, I walked back to my car and left. Moral of the story? GO EARLY if there is something you really want, start time be damned.

The Freecycle Network - Because FREE is GOOD!

"Welcome! The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,967 groups with 8,604,854 members around the world. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on 'Browse Groups' above the search box. Have fun!"

~ Introduction from freecycle.org

Sound like a cool thing to you?  I joined freecycle about a month ago and wanted to try it out before sharing it with you. Basically, you search for your town or closest major populated area, and there are Yahoo Groups to join in each area. You'll need a google acc't, so I made one up and e-mailed myself the log-in info to my actual e-mail address. So far so good - I mean, free stuff is good, right? I wasn't afraid or discouraged to jump through about 10 minutes of hoops to get it. HOWEVER:  Don't make the mistake I made, which was signing up in two areas and set my account to receive individual e-mails when someone posts something. In one day, I had over 700 e-mails to go through.

Can you imagine? So, I logged in to both groups that I had joined and changed my settings to NO E-MAIL. Now, when I am looking for something specific, say, perennials, go to the freecycle Yahoo Group pages and use the Search feature. Usually, people will post an item with a description in the subject line, and then post a message saying something like "TAKEN: description." This is helpful because you will see both posts when you search and know an item is gone. Act on anything you might want because things go VERY fast in the freecycle network.

Also, sometimes "Curb Alert" posting are found and they let you know that someone has put something out at the curb. These postings are tough unless you live VERY close by and can leave immediately to go check it out.

Keep in mind a few things:  people are involved and some people are very bad, so never, NEVER go alone to pick up anything - that would be just a bad idea. Also, if you are search for something specific, be sure to come up with various search terms because not everyone calls every item the same thing. Example? Sofa vs. Couch. So take a moment to think of what else someone might call the item you seek.

You communicate with the person who has the item via e-mail. Everyone gives contact info in their post, so this is much easier than the all-too-often waiting games you have to play with listings on Craig's List who don't respond and do not remove listings when items are sold. I am in a waiting game right now for dining room chairs with a seller who 1. hasn't written back (and did not supply a phone number) and 2. has not removed the listing! Ugh.

People on freesysle have never made me wait for anything. They just want the item gone. Enjoy this free service, it is quite awesome! Check it out at freecycle.org

Entire Wardrobe in a Day: $31.00

 See all of these great, like-new pieces of clothing?
(click image for closer look!)

I washed everything, but have not yet pressed, as I wanted to display it all for you to illustrate what you can get for your money during a Salvation Army Family Day (Wednesday in my area) tour of stores in one day and $31.00. Granted the photo doesn't show the items well, but it does show you that 12 items were bought for $31.00. Literally, a wardrobe of mix-n-match awesomeness!

What you are seeing:  knee-length Bisou Bisou wrap dress in an incredible print, Sonoma crop denim jacket, GAP khaki skirt, Liz Claiborne Crazy Horse gray skirt and black/white print shirt, lime green blousey shirt, Ralph Lauren navy v-neck & back tank and red tailored pin-stripe shirt, Old Navy 3/4 sleeve blue top, khaki crop pants, and two pair of khaki-style pants in different shades of brown. All items have classic lines in great styles. I'll have these clothes for many years to come and I paid less that a friend of mine just paid for one dress, (and, she admitted, NOT as fabulous as mine!)

Another friend of mine, when told that I paid $5.50 the 1/2 price cost) for the Bisou Bisou dress, said, "Isn't that kind of high for you?" I told her that when she saw it, she would understand, and she did. I love that I have a reputation for saving money, but no one would call me cheap.

A shopping day like I had is like it's own holiday. When you spend around $30 and can do a 30 minute fashion show with your big score, it's a great day! Round up some like-minded friends and make a day of it! Go to http://www.satruck.org/donation-value-guide and you will see two things - 1. the values of items donated (you get a tax deduction form for your donations should you itemize your tax return, so not only are you giving to a wonderful organization that truly helps people help themselves, you get a financial benefit for yourself) and 2. you can enter your zip code in the upper left and find all the stores in your area.

Shopping at SA is a cool challenge - almost like a treasure hunt. It's really no different than TJMaxx except a bit more time to size check (size tags are the only way to know what size, and sometimes they are cut out) and the difference on your receipt at check out! Have allergies? Make sure your shopping isn't interrupted - take some allergy meds before you head out as SAs can be sneeze traps for those with pet or dust allergies. So go fishin' and head to the changing booths and share your big scores!

Great DIY Tiling Tips (if I do say so myself, and I DO!)

Thinking of tiling your own home? Here is a great, easy-to-follow tutorial for tiling a floor and wall of a bathroom. http://www.bhg.com/bathroom/remodeling/projects/easy-diy-bathroom-projects/#page=13

Tiling, contrary to popular belief, does not have to be expensive. Inexpensive tile can be found at most home improvement stores. Ask for an employee in tiling and then ask if there are any special buys in store now. The glass mosaic tile I used on my Salvation Army table was $5.00 per square foot. Special order tile in other colors of the same manufacturer sell for up to $25 a square foot.

Doing a few projects at the same time will be cost-effective. Once mastic (the base adhesive for tiling) is mixed, it needs to be used asap. Perhaps you have a coffee table or outdoor table that could use an easy-to-clean new look. You can always return unused tile to home improvement stores, so buy 20-25% more than you think you will need. Chances are good that you might break a few with a tile saw and you can't be stuck with mastic drying and no tile. On that note, put down the mastic in small, manageable sections - don't do an entire counter top or floor. ALWAYS dry fit your tile (lay it all out as it will be on the wall, counter top or floor) - that way, tiles can be marked and all cuts can be made ahead of time. This will save you MUCH frustration during the project and you can rent the tile saw when you are ready.

A note about grout:  You might be tempted buy the cute little tub of premixed grout. Well, don't. Premixed grout is full of sand, is very difficult to get in between the tiles and can actually scratch your tile. Click the photo above and look at the grout lines - they aren't smooth, they're sandy and rough - that's premixed grout. Go for the box, do some math, and make what you need. You do NOT need to make the whole box at once as recommended. They just want you to buy more grout.

Dehumidifier? USE, don't dump, the water collected.

I have a damp basement in my old house. A dehumidifier runs all the time and helps tremendously, but dumping the tank is inconvenient and needs to be done every one or two days. Not anymore!

For less than $15, I now have a better system. A plastic barrel ($5 or less, mine was free), a scrap piece of counter top (plywood would work, too, ask your friends), $4.00 of tubing and a $9.00 pump, and I no longer have to pay for water for my plants.

Set-up your dehumidifier to drain directly into the barrel. Place the pump (mine is around 400 gallons per hours) in the bottom of the barrel (you can wire it to a clean stone to keep it on the bottom of the barrel) and lead the hose up and out. Make sure it's long enough to reach into your watering cans and/or buckets.

The barrel holds almost a week's worth of water in my house (yours may differ!), so less dumping and when I want to water my plants, I put the hose attached to the pump (at the bottom of the barrel) into my watering can and plug in the pump. My watering can is full in little time, and I am not paying for the water as I would if I used the hose. When you're done filling all of your containers, unplug the pump. The dehumidifier is running anyway, so why not make it convenient to use the water collected?

Remember: with a system like this, the dehumidifier will keep running even if the barrel is overflowing because its reservoir is always empty, so if you are going away for a while, be sure to re-plug the reservoir on your dehumidifier so that you don't wind up with an overflowing barrel!

Tiling a table top: a Salvation Army side table gets upcycled big time!

So I needed a new side table for the living room and went shopping. Store after store, including Home Goods, I might add, had nothing that I loved and the cheapest table I found that would meet my needs was over $100. No table bought that day.

A clothing trip with friends to the Salvation Army scored me a table for $5.99 and I was nuts over the style, if not the scratch-covered top. Fifteen minutes in Home Depot, four hours at home, and here is the equation for one very happy me:

If you are new to tiling, then a job like this is right up your alley - no saws, no noise, water-only clean-up and a grand total of $38.00, which includes the cost of the table - the major score! I used left-over simple mat tile adhesive from when I tiled my kitchen last year. It saves to save materials! It was $20 per box at that time and it took two sheets of the stuff for this table. Quick set is not expensive but I wanted to use what I had. The 12"x12" glass tile sheets were just $5.00 each at home Depot.

Here are steps of the project:

1. Sand and paint table. Paint is Rustoleum Satin Finish in Espresso. Paint top white so that translucent tiles will stay bright. I used about 1/3 of a little craft bottle of acrylic white paint and didn't get close to the edges so no taping! In this picture, the quick mat is already adhered to the white painted surface:

:

 

2. This photo shows you the tools that I used, including a float, 5-in-One, and old spatula. All my tiling stuff is in one small plastic tub labeled, "Tiling Stuff" so that I can find it in the basement. I prefer to use this stainless steel dog bowl ($1.00 at a yard sale) to mix grout - the 5-in-One tool I use to mix can gouge plastic containers and when I wash this, I know it is truly clean. Tiling kits are a waste of money - they do not have quality products. Buy a float - you probably have everything else you'll need at home:

 

3. Follow the directions on the back of the grout box. There are pictures and it is very simple to do - just follow the directions! I used PolyBlend Non-sanded Grout (required un-sanded for glass titles due to their tiny spaces between tiles) in 'Nutmeg' as white would not have given me the look I wanted - the transulent, nearly clear tiles in my mosaic would have gone dark if I hadn't painted the top white. I used one fifth of the grout powder and have saved the rest for another project. The guide on the back of the grout told me exactly how much I needed. I used a postal scale to get 2 pounds of grout and added 9.6 ounces of water (yep, you'll need to use some basic math skills as not to waste 10 lbs. of grout, but just LOOK at the awesomeness that is my new table: 

 

And with two absolutely filthy, but totally stable yard sale chairs (marked $1.00 each, but offered $1.00 for both & they said yes!), lots of scrubbing and $8.00 of Krylon made-for-plastic paint later, here's the results:

You can do less with more! If you need ideas, ask crafty friends! Have an item that you would like to 'upcycle' but don't know where to start and have no craft people to ask? Send it to me and lets see what we can come up with!

A Few Great Places to Start

A wonderful first step to saving money is to use inexpensive, often chemical-free products in place of pricier, more complex ones. This article gives over 20 great ideas such as using baby powder instead of purchasing dry shampoo. Click for more money-saving ideas: http://www.allyou.com/budget-home/money-shopping/buy-this-not-that-00400000065125/page23.html

Having asthma and wanting to be able to clean my own home without wearing a mask and rubber gloves, I have replaced all daily cleaning products in my home with vinegar solutions and baking soda solutions. From stove tops to toilets, I can now breathe easy while I clean. The other awesome perk? It's CHEAP! I can tell how easy this was and how satisfied I am with the results, but you really need to jump in - the water's fine (and chemical-free!) Here are two must reads follow. On either site, use your Edit>Find option in your browser to find what you are looking for - for instance type in 'toilet' to see how you can replace that noxious-smelling toilet cleaner!

Baking Soda: http://www.allyou.com/budget-home/live-green-save/baking-soda-00400000048014/

Vinegar: http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7

After you try one or many of these ideas, please share your results!

No Such Thing As 'Away'

I have some heinously wasteful neighbors in my community. HEAPS of garbage on the curb each week. Prepackaged everything. Plastic bags inside plastic bags. Rotten food stinking up the block. Waste. Piles of Waste. Cardboard boxes left intact and full of junk (the trash company does not recycle intact cardboard - we are, and should be, required to flatten all cardboard for it to be recycled). Our local trash company doesn't charge per bag, so you can put out almost anything for the almost $500/yr. that we pay the garbage service. I see the piles that they put out each week and then I look at our little area of curb:  one not-even-full bag and a paper sack or two of recyclables. With very few exceptions, that is the garbage.

'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle' isn't a cliche or catch-phrase, it's what we really have to do. Look at our oceans - that's where everything goes 'away' - all trash flows to the oceans. In the near future, I will refer to various sources that prove this. What happens in heavy rains and floods? Trash get rushed to the oceans and, no matter where you live, you may be contributing to that. Please don't. There are literally islands of trash, but that's for another day...

Saving the Earth starts with saving your neighborhood. There will be no politics here - I am sick to death of people using politics to separate us. We are ONE PEOPLE, sharing this ONE EARTH. We need to be one team when it comes to clean air, water, and soil.

This blog is here to share ideas for taking action in your own life, saving money, and seeing the changes that others have made to make their little corner of the world a better, cleaner, more creative space. No matter how small your contribution, you need to know that it matters. Action means more than words. Saying you 'care' or saying 'someone should do something' is like handing the reins of your life to someone else, and you need to be careful who you pass those reins to -  they just might end up in the hands of my neighbors, and that would be one frightened horse.