Mrs. McFrugal

First, I've been working on the guest/craft/office room the last week. The old shelves I had were the cheapy comes-in-a-box-fiberboard variety, and they didn't survive the move. (The sudden rain/hail storm we drove through certainly didn't help). Anyway, I needed some new shelves. I didn't want to get the same cheap shelves again, so I started scouring the internet. I found these shelves on Target.com, and using my Target Debit card, I got a 5% discount and free shipping right to the front door...can't beat that! I was able to put them together on my own. They're not entirely hardwood, like they look, but they're certainly a step up from these , and for not much more money. So here they are all put together, with LOTS of stuff on them already! Next, James and I decided to finally hang some artwork in the living room. Not only are the walls blank and lonely, all of the artwork has been taking up space sitting around in the guest room and dining room, ju

Normally I would brag about these sorts of purchases to my mom, but since I don't live near her I have to call with my clearance brags, and I'm gonna post them so y'all can see, too! After all, I am Ms. McFRUGAL :) A couple months ago I found this cute mirror at Target, normally $30 marked down to $9! It's gonna look SO CUTE in the guest room, in all of its whimsical glory.   Next is this set of card table and chairs...I kept seeing them in the store and finally bought the last one! They were originally $55, marked down to $27. The corner was a bit damaged, but I figured it was still a good deal. (To buy the table alone would be $30!) Next, my friend and I were at Michaels looking for ribbons and feathers to decorate her Steeplechase hat, and I happened across the Wilton section of the store. They had a cake decorating kit on clearance, regularly $35 marked down to $23.99. I was still hesitant to buy it, but after price comparing the cost of all the tips

Today, we've had Fiona for 5 weeks! She was so tiny when we brought her home...just 4 weeks old and 1 pound! Now look at her!! 5 weeks later, such a big girl!! Okay, so I couldn't get her to sit in the plate, but you get the idea. She wouldn't have fit anyway!

This is going to be a very text-heavy post. Sorry...wait, no I'm not. I did warn you, after all. Today, Young House Love (my absolute favorite DIY blog) did a post on DIYing vs. Living In Your Home & Enjoying It and I gotta say, this is exactly what I needed to read today. Lately, I've been getting discouraged about the progress of the house. I know we've done a lot, but we still have SO much to do. It literally makes me tired just thinking about it. Like just now, I nodded off typing that sentence. When James first got the keys to his house back on 9/9/11, we immediately started ripping things off the walls. I kid you not, as soon as I got off work that Friday, I distinctly remember ripping out most of the trim that evening. The carpet came out the next morning, as did the wood paneling in the living room. My parents came and spent the next week with us, drywalling the living room and helping to get James started on major projects like the master bathroom (whic

When I'm feeling fancy, I pronounce it like "carriage." This has been James' project the last few weekends: the garage. He still can't park a vehicle in there, but it's making great progress! I went yard saling (that's a new verb) with the girls on Saturday and got an amazing deal: about 10 pieces of leftover closet shelves and the hardware to go with it, all for just $3!! They clearly just wanted to get rid of it. Well as soon as I brought it home, James immediately started installing it in the garage. Here is the finished product:   It's nothing fancy, but it works! We still have quite a few pieces leftover, too. That shelving would have been a bargain at twice the price!  James also built a shelf to keep some bins containing small things like paint brushes, drill bits, etc. Here's what that looks like:    Here's a view of that whole corner, to give some perspective. I also picked up a package of hooks for the peg boar

Here are a list of things that need to be done on the house, broken down by room. Things that have been sitting, waiting to be finished, mocking me on a daily basis. Ugh. Living Room 1. Install trim around window 2. Crown molding 3. Fill nail holes and paint trim 4. Hang curtains (once Fiona is old enough not to climb them) 5. Finish spray-painting fireplace doors and re-install 6. Figure out what to do around the fireplace (tile? mantle surround?) and then do it 7. Fix door handle on closet 8. Organize closet (DVD's, CD's, books) 9. Figure out something to do about brick hearth (paint? resurface?) 10. Replace entry door (preferably something with blinds or curtains) Master Bathroom 1. Sand walls and re-paint for a smooth finish 2. Install shower head and faucet 3. Seal grout in the shower 4. Install hardware (towel bars, toilet paper dispenser, etc) 5. Figure out some storage 6. Re-paint and hang door 7. Chair rail 8. Crown molding and baseboards 9. Fill

James' living room is an interesting layout: very long and narrow, with doors everywhere and a fireplace to deal with. There are at least 3 different traffic paths through the room that need to be considered. Here's what we originally came up with for the furniture arrangement: The door on the far left edge of the photo is the entrance from the back of the house. The door on the left is a closet, and the door on the right is to the kitchen. It has worked for a while, but it was difficult to see the TV from the far couch because of the angle. Also, it always felt very crowded going in and out of the kitchen, with the small sofa and the bookshelf right by that door. And see that laptop on the coffee table? Yeah, we needed to deal with that, too. Recently, I acquired a couple of sweet deals at Target, 70% off! I found this hutch for only $25, regularly $80. I was hoping to find the matching desk also on clearance, but it was either already sold out or wasn't on