Mrs. McFrugal

I have an addiction. Yes, I am admitting I have a problem. I can't stop buying white ceramic animals! Exhibit A: I watched this guy at Target until he went on clearance...I even bought 2! (the other one found his way into the guest room). It was a completely useless purchase, but I don't regret it one bit! Exhibit B: I justified paying full price for this guy because he serves a purpose...he's actually a vase!! Plus, I've been wanting a white ceramic owl for a while now. Seriously! And finally, exhibit C: This guy was also on clearance, and I feel that James likes it because it's a doggie. At least I'll tell myself that he likes it :) So if you ever run across a white ceramic animal and it also happens to be near my birthday or Christmas...I think you know where I'm going with this! Does anyone else have a strange obsession with a random category of decor?

So, a couple of weeks ago, we randomly bought a new chandelier for the dining room (yes, after we had just installed one about 2 months ago). We couldn't help it...it was marked down over 70% off (from $178 to $51). Plus, it was MUCH nicer looking than the chandelier we had just hung in there, and luckily we hadn't spent much on that one either. Here she is: Isn't she a beaut? It's exactly the look we are going for: modern meets antique. Well then this weekend, we decided to cruise through the lighting section of a different Lowe's, just for grins and giggles. We found the same chandelier marked down to $43. We decided to pick it up and return the first one we had bought, to save a few bucks. They also had the matching 3-light pendant that would be perfect for the entryway, and it was marked down to $16!! And to our surprise, when we were cashing out at the register, the big chandelier actually rang up $25...so essentially, we got 2 chandeliers for less than

So, I have this great farmhouse table and windsor chairs that my mom got from an auction for about $30 a few years ago. It has been great for my first, 2nd, and 3rd apartments. But, it's in pretty rough shape. Here it is in all its glory (without legs)...   With our upcoming nuptials, we thought we had better refinish this table, since we don't have extra money to buy an expensive new table. So, I started tearing the table apart. Exhibit A:  There's no turning back now, I've officially ruined the table! The plan was to replace the tile with a mosaic, re-finish the wood and stain it darker, and repaint the legs (not shown). It's been sitting at this stage in the garage for about a month now...until Saturday night when we randomly went to a Big Lots. We found this bad boy on clearance and snatched it up!! It even has a leaf!!  It has been kitty tested and approved!!! (yes, I know it's gross that the cat is on the table...we're in the middle of

Oh, the wonders of spray paint!! Today I'll share a few projects I've been working on for quite some time, mainly because I kept running out of spray paint and had to keep buying more :) First up are the ugly brass fireplace doors. I couldn't find a good "before" picture, just a few shots of it in the background of other pictures... She's a beaut! We looked into replacing the doors, but they were upwards of $1000. Yikes! So after a little researching online and reading other blogs, I found out that I could spray paint the doors with some high-heat spray paint. It was worth a shot...I figure the worst I could do was ruin them, which let's be honest...they already had to go. So I found some Rustoleum grill spray paint and went for it. Obviously, I taped off the glass and anything I didn't want to be painted. I did rough it up first with a high-grit sandpaper, so the paint would adhere better. I also washed it thoroughly because it was quite

That's right, I'm soon to be MRS McFrugal!! J and I are finally engaged!! He proposed to me on my birthday, August 30th! BEST.BIRTHDAY.EVER. So, the direction of this blog will go a little more toward wedding planning for the next few months, instead of house renovating. I'm going to do as much as I can for the wedding myself (and with my mother's help), instead of paying someone or buying pre-made decor. We picked the date and location: December 29th at the Belmont Mansion, here in Nashville. I'm very excited! I already bought my dress, and we're doing taste tests at caterers within the next week. Everything's going so well!! (Moulin Rouge, anyone?) I will try to post once in a while to keep y'all updated, but I can't promise that I'll post very regularly. My head is barely on straight these days!!

Here's a quick tip to make your rugs stay in place without buying those expensive rug pads... I buy rolls of shelf liner at the Dollar Tree, they are made of the exact same material as the rug pads! Each roll is only $1 and is 12" wide by 5' long. I bought 4 rolls and just trimmed them to the length I needed, and placed them around the edges of my rug: It's so much cheaper than rug pads, and keeps my rug in place perfectly!! (If I were concerned about protecting the floor, I could run two more strips down the center as well...still only spending $6!) In my last post, I mentioned we were going to start looking for a dining room rug. Well, after doing a lot of research, I found that the right size for us would be 7x9. The room is only 9'6" by 11'3", so we didn't have a lot of room to work with. A 7x10 rug was too large, not leaving enough of a border around the edge for a cabinet, and it also covered part of the floor register--not good

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted! We've slowed down on home repairs/renovations due to vacation, illnesses, and just being tired of renovating. I have just a few updates to share... First, I found an amazing rug at IKEA while we were on vacation. It's a little larger than 4x6, for only $20! It looks awesome in the guest room with the gray walls: Isn't it beautiful??! J doesn't like rugs covering up his expensive hardwood floors, but I look at them as protection for the floors :) Another room that received a new rug was the master bedroom. Bella gets fed on the dresser, separate from Fiona, but we noticed that she started digging her claws into the floor to get a good grip when she jumps up onto the dresser. So we decided a big rug would solve that problem! Found this one at Target for only $15: It's kind-of hard to see, but it has a nice pattern in it. Bella approves :) The next update we did was with some lighting. We had been search

For those of you who may be in the market for an electric toothbrush, check out these great deals than can be found! Right now, Oral-B is offering a $20 mail-in rebate   (valid on purchases between 7/1 and 9/30) on certain models of electric toothbrushes. Combined with the following sales, you can get a pretty awesome deal! Check out this toothbrush at Target.com...this price of $47 (regularly $109) is only valid today, 8/5! This deal gets you free shipping, and if you have a Target RedCard, an additional 5% off! If you miss today's Target Daily Deal, check out this toothbrush at Walmart.com for $37 (regularly $75), and it comes with a bonus back of Crest White Strips!   These are 2 great deals, and electric toothbrushes are supposed to be much better for oral health. Happy shopping! And don't forget to send in those mail-in rebates!!

For a little change of pace, I'm going to share one of my favorite recipes. This is one that my mom and I created based on hash browns we had at restaurants, but tweaking them to exactly what we wanted. I usually make this recipe when I have about half a bag of potatoes that I won't be able to use otherwise before they spoil :) Whenever I go home, mom & dad ask me to make this--they tell me I'm better at it, but I know they're only humoring me because it's super simple! So here's all you need: As many potatoes as you want, usually 6-8 green bell pepper, diced onion, diced Shredded cheese (of your choice) 1-2 eggs (optional) Butter (NOT margarine) First, you'll want to bake the potatoes. I usually do this the night before, and then refrigerate them overnight. The potatoes are much easier to deal with when they have been chilled.  When you're ready to put it all together, put some butter in a non-stick frying pan. Let the butter melt on low heat

Alright, as promised, here is another update of Fiona at 16 weeks. We have now had her for 12 weeks (3 months)...hard to believe how much she's grown! Let's take a look back at each 4 week interval: 4, 8, and 12 weeks Now, here she is at 16 weeks: Whoa!!  Big girl!!! I have a feeling she will surpass Bella pretty soon!

So this past weekend, we didn't make much progress on the "house remodel" but we did make a lot of progress on making the house presentable! We had a cookout for some of my coworkers, so we had to clean basically every square inch of the house, garage, and yard. There ended up being 16 people over...18 including me and James! (oh, and 3 dogs). Group pic on the stairs! Thank goodness the stairs held for this picture! So anyway, we cleaned up all the tools from around the house, organized the garage, tidied up the yard and patio furniture, etc. The house hasn't been this clean in...ever! Just look at the dining room: Yeah, we still have to paint the corner blocks and touch up the paint on the trim, but I think it finally looks like a room!! In hindsight, we should have centered this artwork vertically as well as horizontally...maybe someday we'll fix it, but right now I'm just happy it's not on the floor leaning against the wall. Here's a