December to Remember

Ok so I know I've been really bad downright horrible about writing.  But I've got a lot of cool things going.  You'll be excited about it :)
First thing....boyfriend and I have decided to do a "December to Remember".   We looked at the calendar last month and saw that we were spending entirely too much money.  So this December we are cutting back spending for everything.  I mean everything.  No more online shopping, no more stopping on my way home to pick up a few craft supplies, no more eating out.  YIKESERS.
Let me explain...I'm not the type of person to go out and spend $300 shopping at the mall.  But I will stop at Target on the way home and spend $20, then go to the Dollar Tree and spend $15, and maybe stop at Gordmans quick and drop another $50.  And I love the search for a unique item at thrift stores - I check all the thrift stores out weekly. It doesn't feel like I'm spending a lot, but then all of a sudden I'm in single digits in the available cash column.  Oopsies.
We checked out our cupboards and we have a ton of food.  Granted, a lot of it is cooking supplies (soups, pastas, sauces, etc) but we have packed cupboards.  I analyzed the cupboards and wrote down as many meals as I could think of with what we had on hand.  I came up with almost 35 meals.  That's ridiculous - we've had some of this stuff since we moved in here.  And so "December to Remember" begins.
We are limiting ourselves to spending money on bills and fuel.  We're both eating breakfast every day and making lunch to bring to work every day.  So we are allowing ourselves $20 a week for milk, bread, lunchmeat, cheese, and fresh produce.  It's only been a couple of days and it's difficult - but it will definitely help our checkbook.  It's a challenge but I think it puts our spending patterns into perspective a little bit.  I hope we'll have a good experience and it will encourage us to budget better in 2012.  Feel free to join me if you like.  I'd love to hear how your "December to Remember" is going :)  Have a fabulous Sunday evening!!

Getting Used to This

Ok friends, I'm trying to get used to this whole blog thing.  Sometimes I just kinda forget about it and then realize that I haven't written in a week - oops.  I will try not to neglect my blogger friends :)
I'm also trying to get used to crafting for public - taking before and after pics.  This is actually a project that I did before I created this blog, but I love it.  I apologize for the lack of the before picture on this one - you can use your imagination to visualize a yucky unattractive little storage ottoman.  It was a dirty brown color and was really just falling apart.  I picked it up at a secondhand store for $5, but I knew I could do something with it. I've had it sitting in my bedroom for a while now, just sitting there all gross and brown and blahhhh.

And now....

I LOVE IT!!!  Isn't it so cute?!  Please disregard the thick layer of dust making a home on my jewelry stand...like I said - I wasn't crafting for public :)

So I took a couple pieces of scrap fabric and reupholstered the top cushion.  The patterned fabric is pulled flat across the cushion.  The mustard colored fabric was stapled and then gathered and tied using a small elastic band.  I finished it off with a cute red and black clip on earring in the center.  Right now I'm storing winter gloves, hats, scarfs, etc in it....hopefully they all stay there for a long time.  I'd like it if I never had to wear that junk this winter.

Anyway, I have lots more projects to load...the last few have been just some simple little guys.  Keep watching for some fun big projects...until then, happy crafting!!

I love you because...

"If tomorrow never comes, will they know how much you love them?"
I made a little sign to try to encourage loving words daily.  It was such a simple craft, but still fun.

This is just a basic 8x10 frame that I had.  I used scraps of paper for the back design.  Then I added a few buttons and some cute stickers.  Now we can write on the frame with a dry erase marker and just wipe it off when we want to write something new.  No example yet because I am lacking a marker (of all the things I have in my craft supplies, a dry erase marker is not one of them...ugh). 

Thinking of Thanksgiving -- you could also do this as "I'm thankful for..."   It'd be a great way to incorporate that into kids' lives this holiday season!  Hope everyone had a fab weekend!! 

My Perfect Day

Do you ever have just a really awesome day?  Nothing too exciting happens, but nothing bad happens either?  Everything just seems to go your way. I had one of those perfect mellow days today.  I started out my perfect day by sleeping in.  Ahhh I love sleeping in.  Waking up and knowing that I don't have to leave my bed for anything.  Love it. 
So today I wanted to check out some different thrift stores since I can't get to them during the week.  I definitely made my rounds and I got some amazing finds!  I just love the hunt.  Knowing that you found something so unique, so peculiar, so perfect...it's a huge adrenaline rush for me. 
I spent about 4 hours shopping and then came home to begin my crafting.  I will post pictures soon - I promise.  I did so much tonight and I'm thrilled with everything that I did.  I feel so fantastic after crafting - I just feel a sense of purpose, I guess.  It's amazing how you can completely change something and make it amazing.  I love it.  Anyway, I just had to write because I am still so excited about everything I did...I will post my first craft soon - I just have to decide what that's going to be!  And now the end to my perfect day -- my bed...and daylight savings time to boot ...WINNING! :)

The Frog Blog

I spent such a long time trying to find the perfect name for my blog.  Well, it should have been called The Frog Blog.  I have so many ideas running through my little head and I will definitely be jumping from one idea to the next.  It may be difficult sometimes to follow me, so I apologize.  I will just imagine my amazing followers as cute little frogs hopping from one little lily pad to the next.  Haha!

My Blog List...so far.

• Recipes
• Fitness
• Home/project makeovers
• How very bad I want a dog
• Photography
• Fashion
• How terribly cheap I am
• Random tidbits that I feel like writing about

Forgot to say HAPPY HALLOWEEN yesterday!!  I love Halloween - it tops my top three holiday list.  I'm bummed that it's over...but now I can look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas, minus the snow.  Eat a little candy, and enjoy the fun spooky holiday :)

My First Post!!

I've been thinking about creating a blog for a ridiculously long time.  Only, it turns out that I don't have anything exciting to blog about.  I don't have any kids, I don't own a home, I don't have pets.  So you won't hear about all the cute things my kids did today or how I'm snuggling up with my dog and watching scary movie marathons while getting a massage from my smokin' hot movie star husband. 

I'm 23 years old and live in Iowa.  I like to use being a "poor college kid" as an excuse to get out of different situations.  Except for I'm not in college anymore.  Just poor.  I live in an apartment that charges me an insane amount to live here.  Obviously if I can barely afford rent, that means I really can't afford home decor.  This results in using paint, paper, and fabric (all of which are always bought on sale) to liven up this little tiny apartment that I try to call home.  I live a pretty uneventful life, but I like it. 

So I'm cordially inviting you to join me for my crazy journey.  It'll be silly and wild and messy.  But I promise it'll be fun.  I know some day I'll miss this, so I want to enjoy every single second of it.  Join me, won't you? :)