Recycled Wine Bottle Candleholder

Make a candleholder by inserting a taper candle into the opening on top. You can place the bottle on a candle plate and cover with polished pebbles. The candle, plate and pebbles can be found at local Dollar Stores.

Decorate for Dollars

Add some artistic detail to your room with inexpensive frames from the Dollar Store. I purchased three frames (same size) and framed two vertical tear sheets from magazines and the other with leaves from the yard.

Total cost $3.00

Total time 20 minutes

Easy, fast, and Cheap!

Healthy Meals from the Dollar Store

Stop at your neighborhood Dollar Store and look for groceries to make healthy delicious meals. The following is a recipe that my family, Mom and Dad, would like to share with you to warm your insides and fill your belly!

Salmon Soup

1 tablespoon of flour and butter

3 Cups of Milk

1 160z can of Salmon

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

In a saucepan melt butter, add flour to make a roux.

Over low heat, stir in milk until it thickens.

Add salt, pepper (to taste), parsley.

Optional: 2 drops Tabasco.

Simmer heated thoroughly.

Enjoy!

Pedistal Serving Piece

Left: This glass pedistal cake plate is great for serving delicious desserts. It's easy and inexpensive to make.

Above: The before photo - this glass plate and candlestick were purchased at a garage sale for less than two dollars. Just glue the plate on top of the candle holder and you'll create a lovely serving piece. Easy and affordable...it makes a great Christmas or Hostess gift.

Back to Basics Money Saving Tips

Back to Basics.........
Remember the old days when we didn't run to the store to buy a case of paper towels? And who would have thought that we would actually be paying to drink water from disposable plastic bottle, when we have perfectly good water available right out of our kitchen tap? Oh, I know it's convenient to take the bottle with you, but have you ever heard of a thermos? It keeps liquids cold or hot and best of all it is reusable.
Well, I remember not having an abundance of paper towels to go through. Instead we used "rags" yes, rags. We would use them to clean our windows, counters, floors, mirrors, furniture even sop up messy spills! Then we put them in laundry washed and "air dried" them using clothes pins-(I think they still make them) on the clothes line. Then we reused them.
Result:

• spend less money
• use less energy (air dry vs. dryer)
• fewer trips to the store, save gasoline
• zero plastic bottles, better for the enviornment

It's Back to Basics...
There are a lot of ways to save money by going "back to basics" - for example instead of throwing glass jars away re-use them filling them with fresh coffee beans, candy, coins, liquids, bath salts, buttons, safety pins, nails and screws. If you paint the lid and add a few colorful stickers and ribbons you will have a special hand made gift. The lucky recepient will be touched by your thoughtfulness and creativity.

Create Using Door Mats

Colorful door mats can not only welcome visitors, they can also brighten various rooms inside your home.

Ladybugs in the laundry room, Ferns in the garden room, Paisley prints in the the bathrooms. These mats are durable and weather resistant. A real bargin at Garden Ridge stores located across the country!

Clever Vase

Looking for a unique and inexpensive vase idea. Try painting a paper bag with base coat color. Apply additional color by flicking the paint on to the bag with the paint brush. Dry overnight, then place a glass or vase inside the bag to hold water for fresh flowers (or silk) making an interesting centerpiece for your table(s)!

Decorating at the Dollar Castle

This striking arrangement consists of Dollar Castle Stones (bottom of vase), a glass vase (available at the Dollar Castle) and sticks from the yard, spray painted white.

Dollar Castle Decorating

I had a great time demonstrating decorating ideas at the Dollar Castle last Saturday. Here is a Dollar Castle wall arrangement using mirrors, velcro tape, and a little imagination

Pebble Border

Looking for a different kind of border? Here's and idea...I purchased a sheet of pebble tile at Home Depot. Instead of using it as a tile sheet, I pulled each rock off of the mesh backing and stuck them on the wall with silacone glue.

Paint Chips

While walking past a local hardware store, I noticed a display of paint in the window. The colorful paint samples struck a creative cord with me, so I stopped in my tracks and made a bee line for the store. Earlier that day, I had purchased a box of inexpensive frames and needed something to fill them. The rest is history!

Button Button Who's Got the Button?

Here's a use for those old (and new) buttons. Purchase magnets with adhesive backing, or use glue, to adhere the magnet onto the back of the button. They make "cute as a button" refrigerator magnets!

Easy and Inexpensive Decor

A visit to one of my favorite places to shop, The Dollar Store, gave me the inspiration and materials I needed to create a wall of art. The Dollar Store has a nice collection of plates to choose from, and the hangers to go with. Just a few nails and you're good to go!

Pebble Area Rug

New great find at Home Depot. It's not just for home improvement, you can find some fantastic decorating elements too. I love this pebble area rug- it's unique and could even be used as a wall hanging!

Easy Pasta Art!

Grab a fish bowl (medium) and some pasta...pour the noodles in the bowl, stick the spagetti in the middle and you have a unique accessorie or centerpiece for your kitchen. Another edible variation - use pretzel nuggets or cheese puffs in place of the noodles and pretzel rods instead of the spagetti. Yum!

Decorative Boxes hold Keepsakes Neatly

Take a look at the cleaver way we have hidden trinkets, papers, and keepsakes. Who would ever guess what kind of potentially messy items are kept out of sight in these attractive boxes.(see below for before photo)

Decorative Containers Conceal "Stuff"

Go ahead and save those special keepsakes, cards, photos, articles and the like. Store them in decorative containers - close the lid - and top them off with a little greenery...next photo (above)

Spring Cleaning Inside

Organizing can be easier than you think. Save plastic containers (or purchase them at the dollar store) and use them to house your q-tips, creams, etc. keeping items seperate and tidy inside your bathroom drawers. It only takes a few minutes to make a big difference!

Inspiration Room

Now you have loads of ideas always in front of you and at your fingertips. It's a great way to display your design ideas and even children's art work. My nephew J.T. recently made a colorful drawing for my birthday (last row center) and now I have the perfect place to display it!

That's What I call Inspiration!

Last week I created an inspiration room with my nephew, Cas, using tear sheets from magazines. We went through our favorite magazines and tore out ideas for decorating, crafts, recipes, etc. We ran three rows of wire across the room and secured them to the wall using cup hooks to wind the wire around. We displayed our ideas by attaching binder clips to the wire then the inspirational "tear sheet." The room is now filled with hundreds of ideas that will keep our creative juices flowing! See photo above for finished inspiration room!

Start the new year right by clearing the clutter. Remember it takes time, so don't get overwhelmed trying to do too much at once. Just like my book says...how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

A good tip, enlist the help of a "clutter buddy" to be the voice of reason and keep you motivated. Make sure that this person is someone who will keep you moving forward. The goal is to get the job done so you can move on to the next project!

For more great tips and information check out my book "Cashing in on Design" -

http://www.cashinginondesign.com/

End Table Enhancement

Here's an idea for you. I purchased this end table at Target, and wanted to jazz it up a bit. So I went to the local glass store (auto and windows) and asked them to cut a mirror to fit the top. I also had them glue it to the top, or you can do it yourself. The mirrored top adds an additional dimension to this simple table.