ClassiclyAmber » frugal

From Cabin to Cottage

classiclyamber — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:37:23 +0000

A tiny hunting cabin is remodeled into the most adorable shabby chic cottage around!

It is now filled with salvaged wood flooring, inexpensive chandies, faded cabinets and warped-glass windows.

This is proof that you do not have to have a boatload of money to create the perfect space – only creativity, ingenuity and a willingness to do the work yourself.

I love it!

Source

Palatable Pallets

classiclyamber — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:00:25 +0000

| identical to my friend's dish display |

Recently a friend of mine asked for ideas about a nifty way to display her grandmother’s fine china. Her wonderful mom had just passed away, and I suppose in cleaning things out, my friend stumbled across some beautiful floral china that she had no idea was just hiding up in her attic. I told her about how I’d seen great things being done with pallets, and thought that would be the way to go with her home’s farmhouse/shabby chic style. She ended up getting her hands on some new pallets – and gave them an aged look with glazing. The end result was great!

There are so many things you can repurpose pallets into. For instance, how cute is this industrial coffee table on wheels? I love the vintage industrial chic look that can be found right now. That’s what I’m leaning towards for decorating our next place with.

To me, using pallets to create furniture + shelving + walls is a great way to mesh into this style, if that’s what you dig!

Here, pallets have been turned into wall art. Simple but effective~!

And what are your thoughts on using a pile of pallets as a staircase? Of course, I would think that you wouldn’t want to go overboard with using pallets unless you came up with a way to pull it off successfully without taking away from the homey feeling of your casa. However, creatively injecting it here and there will certainly only add to your home’s style.

If you are in the market for new furniture indoors, I implore you to search your local CraigsList and see what you can find as far as pallets go. Here on my side of the pond, someone is always giving them away for FREE on CL! Truly that is a deal that can’t be beat. Just one request: if you are in my area, don’t hog all the pallets, okay? I need some!

Leave the pallets whole…take them apart and refashion into something new…leave them rustic…paint or glaze them…the options are endless, right?

So what can a pallet do for YOU?

Granite Countertops – Nifty Idea

classiclyamber — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:45:04 +0000

When we built this home almost 4 years ago, I had lots of ideas swirling around in my brain. One thing I knew for sure I wanted to try was to put together my own sink area in the powder room on the 1st floor. I felt certain that I could make something custom at a fraction of the cost of similar, but not as nifty mass-manufactured ideas.

{our farmhouse kitchen sink}

If you are having granite installed in your kitchen, consider having your granite dude give you your sink cutout. You are paying for that granite, so why not keep it? Think of other things you can use that chunk for. [I should note here that it is sometimes tricky for them to cut the piece perfectly...so bear in mind that it could be lost in the process. Doesn't hurt to try, though!] In our kitchen, I had a HUGE farmhouse style sink put in [which turned out to be one of my most fav things about this house!] and so my granite cutout was extra large. I got the measurements of the cutout, and then began my search at Goodwills and antique stores for a dark wooden chest of drawers that could be converted. It took me a couple of weeks of searching, but I finally came across one that had perfect measurements and was similar to the look I had in mind. Plus, it was marked right at my budget and I was able to talk them down a bit lower by offering cash and an on-the-spot transaction.

I had our granite guy do a smaller sink cutout from our kitchen sink cutout [sound confusing?]. The wooden top of the antique chest was easily removed, and the new granite with the smaller sink and faucet was installed on top of the chest.

In the end, even with purchasing the sink and faucet separately, I still managed to come under budget. A similar set up like this that you might find elsewhere would have cost several hundred more dollars than what we spent. I loved doing it this way because it’s more unique – and I thought it was fun to put it all together how I wanted!

Don’t wanna use a chest? Let the granite take the main focus with an under-mount sink and exposed pipes, which can double as a place to hang fresh, neatly folded towels.

Even if you’re not having new countertops installed in your kitchen, you could still browse granite yards and ask them about smaller pieces [granite remnants] you could purchase for a lot less moolah if you are in the market to redo your bathroom. If you’re anything like me, you will have fun putting it all together yourself – and love the challenge of coming in under budget!

Whatcha’ got in your bathroom?

Photo credits: Apartment Therapy; House of Turquoise

Salvaged Greenhouse Inspiration

classiclyamber — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:15:48 +0000

We had another snowfall and it’s all melted away because the ground had warmed up previously. I’m still looking forward to spring and all that that entails, so I thought I’d post some greenhouse pics to elicit more inspiration. Many people have constructed the neatest greenhouses using found materials from their yard, or stuff their neighbors were getting rid of, or through websites like CraigsList and Freecycle. This might not be a project that we get to tackle this year, but I am feeling so inspired!

Isn’t this one of the cutest greenhouses you’ve ever seen? Organic gardener and prop stylist Heather Cameron did a really great job pulling this together. Her husband built this colorful greenhouse for her from old barn wood and vintage windows…a recurring theme you’ll find with salvaged greenhouse design. I love the awnings propped up with bamboo sticks, and the way she has everything organized. Click here to read more about it.

I know that the practical minded sweeties out there are going to go nuts when they see the chandeliers in the above greenhouse, but I truly love it’s shabby chic appeal. And if you didn’t know it already, this greenhouse is the exact same one as the very first one pictured, but has shed it’s play-clothes for something more glamorous. [Actually, I am not sure which style was first, but they are both fab!] I can definitely see myself hanging out in a space like this!

The fanlight window is a beautiful focal point on Judie Byrd’s salvaged greenhouse. When you look at more pictures from her website, you’ll find that her’s also contains a crystal chandelier~! I love that she uses her greenhouse for more than just potting and growing plants year round. It sounds like her and her grandkids are having so much fun in this magical space! Be sure and check out her nifty tips for starting seedlings from egg shells and their cartons, too.

If you’d love to have a salvaged greenhouse of your own and aren’t too impatient, then you can begin now by collecting various building materials – windows, doors, windows, siding, windows….oh yeah, and you’ll want some windows, too. After seeing these gorgeous greenhouses, I’m gonna get started on the hunt. How about you?

3M Command Metal Hooks + Ribbon

classiclyamber — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:13:25 +0000

We were at Home Depot recently, and were using Christmas money to buy a few needed materials for a bunk bed project that hubby is working on. As we were passing through one aisle, my eye caught sight of some of those 3M Command Hooks in metal – specifically, Rubbed Oil Bronze. I just love ROB! You know, ROB? We have it all throughout our house. And when we were building this place, I saw those initials used everywhere for that finish. “Yeah, we are getting these two doors…and yes, we that hardware in ROB!”

These hooks were about $6 a piece – and that’s definitely within our budget! Of course, hubby wanted to know what I wanted them for.

“Towel holders for the hand towels in our master bath!”

Yeah, we built this house 2.5 years ago and have never totally finished it due to monetary constraints. You’d think that towel holders would be an easy go – but it was just one of those things. Do you know what I’m talking about? It’s like…you spend so much money all at once on the most important fixtures for your home…and are trying to cut corners at the time…but then never go back and finish getting everything else together. I had noticed that the rubbed oil bronze finishes on everything were not only my fav, but also usually the most expensive option. (Through the process, hubby was always saying that my tastes were too fancy because I always – ALWAYS without fail – loved the most expensive thing in the store!) Please note that that’s not what I set out to do – it just ended up that way. And we DID try to cut costs and save money.

Some.

Didn’t we, dear? Somewhere? ……

So all that to say…I have shopped around some and have not found two rubbed oil bronze hand towel holders that I like for just $12! But now I have! =-)

Anyway, back to these hooks. So here’s my thought process: I couldn’t possibly go wrong with buying these inexpensive hooks to use for towel holders in our bathroom because if we ever get tired of them, we can easily remove them without damaging the walls. And THEN I will get to reuse them elsewhere in the home for easy seasonal decorating! =-D So it’s a win-win sitchy, to be sure. But for now, they are a nice, quick fix that will last us until that point.

There are several different metal finish options that you can find with these 3M hooks…as well as different amounts of weight that they will hold (anywhere from 1 pound to 5 pounds). I chose two hooks to hold 3 pounds each. After all, it’s just a hand towel, right?

I followed 3M’s instructions for putting the hooks up…and then had this nifty ribbon idea for holding up the towel on the hook. So I took some pretty ribbon, tied a nice bow and a loop – and sewed it up as sturdy as I could straight down the center. Then I just slipped it over the towel folded neatly in half and hung up our towels! Anyone could do this!

What do you think?

I am also curious to see how long these metal hooks will last in our bathroom. I’ll let ya know~!

(P.S. It’s been about a month since I first wrote this post, and they are holding up just fine!)

Make Your Own Peanut Butter~!

classiclyamber — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:34:40 +0000

You know what I did? I took a risk and ordered 25 pounds of raw Spanish peanuts from our health food co-op! I say that it was risky because I had only ever made homemade peanut butter just ONE TIME before making the big order…and so I wasn’t quite sure if our family was going to be on board with that type of peanut butter…and that MUCH of it. In the end, I decided that it would be the healthier, more frugal option for our family’s peanut buttery needs, so I went for it. We discovered that it was fun to make and quite tasty, too!

Yes, there is a learning curve for your palate because it is different than your regular old store-bought PB – but in a great way! If you’re used to ultra velvety-smooth peanut butter, then you will probably want to do some extra steps at the tail-end of this recipe to get it going that way. I choose to skip that sorta thing because we appreciate a slightly chunky texture.

Now – if you aren’t on board with a local health food co-op, and you would LIKE to be, then try contacting the friendly folks at Something Better Natural Foods. You can call or email them and ask if there are any health food co-ops in your area that you can join. If you aren’t in a co-op and just want to get your hands on some peanuts, then simply check your grocery store and see if they have raw peanuts. If not, then you may be able to ask for a special order of them and return later in the week to pick up ‘n purchase. Since you are making peanut butter out of these, then try to get Spanish peanuts because they have a higher oil content.

Homemade Peanut Butter

2 cups raw peanuts

6-8 tbsp. water

4 tbsp. raw honey

3 tbsp. peanut oil

salt

Preheat your oven to the standard 350 degrees.

Scoop out 2 cups of raw peanuts…

…and pan ‘em.

I double this recipe for our family because that’s how fast we go through it, but feel free to make as much as you like! Sprinkle salt to taste!

Roast the peanuts for 15-20 minutes. Keep a good eye on them – and sometimes shake the pans while they are still in the oven to ensure even roasting. When they are done, they will be a beautiful deep reddish-brown color. And they will smell divine~!

This next part deals with the papery skins. Do ya leave ‘em on or off? It’s a personal decision. At first, I thought I’d want to remove them. So I tried a few methods:

The first was to pour the warm peanuts onto a flour sack towel and then roll them around with my son’s hand (he was doing this – not me!).

We did this several times and it removed some of the skins.

Next, we tried dumping them into a salad spinner and giving it a go.

That removed a LOT of the skins!

So I just wanted to note that you do not HAVE to remove the skins if you like chunky peanut butter! With all the whirling that you’re about to do in the food processor, the skins get chunked right along with everything else and you honestly don’t notice them after the fact. I haven’t tried making a super smooth peanut butter yet…but am thinking that you’d want less skins involved with that option, but I could be wrong. Try it and see!

See my retro fabulous food processor? My mother-in-law gave it to me back when hubby and I first married. (We are celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary in December!) She was getting a new one and I was just learning to cook, so she offered to let me have this one in my new kitchen adventures. It has worked really well! Anyway, chunk all of your peanuts in, and then the fun part: add in all the rest of your ingredients and watch as the machine whips up peanut butter right before your very eyes!

Yes, yes! You, too, can be a success in the kitchen!

At this point, please taste your peanut butter to see if it still needs anything – salt, honey, oil, chicken butt – and then add in just a little at a time. Remember kids: you can always add more, but you can NOT take away!

Mmmmmmercy gracious! Once the PB is to the consistency of your liking, spoon it into a mason jar with a tight fitting lid – no…no? Wait. What’chur gonna wanna do next is stick your finger in the bowl and pop that bad boy in your mouth for some supa tasty YUMS! Now – if there’s anything left…make yourself a sandwich…or peanut butter crackers with some apple slices sprinkled with fresh cinnamon…or make yourself a peanut butter chocolate cake…I could keep going here.

After all of that, if you STILL have some peanut butter left, then you can plop it in a jar and stick it in the fridge. It must go in the fridge or it will get yucky on ya, so don’t forget!

Do write back and let me know how your peanut butter turns out!

Candid Clothesline Construction

classiclyamber — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:00:34 +0000

It’s here! I can’t believe it’s happening!

It’s something that I’ve been talking about for nearly 2 years…Yessiree, 2 years!

I can’t believe this is happening… *fans face furiously – Miss America-contestant-style.

Yes, some people dream about shopping adventures and Star Trek conventions and weekend parties with co-workers…but me.

Me? I dream of simpler things…like freshly cleaned laundry blowing dry in the summer’s breeze, and yummified baked honey wheat bread hot out of the oven, and cleaning my babies down in our big farmhouse kitchen sink.

Let’s go back and talk more about that freshly cleaned air-dried laundry: Two years ago, I wanted this so bad that I set up two volleyball poles held down by cement blocks – strung up some twine as tight as I could betwixt them and then happily clipped up my baby’s cloth diapers to air dry naturally. Wow! I had ingenuity! Did it work? Heck yeah! For at least 2 or 3 weeks, pride emanated from my face. Was the line pretty? Not at all! It was a sight to behold, and something that I didn’t mind at first, but then became more and more embarrassed. The twine stretched out and began losing interest as it let our clean clothes seep further and further down to the ground. The whole thing ended when the winds of change came in and blew down the volleyball poles. I resigned the clothes line for then. What sense does it make anyway when the clothes are getting a brush with the dirt like that? I knew in my heart that we would one day have a clothes line again and that it would be better than before.

That day has finally arrived.

Aaaaaah! Looks so fresh! Smells so charming!

Wait…scratch that. Reverse it. Or maybe it actually DOES work both ways!

My days of hanging all of our laundry up to dry inside are officially over. …Okay, maybe not totally. I know that every now and then, the weather won’t agree with me, so I will still hang dry some things indoors, and I have another project in mind for air drying…but for the most part it will all get the nicest outdoorsy treatment I can give ‘em.

Towels, sheets, cloth diapers, donkeys…whatever we want to hang out to dry in the sun, we now can! We have 4 lines on this thing with room for more, should we need it in the future. Hubby built the poles from wood posts and basically made a “T” out of them with diagonal supports underneath the arm. He dug holes in the ground that were about 2 feet deep.We have really rocky earth here that is chock full of clay, so I can tell you that it was a whoooooooole lotta fun for him to dig such deep holes!

Our kiddos certainly loved him for digging deep holes, though! Here’s Nolan, our 4 year old boy, showing his hole sitting skillz. Do try this at home!

After you get your holes dug and “T’s” in place, all you need are some eye hooks and line and you’re good to go!

Line drying your clothes is a natural way to get the stains out of fabric and is a good second step to cleaning your laundry just after using your Homemade Laundry Soap. Yeppers – the sun ‘bleaches’ any mess outta there!

Also, your home dryer is one of your biggest energy producers. With the price of everything skyrocketing – including electricity – do yourself and the environment a favor, and build yourself a nice clothesline. It’s a step in the right direction and you won’t regret it!

Be sure ‘n check here for the whole Lovin’ Your Laundry series!

Freshly Ground Cinnamon

classiclyamber — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:22:25 +0000

Really…what is the big deal?

A lot, actually. Even someone who’s NOT a food snob (such as myself) will smell and taste a real difference with freshly ground cinnamon.

And it’s easier to acquire than you’d think. But what the crap IS that thing??? It’s just a regular old grinder. Yeppers, it’s totally manual, so it will totally help get your flabby arms in shape! There are always motorized machines, though, so don’t feel like you have to really do any work with this thing. Read on.

First, you need…cinnamon sticks! Check out Bulk Herb Store. They have great prods at great prices. It’s where I order my herbs ‘n cinnamon sticks from, too.

Somewhat random fact: Did you know that a cinnamon stick is actually the bark from a tree? Crazy, huh?

Anyway, get out a few sticks and place between a sheet of wax or parchment paper. Then get out your meat tenderizer hammer thingie that you never use and go to town on those cinnamon sticks! Go ahead…let out all that frustration and anger. It’s gonna be TASTY anger!

Another somewhat random fact: good quality cinnamon is GOOD for you! There have been studies on how it is effective in treating people with Diabetes, how it can help relax you and reduce anxiety and stress – and how it promotes good blood circulation and get your brain going (sounds like I need more cinnamon in my life!).

Watch it! If you keep letting all those chips and pieces fly out like that, then there won’t be anything left to grind into yummy powder, K?

Using the paper as a funnel (which is NOT what I’m doing in this pic!) – slide your chunks and pieces into the grinder.

Twist and grind! You got it! Yeah! This is where you will get your arms in shape.

Smell that? YUM! It’s lookin’ good! The first pass through will create smaller chunks and splintery pieces. You’ll probably need to pass it through 2 or 3 more times and then…

Voila! You will have super fine, super yummy cinnamon powder for all of your fav recipes!

Now, I know…I know…the cinnamon bottle thingie that you see in the picture above is from one of those store bought varieties, but I’ve just been using that to keep refilling up on FRESH ground cinnamon. It works for now! One of these days I will get a glass bottle to store it in.

The manufactured ground cinnamon powder that you buy at the store has already lost a great deal of its potency by the time you toss it into your shopping cart. Get yourself a good grinder – either manual or electric – and see the difference for yourself. You won’t regret it, I promise!

Oh man, what to make next? How about some cinnamon raisin oatmeal cookies?!? =-)

Lovin’ Your Laundry Pt. 3

classiclyamber — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:30:15 +0000

Continued from Lovin’ Your Laundry – Part 2…

Sniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiff! Mmmm, smell the yummy freshness!

Now let’s have some good, clean fun! Since your curiosity has been piqued about the ingredients in natural cleaners – let’s talk about how to make them happen for your laundry. All you need is a good recipe or two for Good ‘Ole Laundry Soap. I’ll just share a really basic one with you that I’ve used before:

1 Cup Soap Crumbles (ground lye soap)
1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Washing Soda
Several drops of your favorite Essential Oil (some to try are Lemon, Grapefruit, Lavender)

Mix it all up really well with your hands. Yes, it’s messy – and yes, it’s fun to do.

You will have the cleanest hands and fingernails in all the land!

See how it starts to break up the soapy clumps? It’s almost like working with a flaky pie crust dough. Almost.

I guess at this point, you should store it in an airtight container if you want to preserve the essential oil part of the recipe, but I’ve just got mine dispensed in this glass jar with a not-so-tight-fitting lid.

We use 1-2 tablespoons per average size load. For cloth diapers, I tend to use more like 2 tbsp. but I also have to make sure to add vinegar to the rinse so that it doesn’t cause breakouts on my baby’s tushi! Remember – the vinegar helps all the soap rinse back out really clean.

Some notes about homemade laundry soap:

First- Don’t expect it to be bubbly and sudsy because it won’t! That’s okay, though, because we don’t want the chemicals that cause the sudsy action in the first place – and it’s not suds that get your clothes clean. We now have better ingredients for that!

Second- Feel free to skip the essential oil part completely. It’s not a necessary component. When you don’t use it (and I frequently don’t) then your laundry will simply come out smelling fresh and clean with no unnecessary fragrances.

Third- While your newfound ingredients are natural, you still want to keep them out of reach of children. It wouldn’t be fun to ingest some of that stuff…

Fourth- You do the math and see how much money this will save you! When you start making your own homemade laundry soap, it is VERY cost effective!

Anyway, I’m telling you – there is something about making your own laundry soap that is entirely satisfying. I’m not quite sure what it is, but it really makes you feel like you’re the greatest wife and mother around. Maybe it’s because it’s something that you will use all the time and that your family constantly needs…and every time you go back to your jar or tin with handmade laundry soap that you made, it’s another pat on the back. I did this! Wow! “Oh cool, Mommy! I’m glad you washed my favorite shirt!” They love me! They really, really love me! – And my handmade laundry soap, of course! “Ethan? Please go start loading those clothes into the machine.” “Mmmm! This soap smells really great!” Yeah, doesn’t it? I made that myself! See? It’s laundry soap that is good for your self esteem.

So talk to me! Have you tried making it yet?

Be sure ‘n check here for the whole Lovin’ Your Laundry series!

Daddy’s Day

classiclyamber — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:15:45 +0000

QUICK!!

Get out the markers and the crayons! HURRY!!! It’s Father’s Day! Let’s make Daddy something special!

Every Dad deserves something special like this. Well, okay…maybe not EVERY Dad! But my kiddos’ Daddy certainly does!

(BTW, Ethan insisted on spelling out “Happy Father’s Day” just like this. He said “Mommy! I’ve read in books all the time where they separate words with this little dash thingie at the end of the line and I was hoping to do that with Daddy’s card, too!” He said it very matter-of-factly and I could tell that it was one of those things that made him feel important to be doing it, so of course it didn’t matter! So if your kid reads a lot and notices this sort of a thing, let him add it in. Apparently, it’s a confidence booster!)

Corey is only the best ever Father that any man could be to his children.

He likes them, he loves them – and he loves to love them. And he hopes that God graciously gives us more! (Guess we’ll have to wait and see about that last part!) But I think that’s huge. And it just shows how much he cares!

Nolan created a book for Daddy titled “Me and You”.

In it, he compares himself with his Daddy in an interesting way!

Don’t ask me what the cat is doing in that picture…

And Gianna created a fingerprint card for him. She had a lot of fun getting her fingers in the paint. And she sure enough wanted it all off as soon as the craft time was over!

For breakfast, we made him a homemade Apple Walnut Coffee Cake! Yuuuuuuuuuum.

We hope that Daddy has a really great Father’s Day! He’s the best!