frugal REDNECK decorating

The first 3 pics are of scrap wood projects. The first is a coat rack with baskets screwed to the floor underneath each hook so stuff stays off floor. The hooks I got at a garage sale about 5 years ago, I bought a box of them for $5, There ended up being 50 hooks, and some odds and ends. The baskets are just from dollar tree. The second picture is of the game shelf/diaper shelf. I needed somewhere to store the boys games and the 2 year olds diapers/wet wipes. They were constantly getting into them, scattering game pieces everywhere and diapers being used on baby dolls. This worked out well, they have to ask to have something now so only one thing gets taken down at a time. The third is the DVD shelf. Underneath the DVD shelf is a work in progress, It was the fireplace opening that is a total mess, The entire fireplace needs to be replaced. So for now I wanted to block it off, for cosmetic reasons and for losing heat reasons. We put up a cut piece of plywood over it and caulked around the entire thing. I am still deciding what to do here, So it is incomplete. I was thinking of boxing in the brick step up part on the bottom with wood. Then putting up shelves from the bottom to the top just underneath the DVD shelf, Then painting it. But still not sure. It will come to me!!! The 4th picture is and what redneck house in complete without sheet curtains. I cannot bring myself to purchase curtains or drapes, I make all my own, or purchase sheets. I loved this look in the dining room, It reminded of an old coffee house. My hubby said it makes him think of milky way bars hahaha I don't get it!!!

This we just did 2 weekends ago, I wanted a spot by the kitchen window where I could put my seeds growing. We had some extra wood and brackets. So hubby put up these two shelves for me. They worked perfect and my seeds are growing like crazy!!!

This was a spot under the bar, bar stools were too expensive and I did not need the eating area. I utilized the area on both sides of the bar. On the kitchen side I had my son make me two supported shelves. I store snack foods and the dishtowels in one3 basket, potholders in another basket on the first shelf. Second shelf is for all my electric devices. Underneath on the floor sets the twins Disney cars stools for helping in the kitchen, And one of my 50# box potatoes.

I re purpose anything I can, I use leftovers completely, Any unused lumber will be used for something, if just blocks for kids, It will be used!!!! Today I am showing you 5 things I have done in the last year to use up stuff and make something I really needed.

First up is my island my hubby made for me. I wanted one really badly, But would never and I mean never pay what they want for one. We had an old butcher block table, that could hardly stand on it's own. The legs were wobbly and broken. My hubby and son took the top, made a base for it, and shelves inside. I like the natural look so I did not paint it. I also had them leave the sides and front and back open. I wanted to incorporate color into it, So I hung curtains on the sides and back. I loveeeeee red check, So I used some material I had found at walmart $1 a yd bin. I also added a towel bar on one side, I had picked up the towel bar a couple summers ago at a yard sale for $.10. I love this island, alot!!!! Happy redneck decorating, Michelle.

My home stockroom and stockpile

My home stockroom and stockpile. These first pictures are my bathroom stockpile, I have 3 shelves so far dedicated to stockpile stuff. These hold shampoos, razors, toothpaste/brushes, anything for personal use.

The wall shelf is my bathroom cleaners and all the medicines, first aid.

I need some more shelves, We have the wood and brackets just have not done it yet. So this is excess that has no room yet. I got the stayfree pads at Walgreen's this past week, They were 1.99 each, and I used BOGO coupons. So I started out at 2/1.99 or 8 packs for $7.96. I also used a $5 and a $2 register reward, So I paid .96+tax for 8 packs of stayfree pads. I also have down there, my smelly basket, candles, holders etc. and the box with more deodorants toothbrushes/paste etc.

This is another part of my bedroom "food" stockroom.

And a larger area of the storeroom.

My stockpile room is in our bedroom, I only have a bed and one dresser in there and it is a large room, So it made sense to have it in there at this time. It keeps the little ones and the big ones from grazing on it anyway. This picture here is my large white shelf. It has my yogurt maker ( large white cooler) chips, all my spices in mason jars. My unused canning jars. My long term #10 cans, cereal, canned foods and some odds and ends.

This is my paper towel and toilet paper, I have the ones on top and the ones in the bin, I have no where near enough of this stockpiled up beyond maybe 2 months, I have been waiting for some really good coupons to come along with a really good deal.

I really enjoy this, Using the coupons, Getting awesome and lots of times free or near free stuff. Being able on a weekend like this one with darn near a foot of snow in 24 hours. I need something I just go shopping in my own house. Don't have to fight crowds or bad roads or go to the store and be tempted with other purchases. The best part of having this stockroom/pile, Is I no longer have to "grocery shop" I shop sales and coupons only, As I am rarely ever out of anything, I can now shop totally to keep my stockpile going, Which gets me down to spending 1/2 sometimes even less on groceries then I was before. There are some weeks where I may only spend $20 on groceries and household because sales are not great. Anyway hope you all enjoy the pictures, I am so happy to have a camera now!!!! Happy winter weekend to you all, Michelle

update.....Pics of my poor baby

We are home with Matthew, All is well so far, His surgery went really well, The cut is a little bigger then they had anticipated, basically is from one side to the other. He required no pain medication after surgery. I did not want to go the pain medication route if not necessary, Of course I don't want him hurting. We ended up having to give him some pain meds to get to sleep this evening. The hardest part is he cannot have any physical activity other than sitting quietly playing with one toy at a time the DR. said, I will have to tie him down I think haha. Anyway dad is rocking him now, I am making him homemade chicken noodle soup and the next few days we are just gonna love him and snuggle him. Thanks to all who have kept us in their thoughts and prayers!!! We have a huge winter storm coming right on top of us tonight, 1/2 inch of ice then 10-15 inches of snow, Power outages expected, Stay safe to all who are in this storm also. Have a safe weekend, Michelle

added.... We can't hardly keep him settled down, Thank goodness I found on clearance at walmart for $6.50 this morning, A train track and a 3 car train, He settled down nicely on the floor to play with this. The hardest part is he sees the twins running around like crazy and wants to get in on the action. Although I think he moved a little too much earlier, Because he reached up to his neck, and said neck owie, So he knows it is there. He gobbled up the chicken noodle soup. I added all kinds of extra healing herbs. He went down to bed and went right out, So I hope he sleeps through the night to get some needed rest as he has been up since around 2am, With just little naps here and there. He looks so very different without the huge lump, Once I got past the scariness of the incision, I was glad it was gone. The Dr. sent off the lump to be analyzed, He said very rarely to these turn out to be cancerous, So just have to wait for the one last test to come in. The odds of it returning are just around 10% so that is good. We also noticed that he did not choke or gag while eating his dinner tonight, That was nice hopefully he will eat better, Not that he is too skinny, He is smaller, 2 years old and 27lbs, But the nurses all said he looked very healthy, He only started off at 5lbs so he is doing fine. My first 3 were larger kids, And then the last 4 were smaller, With the twins born at 4.2 and 4.6lbs, and now at 5 years old weighing in at 37 lbs last month. They eat like mad!!!! Looking forward to posting more pics of all kinds of stuff, once things settle down here with Matthew. Have a great night all and stay safe and hug your babies!!!! Michelle

Will be AFK for son's surgery

I will not be blogging for a few days, Today is getting ready for son's surgery tomorrow morning, Want to get him bathed and hair cut, Need to make a dinner to just pop in when we get home tomorrow. Tomorrow morning at 6:45am is his surgery, Any thoughts or prayers are welcome. He will need some TLC for a few days, I don't expect to let him out of my sight till sunday, So will try to blog again then. But will pop in late tomorrow night after he is sleeping soundly to say all is ok. Thanks to all and have a great couple of days!!! Michelle

Manic Monday!!!

Is it too late to eat my words from yesterday....hahaha. Hubby left for a 2 day work trip this morning, And I am already for him to come back home and help me...I am nuts!!!! Just have to get back in the swing of things again. I am going to do my shopping tonight. Not much in the way of sales this week for me, I did go and buy $25 (25lbs) more of the chicken breasts that were on sale for .99 ( organic, bone in) today, So I am stocked up on those. I am mainly doing coupons that expire soon on stuff I will use or need that are free or free(ish). I also read about a great idea in a book I was reading about using those small plastic containers with lids in your chest freezer, So I saw at Walmart today they were on clearance for 2 for $4. I bought 2 sets 4 containers, Came home and cleaned out and organized my chest freezer. I put meats in two of them, Veggies in one, Odds and ends in the other. I really like this, My freezer was such a mess, Now I just reach in grab the container I need and no more digging!!!! Wanted to also mention this months ALL YOU magazine, I have been getting this magazine since they came out, They have some of the best coupons out there, There have been months where I have bought up to 10 copies because the coupons more then paid for the magazine. This months is a good one, Tonight I will buy another 5 copies. Some of the hot coupons this month are:
Borden singles sensations-$1 off 1 package
$1 off Colgate 360 toothbrush
$.75 off good earth tea
$3 off one nuetrogena makeup
$1 off NYC makeup product of $1.72 or higher
$1 off ovaltine
Free pouch of tuna snack bites
$1 off taco bell queso or salsa

There are alot more in the magazine, these are my favorites, You can also go to www.allyou.com for some great stuff and more printable coupons.
Alot of these coupons especially the makeup ones I use at Walgreen's with their sales.
I also want to mention www.pinchingyourpennies.com I added their flag to my blog today, I have been using this site for at least 2 years now. You can find any deal or any coupon out there, Lazybear does an awesome job of tracking down everything!!!! Definitely a site to add to your favorites. I use this site at least twice a week. I also use www.hotcouponworld.com and www.afullcup.com These are my 3 go to sites for all couponing and all deals grocery and drugstore. These sites help me especially well with my Walgreen's shopping, Take for instance 2 weeks ago, By using these sites and coupons my total bill was $72.00 and after all coupons was $2.12 out of pocket with $13 in register rewards.
I am going to start posting my deals each week and I am getting my digital camera tonight, So will start posting pics YEAHHHHHHH. Happy bargain hunting!!! Michelle

Is this vacation over yet???

Ok, I know I know I know, That 90% of women beg for their husbands to more, anything, But you don't have my husband. Don't get me wrong, I don't want the husband that does nothing. He does everything. This works ok without stepping on my toes 50 weeks out of the year. He does not work that much to begin with, On average he works about 8 days a month, Those 8 days a month are spent away from home, 2 at a time. I do get a little breathing room. His vacations are hard for me, as crazy as that sounds. He is home for about 16-18 days straight. During those 16-18 days he does everything so I don't have to do anything. This gets boring for me, and every time towards the end I feel......lazy, guilty, toes stepped on, I want my life back. This is crazy right??? I even feel guilty for thinking this way. This is all on me not on him. These are my feelings. I wonder sometimes if this is how people in the workplace feel when that worker comes in and is just gung ho and they feel like that person is trying to take their job!! hahaha. I am grateful for him, He just wants me to be happy. He wants me to do the things I like doing without being interrupted by kids and other stuff. Now here is the craziest part about me, I will in about June, start saying, lordy when is your vacation so I can do something alone for once :\. Why do I do this?? So now is the last day of his vacation and I can't wait till he goes back to work so I can change diapers and make breakfasts and settle arguments and have food thrown on me and do the baths and put the kids to bed and .....and.....and.....and....and......I am certifiably nuts!!!!!! Welcome to a little part of my brain. Happy vacations to you all, Michelle

Woke up at 2am this morning....

I woke up at 2am this morning, fell asleep with my boys last night at 8pm. When I woke, I woke up wide awake bright eyed and bushy tailed. I did some stuff on the computer for an hour while I drank my coffee. Then I thought what a perfect time to straighten up, make my lists, do some paperwork. Did that. I was bored, too long with noone asking me a ? or hanging on me!!!! I needed something to keep me busy, So I made bread. I have to admit that was the most peaceful breadmaking process ever. My bread came out perfectly perfect. It was really nice to take my time and be peaceful, One with my bread making haha. I may have to do that again on purpose!!! Today was a little slow for me from my middle of the night party, But it has been nice, Just a slow saturday of leftovers and hanging out. Did have hubby hang shelves over kitchen sink to put my newly growing seeds, It looks great. Hopefully soon I will have a camera and can take pictures. Soon I promise. Happy Saturday!!! Michelle