DIY Magnetic Organizational Board from a Thrifted Frame

DIY Magnetic Organizational Board 

I don't know about your house, but ours is filled with lists, coupons and receipts floating around here all the time. It's almost enough to drive me nuts, so I wanted to come up with an easy, accessible, stylish way to keep track of all of those little papers.

We don't have a ton of wall space in our kitchen to add much of an organizing system, so I decided to makeover a thrifted large frame into a functional magnetic organizational board that we could hang on the inside of our pantry door. Here's how it turned out!

I love the pop of happy yellow, and how all of those random little papers now have a specific place!

Here's how we did it:

DownEast @ Jordan Landing

It's no surprise how much I love DownEast. Most of our furniture and lots of our decor is from there.

So I just wanted to give a heads-up to my Utah peeps, that there is now a DownEast clothing and home in West Jordan! It's at the Jordan Crossing Shopping center on 7119 S. Plaza Center Drive.

Memorial Day Shopping!

Happy Memorial Day weekend folks!

I had to drop in to share with you the two fabulous places that are having sales this weekend, if you are a local, here in the SLC Utah area, that you WON'T want to miss!  Jen and I had a blast shopping around on Friday, to get the best picks of everything... but believe me, there were still TONS of deals and great items to be had!  :)

First... the annul Memorial Day antiques and more sale that my Sister in Law introduced me to last year, during our pantry remodel.  Probably the sale I look forward to the MOST each year :)

 Here is some more information about this sale:

IKEA, Salvation Army, Hobby Lobby and more!

I'm ready to get working around here again.

I'm SO sick of these yucky snowy, cold days!  And if you live in California or Arizona... I don't wanna hear it!  I know, it's probably sunny, warm, and PERFECT spray painting weather :(  ... lol

So, today I gave myself a swift kick in the pants.

Did a  little project, that I've been meaning to get around to for a while.

I picked up these book ends at Salvation Army for $1.00 each, about 6 months ago,

and have a REALLY great purpose for them....NOT being book ends :)

But first, I needed to paint them.

To get started, I took off this...."flattened door hinge?" (lol, NO idea what I should call those)

and sprayed the rest of the piece with a few coats of flat white spray paint.

After they were dry, I flipped on my mouse sander, and distressed the edges a bit,

like so...

The Perfect Zebra Rug & Shopping with Jen

I know, I know...

I owe this blog an AWESOME "couch post."

That was totally my intention tonight, but then I lost my little video camera with some of my couch shopping footage on it!  Ugh.

I can almost guarantee that it's in a really great "hiding" place that a pair of twins found for it. LOL.  

So for now, you get to see what else I've been up to :)

Friday Jen and I headed out for a little shoppin'.

What?  Me? dragging a friend along, and shopping around for a great deal?  Weird! ...

Our first stop was Home Again...

ha!  yup, that's Miss Char.  She kinda had a love affair with this couch last time she saw it,
so I wanted to make sure that I said hello to it, for her :)
btw, she's doing great Char, and she's even marked down!... just FYI.

Yup.  LOVE this place!

They have TWO locations in Salt Lake:

1019 East 2100 South, Salt Lake City - (801) 487-4668

and

7490 Holden Street, Midvale - (801) 255-5457

Small Business Saturday

 Thanks to American Express for sponsoring my writing today about small businesses.  American Express is presenting Small Business Saturday, a way to honor the local merchants who are the backbone of the economy, this Saturday, November 27.  They're offering statement credits to people who shop at small businesses, advertising for small-business owners, and donations to Girls Inc. for "Likes" of the Small Business Saturday page on Facebook.  Join the celebration by clicking the "Like" button and then visiting the Facebook page to learn more about the program and read the terms and conditions that apply. 

Shopping & "What's the DI?"

Part 2

:)

Another Shoppin' date???

...Yes please :)

This time Cason and I headed to some of my faves!

It started out pretty gloomy...

But after Cason decided where we were headed...

then moment we arrived... the clouds opened up and a ray of sunshine was cast down from the heavens!!!

can you hear the hallelujah chorus singing in this picture!? lol

IKEA Rug

Have you had a chance to drool on this book yet?

Please take a moment to LOVE... ALL of THIS...

K Mart Shopping

{Who would'a Thought?}

Okay... so the other night I was at K-mart with Cason... and I just HAPPEN to have my camera.

Glad I did, because I was DYING over all the good stuff they had there!

I just wanted to show you guys that there is MORE then just Target and Walmart to shop at!  Who knew!?

 :)

(Don't get me wrong...I love those places too, but sometimes need a change in scenery)

LOOOOVE these black and white linen napkins!  SO pretty!  Look what else!...

Shopping on the Fly

Oh give me a break... okay!?

I couldn't stop THINKING about the pillow, after my green post!

And while I might have been picking up another 10 cans of flat, white, .96 cent spray paint... I MAY or may not have wandered over to the bath/pillow section of Walmart... to only get stopped in my tracks, by this

OH SO CUTE, pb looking but half the price, masterpiece!

Can you blame me?

She belongs here.

:)

It would have been a crime against all things green and beautiful,

if I'd not blown a little grocery money and bought it!

OH... you just STOP judging me right NOW... like you've never done that!

PLUS... our Walmart is a DIVE... and I was SO, BEYOND thrilled to see a CUTE piece of home decor in OUR ghetto Wally World, so... I just HAD to snag it.

.

.

.

There... Justified. :)

Table Decor Tray Revamp

A few weeks back I picked up a couple of things at my local thrift store.

Surprised? lol

This brown metal tray was one of them.

Funny story.

When I saw this cute tray I immediately picked it up and put it in my cart.... then I wheeled around for a while... took it out... picked it BACK up...

and then took it out again.

lol

I'm trying REALLY hard to use what I already HAVE...and not buy more stuff (more on that later)

... unless I can use it RIGHT away!

And I KNEW I loved this tray... but I just couldn't think where I was going to put it!

Then... as I was standing in the checkout line to get my little frames... a light bulb came on!

On the kitchen table!!!

So I turned my cart around... headed back to get it... and it was GONE!

Noooooooooooooooooooooo! (okay that's dramatic, but I was bummed, to say the least)

So... I dragged my feet and my squeaky cart BACK up to the front of the store...

... when I saw "THE TRAY"

.

.

.

It was in ANOTHER lady's CART!

Oooooo!  No she DI'INT! lol jk.

TOTALLY my fault, right?  How DUMB of me!

Anyway, I watched the lady as she unloaded all her things and payed for her purchases... 

and MY tray! :(

But then... like a blessing from above... 

HER CREDIT CARD DECLINED!

:)

(ps.  I've TOTALLY been there!  It sucks!)

She didn't have any other form of payment and then said to the checkout lady... 

"eh, I didn't NEED anything really, anyway"  and walked out the door.

SWOOP! 

Me: (acting all innocent, like I just saw the tray for the first time) 

"Um... can I buy that tray, if that woman isn't?"

LOL LOL LOL.

I know... a crazy story for a $3.00 tray, right?

The moral of the story is... KEEP EVERYTHING YOU WANT or even MIGHT want... IN YOUR CART, when you are thrifting, RIGHT until you are ready to checkout!

haha!

Here's what she looks like now.

Nothing extremely dramatic, just a little sprucing up.

Some white spray paint and some light distressing.

I think that the layering effect, with the pitcher and the contrast between the black table, just adds that little "pop" :)

Pretty cute for only about $4.00 (with spray paint)

What was I thinking EVER leaving her behind??? lol

Thrifting Advice: Tips and Tricks

So, everyone knows by now that Cason and I LOVE thrifting... and discovering new places that offer awesome products at SUPER cheap prices.

I'm gonna venture to say that I think Cason has become more into it than I have.

 lol...

It's the thrill of the hunt, and the amazing deals that keep you going back for more!

One of the MOST common questions I get asked is...

"I go thrifting and NEVER find anything!  How do you do it?  Where do you go?"

Date Night: Thrifting

My Mom met us downtown the other night to pick up the girls, so that Cason and I could spend some "alone time" together

.

.

.

We went antique shopping. LOL

What can I say... we LOVE to scope out new fun stores and deals!

There were a couple of places that we'd always wanted to check out downtown, but knew weren't

 "kid friendly".

The first was CG SPARKS... Furniture with Soul.

Isn't that such a great name?

Honestly... this building is a huge awesome aqua warehouse that you can see right when you get off the freeway.  The COOLEST location for pictures!!! 

 I've seen some amazing Local photographers and their shots in front of this wall... they always blow me away... but I'd never been inside!

Till now.

Life, Thrifting, & Funny Moments

{Smith Happenings...}

Life has been a bit crazy...

But first... can I say how THRILLED I am to read all your awesome comments for the canvas giveaway!!!

I want to comment back to EVERYONE!.... whew.. in due time. LOL.

I can't believe how much personality and awesome-ness comes through from all of you!

I feel SO special to have such fun, TALENTED readers!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

okay... so...

Here's what we've been up to...

Dumpster Diving

Dumpster dives with you... hauls the "treasure" away in her van swagger wagon, and then helps you place it strategically in your garage, so that it is hidden stored nicely away to not be seen by hubby, until it is needed.

I know... I'm a good friend.

What can I say :) jk

Should I be worried, that on our way to the dumpster... Ronda said I was the only person who she could think of... who wouldn't think SHE was crazy for diving into the dumpster for peoples old trash???

(She's right...does that make ME crazy too?)

lol

Lunch with Friends & Thrifting

Had a really fun lunch today with these gals :)

Thrifty Picture Frame Craft & Other Finds

For our young womans church activity a few nights ago, we made some personalized picture frames for our Mom's for Mother's Day!

I don't think I'm actually going to give this one to my Mom, but we had lots of extra unfinished $1 frames from Michaels, so I jumped in on the fun, and made this perfectly purple picture frame!

So nice to do a crafty "small" project. LOL.

Shopping with Tausha & Home Fabrics

{Shoppin' with a Sassy Chick & Home Fabrics}

Yesterday Tausha, from Sassy Style Redesign, and I met up for some l-inner (we ate at 3:00) and some shopping!
Tausha is a BLAST and SUCH a great shopping buddy!
Tausha has done some awesome thrift tip decorating spots on Studio 5 here and here.  To show ya just a few!
She's doing another spot on the 15th and it's all about numbers, and monograms and decorating bookcases, on the cheap!
She purchased a monogram from me, for the show.  I'm so excited, it's gonna be good!  So don't forget to watch!

I kept feeling like I had to do this "sassy" face in pictures with her because she's ... THE "sassy styler"
lol.

Rustic Clock in Hallway

{The Newest Addition}

Remember when I told you that I was gonna go and buy something nice for myself the other day...

Ya.  I wasn't  joking. lol.

I had been eying this great clock at my local Real Deals for a while now, and this weekend I finally snagged it up!

See if you have a Real Deals close by!  It's totally worth the trip!

The store was having an Easter sale, so I got mine at 25% off.... Lovely!

$30 bucks for a chic new clock........ totally do-able :)

Spring Green Table Centerpiece

{Going Green Table Centerpiece}

I put this cheery green centerpiece together the other day.

I'm in LOVE with this great creamy/distressed tin pitcher with handle, that I found at the big blue store.

And I found these nice springy green hydrangea's at my local craft store for 50% off... along with a cute beaded wreath for only $3 bucks. (can't pass THAT up!)

Today is such a beautiful day.  Spring is definitely in the air. Can you feel it!? yay!