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Fall is here - So are some new fall designs
October 15th, 2006
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I love seeing what decorating projects other people are designing. All the projects pictured in this blog entry were sent to me by Kathy Pfaff, of Erie, Pa. Click on any of the pictures to get a bigger view of each of them.
The first one is a wooden wagon that she did an arrangement of fall leaves in - looks like a nice centerpiece.
Then, for the last two designs, she used her computer. The invitation was printed on used manilla folders, then cut down and trimmed with raffia and wheat that had been lightly spray painted. The wonderful saying was printed on paper, then the pressed leaves were added. Her leaves were pressed using wax paper. She framed it, and presented it to me as a gift. I LOVE IT!
What are YOU doing for fall?
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
Shingles Revisisted
October 7th, 2006 Email the link for this page to a friend!
You may remember a previous blog post about the shingled pathway I made into the woods from my yard (picture on the left), and a walkway I made inside my vegetable garden (picture on the right). The instructions on how I did these are on this blog at:
http://www.frugalbydesign.com/blog/2006/07/03/shingled-pathway/
I wanted to give you an update, now that this has been down and in use for some time and has all settled in so that it looks “natural”, I guess you could say. I moved a few shingles this year so that I could put an arbor in the vegetable garden, and under them was great dirt, with no vegetation at all ( I loved that). I had very few weeds that I pulled from the pathway, but none from the parking area and under the benches (where I had also used them) or the vegetable garden. I attribute this to having a lot of overlapping and layers of shingles.
Putting in landscaping that cuts down on maintenance is an added bonus for me.
I was asked last year about the shingles leaching bad stuff into the ground. My online research at that time indicated that did not happen. Now, having had the garden pathways down through this whole growing season, I can say that my harvest quantity was not in any way adversely affected. My gardening productivity increased because I was able to easily move between gardens (I have a separate strawberry garden, blueberry garden and vegetable garden with the compost bin accessible from all of them.
I did not find the shingles to be slippery when wet although I did kick one or two of them accidentally while moving around. That didn’t cause any great concern to me, pattern wise, as long as the line of them I used to mark the garden edge remained straight. That line, by the way, makes a great “mow strip” between the yard and the garden. I am contemplating laying shingles around the fruit trees as mow strips to cut down the need to weed whack there. Accidentally weed whacking fruit tree bark is not good from them and can lead to infection.
I was fortunate in that the shingles I uses required no tearing. Ones for the pathway were triangular scraps made when my roofers cut the ends off shingles as they laid them on the roof. The ones for all the other areas were ones torn off a roof by the roofers. I just used whatever sized pieces they gave me. The smallest of the small were used under the benches and tables. Recently I decided to move a picnic table that I had put shingles under, to a new location. I found even the small pieces easy to pickup and move. I just put them in a wheelbarrow and took them to their new home.
My experiences this year have not led me to regret my decisions last year around the shingles. I did ask my roofers last year to leave me a pack of unopened shingles, which are in the garage. Now that I have had a year with working around shingles, I may do more projects next year with that unopened pack. I have also given thought to using them on the ground in my potting area. I don’t want stuff to grow there,and want frugal “flooring”.
I just had a thought…I want outdoor “rooms”…little sitting areas. Shingles would make great outdoor “flooring” in these rooms.
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
Dresser Scarf Pillows
September 30th, 2006Email the link for this page to a friend!
One of the things I am constantly looking for at flea markets, yard sales and thrift stores is linen. Old, antique linen. I particularly like hand embroidered linens. I may have previously said that one of my collections is of old stamped cross stitch.
Now that I have quite a lot of linen, I have started looking for unique ways to decorate with them. These pillows are one of the things I’ve made - and they were pretty simple to do, using dresser scarves. Here’s all that’s needed (Click on the picture for a bigger view) :
* Dresser scarves - Mine were hand embroidered with a large amount of design on both ends of the dresser scarf.
* Pillows or pillow forms of a size that would fit, width-wise, within the borders of the dresser scarves.
* Large buttons (9 per pillow)- I used white ones.
* Needle and thread (No sewing machine needed).
Ok, now the assembly:
* Pick which end of the dresser scarf will be the front of your pillow. If there is any damage to one end of the scarf, it will not be seen. As long as one end is good, that will be your pillow front.
* Lay your dresser scarf, face down on a table, so that you know which end is your “top” .
* Place your pillow form near the top of the dresser scarf, ensuring that the pillow form fits within the width of the dresser scarf.
* Fold the top of the dresser scarf over the pillow so that the top edge runs across the pillow at about the half way point. Scoot the pillow up or down as need to get it positioned right. Unfold the top edge but don’t move the pillow.
* Fold the bottom edge up (and probably over, since dresser scarves are fairly long) the pillow form. Smooth the dresser scarf as you go.
* Once you have wrapped the pillow, fold your top back down.
* Use one large button to tack the dresser scarf in place right in the center. Once done, tack one button to the left and one to the right of the center, right along the edge of the scarf, catching both the front and the back pieces of linen.
* Tack one button halfway between the top and the center, on the right side and then one on the left side.
* Then tack one button halfway between the bottom and the center on the right side and then one on the left side. You now have three buttons along each edge,and they will hold your pillow inside your dresser scarf “envelope”.
* Lastly, tack your two remaining buttons along the front of your pillow - mine lie halfway between the edge and the center button - one on each side. The picture may be useful to see button placement - you can click on it for a bigger view.
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
Framed Scrapbooking
September 23rd, 2006 Email the link for this page to a friend!
I discovered scrapbooking this year. My significant other gave me digital scrapbooking software for Christmas last year, and I have DEFINITELY gotten his money’s worth out of it. 
To date, I have made almost a dozen scrapbooks for family and friends. One of these scrapbooks was so cherished that it led to my first “off the page” scrapbooking project - a framed collage of photos, using scrapbook supplies, given as a 50th birthday gift.
It was requested that the frame be a bit rustic. A brown wooden frame with a gold line of trim along the inside edge, was chosen to be “distressed”. I rubbed candles at random places along the frame, then painted the whole thing with black acrylic paint. Using a blow dryer, the black paint was heated where the candle wax was. This caused the paint to wrinkle and crack. We liked that!
Next, newspaper was wadded up into balls, and gold spray paint was sprayed onto the newspaper. It was then dabbed here and there along the frame’s edge. The same was done with silver paint - sometimes over-lapping the gold - sometimes over-lapping the wrinkled black paint. The end result was a classy rustic look - perfect for black and white photos (which had also been requested).
The photos were supplied digitally, and I used my software to make them black and white instead of color, resize and crop them, pick backgrounds for them, and lay them all out for printing. I always print photos using a laser printer. That way, glue, or other “liquids” I might use in designing, don’t ruin the pictures. I printed them on photo paper, then seperated them all. I was working with 36 pictures for this project.
I wanted to make a three-level collage. I had chosen which pictures would be the base level. Those were glued (using acid-free glue sticks) to the frame’s interior, which had also been painted with black spray paint. They were staggered here and there, leaving openings for the second and third levels.
Those levels were made by stacking double-sided sticky squares, one on top of the other. The second level was three “squares” high and the third level was four “squares” high. These “squares” can be found in stores selling scrapbook supplies. Your main concern when doing these levels is to place them so they don’t overlap important parts of photos lying underneath them.
The last things added were metal accents in gold and silver. Those included phrase plaques, eyelets, squares, circles and metal buttons. Those were attached using hot glue. A small card was mounted in the center, with a dedication from the giver, along with the date of the special day and the recipient’s name.
The recipient of this gift was ecstatic! My girlfriend, who had ordered this from me to give as the gift, got me on the line for her, so she could share her sentiments with me. I think the following pictures really express how she felt:
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
Cast Iron Decorating
September 16th, 2006 Email the link for this page to a friend!
Frequent readers of this blog know that I am a collector. I also like to have my collections “out” where I can enjoy them and that makes storage an issue. Here is what I did in my kitchen to help me “have it all” - a collection out where I can enjoy it, and also have a place to store it.
This is made by adding two pairs of hinges to three matching shutters. Be sure, when doing this that you add the hinges so that the shutters will move in the way you want them to. I wanted mine to form a “z”, which required that the hinges on one shutter open opposite to the other shutter.
After the shutters were up in the kitchen, I draped a lace tablecloth over the top. I then used curtain hooks that I slid over the top of the shutter slats to hang the cast iron on. I threaded the curtain hooks through the holes in the lace, so no damage was done to the tablecloth.
As you can see, my cast iron collection includes cornbread molds and griswold pieces. I also have many frying pans in many sizes. I love having this area to hang these pieces in. When I want to use them, they are easily available. When not in use, they look great on display.
I wish all my collections were this easy to work with.
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
Fall Table
September 10th, 2006 Email the link for this page to a friend!
Every year, I decorate my diningroom table with a different fall arrangement. This year, I pulled copper items off my kitchen hutch as the starting point for my arrangement. I used candlesticks, small copper bowls, copper plates, and two copper pedestal dishes.
I paired these with a terra cotta rooster baking dish, a small rooster figurine, tealights, and silk fall-colored leaves. I added some “naturals” with dried grains and chinese lanterns.
A couple of interesting things you may notice in the picture below (Click on it, and all the pictures in this blog, to get a better view).
* One of the pedestal bowls was turned upside down and the second bowl was placed on top.
* That bowl is holding the tea lights, and the dried grains are nestled under those tealights.
* The candlesticks sitting on the table were lifted up by placing them on top of the two copper bowls, which had been turned upside down.
* The chinese lanterns were used both loose, in a copper bowl, and still on their stems - wrapped around the rooster baking dish.
Oh, and in case you wonder what the base is that I used to give me the three levels - it is a brass plate holder. Normally, you’d set three plates on it with three different food items on them. I found it the right size to place a bowl in one of the holes, and two plates on the other two.
And, by the way, this blog is available by RSS. Look for the littlle orange RSS feed icon at the bottom of each page of the blog.
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
Cake Pan Wall Decor
September 2nd, 2006 Email the link for this page to a friend!
I really hate to throw things out. Especially stuff that *I* feel has charm. Such was the case with these aluminum cake 
pans. They had a little rust in them so I didn’t want to bake in them anymore. But I did want to do SOMETHING with them.
Thus was born this display currently in my kitchen. These were pretty simple to make. I attached a metal plate hanger to the back of each cake pan. Make sure when you do this that you center the plate hanger on the cake pan so it will hang straight on the wall.
Now the candles. I used metal clips normally used on Christmas trees for clipping candles to branches. I found these online with no difficulty. They do hold a small taper, not a normal-sixed one, so you’ll have to make sure that you have (or buy_ candles of the right diameter - mine are about a half inch in diameter.
This is what the candles look light lit - I have had no problems with mine since all the parts, but the candles, in this project were mad ofe metal. If you do this, BE SURE that you feel very safe with having your candles lit. And, like with all candles, don’t leave them unattended.
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
PS. I had to take a picture of what they look lit lit and with the lights off. Here they are. Aren’t they great?
Floral Flag
August 24th, 2006 Email the link for this page to a friend!
With Labor Day in the United States coming soon, I just had to share this picture with you that I found online.
Here is the photo credit and description of this flag:
The 2002 floral flag is 740 feet wide and 390 feet high and maintains the proper flag dimensions as described in executive order #10834. This flag is 6.65 acres and is the first floral flag to be planted with 5 pointed stars, each star is 24 feet in diameter; each stripe is 30 feet wide. This flag is estimated to contain more than 400,000 Larkspur plants with 4-5 flower stems each for a total of more than 2 million flowers.
Aerial photo courtesy of Bill Morson
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
The “No Dig” Garden
August 19th, 2006 Email the link for this page to a friend!
Although I love gardening, I am not that wild about all the “prep” work that it can take to prepare the ground for garden planting. I can be lazy about some of that kind of stuff, so finding a way to get around all the digging and weeding and root removal is my cup of tea. Enter the “no dig” garden.
This recent one started out looking like the photo at the left. (Click on the photo to get a bigger view.) It was a true jungle. In the rear of the photo, you can just barely see my cherry bush where it battles for food, water and sunshine with all those weeds.
The “no dig” garden takes very few “tools”. 
You’ll need:
* A pair of clippers
* Newspaper
* Cardboard
* Compost (my city gives compost away for free at this time of year so I go get bucketfuls)
That’s it. Ok, what do you do now?
* Start by using the clippers to cut everything that’s in your way down to even with the ground. You can just drop the stuff where it falls, or clear it out - whatever you feel like. I just left my clippings where they fell.
* Cover your clipped area with sections of newspaper. I used a thickness of two sections stacked together - about twelve sheets of newspaper. Make sure newspaper completely covers the sized area you want your garden to be.
* Then cover the newspaper with sheets of cardboard. I just used shipping boxes from online orders I placed.
* Lastly, dump your compost on top of the cardboard. Mine was about three to four inches deep. 
Wait “one season” to plant. Since I put this garden in during the summer, I have to wait to plant until the fall, which is fine because that’s when stuff gets transplanted and bulbs get planted, anyway. You can cover the area with a tarp to keep stuff from growing if you want. I just walk by and pull out any seedlings if they appear.
In that “one season” the newspaper and cardboard will decompose, making even more good compost. And the vegetation underneath will die off. This may sound to good to be true, but this is the fifth garden that I have made this way. I have a rose garden, a vegetable garden, one that has just ground covers in it, and flower gardens. The key here is to be patient and let the garden “become”. Patience I got. Desire to do all that weeding and digging work, I don’t.
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
“Framing” Collections
August 12th, 2006 Email the link for this page to a friend!
I admit it - I am a passionate collector. I once tried to make a list of all of my collections and I actually got distracted before the list was done. Just to give you an idea of SOME of what I collect, here’s a partial list:
* Stamped cross stitch * White glassware
* Aluminum pieces * Clear glassware
* Dated Christmas ornaments * Sand castles actually made from sand
(Want to know more of my list of collections? Click the “Collections” link on the left. )
Just storing some of these collections is an…. uh…. “issue” (I have one room devoted to the storage of my Christmas decorations alone). So I am always looking for creative ways to store them - and being a “repuposer”, that often means that I use them as decor WHILE they are being stored. Thus is the case with this set of white glass measuring cups (Click on the picture to get a bigger view):
They are currently being “stored” inside this frame up on the wall, but are very available for use when needed. The frame itself was bought for a dollar at an auction because one of the corner carvings had a break in it. I fashioned a repair from air-drying clay and adhered it to the frame. I then glued the angel head at the top of the frame. I followed all that up with two coats of white spray paint.
The cups are hanging off ribbon threaded through their handles and hooked on cup hooks positioned inside the frame to give me the look I wanted. So, I ended up with easy access to these measuring cups, a really different framed art piece and another “small space storage” idea to pass on to you.
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
