Thrifty Thursday: Craft Cart

This week, Bryson and I headed over to The Good Shepherd Alliance retail store to donate some furniture and take a look around (which I have been doing a lot of lately). Sometimes when I tell somebody that I went shopping at a thrift store, they give me a puzzled look and I can feel the judgement coming on. However, shopping at our local Good Shepherd Alliance provides emergency shelter to homeless individuals within our county and any items that aren't sold are shipped to Third World countries. Plus, it is an inexpensive way to shop and repurpose household items! I have found some really nice additions to my bedroom and even some DIY craft projects! 

So after browsing around and finding a well-priced couch and love seat for Bryson's apartment at school, I came across what looked like had potential of begin a craft cart! I have no idea if it was meant to be for crafts or if it was an addition to a bathroom as a vanity cart (leaning towards the later because it has what looks like a towel bar on it), but regardless, I was very excited! How much did it cost, do you ask? Only $12.50! Can you believe that?

The cart has a small towel bar, which for now I'm just using to hang some fabric of current projects on, but am brainstorming ideas to make it more use-able. The other side has three small drawers which I put some crafting supplies in. The bottom two shelves are holding future projects!

One of the other sides has open shelving with bars, which is PERFECT for my ribbon and paint (and of course, a paintbrush filled mason jar), and the last side has hanging mesh shelves where I put my sewing patterns, scrapbook paper, and sewing machine instructions!

Before I found this cart, all of my crafting supplies was crammed into a box and got really messy, very fast. At the same time, I don't have a lot of shelving or desk space at school to stay organized. This cart, however, will fit perfectly under my lofted bed at school, is on wheels so can be pulled out easily from under the bed, and can be transported between my dorm and home (instead of having a more permanent craft area in my bedroom.). And what do I love most about it? It was only $12.50!

I plan on doing a craft project (keep an eye out) to spice it up a little with some labels and a pop of color, but for now, I'm obsessed!

Here are some examples of other craft carts out there and their prices!

                                                       White Cart: $29.99, Ikea                                                     DIY Cart: $195, Lowe'sI don't know about you, but I think I got a good bang for my buck!Do you have any great thrift store finds? Feel free to leave a comment!

DIY Magnetic Make-Up Board

Whenever I'm in the mood to do a DIY craft, I think of a magnetic make-up board. I have no idea why. Ever since the day that I came across it on pinterest, I have been stuck to the idea like glue...or a magnet in this case (joke).

So, I finally found the motivation and I made one for myself! I am absolutely in love with my board and my bathroom counter is never cluttered....with make-up anyway!

If you haven't seen them yet, then I'm glad to introduce you to them! Check it out!

Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the process, but can hopefully give some tips for those of you planning on taking on this awesome craft project!

• The first step is finding a frame to use for your magnet board. Instead of buying a new frame, I went to Good Shepherd Alliance (our Christian, non-profit thrift store) and got one for my friend Rachel and I for $2 a piece! Of course, they weren't beautiful, but that means we got to paint them! 
• Go to Home Depot to get your metal sheet! We got a simple aluminum sheet ($5) and had somebody at the store cut it to size for us!
• Choose a fabric and spray adhesive it to the metal sheet. After letting it dry for an hour, put it in your frame as if it were a picture! No need to even hot glue it!
• When buying magnets, make sure you buy strong ones! Keep in mind how much your make-up weighs and how strong you'll need your magnets to be! Then, simply hot glue the magnets to the back of your make-up! I did have some trouble putting glue on my nice make up, but my friend Rachel reminded me that I had committed to this craft, and couldn't turn back. Sorry Laura Mercier!
• As you can see in the picture above, I also painted a little wooden cup ($0.50 at Michael's) and put magnets on the back to hold all of my make up brushes, mascara, and eye-liners! 

The craft also turned out to be a cute photo-op!

My friend Rachel and I crafting!

Feel free to check out a full tutorial here!

Here are some examples of other designs!

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Thanks for stopping in! I can't wait to share more of my DIY projects with you! I have a whole list lined up, so get excited!

Celebrating Another Year & A Golf Cake

Today was simply amazing. I slept in late, read my novel on the patio, took the dog for a walk with my boyfriend (Bryson), went grocery shopping with my sister, and then got to celebrate my little brother's birthday! He turned 18 today and let me tell you, I'm still in denial. What could be more exciting than that? Oh wait, today was also his last day of high school classes! That's what. 

Besides being so proud of him for all of his accomplishments and becoming the caring brother that he is today, I am just overwhelmed by how quickly this day came up on us! I just turned twenty, my brother is going to college, and my sister doesn't even live in the house anymore. When did all that happen? It's times like these that I realize how important it is to appreciate and savor every day of our lives. Kenny Chesney was right when he said, "life goes faster than you think, so don't blink."

That is why I absolutely love birthdays at my house! We all get to come together and celebrate another successful year of our life and all the promising ones to come. It was so nice, especially after being away from my family for so long, to get all the siblings (and boyfriends and girlfriends) over to the house, grill some hamburgers and hotdogs on the deck, give gifts, and reminisce on old and sometimes embarrassing memories. 

And of course, you can't forget the best part. The cake. As tradition, the two siblings always make the cake for the third on their birthday. I wanted to share with you the cake that I made for my brother (the avid golf player) this year!

How cool is that? I made his favorite cake (chocolate), covered it with white icing and white m&m's, edged the plate with some green icing, made a cute little flag, and WA-LA! A golfball cake! I am quite proud of myself (sarcasm) and he absolutely loved it!

Overall, I'm just blessed to have such an amazing family to come home to after such a stressful semester and to share the future with.

What do you guys do to celebrate birthdays in your families? I'd love to hear!

Back in the Blogging World

Once again, I have failed at being a blogger. I fell off the face of the blogging world last summer when I got stressed out. I have missed every minute of it and am ready to jump back in and reconnect with my old blogger friends!

I have, however, continued to read blogs over the past year. You know what I love about blogs? The sense of community! Your ability to attract and develop relationships online with readers that are interested in the same things as you is such a unique opportunity!

So here I am, a overzealous future homemaker who wants to live a more modest lifestyle. I am committed to the growth of my family and future relationships as well as the quality of my life overall and am hoping to further those things here, with you! I hope that you read my blog and share in the little things that make me happy: crafting, faith, cooking, organizing, and reflecting on life in general.

Comment here if you're still around via email subscriptions, and if you're not, I hope that I can reconnect with you soon!