Creative Weekend

I am so excited about the weekend we just had. We finished pretty much all the decorating in the house and did it without buying much of anything new. I have been so convicted about my spending habits (even though I could be considered frugal to many Americans). I buy most of my stuff at Target and discount stores but do I really NEED most of my purchases? I took the month of February as a shopping fast. I felt very victorious walking out of Target with only diapers and lotion in my hands and not even walking by the clothes section.

Much of my awareness was triggered by reading the book Seven by Jen Hatmaker. I LOVED IT!!! I will write more about how I processed the book but for now let me tell you...you should read this book! Its funny, entertaining, and not at all scary like I thought it would be.

So thanks to my resolve to spend as little as possible on unnecessary items and to Pinterest which allows me to believe I can create anything that has a tutorial...I spent my weekend being very creative.

I will show off my favorites.

The first is our Family Sign. I had seen a large wooden wall hanging in a fancy gift store with a similar poem for close to $300. I loved the words and wanted something just like it but I wouldn't dream of spending that kind of money on a wall hanging. I came home and looked on Etsy (which is what I usually do when I see something I like somewhere else...someone on Etsy is probably making it). There were a few on Etsy but still $50-$100.

$4!!!!! Four dollars is what I spent to make my knock off!

I had a large frame 20 x 20 that had pictures of Tyler from when he was a toddler. I found Searchfreefonts.com and downloaded multiple fonts. I set the word document size to 19.5 X 19.5 and justified my lines. It took me a couple of hours to figure out spacing and work it to get it the way I wanted. Then I emailed it to the FedEx Kinko's here in town and picked it up the next day for $4.

I love it! I love what it says, I love it more that it cost so little. It makes me so happy. Last night, Brian and I lay in bed almost asleep and I just blurt out, "I love my sign!"

Okay, so one last moment of creativity I want to show off. I feel very inadequate when I look at my mantel. Mantels are showcases for those with great decorating talent and when I stare at mine I felt its emptiness laughing at me. I've been wondering what to do with it since we decided to rent this house. Thankfully, I was finally inspired by a post on Jones Design Co. in which she decorated a wall with various types of the letter L. Again, using things we have this is what I did...

What do you think?

The vertical picture frame showcases photos Brian took of the first neighborhood we lived in (Central West End). The small square frame is an old picture frame with the glass removed. I used a piece of scrapbook paper and glued the wooden letter on it (Michael's for $2). The larger square is a mirror we've had for a while with no place for it here. The wooden letter is also from Michael's and is just resting on the ledge of the mirror. The last picture frame is our last name printed on a different piece of scrapbook paper.

I am feeling super creative and have even had visions of me doing crazy things like sewing and knitting. Who knows...