Frugal Friday

This weeks Frugal Friday tip is yet another idea on how to make do with what you have on hand. Now I know most of you do not have to make fair decorations, but this is where I got my idea. For the fair we need to have some sort of banner, sign, or decorations to show our farm name. As with everyone money is tight, and expensive decorations just were not an option. Plus, it is so much more fun to create something of your own.

I looked around the house to see what I could repurpose into something cute for our stall decorations. You just never know where your inspiration might come from.

To start off with I had bought an old shutter at a garage sale last summer for $3.00. I originally bought it for my Mom to see of she could create something for her bazaar. I kept forgetting to give it to her and lucky for me I did, because I had it on hand for this project. It was just a 70's brown shutter, nothing special. So I dug around in our collection of leftover paints from our house and found a nice basic cream.

I painted a few coats of paint on it and when it was dried used sandpaper to distress it. I then applied the vinyl my Mom so graciously donated to the project. She's a keeper.

When it was done it needed something more, so I brought our some bandanna curtains that I had made at our other house, but hadn't used since we moved. I bought some teacup hooks and used an old piece of trim and cut it to size for a curtain rod. I then used some old name signs we had used for 4-H a few years ago. I peeled the other names off, painted, and applied the new names. That is the beauty of vinyl. My Mom had also sent up some rainclouds and umbrellas for a little extra kick.

I had hubby rip a board (with his table saw) from our field and painted the legs the same color as the shutter. He then bought some brackets to attach the legs to the shutter. This project cost me a total of $12.00 to make. I was happy with how it turned out on such short notice, plus it is always a bonus to create something yourself. So this weeks lesson is create something out of what you already have to

use it up, wear it out, make it due, or do without!