Thrifty Valentine Decor

Normally I do not decorate for valentines day, but my kids asked me to this year, so I thought I would see what I could do with what I already had around the house. I did go an buy a couple of things, but did not spend more that $8. I can live with that! The picture frames above came from the dollar store, I got a great idea from the ladies over at Shanty 2 Chic, and this was what I made. i will share my "how to" later in the week! A very fun, easy and inexpensive project!

I love to change out this shelf for each season, so I needed to LOVE it up a bit. I made the wreath, and then really just changed out some ribbon on things to match, and there you have it, instant valentine decor!
I have had these hearts in my craft supplies forever, so I just tossed them into a little bird nest I had laying around!
This wreath was made from a round floral foam, and fake carnations. I added some ribbon just to give it a splash of color!
I just love this tree and am so glad that my SIL convinced me to buy it last year! I change it out all the time. I bought these little hearts at Micheal's for like 2 bucks! They are perfect!
Here is a candle I had made for Christmas, so I just changed out the ribbon and added a little key that says love.
My favorite, wood blocks that I just cut, paint and stencil! Then I roughed them up a bit added some glaze, and a clear coat to seal them.
I fell in love with these birds when I first saw them over at Funky Junk, she was featuring Denise from Living Life Creatively, and Denise was kind enough to share her pattern with me, I added a few of my own little touches, and I just adore him! Now Denise did warn me that it was tough to get him to stand, you need to place the feet just right, and that is why my bird decided to sit, I couldn't get him to stand for nothing!


Thanks for stopping by! Now go create some of your own thrifty love!

1000 follower party & a giveaway you can tote your stuff in!

My Blogging Friend Donna is hosting an amazing event, she has hit 1000+ followers this week! That is something I only dream of accomplishing someday!

So it is time to celebrate! Do you know miss Funky Junk?? Well if not, you need to jump on over to her site to see all of the wonderful things that she does. I am inspired by her daily, and just spend some time looking and you will quickly know why.This is just one of my favorite items that she made, you can read more about it HERE.

There are so many more amazing things over at Funky Junk, you just have to go see for yourself, plus she is having a different giveaway each day this week!

Not only does Donna make the most amazing things, but she has the best tips ever!

And did I mention that she is a great person? She really has the most kind heart, is funny, and can really brighten your day any time you need it! So be sure to go visit Donna over at Funky Junk, and if you love her blog don't forget to follow her so you don't miss a single amazing post!

Now on with more fun! I am lucky enough to be a part of Donna's amazing week! If you are new here at The little Green Bean I am happily married to one of the most amazing men, really he is something else, just ask anyone who knows him! We have 3 wonderful boys, who keep us going all the time! We both work full time, but always find time to do projects and crafts! I recently started a small little business over on ETSY selling some of my hand made goodies. I started making tote bags from recycled coffee bean bags, and from there, I just couldn't stop! I have always been crafty, but I feel like I have finally found my niche'!
I love to also take "junk" and re-purpose it! It is simply amazing what you can do with stuff other people throw away! And not to mention, great for the environment! I am willing to spray paint almost anything, and am learning to love the local thrift stores! Here are a few of my favorite things I have re-done!See the before and after of these chairs hereThis was a door that I noticed at my neighbors that had been leaning up against his garage forever, he sold it to me for $6!

So on with the giveaway! One lucky person is going to win one of my original tote bags! Be sure to leave a comment back at Funky Junk, letting Donna know which bag you would choose if you win!

Here are the 3 bags that you may choose from, there are many more are available at mt Etsy shop, among many other fun things!

Tote bag #1 "Ricafe" shown below, is 17 x 15 & has a green liner with a pocket for all your smaller items
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Tote bag # 2 "V" shown below, is 17 x 15, is lined with black and has print on both sides. This also has a pocket inside. Bag # 3 "Sumatran Coffee" shown below, is 11 x 14 & has an orange liner with a small inside pocket.Now just beacuse I love a good party, I am having a special offer just for you. If you would like to buy a tote from my ETSY store, I will give you 20% off any tote bag or Pillow in my ETSY shop Jan 18-24. You will need to convo me over at ETSY letting me know which item you would like to buy, then I will do a special post just for you with your discount. This sale is only for you, my readers!

Don't forget to link back to Donna and let her know which bag you can't live without! Don't forget they are also available on my ETSY store, and if you had fun here today, I would love it if you would become a follower, but you are under no obligation to do so! Thank you for Stoppping by and I hope you will come back again soon!

(I am posting a little early, the give away over at FJ starts at 11:00 pm pacific time!)

The "Monica" turned Workroom

So I had this closet, it was supposed to be the storage room for all my holiday bins, and quickly it was re-named "The Monica". Any Friends fanatics out there?? Then you know what I am talking about.Now it would not be fair if I did not tell you that this closet had be re-organized before I had taken this photo...and then I took it apart 2 days later. Great Planning huh! Over the holiday break, I wanted to do some projects, but the high here that week was oh about -2, and that was on a good day. So I had no where to go work, my garage is not heated. So the next step was to find a place in the house that I could turn into a work room.
The most logical place was "The Monica". It was big enough, the carpet on the floor was just a remnant and the walls were not painted. So I cleaned out the Monica, it is truly amazing how much stuff you can get rid of when you need to! I hauled in a table to work on, the hubbs put up a shelf for all my paint, and I mounted an old piece of peg board to hang all my tools.


It is almost perfect! Except there is about 0 ventilation, so only small projects for now! We need to get that figured out!

Lots of fun office projects!

Our family office started to become a room full of clutter. It has never been decorated and has just been a junk collector. Not anymore! I decided to fix it up, but the deal was I could only spend money on paint for accenting.
See, lots of clutter, can you tell how much that tredmill gets used? That bin has been sitting on it for months!

Clearly, after sitting in this chair, I should be getting on the tredmill sooner, rather than later. This chair was a dump find, that I thought was in good condition, until I sat in it. The one thing I thought I wasn't going to have to re-do! So I got out some of my coffee bean bag scraps, and some grommets to make a new seat and chair back.
I love how it turned out! I had no real plan for this room, I knew I wanted to accent with green. But after the burlap chair, I knew what direction I was heading!

Burlap & Birds could be the theme of this room! I used this old shoe bag to organize and sort bills, I still need to add labels to each pouch. I wish each pouch was empty!

This bird was one of my dollar tree finds, I just spray painted her green to match the rest of the room! I pulled out my "spring" bin to get my bird nests. Now they have a place to stay all year round!
I had nothing hanging on the walls before. I need some free art, so sticking with my bird and burlap theme, I used some scrap wood from the garage and made a frame, them stretched the burlap around and stapled to the back! Instant art!!

This is the kids little area! Finally a place for all their school work, calendars, and backpacks. no more hunting for everything Monday morning! I used chalkboard paint on the wall, once dry I pained a frame around the chalk board, and then added ribbon for fun detail. I screwed an old soup can that I put paper around to hold the chalk. I also thing I need a picture of Dr McDreamy aka Patrick Dempsy, hanging by that old street sign...

This is where the back packs and school work can go. I added clips to the top to display their latest creations! The bins were black, but I spray painted them with my green apple rustoleum spray paint! I used my cricut to cut out the letters of the alphabet, but it needed something on each end, so I went searching for some inspiration, and found some over at The Fickle Pickle, these owls were just what I needed! mine were all made from scraps of scrapbooking paper. I sewed around the edges to give them a more finished look.


This little clock was my last project. I had the perfect place for it, but the pink just didn't go. So you guessed it, I spray painted it! The I added some paper polka dots with mod podge! So simple, and it looks like a whole new clock!
A brand new look all for under $20! Stay tuned this week to see the new work room that I created!
This week i will be linking up to:





and made it Mondays at the Persimmon Perch.