$2 Elf on the Shelf!!

I was in Hobby Lobby on my lunch break a couple of days ago (shocker) and I came across these adorable Elf ornaments. I thought to myself, "hey, those look like the Elf of the Shelf guys." He has wire in his arms and legs and his head moves so you can place him anywhere. He was $3.99, but they are still having their 50% off all Christmas stuff sale....score!

Although the original Elf on the Shelf is SUPER cute and comes with the book and everything, we don't have kids yet so I didn't want to spend $25 on it. I thought this would be a budget savvy but fun way to enjoy this holiday game.
I have a feeling this guy might get into some trouble this holiday season though. Look at the shenanigans he has pulled so far! Chris and I are going to take turns moving him around, so there is no telling where this guy will end up.

Meet Miles Finch (we got his name from the movie Elf. He was the angry elf/ author)

Linking up to : Someday Crafts, Finding Fabulous for Less

Deals of the Day

It seems like everyone is jumping on the "Deal of the Day" bandwagon. And why not, sites like Groupon, Living Social and Deal Chicken are making it impossible for me consumers not to open their wallets in a frenzy to purchase the deal that will expire in a matter of hours! They even post a little countdown clock to torture you while you ponder over your purchase, like a pushy college sales girl! Just sayin...

And who is the latest to jump on board? You guessed it...Pottery Barn! For the month of December, they will feature one deal a day at a discount. I am excited to see if any of my favorite items make the cut.

Here are some of my other favorite Deal of the Day sites. I like to venture out on Groupon and Living Social to other cities. Sometimes they feature online deals that even a girl from Arizona can take advantage of. Happy Shopping!

• Living Social- www.livingsocial.com
• Deal Chicken - www.dealchicken.com
• Groupon - www.groupon.com
• WUSLU - www.wuslu.com (home decor)

What are some of your favorite online Deal of the Day sites?

Disclaimer- Not a paid advertisement. These sites just happen to be a few of my personal faves that I may or may not choose to spend grocery money on.

Pottery Barn Knock Off- Noel Sign

I was thumbing through the Potter Barn catalog and saw this adorable Noel sign. But the $150, was a major turnoff for something that will sit in my house for roughly 30 days. I have seen a couple of knock off versions in DIY blogland and decided to make my own version.

This is from PB online

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought the chip board letters. They were 50% off! Yahoo!

I hot glued the letters together, making sure the "O" was wonky and reinforced the back with some small wood chips I made by breaking a Home Depot paint stir stick. Hey, use what you have!

When the glue was dry, I whipped out my Rustoleum Hammered spray in Dark Bronze, to give the letters a similar finish as the PB sign.

Here is the finished product!!

Project cost:

4 letters from Hobby Lobby- $1.00 each (they were 50% off) = $4.00

Hammered Paint - $7.99 (but I was able to use it on a few other projects) = $7.99

Total Cost = $11.99

Sure beats $150.00 + shipping!!

Post is linked up here : Home Stories A to Z, Today's Creative Blog, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Someday Crafts and submitted to Knock Off Decor

Silver Bells.....A Christmas Mantle

Happy Holidays!! I am in full Christmas decoration mode around here. First up was my mantle. I had some inspiration for my mantle this year and it all started with this baby. I found this at G-Dub for $7.99:

It wasn't in horrible shape to begin with, but the color was too stark white. I felt it needed a softer touch, so I taped off all of the mirror panels (the back was glued on extremely tight) and gave it 2 coats of my favorite spray and distressed it a bit.

Here is the after, on my Christmas mantle:

I got the lighted silver garland from Costco in October if you can believe that! I knew it would be gone in a flash though so I grabbed it. The tall Santa, Silver Tree, Star Mirror and glass reindeer are from Home Goods and the two stocking holders are from Tar-jay. The "W" is a G-dub find for $1.00 that I spray painted Metallic silver.


Post is linked up here : Home Stories A to Z, Today's Creative Blog, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Someday Crafts

Savvy Resoration: A Goodwill Bench

I have been on the lookout for a great bench for the guest bedroom. When I spotted this  bench at my local G-Dub, I knew it had potential and for a $5.99 price tag, I couldn't pass it up. Our guest bedroom has a blue and brown motif goin' on but I don't like everything to be matchy match. So I found the cutest fabric that I thought would compliment the room.

This is really just a before and after shoot, but basically I unscrewed the cushion from the base, took out the staples underneath and removed the fabric. Then I painted the bench Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze, stapled the super cute fabric to the cushion and I was done. I love this bench! I wish it went with our room.

Before:

After:

Jeepers Creepers!!

I saw Jeepers Creepers when I was in college and I still wont go near a school bus on a deserted suburban road! :) He is like a Freddy Krueger/ Scarecrow cross breed and something about that is just not right. Did you know Justin Long was in that movie? He has come such a long way!

 

Anyway, this post is about all things Halloween! Last month I received the coveted Pottery Barn catalog in the mail and was super impressed with the fun little table scapes and mantle scapes. They provided a ton of inspiration for me. Not wanting to pay a million dollars for some Halloween decorations, I did what any Savvy crafter would do and hit the Dollar Store. I found soooooo many cute props to use!

Here is my inspiration:

And here is my little table scape. Forgive the horrible lighting!

Splurge vs Steal

How cute are these woven poufs from PB and IKEA??!!

Splurge- PB, these have since sold out, but I am sure these were around $100

 Steal- IKEA- $29.99. At this price you can stack a few on top of each other to add some height

Chris's Hangover 30

My husband Chris just turned 30 and I was thinking of throwing him a Caddyshack themed birthday party until I saw this on HWTM, a 10 year Anniversary Party. I was like are you kidding me, how stinkin cute are these two?! So I had to copy them. Only problem was, I saw this idea on Monday and his party was on that coming Saturday!! Why do I torture myself like this? I will never learn.
Anyway, I was set out to make it happen in 5 days. I hit the internet and thrift stores like a crazy person trying to find all things Hangover related. I just happen to come across 2 Ginormous stuffed tigers on craigslist, $15 for the pair. Are you kidding? Who has 2 giant stuffed tigers that are just hanging around? Well I wasn't about to ask, I gave the nice man my cash and I was on my way!
I proceeded to hit every Savers and Goodwill in the Phoenix Metro area and found so many sweet items! A few items I had to get on Amazon as well (Hangover posters, the singing Alan bobble head doll, thank goodness for PRIME huh?
A few items I made myself, the Greatest Blackjack book and I photoshopped Chris's head on Bradley Coopers body on the picture on the cake!

Here are some pictures from the party:

I'm new here....what's your excuse?

I saw this title on a onesie a few days ago and thought it was hilarious. Why was I shopping for onesies? I'm glad you asked...my best friend Nicole just had a sweet baby boy named Alex and of course I headed straight for Baby Gap and stocked up on a few items!

How rude, I should introduce myself. I'm Kelly. I am a real life corporate event planner for a technology company in Arizona. I married the love of my life, have my dream job, a sweet house across the street from a golf course and am working on starting a family.

My husband and I just moved back to Arizona about a year ago (where I grew up) from Sammamish, Washington (where he grew up). We had a pretty tough ending to our 2009 and it carried on through 2010 between family members getting sick, losing family members, not really liking our jobs or our quality of life in Washington. The one highlight was getting married in September of 2009 after 8 years of dating. Yes 8!
Besides being newlyweds, quitting our jobs in WA, renting out our condo, moving to Arizona and starting new jobs, we decided that we should buy a house to add to the madness! What can I say, we live on the edge. After looking at about 100 homes, we found the one we loved in North Phoenix. It needs just a little TLC and we have been doing little projects here and there to fancy her up! This is where my savvy planning kicks into gear.

Follow me on my crazy and entertaining adventures of thrift store makeovers, DIY projects and event planning. I will try not to steer you wrong!

Stay Savvy!
Kelly