No-Spend July in Review

Hey hey!! How are ya? I’m back with another month in review, just in case you missed a project over the past 30 days. Because I know you would cry.

If you remember way back late last month, I told you about my mission for the month of July – to not spend a dime on DIY or decor for the whole 31 days. I had a basement full of unfinished projects and to do list a mile long…so I was determined to get a bunch done this month, using what I had on hand.

It was rough at times people. Some days I laid in bed, shaking. I needed some Goodwill! HomeGoods!! Hobby Lobby? Puuhhhlease?! ;)

I did it for the most part -- I had a couple cheats but I’ll tell you about those in a minute.

I started out the month by turning in a chunky Goodwill candlestick into a small end table:

LOVE it! :) It’s worked out great!

Then, I finally showed you the family room reveal, complete with a new sectional and a moved TV – which transformed the space:

Because I finished up a bunch of the room in July, I had to get creative with art and some accessories. I showed you the free art at the NYC Digital Gallery and how I made some of the prints into art:

Did I mention FREE? :)

I found the perfect coffee table for the family room at Goodwill months ago, and made a few changes to it to make it functional for our space:

The casters on the bottom have been AWESOME – we move this thing around all the time. I love it!

Next up -- our little 16 square foot garden has been a JOY this summer. I showed you one of my very favorite fresh salads here.

Today we picked about five tomatoes and 30 cherry tomatoes…for real. It is awesome. :)

I shared the exciting news about the Haven Conference, coming in June of 2012:

We are SO excited about this event! It’s open to bloggers and DIYers and we think both will find it worthwhile. (Tickets will go on sale in a few weeks – stay tuned!)

Next, I needed to fill the long space under our TV, so I built a trough-thingy and I adore it:

It took no time at all and I promise you can make one too. Cross my heart. :)

I fell in love with the look of fresh, LIVE plants while blog hopping last month and showed you how I’ve added (animal friendly) pops of green throughout our home:

And they're still alive! I can’t believe it!

I did something I’ve been meaning to do with the Bub for years and shared it with you here:

Sniff. :)

I had most of our summer vignette in the foyer done for a couple months. It was the painting of our front door that took me forever.

It was worth the wait though!:

Love it!

Last week I shared some of my favorite tips from Pinterest – some have worked and some haven’t:

(source)

Yes…I can now fold a fitted sheet! The key is putting it on floor or a table at step four – it’s nearly impossible to get right unless you lay it down. At least for me.

But I have conquered the fitted sheet and it rocks my world!!

And finally, something else that rocked my world…yet another NKOTB concert, with some Backstreet Boys thrown in for good measure:

I also shared more about our RV vacation from Indiana to Wisconsin and back.

We had a such a wonderful time and will definitely do it again. :)

So there’s the no-spend month in review! Like I mentioned, I did cheat a couple times. One was on purpose, one was by accident. I did buy a few things while on vacation, because…well, I was on vacation. :)

The accident was late last week when the Bub and I went to drop off a load of stuff to the consignment shop. The Bub wanted to go in (yes, I’ve taught him well) and we started looking around. And as we drove away with a bag of frames and a lamp…I realized I WASN’T SUPPOSED TO SPEND ANY MONEY.

What the ? I totally spaced it…honest to goodness, spaced it. I don’t know what the heck I was thinking. I got some great stuff though. :)

But I didn’t spend a dime on the projects I showed you this month. And I didn’t even walk into a Goodwill, HomeGoods, Joann’s….nothin’.

I started a few projects that I still haven’t finished, so the no-spend will continue here and there this month. And I can see myself doing this next summer as well, maybe even a couple months!

We have been working on the outside a TON this month though. Our deck is coming together so beautifully…I can’t wait to show you!!

Thanks for joining me for another month at TDC! Here’s to August! :)