I love photography. And I love having pictures everywhere. So naturally I like to decorate with pictures! We have a small guest bathroom on the first floor. I wanted to do some simple decorations that wouldn't cost too much. Photos are great to decorate with because they're inexpensive but they make a BIG difference. When decorating using pictures, it's important to envision how the picture will look in that particular room. Bathrooms can be kinda tricky. How you ask? Well imagine this.... You're "using the facilities" at my home. It's pretty distracting and awkward to see this as you're doing your business: Kinda makes you feel like we're all staring at you and ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 17
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the link at the bottom of this post. Link up (directly to the specific post) of your crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking…etc! Link back to this ... read more
DIY Birth Announcement
Today I thought I'd share a project I'm really excited about. DIY Birth Announcements! At the end of this post I'll share a link that shows you how to make your own! Here's a teaser of what they look like: I know what you're thinking... No I didn't just have a baby. My firstborn will be turning FOUR in May. The baby of our family is 15 months old. So no newborns here! What I DO have is a lot of blank wall space in my home that needs some life. After searching through Pinterest for some ideas of inexpensive wall art I decided to make some (belated) birth announcements to hang as wall art. With a little time, creativity, and PicMonkey.com, ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 16
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Monday to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the link at the bottom of this post. Link up (directly to the specific post) of your crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking…etc! Link back to this post…just ... read more
My Favorite Homemade Laundry Detergent
A couple months ago I wrote a post about my adventures in making my own powder laundry detergent. (To see that post, click HERE) I wanted to make my own detergent in hopes of saving money. I found a recipe, tried it out, and had good success with it. It cleaned well and met my goal of saving money. Recently, my friend Amy from A Blossoming Life shared a recipe for homemade liquid laundry detergent that's really easy to make and the cost is about $.005 cents per load! That caught my attention as it was cheaper than the current recipe I was using. A LOT cheaper. So: does it work? YES! I've been using it for a couple months and I'm ... read more
Berry Vinaigrette Dressing
Yesterday the hubby and I were about to eat dinner. And by dinner I mean a take-out pizza. Don't judge me. Sometimes we try to eat a vegetable before eating the pizza in hopes of being healthier. I know we're just kidding ourselves, but hey--every veggie counts, right? So as the hubby is rinsing the lettuce I searched the fridge for some dressing. Hubby has his usual Italian dressing (which I don't like). Now that I'm actually craving a salad, I realize there's no berry dressing for me. UGH. Necessity is the mother of invention. How true this saying is. I wanted a salad desperately enough I thought of a solution. I decided to try and make my own berry dressing and it ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 15
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Monday to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the link at the bottom of this post. Link up (directly to the specific post) of your crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking…etc! Link back to this post…just ... read more
12 Ways To Save Money
We are a 1 income family of four. God has been good to provide what we need, however we also need to be making smart decisions with money. Over the years the hubby and I have tried different things to save money. Here are some that have really helped us. I hope some of them will help you, too! Here are my 12 top ways to save money: (Keep in mind that not every tip will work for you and that's okay. Pick a couple to try and go from there) If you own your home, check into refinancing your mortgage to a lower rate. We've re-financed our house THREE times. That allowed us to save over $100,000 dollars in interest! Try making products you ... read more
Liebster Award
Carrie This Home has been nominated for the Liebster Award! As a new blogger, any comment, blog activity, or recognition will make my day. So when Tasya from My House and Home nominated me I was completely thrilled! What is the Liebster Award? The Liebster award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 or so followers. Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. So it's not really an actual award. No trophy, no ribbon, no ceremony. It's more of a compliment that someone out there likes your blog and wants to see it grow. When someone is nominated, they can accept ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 14
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Monday to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the link at the bottom of this post. Link up (directly to the specific post) of your crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking…etc! Link back to this post…just ... read more
Sorting Game
As a mom I find myself struggling to find a balance between spending quality time with the kids and getting things done around the house. More often than not I'm getting stuff done at the expense of my kids. Lately I've been trying to find ways to have fun with my kids but still get things done so my house doesn't look like a war zone. One morning after breakfast I was unloading the dishwasher. My 3.5 year old daughter runs up and says "can I help?" I love and hate that question. I love it because any offers of help are sincerely appreciated. I hate it because let's be honest: most times a 3 year old's "help" is more of a hindrance. ... read more
DIY Photo Canvas
One of my all time favorite project ideas from Pinterest is making your own photo canvas. I LOVE photos and using them as home decor so this is the perfect project for me. After doing this project several times and making some mistakes, I've found a method that works really well and looks more realistic. Today I'll show you how to do it! DIY Photo Canvas Supplies: This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. See my full disclosure here. Photo and canvas of the same size Mod Podge in matte finish black acrylic paint (or any color you choose) small foam brush small foam roller (like the one pictured below) Now For ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 13
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Monday to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the link at the bottom of this post. Link up (directly to the specific post) of your crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking…etc! Link back to this post…just ... read more
Strawberry and Cream Cookies
I made a batch of Strawberry and Cream Cookies for the hubby on Valentine's day. This is a variation of my Orange Creamsicle Cookies recipe (which he LOVES). I figured the pink color was a little more appropriate for V day. This recipe only calls for 3 ingredients, so it's frugal, easy, and delicious! Strawberry and Cream Cookies Ingredients: 1 box of strawberry cake mix {important note: you will not follow the directions on the box} 1 tub of Cool Whip 1 egg 1/2 to a full bag of white chocolate chips (depending on how many chips you like in your cookies) 1/2 cup powdered sugar (if desired to keep cookies from sticking together) Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 350 ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 12
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. What is a blog hop? Blog hops are where bloggers like myself get together and share our latest blog posts. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Monday to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the link at the bottom of this post. Link up (directly to the specific post) of your crafts, frugal finds, ... read more
Butterfly Activity For Kids
This week I experienced my first snow day as a parent. Completely opposite experience from when I was a child. Instead of being totally excited, I was a little disappointed. Want to know what my first thought was? What am I going to do with the kids ALL day? Don't get me wrong. I love my kids and playing with them. But after several hours of activities, chores, and playing I have a hard time thinking of fun things to do. I simply run out of ideas. So today I'm sharing a simple activity, just in case you're like me and tend to run out of ideas :). Butterfly Activity For Kids My daughter loves butterflies and pretending to be one. We've ... read more
Crock Pot Bacon Ranch Chicken
On my daughter's first day of school, I knew I had to make a super easy meal for dinner that night. I wanted my schedule to be free so I could take pictures and get used to the new events of daily life. I've seen a couple recipes on Pinterest for crock pot chicken. I try to pin lots of easy and somewhat healthy recipes (to see them click HERE). After looking at some of my pins, I got inspired to try something new. Crock Pot Bacon Ranch Chicken. You can't go wrong with bacon, right? Bacon Ranch Chicken Ingredients: 5-6 chicken breasts 1/2 packet of ranch dressing mix 8 oz. light cream cheese (softened to room temperature) 1 can ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 11
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. What is a blog hop? Blog hops are where bloggers like myself get together and share our latest blog posts. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Monday to get great ideas for crafts, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the link at the bottom of this post. Link up (directly to the specific post) of your crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY ... read more
Keep Costumes For Dress Up Games!
Here's a quick activity idea for you and the kids! You know those costumes you forked out a ton of money for just a couple months ago for Halloween? Instead of getting rid of them right after the costume party, keep them for dress up games! Dig them out of the closet, brush the dust off, and let everyone's imaginations go wild! I want to be a fish! One morning my 3.5 year old was pretending to be a fish. That happens all the time since Finding Nemo is one of her favorite movies. Then I remembered we still had her Nemo costume from Halloween. She excitedly put it on and pretended her brother's all blue room was the ocean. The next ... read more
DIY Wall Art
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. This means if you sign up for PicMonkey's awesome Royale version, I will earn a small commission & you will be supporting Carrie This Home at no extra cost to you! Lately I've been having a lot of fun with the PicMonkey.com website. PicMonkey is a mostly free photo editing website that I've totally fallen in love with. I love it because it's easy to use and I can be really creative with it. I just recently figured out that I could use it to make some inexpensive DIY wall art! I love to edit pictures for my blog on PicMonkey. I also love to get on Pinterest and pin Bible verses that can be ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. What is a blog hop? Blog hops are where bloggers like myself get together and share our latest blog posts. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Monday to get great ideas for crafts, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the link at the bottom of this post. Link up (directly to the specific post) of your crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY ... read more
DIY Photo Valentines
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. This means if you sign up for PicMonkey’s awesome Royale version, I will earn a small commission & you will be supporting Carrie This Home at no extra cost to you! My daughter just started preschool last week. (to read more about that, click HERE) Now we have lots of new little friends to get valentines for! I wanted to make DIY PhotoValentines that would be creative, inexpensive, and quick. Here I'm going to do a quick tutorial of how to make a valentine card using a photo and PicMonkey.com. I love PicMonkey! It's a great (mostly) free photo editing website. All the wording and ... read more
Quick Wall Makeover
The Hubby and I recently did a quick low-cost makeover to one of the walls in our kitchen. This wall was in DESPERATE need of a makeover for several reasons: 1) Most of the pictures were getting really dated. I think we quickly put these pictures up when we first moved in to our house (over 5 years ago) and haven't touched it since. Not that old pictures are bad, but if all of them are old (like they are here) then there's a problem. We've moved and had two children since all these pictures were taken! 2) The frames and pictures were too small. The picture on the bottom left is my all time favorite picture of the hubby and me. My uncle took the photo at our wedding. It's a ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. What is a blog hop? Blog hops are where bloggers like myself get together and share our latest blog posts. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Monday to get great ideas for crafts, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the link at the bottom of this post. Link up (directly to the specific post) of your crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY ... read more
Crock Pot Chili
Lately I've been making a lot of chili. I've been tweaking chili recipes I found on Pinterest and I created a version that both the Hubby and I really enjoy. I've been trying to find recipes that are inexpensive, easy, healthy, and tasty. It's hard finding meals that hit all those marks. Thankfully, this one does! We like this Crock Pot Chili because: It's super easy to make It makes a LOT (it fills my 6 quart crock pot) It doesn't cost very much (you probably have most of the ingredients in your kitchen already) It's healthy and tastes great--I use lean meat and sneak in a lot of vegetables Ingredients: 24 oz tomato ... read more
First Day Of School
This has been a very big week at my house. My daughter started pre-school and I'm SO excited! I can't believe my little girl is growing up. It seems like yesterday she was a little baby. There's a lot of emotions that go with this life event for both the child and the parent. Honestly I thought I'd be more sad but I'm not. I'm SO excited for her. And she's excited too. She'll get to play with her new friends in her classroom everyday and I'll get a little break. This is good for both of us. Photography is Therapy The morning of her first day I noticed myself getting a little more nervous and sentimental. So how did I deal with the emotions? I took pictures! Maybe photography ... read more
Building A Better Marriage
This post first appeared at A Blossoming Life as my first guest post! As a new blogger I was really honored to be asked to do a guest post. Amy is doing a great series on Building a Better Marriage so to see the whole series check it out at ablossominglife.com. Today I'm sharing some marriage tips that my Hubby and I have learned over the years. My Story The Hubby and I have been married for over 10 years and we met in college. Before getting married, we first made sure that our life goals and aspirations were on the same page. We both are following Jesus the best we know how and this is the biggest priority for the both of us. We both eventually wanted to have kids, but not right ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop
It's time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. What is a blog hop? Blog hops are where bloggers like myself get together and share the latest blog posts to help share ideas. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Monday to get great ideas for crafts, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the link at the bottom of this post. Link up (directly to the specific post) of your crafts, frugal finds, ... read more
How To Make Baby Food–The Easy and Cheap Way
When it comes to baby food, my family has two problems: 1) We live on a tight budget and baby food is ridiculously expensive. 2) I'm somewhat lazy and in order for me to make my own baby food it has to be easy. Like REALLY easy. Otherwise I won't do it. Are you like me? If so I've found a pretty simple solution. You probably have all the needed supplies in your kitchen. No special equipment needed! How To Make Baby Food--The Easy and Cheap Way Supplies needed: Blender, ice cube tray, and fruits or veggies your baby will eat. First: Find out what foods your baby likes to eat before making your own. Yes that means buying some baby food. I know it sounds strange buying baby ... read more
Baby Blues…What It Was Like For Me
Recently I was talking with a friend and sharing my emotional experience after having my kids. I have two kids and I had the baby blues after having both. It felt good to share about my experience in hopes that it was helpful. Then the thought hit me. I need to write about this on my blog. Why? I think it's important to talk about issues like this in hopes of supporting others who may be going through the same thing. I want to share this in hopes that my humble words will help someone. I don't want to go thorough struggles in vain; I want to use them for good. Baby Blues...What It Was Like For Me Most of the time my emotions are pretty even. I'm a mostly optimistic ... read more
