guest post: betsy's tips for decorating on a budget

My best friend Betsy is one of my favorite people to craft with, decorate with and dream with. She recently got married and has been putting together her new place with her husband. I asked her to share some of her tips... enjoy!
 

Hi everyone!

My name is Betsy.  Erika and I have been friends for several years now and it is my delight to be writing a guest post on her blog!  

The two of us share a love for all things that are creative, inspiring and full of love.  We dream about one day opening a shop that encompasses all of these things, and perhaps some music and good wine on the side.  :)

I am recently married and have been in the process of decorating my new home!  I thought that today, I would share with you a few of the ways that I have decorated my small home on a small budget.  Enjoy and I hope that you are inspired to create!

The first piece of furniture that I purchased for my home was an old, smelly and a little bit dirty trunk (I like to imagine that the trunk used to belong to someone in the circus who traveled with it across the country).  I brought it home seeing the great potential that lay within the trunk-TV stand, Coffee table, end of the bed trunk, end table etc !  My husband thought otherwise, but thankfully with a few inspiring speeches he was convinced that the trunk would be a good fit to our little home. 
 

 

We decided to turn this circus trunk into a coffee table.  On to Home Depot!  Thank goodness for Home Depot because they kept all of the required tools for this project on the same shelf! I purchased four feet (see image below) and the kit included a metal piece which came with screws to attach to the trunk.  Once the metal piece (sorry, I don’t know the official name) was attached the feet twisted right in.  Easy as pie! 

 Now the trunk is no longer used in the circus, rather it sits in our living room as our coffee table.  And I am loving that fact that I have furniture with a history (whether the history be true or false).

Something else that I use in my home is this.  H for Hartman, my new last name! 

Which I also used as decoration at my wedding.

My Grandpa is a master carpenter and made the letter for me! I covered it with turquoise yarn and yellow ribbon.  At first, I attempted to make the yarn wrap perfectly around the H which I soon discovered was very difficult.  In the end, I wrapped, twisted and tied the yarn any which way! “Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful”!   In the end, I think it turned out just right.  This is a fun, easy and cheap way to add a bit of color and personal touch to your home. You can use a letter, a shape or even a lamp- twist, spin and wrap any color yarn around the object.  Tie of the ends.  Add maybe a flower or ribbon for zest and volia! You have a masterpiece! As you can see below, the H rests in my living room on this self.  

 I found these guys at a goodwill near my home in San Diego for 99 cents, yes please!   

I covered them with fabric that I had laying around in my craft boxes.  It’s really very simple and you can decorate however you’d like.  One hook I covered the entire piece with fabric and glued the back.  To finish it up I added some ribbon and a cute button. The other hook I cut out a circle to match the shape and then decorated the edges with a ribbon and more buttons! Hurray for buttons! 

My tip:  Try to use supplies that you already have.  Maybe an old jacket that you never wear, but happens to have cute buttons.  Perhaps, an old tank that is too small and has a stain on it, but the pattern is super cute.  Try to find ways to make the project as inexpensive as possible. 


 

 Thanks Betsy!
Don't you guys love her? And shouldn't she have a blog? :)
I can't wait to go to San Diego and see her... as well as the cute place she's put together!