Link: Mila's Daydreams

This morning, I'd like to share one of my very favorite blogs with you.

It's not a craft blog, or a cooking blog, or even a blog with any writing on it. Nope, it's a photo blog--not just any photo blog, though! In the style of Oren Lavie, Adele Enersen waits until her baby Mila is asleep and then creates beautiful landscapes using blankets, books, and other props and starring sleeping Mila in an interpretation of what she may or may not be dreaming of at that moment.

I just can't get over this. It's definitely going into my Things To Do Someday When I Have a BabyScrimp file.

Recession Fashion

I think most of the people who read this blog like to shop at thrift stores. Right? Right? I mean, if you don't, why not? They're the best! Seriously, most of my favorite clothes come from the good old Salvation Army up the road.

But I'm also sure that all of us who have braved these temples to unwanted stuff have had the following experience...

Link: Shabby Chic Cottage

Mr. Scrimp and I are in the middle of organizing and setting up our spare room to be an office/craft room, after almost eight months of using it for storage (read: piling things up when we don't want to deal with having them in the rest of the house). As a result, all my crafting stuff has been moved from disorganized piles on the floor to semi-organized piles on a shelf and I've been too busy to actually do much crafting.

But... when I do, this is the next project on my list--a rectangular cloth basket, designed by Gina at the Shabby Chic Cottage.

Go here for the how-to.

Link: Valentine's Day Wall Art

I love this Valentine's Day wall art from Secret Pie Shoppe! The whole project was made with nothing but scrapbook paper and a little cardstock--just a few dollars, if you don't have the materials on hand.

You could do this with pretty much any shape and color--squares or circles, hearts, what-have-you.  It definitely isn't limited to a Valentine's Day craft.

Follow the link for a how-to.

Link: Unhappy Hipsters

Every so often, I find an interior design idea from a magazine or website that looks beautiful but not like someplace I would ever live.

There's actually a blog out there that takes those images and puts captions to them. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Unhappy Hipsters.

"And one day, a ladder appeared. Julien climbed with guarded optimism; could this be the way out for which he’d been searching all these weeks?"

(via dornob)

Why to Cook at Home

I'm no superwoman. I'm easily bored and tend not to finish everything I start. So, how do I keep going with making homemade meals in the face of cooking fatigue and general flakiness?

There are lots of ways to answer this question, but I don't think I could express them much better than Kristen of The Frugal Girl did this week in her Monday Q&A post. Go read it and be encouraged.

Other Blogs

I follow roughly a hundred blogs these days, and I add more to my feed every day. There's a pragmatic element to that--it's a lot easier to write blog posts of my own when I have a collection of cool links to send you on days when I haven't been cooking, crafting, or writing decor posts about crazy things you can do with toothpicks or something. But I also just really like reading blogs.

I found a new one just today, which looks to be right up my alley, and want to recommend that you check out Post Grad Hair Cut, especially because until February 1 she's doing a giveaway for a book all about how to make macarons. All you have to do to be entered is leave a comment on her blog.

Is it really only Tuesday, Internet? By the end of the day yesterday I was convinced we had to be all the way into Thursday at least.

Link: I Heart Switch

I got an email from a friend of mine with a link to a great techie craft blog called I Heart Switch.

What are techie crafts? Think LEDs, scarves with built-in electronics, and DIY glow-in-the-dark sketch walls (paint on your wall with glow-in-the-dark paint, and then draw on it with LEDs).

It's definitely worth a read if you're even a little bit of a geek.

Plaid Scarf Tutorial

Remember how I mentioned the other day in my Christmas Gift post that scarves are extremely very the best thing ever? Well, blogger Cluck Cluck Sew saw a cute frayed plaid scarf at the Gap the other day and decided to make her own. I actually like her version even better than the one at the Gap, and not just because it only cost $3.

You can go here for the full tutorial. All it takes is a little fabric and a washing machine to fray the edges, and, if you want to get really fancy, a sewing machine (but that's optional).

Via CraftGossip.

Dollar Store Crafts

Good morning, Scrimpalicious readers! It's a balmy 43 degrees this morning in Ohio, and it's hard to believe that we're already in December.

I have a guest post up today at Dollar Store Crafts, which I'm sure you're all going to check out. While you're there, be sure to read the rest of Heather's great blog. It's full of ideas for crafts of all kinds on about as limited as a crafting budget can get.

And while I'm at it, hi to all the Dollar Store Crafts readers who check out Scrimpalicious today. Leave a comment and say hello!

Gift Wrapping

I love gift-wrapping. To me, half the fun in getting ready for Christmas giving is making sure that gift have a great presentation.

This tutorial from Jessica Jones at How About Orange is for a homemade gift bow made from a magazine page or other piece of scrap paper. I am madly in love with the version pictured here, which she made from a map of Chicago.

 

Be sure to check out the rest of her blog, too. It's great. (via The Butterworth)

Another why

So, there are a lot of links on the sidebar of this blog. Probably about half of them go to crafting sites or blogs. Why is that?

I like to differentiate between poor and broke. My husband and I are broke. Poor people are poor. We aren't always going to have no money, we just don't have any right now. Poor is a state of mind. Broke is a state of being--a temporary one.

But in a practical sense, they're pretty much the same thing. Thing is, I don't want to look poor just because I'm broke and can't afford to buy nice things. The answer? I'll make 'em.

Even if you aren't artistic or particularly creative, there are so many things out there that are ridiculously easy to make or alter. See something you like at Anthropologie? (it's in my link list because I love to browse it for ideas). You can probably find someone who has made a cheaper copy using things they picked up at Goodwill. If they have a blog, they probably left directions for how you can do the same thing. Want to wear high fashion? You don't have to be fabulous at sewing to embellish or alter clothes you already have, and if you can't sew at al, it's worth it to learn.

You can have nice things and a nice life without looking like a bumpkin and without breaking your bank... if you're willing to be a little creative.