Antique buffet stations for wedding

I love checking out the decorations at weddings. We have thirteen weddings this year so I've seen a lot of really fun ideas. I find myself thinking "Why didn't I do that at my wedding? How cute!" Every wedding is different of course so it's fun to see how the couple puts their own spin on their special day.

I loved, loved, loved these antique buffets that were used for different "stations" at the wedding we were at last Friday. All credit for these goes to the bride, Mindy.

This desk was at the entrance of the reception and had a basket for cards and the guest book. Love the teal.

Extra 20% off Living Social with code JUNE20

I love Groupon and Living Social for purchasing restaurant vouchers, facials, or hair services - even better when I can take an additional % off the already discounted price! Use code JUNE20 through June 29 to get an extra 20% off sitewide at Living Social.

The Krazy Coupon Lady used it on these state necklaces. How cute are those for tailgating this fall or for gifts?

If you use Groupon, you might have received an email offering 20% off in your inbox this morning. The discount was automatically applied to my cart. I purchased this two person lunch deal to Compadres Mexican Restaurant for $8. Hope it's good!

Half off shaken iced tea at Starbucks today

Image source here

I don't know about you, but I crave iced tea on summer days. Today only from 2-5 p.m. get shaken iced tea for half off at Starbucks. Choose from flavors like Passion Tango, green tea, black tea, peach green tea lemonade and blackberry mojito.

Thanks to Chicks Dig Deals for the heads up!

4th of July decor

I haven't decorated that much for the 4th of July, but below is a shelf in our home that I tried to make patriotic!

30% off Kohl's coupon code and free shipping

Some great coupon codes at Kohl's right now if you're a cardholder. Use GREAT30 for 30% off your entire purchase (including clearance) and FREEMVC for free shipping with no minimum required. Both expire June 29, 2014.

I ordered the below New Balance softshell jacket for my husband for $11.20 yesterday. $11.20! The original price was $80. Sizes are becoming somewhat picked over now, but check it out.

New Balance Ripstop Softshell Jacket

Plus, I ordered a few other clearance items so I spent $50 and earned $10 Kohl's cash. You'll find the best deals if you shop out of season so look for coats, sweaters, etc. There were some sweaters for $4. With 30% off that makes them $2.80. You can't shop at Goodwill for that! I know it's hot out now, but fall is right around the corner and you'll be wearing these items before you know it. I try to plan ahead for gifts. Sweaters and coats make great Christmas gifts!

If you're not a cardholder, use HOTSAVINGS for 15% off your entire purchase.

Take advantage of free flowers

My brother is getting married in August and my aunts threw a bridal shower this past weekend for his fiance. The aunts asked me to do the decorating so I tried to think of ways to make it beautiful, but not spend an arm and a leg since showers only last a couple hours.

Thankfully, there are a lot of flowers in bloom right now so I spent the two days before the shower cutting wildflowers and backyard flowers. Obviously this idea isn't going to work in December, but during the months that flowers are in bloom you might as well take advantage of them!

Build your own outdoor table

Great summer project! This table cost us around $180. We bought all the materials on sale. If you shop around for ten person tables you'll realize that they're expensive - usually above $1,000 so we saved a few hundred bucks going the DIY route.

The following write-up is from my husband who built the table. It includes directions so that you can build your own!

Follow me on Facebook, twitter, and Pinterest!

I finally caved in and decided to create facebook and twitter accounts for this blog. Starting today anytime I post something to the blog it will also be posted on the social media sites. I would love, love, love it if you all would follow me!

For Facebook, simply type in DIY Why Spend More or click here. My page looks like this:

For twitter, type in @diywhyspendmore or click here. My page looks like this:

I'm also on Pinterest. You can find me under Jenna Grace. I'm trying to stay consistent so I've uploaded the same photo. I post my blog stuff on the board DIY Why Spend More.

I started uploading pictures with links of my most popular projects on facebook (I still have a lot to upload). I'm hoping it will be an easy way for you to search for specific projects. Remember that you can always use the search bar on the blog too if there is something specific you're looking for. With 214 posts so far I know it might become harder for all of you to find what you want on the blog.

Thank you all so much for your support and for reading this blog! Please bear with me as I try to keep all of these social media avenues up to date. I also have my personal social media pages and manage the pages for my full-time (paying!) job. Let's hope I can keep everything straight! 

Outdoor table = done

Woohoo! Outdoor table built out of cedar = done! We didn't have time to write the tutorial last night so check back for full directions on how to do this. I'm hoping to have that post up either tomorrow or Friday. This project was time consuming, but not terribly difficult.

Our cat sits at tables like a human. Always with just two eyes peering over... judging us as we eat.

Kaw Valley 50% off sale

Kaw Valley has beautiful flowers and they just started their 50% off sale this week. They are offering 50% off everything so if you need plants, pots, or even iron decor, swing by one of their locations.

Courtesy of their facebook page

Patriotic fruit pizza

Happy belated Father's Day to all the dads out there! We celebrated Father's Day at my grandma's house. I made fruit pizza and in honor of Flag Day which was Saturday, I decided to use the fruit to make a flag. You've probably all seen this done before, but I thought I'd share because it is really easy and it'd be fun to make for the 4th of July. I got the recipe from the Kraft website.

1 pkg. (16.5 oz.) refrigerated sliceable sugar cookies, sliced

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Assorted fresh fruit of your choice

HEAT oven to 375°F.

LINE Arrange cookie dough slices in single layer in prepared pan; press together to completely cover bottom of pan. Bake 8-10 min.; cool completely. 

BEAT cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until blended; spread onto crust. Top with fruit.

*I did change the recipe slightly so if you read it on the website you'll see some additional directions - I eliminated the step where they took the crust out of the pan and I didn't spread jelly preserves on top.

We may not have kids, but my husband is a great "dad" to our pets!

Minwax Polyshades on antique dresser

We helped move furniture out of a huge old home last weekend. In return for our help they said we could take whatever was leftover for free! This home is going on the market in a few weeks. It needs a lot of work, but it has a ton of character and I'm sure it was gorgeous in it's prime - beautiful woodwork, big staircase, decorative windows, porch with pillars, etc. Sigh. We made out like bandits with furniture, rugs, and even cleaning supplies. Thank you, Jim and Lynn!

Anyways, I redid the following dresser from that house last night with Minwax Polyshades in Espresso. Minwax Polyshades is not your typical stain. It's a 2 in 1 which means the stain and polyurethane are together. You don't need to completely strip the furniture which saves a huge amount of time. If you've ever stripped furniture down to bare wood you know it's back breaking work. I didn't feel like putting that much effort into this piece so I found Polyshades and it turned out to be a great solution. I do not recommend Polyshades for bare wood - go the traditional staining route if that's the case. For those items that have finish on and you simply want to change the color or give it a refresh, Polyshades is a great option. This took me two hours total compared to at least two days when I refinish furniture the traditional way. Since the dresser was free, my only cost was for the stain - about $10 for the quart. I think the 8 oz. size would have been enough though and it's only $5 so keep that in mind.

Here are the BEFORE pictures:

Sanding, sanding, sanding

So this ten person outdoor table is taking waaay longer than expected. (I warned you my timelines are always unreasonable!) My husband is in the sanding stage. I swear he's been sanding on that thing for days. I asked if it really needed that much sanding and he gave me this look like "leave me be". So leave him be I will. But I'm really anxious to have this project done!

Using a hand planer to even out the boards. Go Huskers!

In the meantime, we picked up an antique dresser and an antique buffet that need refinishing. I hope to start work on those tonight. I swear we'll have some good diy posts one of these days!

Bath & Body Works haul

I stopped by the Semi-Annual Sale at Bath & Body Works on my way home last night and it was super busy! Normally I'm one that will really think about my purchases and add everything up, but it was so crazy I just grabbed what I could and left. Remember to use the $10 off $40 purchase coupon! It expires Friday!

Below is what I purchased. I tried to stick to the 75% off items. My total with tax and after coupon for 18 items came to $45.34.

Semi-Annual Sale at Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works started their semi-annual sale yesterday! Plan ahead and stock up on gifts for the next few months! Who doesn't love getting their candles or lotion?

source link

There is a $10 off a $40 purchase coupon that you can print by clicking here. It expires June 13 so you have until Friday to use it.

coupon link

If you're shopping online, you can use one of the following codes:

Father's Day gift baskets

I always struggle when it comes time to buy dad gifts. Maybe if I was a guy it'd be easier... ? Anyone else feel the same way? This year I bought my dad clothes (hopefully he's not reading this), but I like the idea of creating a personalized gift basket. If you haven't found a Father's Day gift yet, you might want to check some of these out! I like the ones with money, lotto tickets, jerky, alcohol, bbq sauce, etc.

Father's Day Gift Idea with Free Printables

Father's Day Gift Basket Ideas
Father's Day King of the Grill
Father's Day Gift
Pops Gift Basket for Father's Day
Gifts for Guys
Basket of Booze

Free donuts

It's National Donut Day! I just got a free donut from LaMar's... delish.

I drink a green smoothie every morning so a donut here and there is fine, right? Problem is all the other junk I eat during the week! Maybe I should wash this cup....

For a list of places offering free donuts, check out the following articles:

National Donut Day 2014: Where to Go to Get Your Free Donuts
6 Places to Score a Free Donut on June 6

DIY upholstered box spring

Our bed skirt was always super wrinkly and drug on the floor (aka hot mess). I made a diy nailhead trim headboard and had leftover fabric so figured why not cover the box spring with it. Here are some after pictures followed by instructions.

"My cave is looking a bit different these days. I don't like it."

Instructions:

Once Upon a Child clearance blowout

If you live in or near Lincoln, NE and have children you might want to swing by Once Upon a Child this Saturday (June 7).

Chicks Dig Deals

This deal is courtesy of Chicks Dig Deals.

"June 7th, Once Upon a Child is having a Big Summer Clearance Blowout Sale! Save on t-shirts, shorts, tanks, sundresses, capris, sandals and shoes.  Selected toys, books and movies are included. All items included in the sale have an original mark down of 30% off on the price tag."

Here’s how much you will save:
9am-12pm: 50% Off

12:01-3pm: 60% Off

3:01pm-6pm: 70% Off

 

If you want a little retail therapy today, use code 6PMFB6520141066 at 6pm to save 10% off your entire purchase! Code expires at midnight or after 6,500 uses. 

Great coupon codes for Kohl's

Now is the time to order dad a Father's Day gift! There are a couple of awesome coupon codes for shopping online at Kohl's right now.

If you have a Kohl's card, use FATHER30 (expires 6/11/14) to save 30% off your entire purchase - sale and clearance items included.

Plus, stack it with DADSDAY10 (expires 6/15/14) to take an additional $10 off a $30 men's purchase. You can always use two codes on Kohl's website which is why they're one of my favorite places to shop.

Even better, free shipping if you spend $50 or more and you earn $10 Kohl's cash for every $50 spent. Truly doesn't get much better than that, people.

If you don't have a Kohl's card, use code THANKS4814 (expires 6/8/14) to save 15% off your entire purchase.

Nebraska storms yesterday

Well, I don't have a post prepared for today because we spent a good chunk of the night waiting out storms.

Perhaps this will motivate us to finish our basement - a little uncomfortable hanging out down there. Our poor pets were terrified. Notice Stormy (fitting name right now, huh?) peeking through my blanket.

Thankfully, we didn't have any damage and were spared the tennis ball and baseball sized hail that other Nebraska towns encountered. We are also very thankful that the scary tornadoes they talked about never really formed. It could have been much worse - God is good. Praying for everyone who is cleaning up today. If any family or friends need help, just shoot us a text.

Julep box arrived

Did any of you order a free Julep box after reading my post last week? If so, did yours come in yet? Mine arrived last night and I'm loving the products. There's still time to order one if you haven't. Just pay $2.99 for shipping. Instructions can be found in this post. Remember to cancel the monthly subscription once your box arrives (if you don't want to automatically be charged for additional monthly boxes).

10% off at 6pm

10% off your entire purchase at 6pm with code 6PMSW6220141017. Valid for the first 25,000 customers. 10% off may not seem like much, but 6pm has a lot of great name brands for up to 80-90% off sometimes and their coupons are fairly rare. They always have free shipping on everything too!

Mod Podge pics on clay pots

We attended a couple's bridal shower last night and the decorations were pretty cute. All credit for this goes to the host, Lisa. She used Mod Podge over pictures to get them to stick to pots. She jazzed each pot up with paint, ribbon, and a silk flower on the side (probably to cover up the ribbon seam).

Check out the following blogs for directions on how to do this: