Sunday, May 17, 2009

Frugal Friday, Met Monday & an Earthquake


Updated 5/29/09: I am linking this post to Frugal Friday linky party hosted by Wendy at The Shabby Nest. Be sure to visit her as well as this weeks participants you will find linked there. I originally posted this a couple of Monday's ago for Met Monday. But it works for Frugal Friday as well. Enjoy!!!


Welcome to another edition of Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. While I was writing this post we had a 5.0 earthquake (update: earthquake has now been downgraded to 4.7). It was centered in Inglewood, CA which is close to the Los Angeles airport. We are probably 90 miles east of where the earthquake was centered, but we felt it quite strong. Luckily no damage, everything just rattled & rolled and hubby ran for the door. I never even got up as the earthquake was over before I could even react. Now back to our regular scheduled program.

Yesterday I went to Kohl's to use my 30% off coupon. I was excited as it was my first time that I actually got the highest percentage off coupon on my sale brochure. So I looked through the kitchen items & didn't find anything I couldn't live without, so I ventured over to the frame department. Now besides having a plate addiction, I also have a frame addiction. Just ask my hubby.

While looking through the frames, I came upon this one. I liked it as you can use it vertically or horizontally. Now normally this wouldn't be a frame that I would buy, but I had a plan for some artwork & I needed a frame that would hold 6 photos.

So what do you get when you combine 1 frame,

One wall cabinet,

One Eiffel Tower garden statue, One Gothic window mirror,
One garden finial,
One french flower basket,
And one mini greenhouse.

Why you get this: Family
Have you seen letter art like this? I've been seeing more & more of it & I love it!!! I had seen one in a store just last weekend that said family for $90.00. Mine cost me $10.00. I really wanted to make mine with stuff I had around my house & yard. That made it a little harder. But it's amazing when you start how you see letters in almost everything.

Here are the close ups of the "F" and the "A". For the "F" I took a photo of the left hand side of the wall cabinet in my master bedroom. I like how the 2 Paris prints show up with this. The "A" is my Eiffel Tower garden statue.
For the "M" I used my Gothic window mirror. I originally was going to use this for the "Y", but hubby thought it made a better "M". My new garden finial from WalMart was used for the "I". I had just seen this on someone's blog on the Procrastination party last week & I went right out & splurged on one. It was on clearance, but still more than I would usually pay. I love it!
I took lots of photos of things to use for the "L", but ended up using the "L" on my french flower basket. The basket originally had succulents that had died. I got it on clearance for $6.00 at Costco at the beginning of the year. The "Y" is part of one of the windows in my mini greenhouse. I was going to use photos of this for the "M" originally, but switched them around with the Gothic window mirror. I got the mini greenhouse from Big Lots years ago. It is getting quite shabby from being out in the weather all these years.
I put the artwork on my mantel in our family room. I put a "Families are Forever" plaque in front of it. I picked this up last weekend at Deseret Book on 50% off clearance. I paid $8.00.
And one final look on my mantel. Doesn't it look good? I am so happy with how this turned out. And it will mean so much more to me since I made it myself & used my own items for the photos.

Thanks for visiting & be sure to visit all the participants for this week. You can find the list here. And I also have another post for today "Today's Thrifty Finds", so be sure to check it out as well. You can find it here.

45 comments:

Your Momma Somma said...

Terrific you cleaver, cleaver girl! My birthday is in June and that would look terrific in my house too!
I hope you are cooler than we are here, if not you are experiencing authentic California shake and bake!! hahahahaha ;-)

sarah said...

oooh yeah this is wonderful!

happy met monday

Sarah
ABeachCottage

Unknown said...

I just think this is so neat... I actually have not seen anything like it... I will keep an eye out for things that resemble letters... but honestly you are just as clever as can be!
~Really Rainey~

Lisa @ Fern Creek Cottage said...

WOW! I am very impressed. Awesome!

Unknown said...

very creative. I like it.

Fifi Flowers said...

Thank goodness it was not a really bad earthquake!
Love all the Frenchy-ness!

Anonymous said...

Ohh! I love these little wordy pictures in frames. Nice work - it's much more meaningful when it's pictures of your things! :)

Also, am petrified of earthquakes. Glad to hear all is okay!

Kim said...

No WAY! Nope, never woulda thought of that one! Now THAT's some bloggy creativity. And, inspiration.

From the Old InkWell said...

Kim, it looks awesome! I saw this in a magazine once and it was pretty pricey. I tried it with my daughter's new initials for a bridal shower gift. Three letters was all I could do! LOL!

Susie Q said...

Very nice and I love the pic over your mantel...

The pleasures of homemaking said...

THAT is the cleverest thing I've seen in a long time! How fantastic! Love it!

I saw on the news that CA had an earthquake today. Glad it was a bad one!

Yes, I wish I had more walls too. That's why I had to take down my rose prints to put up the bird prints. The roses are in my garage untill I find some place else for them - screened porch maybe.

Manuela

Unknown said...

That's sweet! I love alphabet art, but never thought about taking the photos myself. Thanks for the inspiration!

Melissa Miller said...

NO WAY KIM!!!
This is genius and soooo beautiful!
LOVE IT! I may have to try this idea for sure.

I have been through a 7.0 earthquake on Guam when my father was in the AF.
Scary...I'm so glad you are all okay.

Have a blessed week my friend.
~Melissa :)

Christi @ A Southern Life said...

That is fabulous!

Scooterblu's Whimsy~Rhonda said...

How cleaver was that! The "family" sign turned out great!

So glad the earthquake didn't cause any damage! :) ~Rhonda

Angie said...

I am ooohing and aaahing over this because it is awesome!!! I have seen this before in catalogs and they are expensive. You are one smart and creative chick!

susan said...

These are selling for big bucks around here. My daughter the bride to be, got one with her "new" last name and LOVES it!

Tammy said...

I have to say that is my fave Met Monday transformation I have seen.
You are quite talented and I hope you don't mind if I try to do 1/2 as well as you did and do one myself.
Gotta say again - AWESOME!!!

Brandi said...

Oh my gosh, that is so cool! I haven't seen anything like that before. It turned out great - I may have to try that myself. BTW, glad y'all made it through the earthquake ok. :-)

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

How clever you are! I've seen these before but didn't think I had the imagination to make one! You've inspired me. I'm going to start looking around for things I can use for this project. Great job! laurie

Dawn said...

Oh my gosh! I didn't see that end product coming at all! What a fabulous idea!

I looks beautiful!!!!

DesignTies said...

Fabulous!! I've actually bought letter art like this -- I saw it at a craft show last fall. I think it was the most popular booth at the show!!

You have a great eye for seeing letters in the items :-) I think the fact that you created them with your own items makes them really special :-)

Kelly @ DesignTies

Kammy said...

Hey Kim!
You are so creative ! It does mean more when you can do it in your own style ! Looks great !
Hugs ~ Kammy

Barb @ The Everyday Home said...

Kim - I have neevr sene this. Too creative!!! Love it.

I have not forgotten about your winning monogram. I bought the supplies today, and if work slows a bit tomorrow I hope to put it together. I will email you when its on the way! :-)

Hugs, Barb

grannyann said...

I love what you did with the Family in the frame. I also think you got some great items, the greenhouse is darling. I have never seen one of those.

Linda Q said...

Kim, that is fabulous and even more so because you took your own photos of your own stuff to do it!
Way cool,
Linda Q

Susan@The Cozy Chickadee said...

Thanks for the sweet comment on my blog. I love the Family photo words. My friend does that for extra money on the side, selling those at the local farmer's market. She and her husband went all over the city and country, taking pics of architectural details to get the whole alphabet, so they could do this. I bought one with our family name on it for $50 from her, but she saw them on the internet for around $100.
You did good, my friend!

A. M. Newsom said...

Now I am going to be looking at everything in my house and yard a little different - trying to find letters in unexpected places! People are going to think I am going nuts, can I blame it on you? :)

Tracy said...

Love that! My daughter was just talking about this idea and I could not picture it - very nicely done.

Chandy said...

That is beautiful! Oh my, that's so creative! Oh btw, thank you for telling where you found the mini greenhouse. I can't wait to find one anywhere. It's simply gorgeous!

Wendy said...

So clever!!! I have seen those signs, I am impressed that you created it yourself!

stephanie h said...

LOVE your sign and LOVE that you did it yourself! I have been wanting one of those forever but everyone I have seen is so $$$!

Nice and Easy Antiques said...

We have seeing those photos and your creation is just as great and a lot cheaper! Great, great project!
Thank you for visiting today!

MaRiN said...

That is so cool and you did an awesome job!

Anonymous said...

That is the coolest thing I've seen in awhile! I have just got to make one. It might take me months to find all the shapes, but I've got to have one! Love it!

Kelsee said...

Oh my gosh!!! I love this idea! And I have a frame like that too! WOW! Love it! -Kelsee Webb

Jessie Jane said...

That's ADORABLE and cheap ;) . I'll have to start looking for ways to spell out my last name now.

Bahama Shores Mama said...

so great! I am now going to have to schedule a alphabet hunt. Wait till the kids get home from school today.......

Anonymous said...

so smart! I've been eyeballing those types of pictures in a catalog. Looks terrific!

Unknown said...

That is amazing! I love that letter art, but never thought I could find the letters to spell a word! Great, great job.

Tiffany said...

VERY COOL! LOVE the idea of using things around your yard and house! It looks fantastic! You could sell that! Nice job! : )

Carly said...

I love this! Have wanted to try it myself...now I am thinking of how...Thanks for sharing!

Jane said...

My parents were talking about those letters a while back. I should think about doing this for them. Great inspiration!

Jenny said...

That is awesome! You are so creative!

The Jerseymooners said...

Thanks for posting this! I have been wanting to do this for Christmas gifts this year.