Low Budget Mantel Guest Post by Natural Nesters

I have a really fun guest post for your today! I'm absolutely in love with the Natural-Nesters. I sister blogging team that blogs together and crafts together. It make me so jealous that I can't get my sister's on the blogging train.

Hello Everyone! I am so excited to be here at Newlyweds on a Budget guest posting today.  I just love this blog, and all of Kari's creative and budget friendly ideas. I feel like Kari and I have such a big connection because I am in such a similar state of life as she is.  

I am young, married, a graduate student in college, and learning to maintain my life well while living on a budget.  I recently moved out of student married housing too Kari, so I know you are excited! Thanks for letting me guest post while you are busy preparing for the Big Move! 

A little bit about the Natural-Nesters:

 We are two sisters that love family, taking care of our homes, kids projects, DIY projects, cooking, and more. We live states apart, but we share life together through our blog! 

Now....I want to share some tips on how to create fun seasonal mantle decor, while not having to go out and spend a ton of money on new decorations.  As I flip through Pinterest and other blogs, I see so many cute mantle ideas, and since I FINALLY have my own mantle I want to keep it cute and seasonal! 

So I have come up with some great items to use throughout each holiday that will flow with what I am decorating for.  

First, one tip I give people who are planning a wedding is to buy decorations that you can use in your home.  So many of the decorations in my house are from my wedding, and I love that because I am constantly reminded of those little details from our special day! One thing I have a lot of are these fun glass containers that I used for a chocolate bar at my wedding.  I use these all over the house, from party tables, to candle holders, to mantle decorations. 

In October at my house I put fake moss and a candle in the glass containers as decoration for my mantle. Check that out on my Fall 2011 post or look at my Halloween Party post to see how I used these glass pieces on the food table. They are very versatile and can be used in numerous ways.  Although you may not have these exact kinds of glassware at your house, begin to look around and see what sort of containers you have available to use in your home, and get creative!  

My second tip, along with using fun containers from around my house, I also look for random pieces of "trash" that I could paint something on.  On my Spring Mantle I chose to use a random piece of a log that my husband picked up in a brush pile.  It was a fun addition and I just painted a bird on it.  At other times I have painted wine bottles in various colors to match the season, (I always keep my wine bottles). Or I look for other things that I have like old tiles or clipboards that I can decorate.  

I think the biggest thing you have to learn is that you can use so many items that you already have by just rearranging other shelves or by saving things that would normally be trash.   You don't have to have lots of new decorations when each holiday or time of year rolls around to get a Pinterest style mantle, just use what you already have! 

The last tip I have is a little tutorial on how to make a fun poof ball out of tissue paper.  As you have noticed these are very popular around, and can be used for so many different things.  So I finally decided to make some to stuff in and on top of one of my glass pieces.  I really like the way it turned out, and it is super simple.  

Follow these quick directions: 

1-First you lay several pieces of tissue paper on top of one another.  (I used about 3 pieces for the small ball and about 6 for the large)

2-You cut those in half on the long end and lay stack them all up. 

3- Then on the short sides you begin folding the tissue paper up in an accordion style until it is all folded up. 

4-You then tie a piece of ribbon around the middle of it. 

5-After it is tightly secured take your scissors and at each end cut the tips off in a rounded pattern. (You can see how this would look after it is cute in the picture)

6-Then begin flaring out each piece of paper one by one on each side. You will notice it beginning to take form. 

7-Finally, you have a cute little poof ball! You can then hang it by the string, or like I did toss it in a cute container! 

I hope these tips have been some help to you, and that they will really get your mind thinking creatively on how you can use what you already have to make your own decorations around your house! 

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-Natural Nesters

Isn't this mantel absolutely adorable? I love it so much! Thanks again to these sweet girls for taking the time to share a fun tutorial!

Re-connecting to life-

So life. It gets kind of crazy some times. Like when you're buying a house. And trying to pack up your apartment. And your husband gets sick and is in the ER. And then he gets a new job. And then you start looking into going back to school. And you have a full time job. And a part-time blog. And a life.

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The biggest thing most bloggers face is trying to find the perfect balance. How can I spend the most time with my family while still doing all the things I want to do for my blog. Well-you can't. Until a time machine is invited or the ability to stop time becomes an option it's just. not. possible. There will never be enough hours in the day to finish every project, take every picture, clean the house, do the laundry, go to work, spend time with family and friends, and still have time for yourself. Anyone who says they can do all those things ALL the time-is lying-or superwoman.

Unfortunately I haven't discovered any hidden super powers yet-so I'm stuck with running around from thing to thing trying to get so many things done that I never actually finish anything. I usually do a half-job on one thing before I have to be off doing the next thing. It's exhausting. And chances are most of you are in the same boat as I am.

Yesterday I heard an awesome talk on Mother's and trying to let go of Mother guilt. I'm not a mom yet-but I can relate in that I'm constantly struggling with blogger guilt. This person takes the most beautiful pictures-why can't I drop $1000 on a camera that will take such great pictures? Or wow-that room makeover is fantastic! What I wouldn't give for the time and money to re-do my bedroom. And there's always the numbers game-that bloggers has been blogging for 6 months and they have thousands of followers....awesome.

A friend I hadn't seen in years asked me why I do so much for my blog the other day. I had a million ready responses for her-I love promoting other people's blogs. I love being able to connect with people all over the country/world. I love being able to create beautiful things. All of these things are true-I do love all those aspects, but my response to her was, "I don't know."

This morning I read a fantastic post by Alison from Oopsey Daisy-she's a blogger who I've always been so impressed with. She always seems to "have it all together". Well guess what-she doesn't. And it's okay. She's decided in her post today to "Live first and Blog second". That was the push I needed-to say it's okay to take a step back. To re-evaluate. To re-connect with the people in my own life.

The past week I've been filled with blogger guilt. Not enough time to do a project, write a post, read and comment on the blogs I love, etc. I've fallen ridiculously behind on pretty much everything blogger related. If you've left a comment in the last couple weeks chances are I haven't responded to it yet-not because I don't want to but just because I don't have time. And honestly-I'm tired. I'm just so tired of running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

So here's the deal-it's time to make blogging fun again. It's time to stop stressing about projects and posts. It's time to stop worrying about followers, unique visitors, and the time people spend on my site. It's time for me to enjoy life! Life is SO good for us right now! We bought a house! Mojo has a job! I get to go back to school soon! All of the things we've been waiting for are finally happening-and I've been to stressed to enjoy all the wonderful things happening!

I'm not leaving (I love you guys to much to do that) but I am taking a step back. You may see a post everyday of the week or you may see one or two posts a week. And there may be weeks were there are no posts at all.

But I love creating and I've got a whole house that I have BIG plans for! I can't wait to share them with you. So please, STICK WITH ME! I'll be around-just not as much as I used to.

I love you all and am so grateful to have such fantastic readers! Keep being amazing!

10 Reasons-

1-You take me places I've always wanted to go-

Boston 2010

2-You let me take less than flattering photos of you-

3-You're going to be a great dad one day-

3-You help me throw awesome parties-

4-You love my family just as much as they love you-

5-You take care of me when I'm sick or having a bad day-

6-You're my biggest fan and you're always pushing me to push myself

7-The way your face lights up when you see me

8-You let me take over the bed every. single. night.

9-You're spiritual strength-you help lift me up when I'm down-

10-You're laugh and they way you make me laugh-it's one of the first things I fell in love with

Happy one year anniversary babe! One year down-eternity to go!

This is the song Mojo sang to me at our wedding dinner-it make me cry every time I hear it. 

Salon Chair Transformation-Guest Post by Kali from the Vintage Milk House

Good morning folks! I'm waist high in packing boxes today so the beautiful and oh-so-talented Kali from The Vintage Milk House is taking over the blog today to share an amazing chair transformation! Take it away Kali- 

I'm so glad to be popping over from The Vintage Milk House again to share with all of you Newlyweds on a Budget readers. 

Thanks again Kari for allowing me to steal your stage for the day!

Earlier this year my sister Cassie graduated from Cosmetology School. Wahoo!

 Now she is in the process of starting up her own salon in her house. 

One of the first items she got for her salon were a pair of stylist chairs. 

Not in terrible shape but she was eager to personalize this one for her salon and give it a fresh updated look. So she asked her big sister to help her out. So this weekend I showed up with my drill and staple gun ready to tackle this chair! Our plan was to paint all of the metal and re-apolster the bottom seat cushion as well as the back cushion. We decided to leave the arm rests alone because they were in pretty good shape and I thought the contract of her fabric with the brown would look best. (Plus, I'll be honest, I was terrified to work with that arm rest!)

She picked up this AWESOME fabric @ Joanne's - 

It's a zebra print with black, sliver and a touch of brown.

Off to the races!

We started off rubbing the base with steel wool to even out the rust spots and edges

 to get it ready for the primer.

While she was working on the base, I started disasembling the chair.

This is what years of cutting hair will do to your chair...YUCK!!!! At this point we couldn't stop laughing about the ridiculousness of us disasembling this old chair on her front step. We were pretty certain anyone driving by thought we were insane!  

We also decided to remove the rubber piece around the foot pump. It was not looking so hot...

Since the wind was picking up and was whipping the plastic in our faces, we moved into the garage to start spray painting the primer on the base as well as the cage that holds the seat. Probably safer place!

We used a basic Krylon primer.

After two coats of primer we started working on re-apolostering the seat cushion. My staple gun has three prongs and most of her outlets in her house only have two so we took the seat cushion to the hallway next to her bathroom. Figures. So here we are on the floor crammed in the hallway, trying to lay out this fabric, cut it and not bang our heads together! 

We laid out the fabric and cut around approximately 6"from the edge of the cushion. It was then that we realized we really weren't sure what we were doing! Sitting on the floor, staple gun in hand, we finally watched a Youtube video and got to cracking. 

Tip: Start by stapling one staple on each of the four sides and then work 

the fabric by pulling it tight from the first staple. 

Finally after lots of chocolate, a bit of arguing and lots of laughing, we went back to spray the color.

Cassie picked a Satin Nickel from the Brushed Metallic line @ Krylon. LOVE it!

We let that dry overnight,  and the next day we finished 

everything off with the Shimmering Silver also from Krylon.

This stuff is AWESOME! I wasn't so sure about it at first but ended up falling in LOVE! It has the perfect amount of shimmer and also helped hide a few imperfections along the way!

We still had to finish the back cushion which was smaller and a bit curved; 

that did serve to be a bit more challenging. But between some more chocolate and a little bit of sisterly aggravation, we nailed it! (Okay, more like stapled it!)

Finally we were able to start reassembling... :)

Almost done...

Viola!!!

I'm so excited for my sister as she builds her business...

 Stop on by The Vintage Milk House for upcoming updates on her new salon!!!

Kali

The Vintage Milk House

WOW! It turned out absolutely gorgeous! I can't get over how great it looks! And I can't wait to see how the rest of her Salon turns out-be sure to check out Kali's blog The Vintage Milk House for even more fun projects!