s January 2017 - The Kim Six Fix
What is New?

$25 Per Week Challenge: The Rules

Twenty dollar a week challenge
Back in 2012 I blogged about a self-imposed budget challenge where I lived on $20 per week for ALL MY EXPENSES.  Groceries, gas, entertainment, dining, unexpected emergencies..
Could you survive on $20 per week.. this budgeting challenge asks just that.


10 Best Rustic Inspried Projects

10 of the best Rustic Inspired DIY projects from 10 bloggers.  Such a great variety of rustic decor and building ideas for the home

Like it or not, the trend towards rustic and farmhouse style appears to be here to stay.  And using the rustic style as an inspiration for decorating and building ideas is something a lot of bloggers are doing.

So this month, the All Things Creative team decided to feature their absolute favorite rustic style project.   My favorite project is my Rustic X-Leg Wooden Bench out of 2x4s. 

The other 9 ATC bloggers have very different, but equally fantastic projects.. you can see them all below:

Plastic Bug School Valentine (Free Printable)

Printable bug school valentinesMake these darling bug school valentines.  There are actually FOUR DIFFERENT designs.  Free printable files are available for download!
Yes! I am back with ANOTHER school valentine.. but remember, I have three kids, so I have to make a LOT of school valentines.  Last week I shared the chalkboard valentine that my oldest daughter is giving out, and today I’m focusing on my littlest one.  My 3 year old son.

When we were walking around the dollar store looking at what we could use, he zeroed in on the plastic BUGS.

Now, I’m not sure about you, but typically I don’t associate a romantic holiday with creepy crawler little critters, but I am also not a 3 year old boy.. so I decided to roll with it.

It actually works out really well, since you can get a 6 pack of bugs at the dollar store for $1 so you can make a lot of these guys for hardly any money.  Here is how they came together:

Turn an old thrift store frame into a distressed chalkboard

Chalkboard from an old thrift store frame Hi guys! It’s Meg from Green With Decor back with another fun DIY project.

I love going to thrift stores and yard sales and picking up old pieces. Sometimes I’m not even sure what I’m going to do with something when I buy it, but it’s fun to have a little stash of ‘treasures’ in the basement for when inspiration strikes.

I bought an old frame a while ago and wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.

With a bit of clay paint and some chalkboard paint, here it now:
Give an old frame a distressed look, turn an old thrift store frame into a chalkboard with some chalkboard paint. A fun DIY project.

This is a fun little DIY, plus you can switch out the message throughout the year so you're always prepared for whatever holiday is coming up.

Undersink Cabinet Organizer with Pull Out Baskets

Undersink cabinet organized with dollar store baskets
A ton of fantastic DIY organizing projects that you can build yourself.

Once again it is time to head out to the workshop and get my hands dirty with some POWER TOOLS!  Yay!   The theme this month is ORGANIZING!

My contribution is this undercabinet organizer with pull out baskets.
From a single sheet of plywood  and some dollar store bins she built this fabulous organizer. What a great way to use all that awkward space under the sink!   Undersink Cabinet Organizer with Pull Out Baskets.   via TheKimSixFix.com

Mini-Chalkboard School Valentines (Free Printable)

Chalk and chalkboard printable valentine
Adorable chalk and chalkboard school valentines.. "Chalk full of Love" and "Boom CHALK-a-laka"  Inexpensive, easy to make and she includes the free printable template!
Yay! It is almost school valentine time again! And you know how much I love homemade valentines. (If you don't know that.. check out this post).

Anyhow.. this year I wanted to do something trendy and unique.. something I had seen floating around a lot (which is hard to find.. trendy usually means lots of knock offs) but I think I am on to something.

CHALK and CHALKBOARD SCHOOL VALENTINES!  (Commence delighted squealing!)

Scrabble Tile LOVE YOU Valentine's Mantel

Plywood Scrabble TilesOversized Scrabble tiles made from plywood and vinyl are a great way to get custom word art. I used this  'Love You' version on my Valentine's Day Mantel
I am getting into the Valentine’s Day spirit and I wanted to do a fun woodworking project for my mantel.  I didn’t want to do any other pallet wood sign project, and I am starting to feel like Marquee lights are played out.. so I went for something a little more whimsical.  Oversized Game Pieces!
Pink lanterns and scrabble letter mantel
Making them was so easy.. I could whip up an entire games worth in no time.  I used my vinyl cutting machine to make the letters, but you could hand letter them in sharpie or even just cut the letters out by hand, since they are so simple.

DIY Photo Mat Word Art

Hello again, crafty friends! Steph at The Silly Pearl here with a project for your home. Today I'm sharing how I commemorated my recent trip to Kauai with my DIY Photo Mat Word Art. All I did was take a photo from our trip, a picture frame, and some poster board and I have a new and special piece of art to remember our vacation. Here's how I put it together.



Plan the Perfect Tailgate Party (Free Printable Checklist)


I partnered with Cost Plus World Market for this project.  I chose which products to select and feature and all opinions are my own. 
Tailgate Picnic TableDon't forget anything when you throw your next tailgate party.  A free printable party check list perfect for game day or a picnic

It is almost time for the Super Bowl and in our house that means TAILGATING!

We LOVE tailgating!  But even I will admit it can be a hassle to get everything together.  And forgetting something is the WORST since once you are in the middle of a stadium parking lot, there is no running home for something.

How to Make Cauliflower Rice at Home

A white bowl of the finished, homemade, cauliflower rice with cilantro on top.
Hey y'all!  Mandee from The Kitchen Wife here.  Its officially January and I, along with most everyone else, have made improving my overall health and fitness a priority.  One of the easiest ways we can do that is through food.  Maybe you're trying to eat low carb.  Perhaps you're gluten free.  Hey, you could just be trying to incorporate more vegetables into your diet.  No matter what your New Year's eating plan is, cauliflower rice on the menu.
A white plate of cauliflower rice with the title above.

I know what you're thinking, "Mandee, we've heard all this cauliflower hype before", but let me assure you we aren't talking "mashed potatoes" here.  Cauliflower rice has become my personal favorite alternative to the real thing.  In fact, I prefer it over the real thing.  But don't let the hype around this new food obsession hit your wallet at the grocery store.  Its super simple to make at home for just a fraction of the cost.  I can't wait to show you how so...

Let's Get Started!

Matchbox Car Valentines (Free Printable)

Car ValentinesMatchbox Car Valentines Printables
It is time to start thinking about what sort of school valentine the kids want to hand out this year.  I didn’t want to spend more than $10 on them (for 30 cards) so I took the kids to the dollar store and told them to look around for something that they liked and that came with multiples in a package.

My kindergartener found these imitation matchbox cars and I knew we could come up with something to do with them.
Dollar store matchbox cars

15 Minute Cinnamon Maple Nut Pastry Ring

Easy Cinnamon Pecan Ring
15 minute maple nut sticky bun pastry ring
Welcome back to another Ultimate Recipe Challenge!  This month, the prompt was BREAKFAST and so all the participants created Breakfast recipes to share.

There are more than two dozen delicious entries this month.. sweet and savory, breads and proteins.. Make sure you scroll to the bottom of this post to see them all!
20 must try breakfast recipes from todays top bloggers
My entry this month was this decadent Maple Nut Sticky Bun Coffee Ring.  The recipe is modifed from one of the annual Taste of Home cookbooks.
Pecan and Almond Cinnamon Roll Ring


Is Refinishing Hardwood Floors a DIY Project?

hardwood floor for refinishing
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. All opinions are 100% mine. Nationwide provided me with information regarding its blog post.
Hardwood floor refinishing DIY project
I am a huge fan of hardwood floors.  In my previous home, they were the original 1905 heart of pine, and in my current home I have oak throughout.  Real hardwood floors add such warmth to the space. They are easy to clean, beautiful to look at and stand the test of time.  Plus, real hardwood floors, especially floors in good condition, have been proven to add value to your home.
1905 hardwood floors
Hardwood floors do tend to suffer from regular wear and tear, just like any other flooring surface, but unlike flooring like wall to wall carpet or tile, wood floors can be refinished multiple times and brought back to life!  Very few other flooring surfaces give you that option.
hardwood floor for refinishing
Refinishing floors can change the look of your floors not only by removing the scratches and dents, but when you refinish your floors you have the ability to change the color and finish.

If you are a fellow DIY’r you may be considering refinishing your hardwoods and are asking yourself “Is refinishing hardwood floors really a DIY project?”  Right before we moved in to our current house, we had our floors refinished and I did a lot of research about the process.  There are some important factors to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to DIY your floor refinishing project, and I thought I’d share them with you.
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Pros and Cons of Refinishing Your Own Hardwood Floors

2017 Goal Planner Printables to Help You Stay on Track

Free Printable Annual Goal Setting Worksheets. What a great way to plan and be accountable for the new year.  Comes in a single 8x10 printable or 2 per sheet for small half size planners.

Hi everyone! It's Pam from CleverLittleMouse.com and, for once, I don't have a sewing tutorial to share with you. Mainly because my craft room looks like this at the moment:


I can see my sewing machine, way back behind that ginormous pile o' stuff. I just can't get to it. And I can't find my rotary cutter, or my quilt ruler or my good scissors... That's what I get for deciding to remodel my sewing room in the middle of December, in and around all the holiday craziness. I'm hoping it will be put back together with new bookshelves and freshly painted walls in the next week or so, but in the meantime I had to find a non-sewing way to indulge my creative side. And since poor planning on my part is what created this mess in the first place, I decided to design some printables to help me get my planning act together for the new year.

The Best Posts That You Have NEVER Seen

For the past two years I've done round ups from DIY and Home Decor bloggers, featuring their most popular post.  And in those two years I've shared more than 350 amazing projects.

You can see them here: 2014 and 2015
But this year I'm doing something different.

I asked my blogging friends to give me the post from 2016 that they are the most PROUD of, not necessarily their most popular.  This would be the project they love and hold near and dear, but didn’t necessarily get the same love from their readers or on social media.

These won’t be the big projects that have gone viral and you have seen everywhere, but rather the projects you may have missed and really should give a look.

The project I am most proud of this year, but didn't crack my top 10 posts list, was my backyard patio makeover.  I spent countless hours sweating in the sun, painting the pergola, building the screen around the a/c.. even building the seating

Before:

After: 

You may have seen it, but maybe not. And I'm not the only one with posts like that.  Every blogger has them!  So I thought I'd give all these fabulous projects a chance to shine with my year end roundup. 
125 of the projects that bloggers have always wanted you to see.  The projects they are most proud of in 2016.. but you probably missed it!

Because there are so many I have broken it down into general categories.  I can’t wait for you to see all the fabulous projects!

How to Recycle Old Crayons into New Crayons

Crayons after remelting
How to take old broken crayons and make new crayons with fun shapes. So easy!  A great way to clean up those bins of busted crayons.
I am pretty sure I’m not the only mom on the planet who has a GIANT BIN of busted up old crayons. I’m not sure where they all come from exactly.  I am sure some are from restaurants and some came home from school.. but there sure are a lot of them!

And anyone with kids knows that they don’t like to use the broken ones.  They are pretty much useless.. Unless of course, you can make them NEW AGAIN! So today I’m going to share a super quick tutorial on how you can give new life to old crayons using nothing more than a thrift store cookie mold.   Plus this process uses up a LOT of broken crayons.. which is great.







 
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