Mounted Photos

Go to www.costcophotocenter.com and upload your photos.  From there you can select what size and what finish you want.  Since the photos would be displayed near my dining room chandelier I wanted to minimize the glare as much as possible so I went with the "lustre" finish.  The prices are amazing.  One 12" x 18" photo only costs $2.99!

While they were printing I went to Lowes and after searching the lumbar section with a Lowes employee I finally selected a packaged piece of presanded solid pine edge-glued panel for $16.97. This wood had a very smooth edge that would look nicer than if we chose an refined piece.  Here is what the label on the package looked like:

They employees there are super helpful and will cut the wood for you, of course for an extra charge.  I was able to get the three sizes I needed (12 x 12, 12 x 18, 8 x 16) and still had wood left over for other projects.

Luckily I had some extra paint from when we did our bedroom so I used that to paint the edges and just around the corner in case the photo didn't line up exactly.

Once it was dried I had Adam hammer a wall hook onto the back to make it easy to hang.  I'm a huge klutz so I leave all hammering for him to do.

Then with my heavy duty spray adhesive, I simply sprayed the back of the photo and the wood.  After 30 seconds I carefully lined up the photo with the wood and slowly pressed it down, going left to right.  Take your time with this step!

Voila!  It is finished.  Here is the final cost of this project:

$8.97 - Three photos at $2.99 each
$16.97 - Wood
$5.95 - Spray Adhesive
Free - Paint
= $31.89 / 3 photos = $10.63 each

Cracked Make-up Fix

How many of you have found your make-up looking like this?

Isn't that the worst when you open up your make-up bag just to have all of your favorite cosmetics covered in broken make-up?  Or when you accidentally drop one? Ugh - it is so frustrating just thinking about!

Well luckily there is a solution for us ladies and it come in a bottle of rubbing alcohol, which I bought at for $1 at the dollar store. 

Simply pour a few drops into the make-up...

 And rub with your finger until smooth, or at least smooth enough :)

Let it dry and now your make-up is back to good!  Isn't this a great way to save money?  In the past I would have gone to the store and bought a new one.  Now I can delay that trip a little bit more.

What are your favorite household tricks?