Warm wishes on a cold winter's day. Or two delicious recipes for a cold day and a hack for electric fireplaces.

Hello Everyone!

Can we say burrrrrrrrrrr?  On February 2, of this year, Punxsutawney Phil predicted three more weeks of winter.  

Who knew that is prediction would be so spot on and brutal?.

This winter has been cold - even for Louisiana.  This week we had an ice storm.  An ICE storm!  Now, for those of you who live up north, this is no big deal.  For Louisiana, I think the last major ice storm we had was in 1995.  We may have had snow a few times (once every three years or so) but we haven't had an ice storm in a while.  

Its so wrong to see this is Louisiana.  And not one snowflake!!!!  I protest.

In my house, the power went out, the fireplace was quickly loaded with firewood, thick alpaca sweaters were dug out and donned (along with thermal underwear and thick woolly socks) emergency candles were lit and I dreamed of cooking warm cozy food to help warm us up once I could cook again.  And this cold front is the inspiration for this post.  I thought that I would share some of my Frugal Femme ideas for staying warm in the cold.

Electric Fireplace Hack

I am a lover of fireplaces.  In fact, when my husband and I were searching for our house one of the requirements that I had - and this was not negotiable - was that our house would have a fireplace in the living room.  My dream is to one day have a house with a fireplace in the bedrooms and study as well, but that will, most likely, never happen.  UNLESS, I put electric fireplaces in various rooms.  And this is what I have proceeded to do.  I now have three electric fireplaces in my home.  One in the pub library, one in my craft room, and one in the bedroom. Two of these fireplaces are under televisions and are wall mounted fireplaces - and this is where my problem began.

As many of you who own wall mounted fireplaces are probably already aware, there is a heating unit in the fireplaces so that you can use them a bit like a space heater.  This is all well and good except, for some reason, several wall mounted fireplaces have the heating vent on the top of the fireplace so that the hot air goes directly up.  This is potentially disastrous if you have anything above the fireplace - such as a television or a shelf because these items can get hot and I mean HOT.

You can purchase "vents" for the fireplace specifically for the purpose of the directing the hot air out instead of up, but these vents run about $100 and my cheap little heart just couldn't bare to spend that much money on a heating unit that, although I am very much using like an addict this week, will not get a great amount of use because Baton Rouge is very rarely cold enough to warrant a space heater along with central heating running at the same time.  My solution?

Going to my grocery store, spending $5.00 on a package of turkey roasting pans and then rigging a "vent" out of turkey roasting pans and magnets.  As amazing as this sounds, it works!!!!

This is how we (meaning my husband) did it.  I was entitled to watch since it was my idea. 

1. Cut the roasting pan, lengthwise about the width of 4 or five inches.  Honestly, we didn't measure this, we just kind of eyeballed what we thought would work.
2.  Using a pair of pliers, bend the cut edge of the roasting pan about 1/2 inch, creating a lip around the bottom of the roasting pan.  This will be the base of the magnets and will be what keeps your "vent" on the fireplace.
3.  Using the length of the heating vent on your fireplace measure if you need to shorten or lengthen the cut edge of the pan.  We needed to lengthen our pan, so we had to bracket the two pans together to keep heat from escaping out of the seams.  My husband actually had super tiny, super strong magnets that he had pulled out of obsolete computers and he used two of these, one on the outside and one on the inside keeping the seams together.  As I do not expect most people to have tiny, super strong magnets, you could use brass paper fasteners to "weld" the pieces of the roasting pan together.

4.  Using magnets, you can now "mount" the vent you have created by placing the magnets on the bent lip of the roasting pan.  You really don't need a lot of magnets, just enough to hold the pan to the fireplace and to keep the lip flush so that heat does not escape out of the seams.

There are several reasons why I love this life hack.  
1.  It is way cheaper than $100.  At most you will spend $20.00 and that is only if you don't already have 
     magnets.
2.  It is easily removable.  You can keep it on your fireplace year round, but if you want to stash it in a closet
    or shelf until winter comes again you can.
3.  It, surprisingly, doesn't look bad.  The moldings in the pan almost look like art deco decorations.  
     In fact, if you wanted to get fancy, you could probably find a heat safe gold paint and paint the moldings
     and it would look almost Gatsby-esq.  (In fact, I may have to do that over the summer.)
4.  The redirected air works amazing well at warming up a room.  When the heat goes straight up, it doesn't
     heat up the room, once it goes out, it does.  I don't know the science, so I don't know why, I just know it
     works.
5.  Because the air is directed out, you can put things above the fireplace.  

                                       

    I have my television above the fireplace.  I have used the heater with the turkey pan vent for twenty four        hours, non-stop, for several days, and my television has never gotten warm.

So, there you go, a Frugal Femme life hack for electronic fireplaces.

But you can't just warm yourself up from the outside, you have to warm yourself from the inside too.  And my favorite way to do that is with food!

Baked Grapefruit

Okay, I know!  I know!  This does not sound promising.  In fact, to many, this probably sounds disgusting.  Especially if, like me, you do not like grapefruit.  But trust me on this and try it.  This is one of those foods that I tried on a whim and has, literally, changed how I eat breakfast.  Now, when I make breakfast over the weekend, I always include a baked grapefruit.

Full disclosure, this recipe is not mine.  This recipe is from a book that I have had for years called The Vintage Tea Party.

This book is delightful!  It contains many delicious recipes and the illustrations are eerily charming.

The book also includes directions on how to make vintage style (forties style) half aprons, hats, and hairstyles.  Needless to say, several of my loves in one book.  However, as you can probably tell from the picture above, which was taken from the book, the book is from Great Britain and the recipes are done with British units of measure, terms for ingredients, and uses cooking instructions in Celsius.  Thanks to the interwebs, this is less of a problem than it used to be, and I highly recommend purchasing the book.  

I normally would not post a recipe that was not mine on this site.  But, because I had to do some translating, and it is so good, I am including it on the blog.

The recipe below is for two grapefruits.  If you would like to make the recipe for one grapefruit, just half all of the ingredients.

Ingredients

2 grapefruit
1/4 cup (2 fluid ounces) good sherry
2 tsp. butter (this is an approximate measure you can use more or less)
4 tbsp. raw sugar  (If you don't have raw sugar I would recommend using light brown sugar rather than plain sugar.)
4 tbsp. creme fraiche
2 tbsp. honey
4 sprigs of fresh mint (to decorate)

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2.  Cut the grapefruit in half and loosen the segments by sliding a sharp knife between the peel and the pith
    and between each segment, leaving the flesh in the skin,
3.  Arrange the grapefruit halves on a roasting pan or a baking tray with sides (you do no want to use a               totally flat tray as the juices will run a little as the grapefruit bakes), cut side up.   

4.  Spoon sherry equally over each half.

5.  Sprinkle each grapefruit half with 1 tbsp. sugar.  (I know this sounds like alot,  but I never said the recipe
     was healthy, just delicious.)
6.  Place a small pat of butter on each half.
7.  Place baking pan in the center of the oven and bake for fifteen (15) minutes.
8.  Remove from the oven and spoon over any juices remaining in the tray.
9.  Serve at once.

The grapefruit is amazing just like this, but if you want to kick it up a couple notches, you can add the following steps.

10.  Top each grapefruit half with a tablespoon creme fraiche and a drizzle of honey to taste.
       Decorate each with a sprig of mint.

You can purchase creme fraiche but, if for some reason you cannot find creme fraiche, you can make your own creme fraiche.

Homemade Creme Fraiche

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. buttermilk

Instructions

1.  In a screw top jar, combine heavy cream and buttermilk.
2.  Cover and shake well.
3.  Let stand at room temperature for 2 to 5 hours or until thickened.

Will store in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.

I know it sounds odd, but try this recipe.  You won't regret it.

During the winter months you want food that will heat you from the inside and stick to your bones.  THis next recipe definitely fits that definition.  I was going to post this recipe for New Year's because it is one of the foods that you eat for good luck, but I did not get the chance.  So I figure now is the perfect time to post this recipe as it is an amazing food to have when it is cold.

Hoppin' John

Full disclosure here.  I hate black eyed peas.  I, in general, hate peas and beans period.  Its a texture thing for me.  Because of this, each year I try to find a recipe that I can tolerate to eat black eyed peas for the New Years day.  This recipe is a combination of recipes that I found that not only could I tolerate but I wanted to eat again!  The one major difference that I do in this recipe is the thickness of the dish.  Traditional Hoppin' Jack is almost a soup and is served over rice.  I like a thicker "sauce" having more of the consistency of a thick red beans or baked beans.  I do not like it very liquid-y.  If you like it more liquid and would like it over rice, by all means do it.

Like most of my recipes , this is a meal for two people, so you do not want to make this recipe if you are feeding a crowd or you can double the ingredients to feed a group of about four to six people.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. butter
1/2 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic,  minced (or two large cloves)
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 cups soaked black eyed peas OR (because  ain't nobody got time for that)
       1 can (15.8 ounces) black eyed peas, drained
2 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
     (I usually use homemade chicken broth.  Also the 2 1/2 cups is more liquid than I use.  I have put this
      measurement if you want to make a more traditional Hoppin' Jack.  I usually only use about a cup and 
      a half of broth, but keep an eye on it and do what you like.)
3 slices thick cut bacon, diced
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste  
Smoked  (Hot) Paprika to taste  
       (I like to use 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper and 1/4 tsp. paprika but sometimes I use less and sometimes 
        I use more.)
1 tbsp white wine vinegar OR white balsamic vinegar
Dill, dried (optional)
Black garlic powder (optional)

Instructions

1.  If using dry black eyed peas, soak black eyed peas in cool water for at least six (6) hours. 
     Rinse before using.
2.  Heat butter in a large pot over medium high heat.  If you have a Dutch oven, now is the time to use it.
3.  Add diced bacon and cook for about one minute to let some of the fat render out.
     Add onion, green pepper, and celery and stir.  
     Cook for three (3) to four (4) minutes until vegetable are tender and bacon is slightly crisp.
4.  Stir in soaked or canned black eye peas.
     Add chicken broth.  Add salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and paprika to taste.
5.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover pot with lid for 30 minutes.
6.  After thirty (30) minutes check the liquid level; if it is too soupy, cook with the lid off for fifteen (15)
    minutes or so.
    If it is too thick, add in a little more chicken broth until it is the consistency you desire.
7.  Once desired consistency is reached, stir in vinegar and then taste for seasonings.

This is delicious right here with no other seasonings added,,,,,, but, at this stage, I sometimes add about 1 tsp. dried dill and 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. black garlic powder.  Whether I do so or not is really dependent on my mood.

If you liked this soupy you can serve it over rice.  If you are like me, and you like it thick, serve it with a nice, crusty bread and a side salad.

Well, I think that is it for this post.  I hope you try the recipes and they help keep you warm during this very cold winter.
Hope to post again soon!

      

Getting My Ducks in a Row...or Not. A tale of trying and failing with a recipe at the end.

 Hello Everyone!

Today's Frugal Femme is a post about failure and a recipe.  Don't worry, the recipe is not the failing part of the story.  The recipe is actually very simple yet delicious.  No, the failure part is about me and some metal/wooden ducks.

When I was a child my sister, cousins, and I used to play in my great grandmother's basement.  This was a win situation for everyone as it kept us kids out of our grandmother's hair,   (In case you were wondering, yes, this is the same grandmother that was the inspiration for my vintage skin regime.) and allowed us to feel like we were not being constantly supervised.  Which we loved.  To make the basement more interesting (and, yes, this was before home video games were really a thing and VHS tapes weren't around yet, let alone dvds or home computers) my great grandmother stocked the basement with items that she thought kids would have fun playing with.  We had empty spice tins and pots and pans that were no longer used in the kitchen to pretend like we were cooking.  There were boxes filled with vintage clothing (some that I would kill to own today) that we could play dress up in.  There were vintage board games, card games, and Twister and my mother's Barbie, Skipper and Scooter dolls complete with pink case and outfits on tiny hangers that grandma had pulled down from storage for us to play with.

I remember this had a place for Skipper and Scooter on either side of the box and, in the middle, they each had their own closet and drawer so that you could hang their clothes and store their accessories.  It was a
little girl's dream.

What strikes me now is ALL of this was vintage - even then.  It came from the 50s and 60s and were items that she had held on to from two generations of children (my grandmother and mother) and were now being played with by a third generation of kids.  And the basement was decorated in the same style.  All of the furniture, including the television was from the 1950s with some throw-ins from the 60s and I WISH I had it now.  But one of the things that stuck in my memory the most from the decor of this room was the ducks.  

Along one of the walls were three wooden ducks flying along the wall - each with a different wing design.  I loved these ducks!  And I decided, recently, that since I live in a home built in 1965, it would fit right in if I could find those ducks.  They couldn't be that expensive right?  WRONG!

I don't know why these ducks are so much, maybe their age, but if I had to make a guess, I would say that it is because they were featured in Mad Men. (A show that I still need to watch.  I haven't seen even one episode.)

Here are the ducks of my childhood as seen in the show Mad Men.  Apparently, that is Herman "Ducks" Miller on the phone.

Being on a limited budget, I couldn't afford the ducks that looked like new and were already refurbished- those cost $200-$350 - so I decided to look for some fixer uppers and hope with a little elbow grease I could make the turn out alright.

So here are my ducks.

They didn't look too bad and, after reading a post on fogmodern.com's blog on the restoration he did on his ducks, I felt I was prepared to try it myself.

http://fogmodern.com/duck-hunting/

Taking his suggestion to use Brasso, I dug through my cabinets and found some Brasso.  Unfortunately, my Brasso was about fourteen years old and it did nothing.  You would think that my next thought would be to get some new Brasso and try that.  No friends.  That is not how my mind works.  It is how my mind should have worked but I decided to do another homemade way to clean brass that I found online from Bob Vila.  He said to clean brass, use one part salt, to one part flour, to one part white vinegar and this will clean your brass.  Eureka! 

So I set to work.

I decided that I didn't want to overkill on the cleaning agent so I mixed one to two tablespoons at a time of each of the ingredients.  Always making certain to keep a one to one ratios of all the products. For example, I would use 1 tbsp flour, 1tbsp salt, and 1 tbsp white vinegar.             

 

               

I then slathered that all over the wings of my ducks and, per his instruction, left the concoction on their wings for an hour.  

He then said to rinse with warm water and your brass would be clean.

Ummmmmm....  That is not what happened for me.

They did get cleaner but they looked worse!

One of the ducks even had an area on his wing where there was a circle of bright brass and then there was a black spot.  It looked terrible and stood out even more than it did before the ducks were cleaned.

Here is a close-up of my problem wing before the cleaning - that dark circle is where disaster struck.

I'm not going to lie.  I panicked.  I should have purchased new Brasso and tried seeing if that would have fixed the problem.  Instead, I decided to paint them.

DON'T DO THIS!!!!! 

 In general, you shouldn't paint vintage things.  It just isn't something that you should do.  If you learn nothing from Antiques Road Show you learn this mantra - don't paint vintage and antique items.  But, in panic mode, I decided to paint them.  

And I don't regret the decision, but....... yeah.    

They look.......meh.  Not horrible.  But not great.

I have decided that I am going to put them up as they are for right now.  I just don't have the willpower to sand the paint off and try Brasso on them.  I'm sure they will start irritating me within a month and I will sand them and try to polish them again.  And the good thing about that is, that it should be cooler by then and I can work on them outdoors without dying from heat stroke.  So, if that happens, I will post those pictures for you.

But, since I am doing a post about mid-century ducks, I thought why not do a classic recipe that involves chicken?

So the promised recipe from last post is going to Chicken a'la King - For Two.

Chicken a'la King - for Two

Most Chicken a'la King recipes call for heavy cream and are for four or more people.  I almost never have heavy whipping cream in my house- unless its a holiday, and I am only feeding two people, so I decided I needed to modify this classic recipe a little.  Also, I thought it was a little bland, so I changed that a little too.

Chicken a'la King has been around since the 1880s, but it really grew in popularity during the mid-century.  Although no one is sure who invented the dish and many claim the honor.  Some of the old recipes have sherry and truffles in them.  A far cry from the dish seen in 1950s cookbooks, but a variation I definitely have to try - but not in this recipe.  It can be served on pasta, rice, bread or biscuits and also usually has peas in it.  I hate peas.  My husband isn't too fond of them either.  So we nix the peas in this recipe, but if you love peas, feel free to add them back in.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. onion, diced or minced (can substitute shallots)

1 tbsp. celery, diced or minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup butter cubed

2 tbsp. seasoned flour (recipe for flour below)

Sprinkle of Creole seasoning to taste

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup sour cream mixture (instructions below)

1 cup cubed or shredded cooked chicken

Instructions

1.  If you don't already keep this in your pantry, as I do, prepare your seasoned flour.  This can be a mixture of any herbs and spices that you like.  I usually make more than I need for a recipe and then store it for things like breading pork chops, etc. but you be you.  Here is what I make:

         1 cup flour (sometimes 2, it depends on my mood)

         1 pckg. (envelope) Lipton's Garlic and Herb Mix

         1/2 tsp. black garlic powder

         1 tsp. dill

         1/2 tsp. Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute

         1 tsp.  onion powder (optional - depends on my mood)

         1/4 tsp.  Creole seasoning

Put that all in a bowl and mix with a fork until it is all combined.  Will store for several months in an airtight container in the cabinet.

Set your flour mixture aside for later.

2.  In a medium to large skillet melt the butter over medium high heat.  When butter is melted, lower the heat to medium and add the onions and celery.  Saute until crisp tender, usually about 5 minutes.

3.  While the onion and celery is cooking, prepare your sour cream mixture.  In a measuring cup, measure out slightly less than 1/2 cup of sour cream.  Add about 2 tbsp. milk or water.  What you want to end up with is 1/2 cup of sour cream that is the consistency of heavy cream.  You may have to add more milk/water but do it slowly in small increments and remember that you only want to use 1/2 cup of the mixture in the recipe.  Set aside.

4. Stir flour mixture and garlic into the pan and stir constantly for about 5 minutes.  (You want to almost make a light roux, basically you are trying to cook out the raw flour taste.)

5.  Gradually stir in the chicken broth and sour cream mixture, using a whisk and making certain everything is smooth before adding more liquid.  Once everything is combine raise the heat to high and add the chicken.

6.  Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce to medium heat and simmer until sauce has thickened to desired consistency and chicken is heated through.  (This is usually between 10 and 15 minutes but could take more or less time.  Go by how thick you want your sauce.)

I sometimes add about a half tsp. dill and about 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper at this stage, but sometimes I don't.  It depends on my mood.

I have never had to add flour to make it thicker, but if you need to, make sure that you use it sparingly to get the consistency you want.  A little will go along way.

7.  Once sauce is the desired consistency, remove from heat and serve.

Serve over whatever you would like.  My husband likes toast or biscuits.  I like pasta or egg noodles.  Its your choice really.

Well, there you have another easy Frugal Femme recipe.  Like I wrote in the previous post, I am going to try to post more regularly so, hopefully, you will be seeing Frugal Femme posts at least every other week.

Bye for now!

Just "one thing" sewing project and room make over.

 Hello Everyone!

I know that I said that I would try to post a recipe this weekend, but I got caught up in a project.  Unlike many people who have spent the pandemic being creative and productive, I have spent most of my time working looooooong hours trying to keep the theatre that I work for operational during a time when a live theatre can't do live performances.  (Can anyone say virtual performances and Zoom Meetings?)  So, when I wasn't working, I spent my time face down in my pillow.  My craft room became a storage room.  My guest room became the most unorganized closet you have ever seen as I just piled things on the bed.

It was disheartening.

Alberto Vargas 1920. I chose this picture because of the vase. And because she looks a little down or pensive.

Then my husband gave me a piece of advice to try and it started to turn my attitude around.  He told me "Just do one thing.  It doesn't matter how small it is.  If you get one thing done, that one thing is done and you have accomplished something."

At first I thought that he was crazy.  Could he not see the mountain of things that needed to be done in our house?  There were rooms that needed to be reclaimed.  (Pretty much all of them but the living room and kitchen.)  Crafts that needed to get done that were just piling up everywhere.  Mending to be mended.  Piles of laundry to be cleaned.  And much, much more...... I needed to make lists of what needed to be done!  Then, from there, I had to figure out what was most important and do that first.  But it was all so overwhelming.  Some things were equally important.  And the important things weren't the fun things that I would rather be doing if I got the energy.  So instead of doing anything, I did nothing and got more and more unsettled as my life around me seemed to be slowly degenerating into messy chaos.

With something that sort of resembled panic, I thought that I would try my husband's advice.  I mean, it couldn't hurt anything.  More importantly, he didn't CARE what my one thing I got done was.  Did I do a load of laundry?  Great!  Did I make a craft project that I wanted to make?  Well, that was fine too.  Did I just clear off a table in one of the rooms that needed reclaimed?  Wonderful!  I got one thing done.  And then something amazing happened.  As I started to do "just one thing"  I found myself doing one small thing,  And then moving on to another small thing.  And then another.  Until I was actually tackling big things again.

And they weren't all things that I felt I should do.  In fact, the first thing "one thing" that I decided to start was the first step in a sewing project that I wanted to do.  I have wanted to learn to sew from a pattern for ages.  But they always seemed like Greek when I read the instructions and I never had the time to get together with my friends who sew so they could teach me to read the pattern.  Even though several of them were willing to do so.  I watched YouTube videos on how to sew the way other people watched Grey's Anatomy.  Relentlessly - over and over.  I had the basics of sewing - my grandmother had taught me that.  I knew to backstitch to secure my stitch.  I knew to follow the lines on the guiding plate of my sewing machine to sew a straight line.  I had made pillows and curtains.  Just not an article of clothing.

Then the pandemic hit and Gertie from Charm patterns started putting out daily videos.  And then she put out a free pattern to make Harlow Pajamas.  

https://charmpatterns.bygertie.com/shop/harlow-pajamas-free/

Vintage inspired lounge wear for people who were staying mostly in their houses.  And the pattern was appropriate for beginning sewers.  But most importantly?  She put out a video on YouTube that STEP BY STEP walked you through how to make the pajamas.  From laying out the pattern on your fabric to the final stitch.  It was like having my own beginners sewing class!  And if now wasn't the perfect time to be alone in your home teaching yourself a new skill, then I didn't know when would be a better time.

So I downloaded the pattern.  Which I guess is technically a "one thing".  But my first "one thing" in my eyes was to put the pieces I had printed together to make a pattern.  I sat on my floor - because I didn't have a table big enough-- and I cut and taped for hours.

This is me putting the pattern together.  As you can see, the pets were very helpful.

The pattern ready to become a garment.

It wasn't something practical, like laundry, but it was "one thing" done and I was proud and happy.  And inspired to move on to the next step the following weekend.  I had decided the next "one thing" was going to be laying out the pieces on the fabric and cutting them out.  With YouTube tutorial on my laptop, I ventured forth to sew.      

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HhEwFVjWJQ&t=5613s

And I did it!!!  It took me three total weekends because I was only doing a little at a time, but it was done.  And I felt amazing.

And I even made a "scarf" so that I could tie a turban so that I didn't have to worry about doing my hair when I was wearing the outfit - yeah, that's quarantine fashion for you.

And after that it was like I was on a roll.  I started doing "just one thing" a day.  Sometimes I would just sew on a button for Mending Mondays.  Sometimes I would work on a craft project.  Or start reading a book that I put aside.  And slowly, my just one things, started looking like completed big things.

And one of these big things made of "just one little things" was what I was wrapping up this weekend.  

Before the pandemic, I had started redesigning my guest room because I HATED it.  I had the idea that I was going to have rose gold/pale copper walls as accent walls and instead, it just looked like..... well my husband and I called it baby puke orange.  

It wasn't a bad room. (In fact some of you may remember me showing you the decorations for this room years ago.)

 It just was one that hadn't turned out the way that I wanted it to and it never felt right.  My husband and I would joke that it didn't have any feng shui  (We don't know feng shui, we just knew the room wasn't working.)  Plus, going in it made me sad because it was the room my dad stayed in to visit me right before he passed away.  Memories were great, but wanting to cry every time I went in - even after two years- was getting to be a bit much.  So I had decided I needed a change.

To start off (again pre-pandemic and before I started doing things "one thing" a day), I decided the orange had to go and the layout needed to change.  (I had firmly decided the bed needed to go under the window instead of at right angles to the widow and that the tall dresser needed to be moved out of the closet because I needed the closet to hold my fall/winter wardrobe.)  I also have always wanted vintage Hollywood glam mirror furniture, so I thought I would do some research and see if I could make that happen.  AND, I am the Frugal Femme here, I wanted to change the whole room for $200 or less.

And I got sooooooooooo far before the pandemic hit.  I really did.

First I replaced the ceiling fan with a chandelier - which was purchased for $25.  (I say I replaced it.  This was actually done by my husband as he does all the electrical stuff in our house.)

Here, as you can see, I have moved the bed, and piled it high with clothing and items that needed to be put in the room, but the wall is still orange.

Got rid of the orange and got a Frenchie to help me.

The next step was to paint the accent wall a metallic turquoise and do antique gold accents to match the chandelier on the trim.  The paint for this cost $40.00.

Then it was time to try to turn the golden brown furniture you see above into the inspiration furniture pictured below.  I already had the paint for this because I had purchased it years earlier to do the trim in the bedroom so my bedroom looked more like Dita von Teese's.  This was yet another project I had not got around to doing yet, but I had the paint and thought that I would use it.

The mirror came out of the main bathroom when we first moved into the house.  It was too big for what we had in mind for the bathroom, but it seemed a shame to throw away a perfectly good mirror, so my husband had stored it in his shop for me until I found a place for it.  So the mirror cost me nothing.

I put on some bedding that I had in my apartment before I got married.  It was silk and I loved it, but it had stayed in a drawer for over a decade.   It was too small for the bed I shared with my husband and it didn't go with the room when it had orange walls.  I took it out of storage, ironed for what felt like ages and put it on the bed to see if it would go with the color scheme I had chosen--- because I REALLY didn't want to purchase bedding because that would have just blown my budget to smithereens.

I thought it looked great despite the quilt like aspect of it.

Keep your eye out for the faux fur blanket.  It was falling apart as a blanket, so I repurposed it.  Which you will see in later pictures..

Then it was on to curtains.  I cheated with curtains.  I couldn't find any pre-made that I liked that were in my budget and we have an interior designer that donates unused fabric to the theatre where I work.  I got to choose fabric I wanted for curtains (that the theatre could afford to let go) in exchange for doing tasks that our costumer didn't want to do. (So many buttons...........)  The cream, gold and silver fabric I adored did not have enough yardage to make curtains that covered the windows.  So I had to carefully measure the fabric and the windows and create panels in grey to "frame" the fabric and extend it enough to cover the windows.

I wish the picture did these justice.  They are gorgeous in real life.

I got a set of ornate vintage light switch and electrical outlet covers for $20.  But I thought they were missing something, so I painted some of the filigree antique gold.  

And then pandemic and quarantine happened and I stopped working on the room.  Even though I only had the trim around the closet and putting away the items on the bed left to complete.

I did, however, decide to try to raise my spirits during quarantine by making my own version of a Gerda Wegener painting.  

I didn't have a large canvas, but I did have six small square canvases that I had got for $7.00.   So I spaced them as one large canvas, changed some of the color schemes to match my room better and began creating.

The painting as a work in progress.

The painting completed.

The original and then mine.  I'm no Gerda, but I still like it.

And then for months....   NOTHING.  I did nothing.  I pretended that the room didn't exist.

But, last weekend, I decided my "one thing" would be to finish painting the closet trim.

 And because I had to wait for it to dry, I put away the items on the bed.

Then I hung the curtains and started decorating and, before I knew, the rooms was done!

The sheepskin rug on the floor, that's the faux fur blanket that was on the bed in the previous picture.

And so is the sheep skin rug on the opposite side of the bed.
The feather fans I got for $1.00 each at the theatre a few years ago and had hidden in a closet.  The plan, at the time, was to bling up the handles a little bit, and I probably will still do that once I figure out how I want to bling them, but for now they go on the wall for a touch of glamour.  (I was going to try to be a toned down Dita von Teese for Halloween one year.)

For those of you who were wondering, I got the rug on clearance on eBay for $25
The Closet curtains were $10.
The mirror accent night stand came out of my craft room to make space for my sewing table, so I already had it.
The bird painting was one I had done for the original room and I thought it worked in the new room.

For those of you wondering about the artwork by the Gerda painting.  No, I did not paint those.  Those are images taken out of an eight year old calendar that I kept because I liked the artwork.  To frame them, I used two of the frames that were previously in the room, but I spray painted them antique gold.  (It was some spray paint I had left over from spray painting pine cones for Christmas one year.)  Then to "matte" them I used the same wallpaper matte that I used for the other photos, but this time I painted them metallic turquoise with some of the paint left from the wall.

The grey rabbit throw I purchased for $15 and then lined with a silk sari throw rug that my dog had chewed a hole in, and I had saved thinking I could use it to make pillows.

And I decided I needed a touch more silver blue on the bedding to match the curtains and the rug more strongly and I got those pillows on clearance at Marshall's for $20.

I did this before I saw the Vargas picture, but don't you think the trees look similar?

The decorations by the closet are baskets that I was already using to hold my tights and some sweaters.  

In the vase are floral bead things that  I purchased for Mardi Gras about two years ago for a center piece at a ball. 
The vase someone was throwing away and I asked if I could have it.

The branches came from my yard and the birds I use for different mantle piece "scenes" I do throughout the year.  So that little area cost me nothing except a walk around my house.

Then there were the 1930s vintage lamps.
SQUEEEEE!!!!!

I was still in budget, so I splurged and spent $40 for the pair of these lamps that were still in working order and that I love!

And I accomplished this simply because of deciding to do "one thing" that then cascaded into finishing a big thing without me even thinking about it.

I adore this room.  Since I basically use it like a closet, my husband teases me and says that it is one of the fanciest closets he has ever seen.  Although not all of it is glamorous.  I mean, I am using it like a closet.  I thought about hiding those pictures from you, but then I thought, how fair is that?

Yup, that is a basket holding shoes that didn't make it into the closet or the shoe rack.  
The rod is a towel rod that I put shower rings that have the clips on on them and I have put my scarves through the rings and the clips hold my hats and belts.  Not very swanky I know, and if my closet was big enough to hold it that is where it would reside.  But it isn't.

And speaking of closets, I know y'all are saying "Yeah, those curtains are nice, but how does the closet look?"

Well.......Like this!

I had to get a rack that hangs from the closet rod so that I would have a place to put my pants.  I had purchased that and installed it preCovid-19 for $15.00.

AND, you may have noticed I am not done labeling my shoe boxes yet.  So I guess, technically the room isn't complete quite yet.  But I still thought it was close enough to share.

For those of you keeping tally wondering how much I spent on the room renovation.......

$192!!!!

Which i don't think is too shabby for a whole room renovation.  But it did help the pocket book that it took months to get done.  I could purchase things about once a month without it hitting the pocket wallet too bad.

So like Design on a Dime, I'm going to show the before and after pictures together.

And that, dear friends, is why I did not post a recipe this week-end.  But my "one thing" includes this blog and I want to start getting back to my regular weekly posts, so the next post that I do will, hopefully, be soon and will be a recipe post.  

See ya soon.

Bye!