How to give a chair a new look and new life in your home!

I’ve heard people say, “Oh I’m just not that crafty to redo a chair.”  Wrong.  Yes you are.  The finished product looks great and that can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be.  Anyone can redecorate a chair.  Yes anyone.  I’ll even show you how.

All you need:  A wooden chair.  A can of spray paint.  A cool print fabric. A stapler.  Sandpaper.

1.  Find a chair.  I go to thrift stores or antique shops to look for chairs that have character.  These chairs don’t have to be “good looking” they just have to be sturdy.  I usually pick wooden chairs that have a padded and covered seat.  These chairs are fun to cover because you can paint the wood and put a cool fabric to cover the seat.  I started with this chair that I bought at a local thrift store.  No. It’s not pretty, but it will be.

2.  Take off the covered seat and sand.  This usually requires flipping the chair over and unscrewing the four screws holding the seat on.  (Don’t lose these screws - You’ll need them soon!)  After you’ve taken off the seat, pick up a sander and go to town sanding that chair.  This part isn’t hard, but it isn’t fun either.  You might have to use your hand to put sand small corners.  Make sure you get all of the original varnish or paint otherwise it will be difficult to paint.  If there is any original paint left on the chair the new paint or stain wont go on as easily.  Trust me - You don’t want to have to sand it again!

3.  Recover the seat.  Your chair will be pretty dusty so you might want to take a damp washcloth and wipe it off.  While the wood is drying it is time to recover the seat.  Take your fabric and drape it over the seat to get a good idea of how much you’ll need and cut a generous amount.  Remember you can always cut what you have down but you can’t put more fabric on if you don’t cut enough!!!  Sometimes the old fabric wont show through the new fabric and you can just put it right on top of it.  And then sometimes it would show through.  You can take the existing fabric off by prying off the staples and romoving the fabric or just cutting it off.  Be careful not to cut the seat padding!  Lay the fabric down and flip the seat over it.  Pull it taught and start stapling to the BACK of the seat.  Make sure that when you flip your seat over the correct side of your fabric is showing.  Just keep stapling, folding the corners like you would a present’s wrapping paper, until the seat is covered tightly and securely.  You can cut excess fabric off now.

4.  Paint your chair frame.  Take a can of spray paint (you might need two) and paint your chair.  Make sure you get all of the nooks and crannies.  Make sure you protect yourself and give it ample time to dry.

5.  Place the seat on the newly painted chair frame.  Use the screws you took out early to secure the seat to the chair.  And congratulations you have a whole new looking chair!  Enjoy!

** This chair will be available for purchase at the Worlds Largest Yard Sale on Saturday, April 18 at the former Steve and Barrys in Pepperell Corners. **

In the spirit of St. Patricks day, here are a few tips on how to stay lucky by saving your green.

Walking to work, paying your bills online, lighting more candles and using coupons are all ways that people are trying in efforts to save money.  But to be honest, its hard sometimes to go without and it always leaves me looking for a cheaper way instead of the way out.  I’m the believer that you don’t have to cut out too much save your money in little ways.

Use a Library Card. Dust it off and dig it out of the back of your wallet.  Try using your library card to check out books and support your local library.  Books can be expensive to buy even if used.  But libraries have a great selection of books, magazines, music and (my personal favorite) books on tape to check out.  Books on tape from the library are great to check for next to nothing and listen to on a trip or while you are at work.  Keep yourself entertained!

Wash dishes by Hand.  I’m not sure how much it costs to run a dishwasher, but I do know that it takes little to nothing to fill up your sink with warm soapy water and wash them by hand.  Using less water is friendlier to your wallet as well as friendlier to your environment too. 

Mini Mani/Pedi.  For me, getting a manicure or pedicure is a great way to relax and feel like I have taken care of myself. But lately I haven’t been able to justify spending $30 - $40 dollars on such a luxury.  Now that it is spring and time for open toed shoes I had to give it a major reconsideration.  My wallet said otherwise.  So I went down to CVS and bought some bath salt, creams and oils and decided to give myself an in-home treatment.  Not only did it look almost as good (I’m not quite so good at painting with my left hand) but it was cheap and the products will last for months. 

Used Home Items.  Furniture usually lasts a long time.  If you’re in need of an upgrade or just in need of a replacement, look for it online.  Couches are so expensive to buy new but a slip cover and a used couch is a great way to transform your room and keep your wallet happy.  Also, keep in mind that wood furniture in bad shape can be transformed with a coat of paint.  Go to your local thrift shop and paint store and turn something dingy into something new the smart savers way.

Rent Movies.  It is always nice to get away from it all and absorb yourself in a movie.  Don’t give up on going to the movies all together, but start renting movies with your family or having a movie night with your friends.  Some movies are great on the big screen, but others are best when shared in the comfort of your own home.  Try hulu.com for downloading some of your favorite movies or try NetFlix for something more recent.  Anyway, when you watch a movie from home you can pause it for bathroom breaks or scream “Don’t open the door!” and it wont bother anyone.

Have you had to modify your habits to save a little money?  Tell us what you do!

Cornerstone United Methodist Church Annual Missions Yard Sale.

We’d like to thank Cornerstone UMC for letting us be a part of their yard sale on Saturday morning, March 7th.  There were so many smiling faces and helping hands.  Let me tell you, they knew how to throw a good yard sale. 

And they know how to put their hearts into it too.  The Missions Yard Sale proceeds go to Alabama Rural Ministries for their work in Tuskegee.  Andi Longest, CUMC Missions Coordinator, told me that they are working their to renovate a church to become a hum of ministry in that area.  They are also hoping to expand their outreach in the future by opening after school programs and a food pantry.

We took a little video of all of the great stuff we saw at their yard sale.  (I make an appearance at the begining!)  It was a fun morning and we were glad to be a part of a yard sale with a cause. 

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if we can join your yard sale some Saturday morning and we’ll bring free coffee and doughnuts!

Deal Taker celebrates it’s 5th birthday by giving out deals and prizes all week!

Deal Taker celebrates it’s 5th Birthday all week.  Every day this week Deal Taker will be giving away great prizes including:

• A Sandals Resort Vacation
• A Nintendo Wii
• $250 Gift Card to Overstock.com
• Much, much more…

We’d love to have you Twittering along with us!

We’re on Twitter - You should be too!  Join or click here and follow us.  We use twitter to give out daily updates, but you can also direct message us there if you have any problems or questions.  We love to hear what you’re saying!

These sweet little black lab mix puppies are so cute and are looking for a good home! 

Call someone you know!  Give one as a gift to your significant other!  Just look at these little faces.  You know you want to take one home with you!

Click for more information about these adorable black lab puppies!

Happy Valentines Day from TheFreeWay!

Today we are enjoying some home-made strawberry cupcakes for Valentines Day.  We are also enjoying the launch of the new site!  TheFreeWay has a brand new look and a brand new operating system.  We’ve had our ears perked and busy listening to all of your wonderful feedback the past couple months.  So, we put our heads together and designed this site with your feedback in mind. 

The site is now easier to navigate.  All of the categories to place your free classified ad in are on the front page or in the left hand side bar.  We’ve also simplified our upload process.  No more multiple pages to answer just to place your ad.  All you have to do is give us the title, the description and the summary and you’re done.  We’ve also included five photo uploads and a video link.  Our blogs haven’t changed much.  They were already pretty cool   But, just to be sure, we added a new blog called TheFreeWay GiveAway.  Each month we will be giving away an awesome prize to the most active user.  You can check here to see what amazing prize we will be giving away each month and who actually won. 

And don’t worry - It’s all still free!  Yes.  It’s a good day to share the love.