Cheap and Cheerful

"Cheap and cheerful"
This is hubby's expression to describe many things, one of his favourites along with 'sod it' and 'cheeky' and 'bugger all'.
I think of this phrase when I look at my geraniums...cheap and cheerful for sure.  I'm proud of this little one in the photo below because I grew it from seed.  Lately it has provided a lovely bright spot on the dining room table.  The colour is an orange red; don't know what that would be called exactly.

The internet is full of stories about people trying out cheap and/or frugal lifestyles. I'm impressed with some of the ideas, especially for recycling. The people who are making clothes out of old sheets for instance....summer tops, summer dresses, children's clothes.  Got to hand it to them...some of these look pretty good  and especially cheerful.  If I could find Laura Ashley sheets, I too might be tempted to give that a go, actually.  I've seen lots of examples of how they use sheets to make drapes and it seems both easy and cheap; in fact, I've seen designers on t.v. trot out that idea.
I also admire the people turning old t-shirts into crocheted mats...some of these look really good especially the ones that have been dyed bright and interesting colours. Though we have lots of older t-shirts, I can only muster the energy to get them to a thrift store.
I'm  not sure about trying to ground down almonds to make my own mascara or microwaving strawberries to make cheek rouge; I do like the fact that so many of these ideas employ natural ingredients and at least when you make it yourself you know exactly what is in it.    When I read that there are 3000 different chemicals put in our supermarket food, very few of which are known to me, it makes me think homemade anything would definitely be a better option.
Mind you, I'm already my own beautician in many ways. I still cut and manage my own hair but I'm not sure it's for the best.  Perhaps that is one area for the experts and I'm thinking I'll get a professional cut come summer time.
Can you imagine what this is for? This is an Ikea invention and though I've used it all winter, I honestly did not know it had painted eyes till I set it up to take its picture.

 I don't know what to call it but I use it for drying any 'smalls' and in fact once a week, the whole kitchen becomes a clothes dryer as I take advantage of the wood heat to dry our sheets.  (We don't get much 'drop-in' company here in the country, LOL.)
But getting back to my cheap and cheerful plants...

All the geraniums are coming into bloom.  

The bottom geranium is a pale peach colour...delicate and seemingly hard for my camera to capture.  Can you see my constant companion in this photo?