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I am a stay at home mom with three wonderful kids. I have been married for over 8 years to my best friend. I am head over heals in love with him. He always supports my crazy "thrifty adventures". We have a lot of fun together.
I was raised on a small dairy farm. Where I learned very young, the value of hard work and how to be thrifty in all areas of life. Growing up our meals were made from scratch. Only on special occasion would we get name brand cereal, chips, or any other fancy treats. Now that I am a Mom with my own budget, the basic foods always comes first. I too make most of our meals from scratch and take pride in feeding my family a well balanced healthy diet.
I enjoy seeing how far I can make our budget stretch, and when I take the time to match sales with coupons I am able to get all those "fun & fancy" items that would other wise be out of my budget. Being thrifty has always been a way of life for me, but it has also become a real joy. .gif)
 
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Holiday Haven has a great free Cupcake Printable to share with all of you! I LOVE this idea, quick, easy, thrifty and makes a plan old cupcake look extra special!
 These are just printed on regular printer paper, cut out, affixed to a toothpick using a label or a scrap of paper and glue on the backs.Over the last few months there has been some great coupons and sales on these Soy Candles from Glade. I have been able to get several of them for Free. In fact there is a great coupon out right now for $3 off 2 click here to print. I wanted to turn these into little Valentines gifts for my kids teachers. But I wanted to dress then up a bit, these will look really cute in a gift basket with a few other goodies.
I then did the same thing to add little red dots around the edges with glue and glitter.
And you are done….how simple was that! Now I have a fun little gift to give! The best part is, the candles were free, and I already had the craft supplies so they were free too! I did this post last year, but thought I would repost it.
Here are a few THRIFTY Valentines Day gift ideas.
Is your budget a little tight this year? These gift ideas are simple, yet personal and full of love. Isn’t that what Valentines day is all about, letting our loved ones know they have a special place in our heart.
“Priceless coupon” tag book
I made this little tag book, by cutting out 6 tags from scrapbook paper. Clipped them all together with a key ring, added ribbon, and I was done. But it is what you will write inside that will be the real gift. Think about what acts of service you could offer your sweetheart. Write what you admire about them, and what you are most grateful for. Tell them your favorite memory together, offer to make their favorite meal, just for the two of you. Give them a night of pampering, by candle light….
Mini Coupon tag book
Just another example of a coupon book
Mini Valentine Scrapbook
Make a mini scrapbook with a few of your favorite photos.
I cut 2 3×3 in squares of chipboard, covered them with scrapbook paper added a ribbon. I used my sewing machine to give it a nice edge. I then took a white sheet of card stock, and folded it into 4 section, added scrapbook paper. I then glued it to the 2 chipboard squares, added photos and I was done.
I made all of these for FREE, out of extra scrapbook paper I had left over from other projects. But if you wanted to buy the supplies, it would only cost you about $1.50 to make.
They are just so cute!
To find a Cash and Carry near you click here. Both Matthew and Mckeely needed to bring goodies for their school Christmas parties. I could have just made cookies or cupcakes, but they wanted to help me. So we made White Chocolate Chex Mix together. They were so proud that “they” made their treat.
If you read my blog you know that I was able to get 2 liter bottles of Sierra Mist at Albertson for only .37 cents. I bought a bunch of them to use for Christmas gifts for friends and neighbors. Being that I need to make 40 of these I needed to keep them simple, but I think they turned out cute! If you wanted to jazz it up a bit you could add a gift card, put in a gift basket…. but this gives you an idea of what you can do.
I then glued the stamped images to the die cut
Update*** I was lucky enough to have one bloggy friends who writes a wonderful blog, share this post with her readers. I was so excited till I started to read the comments….People said things like this
I felt awful, How is this so different from a plate of cookies? I have to admit I was very hurt….but this was my response to her readers. I just wanted to say that I know this may not be the best gift on earth, yes it is Thrifty. But this is a gift that will be given to church friends and neighbors…..people who I want to extend a warm Christmas greeting too. We will hand deliver these, with a Christmas card and a cute song from my little ones. It may not be a lot… but my friends now we do not have a lot to give…I guess it goes to back to the saying it is the thought that counts. That is one of the reasons I started my blog to show others that is is ok to be thrifty and live with what little you have. If we had more we would give more… I want to teach my Children to look for ways to give to others, even if it is small, it is the fact that we care enough to try. As the little drummer boy said” I have no gift to give” But playing his drums he gave all he had…..and in the spirit of Christmas that was enough.
Thanks to Pamela for passing along her great idea, how to make instant hand warmers. I have made these before, but always made them bigger with a large piece of cloth. I have to say I think these little hand warmers are such a cute idea….. Of all days to not be able to locate the hand warmer’s, today was the day. Over 17 inches of snow and “nasty” winds!
Thanks to My Sweet December for passing along this thrifty tip,
 I found this fantastic product called notepad adhesive by The Unleashed Pen that lets you make your own note pad and countless other projects. It is a glue that you paint it on the edge of any stack of papers, let it dry and TADA! your very own custom notepad. I’m so excited to start making some of my stocking stuffer for Christmas. If you like this project you should definitely go to The Unleashed Pen on Etsy. You can buy a 2 oz. bottle for 4.99. A little goes a long way, I’m sure even at my rate of creativity this will last me a year or longer!
My first test project was to make gift tags with my Cricut. I love cutting out scrapbook shapes and tags for gifts but they end up everywhere. So I thought why not use the notepad adhesive to stick them all together. It worked great!
Gather supplies. (thanks for the great birthday present Dad!)  Cut out gift tag shape.
Let it dry and put on one more layer.
One of my gift ideas for my mom friends is this notepad of babysitter info. I made a fun little info sheet on my computer and printed it out. Then made multiple copies at the print shop so that I didn’t use up all my printer ink
 Then I was able to make a photo frame with some of my scrapbook supplies. Attach the notepad and the photo frame to some chipboard and you have a very cute personal gift for any mom or dad. POSTED BY AMY AT 8:20 AM
So yes it is ironic that I have a sign in my kitchen that ways Simplify…. I need to read it more often I guess. Many times it is the little things, and my time that my kids enjoy the most. Something I am trying to remember as we start the busy month of December!
I saw this idea on a email from a friend, and changed it to work for my kids.
This was such a simple idea, but it was the highlight of the party. If you have little ones at home, and are looking for a fun Halloween project you may want to give this a try. Plus it is a great way to clean the pantry!
I saw your idea for a Halloween craft/treat, and was reminded of a (non-edible) craft my girls got to do at a recent Halloween activity. You just take q-tips, a piece of paper cut like a skeletal head, and some glue, then make a skeleton by dipping the ends of each q-tip in the glue and arranging in a skeleton position. Both my 3yo and my 18mo/old really enjoyed it!
I have to tell how much I love it when my readers pass along their thrifty ideas. I love seeing what others moms are doing, so if you have a thrifty project, recipe, craft or tip feel free to pass it along! If you have photos to go along with it, that makes it even better!
Add a little dot of frosting so the marshmallow will stick to the cookie.
Add a little frosting to the side of the marshmallow, add some coconut that has been colored green for witches hair. Add the other half the cookie, to look like a hat brim. Add a miniature peanut butter cup Next add a chocolate kiss Use miniature chocolate chips for the face Enjoy your little witch! We go through a lot of milk, so when a holiday is approaching, I start saving the jugs and scouring the internet for some fun crafts. Here are a few I’ve found for Halloween:
Here’s a fun idea that uses a few milk jugs! We saw this Pirate at Thanksgiving Point last weekend. You could just leave the skeleton free of any costume and it would still be fun to display on the porch! Here are the instructions.
These are so fun! They would be so cute lining a walk-way. Easy to make as well- go here to learn how.
 Ok, so I know this isn’t a milk jug per se (it’s a Tide bottle!), but it’s still so cute! Plus, I thought you could use the same idea and make a ghost one from a milk jug! Go here for details on making this little guy.
Want even more ideas? Family Fun magazine has a fantastic collection of crafts for young children. You can also go here
Even using coupons, the back to school supply lists can take a toll on your weekly grocery budget. I found a couple neat ideas on reusing items around the house for school lunch supplies and can’t wait to try them out! These look like items even a non-crafty person like myself could successfully create!
This first idea is from Family Fun magazine. Don’t throw out those used milk jugs!
With just a few snips, you can create a set of cool, eco-friendly, reusable snack and sandwich containers from juice cartons and milk jugs. They’re food-safe, easy to rinse clean, and absolutely free, so it’s no biggie if they get tossed accidentally. Let your kids decorate the boxes with stickers and permanent markers for an even more personalized look.
1. SANDWICH BOX: Mark a clean 1-gallon milk jug as shown.
 2. Cut along the lines with scissors. To make the crease lines, use a thumbtack to pierce a row of dots at 1/4-inch intervals across each side of the jug, 1 3/4 inches up from the bottom.
 3. Fold the flaps at these dotted lines, then open them and fold them in the opposite direction along the lines (this will make the flaps easier for your kids to open and close). Fold up the box and add an adhesive-backed Velcro dot closure.
SNACK BOX: Use a clean juice or milk carton. Cut off the top, then cut the sides into flaps as shown. Carefully crease the flaps, then fold them down and add an adhesive-backed Velcro dot closure.
 These cute bags made out of Capri Sun juice pouches are popping up everywhere. Why not make a lunch totes for your kids?! Save $ and learn how to make them here.
I think these would also make a fantastic reusable grocery bag! This is one my friend Ginny made. {Insert shameless plug for Ginny to make me one for my birthday! }
Do you have a creative idea on how to save money be reusing an item? Please share! I love hearing new thoughts and ideas!
Thanks Utah Deal Diva
I make these little gift card sets all the time, for thank you gifts. Yesterday was the last day of school for my son, so I needed a few thank you gifts for the school staff. These are quick and easy, and the best part is you can make them for less than a dollar.
You will need:
Take your colored sheet of card stock and fold it in half, to make a ( 8 1/2 x 5 1/2) Then open it up and fold the bottom part up 2 inches. Then on the middle fold cut up to the 2 inch mark. See photo above. The flaps will fold in and become the pockets for the card to set in. I only glue the outer edges shut and leave the middle edge open. Flip the card stock over and add scrapbook paper to the front cover. Glue your ribbon across the front and back cover
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I was able to make this in about 5 minutes, and think they turned out really cute!
I took the cardboard wrapper off the candle, and cut a piece of red card stock the same width and length.
I then used the cardboard wrapper as a guide to fold the new red cardstock wrap.
I then distressed the edges a little with a black stamp pad.
Stamped the image on a piece of white card stock with a Stampin Up Stamp. Then used a punch to cut out the image.
I then cut out a red circle just larger out of red cardstock, and a scalloped black circle out of black cardstock.
I used a fine tip glue pen to cover the little heart in the middle.
Then coved the glue heart with super fine, red craft glitter.
I then hooked them all together with the little red heart brads.
Tied a little silver bow on the bottom.
Then wrapped it back around the candle.
Attaching it with glue on the bottom
Each year I make goodie boxes for my Family at Christmas time. I always make fudge and a few other treats….but the hardest part is coming up with a way to package them. I know a good old paper plate does the trick with some foil on top. But I like to try to make them look pretty too….without costing to much.
While I was at Cash and Carry picking up the 
I added a little tissue paper, and filled them with the goodies we made.
They fold right up….super easy.
I then tied a bow around them. I always pick up ribbon AFTER the holidays and save it for the next year. This spool of ribbon was $5.99 but I got it for about .50 cents last year in February. Thinking ahead saves money! They turned out really cute…. I am excited to see what other ideas I can up to use these.
I then let them put them in these cute little Chinese take out food boxes. We by them at in bulk (50 at a time) at Cash and Carry, for about $3.40 a package. This makes them about 7 cents each. You can buy them in 3 different sizes, these are the small…but they go all the way up to a 3-4 cup size. I have done some really cute craft projects with them….but for this project we kept it simple for the kids.
I gave my little ones each a sheet of stickers, and then they decorated the boxes.
They had so much fun, and were so excited to give them to their little friends.
We then filled them with the chex mix, and closed them up. These were a big hit with their class, and it was a good project to do with my little ones.
Start out with any 2 liter bottle of soda
I used wrapping paper to use as the bottle wrap, cut to 14 X 6 1/2 inches.
I used a Stampin Up rubber stamp to put the wording on…but you could just print it off your computer too.
I then cut out the wording and backed it on red paper, then cut it out.
I then used another StampIn Up stamp, to stamp out the word Enjoy
I then used the Stampin Up Scallop punch to cut it out
I then used a die cut from the Big Shot ( sold by Stampin up, thanks Leslie for letting me barrow yours to cut these out)
Glue the Die Cut to the center of the Pre-cut wrapping paper, glue it good since it is going on a bottle it tends to want to lift off the curved bottle.
Then I wrapped the bottle and used a tape runner to tack down the wrapping paper, for a nice clean edge.
I then used some curling ribbon on the top.
Soda cost me .37 cents, supplies were about .10 cents ( most the stuff I already had on hand)….a cute Christmas gift for under .50 cents!
Here is one done in a rustic look, used a brown paper bag as the back ground.
Same idea, just different colors.
Both my girls were helping me make these….My little Maleeya who is two, kept putting her feet on the desk… she was not much of a help. Silly little girl…all part of being a Mom!1.jpg)
Stack and clip together with binder clips.
No more tags all over the place!
I am guessing that I am not the only one who stresses about the details of everything….. A few weeks ago I had a birthday party for my son, we had 6 little friends over. I was so worried about making sure they had fun, and had fun activities to do. And as always they all had a hoot. The biggest hit was letting them decorate their own cupcake….anyway they wanted. SO SIMPLE, but yet the highlight of the night! I got the cake mix and frosting free….and I got the candy from the bulk section at Winco, it all cost less than $2.
Right after Halloween I was able to get 15 boxes of Dots on clearance for .33 cents each. I know some of you thought I was crazy buying that many, but I knew I wanted to use them for my sons birthday party. I was able to use my thrifty find, to make a cute craft project. It was a total hit with the kids, and they were all so proud of their little turkeys.
Start out with a box of dots or any other candy.
Cover it with a tan sheet of card stock
I then used my Stampin Up punches to cut out;
Fold the square to make a beak, and use the circles for eyes
Glue the head to the bottom of the box
Fold the scallops circles into a “V” shape
Glue the back part of the “V”
Glue them above the Turkey head
I had all the shapes pre cut for the kids, they had a blast making them!
Yesterday my 4 year old Mckeely had her preschool Halloween party. They sang a few songs for the parents, and had a cute little party. Her teacher read the kids a story that she wrote in collage. The story was about a witch that wanted to make soup for dinner, and added all sorts of crazy things to the pot. She let the kids all add an ingredient then stir the pot. Or course she renamed all the food, like owl eyes, lizard claws, worms, and all sorts of other creepy items. The kids LOVED it, they giggled with delight, and had even more fun eating the “witches brew”.
Thanks to Melinda for passing this along,
Matts Mom came to visit last weekend. She is a pre-school teacher and always comes with fun ideas for the kids. This time she helped the kids make adorable Marshmallow Witches. She got this idea from the 
Add decorative paper, stickers, stamps what ever you want to the front.
