Earring holders from repurposed materials

My friend Tasha and I have been doing craft night. I have loved it. The only rules are to use what we have or we can get free. As you can see these are made from old frames, junk mail and soda cans. Tasha made the pink and brown one which I love and I had coke and mountain dew cans. I decided to make the flower one because I didn't love the green and red together like I did the pink and brown. I think it is fun for my 8 year old to put her earrings on, which are scattered all over the place. It was pretty quick and simple, just be careful not to cut yourself. There are small holes to put your earrings in. I will let you know how they work out.

Use what you have

I would like to make a suggestion, before you buy something new, try using something you already have.

For example, tonight for dinner, I wanted to go to the grocery store and buy new food to cook, but I decided I would use what I had and see how much I could save. It made me feel so good.

Another example, I REALLY want a new cute skirt, but tomorrow I am going to see what I have to make myself one or to freshen up what I already own. (Will post what I do)

Also, before you go out and buy more craft stuff, look through what you have, I am sure you can make do with what you have.

I think it could end up saving you lots if you will use what you have before you buy something new!

Christmas Saving

I have been thinking about saving money this Christmas. Sometimes I lose the spirit of Christmas because of all the money it takes just to get your family something, then the neighbors, and your friends at work or church, then the parties and the food. Oh my expensive! Then I think about how important all those things are. Wouldn't I rather get a hand written note from a friend instead of a gift. Wouldn't I rather an experience with my family than any gift they could give me. How can I teach my children to love and serve and give of themselves? I guess I just feel like less is more and the older I get the more I feel that way. I see why after my parents divorced, my mom gave us a brown lunch bag of Halloween candy and 25 dollars cash for our Christmas. If my kids weren't still so little I think I would change Christmas for us in a big way. I read a book where a family would use the money they normally used for Christmas to fly to Africa and do a family service project. I see Christ in that. It just makes sense to me. What do you think about all this?

Sanity and spending money

I have been wanting to share my latest way of saving money that is close to making me go quite mad. It is called staying at home and losing my mind. I have tried to stay away from the stores especially Target and have been able to save almost 300 a month for two months.

I actually have been working on a quilt for K for christmas made completely from left over fabric from my box. I love it. It has our hand prints quilted on it and hearts. Which sounds totally lame, but really it is cute for an eight year old. I hope it turns out. I will post a picture when it is done.

I hope to give all the kids homemade gifts this year that can become keepsakes. We will see, I am running out of time.

Glasses on the cheap

My son has gone through glasses like it was candy. I have finally found an affordable way to keep him seeing clearly. First I take him to Americas Best Contacts and Eyeglasses to see if there is one near you click Here. I can get an eye exam and two pair of glasses for 69$. I also get the warranty for breakage 10$ for one pair 15$ for two. I have used this warranty every year. But it does not protect against loss. Also a good friend of mine just told me about Zenni_optical. It is an online optical store where you can buy glasses for as cheap as 8$. Shipping is 5$ no matter how many pairs you order. You just need to know your prescription. They have some really cute/cool glasses for great prices. Happy Seeing!

Saving Money is no Accident

I went to yard sales with my kids on Saturday. My husband was helping the flood victims over in Austell and I wanted a place to take my kids. I took 20$ with me and by the end of the trip had .25 cents in my pocket and a bunch of junk in the trunk. I began thinking, why do I value junk over keeping my money in my pocket and saving for something I will actually use or need rather than stuff I just get rid of after keeping for a short time. I decided that saving was no accident. Rather to save takes discipline, strategy and motivation. I need help. What motivates you to save? What are your strategies? I know we could all use a little help.

We have a Winner

I loved all your ideas. I loved the idea of making your own soap. Very cool. I hope you will share how you do that. I would love a post on it that I can share. I needed the list idea and am putting it to work immediately. And yes I would agree that unrolling your two-ply is not worth it. But this week our winner is Marchet. She has a son with CF to learn more about it click here http://www.cff.org/ . I can't imagine what medical expenses that must include but I love how positive Marchet is and love the idea of saving money on prescriptions. I know that must help out tremendously. She will be receiving a basket filled with ideas and things to do with toddlers. Enjoy that sweet boy Marchet. Congratulations! We always welcome your money saving tips!