.: His frugal Servant :.

just checking in

2012-01-18T18:01:00.002-05:00

Hey ya'll!

I'm still here!! DH was home for the holidays, but now he's back at his mini-deployment- boo! I've been keeping busy around here, and I'll be bringing you some fun projects soon! Here's just a few of the upcoming things I'll be sharing with ya...
- Household 6 Notebook (aka. my home management binder!), including tons of printables!
- menu planning calendar, created from an old cookie sheet!
- nursery decor
- home organizing solutions
- my family command center
- and more!

So thanks for sticking with me, and I'll be back in full swing on here soon!
*huggs*
-Shauna

easy DIY gift tags

2011-12-22T16:29:00.000-05:00

Hey all!!! Wow, can you believe Christmas is only a few days away?! Well, as you can tell, things have been a bit quiet over here- I only have a short time with DH this holiday season before he has to go back to his mini-deployment, so needless to say I'm spending most of my time with him ;) Not to mention I've been a bit under the weather, so unfortunately a lot of time has been spent on the couch- boo.

Anyhoo, I wanted to share these super quick and easy gift tags with ya'll!! This would make a great project to do with kids too :) The only ingredients I used are...

The Cutting Cafe digital stamps {cut out with a circle punch}
tag & snowflake punches
twine
buttons
rhinestones & rhinestone brads
cardstock & Christmas patterned paper scraps
leftover Christmas stickers
{and one leftover Christmas tree stamped image!}

I just kinda stuck things where they would fit essentially :) I think kids would have a blast using whatever crafting scraps and tidbits you have laying around! You could even use up scraps of wrapping paper for these! The possibilities are truly endless!

I may or may not be back on here before the new year, so if not, have a super

merry CHRISTmas

12 Days of Christmas Countdown Calendar

2011-12-06T16:25:00.022-05:00

Hi all!! I wanted to share my 12 Days of Christmas display with you :) My DH is coming home from his mini-deployment just in time to count down the 12 days of Christmas. So instead of a traditional Advent calendar {which we would have had to skip the first half of, or open the first half all on one day!} I decided to go with the "12 Days of Christmas" theme!

It's our first Christmas being just the two of us- previous Christmases DH was deployed or we were hosting guests so things were crazy! So our 12 Days of Christmas calendar is filled with goodies the two of us can enjoy together. We both love tea and coffee, so each day is filled with a special tea or coffee that we haven't tried before, or one that is a favorite of ours. I'm looking forward to opening them each night and settling down together on the couch to enjoy our hot beverages, perhaps while watching a Christmas movie ;)

The best part?? Since I had all of the materials in my stash, the only expense was the items to fill the pouches- $30 {and there's lots of extras of each tea/coffee, hehe}.

Below is a tutorial of how you can make one too! I've also included a link where you can download the whole tutorial in a PDF file. Enjoy!!

{download PDF tutorial here}

linking up here...

works for me wednesday @ We are THAT Family

show and tell @ Blue Cricket Design

Crafturday Creative Mess

Christmas card

2011-12-02T10:41:00.002-05:00

Hi all!! I'm back from my little vacation visiting family over the holidays, and thought I'd share with you our family Christmas card for 2011 :) Here's wishing you a very blessed month of celebrating Christ's birth!

I'll be back next week with baby shower decor & baby announcements - fun stuff!! :D

thankful countdown mini-album

2011-11-14T21:25:00.007-05:00

Hey all! This is my last post for about 2 weeks- going to be spending time with family for the holiday season. But not to worry, I'll be back again at the start of December!! :)

So in counting down to Thanksgiving, I decided to make a little "thankful" mini-album, or gratitude mini-album! So I counted down to Thanksgiving by counting down the ways I'm thankful for my DH ;)

I used PTI's mat stack 3 for the basic shape. For the covers, I die cut some thin cardboard leftover bits I had. Then I covered them in some Making Memories Autumn Splendor DP! Love that line :) The inside pages I die cut some more DP and some pages from an old book. For the numbering, I used a stamp from PTI's 2009 Holiday Tags. I added some scrap pieces of paper on each page to make a space for journaling. I finished it off with a few word stickers and some ribbons!

This is the last page, inside the back cover :)

linking up here....

Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T10:55:00.002-05:00

THANK-YOU

to all our Veterans for serving to protect the freedoms of this great nation.

May God bless you and keep you.

I encourage everyone to thank a military service member whenever you see them. They sacrifice so much and often receive little thanks. Trust me when I say that it is always a humbling experience and often brings them to tears when someone goes out of their way to say a simple thank-you.

Thanking God for my Veteran DH today and everyday!

Handmade Gift- cross stitch ornament

2011-11-09T13:29:00.013-05:00

So I'm not one for skipping holidays- Thanksgiving is actually one of my favorite holidays because both sides of our family always get together each year for big turkey dinners :) Love that it's a holiday that has really become about great food and great family!
With that said though, I did want to share this ornament that I'd made for a Silent Auction gift basket I donated! I'm getting started on Christmas gifts already too, since some require a bit of time to make- like a few other cross-stitch gifts I'm working on (I'll share once they're done!). This is a great gift- handmade and pretty cheap to make!

embroidery floss- $1 each color
cross stitch fabric- already had, recently bought some more at $6 for a big sheet
frame- $1 at Michaels
ribbon (to hang)- already had, ~$2.50 for a whole roll

So you can see how you could make a lot of these out of one set of supplies!! :) You could also dress it up with some beads for the holly berries or a twine/floss bow on the wreath!

This pattern was from Just CrossStitch magazine, but recently I've found a lot of beautiful patterns for free online. Cross stitch is really easy to learn, and make for some great personal handmade gifts :)

linking up here...

Frugal Fridays @ Life As Mom

Handmade gifts :: framed diecuts

2011-11-07T21:37:00.005-05:00

So here's a super simple DIY handmade gift! And the best part is, depending on what diecut you use, it could be perfect for any holiday or occasion! Customize the shape for the holiday, season, or maybe what your giftee enjoys- use their favorite colors, if they like dogs you could find a cute doggie cut out, if they like sewing you could use great buttons instead, use umbrellas for a baby shower or wedding shower decor, the sky's the limit!

.: materials :.

frame
background paper
die cut (or other items to frame)
3-D pop dots

.: instructions :.

{1} remove glass from frame

{2} cut background paper to the size of your frame

{3} measure your die cut, and approximate how many will comfortably fit in your frame

{4} cut out die cuts, if needed

{5} attach die cuts to background paper using 3-D pop dots **

{6} assemble frame and gift away!

** a few things I found useful during this step...

- I assembled this with the frame around the background paper, not attached in the frame yet, but just resting on the table around the paper. It helped visually space the die cuts.

- I also assembled this with my Olfa sewing cutting mat under my project. I aligned the frame/background paper with the measurements on the mat so I knew I was roughly spacing the die cuts evenly. You could also simply put a ruler along either side to help with spacing too!

linking up here...

autumn mantel

2011-11-06T10:47:00.020-05:00

So this home is the first {and likely last for a while!} time that we've had a mantel!! Usually housing for DH's rank doesn't get fireplaces, so we're relishing in it while we have it :) hehe... anyways, so I'm new at this decorating a mantel thing- but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome! Let me walk you through what I have on it... most of it is frugal or DIY!
So first up we have....

great glass leaf plates made in Italy :: $3 from The Christmas Tree Shop
autumn scented candles :: $5 for three, on clearance at Kohl's
woven basket {always reminds me of apple picking!} :: $2 from Goodwill
yarn balls- I change out the colors every season :: DIY, so cost just for the yarn and the time to wrap the yarn!
great crystal bowl :: $16 from Main Street shop in Disney's Magic Kingdom
framed pumpkin :: DIY, tutorial {here}
twigs in a vase :: $20 for the various twig bundles, vase inherited from my late grandmother

And on the other side we have...

glass jar of acorns :: $2 jar from Goodwill, $5 box of acorns on clearance at Kohl's
candle display :: $1 for bag of beans, $2 for grapevine at Michaels, candle from above mentioned set
framed leaves :: DIY, tutorial {here}
fabric wrapped balls :: DIY- fabric strips wrapped around styrofoam balls, adhered with hot glue or straight pins
more great glass leaves :: again $3 for little one and $6 for big one

We're not currently using the fireplace because it's not really autumn or cold weather yet here in the south! Of course our first home with a fireplace and it may never get cold enough to use it! *sigh* oh well, it still provides a great smell and look- depending on the day, we can often smell the burnt wood that's been baked into the brick over the years :)

autumn scented candles :: $6 each on clearance at Kohl's
candle holders :: $6-12 each on clearance at Kohl's

So there ya have it! A little look into our home and our fun autumn mantel :) Thanks for visiting!!

linking up here...

handmade gifts: post-it note holder

2011-11-02T13:18:00.012-04:00

hey all!! Checkin in here with a super simple, quick and easy handmade gift- perfect for birthdays or Christmas! Before we know it, Christmas will be upon us... but not before one of my favorite holidays- Thanksgiving :)

Anyhoo, here's a little tutorial for this easy gift!

Since you can buy a single set of supplies and make a lot of holders out of them, I'd say rough cost per holder is probably around $5!!! :) You can make it super cute and girly or simple and masculine! Not to mention it's practical! Love practical (but fun!) gifts ;)

.:. one 12"x12" piece of patterned paper can make ~4 holders

.:. one roll of ribbon can make at the least 2-3 holders, many many more if it's a longer roll of ribbon!

.:. buy one bag of pretty pens and you can make a whole bunch of holders

.:. buy a stack of the post-it notes and make a whole bunch of holders!

.: materials :.

- acrylic photo frame {mine was actually leftover from our wedding centerpieces!}

- patterned paper

- ribbon(s)

- post-it notes

- pen

- glue

.: instructions :.

{1} cut patterned paper to the size of the photo frame

{2} insert paper into photo slot in frame

{3} cut and tie ribbon around top edge of frame

{4} cut ribbon loop and adhere to edge of frame

{5} securely glue post-it notes to frame, covering the edge of the ribbon loop

{6} add pen and gift away! :)

sharing here...

Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous

31 Days :: day 31- shopping comparison chart & wrap up

2011-10-31T19:46:00.000-04:00

Day 31:: Shopping Comparison Chart

So I do apologize for not including my Household 6 Binder today- it's not quite ready and I don't want to share a rushed/half done post! So instead I'm sharing another list, but don't worry, I'll be sharing my Household 6 Binder soon!!

So today's list... this is another tool I use in budgeting. I've started saving receipts for our groceries for the last month or so {and plan to continue doing so a bit longer} so that I can compare prices at our three most frequented grocery stores. It's useful to know where you get the most bang for your buck, and whether it's really worth the extra trip to another store depending if the price difference is only a few cents or a dollar or more!

In my example, I've already filled in my most frequented stores. The first column is for the grocery item {ie. milk, potatoes, eggs, egg beaters, etc.} and the narrower columns are for the prices. This way you can quickly scan across the stores and see which is the cheapest!

This is great for grocery comparison or also when shopping for Christmas or birthday gifts or any big purchase!

{printable here}

:: 31 Days Wrap Up ::

So I may not have been the most timely poster, but I did give you 31 total lists and the like! There's a few printables I still need to get up for you, and a few posts that I told you I'll be doing in the future, so I do hope you'll stick around and keep visiting me here! Thanks to everyone who has read my series, and I hope you've found it helpful :)

Here's a look at everything we've covered...

31 Days:: day 30- half monthly cleaning chart

2011-10-30T14:45:00.001-04:00

Day 30:: Half Monthly Cleaning Chart

So today's list is essentially the other half of yesterday's list (no pun intended...). Today's list is my Half Monthly Cleaning Chart- aka. when I do a "half clean" or partial clean or quick clean of a room- essentially a tidy and quick wipe down. So currently I do a full clean of each room once a month {See yesterday's post} and a half clean three times a month- hence three columns for each month! Again, we're a household with no kids or pets, so we don't get as dirty as I'm sure we will one day, hehe ;) I'm working on a printable version for ya'll- with extra blank slots so you can fill in your own chores- and I'd be happy to customize this for your family too, if you'd like!

31 Days:: day 29- full yearly cleaning chart

2011-10-29T14:45:00.001-04:00

Day 29:: Full Yearly Cleaning Chart

So looking back at my Monthly Cleaning Chart from Day 6, you'll have read how once a month I do a "full" cleaning of the various rooms in the house. Well today I'm sharing my "full" cleaning chart! It's pretty much a deep clean of everything. I print this list out once a year and put it in my Household 6 Binder {post to come Monday about that!}.

So you'll notice that there's some other things that are done a few times a year {ie. washing curtains, washing comforter, cleaning out & donating clothes, etc}. Those chores already have "X"s in the chart for the months that I don't need to do that chore. Now this list is a work in progress... it's tailored for our family {sans kids and pets, for now} and I'm still working out how often I really need to do different chores. I'll work on a printable for ya'll that has no "X"s so you can tailor this chart to your family! And I'll leave extra blank lines in each category so you can add various items that you need to do. We usually live in military housing, so some chores are taken care of for us by maintenance.

Anyhoo, here ya go! It's pretty straight forward. If you have any questions, just leave a comment and a way for me to get back to you :) I'd also love to customize this as a printable for your family with your chores if you'd like!!

Autumn Wreath

2011-10-28T15:12:00.016-04:00

-- Second post of the day! --

-- To view today's "31 Days of Lists & the Like" post, please scroll down :) --

So here's a project that has been in the works for about a month! I wrapped the wreath in twine late last month when I did our autumn mantle {post to come about that!}, but it got left to the wayside. I finally got to finish it this afternoon! Yays :)

This is a super simple wreath, and I'll share a full photo tutorial for it soon...

{1} It started with an eco-friendly "styrofoam" type wreath from Hobby Lobby.

{2} Proceeded to wrap it in the great golden wheat colored yarn, which took about an hour & half- I just wrapped it while watching some of my favorite shows ;)

{3} Then cut out circles of some great fall fabric I've had for a year or so, put a pin through the center on each circle, and pushed it into the foam. Repeat lots of times.

{4} Then I created the fun little "autumn" banner with my scrapbooking supplies and The Twinery twine and hung it on our door!

sharing here...

31 Days :: day 28- fridge/freezer inventory

2011-10-28T14:44:00.002-04:00

Day 28:: Fridge/Freezer Inventory

Wow! So we're almost near the end of the 31 Day challenge! I may not have been the most faithful in posting, but I've indeed given you 31 lists and the like!! Well... I will once the series is done ;) Anyhoo... onward to todays list!

Today's list is a Fridge/Freezer Inventory, similar to yesterday's pantry list. I often forget what leftovers we have floating around, especially those that hide in the back! So this is a great way to keep track of what you have and when you need to use it by ;) I'm not always sure how long things can last in the fridge/freezer (leftovers, homemade items, opened jars, etc), so my go-to is usually my mom or trusty Google, hehe.

This list has one of two residences- either in my Recipe Binder {which is my go-to for meal planning} or on my fridge. I might end up printing out two- one for the Recipe Binder that will have more homemade items that I've made and frozen for later or made in bulk, and the list on the fridge more for leftovers. It's still a work-in-progress list! :)

{printable fridge inventory}

{printable freezer inventory}**

** freezer inventory is same as fridge, just the different title!**

31 Days :: day 27- pantry inventory

2011-10-27T14:44:00.005-04:00

Day 27:: Pantry Inventory

Today's list is a pantry inventory! Now this is what has worked for me in two of our last three homes- bins & baskets! We've either had large wire racks in the utility room or a really deep cabinet for our pantries and so we've needed some extra organization help in the form of bins/boxes/baskets. So when it comes to keeping track of what food we have on hand, my list includes a spot for what bin number the food is in! If you have bins that are labeled in your pantry, you could also just put down the name of the bin- ie. perishables, soups, etc. Whatever works for you! :)

I'll be doing a "before and after" post of our current pantry! It's a really tall and realllly deep cabinet {it's a built-in unit in our current Army housing}. So when we moved in, I knew we'd need some sort of organization system so we'd be able to reach items in the back of the pantry. So keep an eye out for that post in the future ;)

So how this list works...

box- what box/bin/basket number {or name} the designated item is in
item- the item at hand :) ie. spelt flour, elbow pasta, black beans, etc
#- how many of that item there is, useful if you have duplicates, like we always have a few cans of beans on hand and a few boxes of pasta, this is great for noting when you're running low and need to stock up on staples or seeing if you need to buy an extra box of something for a recipe you plan on making!
expire- expiration date

{printable here}

31 Days :: day 26- couponing list

2011-10-26T22:47:00.002-04:00

Day 26:: Couponing List

So today's list is part of how I coupon! I'll share the list and explain how I use it, and the printable and a full explanation of my system is going to be in a future post :) So here's how it works...

product- what the coupon is for {an item, percentage/dollars off purchase, etc..}
type- my couponing system uses envelopes, so this column is for which envelope the coupon goes into
store- self explanatory :)
Wk 1-5- if you notice off to the right, I divide the current month into weeks and then write down when the coupon expires... this is useful so I can see quickly which coupons are expiring soon. I print a new list each month.
Other- if the coupon expires after the end of the current month, I simply write the date down in this column

I'm excited to soon share with you my whole couponing system... but for now, think of this as a teaser ;) Enjoy!

31 Days :: day 23, 24, 25- Vacation Lists

2011-10-25T22:18:00.010-04:00

Day 23, 24, 25:: Vacation Lists

These are two lists that I used while planning and while on our recent vacation to Disney. I plan on sharing a lot more of my "Disney lists" either later in this Lists & More series or after!! We are true Disney fans and have been blessed with being able to visit there every year for our honeymoon & subsequent anniversaries. Anyhoo, onward with the lists! All printables are in generic teal colors {not Disney colors ;) }

List One:: Vacation Budget {blank printable here}

So when we go on vacation, I like to have our savings account stocked with how much we're planning on spending. I use our credit card so we earn frequent flyer miles, but then pay off the bill as soon as we get home from vacation- since we already have the money in savings! This is what works for us, but it's also important to stay roughly within our budget. So here's how this budget works...

Title- the categories of spending {transportation, lodging, tickets, food, and extras}, the food area I break down into each day's breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack spending
Paymt- "payment," aka. how we pay for the expense, this way if we break up any spending onto different credit cards, I can make sure all cards get paid off upon our return home from vacation
Estimate- this is how I make sure we have enough is savings to cover our trip, I usually round up a bit so leave some padding in the budget... I'll go into the in-depth planning behind Disney {and how you can tailor it to your vacation anywhere!} in future posts
Actual- important note:: I bring this budget with me on vacation. At the end of each day, or every other day, I gather up receipts and see how much we actually spent on the various categories.
Ovr/Unr- "Over/Under," aka. I take the difference between the Estimate cost and the Actual cost and put that in this column {again during vacation ~each day}. At the end of each day, I have a total of how much our total vacation is over or under budget, and I record this at the bottom {where it says D1, D2- aka. Day 1, Day 2...}. This helps us be aware if we need to cut back on say souvenir spending in order to keep in line with our budget ;)
Notes- well, for any notes :) on mine I take note of where we're going each day of our trip, any discounts/coupons available for lodging or activities, etc.

List Two:: Vacation to-do list {blank printable here}

So as you can see, this example is currently tailored to Disney, and I've broken it down into the different parks and areas around Disney World. The blank printable has the title "Things to Do and See on Vacation" with blank categories so you can fill them in! This would be a great place to jot down what you want to do each day, or things to see at different stops along your trip, etc.

List Three:: Vacation Meal Planner {blank printable here}

Well just because you're on vacation doesn't mean you can't plan your meals! This is especially useful if you'll be eating out a lot and need to keep track of reservations. Also if you want to make sure you're balancing eating out and eating in, this would be useful to keep track which days are which! Or if you're going camping, you can set up your meal plans using this!

You can see the printable version below as well as how I implemented it on our most recent trip to Disney. A few things I included....

where we went each day of the trip
restaurant names
reservation numbers
reservation times
evening shows & times at various parks {aka. where we were going after dinner!}

31 Days:: day 20, 21, 22- packing/moving lists {3 ways}

2011-10-25T19:29:00.008-04:00

Day 20, 21, 22:: Packing/Moving Lists {3 ways}

So our family recently moved from the northeast to the deep south- quite the road trip! This was our first major move with the Army, and I wanted to be prepared, so I created an extensive packing list/trip planner.

I used all three pages since we were packing up and moving our whole house, but you can use any of them individually for a vacation or use a few of them for a big move! In the printables I've provided, the list names are all "Travel Packing List" {PCS is the Army term for moving to a new post!}. The last two lists I used to account for household items we needed for the move- pots and pans, air mattress, extra towels- things we need once we're in our new home while we waited for our household goods to arrive from the movers, etc.

.: List elements :.

travel days/tty days/leave days:: the latter are Army terms essentially for paid vacation days and unpaid days :) On the blank printables I've provided, I left the last two areas blank, so you can fill in your own important travel info!
Needed:: jot down the number of that item you think you'll need { ie. 5 pairs of pants}, great for those of us who like to plan ahead or so you get an idea of how much laundry you might need to do before you go so you have all the needed clothes ;)
Packed:: jot down the number of that item that you actually put in the suitcase!
Unpacked/Repacked:: jot down the number of that item that you put back into your suitcase when you're getting ready to come home {make sure you're not leaving anything behind!}
Travel Plans:: jot down what days you'll be where- useful if you're doing a longer road trip or if you're going to different amusement parks throughout your trip, etc.
Weather:: if you're doing a longer road trip, you may need different types of clothing for different weather {ie. when we went from the cold north to the hot south}, or if they're calling for rain for half your trip- this is a useful place to make note of different types of clothing you may need to pack!
Checklist/Lists:: jot down any errands you may need to run before you leave, household chores {ie. water the plants!} or plans you need to make before a move

.: Printables :.

Packing List {with daily plans and small checklist}
Packing List {with weather plans}
Packing List {with blank checklist}

lists coming soon!

2011-10-25T09:18:00.001-04:00

so sorry all!!! been spending quality time with DH before his upcoming mini "deployment"... plan on being back later today with a big "Moving & Vacation" themed post- lots of lists to come :D

31 Days :: day 18 & 19- gift buying & thank-you lists

2011-10-19T23:14:00.002-04:00

Day 18:: Gift Buying List

So today's combined post picks up where the last post left off- gift buying. If you're like me, you tend to start Christmas shopping a little early, or at the very list, you likely buy various gifts from various stores. Well it's quite easy to forget everything you've bought so far and how much you've spent!

I ran into that problem last year, and so I created the Gift Buying List below! List your budget and name of the person you're gifting to, and then keep track of what you're gifting! There's also a column to check off once you've wrapped the gift and then once you've actually gifted the gift :)

{ printable here }

Day 19:: Thank-You Card List

When a holiday or celebration rolls around, it's always nice to send thank-you cards- for gifts received on a birthday, for a helping hand friends might lend you when throwing a gathering, etc. Here's a great list to keep track of who & what was gifted and a place to check off once you've sent out the thank-you card! :)

{ printable here }

31 Days :: day 17- Gifting List

2011-10-17T21:41:00.001-04:00

Day 17:: Gifting List

Today's list is a Gifting List- a great place to keep track of friends and family's birthdays, anniversaries, clothing sizes, favorite colors, etc. Bring this list with you when you go shopping so you have all the info you need on hand in order to pick out the perfect gift for your loved one! Fill in the person's favorite store so you can get the perfect gift card for a special occasion!

The printable includes a few blank spots- fill in any other important dates to remember about that person or any other favorite things. :)

{printable here}

31 Days:: day 16- Bible study bookmarks

2011-10-16T21:25:00.006-04:00

Day 16:: Bible Study Bookmarks

Happy Sunday, all!!

Today's list is a crafty list :) I'm currently reading through the Bible in a year and I've chosen the chronological order- so it's the order of when things occurred historically and jumps around between books.

In order to keep track, I've created bookmarks with each day's reading on it, and broken up the reading into various bookmarks. I've listed the day's reading and a space to record which date I finished the reading on. It's a simple way to keep track of where I am in my readings. Every few days/weeks I get to pull out my next bookmark, and they're all different so it's fun :)

No printable today, but if you'd like a set, I'd be more than happy to put together a set for you via my Etsy shop!!

31 Days :: day 13, 14, 15- Autumn Projects, Thanksgiving Menu & Shopping List

2011-10-15T14:22:00.004-04:00

Hey all!!

So I've been a bit of a 31 Day delinquent... sorry :( I hope you'll forgive me! This is apparently also my "31 days of getting better with blogging!" Bear with me though, today I come bearing THREE (3) great Autumn lists :)

Day 13:: Autumn Project Tracker

So autumn is a time of change around the house... some people opt to take screens out of their windows and store them away during cooler weather, you've got autumn decor to set out, perhaps do some "autumn cleaning" {like spring cleaning... but in autumn!} hehe... you know the drill. Or maybe your kids have a new fall sport and you've taken to volunteering to bring refreshments or help out at school... regardless of what your autumn looks like, it's bound to have a few projects to keep track of- so here's a little tracker for ya :) Super simple and super festive!

{printable here}

Day 14:: Thanksgiving Menu

So if you're like me, you like to have everything in a list... including large meals you may be hosting for Thanksgiving! I even used this list recently for an Autumn Feast we had with friends :) I find it very useful to plan what should be cooked when {ie. if two dishes cook at the same temperature, I can put them in at the same time} and how far in advance I need to start cooking everything! I also use the notes section to list out the order I'm going to cook everything in... I'll be putting out a new version of this soon that includes a slot for "temperature" and "#" for listing out what order to cook the dishes in :)

category- main dish, side dish, dessert, etc.
recipe- the name of the dish
source- cookbook name, magazine name, recipe binder name, or simply "recipe card"
pg- page number in the designated source
time- time to prep/ cook (I usually jot down the cooking temperature in this section too)
serves- how many does the recipe serve? this is useful so you know if you should double, triple, half the recipe

{printable here}

Day 15:: Thanksgiving Grocery List

And here's the final list list for today's autumn-themed group post- Thanksgiving Grocery List! While I'm putting together the Thanksgiving Menu {above}, I jot down what ingredients I need on the grocery list. I've included the major categories where I shop (ie. being a vegetarian, I don't have a "meat" category here)... I group in any oddball ingredients at the bottom of a section or just put a star next to it, so I know to look in another section of the store for it. If you'd like a customized grocery list, just send me an email! I could tailor this to include your major shopping categories :D

{printable here}

Happy Autumn

2011-10-15T14:13:00.001-04:00

how cute are these, right?! hehe... love making these little pumpkins- so super quick and easy.

Steps::

(1) cut out a bunch of circles

(2) fold 'em all in half

(3) glue them together

(4) add a stem and some wire vines (or I've made them with paper).

Happy Autumn ya'll :)

P.S. I'll be back later today with some 31 Days of Lists the Like!! I know I'm a bit backlogged... eeep!

31 days :: day 12- Wrapping & Gift Closet Inventory

2011-10-12T18:47:00.011-04:00

Day 13:: Gift Wrapping & Gift Closet Inventories

Today I'd like to share my Gift Closet and my Gift Wrapping storage station. I store them together- both items that I've saved to gift to people, and wrapping supplies to package up said gifty items! I'm sharing the two ways that I've stored my Gift Closet- first is in a storage bin and second is in a hanging shoe/sweater storage piece. Being in the Army, we move around a lot and also we don't ever know how big our next home will be- so our Gift Closet & Wrapping Station is on the smaller side... one day I dream of an entire actual closet for such purposes :)

Now my Gift Closet consists of two main types of items-

Re-Gifting:: items that I was gifted that weren't quite my style, duplicates of things I already have, raffle items won, free gifts with purchase, etc.
New:: items that I've bought for a particular person that I'll be gifting at a later date {future birthday, Christmas, etc.}

And it's always good to know what I have and what I've bought so that I don't re-buy something, or go buy something new when I have the perfect gift already in my stash! So here's what I have on the Gift Closet Inventory...

gift :: short description of the gift
occasion :: useful if it's occasion-specific {ie. wedding, Christmas, etc} or if I've bought it intentionally for a person for a specific holiday
from :: who the gift was originally from {useful in the event of re-gifting}
to :: who a gift might be for if it's a re-gift, or who I intentionally bought the gift for

{ Gift Closet blank inventory }

Up next is my Gift Wrapping Inventory. Now if you're anything like me, you save all boxes, ribbon, and tissue paper that is salvageable. I like to reuse items- both to save me money and to save the environment a bit. So I have a central place to store all my wrapping items. I also need a way to keep track of all the items that I already have... in comes my inventory list!

It's pretty straight forward...

tissue :: all tissue paper
boxes/bins :: all gift boxes, also included is any random gift wrap paper or certificate holders... anything that doesn't fit in the other categories I've listed here
ribbons :: all ribbons and bows

{ Gift Wrapping blank inventory }

31 days :: day 11- Appliance Tracker & Service Record

2011-10-11T16:33:00.006-04:00

Day 11:: Household Appliance Tracker & Service Record

So today's list piggybacks off yesterday's list... today's list is a Household Appliance Tracker. Simply used for keeping track of warranty, brand, and model info regarding all of our more expensive home appliances- namely ones that may need to be serviced once in a while. It will also come in handy when we want to replace said items one day- when we go shopping we can bring this list along to remember which brands we did or didn't like. There's a secondary list today- it's a service record for said appliances. Easy way to keep track of when & where items were serviced, including a notes section so you can jot down what was fixed and if you liked the repair shop or not.

I keep this tracker in my Household Binder, and here are the things I keep track of with these lists...

Appliance Tracker::

Name- what appliance it is
Brand- brand name
Model- model name
From- where did you buy it? if it was a gift, I note "gift"
Date- date bought, if it was a gift, I note the year and that it was a gift
Warranty- how long and if it's limited or full warranty

Service Tracker ::

Name- which appliance was serviced
Date- date it was serviced
Location- Repair shop name
Cost- hopefully "N/A" if under warranty :)
Notes- notes about the part repaired and any notes regarding the repair shop

{blank printable here}

31 Days :: day 10- Kitchen Tools Tracker

2011-10-10T20:34:00.005-04:00

Day 10:: Kitchen Tools Tracker

So today's list is about kitchen tools... you know, anything you use to cook & serve with! Well DH and I are pretty adamant about our cooking & baking products being made in the USA- anything that will be used for freezing or heating we try to be pretty strict about. Sometimes we bend, but definitely no "made in China" products for those purposes- don't want to chance lead or other icky materials being allowed in our cooking!!

Anyhoo, I keep this tracker in my Household Binder at the moment, though it will potentially get switched to my Kitchen Binder {looking at branching out my main binder... I'll share my binder towards the end of the month!} So here are the things I keep track of with this list...

Name- pretty self explanatory
Brand- again, self explanatory
DW- is it dishwasher safe?
Mic- is it microwave safe?
Frz- is it freezer safe?
Ovn- is it oven safe? (seeing a trend here? hehe)
Material- numbers are if it's a recyclable plastic, otherwise just whatever it's made from
Date- date purchased
Warranty- how long warranty is good for, if applicable
Made- the all important "where it was made"

{ printable blank version here }

31 Days :: day 6, 7, 8, 9- monthly/weekly cleaning, meals & exercise, oh my!

2011-10-09T21:41:00.007-04:00

Hey all!!

SO so sorry that I let the past few days slip by without a post!! DH has the long weekend off, and he's been working a lot of late nights the past few months, so I was taking advantage of having him home for once ;)

Anyhoo... onwards to FOUR (4) lists!! Gotta make up for lost time!

These four lists go together really well in my household because they make up my little "home management" wall :) Each list is in a simple photo frame, and I use a dry erase marker to write on it. I used to print these out each week/month but found I wanted to save paper and thus decided to create a reusable system!

Day 6:: Monthly Cleaning Chart

This chart is my monthly cleaning chart. Each day of the week is assigned a different room or item to be cleaned/maintained. Some rooms have an "F" or "H" before them, which stands for "Full" or "Half"- so either a full top to bottom room cleaning or a quick clean of the major messy areas of the room.

This list is a little outdated- it's from before our latest move- some things I clean more often now, but it's all about what works for you! We don't have kids or pets yet, so things don't tend to get quite as dirty as quickly right now. And no cleaning Sundays since that's a day of rest :)

{ printable blank chart here }

Day 7:: Daily Chore Tracker

Here's the next list in the series... It's my daily chore chart... this one is slightly outdated since it's from before we moved, but my current one merely has a few items switched to different days. It's all about what works for you! For the "cleaning" each day, I refer to the above list to see what rooms need to be cleaned for the day. Everything that's above the dashed line is stuff that I do everyday, while things below the line change daily. I also leave a few extra blank slots for chores that pop up throughout the week.

{ printable blank version here }

Day 8:: Weekly Meal List

And the next list is my weekly meal list... it's a combination meal planner and nutrition tracker really... The top portion is a meal planner- dinners get filled in at the beginning of the week, and I fill in the rest throughout the week as I go.

Being vegetarian and gluten-free, I have to make sure I stay on top of my nutrition, so the bottom half of this list is a nutrition tracker- I "x" off a triangle when I have a serving of the designated food group. It's a good visual reminder for me if I'm lacking in a certain food group!

With the printable blank version {found below}, you could also use the bottom portion as a shopping list! :)

{ printable blank list here }

Day 9:: Exercise Tracker

And here's the final list for today's combined post! It's a pretty simple one... just a blank calendar- but this is where I keep track of what days I've been exercising! I simply write in a brief description of what I did. Mostly it's a visual reminder of whether I've been keeping on top of staying in shape ;)

{ printable blank chart here }

Lists coming soon!

2011-10-07T23:00:00.002-04:00

So sorry ya'll! Got distracted rearranging the crafting/sewing room ;)

Will be back tomorrow with a triple dose of Lists and the Like!!!

*huggs*

- Shauna

31 days :: day 5- overnight guest prep

2011-10-05T15:52:00.016-04:00

Day 5:: Overnight Guest Prep

.: Our Overnight Guest Basket :.

lotion {scented & unscented}
Q tips & cotton balls
tissues
contact case & saline solution
facewash
shampoo & conditioner
deodorant {men's & women's}
toothbrushes & toothpaste
razor
feminine products
lint roller
nail file

So that's our guest basket! I keep it in our spare bathroom for when overnight guests come to visit. Depending on the bathroom size, it's kept on the vanity or a little side table near the sink. Either way, we just leave it out so it's ready to go- one less thing to worry about when guests come!

So where's the list, you might ask? Ah ha, well it's below! In our guest room, obviously there's a variety of things that need to be done to prep for guests... and considering my general scatterbrainedness, I made a list to make sure I didn't forget anything ;) It can also be found {here as a printable}.

sharing this here...

31 Days :: day 4- Spending Tracker & budgets

2011-10-04T18:40:00.006-04:00

Day 4:: Spending Tracker

{aka. How To Create A Budget Plan}

So I don't actually budget... well not yet at least- we're working on it. Two months ago I started tracking our spending based on categories that we most frequently use {listed below}. Now our tracking system is super simple- each month it starts out as a blank spreadsheet posted on our fridge with the month scribbled at the top, and we write in the receipt amounts as we spend the money! I also cross-reference with our online statements for any online spending "receipts."

We've already noticed some trends in areas where we need to cut back- for instance, we noticed in August that we eat out a lot. So last month we cut back and we're continuing that trend, or we order smaller portions when we eat out {since half of the time when we get "doggie bags," we end up forgetting about them and throwing out the extra food anyways!}. I'll continue to gather info for a few more months and then create our family budget!

Our categories are as follows...

Groceries
Household
Auto
Clothing
Medical
Media {books, DVDs, movie theatre, etc}
Eating Out
Gifts {this includes tithing}
Bills {insurance, loans, etc}
Misc.

{printable version}

So here's our simple spending tracker! Please feel free to drop me a line if you'd like me to create a tracker for you with your own categories- but again, it's really nothing more than a fancy spreadsheet ;) This post is almost more of a "How to Create a Budget Plan" than really a "list" post... but that's why I entitled my series "Lists and the Like"... this would fall into the latter category! Enjoy :)

31 days :: day 3- bill paying monthly tracker

2011-10-03T21:15:00.005-04:00

Day 3:: Bill Paying Monthly Tracker

Today's topic of lists is that of my BPMT list: Bill Paying Monthly Tracker. This is kept in my "Household 6 Binder" aka. my Home Management Binder. I'll share that in a future post ;) Below is an image of the system I use now (I'll share it as a printable tomorrow... having computer problems tonight!)

Here is how I use my BPMT...

the tracker is broken down into End Of Month pay, Mid-Month Pay, and extras
bills due on the 7th-21st of the month come out of EOM pay
dills due on the 22nd-end of month and 1st-6th of the month come out of MM pay
"extras" consist of church tithing, charity donations, money transferred into savings, etc.
first row - the date that the bill is due
second row - what bill it is
each month is broken down into two rows... the first row is the date I paid the bill on and the second row is how much the bill was

Tomorrow I'll be sure to post a blank tracker for you to use if you like this method! And now that you've seen how I track bills now, a future post will be about past trackers and how I arrived at this current tracker, which has been working for over a year now- so I think I finally found a keeper!!

31 Days :: day 2- lists o lists

2011-10-02T20:31:00.005-04:00

Day 2:: list o' lists

So today I wanted to share with you a lists of lists that I've shared over the past few months on here... it's a good starting point, as I'll be building off of some of these lists in future posts!

.: Holiday Planner Lists :.

Autumn Project Tracker

Thanksgiving Menu

Thankgiving Grocery List

Christmas Budget Planner

Holiday Project Tracker

Christmas Card Tracker

Christmas Menu

Christmas Grocery List

Gift Lists

Room Decor 2010

Room Decor 2011

Thank-You Card Tracker

New Years Eve Menu

New Year's Grocery List

.: Chore Lists :.

Weekly Chores- version 1

Weekly Chores- version 2

Weekly Chores- version 3 {includes blog post}

.: Financial Lists :.

Bill Payments- version 1

Bill Tracking {includes blog post}

31 days of Lists and the Like:: day 1- in the beginning

2011-10-01T22:31:00.005-04:00

Day 1:: in the beginning

Hey ya'll! So I know I've let this blog go a bit the past few months, but that's all about to change :) I've decided to take up The Nester's challenge of 31 days of change! Bloggers across blogland are joining in with their own 31 day series, and mine is entitled "31 days of Lists and the Like."

I have lots of lists and the like that I've been wanting to share for some time- lists about...

organizing
bills & budgeting
family life
vacations
blogging
cleaning
Bible study
and more!

Some are in the form of planners, some are crafty lists {like lists in the form of bookmarks!}, and all will be printables! I'll be sharing lists I've used in the past and lists I use now. So stay tuned throughout the month because October is 31 days of Lists and the Like :)

31 days of Lists and the Like:: master list

2011-10-01T10:53:00.022-04:00

.: master list :.

For those of you following along here, this is the master list of all the 31 days of list sharing this month! If you're new here, start "in the beginning" to learn more about this month long journey!

Day...

autumn pumpkin decor

2011-09-28T10:48:00.011-04:00

WOW! I am so sorry I haven't checked in here for a while! Things have been a bit hectic since moving into our new home down south! I have lots of projects to share, just haven't gotten the time to post them! But, hopefully I'll be back on here more frequently sharing my fun ideas with ya'll! So here we go...

Yay, Autumn!! Again, it doesn't much feel like it down south since it's still pretty hot, so I'm just living off my memories of last fall up north- apple picking, pumpkin picking, jean & sweater weather... :)

Anyhoo, I started putting up my autumn decor and decorating my mantle (because we have a mantle in this house!!!) and here's one of the little projects I came up with! Super simple, I had all the materials on hand, but fun and festive :) Below I've included the material and instructions list for how I made this- they're not the best instructions ever, so just email me or leave a comment if you have a question! It would be perfect decor for any autumn party, decor, or halloween display!

.:. materials .:.

- felt (background & stem colors)*

- orange paper

- circle cutter (or trace a cup and cut out!)

- frame

- wire

- pencil/skewer (or other thin round object)

- glue dots

- hot glue gun

*you could totally use paper or fabric for this too!

.:. instructions .:.

(1) cut background felt to shape of frame

(2) cut pumpkin stem from felt

(3) cut out 4 circles

(4) fold circles in half and glue halves together, leaving the front and back halves without glue

(5) wrap wire around pencil/skewer and slide off, creating corkscrews

(6) using hot glue, attach pumpkin, stem, and wires to background felt

(7) you're done! enjoy :)

linking up to the parties below

Cross-posted on my crafting blog, SK Studios.

Cake USA

2011-06-22T10:44:00.005-04:00

Less than 24 hours after I made the cake pictured here... two-thirds of it is gone... and there's only two people in our household :) LOL, that is why I do not make sweets more often- they're gone almost before I even finish making them! hehe... Oh, and if you're wondering why the cake is so short, it's because it's a spelt cake (we're a low/no gluten household) and I'm still playing around with leaveners.

Anyways, DH has been having a rough time at work, so I decided to make him a cake, and dress it up a little! I made the cute little bunting, and after it vacated the cake, it took up residence as part of our patriotic mantel (pictures coming soon!).

I made the super simple twine balls whilst watching a movie. So simple and they are a great "filler" for any decor piece. I chose to put them in a cut-crystal piece that I bought at Disney World a few years ago. The twine was leftover from a wreath I made- tutorial coming soon! :)

.: linking up to :.

new Etsy bookmarks and inventory

2011-06-16T22:32:00.002-04:00

Just posted my newest round of inventory on Etsy! The two bookmarks shown below are among some of the items I added today :)

{visit my Etsy shop here}

Don't forget! In honor of my grand re-opening, a coupon code just for you, my lovely blog readers.... enter

BLESSINGS

in the coupon code and get

30% off!!

The code will be good through the end of the month!

Etsy Grand Re-Opening Week

2011-06-15T21:32:00.001-04:00

Hello all! It's that time of the week... yup, it's my

Etsy Grand Re-Opening!!!

And in honor of my grand re-opening, a coupon code just for you, my lovely blog readers.... enter

BLESSINGS

in the coupon code and get

30% off!!

The code will be good through the end of the month!

I've turned this re-opening into a week-long event... each day I'll be adding more goodies to my store... for tomorrow, I already have 7 more cards ready to add and some bookmarks, and who knows what else I might be adding! Check back each day for some new inventory!

USA mini-banner

2011-06-13T20:44:00.011-04:00

U-S-A! Hehe, being a military family, patriotic decor is up year-round. This particular piece I made for Memorial Day and will be staying up until 04 July... if not longer ;) Sorry for the delay in posting- I've been away for my baby bro's high school graduation!

It was super simple (and free! since I had all the materials already floating around left over from other projects) to create... find old frame, remove glass, cut fabric to fit in frame, cut mini banner, attach to twine, affix letter, and voila- instant decor! It's currently residing on our mantel (woohoo! our new home has a mantel! be assured there will be many a mantel decorations to come hehe!)... I'll post a pic of the entire mantel once it's completely dressed up for the season! I started decorating it for Memorial Day, and maybe by the 4th of July it'll actually be complete ;)

And don't forget...

June 15th, this Wednesday evening,

my Etsy shop is re-opening!

and a discount code posted on here

just for you, all my lovely blog readers :D

****************

:: Linking Up To ::

Just Something I Whipped Up

OWH's Memorial Day Bloghop

2011-05-28T10:37:00.003-04:00

Welcome! In honor of the holiday weekend Operation Write Home is having a blog hop! I am cross-posting over at my crafting blog: SK Studios.

If you'd like further details on the cards you see here, please feel free to head on over there :) You can also find details on my Etsy shop and other items for sale on my crafting blog!

In the spirit of the holiday, we were asked to make "Missing You" cards. I'm sharing my "One card made Two ways!" I apologize for the not-so-fabulous photo... we've just moved to our next Army post, and I'm still unpacking the craft room and finding the best lighting for photos!

And here's the second card- I ran it through my Cuttlebug to add some great embossing and switched up some of the embellies in the corner! So there ya have it friends! One card made Two ways :) Super simple!

I'll be back posting here regularly in the next week or so! Thanks for sticking with me :) With the new home comes lots of new organization, so I'll be sharing my tips and tricks! We also have a mantle now *woohoo* so I'll be sharing my decorations with ya! We also have room for a container garden *wooHOO* so I'll be sharing our adventures there :) And lots more fun stuff- yays!

Thank-you to our troops, especially those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."
~John 15:13

Please do stop by all the lovely blogs on our blog hop- you have all weekend, so take your time :) The banner at the top of the post will bring you to the beginning of the hop!

Have a blessed Memorial Day, my friends!

Blog Hopping with OWH

2011-05-20T13:27:00.001-04:00

I'll be kicking off my return to the blogging world {after my Moving Hiatus!} by taking part in Operation Write Home's Memorial Day Weekend Blog hop :)

If you want to participate too, check out the guidelines here: http://operationwritehome.org/bloghop.html

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T09:40:00.002-04:00

To all of my wonderful bloggy friends who are mothers...

Happy Mother's Day!

Yours is a job that is often thankless, but today is all about you! So have a blessed day- relax, enjoy, and thank-you :)

We've arrived!

2011-05-02T09:29:00.000-04:00

Hey ladies!

Just wanted to drop in quickly to let ya'll know... we've arrived in the sunny South! Quite a change from our previous Army post which was in the frozen tundra, hehe. It's going to be a little while before I can get time to start blogging again- there's a LOT of boxes to unpack! But be assured that before the month is out, I'll have some goodies to share and can't wait to swing by yours blogs to catch up and join in on some linky parties! :D

*huggs*

- Shauna

Moving

2011-03-25T14:12:00.000-04:00

Hey all!

So we are in the process of moving to our next Army post, and with that, it means that I won't be posting for a lil bit :( I have tons of organizing, moving, and crafting goodies to share once I'm back up and running in our next abode!! Please stick with me, and I'll see ya back here in a month or so ;)

*huggs*

- Shauna

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T14:55:00.008-04:00

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Being Irish, this is one of my favorite holidays! I made a little wall decor recently, but unfortunately the frame didn't have a hook to hang it horizontally, so it's my "mantle" decor {but unfortunately we don't actually have a mantle, so it's actually on our server in the dining room, hehe}.

Check out my crafting blog post {HERE} for the DIY instructions!!

And here's the rest of my "mantle," which I plan on adding to hopefully in the next week :) For the record, the playing card is a picture of the Cliffs of Moher on Ireland's coast. The deck it's from features different images from all around Ireland- and I bought it in Ireland! :) Also, the cute puppy in the corner has a shamrock on his rump and a bright green collar :) Oh, and the Snoopy sticker in the frame corner says "I'm one-eighth Irish setter" hehe, gotta love The Peanuts!

.: linking up at :.

dvd storage

2011-03-08T12:04:00.017-05:00

So this was our DVD storage... pretty typical. Actually, not even all of it is pictured above. We're movie people, if you didn't already guess ;) Unfortunately, as you can see, we maxed out our storage, so I was faced with a choice- buy another DVD cabinet and figure out where to squeeze it into our living room... or seek out an alternative DVD storage system...

Well it just so happened that recently I had read Kristina's post about her DVD storage {here}. Bingo! That system is what I need!

So enter a few thing things...

{1} Delicious Library 1 software @ $20 {optional}

{2} three clear storage bins @ $7.50 total

{3} a few packs of storage sleeves @ $22 total

{4} a few rolls of tape @ $5ish

And here's what I ended up with! Our VHSs take up half a drawer in our entertainment center.

I scanned the barcode of each DVD with my laptop built-in camera, which enters the DVD into Delicious Library.

Then I cut out the title of each DVD, the rating, and runtime, and also any special features- taped those to the front and back of each sleeve.

Now this ended up costing about $10 more than just buying another storage unit, not to mention it would have saved a LOT of time {it took about 3-4 days of on and off working}, but here are the reasons why this system really works for us, many of which are due to DH being in the Army and thus moving frequently...

{1} SPACE:: we can actually store these DVD bins all in our entertainment center, which gives us two freed up storage units- they now function as a buffet in the dining room!

{2} INSURANCE:: with the frequent moves, we have a higher chance of stuff getting lost. In the event that some DVDs do get lost, with Delicious Library, we now have a full listing of all our DVDs {and books!}

{3} TIME:: with each move, the movers are required to check that each DVD is in its case before they pack them... this takes a while when you have as many movies as we do, not to mention they could easily take a movie or two and claim it's not in the case. Now, all they have to do is peer through the clear sleeve front and make sure there's a disc in each sleeve!

{4} LISTS:: now I am a list person! I must have my DVDs alphabetized, but usually DH and I will be in the mood for an "action" flick or "comedy" but not have a specific movie in mind. So I often wished I could have my DVDs arranged by genre, but then what do you do about say "romantic comedies" which fit into two categories? This is where Delicious Library comes in again- I have "shelves" set up within my library, where I just drag and drop a movie title into a "shelf" {aka. a list} and so now I have a Comedy shelf, Romance shelf, Action shelf, etc. and each movie can be put on multiple shelves. Perfect! Best of both worlds- I have my alphabetizing but also my genre lists available at a click of a button :)

Keep in mind, you can always skip buying the software, which cuts the cost almost in half... and you could skip cutting out all the titles and movie info which would cut out much of the time involved with how I did it!!

I made some simple tags to show which titles are in which bin... A through J, K through R, and S through Z. The numeric ones are in the very front, but I didn't add that to the tags :)

I'll show you what I did with all the no longer needed DVD cases in another post, so stay tuned ;)

.: linking up to :.

I'm an Organizing Junkie

Show Me What Ya Got @ Not Just a Housewife

Organizing Mission Monday @ Organize with Sandy

My Crafty Weekend @ Until Wednesday Calls

Inspire Me Monday @ Singing Three Little Birds

All Things Inspired @ All Things Heart and Home

Catch A Glimpse @ A Glimpse Inside

We're Organized Wednesday @ Organize and Decorate Everything

the power of baking soda

2011-03-01T14:28:00.003-05:00

Ewwww! Yup... that's what happens to cups when you drink a LOT of tea and they're only handwashable. But, do not despair, there's baking soda!

So what exactly am I rambling about? Well, I have a lot of coffee/tea mugs that are not dishwasher safe. No biggie- I just wash them by hand... but the stains don't always come off by a simple sponge and soap. Now when I found out about baking soda as a stain remover, the above mug {and a few others} had about 2-3 years of stains on them! So take the above staining at the bottom of the mug, and imagine the entire mug stained like that. Ewww! I know....

Enter the baking soda!! Just sprinkle a little in the bottom of stained coffee mugs {or most any normal dish... double check about special surfaces though}, put in enough baking soda to make a bit of a paste, scrub it around the cup, and voila!
Presto, chango, clean cup-o! Yup, baking soda instantly washed away years of stain build up! {OK, so maybe not "instantly" as it did require a few minutes of scrubbing!} Again, if you have special surfaces, double check that baking soda won't do them any harm before you sprinkle away. As far as I know, most surfaces should be fine, and I use it on all of my dishes that need a little extra scrubbing power :)

Crustless Spinach Quiche

2011-02-25T19:27:00.006-05:00

Sorry it's been a while, ladies! Things are a bit crazy around here, but I'll be posting some more stuff soon!! Thanks for stickin with me ;)

So I usually don't like quiches since I don't eat eggs. I used egg beaters for this recipe and absolutely loved this!! I was pleasantly surprised :) I wanted something simple to make for breakfast whilst my in-laws were visiting. My MIL often makes a quiche when we visit them, so I knew they'd like it. This was fabulous! It's called a "tart" in my cookbook, but I use the term quiche- if anyone knows the technical difference between the two, please do let me know! :) So here is my vegetarian tweaked recipe! Original recipe is from:: Incredibly Easy Gluten-Free recipes

.: quiche ingredients :.

1 tsp olive oil

1 c. finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained

1 c. milk

3 eggs

1/4 c. grated parmesan

1 TB minced fresh basil OR 2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

.: topping ingredients :.

2 TB grated parmesan

.: directions :.

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-inch glass pie plate.

(2) Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onions and garlic. Stir in spinach. Spread mixture evenly into pie plate.

(3) Combine the remaining quiche ingredients in a medium bowl and gently stir until combined. Pour mixture evenly into pie plate. Bake 50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with the 2 TB parmesan topping.

.: notes :.

- I used Goya's extra virgin olive oil {that's essentially what we use in everything unless otherwise indicated!}

- I used 2% milk, as that's what we have in the house. I imagine any would type would work just fine though!

- As you can see in the photo, the spices all float to the top. Don't worry! That is how mine looked, and it tasted fabulous- not over spiced or anything :)

- I placed a cookie sheet on the rack below the rack that the quiche was on, just in case there's any overflow. The mixture pretty much fills a 9-inch pie plate to the brim, but I didn't end up having any overflow in the oven.

.: linking up to :.
Show and Tell Saturdays @ Be Different, Act Normal

Strut Your Stuff @ Saturday Mornings

tomato salad

2011-02-17T13:40:00.002-05:00

This is one of my newest favorite meals/appetizers/salads... it's super simple, super quick, and easy to scale for any size dinner or party!! This recipe came about as a combination of a caprese salad and cucumber salad. You'll see those two listed as "variations" below!

MAKES:: side dish for 2

.: ingredients :.

3 roma tomatoes

1/3 c. sweet onion

2-3 TB balsamic vinegar

1-2 TB extra virgin olive oil

Adobo {optional}

.: directions :.

1) Slice tomatoes into bite-sized pieces.

2) Dice onions.

3) Toss together onions and tomatoes in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add additional olive oil and balsamic to fit your taste buds :)

4) I like to sprinkle on a thin layer of Adobo {a garlic powder-based Latin spice}.

5) Chill or serve as is!

.: variations :.

- sprinkle with Italian seasoning, oregano, or other spices

- add about 3/4 cup of mozzarella, cut into bite-sized pieces. Garnish with fresh basil or sprinkle dried basil.

- substitute the tomatoes with 1 cucumber, and switch out the balsamic vinegar with white vinegar. Let marinate for 2-3 hours in the fridge to enhance the flavors.

Tissue Paper Topiary Tutorial

2011-02-13T16:16:00.011-05:00

Whew! Say that five times fast! Tissue Paper Topiary Tutorial... So I was the decorating gal for a recent Silent Auction event on-post, tight budget, so I made a few of the items... including the above topiaries! They're kinda an "in thing" right now, so I decided to try my hand at them :)

Our colors/theme was black & white damask & chandeliers with a pop of red. Although our family doesn't celebrate the holiday {everyday is "love day" in our home!} these would be great decor for a Valentine's Day theme too. So here's a {hopefully} pretty easy tutorial if you want to give them a go too!

Tissue Paper Topiary Tutorial

{Materials}

foam ball

wooden dowel

tissue paper {a lot}

hot glue gun {and lots of glue sticks!}

strands of beads

straight pins

ribbon

marbles/pebbles

sand

vase

{Step 1} Cut out roughly a bajillion tissue paper circles... I cut them out as I went along, so I wouldn't have too many left over, so I honestly don't know how many there ended up being. I took three sheets of tissue paper, folded them into quarters {so folded in half, and then in half again} and then cut out the circles. I played around with sizes when I first started, and settled on circles that were about 2.5-3" in diameter.

{Step 2} Take three circles, hold them at the center, then crinkle them {see above, bottom left corner of the photo}. This will be the center layer of your flower. Then take another three circles, hold them in the center, and kind of fold them around the "flower center layer" {see below}. The outer layer kind of naturally folds itself. It's not an exact science either, some of my flower outside layers were more "crinkled" than "folded," I just let them do their thing.

{Step 3} Add a nice big dollop of hot glue to the back center of your flower {where you were holding the flower}, push onto your foam ball, and hold for 10-20 seconds. You want to give the glue enough time to seep through all the layers of hot glue so that the flower center stays too. A few of my flower centers fell out- I just added a small dollop of glue to them and stuck them back onto their flower!

{Step 4} Repeat steps 1-3 until foam ball is covered :) I didn't like the look of the plain white {you can see I added in a few red flowers too!} so I took an ink pad and just ran it over my topiary ball. It inked up the edges of the flowers and gave it a nice two-tone look!

{Step 5} Paint a wood dowel and insert it into the vase. Then fill vase with marbles first then add in sand. This gave a very sturdy support base. I added some nice damask ribbon to top it off! You could also use foam for a support base, but since I used clear vases, I wanted something that looked nice and also would support.

{Step 6} These beads came pre-strung on fishing line. I tied the end of each line to a stick pin and then stuck the pin into the base of the topiary. My stick pins had little balls on the end, so it kept the line from falling off. If you use a regular stick pin {sans balls} then just add a tiny dollop of hot glue to secure the line to the pin after you're done tying.

{Step 7} Stand back and admire you're work :) You're done! I hope that wasn't too confusing... I'm a visual person, so I think the photos are more helpful than my word descriptions! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or email me and hopefully I can describe it better for you :)

.: linking up at :.

Newbie Party @ Debbiedoos

Strut Your Stuff @ Saturday Mornings

Favorite Things Friday @ A Few of my Favorite Things

Thursday Treasures @ The Treasurista

Making It With Allie @ What Allie's Making Now

Motivate Me Monday @ keeping it simple

Amaze Me Monday @ Dittle Dattle

Making Monday Marvelous @ c.r.a.f.t.

Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative

Craftomaniac Monday @ CraftOManiac

DIY Project Parade @ The DIY Showoff

My Crafty Weekend @ Until Wednesday Calls

Tute Yourself Tuesday @ Little Eme

Show Me What Ya Got @ Not Just a Housewife

Handmade Tuesdays @ Ladybug Blessings

Tip Me Tuesday @ Tip Junkie

All Things Inspired @ All Things Heart & Home

Catch A Glimpse Thursday @ A Glimpse Inside

hint o' cocoa bundt cake

2011-02-05T19:20:00.015-05:00

So my first go at making a bundt cake went pretty well! This recipe is super moist and was a big hit with the family!

{dry ingredients}

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

{wet ingredients}

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

{creaming ingredients}

8 oz unsalted butter

2.5 cups + 2 TB superfine granulated sugar

6 eggs

{glaze ingredients}

1/2 cup milk or water

2 cups confectioners' sugar

{instructions}

1. Preheat oven to 335 degrees Fahrenheit, placing rack in the center of the oven. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with non-stick oil-and-startch spray {aka. grease and flour pan}.

2. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another. Set aside.

3. Combine butter and sugar in a stand mixer with paddle attachment {or a large bowl and hand mixer} and mix on low for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.

4. Add eggs one at a time. Scrape bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.

5. Alternately add the dry then wet mixtures about a quarter at a time, without pausing between additions. Scrap the sides of the bowl and mix for another 20 seconds.

6. Scoop bater into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until the cake bounces back when lightly pressed and a wooden skewer inserted in the deepest part of the pan comes out clean.

7. Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes, and then flip out onto a rack and let cool completely.

8. Combine glazing ingredients and whisk. Drizzle mixture over cake. If it will not pour well, add more liquid as needed.

{notes}

- I used about 2/3 spelt flour and 1/3 gluten-free flour and it tasted fabulous!

- I will use less liquid in my glaze next time, or let it sit for a bit before pouring because it was really runny.

- I also added 1oz of cocoa to the dry ingredients to give it a hint of chocolate taste. Recipe also suggests adding 1oz melted unsweetened and 3oz melted bittersweet chocolate to the wet ingredients for more chocolate taste <-- will be trying that next time!

- As you can see, I also sifted some extra powdered sugar on top to make it look pretty ;)

{please excuse the stand mixer in the photos!}

original recipe is from: United Cakes of America

.: linking up at :.

I'm loving it @ tidy mom

show and tell saturday @ be different, act normal

newbie party @ debbiedoos

sweets for a saturday @ sweet as sugar cookies

craft o maniac monday @ craft o maniac

my crafty weekend @ until wednesday calls

motivate me monday @ keeping it simple

just something I whipped up @ the girl creative

making monday marvelous @ c.r.a.f.t.

market yourself monday @ sumo's sweet stuff

amaze me monday @ dittle dattle

strut your stuff @ saturday mornings

weekly chore tracker

2011-01-30T15:03:00.008-05:00

So my craft room is still under construction, so I haven't been able to share more photos with you, but they'll be coming soon!!

Meanwhile, I figure I'd share some of my lists with you :) Above is my weekly chore tracker... well, one of them... I have a tiered system, which I'll explain, and then share examples of over the next few days!

So I split up each of my days- the top are things that I do everyday, the bottom are chores that vary daily. Where it says "cleaning," I have a separate list that I refer to that has my cleaning chores for each day, since there are a few of them. I'll share that list with you tomorrow! The rest of the items are- working on my thesis, business related things {making cards, working on orders, etc} and OSC, a volunteer organization for which I'm the treasurer.

Most of the varying chores are self-explanatory... Monday I switch out washcloths and pillowcases, Thursday I switch out bed linens, kitchen hand towels, washcloths, and bath towels. This is my first round of setting up a cleaning schedule, so it could very well change in the future if I find that some chores need to be done more frequently or work better on a different day.

Below I've included a blank printable version of my chore chart and also one of my previous chore charts, which might work better for some people. It worked well for me when we had a smaller apartment which didn't require as much cleaning, and also while DH was deployed and I didn't have as much going on at the time. Please let me know if you'd like a personalized version- I'd love to create one for you!!

.: download tracker here :.

.: linking up at :.

Amaze Me Monday @ Dittle Dattle

Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Creative Girl

Strut Your Stuff @ Saturday Mornings

Marketplace Monday @ Finding Fabulous

My Crafty Weekend @ Until Wednesday Calls

Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping It Simple

CraftOManiac Monday

bathroom cleaning & crafting

2011-01-26T14:14:00.009-05:00

So here's a recent project I wanted to share with you! It started with the above "ingredients"... baking soda, vinegar, label maker, and old containers. It ended with what you see below!

Here's the backstory... in recent months I switched over to using just straight vinegar and baking soda to clean our toilets {well, our whole house really!} You can see my post {here} about all the awesome uses for baking soda around the house, and {this article} for awesome uses for vinegar! Anyhoo, so using little dixie cups to sprinkle the two around the toilet bowl just hasn't been working the best. So I took two old containers, added some scrapbooking paper and mod podge, and there ya go! I was originally going to use the label maker, but the old containers were hanging onto their stickers pretty well, so I decided to cover them up instead of spend the extra time removing them.

Feel free to take a peek at my blog post {here} on my crafting blog to see a bit more of the process for crafting the fun labels and why I stamped "merry & bright" on them... :)

So above are the "ingredients" that I use for cleaning our bathrooms.... my new baking soda and vinegar containers which I use for cleaning out the toilet bowl, the bigger bottle of vinegar and the white rag for wiping down surfaces, the blue microfiber for dusting, and the tan rag is for wiping down the toilet lids and seats with vinegar. Even though vinegar kills 99% of germs, I'd rather keep my toilet rag separate from my sink rag ;) I have toilet bowl brushes in every bathroom, so those coupled with my above arsenal get the job done!

So that's my bathroom cleaning collection! Do you have any neat tricks for cleaning??

.: linking up at :.

Works for Me Wednesday @ We are THAT family

All Things Inspired @ All Things Heart & Home

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

Show and Tell @ Blue Cricket Designs

Show Me What Ya Got @ Not Just A Housewife

Strut Your Stuff @ Saturday Mornings

Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello

craft room redo: part 1

2011-01-22T16:03:00.014-05:00

So the past week or so I've been completely redoing my craft room. I'll share with you over the next week or two how I've been reorganizing and rearranging!! I'll start with one of the more simple redo's in the room, but has a huge impact! I found some fabric that I LOVE and I needed to hide some of the functional yet unsightly organizational pieces that are under two of my crafting desks.

Enter, the table skirt! Now I did a super simple version because we'll be moving in a few months, so I didn't want to spend a lot of time making skirts for this particular room layout, since I may not even have a craft room in a few months!! Anyhoo, I simply cut the fabric down and added some sticky-back velcro, and voila! Instant table skirt :) I intentionally didn't wrap the fabric around the entire side of the table on the right since the heatduct is under that edge of the table- don't want to block the heat, considering the current temps are in the negatives this weekend!!

Now if I had a permanent crafting room, I would have folded over and sewed the edges {as you can see, there are small frays here and there}, sewed the velcro to the fabric for some extra strength, and included a split down the middle of the skirts to make easier access to the tools underneath. I probably would have added a ribbon border at the top edge too.

I hope you enjoyed this little transformation, and I look forward to sharing more with you soon!!! :D

.: linking up to :.

Motivate Me Monday

Craft-O-Maniac Monday

Making The World Cuter Monday

Metamorphosis Monday

The DIY Showoff

My Crafty Weekend

froggy shower printables

2011-01-16T13:03:00.003-05:00

Here are the two printables I promised you! Click on the titles to be taken to the download site.

The first is the two shower games I put together. I found the first idea online and switched out a few of the starter words and made it all pretty. The second one I used Puzzle Maker to create the word search, then made it all pretty :) That site is pretty sweet- has tons of types of puzzle it can make and all for free!

I made the little froggy image myself- I couldn't find one online I liked, and I didn't have a stamp I could use. Let me know if you'd like the games but with different colors or images!! I'd be happy to edit and send it to you :)

Froggy Shower Games

Froggy Cupcake Toppers

froggy shower

2011-01-15T11:36:00.002-05:00

So I'm wicked bummed that most of the photos didn't turn out.... so bear with the poor photography, but I wanted to share some cute ideas from a baby shower a few of us wives recently threw for our friend who's expecting a boy in May! Again, please excuse the poor photos, but hopefully you can get some fun ideas out of it!! :)

.: Food :.

We catered the event from one of our favorite local Mexican restaurants. For dessert, fondue was on the menu, so I personalized bamboo skewers for us! I also went with cupcakes {not my best work, I was short on time!} but I made little froggie toppers for them! I'll get you the printables for them soon ;) And I used those for nametags for our glasses too! I just added an eyelet and some ribbon!

.: Guestbook :.

I just whipped up something SUPER simple- cut out pieces of paper, rounded the top edges, put eyelets on the front and back pages and threaded some ribbon through and added a charm. The inside pages, I stamped a journaling stamp so we could each leave her some advice or congrats, I also added some coordinating scrapbook paper along the top of each page. On the inside of the back cover, we each wrote down our predictions for date, size, and weight of the baby, so it'll be something fun momma can look back on- see who was closest!

.: Decor :.

Well, I kept it simple. They're moving to GA this week, so we didn't want to get them too too much. I made a small diaper cake {topped with a washcloth... do you know how hard it is to find froggy-themed stuff?!}. In the background, to the left of the cake, you can see we did a wishing well- everyone brought their gifts unwrapped and we added it all into a baby tub :)

.: Games :.

Well, for a door prize, I added some scrapbook paper to clothespins, and then hung baby socks up on some twine. I used my PTI bookmark die, and then cut them shorter to fit in the socks, and added some ribbon to the top. On each "bookmark" I wrote a date. Whoever pulled out her due date won the prize!

I also did two other games, I'll get you the printables for them soon ;)

.: Favors :.

This was a last minute party {since she was moving in a week!} so I decided to keep the favors simple. I went with a small candy display- everyone grabbed a bag and filled it with their favorite candies! For the bag tags, I used my PTI bookmark die & embossing plate, added a sentiment, gems, and froggie, then tied them to the bags! Super simple but cute, I think :) This might have been my favorite piece that I made!!

I hope you enjoyed and got a few ideas for your next party!!! :)

metamorphasis tea

2011-01-10T19:16:00.007-05:00

.: BEFORE :.

So, imagine, if you will, three kitchen cabinet shelves full of boxes and tins of tea, stacked and crammed in whatever way they can fit, haphazardly shoved in wherever there's room.... well, that was my cabinet. I didn't get to take a photo, unfortunately, but trust me, it was ugly!

.: AFTER :.

What you now see before you (well, below, really) is our newly revamped kitchen cabinet! We have a TON of tea. Both DH and I love us some tea, pretty much every kind of tea too, so between us, we have a boatload of tea. So, let me take you on a tour....

Yup, that's our cabinet! I'm a bit proud, I'll be honest :) And it's been that way for over a month now, so I'm quite pleased that it's withstood the test of time. I think that's the real organizational test... if you can actually maintain the organization, then that's a pretty good bet that it's a GOOD organization method :)

Anyhoo... I started by emptying out the cabinet. It covered about half of our counter, and we have a fair amount of counter space! I'd been saving the clear plastic containers that we get our bulk foods in, and they came in quite handy when redoing this space. Our very top shelf (only pictured above) has our surplus boxes of tea {usually I'll grab one of those boxes when we travel and toss it in my bag} and our hot chocolate tins. Then the middle shelf....
We have four plastic containers that fit perfectly around the lil white wire shelf. The top two containers hold my green and black teabags. The bottom two containers hold my white and red tea bags. Then there's two tea tins {please note the "Official Unbirthday Tea"- it's an Alice in Wonderland themed tin from Disney, hehe, it's a green tea, love it!}. You can see in the first photo that there's also some more tins and boxes off to the right. They're less frequently used and stacked nicely, so I decided to leave them be.... then we move to the bottom shelf....

I've had these lil containers floating around doing various jobs throughout the years. They're per-fect for holding tea bags! Just the right size- love it! The left two containers are all DH's teas. The right container has "our teas" {ones that we both like}- Numi's puerh teas and Tazo's Passion tea, an herbal fruity tea.

My favorite tea? Well it's actually in a tin on the counter. It's Wegman's loose leaf decaf British Breakfast. I usually have a least one {if not a few cups} a day, so it gets a special place of prominence outside of the cabinet.... ok, so it's not really a "special" place, it's wedged in between the sugar canisters and the utensil holder, but point being, it's out all the time since I use it so much ;) Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed our journey along my tea cabinet. Thanks for reading, hehe!

.: linking up here :.

Metamorphasis Monday @ Between Naps on the Front Porch

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

All Things Inspired @ All Things Heart And Home

Get Organized Party: Kitchen @ Domestically Speaking

Operation Organization @ Sassy Sites

Simplify for the New Year @ A Home Made by Kiki

frugal JOY

2011-01-07T00:44:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick and frugal gift, and you could personalize this for any celebration or holiday. Give as a birthday gift and spell out the recipient's name. Make a set for each season: "summer" "autumn" "winter" "spring" to use as home decor. There are so many possibilities!!

So I made this as a gift for my MIL this year. It came together pretty quickly- cut out the letters {I freehanded them, but next time I'll bring out a font and trace}, distressed the edges with some tearing and ink, added the sentiment stamp, the snowflake and button, a few embellies and done!

I splurged on some nice frames, but they were at 50% off so they were still only $5 each. So combine that with the cost of the individual scrapbooking supplies I used, and this ended up totaling maybe $8 at most!

diy fabric trees

2011-01-06T12:36:00.006-05:00

so I know this post is a little late for Christmas, but I figured I'd share some projects I didn't get a chance to post during the crazy busy holiday season!

You could totally customize these as decor for a party, using the colors of your party theme, or make some for each season of the year, customizing the colors- pastels for spring, muted earth tones for autumn, etc.

I had some extra fabric scraps left over from making our family ornaments this year {photos to come!} and I didn't want to throw them out. I had bought a few styrafoam trees so I figured this would be a perfect use for those scraps!!

.: materials :.

fabric "ribbon" scraps

styrafoam tree

ribbon {for bow}

straight pins

.: steps :.

1) cut fabric "ribbons" 1 inch thick and length... about 1.5-2 times the circumference of the tree your using. This will give you enough extra fabric to make the ruffles.

2) use two pins to attach your first ribbon to the tree, starting at the bottom. I used one pin at each corner {one towards the top of the tree and one towards the bottom}. This will end up being the back of the tree since the bottom pin heads of each row will be exposed once you're done.

3) every 1-1.5" crimp the fabric and use a straight pin to hold in place. I only used a pin at the top of the fabric {the edge closest to the top of the tree} because I'd found that using a pin at the top and bottom didn't look right or give a nice ruffle look.

4) continue crimping until you reach back to the beginning of your fabric and secure with a pin or two

5) repeat for each row moving towards the top of the tree, overlapping each row about 1/4-1/2"

6) before I did the last row at the top, I cut two short "ribbons" of fabric and crossed them over the top of the tree. then I finished the top row with the crimping.

7) I cut a few pieces of ribbon and draped them over the top of the tree, securing them with a pin.

8) then to top it off, I made a bow and secured it to the top with a pin

I hope that made sense- if not, shoot me an email and I'll try to give a more detailed description and take a few more photos!

.: linking up at :.

Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ somewhat simple

Crafty Soiree @ yesterday on tuesday

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ someday crafts

All Things Inspired @ all things heart and home

holiday planner printables {again!}

2011-01-01T23:02:00.009-05:00

Although a bit late for this year, here's one of the final sets of printable that I have in my holiday planner! If you click on the "Holiday Planner" button in my right sidebar, you can view all of the printables I have posted thus far, and I will post more there in the future too! Oh yes, and...

Happy New Year's!!!

Thanksgiving Grocery List &
Gifting Lists {to keep track of what sizes friends & family wear, their favorite colors, etc}

New Year's Grocery List &
Gift Closet Inventory

Christmas Card Tracker & Autumn Project Tracker

merry Christmas

2010-12-24T21:02:00.003-05:00

‎"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."- Luke 2:11

Merry Christmas

more Christmas printables

2010-12-22T18:55:00.004-05:00

Just a quick post... As I'm sure it is with many of you, we have relatives coming in for the holidays, so things here are a bit BUSY to say the least :) But I wanted to stop in and share a few new printables with you- perfect for your Holiday Planner! The links to download them can be found at the end of the post!

Christmas Project Tracker & Gift Lists

Thank-You Card Tracker & Christmas Shopping List

-- links to download --

.: Thank-You Card Tracker
.: Shopping List
.: Holiday Project Tracker
.: Gift List Tracker

Advent calendar

2010-12-17T23:32:00.006-05:00

This is the Advent calendar I actually made last year. I filled each container with M&Ms and mailed it to my DH who was deployed in Iraq at the time. We still have yet to determine if it made it home or not with him, so it wasn't used for this year, but I wanted to share it anyways because I really really love how it turned out! :)

Christmas is such a special time isn't it? The birth of our Saviour Lord Jesus! Really, what better and more joyous time of year is there?

The basic supplies were...

a styrafoam circle covered in fabric, adhered with hot glue
tiny tins by Wilton and run ~$20 for a bucket of 30 at Michaels. Again, the tins were also attached with hot glue!
I used my nestabilities to cut out the circles adhered to the inside of many of the tins' covers.
Most of the DP is from a DCWV stack from JoAnns
many of the stickers and rub-ons are from Michaels by K&Co and Pooch & Sweetheart {$1 bin}.
You can't see it well, but around the outside rim of the base runs a strip of dark green ribbon, I think from the clearance bin at Michaels. It helped cover up some of the fabric puckering around the edge!

.: linking up at :.

Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello

Show & Tell Saturdays @ be different act normal

A Few of my Favorite Things

yummy frugal gifts for foodies

2010-12-17T20:59:00.005-05:00

Here are three great gifts for the foodies on your list! Not only are they themselves frugal homemade gift ideas, but they also feature some great frugal gift wrapping ideas! Here we go...

.: gift :.

Here's some homemade trailmix that I made for my dad- any local bulk food store makes this a real economical gift as you can make a huge bag of this mix and get quite a few gifts out of it {or keep some for yourself!}. Many grocery stores these days even have a section where you can buy dried fruit and nuts in bulk. In our mix we used- coconut, raisins, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds and walnuts. I frequently also add craisins and peanut M&Ms.

.: wrapping :.

For the wrapping I simply cut a piece of an old paper bag, stamped it, crumpled up then inked the edges, and then wrapped with twine!

.: gift :.

Here's a simple 16 Bean Soup mix... what's included is just the beans {less than $1} and a bay leaf. Not pictured here is the recipe card I made up and tucked on top underneath the wrapping. The plastic container was leftover from some candies we'd bought.

.: wrapping :.

To wrap it I cut a strip from an old paper bag, then cut some tulle and wrapped it around. I used this same fabric for making ornaments {photos coming soon!} and had this frayed edge of the fabric left over. I thought it was perfect for this, so I wrapped that around the tulle layer!

.: gift :.

Here is your standard cookies-in-a-jar gift. Not gonna lie- I always love these!! Here's a link to the recipe I used {Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies}. This gift is going to my MIL and I already know she loves these cookies but doesn't have the recipe {until now!}. I left out all of the wet ingredients {of course!} and I packaged the brown sugar {well I used sucanat} in a little baggie right at the top of the mix, since that needs to be mixed separately. I know the recipe calls for adding the chips and craisins in last, but it's ok if they get mixed in with the rest of the dry ingredients.

.: wrapping :.

Another super simple one- I cut out a rough circle from some felt scraps, tied some twine and raffia around, added a snowflake button, and stamped a few snowflakes on the top of the felt. Done! :)

.: linking up at :.

Handmade Tuesdays @ Ladybug Blessings

Holly Bloggy Christmas Party @ Tatertots and Jello

Show & Tell Saturdays @ be different act normal

Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello

Handmade Christmas @ Someday Crafts

Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous

Christmas card display

2010-12-17T20:57:00.008-05:00

Here's our Christmas card display area! I knew something was missing from our living area- I really wanted to do garland down the stairs, but I'd already used it up on the front porch and kitchen... then I found an old clip out from a magazine of boxes strung up around a bedroom and i KNEW that was what I wanted to do along the stairs! I also didn't have a place to hang up Christmas cards yet, so I figured I'd combine the two :) It's a pretty cheap display to make too!

.: materials :.

scrapbooking paper

ribbon

thick ribbon {to hang everything from}

clothespins

little boxes

.: directions :.

I started with some big red ribbon that I had left over from our wedding and hung that up at the top end of the stairs, tied onto a little clear 3M hook. I had lots of little boxes stashed away {I keep everything... just in case I could use it for a crafty project later, hehe!} so I wrapped the boxes in leftover Christmas scrapbooking paper- you could use regular wrapping paper too, or kraft paper, even tissue paper, maybe stamp on the kraft or tissue paper and make your own designer wrapping paper ;) Then I added a few bows and strung them up on the big red ribbon. I added a few 3M wire holder hooks along the railing {you can see one in the below picture} because otherwise the ribbon would be too heavy and sag a bit. Then I added some coordinating scrapbook paper to the front of some clothespins and clipped those in between each gift on the ribbon. Each time I get a new Christmas card in the mail, I punch a hole in the inside/back and string some twine through it, tie a bow, and clip it up with the clothespins! From far away, it kinda looks like the clothespins are holding up the gift boxes, which I'm ok with, it's a neat effect :)
.: linking up at :.

Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello

Show & Tell Saturdays @ be different act normal

A Few of my Favorite Things

Simple Frugal Sports Gift

2010-12-16T10:00:00.005-05:00

My mom is a HUGE Yankees fan- seasons tickets, all the paraphernalia, the whole bit. So when I found these great vintage stamps on eBay, I knew I had to make something with them for her! So this is a great gift that you could easily customize for many sports, teams, or causes- the Post Office seems to have a few special stamps each month, and you can find vintage ones at a variety of places.

This is quick, frugal, and totally DIY! So I started with the stamps which were ~$1 each. I got this frame on sale for $5. Then I just added some scrapbooking paper and ribbon in Yankees colors, and bam! Instant sports memorabilia gift for under $10! After I photographed it I put the glass back in the frame- I just didn't want any glare ;)
.: linking up at :.

Handmade Tuesdays @ Ladybug Blessings

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

Holly Bloggy Christmas Party @ Tatertots and Jello

Handmade Christmas @ Someday Crafts

Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous

Christmas Branch Display

2010-12-16T09:57:00.002-05:00

Do you have some extra branches after trimming up the tree? Don't want to just throw them away? Here's a great little Christmas display that's quick, frugal, and easy!!

Simply put the extra branches in a large vase, tie a ribbon around, and hang ornaments- instant Christmas decor! :) If you prefer a more vertical display, wrap some wire around the base of the branches or trim up the branches a bit after you put them in the vase. You could also add some decorative stones in the bottom of the vase if you wish. Oh! And don't forget to fill up the vase with water to keep those branches fresh!

.: linking up at :.

A Crafty Soiree @ Yesterday on Tuesday

Get Your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog

Room Decor Planner printables

2010-12-15T21:31:00.005-05:00

Here are two more planners for your holiday planner! These are to help remember and organize your decorations from this year and for next year. Record the theme and decor of your rooms this year and which bin you stored them in! I've included planners for this year and also next year- to record ideas for next year's room decors! Links to the printables are below the image if you'd like to download them for yourself!

Printable has a total of three pages to include each room in your house- if you'd like a customized version including any special rooms in your home, send me an email and I'll make one for you! :)

{download Room Decor Planner 2010 here}

{download Room Decor Planner 2011 here}

frugal DIY Christmas wreath

2010-12-11T00:45:00.010-05:00

So here's our Christmas wreath! It's probably the decor item that I'm most pleased with this holiday :) It was not only super simple, but pretty cheap too! Here's a lil DIY breakdown for ya...

.: materials :.

ribbon

ornaments

wire

branches

.: how to :.

(1) start off by trimming and arranging the branches how you'd like them.

(2) take some wire and wrap it in and around the top of the branches. You don't have to worry too much about whether the wire shows since the ribbon and ornaments will cover it!

(3) string your choice of ornaments on individual wires and wrap around branches. Some wires I wrapped around the top and some wires I actually weaved into the middle area of the branches in order to get the ornaments to lay how I wanted them.

(4) Top off your branches with a big bow!

(5) String some extra wire to the back of your arrangement and use this to attach to a hook for hanging.

(6) Step back and enjoy your beautiful wreath!

See! Super simple! And cheap too... the ornaments were left over from other arrangements I had done, but I got the big ones in a larger set for $5 and the smaller ones in a big set also for $5. The ribbon was left over from other bows I bought, but that roll was $5 at most. The branches were free {yay}... call them a "gift" with purchase of our Christmas tree ;) So for the amount of each product I used, the whole wreath couldn't have cost more than $10... and you'd pay at least twice that in most stores!

.: Frugal Tip of the Day :.

Most Christmas tree shops or nurseries have tons of extra branches lying around. If you ask nicely, they will likely be more than happy to let you take a few off their hands ;)

.: linked up at :.

Weekend Wrap-up Party @ tatertots and jello

Show and Tell Saturdays @ be different act normal

Etsy holiday special

2010-12-10T14:59:00.002-05:00

I've just posted a few gift tag sets to my etsy store!! Feel free to check them out :) And I've extended my Cyber Monday sale through the whole month!

>> HOLIDAY SPECIAL <<

Orders placed in the month of December receive free gift with purchase! Every purchased set of holiday cards will include a free set of 10 handmade Christmas gift tags! Every purchased individual card {non-set cards} will include a free handmade bookmark! Every gift tag set purchased receives an extra 5 tags free with their set!

{visit my etsy shop here}

Menu planner printables

2010-12-10T13:13:00.002-05:00

Here are two more menu planners for your holiday planner! Just like I said, here's the Thanksgiving menu and New Year's menu planners :) Links to the printables are below each image if you'd like to download them for yourself!

{download Thanksgiving Menu here}

{download New Year's menu here}