$1.00 for tomatoes!

Want a frugal and fun way to get some cheap produce!? Well, I found one at Hunsader's Farm in Bradenton, Florida. We were able to fill a five gallon bucket of tomatoes for $1.00. Yes, we had to pick them ourselves, but that was all part of the fun! Why was it so cheap? Well, it was because the tomato season was just about over and we had our pick of all the left over tomatoes. The deal was you could fill up as many five gallon buckets you wanted for $1.00 each. You just had to weed through all the bad ones. First we picked the tomatoes, then I bought a fresh picked (that day) watermelon for $4.00 while the kids played on the playground. Next we got to feed the goats and look at all the other farm animals. We only were there for 3 hours, but the kids were all worn out by the time we left and took nice long naps. Every mothers goal! In conclusion, my frugal tip of the day is to go online (that where I found out about this deal) and find a local farm. Many of them will have u-pick deals that are very cheap toward the end of that particular season.

Handmade gift for less than $5.00

Let's face it, giving gifts can be expensive. Every year I feel like there is  one more person that I need to give a gift to. I don't want to sound like an ungiving person, I am not. I love to give gifts! However, we live on a budget, a very tight budget that has very little wiggle room for gifts. I have found that by using my love for baking and card making I can make a very nice gift for less than $5.00. I made this gift for my daughters preschool teacher. I packaged 5 homemade chocolate chip cookies and a stack of homemade thank you cards (something teachers tend to use a lot). I placed them in a nice gift bag. The thank you note her teacher gave me summed it all up, "handmade gifts are gifts that come from the heart".

This is linked to Work for me Wednesdays, Tip Junkie, Raising Homemakers, Wednesdays at the Well, Frugal Fridays.

Making your own Frozen Waffles

As a kid, my mom ALWAYS had "home made" frozen waffles in the freezer. Now, I wanted to be like everyone else and eat Eggo's for breakfast, but my mom said they were tooooo expensive!! I vowed never to be like her and make my own frozen waffles, but guess what?? I did and they are awesome!! Much better than Eggo's and much cheaper!!! Here is how you do it!

• Make my waffle recipe or yours. I find if I have all my ingredients out and pre-measured it goes much faster.

• Set out some cooling rack for the waffles.
• Heat up the old waffle iron and start making waffles!! Don't make the waffles as big as the waffle iron, it will make them easier to place into the toaster to reheat! I place each waffle on the cooling rack as soon as I take it off the waffle maker.

• Once all the waffle batter is used up (and you eat a couple) wait until all the waffles are completely cooled!! This will keep the waffles from getting soggy from condensation. Layer each waffle between wax paper and gently place inside a gallon Ziploc bag. Don't let any waffle touch the Ziploc bag, be sure wax paper makes a barrier, this will prevent freezer burn.

• Clear off a shelf in the freezer and place each bag in the freezer. I think I was able to get 3-4 waffles in each Ziploc bag. Place each bag in the freezer, do not stack until waffles are completely frozen!!!
• To re-heat, simply take a whole waffle out of the bag, break in half and place each half into the toaster. Sometimes it takes two trips through the toaster before they will be ready to eat. Add butter and syrup and you will be in waffle heaven!!!

Backyard Chicken Waterer

There is nothing more annoying than your chickens constantly dumping their water over, or using it as their personal toliet. It seemed no matter how hard I tried I couldn't keep their waterer full or clean. Then I found out about chicken nipples. Now I am sure some of you who have huge flocks have known about these for along time. I don't need the whole PVC pipe set up studded with the chicken nipples. I only have 4 chickens!!! So my neighbor came up with this brilliant way to make a simple backyard chicken waterer with stuff you probably have laying around your house. It is cheap and simple. Click here to see why I love my chickens so much.

What you need:

• 1 chicken nipple
• 1 empty 2 liter soda bottle
• 23/64 drill bit and drill
• 1/1/4 drill bit (or a thumb tack)

What you do:

• Drill a hole into the center of the lid of the soda bottle
• Screw in threaded portion of the chicken nipple
• Poke a small hole or use thin drill bit through the center of the bottom of the soda bottle (this releases pressure allowing water to flow through the chicken nipple.)
• Fill with water (put a finger over the hole on bottom of bottle).
• Replace cap that now has chicken nipple attached
• Hang up for chickens to drink. Must be hung high enough that the chickens have to lift their heads to peck at the bottle.

Chicken nipple. I added some plumbers tape.

Drilling hole for chicken nipple.

Finished Product!! I secured mine with small bungie cords.
If you think of a better way comment and let me know!

Grow your own chicken treats

I have been surprised by all the things I have seen marketed for chickens. I've seen chicken diapers, chicken outfits, and chicken treats just to name a few. I didn't want to spend the money on buying chicken treats, but I did want to make my chickens happy! So, Savannah and I went out and spent .99 cents on a pack of sunflower seeds and planted a whole bunch of them. The goal was to make my own chicken treats without relying on anyone but myself and my backyard. How do you do it? Well, I feel silly writing a post about it because it was SO EASY!! All you do is let your sunflowers grow and go to seed. Don't cut it down until you are able to take your thumb and pull a few seeds out. (While waiting for this to happen, Savannah would walk by the sunflower and say "oh mommy, poor flower"). Once the sunflower was dried out, I took a pair of scissors and cut off the flower, saved a handfull of seeds to plant later, and threw the flower into the chicken pen. My chickens were SO happy!!! I wished I had taken a picture of them eating the sunflower! But I did take a picture of the devoured sunflower. Enjoy! I know my chickens did!

This is linked to Bloomin Tuesdays.

The latest in digital scrapbooking

I have no spare time on my hands. I am sure many of you feel the same way! Between house work, the kids, husbands, pets etc. women today have many demands placed on them. That being said, I still like to scrapbook, but have NO TIME to do it! A friend of mine suggested digital scrapbooking. I looked on some websites like Walmart.com, Snapfish, Shutterfly and while they offer digital scrapbooking, it is VERY basic and simple. Kinda reminded me of some of my first scrapbook pages I made. I couldn't go back to that, I had come way to far. Well, then I learned about Stampin Up's new Digital Scrapbooking software. I must state I am not a demonstrator (I use to be) and I am not getting any sort of kick backs for writing this (I wish). Their software offers just about everything from their catalog, and you can download updates. You can let them create your scrapbook, you can add your photos to their templates, or you can design your own pages from scratch. I have found that I can make time to be on my laptop while watching the news at night or in the car on a long drive. So basically, I have been digitally scrapbooking one to two pages a night with my new software while sitting on the couch. No clean-up, no mess, no fuss just a lot of photo fun. Like I told a friend of mine, you could literally sit on the beach with your thumb drive and laptop and scrapbook. In my opinion, life couldn't get any better!! So check out some of my pages, and click here to go my friends Demonstrator Website (you get a preferred price if ordering through a demonstrator) and click on the online catalog to see the software first-hand.

They offer printing services, $2.50 for one 12X12 page, or they will make a book for you price varies based on length and options you choose. You can also e-mail your pages to friends and family, make a DVD or CD containing your scrapbooks and make them interactive by adding music and video. The ideas are endless for this software. The thing I like most, is I can update my software with their latest ribbon, brads and paper of my choosing. It isn't just one giant download and half the stuff I don't like. So check out my links for yourself and let me know what you think!!!

This link shows a video of the software.

This link is good if you just purchased the software and want an easier tutorial.


This post is linked to Miscellany Monday.

Goals

My good friend will like this post. My mother would also be proud. I am not a list person, and often feel like making a list of goals, is just making a list of things that may not get done!! I always feel pressure with making a list of goals, but have decided to make one! This past week/weekend has been a hard one for me, and I feel that I didn't get to much accomplished. So perhaps this list will make me feel more accomplished as I get to cross things off!!!

So these are pretty basic....pretty simple....and if you want to come over to help let me know :0)

1. finish putting the babies room together
2. finish the laundry (can this one truly ever be crossed off??)
3. clean the kitchen
4. mop the floors
5. get rid of the under the house cat once and for all! (free to a good home!)
6. make some dairy free freezer meals for after baby comes
7. organize my craft table
8. get together some Christmas gifts, wrapped and ready to hand out
9. clean out the fridge
10. convince my lovely husband to clean the bathroom (yes, he shockingly doesn't volunteer for jobs...of any sort)

Money Saving ideas for Christmas

As I saw a friend post on Facebook, there are less than 100 days left until Christmas!!!! I LOVE Christmas and the giving spirit that goes with it. However, we all can't afford to spend a lot of money on Christmas gifts. Throughout the years, I have come up with many ideas of how to give nice Christmas gifts, with out breaking the bank. Here are a few I would like to share!!!

1. Homemade cards - one of my hobbies is card making.Throughout the year I try to always make four of every card. By Christmas time, I have quite a stash. They make a great gift for teachers and friends who enjoy sending out cards!
2. Food - there are so many things you could do with this one! From cookie mixes to homemade caramel corn, place the goodies in a pretty tin and you have a nice gift!
3. Deals, deals, deals - I try to watch out for deals all year long. I have a space in my guest room closet designated to gifts. I will often get coupons in the mail for spend $10.00 get $10.00 off. Use some self-control and go spend $11.00 at the store. You get a nice $10.00 gift for a $1.00!!! Place a little post-it note on the item to remind yourself how much you spent. That way you already have your $10.00 Christmas gift for the Christmas party at work, without breaking the bank.
4. Photo collection - what Grandparent wouldn't like a nice little photo album or photo collection? You could either make it yourself, or watch for coupon codes for sites such as Shutterfly and Snapfish and make photo gifts for a fraction of the price!
5. Re-gifting - yes, in some circles this might be REALLY taboo, but let's face it, we have all been given gifts that we have and will NEVER use!! I am not a scented lotion person, yet I get lots of scented lotion every year. I set most of it aside (unless I really like a certain one) and re-gift them to people I know really like scented lotion. Please, don't hate me for this one :0)
6. Recipe Collection - this is a great idea for newly weds, or people just getting out of the house. Type up your favorite (or their favorite) recipes and place them in a nice binder. It will be a great resource for years to come!
7. Make Christmas Ornaments - we did this as a kid EVERY year. I am not a big fan of this one because I am a minimalist and feel most people already have too many Christmas Ornaments. But it is a fun project to do with kids. We would use old Christmas cards, Popsicle sticks and glitter. Use the Popsicle sticks to make a frame for the Christmas cards. Decorate with glitter and use ribbon to hang on the tree.
8. Sewing projects - If you know how to sew and like doing it, take on some sewing projects throughout the year. By Christmas, you will have a nice collection of gifts!
9. Organize - what do I mean by this?? Well, it this takes some planning. I did a project like this for my Grandma. I took all her pictures out of her old photo albums (those static cling ones) and put them in acid free albums. Took me weeks to go through them all!! I wrapped the new albums up and the whole family looked through them Christmas day.
10. Photo DVD - you can either scan in old photos, or use one you already have on the computer. Make a slide show, set it to music and burn it on a DVD. Great gift for older family members that really don't need anything, and do not get on the Internet to see all your family latest photos.

Hope some of these ideas help you!!! I am sure you can come up with many more ideas, feel free to leave a comment and tell me what they are!!!!!!!!

Frugal Gift giving idea.

Every Christmas my mom would make a big batch of caramel corn. It was always hard not to eat it all and save some for gifts!!! She must have hid some of it because every year people would look forward to getting a bag of my mom's caramel corn. I have carried this tradition on not only because of how good it tastes, but also because it is a frugal gift giving idea. You can make a double batch of this recipe and have enough for you and those you want to bless with a gift and not spend a lot of money. I usually put the caramel corn in a Ziploc bag and then place it in a festive tin (or you could decorate the Ziploc bag). Every year my little brother-in-laws eat theirs before even leaving the house!! Enjoy!!!

Operation Chirstmas Child - In July

My great friend over at Living So Abundantly wrote a wonderful blog post about Operation Christmas Child! She encouraged me to do the same to help get as many people as we can to send a shoebox for needy kids this year. I told her I would write a post about how to send out a shoebox, and still stay with-in your budget. Let's be honest, this year has been tough financially on all of us. I have read on other blogs about people being critical of those of us trying to be "thrifty" with our Operation Christmas Child box. The reality is, it is better to give, even a little, than not to give at all. The Bible doesn't say to tithe only when we bring home a good paycheck. I feel it is the same thing with Operation Christmas Child. I would rather give what I can than not give at all. I am sure a needy child abroad will appreciate whatever I have to give! So now, stepping off my soapbox, check out all the big school supply sales and you can really get a lot for your money!!! Be aware, Operation Christmas Child does not allow liquids of any sort to be sent, so lay of the twenty-five cent liquid glue (grab the glue sticks instead) and have fun!! You can also look though all those BOGO toiletries you have sitting up in your closet!  Although American children may not appreciate a new toothbrush and some toothpaste in their stocking, a kid who doesn't even have a tooth brush will be very happy! Let your kids make them a nice card and you can even include a picture. Click on the Operation Christmas Child link or check out Living So Abundantly for more information and don't forget to let her know you appreciate her post!!!!

Ok, so not the best picture, cat not included  in shoe box! LOL

Click here for more!

Sorting out baby clothes!!!

Well, I am so thankful for good friends!!! A very good friend of mine had a baby boy a couple months after I had Savannah. She graciously gave us 4 big bags of clothes for our new baby boy who is due in November! That was a real blessing because I have cut my hours down at work and we really didn't have the money to go buy a lot of baby stuff!!  I put all the bags in our "spare" bedroom. As you can see...it was a big project to tackle to get it all organized and ready to go!!!

Thankfully, Savannah took a VERY good nap, and I was able to tackle this room and get everything organized! She woke up toward the end (PTL) and helped me finish up. Now all the clothes, blankets and toys are sorted and ready to go!!

                             Check out Tackle it Tuesday for more projects and fun!

Click here for more Thankful Thursday