Make your own GIft bags....from Newspaper...FREE

The other day, (after I had already purchased a gift bag bundle from the store) I found this great link to making your own newspaper gift bags at How About Orange. 
I was done with work, the kids were done with school and I haven't crafted much lately....so it was a feet wetter.  AND it was easy.

Easy Homemade Whipped Cream (Cool Whip)

Right now, HyVee has a Fantastic Deal on Mrs. Smith Pumpkin Pie....only $2!  (I had stocked up right before Christmas, so we are down to 1 remaining pie)



I realized that with my pie for a dessert today, I had no whipped cream for it, and being car-less today, i didn't want to or was able to go to the store. 

I realized while making pasta covered Alfredo sauce for lunch that I had whipping cream onhand.  YES! 



Easy Whipped Topping:
1 pint Whipping Cream
2-3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Blend on high speed the whipping cream until it is stiff enough to make peaks.  Fold (DO NOT STIR) in sugar and vanilla. 

Enjoy!

Naturally washing my hair

I read THIS blog from Living on a Dime, and with my sensitivity to hair products lately, I thought I would try to go Au Natural for hair shampoo and conditioner. 

I normally wash my hair every other day unless my hair is dirty.  About the middle of the day after shampooing, I start to feel really greasy and just yucky.  I have been using vinegar after shampooing about 1-2 times a week anyway, but after reading about substituting my shampoo for baking soda/water mix and conditioner for vinegar...I knew this was just for me.

Hardware Jewelry

While checking out Craftgawker today, I saw some super cool and cheap ways to create jewelry. 

I Try DIY

Blue Cricket Design

Cut Out And Keep

Fab You Bliss

Check out all of these wonderful ideas for new and CHEAP--also super cool and original jewelry!

Betty Crocker Member Full Size Samples

If you are a member of Betty Crocker, you can receive full sized samples!  How awesome is that?


You can also print coupons, check out recipes and get awesome how-to's to help in the kitchen!

Sign up today!

Free sample of Barista Prima for Keurig

Get Your FREE sample of Barista Prima Coffeehouse for the Keurig system by liking them on Facebook!



Thanks MoneySavingMom!

Toothpick Art-Cheap or Free

For a quick, easy, fun kids craft, grab a piece of construction/cardstock paper, some toothpicks and glue and you have an instant are project.

Supplies:

Toothpicks

Paper (construction or cardstock)

glue

Draw a picture or assemble the toothpicks. 

Glue toothpicks onto paper.

Instant craft and work of art!

**Thanks to THE BOY for allowing me to photograph his project for today.

Clear Eyes, Messy House.....Organizing Time

When I got home last week from my trip to my mom's, I came home with clear eyes about my house.  After living in someone elses house for a few weeks you REALLY see what a mess your own house is.

I generally keep a TO DO list.

As you can see, it's pretty tiny, and generally gets hidden underneath bills, papers, magazines, etc....so I forget about stuff and then the list doesn't get completed as fast as I would like.

So....we found some dry erase boards at Office Depot for $2-$3 before Christmas and bought a few.  I hung one up in the kitchen under the meal planning board as more of a visual reminder of my TO DO list.

It doesn't go with the theme of my kitchen, but it serves a purpose for now.

I am hoping that this will reduce my "nagging" of the kids to find something to do other than watch t.v. or play video games during downtime. (And remind me to get stuff done)

Back to my original thought.....the messy disorganized, almost to the point of hoarding house that I call home...the best method I can see to attack this disorganization is 1 day/20-30 minutes at a time cleaning.  My first area?  The hidden areas of the living room and kitchen. 

1. Clean/organize the entertainment center.

2. Sort the mitten/hat/scarf tote and get rid of any holey/unwanted items.

3. Organize/purge items in the kitchen cabinets and pantry and label where items belong for a better system.

4. Try to find cheap/free/remade items to organize this mess.

Here is a current look at the messy cabinets/pantry that I will be working on this week:

This is my cookbook/lightbulb/random cabinet.  (I'm so embarrased)

Spice/Tea/Pasta/Baking cabinet.  I have seen many different kinds of spice organizers, but with my little space, I'm not sure which one will work best for me.  Any suggestions?

And lastly, the dreaded pantry.  It's not very large, so I try to keep it fairly organized, but it falls to the wayside quickly after we all have a part in putting groceries away. 

I'm hoping to remove the trash can (recycling bin) at the bottom and make this wonderful piece from Ana White for my recycling bin to free up more room at the bottom.

I would love any advice that you might have to free up/organize my spaces.  (I personally love a more empty looking room, so anything I can hide behind cabinet doors is best!)

Once I get this cleaned, I will repost the "organized and purged" finished product!

Daily Devotional 1/17/12-Genesis 9:16

And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.  Genesis 9:16


My mom gave me a daily devotional guide for Christmas, and i neglected to start reading it January 1st.  So, for several days I read multiple days' worth of devotions.  My goal is to read my devotions daily to start a better Bible reading habit (Bible reading/devotions are a struggle for me, despite my desire to do so)

As I read the little story that accompanied the verse for today, I knew that despite whatever challenges that I face, I can always delight in the fact that God ALWAYS keeps His promise.  He will always be there when I need Him, and even when I feel like everything is overwhelming me and how much more can I possibly take....I know that He is always there with me, to guide me, to remind me to step closer to Him and He will step closer to me.

It's comforting.  It's relaxing.  He is wonderful.

Wire Embroidery

I have never seen anything like this before!  How awesome-ly creative!

Check our FAMILY CHIC for her tuturial.

A snowman and a scarf/hat

These past few weeks have been difficult for me to work on my blog.  We had a death in the family, and the internet at my mom's hasn't been great to work on a blog.  Plus, we are here to spend time together, support one another, and just BE together. So I apologize for not posting any wonderful creations or freebies, etc. 

Here are a few things I/we made this week:

 Sock Snowman.   THE BOY needed to make a snowman for "anchor club" at the church we are visiting while we are out of town.  So, with the lack of snow on the ground, we grabbed a sock, some walmart sacks to stuff it with and created this guy.  (Sorry for the pictures, I left the camera at home)
You can check out Then She Made to see a tutorial on how to make your own.

Also, while we sat and watched movies after dinner, I crocheted a hat and scarf for my mom.  This is her posing for me.  You can check out Tip Junkie for some awesome patterns and tutorials on how to crochet!

I hope to be back home this week.  Happy Winter!