After Holiday Update

As usual things have been a little crazy around here, especially with Christmas preparations. I have (as usual) been meaning to update.

I don't have any how-to's today, just thoughts to share.
After using the credit card for Christmas gifts and a hotel reservation, I'm determined to save money. First, obviously, I have to pay off that credit card bill (don't worry, it's not outrageous, but debt is debt).

Recent events in our lives have made me start looking at houses (again, don't worry, we're not moving, plans changed) but it helped me see how conceivable it would be to buy a house in the next few years, after I have a career started. To get there, I'm trying to save, save, save!!

Now, I'm not attempting my "week without spending" again, but I am looking at want vs. need and if there is anything I can do to substitute things that we already have for something I'd go buy ordinarily.

Today, I needed cold cream. I have been using good old Ponds to wash my face and I love it! I didn't want to spend the $5 for the little container, but I cleaned out my wallet and found an old prepaid Visa that expires tomorrow. It still had $11 on it, so there you go, cold cream bought! Without spending money unnecessarily.

While I was at Target for the cold cream, I found a shirt that Aidan didn't honestly need, but I knew he would love it.

It was on clearance, $4.88. He loves "Woody-Buzz". So much in fact that last night he threw a fit when I took off his other Woody shirt, so he slept with it on top of his pajamas. (I paid $2.50 for that one! Clearance again.)
I very, very rarely buy things full-price.

Another money (and sanity) saving plan of mine is to rotate Aidan's toys. He has more than he ever plays with but he hasn't really outgrown them intellectually yet, so I decided to put some away for a few months and then rotate them. His birthday is in June so he's got a great balance between gift times.

"I'll look in the ads for the best deal on tubs!" I thought. I love buying things, it's true. Then I realized, since we buy diapers at Costco, we have huge diaper boxes. I don't need to buy a tub. Sure a box isn't as pretty and isn't as water-proof, but there's at least $5-10 saved right there.

I have another purchase to make, while it's on sale: yarn. I promised Aidan's brother I'd make him an afghan. That may bet a little pricey, but if I buy it while it's on sale and use a coupon I may save a few bucks.

It is tempting to spend a few dollars here and there (lunch out anyone?) but having something big in mind (like buying a house or actually having savings built up) helps me stay on track.

Christmas Scavenger Hunt

I'll trust you can keep a secret...we're giving someone special an 18 speed bike for his tenth Christmas!! I'm excited! I hope he will be.

I decided instead of trying to wrap the bike or just having it out in the open in the house I'd have him go through a scavenger hunt to find it. Hopefully this will make it more memorable for him, though I still remember when I got my first 18 speed bicycle, without a scavenger hunt involved then.

To give it a little more pizazz I decided I'd kind of decorate the clues a little, I went with a pirate/scroll theme.

Blackadder ITC is a great font for this kind of stuff, it screams pirate. I used a peach/tanned colored paper in 8.5/11 size to print my typed up clues.

In Microsoft Word you can create multiple columns for type on one sheet. I changed the page set-up to landscape and used the columns button to divide the page in two. I didn't want a huge sheet for each clue, so 1/2 sounded pretty good.

From there, I used scissors to trim the edges and give them a "scroll" type look. I considered burning the edges for a while....but that was risky and I wanted something that was (mostly) fail-safe.

Once I had all 14 clues cut out I noted where each one went and rolled them up. After tying them I made a little note of the clue number on the outside, so I could put them where they go without messing things up or undoing the scrolls.

He'll probably be disappointed at first when he sees this little box is all that's left...

...but it contains clue #1, leading to...

The big gift!! I kind of led on that it's too big for us to take out of town with us, but also said it wouldn't make sense to carry all of his gifts back and forth, on top of not having room for his brothers' things and his at the same time.

I'm getting excited!!!

Oh yeah, I made that bow. Pretty fancy, for what it started looking like.

I just took some ribbon with wires on the edges and folded it over on itself several times, back and forth, making the length a little smaller with each layer. Kind of like the old printer paper that was connected and had the holes on the edges....I'm too  young to know what those machines were called off the top of my head. But like that, folding continuously to make layers.

Then I stapled the center of the folds together, underneath the top layer which was folded into a circle so there wouldn't be an end in the middle. I twisted the wrong-side-out layers right-side-out and twisted and shaped them into the circles seen above. Perhaps one day I'll take photos of this process, but my fingers were borderline frostbitten by the time I finished my work.
Oh and I tied on the tails afterwords. It seems to jazz it up a little.

Hopefully I'll get around to making more gingerbread cookies and sharing the recipe (and modifications) I've found with you, but I try to be a little flexible with Christmas. I have obvious goals like shopping and wrapping, but one batch of cookies (ok two, I've frozen some oatmeal ones ahead too, just in case) and store-bought rather than home-made cards just might have to do, in favor of sanity and sleep.

So far, wrapping a few more things tonight and making cookie dough tomorrow is the goal. We'll see how successful I am...

Unique Shopping

Welcome, welcome to the holiday shopping season! Oh wait, that started a month ago according to retail decorations. I'm thankful right about now that I'm done shopping for Aidan and his brothers' Christmas gifts on my list, now just the adults and some home-spun gifts to finish off the rest of those I typically shop for. If you're on my list and reading this, I hope you won't be disappointed if your gift turns out to be cost-effectively home-made. Oh and here's a clue, if I do buy it retail it probably won't be featured here; I'm big on surprises.

I finally started catching up on my magazine reading (or skimming) and cracked open the December/January issue of Country Living. They have a wonderful section full of unique gift ideas titled "fresh picks". I checked a few of the sources out and found some really cool venues.

Sharing this here serves a few purposes:

• I love to share and discuss
• Creating this list allows me to recycle my magazine and not have stacks piling up (ok, I still have stacks, but less in them because of this).
• It serves as another blog post to keep me updating!

The first site I checked out was  the Curiosity Shoppe. Some of their items made me laugh out loud, literally. They have an octopus specimen in a jar! I wouldn't pay their price for him, but these kinds of anomalies are scattered around the site, varying from stocking stuffer prices to, well...not stocking prices at all.

Next, twine has interesting items, ranging from candles shaped like radios to trivets shaped like toast. Pretty nifty stuff.

 Orange and Pear sells items for the home, to wear, for baby, personalized things, etc.

An old favorite for unique items (not featured in CL this month) is the Container Store. They can be a bit pricey but if you're looking for a gift that stands out they have a few cool ideas this year. I like the straw glasses and the re-usable sandwich and snack bags.

Fireworks has a category called "Indescribable"! How cool is that? They are a bit on the pricey side, though.

I hopped on over to Karma Kiss. Among other things, they feature 310 items for $15 or less. It's their largest category. Check them out for anything from toys to wine openers that evolve into trivets.

And last but never least, Mxyplyzyk has a unique site design itself, let alone their products. They sell cups with noses printed on them, so when party guests drink from them they put on a new appendage. Tee-hee. Among other crazy-cool things. They're just cool all over.

Inspired yet?

I am.

Discount Shopping

While waiting at the Dr's office for several routine appointments in the last month, I stumbled upon a few articles with recommended sites for shopping discounts. Naturally, I didn't want to pass up this chance to save some money, so I clicked them into my phone's notebook application and saved them for a later date--it's just taken me a while to get on here to report them.

Most of these are online discounts, but I believe some you can print and use them in-store.

Promotional Codes is a site with infinite ways to search their collection of discounts. They also have links to other savings, at more industry-specific sites, like Chegg, a text-book renter. I have more of these to share later.

Done a little bit differently, RetailMeNot, provides coupons in which you find the one you're interested in on their site and follow the link to your choice of retailer's site and shop from there. I guess it's like magic, I haven't actually tried it out yet. Worth looking into, though!

Next, I found a site for free shipping at all kinds of online retailers. FreeShipping.org

 

You may have already heard of this one. I had, but I hadn't looked it up yet. Looks pretty cool. RedPlum.

I'm not sure exactly how ebates works, but you create a membership and they give you 2% back on all purchases. Or something like that. Check it out if you're interested in it.

Another find for those of us who weren't given great eye sight is Zenni Optical. Glasses start at like $7/pair plus $5 shipping. Particularly for those like me who wear contacts most of the time, this is a big money saver. My last pair were broken by the little guy so I'm looking forward to my order I (finally) placed with them. I've gone months with my glasses held together by electrical tape and a wire tie.

If you do use Zenni Optical, you'll need to know your glasses prescription and the distance between your pupils. That's something your eye doc should have on file for you though.


Let's see...I started this post in August and have found a few more since then.

I haven't used this site yet, so I'm still not 100% about it, but I found it on Google and they have Cricut cartridges (and other craft supplies) pretty darn cheap at Oh My Crafts.

Oh, yeah, don't forget about Scholastic warehouse sales!! I really want to go to another one, but I don't know if I'd survive another 8 hours of straightening books again. 

I'll keep looking and sharing what I find!

Thanksgiving Closing

Well, I got caught up in "relaxing" over break and didn't get on here to post my Thanksgiving cards. I did take photos, though. So here's some brainstorming ideas for next year or other cards. Too bad it doesn't feel like I relaxed much, but returning to school was tough today.

I'm always looking for new folds for my cards, and I found a couple of interesting ones for Thanksgiving. Originally I was going to do them both the same, but as you'll see Aidan didn't agree with that concept...

That's the basic shape of the card. It makes it look like it spins when you open it. It's actually very easy to do but looks intricate. There's a good tutorial for this design here at splitcoaststampers' website.

I started by cutting my basic rectangle out of the cardstock, 5 1/2 inches by 6 3/4 inches.

Then I scored a line from 0 to 1 1/4 that was 2 3/4 inches from the edge.

And repeated this on all four corners of the paper (different dimensions are given in the tutorial above--check out their site, they have some great ideas), and then I cut from 4 1/4 inches into the paper a line that went from 1 1/4 to 2 3/4. This creates the top of the box that "swings". Once that's one on four sides, the four cuts are connected by the two perpendicular cuts.

Fold the front face back like this...

and the back face the opposite way, like this...

I always hesitate before using my paper. I know deep down I could potentially have a problem with hoarding...but I also like organization and cleanliness and I think that's the balance that keeps me sane. I got over it and thought "what else do I buy this for?" and sacrificed a few turkeys to make the background...

I cut it to fit the same size as my original square (5 1/2 by 6 3/4), then I used the x-acto knife to cut out matching lines to fit the box and removed the whole rectangle from the center. This particular card pattern is probably best done with the background you'd like originally, rather than the way I'm doing it here.

My first piece was sacrificed. Aidan got a hold of it and, well, it made for good scraps for the other card.

When I needed drafting tape for one of my classes this semester, I never imagined I'd be using it to make cards...but it's great. It helped me hold down the paper to fold it evenly and line things up right. It's not masking tape, it is less sticky so it won't take up your designs on the sheet. It can rip though, so be careful removing it when you work with drafting tape.

Things weren't really going as planned...they didn't line up right, and this is where I learned it's probably best to start with your background sheet rather than add it to a body. The edging scissors came in handy here...problem solved.

I used a coordinating paper to make the inside of the card. It's somewhat plain so we could write on it.

I used the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge for the Cricut and added some embellishments to the front of the card. Overall, this is not one of my favorite cards I've made...but it fits the bill.

I used one of those punchers to cut in the corners of a rectangle and then cut it to points to spruce up the front. I don't really like it, but something had to be done.

There it is standing. A four year old will probably be excited to open it, see who it's from, and then go back to playing anyway. It's the thought that counts.


This next one is much more appealing to me. I used splitcoaststampers again for an idea. This is a "gate fold".

I. love. paper. Heck, I love crafts in general. JoAnn Fabrics or Michaels shopping with me is not a quick errand.

I need to clean my blogging camera's lens. It's also the "diaper bag camera". I wouldn't dare let my one year old touch my Nikon, but my $100 Lumix is a little more kid-friendly...hence the fingerprints smudging the images. Oops.

I'm getting ideas together here...

Again, I used the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge for this one. It's very versitile. There are shapes for all seasons and occasions (for the most part) in the same cartridge. If you're beginning your collection, I'd suggest starting with this one in the first few you buy.

Hence the "stretch"...that's the same turkey as the first one, but the stretch button was on. They also have cards pre-cut for all seasons too, all you have to do is choose your size and press a few buttons and voila, you have a card. Great in a pinch.

I tried a recipe from Katie Lee (no longer Katie Lee Joel, news to me since her book I have was published before their divorce) found in Cosmopolitan magazine. No offense to Cosmo or any of their readers, but if it's in Cosmo it can't be too complicated (as opposed to say, Martha Stewart Living, or Food (also by Martha--or it was once)) and this is not. It only looks complicated.

I can't find an online recipe for it at the moment, but it was titled "Sexy Surprise Him Dinner" in one of the last two months' issues. In searching, however, I found Katie's site. So far, I've loved....(thinking)......yep. everything. I've tried of hers. Here's Katie's website.