lightbulb moment!

This can't be an original idea, but in case it is, let me throw it out there.

Just a while ago I was nuking my lunch in the break room at work. I'm having one of those Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers. While watching it boil in the microwave something dawned on me. Why not reuse the packaging to make my own?

If you're not familiar with this product, it's a clear, plastic container with dried pasta and a separate container with sauce. You add water to the line on the bowl and microwave the pasta for 3 minutes and 30 seconds before stirring in the sauce.

Since the lid has a built-in strainer, why not reuse the container to boil your own pasta from home? You can bring a container of spaghetti sauce and have spaghetti, or perhaps macaroni and cheese (sliced cheese melts easily on hot pasta), or whatever pasta/sauce combination you desire.

It sounds like a great way to save money on lunch for work (I think I bought this as a 2-for-$5 deal), if I do say so myself. Even if the bowl only stands up to one or two more microwaving sessions you've saved a few bucks.

Hey Mama: Save on Vinyl Wall Art at Michael's!

Michael's was on my to-do list for today. I need a new wreath for my door, so I thought I'd go check out the floral offerings. My trip is never complete until I browse at least 75% of the store (I skip the sewing sections as sewing isn't my forte), and I was quite shocked by the deal that awaited me.

If you're a mom looking for quick ways to decorate your kids' room, vinyl wall art may just be the way to go. My daughter has a purple room with lime green polka dots, but when I saw the large pink butterly and starbursts, I couldn't leave them. Not because they're super-cute (which they are), but because the were drastically marked down. I was sticker-shocked so I honestly failed to recognize the actual price (must have been around $17.99-$19.99, I would guess). I walked out of Michael's with this huge butterfly wall cling kit for $1.99.

No good mother would get wall clings for her daughter and not her son, so I took home gigantic cars with my butterly. Amazing. Those big boys were originally $24.99 and are now $1.99. (The photo is not the actual kit; the kit I purchased included two very large cars rather than four medium-sized cars.)

Furthermore, we host Neighborhood Bible Club at our home (VBS to most of the rest of you) each summer and this year's theme is "Storm the Castle." I lucked out and found a castle cling set for the purpose of themeing up my dining room in August. It was also only $1.99. Score!

If you have a Michael's nearby, run (don't walk) to the cashier and ask where they keep their Hip in a Hurry wall cling selection. Hopefully they'll still have something good by the time you get there. :o)

sharing information is good!

Wanted to share some new finds with you:

• Free Thanksgiving Crafts E-Book! If you click around, you'll find several free e-books to download, all overflowing with crafting ideas.
• $10 off a $25 Yankee Candle purchase with this coupon. Valid through 12/12/09!
• Download the Martha Stewart Thanksgiving Recipes E-Book for free!
• Download Paula Deen's Holiday Hosting Guide for free, too!
• Free holiday supplement of The Old Schoolhouse. Great kid activity pages included!

Thanks to The Frugal Girls for freely sharing these awesome deals and steals!

finding craft ideas

I have found some of the neatest home-related gift and craft ideas in the Lowe's Creative Ideas magazine. The subscription is free! See the sample magazine for instructions to make a jewelry box from fencepost caps and pressed flower acrylic coasters. Those two projects will tide you over until your first issue arrives.

Go where the crafters go (or at least one of the places crafters go) - Michael's! Check out their awesome Handmade Holiday Guide for free instructions to begin molding your next great gift. I've already found an idea that I plan to put together for at least one person - the Peppermint Holiday Candlescape. Talk about super easy (and pretty cheap). This one's a "well, duh!" See the Michael's calendar for free demo days, too.

Consider this. USE ideas from one place but purchase the items SOMEWHERE ELSE. I can't over emphasize the savings that can be realized at the Dollar Tree. Seriously. Why pay $10 for a candle and another $10 for a glass plate to create that Peppermint Holiday Candlescape? I know I can pick up the plate and the candle for $1 each at the Dollar Tree. Not to mention peppermint candies. I'll have to investigate the cheapest place to buy a hurricane lamp glass. Michael's might actually be the best bet on that piece of the puzzle. For the red balls seen in the photo, check out the Christmas decorations for cheap beaded garland. If you find it, cut it apart and use the beads for this instead. :o)

I forgot to mention one of my favorite crafts from quite a few years ago. I made several of these for Christmas gifts and even had one or two of my own. The Mason jar soap dispenser! It's easy and if you know someone who has a country or primitive influence in their decor, I encourage you to give this one a whirl.

Supplies:

• Mason canning jar with seal and lid (size doesn't matter and the old zinc lid won't work for this)
• Cheap liquid hand soap with a pump dispenser
• scrap fabric and twine

Find something to puncture a hole in the middle of the jar seal. It needs to be big enough to fit the soap pump into. (I say "find something" because that's how I work. I rummage through the junk drawer until I find one of my husband's screwdrivers or something to push a hole through metal. Not safe, but that's how it works in my house.)

Cut a piece of scrap fabric in a square large enough to cover the seal, be screwed on underneath the lid and still hang out along the side of the jar a little bit. Think old fashioned jelly jars that your Aunt Millie made your mom every year.

Cut a hole in the center of the fabric only large enough to let the soap pump through.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER: Fill the jar about 2/3 full of liquid soap. Put the seal on the jar, followed by the scrap material. Push the soap dispenser down through the material and the seal. Screw on the ring. Tie a piece of twine around the lid. Just knot it. Nothing frilly. Leave a length of no more than one inch.

As my two year old would say, "Ta da!"

Perhaps I'll make another one of these jars soon and post a picture. I looked through Google images but didn't find one like what I've made in the past. This tells me that if you make one of these, it will be a unique gift!

crafty christmas, part iii

• You know those recipe cards I mentioned? Expand on those hand-written lovelies by including a nice dish towel and a wooden spoon, all tied up with raffia.
• Make your own soap. Buy clear glycerin soap and soap molds at any craft store. Use photo editing software to size your favorite picture to fit the soap mold, then print it on a transparency and cut to fit the mold. Follow the directions to melt down the glycerin. Layer the mold: half glycerin, transparent image, remainder of glycerin. Let the soap set up and then pop it out of the mold. I made a bar of soap with an image of my daughter for my mom. I thought it was a practical gift, but I don't think she's washed her hands with it even once. :o)
  Another spin on this clear soap is to insert pressed flowers instead of an image. For kids or teens, tightly wrap a $5, $10, or $20 bill in saran wrap and pour the glycerin around it! Make 'em work for that money!

• Share a plant. I have a common houseplant that grows like mad and is very durable (trust me, I can nearly kill a plant just by looking at it). It's called Devil's Ivy (Golden Pothos) and doesn't require much maintenance at all. As if that isn't reason enough to keep this guy around, you can cut and generate a new plant lickety-split. If you have a similar plant, consider cutting a vine, propogating it in water and planting it for a gift.
• Gift baskets don't have to cost an arm and a leg. Browse clearance bins, the $1 section at Target and Michael's, or even the Dollar Tree with a keen eye. For $10 you can create a gift basket. Michael's has stationery goods for $1 each - note pads, pens, magnets candles, and more. The Dollar Tree is a great place to create a hair goodies basket for a little girl. Fill a basket or pail with a pack of combs, a brush, barrettes, name-brand shampoo and pony tail holders. If the packaging is the only thing from holding you back from a cheap purchase, unwrap it. Who says you can't give loose pony tail holders and combs? For one, loose goods make the basket look fuller and two, the stuff isn't screaming "SHE'S CHEAP!" just because there isn't a popular name brand attached to it.
• It's been a number of years since I cross-stitched anything and I have projects left undone. Charts can be costly, so make Google your best friend. This site, Alita Designs, has some of the best free charts I've found (you'll find a lot of cheesie stuff before you find good stuff when searching online). The cost of fabric and floss won't seem so bad if you find a chart for free. Now to just find the time ...
• Smelly sachets always make a woman smile. Find a good-smelling potpourri (come on, y'all know not all potpourri actually smells good), and a piece of scrap fabric. Cut the fabric into two squares (about 3x3 will do) and turn them with their right sides out. Stitch three sides (trust me, these are cuter the more primitive they look) and fill with potpourri. Stitch up the final side and voila!  Make two more, tie a pretty ribbon around them and you're all set.

crafty christmas, part ii

As promised, I brainstormed and remembered some other crafty (or cheap) Christmas gifts from the past.

• Peppermint Cocoa! You know, I had a "made from scratch" recipe but I'm unable to locate it at the moment. Here's the next best thing ... Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa is like .97/box at Wal-Mart. Buy a box, open all the packets and dump them in a bowl. Open a bunch of peppermint candies and toss them in a food processor. Pulse until it's really fine and then dump the peppermint into the bowl with the cocoa. Mix well and then pour into an air-tight container. I have found that Mason jars work well. You can add a scrap of fabric between the lid and the ring, tie some twine or raffia around the lid, and add a nicely decorated tag with the measurements for mixing. By the way, that's about a third of a cup of cocoa to a cup of boiling water. ;)
• Favorite Family Recipes. There are two ways to go about this. Find a nice set of recipe cards, write out the recipes, and tie them up with a ribbon. Or, go to http://www.blurb.com/ to create your own really nice book. They're priced $4.95 to $59.95. I have not gone this hi-tech route because I've always liked the personal touch of writing the cards myself, but when I'm ready to gift recipes again, I think I'll invest the time to actually make a cookbook.
• Beeswax Taper Candles. Buy sheets of beeswax at most any craft store with candle making supplies. Also buy wicks. Cut the wick to the length of the beeswax sheet and begin rolling the beeswax sheet tightly around the wick. It's cute when you gift these in pairs. Tie them with raffia or a pretty ribbon and give them away.

crafty christmas

At first I was bummed at the thought of Christmas this year, as far as gift-giving, anyway. I'm a giver. Always have been. And I'm no stranger to crafty Christmases. I thought I'd share some of the gifts that I have created in the past, in case you're having a strapped-for-cash year, too. Some of these aren't necessarily crafts, but just really cheap gifts.

• The name Vistaprint sometimes induces a snarl. I have yet to figure that out. I love Vistaprint. I created address labels and personalized note cards to combine as a stationery gift one year and hardly spent any money. Sign up for their enewsletter for really great deals - often free stuff.
• Marbled Ornaments: Buy clear glass ornaments (a 4 or 6 pack is just a few dollars at Wal-Mart) and a couple of colors of cheap acrylic paint (again, only about .75-.99 each). Squeeze a bit (no more than about 1/2 teaspoon) of one color at a time into the ornament and swirl it around. Repeat with as many colors as you wish, but beware that too much paint = yucky non-drying blob. Once you've coated the inside of the ornament, place the ornament with the hole faced down inside of a plastic cup so that the extra paint will drip out and allow the ornament to dry overnight. Replace the cap and tie a ribbon or twine around the loop for decoration.
• Clear ornaments go a long way. Fill them with small bits of potpourri, sprigs of evergreen, glittery artificial snow, or use a fine tip paint pen to decorate the outside.
• Make scented bath salts! Mix three cups of epsom salt, two cups of baking soda, and one cup of table salt in a bowl. Add food coloring, keeping in mind that the more you add, the darker the salt will be. Add your choice of essential oil to scent the salts. It would be good to make the scent kind of match the color. Know what I mean? And make it kind of strong so that a little of the salt goes a long way for each bath. To package, find an air-tight jar. I'll bet you can find some for .50 at Goodwill. They always have a lot of glass knick-knacky items.
• Kids to buy for? Make them a coloring book. Google "free coloring pages" and you'll get page after page of results. My faves are Crayola and Coloring Book Fun, which has Christian Christmas pages. Choose your pages, print them, and then create some kind of booklet for them. Wrap up the booklet with crayons and colored pencils for a quick gift.

• Little ballerinas or dress-up divas on your list? You'd be surprised how easy it is to make a tutu. Get your girl's waist measurement and cut a wide piece of elastic about an inch shorter. Purchase your choice of colored tulle and cut it into various lengths (from about 12 to 20 inches). Then settle in to begin knotting the tulle around the elastic. I found it helpful to stretch the elastic over the back of a dining room chair to tie the tulle on. Fill the elastic with as much tulle as possible to create a fun, full, fluffy tutu. Embellish if you want. I have tied ribbon sporadically in between the tulle for a pop of color and shimmer. Small irridescent beads are also a nice addition.

• Are you the shutterbug of your family? I love Shutterfly and their photobooks are superb. Just upload your images and their new Simple Path book creator will do the rest. It's a smart utility, pairing like images together on a page. Of course, you have the control to edit the layout completely, if you choose. The 7x9 soft cover book is on sale right now - 20 pages for $12.99. A 20-page hard cover 12x12 is on sale for $43.99. Makes a great gift for grandparents.

I'll give my past Christmases more thought and follow up with additional ideas in a few day. Thrifty Christmas!
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UPDATE:
Yu-um! Here's a gift I think I'll try this year. Add the dry fixin's in a nice mug so my recipient can make their own "Cake in a Mug"! Looks super easy and wa-a-a-y good.