A Handful of Money Saving Tips.

Sometimes we simply spend money that we don’t need to spend.

I do it and I know others do it too. When we have the “extra” money

we tend to be blinded by the convenience of buying new and we miss

the saving opportunities that are nearly always there.

Whether things are tight or not I get a thrill from saving my family

money. I have a few ideas for you today that can help stretch the budget

and get your creative juices going.

 

First up:  “Old Fashioned Mending”

 

My son has grown tall but still stays slim. So, this spring I started to

go though his clothing to see what I had and to make preparations 

for his summer wardrobe. I found several pairs of pants that had

worn knees and frayed hems. I decided to crop and hem them into

new shorts for the summer.

 

This can be done in a matter of 30minutes to an hour and for each pair

of converted pants to shorts, I saved my family anywhere from 5 –10

dollars! This is a total savings of $20-$40 for 4 pairs of shorts!

 

Second on the list: Iron-on $avings!

 

Never underestimate the power of a strategically placed iron-on

embellishment. Iron-ons come in every shape and size. They are

fast and require no sewing. They can dress-up an inexpensive, and

otherwise drab item and make it something fabulous! They can also

be used to hide a multitude of problems that would cause one to

throw an otherwise good garment away. I have two perfect examples

for you today.

 

I found this plain blue cotton-t on clearance for next to nothing. My

son was shopping the iron-on isle with me and found a race car patch

that he simply went crazy for!

 

I could have stopped with just the race car but I had some letters left

from another project so I decided to embellish this sleep-shirt with a

very “punny-saying”.

 

 

 

 

Total cost for a new custom sleep shirt: $5.00 (about a 50% savings)

 

 

My 3 almost 4 year old is very loving  but he is equally rambunctious!

I was doing laundry this winter when he ran full speed around the

corner and rammed into me as I was pouring bleach in the wash.

Needless to say, once you see the next pic, his favorite winter

hoody was ruined…or so I thought….

 

Iron on a soccer ball patch and…. you have

a $aved Fave!

 

 

Cost of new Hoody $10 – $12 vs. cost of iron on patch: $2.50!

 

 

Thirdly: “$craps of $avings!”

 

If you are a sewer at all, more than likely you have scraps of

fabric from other projects piled in a closet or stacked in a box.

Aiden needed new jammies desperately. Between myself and my

mother-in-law we found an old pajama pattern and three flannel

scraps of material that we were able to turn into three fabulous

pairs of pajama pants!

 

 

Three pair of pajama pants. Total Cost: $3.00 (for elastic) A total

savings of about $15.00 or more!

 

When sewing from scraps remember a few things:

1) Look through all your material to see what you have.

2) Ask your fellow sewers/crafters what they have as well.

(we sewers are always happy to use up our scraps)

3) Don’t disregard old patterns. Some things really never change.

Boys pajama bottoms are exactly the same as they were 30 years

ago. Don’t let the dated image on the pattern envelope discourage you.

Look through your stash or ask around before buying a pattern.

 

 

Pillows!

There is a running joke in my family about always “buying plenty”

and if you have too much “you can always make a pillow with the extra.”

This philosophy has resulted in a LOT of extra. So, before buying new fabric

for pillows look through your scraps first or in this case your wardrobe!

 

I had a new, awesome, white sweater until I spilled hot cocoa down the front

of it. I tried everything to get rid of the stain to no avail and the stain was

in such a place that I could not craftily place embellishments to hide it and

still look cute so…. I made my sister a sweater pillow for her house warming.

To embellish the pillow I made three different flowers with one from the

sleeve. The other two I took strips of the sweater, ran a running or

gathering stitch along one side and an decorative stich along the other

with contrasting thread. I used scraps of matching bias tape to make leaves

and before I knew it, I had a lovely decorative pillow gift for only $3.50! (for the stuffing)

 

 

 

These are just a few tips and ideas on ways I have recently saved money

for my family. If you stop and take a minute before throwing out the old or

running to buy new, often times you can find ways to reuse, repurpose and renew

items you already have and make them into things you really want to keep.

 

How do you save money for your family? Write to me, I would really love to know!

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Simple trash to treasure

I LOVE taking what appears to be junk and turning

it into something fabulous! My husband loves the

results but hates to participate in the “finding” of

such treasures! We drove past this beauty nearly

twenty times over a span of two weeks and every

time we passed it I drooled, and every time my

hubby stepped on the gas. Well, I finally found

myself driving on my own one day and I scored!

I felt triumphant! Then it sat on the back porch all

winter long. See, here in Flag I am restricted by

season as to when I can paint.

 

{ Insert your imagination Here}

 

This is where I was supposed to but the glorious pre-

picture of my “trash” It was great! A dirty white  wicker

frame with a splash of blue stain across one side.

Can you picture it? Pretty trashy right. Okay, I will

explain. I have been going through a lot of emotional

turmoil the last six months and well, I have somehow

lost my picture along with my mind. So use your imagination

and enjoy the following post-pics. they are good too.

It just looses it’s “wow” factor without the before photo. Sorry folks.

 

The phrase is from one of my favorite songs I sing to my son.

It makes a big statement on a very blank wall of our home.

With it’s size I think I may add more fabric flowers to it so that

it balances out more.

I made the two roses by rolling old rick-rack around itself, and

the larger flower was from the sleeves of an old sweater!

The frame was from what looked like an old vanity. Between

paint and the thin fiber board for the back this project

cost me around 6 bucks! Can’t beat that!

 

Oh BTW, the flowers are removable! I attached wire to the

back of the flowers and then wedged the “stem” in the frame.

This way I have the option of changing the accents by the season.

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Race Car Themed Room!

Hello Everyone,

Part of my New Years Resolutions is to work more diligently on my blog. As some of you

may have noticed, I have not been posting for several months. I found a teaching position

in the nick of time and shortly after I found out I was expecting! Although they are both 

huge blessings these two things put me in a state of high anxiety and consumed the

majority of my time the last few months. (My pregnancy is High Risk and my class has

been extremely challenging to say the least.)However, I am excited to find a new rhythm

and a stock pile of great posts to launch 2012 with! So I figured, why not start with a

big project first!

 With the baby coming, and discovering that we would need to switch out the rooms to

accommodate a nursery I went to work on making the room transition exciting and

remarkable for Aiden. This way he would feel special and not feel pushed out.

 

It has not been a secret that my son has been almost obsessed with cars/vehicles of

ANY kind so, I had my theme, that was easy… Cars! The two challenges were budget

and the fact that we are in a rental.The color of the room was white, and very dingy…

luckily our landlords offered to pay for paint if they pre-approved the colors. Naturally,

we had to go with neutrals. However, this is not too much of a compromise since neutrals

work with many color pallets.

The pennant banner material was  purchased and started for his Birthday in September

but I just finished them this week. I had extra material left over and made the Checker-

flag Valance. He got the Stop-light bank for Christmas. (Knowing our budget was

tight, we picked things that would work for Christmas and his room transition.) He

LOVES it! His Aunt made the red and blue afghan to match and the car blanket

at the foot was from his room before. The bedding and bed was already red and blue so

to save money we kept the same color scheme.

 

Aiden was extremely excited to use his “letters” in his new room. These were previously

used in his nursery and had yellow and green ribbon around the edges. I removed the

ribbon and found this old elastic belt in my odds and ends craft box that worked perfectly

as a backdrop to glue the letters to! the colors and design worked perfectly I think, as it

looks like a road! He has been fascinated with clocks since he was 18 mo. or so. Getting a

Cars themed clock was a no-brainer when it came to Christmas this year! The wall

clings came with the clock so homerun on a free and removable room décor helper!

The picture you see was colored by Aiden’s cousin as a gift. It added a great personal

touch to the room.

 

The red and blue wall plaque was a very inexpensive project made over the summer.

I considered  re-painting the lamp and the orange book case but I felt it added a bit

of “umph” and went quite well with the cars theme. Not to mention it kept the budget

pretty low. I had left over fabric from the pennant banner to recover the lamp shade

that helped to tie it all in. He loved the “new lamp” so much he literally squealed in

delight! I used his own toy cars to help drive the theme such as the remote control race

car on top of the bookcase and I reused the wall pictures that I had in his old room

to complete this room. They were cheaply made from a combination of cork tiles,

scrapbook paper, and pre-painted wooden vehicles. Several months ago I also picked up

the cars coat hanger on clearance for less than 5 bucks!

 

Tips to consider when on a budget…

*Repurpose, repurpose, repurpose.. ALL that you can.

*Choose a theme that you love!

*Go with solids on sheet sets so that in does not interfere with theme. (it is easier and

less expensive to recover throw pillows and throw blankets than it is to change an

entire bedding set!)

*Pick colors that can be used again as they grow or are easily added to, to make different.

* Check your scraps before shopping for new, you never know what can suddenly be a

great inspiration!

* mix it up, do not commit to a brand (such as Disney only) when committing to a brand

you limit your options on budget and in my opinion is too confining in style. For example,

I sprinkled Disney Pixar Cars throughout, but as he grows and his taste changes, I could

switch those items with Chevy, for example, with little added cost to me.

Things I would like to add:

*recover pillows with scrap material from pennant banner.

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Shower Curtain Up-cycle

Shower Me with Savings!

Just in case you haven’t noticed yet,  

I am not one to spend my money carelessly.

If I can find a way to make it for less I will.

When I went to buy a shower curtain I was thrown

into classic sticker shock! There was no way I was

going to pay 30 dollars for a curtain that hangs near

the facilities, and where my pigpen of a boy cleans up

after a hard day of play. Nope, not me, and not $30.00.

After many shopping trips and coupon clipping I

gave up an went the route of DIY!

Boring Hotel-Style Basic Shower Curtain

$10.00

Now, I have learned the hard way that for some projects, pinning

is a MUST and for others, over-pinning is IMPERATIVE!

To my dismay, the curtain was not straight to begin with

and the polyester was very slick to sew on. It took a lot of patience.

I had to pin and measure each ribbon and sew them one at a time.

Then, begin the process over, measuring from the last  stripes

placement.

Trendy Ribbon: $4.00

Uniquely designed, custom shower curtain

for only $14.00 = Awesomeness!

A 50% Savings…

I leave you triumphant!

Linked up: *Before&After Party   *Made by You Mondays

Just Something I whipped up Monday

Making the world cuter Monday   Market yourself Monday

Motivate Me Monday  Craft 

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The Island Part 2

 

It’s “Me Island!” 2

I love to create but I am more of an idea generator, so 

when it comes to big projects, I have been known to

bite off more than I can chew. Which, is true in the

case of “me island.” So I want to first dedicate this post

to my father-in-law Jim and my husband David

for all the time they spent cutting down my

materials and allowing me use of some of their tools,

garage space, expertise and especially for the final assembly.

I learned a lot by working with them!

 

 

(As you can see, the tools required were wickedly dangerous for

someone not experienced: me! )

In a nut shell this is how the project went:

I dreamed,

I acquired,

They thought I was crazy,

I demolished,

I sanded,

They thought I was crazy,

I sanded some more,

 We shopped,

They cut,

I gave my artistic opinion,

They cut some more,

I painted,

They still thought I was crazy,

They screwed it all back together!

I touched up paint and added fabric accents,

paper towel holder, and dishtowel holder and…

TA Da!

“Me Island!”

 

Folks I’m tellin’ ya, it has it all! 

Supreme storage and organization on

ALL sides!

Some things to note:

The top was the most challenging

thing to find on a budget. I searched hard to find

secondhand or inexpensive materials. I ended up

with an unfinished pine tabletop from IKEA which is

not recommended for cutting surfaces due to its

softness and tendency to stain easily. However

for my situation, budget was more of a priority. I

will treat the top with mineral oil, and continue to use

conventional cutting boards for preparing meals as

you would with a laminate surface. (not a bad compromise)

BUDGET: $100.00

approximate total spent $135.00

cost of a comparably sized portable island: $299-399

approximate savings: $165-$265

Experience+ Memories+Storage+Custom made= Priceless!

 

See Before Photos Here

Linked up at: I Heart Naptime

the shabby creek cottage  six sisters stuff

              thriftydecorchick  craft o maniac   Skip to my lou

making the world cuter    Gingersnapcrafts

sumossweetstuff  day and age design Blissful and Domestic 

Keeping it simple  CRAFT  tipjunkie  sugarbeecrafts

Please I am BEGGING HERE, tell me what you think,

USING THE LINK (comments) below! Thanks a HEAP!

(I fixed it you do not have to sign up or be a member to comment)

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Pre-Island Prep.

Okay, So what do you get when you

cross free kitchen cabinets…

 

 

and

two VERY ugly chairs from

a second hand store?…

 

 

 

A Great Idea and

A Girl in way over her head!

 

My newly rented home was built in the 50’s and well,

lets just say it’s kitchen left a lot

to be desired including storage and counter

space! So… I decided to make my own island! “Crazy”

The Challenge:  I had to make it economical since

we are renting and we have no idea how long we will

be in one place. (story of my life)

SCORE! :A friend of mine from work gave me

the cabinets for FREE! Thanks Valerie!

Because they were uppers I quickly found out that the

height would be a problem (too short) so I shopped for

legs “outrageously priced!’

 I switched to thrift stores and wha-la..

$10.00  and some demo work = four legs for

the price of one!

 

For design purposes we cut this section of leg

and inverted it. I Recruited my Carpenter,

Father-in-Law to cut the legs down and to help me

make structural and measurement decisions.

Well lets face it, when I said I was in over my head…

(which I do a lot) I wasn’t kidding!

Without his help I would not have been able to do this

project and the outcome be functional.

Much thanks to Jim!

Anyway the next step was sanding and searching

for a budget wise countertop.

Sorry I did not get many in-between photos of the process. 

To Be Continued!…

Tune in Sunday for the AFTER PHOTOS!…

 

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