Crafting

Everyone who knows me knows that I am so not crafty! I really haven't ever wanted to learn. My version of crafting was my mom coming over and making something for me while I watched and ate chips. However, since my 2nd daughter was born I have a new found desire to learn to sew, make hairbows and anything else I can think of. My aunt gave me a great idea on storing my ribbon and it works great. Since I'm a crafting nerd I am very proud of myself and wanted to share.

I found a pink box at Hobby Lobby I loved, pink and green of course. It was $17.99 but 50% off. I decided in my cheapness I wanted to find something better. They also had foam core board to make the slots and it was $5. I again decided to opt for something else. So here are the results.

I found a little wooden box at a thrift store, for .49. Yep, less than a dollar. If you look close you can see the price on that little blue sticker.

I sanded it down to make it smooth and painted it pink with some paint I had from decorationg my daughters room.

Then I cut my $1 piece of foam from the Dollar Tree into pieces as deep and long as the box. Then all you have to do is wrap the ribbon around the foam and pin with a small straight pin. I got a box of those for $2 at Hobby Lobby.

I picked up these cute little boxes today at Staples for .25 each. They are on school supply special this week. I put extra pins in there.

So the grand total of my new ribbon box is..............drum roll please............$3.49!!!!!

Store Steal

Publix really is a pleasure to shop at! And especially on Wednesdays. My area is located in the land of half price bogo, meaning when you purchase 2 products that are on sale Buy One Get One Free they ring up half price each. And on Wednesdays we have the secret penny item which today was Publix Frosted Flakes. I didn't have a chance to make a picture of the score but I did however scan the receipt for ya. You can see that I paid &7.07 oop and I saved $47.91, which is an 87% savings. I like it! Since I didn't make a picture I will give you the run down.

2 Finish Gelpack Dishwasher detergent BOGO @ $6.99

2 Chips Ahoy Reduced Fat Cookies BOGO @ $3.49

2 Disney Punchballs for my girls on clearance 2/.99

1 Publix Frosted Flakes $2.59

3 Elmers School Glue 3/1.00

5 Bic Soleil Razors BOGO @ $5.49

2 Reduced Fat Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls 3/$5.00

Used:

2 $2.50 off Finish Gelpacks 1 $1.50 off Chips Ahoy tearpad from service desk (I got this today, always ask about coupons)

1 $1.00 Chips Ahoy

1 Publix Penny Item coupon from paper (took off $2.58)

5 $3.00/1 Bic razors from Sundays Paper

1 $1.00 off 2 cinnamon rolls printable from coupons.com

Total Due: $7.07 (including tax)

Total Saved: $47.91

Total % Saved: 87%

Shop for a cause!!

So even thought its still hot enough to pass the Devil on the freeway, summer is dwindling. We close to school starting back already! I am so going to miss sleeping until 10 everyday!! And aren't the joys of searching for school supplies just....well joys. Does it really make a difference that my child has store brand dry erase markers instead of Expo? Does Expo write or erase differently because I paid $5 more for them. And why is it that teachers ask every child for hand sanitizer and zip lock baggies? How many zip lock baggies can one class use considering they aren't ever coming home. I just don't get it. Anyway, I digress. Its a pain buying the school supplies but it occurred to me today that there are a lot of kids whose parents wont be able to buy them all the supplies they need. I went straight to my teacher source, my sis, who tells me her guess is about 50% of the kids in her public school will not have their supplies and so she will purchase them herself. Anyone see a problem with this? So here is my solution. Every week right now at the drugstores there are school supplies that are free or dang near close. Look what I got today at Walgreens, all of which can be bought for $5! We had this conversation once before, about the troops and sending things to them. Don't think I have forgotten, I haven't trust me. One skipped coffee is $5! Go to Walgreens and buy folders, 8 for a $1, go to CVS and get scissors for .99 and let them give you a coupon to use in store for .99, making the scissors free. Go get the folders and scissors and pens and pencils and pencil sharpeners and then we can gather them all, I will even come get them if need be, and donate them to schools. Think about it, if 10 people go do this that's 80 folders we can give to teachers, 100 mechanical pencils. That a lot of homework writing. And the teachers can do what they want with all those pretty colored folders. They can put it in a ziploc bag, write the date on it with a low odor dry erase Expo marker and sanitize their hands after if they want as long as the kids have what they need in their classroom to learn!

Go figure I'm an overachiever!!

I always tell my husband my mental to do list looks like the board at the aiport, the one that shows you all of the incoming and outgoing flights. If you stand in front of that board it is non-stop movement, as soon as one flight lands and is taken off the board another goes right back in its place. In my head I see the same thing, only with my list of things I want to do. I lay in bed at night and go over them all, listing for myself what I will do first and how I can best multitask to get it done quicker. This blog was on that board for a long time. I was going to be a celebrity in the blog world. Uh, not so much. Here is the thing, I am an overachiever in my mind. There are so many big dreams up there that just bounce around and if I were....perhaps a Cullen and didn't have to sleep, I would have no problem. But alas I require sleep and my kids require food and attention and clean clothes. Bla Bla Bla. I really wanted to jump into the coupon world and take it by storm. I so love couponing and telling people about it. It honestly feels so good when I see someone in a store and they ask me why I have that obnixous notebook in the buggy instead of my child, and I get to tell them how they can buy that box of Cheerios for $1 instead of $4. I know 1st hand how hard it is to make it with a family so knowing that I was able to help someone elses burden be a little lighter is so much fun! I think if I could have one of those super cool blogs like I read then I would be helping tons of people like they have helped me. Again, not so much. The blogs that I love, Southern Savers, I heart Publix, Couponing to Disney (there are more these are just the 3 I check everyday), are all run by women with children and ball games and church and husbands just like mine. I however am not there. I can't balance the kids and karate and piano and homework and the hubby and my never ending mental to do list. Sometimes I feel bad about that, and then while thinking about how I so wish my dreams of coupon stardom had come true with a blog that went viral and ended me up on Oprah the same day Rob Pattinson was there (another story for another blog), it occured to me that its ok that I can't juggle 17 plates. I am normal. I am a normal mom of 2 girls who struggles between staying home with them and having a little more income to provide for them, who somedays wishes my husband would just go live in the back yard and somedays thinks he is a blessing handed straight down from Jesus, who was recently in the parking lot of a Rite Aid with a 1 yr old throwing up constantly, a 9 yr old screaming telling me how ggggggrrrrrooooosssss it was and an overly sensitive gag refex of my own. My life is so far from organiztion and white picket fences, but I'm normal. So after this "moment" of sorts, I decided that the blog is going to take a turn. I'm going to stop focusing so much on couponing and trying to recreate what I have already seen created. Its just going to be normal. I will still post my favorite deals and projects but I think it will be time better served with just the stories of a normal life and normal mom trying to figure it all out.

I have been out of the loop lately with craziness at my house! But I'm ready to get back in the swing of things and I'm going to start by having a workshop on July 10th. The class lasts about 2 hours and we will cover both grocery store and drug store shopping. Its alot of fun! I would love to have you there....and bring a friend!

Free Olay Quench Lotion

Want free lotion? Well here ya go!

Buy any Olay Quench Lotion by April 16th, send in your receipt with printed rebate form and you will receive a check back for the purchase price! All purchases have to be made between 3/19/10 and 4/16/10 and as normal allow 6-8 weeks for delivery! Click here to go directly to the rebate form.

The lotion is on sale this week at Walgreens for $7.99. Catching it on sale will limit your up front out of pocket cost and help you to stay within your weekly budget!

New Home Made Simple Book

Head over here and click on $1 off Dawn Hand Renewal to get your new Home Simple book. It has $30 of coupons on Cascade, Dawn, Febreze, Mr. Clean and Swifter products. It tells you that it takes 6-8 weeks for delivery, however mine normally pop up in the mail box alot sooner.

Thanks Saving and Giving