I'm a WINNER!

I just wanted to say....heck yes!!!!

I won a year's subscription to Better Homes and Garden's magazine!! How cool is that??? And who can I thank for this fabulous prize???

Christina at The Tattered Tag. :)

So head on over to her blog, if you haven't already and check out her great ideas and linky parties!!!

Lego party...part 2

Ok, Ok...I know that I am making two posts in one day, but I am super excited about how the party decorations are turning out. You will have to wait until May to see it all put together in party form....but I am making everything when I have time.

Today, I had time after my fabulous new haircut. Basically, it's the same haircut, just fixed fancier since my stylist did it today.

I looked at my list to see what I could tackle and the next thing on the list was a bunting for the mantle and for the window by my dining table. As I was working on this, I realized that another one needs to be made for our little game room and I totally forgot. BUT, I only have time to make two.....so bunting #3 must wait until tomorrow.

Preciousness, your name is Lego.....





So all I did was hang a string of twine from my curtain rod. I made the pennants with an extra little tab on the top so that it could be folded over, and the flag could just be set on the twine. Same thing with the Lego man face. I traced his face on yellow card stock folded in half so he could be easily moved around on the twine to find the spacing I like best. Coloring in two eyes and a cute little mouth, and he is finished.

On to the mantle.




I had a pack of primary colored 8.5" X 11" cardstock so this was FREE. I cut some cardstock into smaller squares and left some traditional size. Then I punched out circles, wrote LEGO on them, and used double stick tape to attach them to the "brick". I love the way it looks 3D because of the tape. Then I just tacked it to the mantle. Super-de-duper-cute.

Jansen is getting really excited and he still has 3 more months until his birthday. Mommy is really excited too. I just want my boys to have parties they love and remember without Mommy and Daddy having to pay a fortune.

Cost for these banners (and the 3rd one I will make tomorrow)????? $4.97 for the twine, which I will be using for the banners, balloons, and pinata...and various other projects. YAY!!!

How simple can this be?!

Updated pitcher...fo free!

Yet again, my mom has gifted me with something she no longer sees a use for. Prehaps she just doesn't like it...anyway, I gladly accepted it.

Yesterday, I went to my mom's house to help her hang a few things, do a little rearranging, and work on some of my crafts while the hubs slept. Did I mention that I actually like when my hubs is on graveyards? After the kids go to bed, I can veg out on the couch with the TV and work on my crafts :)

Anyway! My mom had a pile of things she was ready to donate to the local resale shop...but before she did so, I got to go through it. She had a retro-style, small tv/dvd player combo that is now living in Jansen's room! :) And she had this really dated pitcher. I remember seeing this in our house growing up and thinking that it just looked ancient.

It was in the donate pile, but soon found it's way into the back of my car. I don't like the design of it AT ALL, but I think it has some beautiful curves and lines. So I took it outside for a coat of glossy white paint.

Look how sad she was...

But now she is shiny and new...

I am still working on the bowl, so it's renovation is not in the picture. Now I just have to find the perfect spot for her and we have a brand new accessory for $0. YAY!!!

Lego birthday prep...

Well, I pretty much have Caleb's birthday next month planned. We are having it at the bowling alley per his request, and we have everything ready. I like to plan all the details way ahead because my kids' birth months are so busy.

Then that leads us to Jansen's birthday in May. He chose to have a Lego party, which is cool with me. Over the next few weeks, I will be making as many of the decorations as I can because May is ridonkulous. I have Teacher appreciation week, my birthday, Mother's Day, Jansen's birthday, a friend's baby's birthday, our anniversary, end of school parties, Field Day at school, End of Year Teacher luncheon...the list goes on and on. Blah, Blah, Blah...I like to plan.....

So today, my project was to make the Lego name sign we will hang over the mantel and the balloon wreath for the front door. Here is how they turned out.....

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE how this cute little wreath turned out. We will hang this on the door for both of my boys' birthdays!! This wreath cost me about $8: bought the straw wreath, 2 bags of balloons, and some floral pins. Word to the wise....leave the plastic wrap on the straw wreath and then pin the balloons on it. Very easy, and very inexpensive. :)

And the first Lego-themed accessory....Jansen's name sign....

It looks just like the Lego Logo... and Jansen loves it.
It was so easy and so inexpensive to make. It cost right at $5 to make this sign, because I used heavy duty red foamboard instead of basic posterboard. The font was downloaded for free and printed out each letter on one page. I colored a black border around each letter and then glued it to yellow posterboard. I cut around the edges of the yellow and then glued the whole name to the foamboard. How easy is that?!

Next few things to work on:2 Lego buntings for the mantle and for the window in our dining room
Lego gift bags
Lego filled jars
Lego invitations

Accent wall accents

Remember how I told you about our financial goals for 2011???? That means that we are Dave Ramsey-ing it.

Let's just say it, yes....it works. It is difficult to get started, but it is working. We just paid off our Lowes bill. Cut that credit card up baby and it's only February!!!!

That means that my craft/decorating allowance is next to nothing in the budget. Ok, so I can handle that. It is forcing me to be more creative, and BONUS...more green. Which means more GREEN in our pockets...err...put onto our debt. :)

When I finished the accent wall this weekend,(you can find that project HERE ) it sat for two days completely blank. I can't afford to buy anything new right now, so it was time to search the house for things to switch around.

I moved the table and accessories from the entry way to here, and moved this picture from another room to sit on top. I like it. It was free. I like it even more.

Now my entry way looks a little bare, but much more room for the kids when they are barreling down the hall to not knock themselves out on the table. :)

Valentines for teachers...

Family Fun magazine strikes again!!!

The boys and I made these cute little gifts for their teachers this year for Valentine's Day. I almost did hand sanitzer instead of lotion, but the weather has been unusually cold lately, so we stuck with lotion.

So cute and so easy. Disregard the mess of gift bags, cookies, backpacks and such behind them :)

Couponing best....

Why oh why did I not take a picture of this glorious personal achievement????

Oh well.....

I coupon, but I don't COUPON. Frankly, I just don't want to spend all the time and organizational skills it takes. I also don't want to shop at 4 different stores, on 4 different days, shop weekly, or spend 3 hours in a store. Grocery shopping needs to be fast and as painless as possible, because I hate it.

So, I clip my coupons, I shop at one store (twice a month because it generally has the lowest prices), shop the sales, and we eat what is on sale. Did I mention that I also hate to cook?! Don't confuse this with baking. I love to bake <3>

10 apples

4 bell peppers

a bunch of carrots

6 tubs of yogurt

3 bags of shredded cheese

1 pound of deli turkey (kids' lunches)

a bag of cookies

a jar of miracle whip

3 cans of biscuits

3 cans of crescents

butter

2 gallons of milk

1.5 dozen eggs

2 pounds of bacon

1 pound of sliced cheese

rice

gumbo mix

5 cans of green beans

2 cans of corn

2 cans of Spaghetti O's

5 pound bag of potatoes

2 loaves of bread

2 boxes of granola

3 boxes of gummies

2 bags of goldfish

chicken nuggets

2 pounds of spaghetti

2 jars of sauce

lots of broccoli

powdered sugar

veggie oil

2 boxes of cake mix

tub of icing

4 pounds of ground beef

2 cases of Capri Sun

a large tub of mixed nuts

2 tubes of Pringles

2 bags of chips, individual 12 packs

frozen waffles

2 boxes of flavored juice packets

a case of diet drinks

2 boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch

1 box of Special K cereal

spices

taco packets

5 of Caleb's favorite lunchables that were on sale for less than a buck each

toilet paper

ziploc bags

bag of candy for the kids' Valentine party

So with that I plan on making all the kids' lunches for school and breakfast, lunch, and dinner for us. On the menu for the rest of the month:

• Sausage gumbo
• Taco baked potatoes
• Hamburger Helper
• Fried chicken strips with broccoli and rice
• Tator tot casserole
• Hobo dinners with veggies
• Breakfast for dinner (eggs, bacon, toast)
• Cajun Mac and Cheese
• Chicken and rice
• Meatloaf and mashed potatoes
• Taco Soup
• Chicken-etti
• Spaghetti with meat sauce
• Calzones
• Mini chicken pot pies
• Veggie night
• Grilled cheese and soup
• Pizza night (twice)

I try to think of about 15-20 dinners a month because we often have leftovers for either lunch or dinner the next day. Not bad for $127. Next month my goal is $120!!!!