Stretching your dollar... (part 5)

Couponing

Ok, I'm sure you've heard about the couponing craze.  In fact, I've posted about it on here before.  I would love to be that person that goes to the store, buys $147 worth of groceries, and only pays 26 cents.  There are a few reasons why that won't be happening any time soon.  First of all, I don't have the time.  I work a 50 hour week and spend an hour in the car each day.  Second, I don't have the space to do the stock piling necessary.  Plus, I don't think I have the energy or the motivation to go to three or four stores a week.  That doesn't mean I can't use coupons.  I can, and I do.  Here are some of the tips I've learned.

*Print coupons off line.  I never knew there was such a thing.  There are lots of good places to do this, but I like to use coupons.com 

*Target has coupons you can print.  Again, I had no clue!  They have coupons on their website for all sorts of things.

*Sign up for websites!  They will send you offers.  If you don't want to deal with all those emails, set up another account for just a thing.  I've signed up at a stores, restaurants, and for specific items that we use.

*Some places or items offer specials if you become a "fan" on facebook.

*Request coupons.  I've yet to do this, but I've heard if you write a company and tell them you are a faithful user, they should send you some coupons.

*Follow blogs that give deal updates.  There are a TON out there.  I like to follow hip2save.

*Subscribe to All You magazine.  I waited until Amazon was offering an amazing deal.  It's a magazine chalked full of coupons.  I've only received one issue so far, but I think it will be worth it. 

Happy Valentine's Day! Oh how I love thee... (6)

... let me count the ways!

I love that my husband adores me.  Of this, I am confident... and it's the best feeling ever.  I also love that he not only tells me daily (usually multiple times) that he loves me, but he shows me.  He kisses me good bye every morning and hello every night.  He is always holding my hand, rubbing my back, putting his hand on my leg while driving in the car, kissing the top of my hand, or hugging me.  He sends me sweet texts throughout the day.  He tells me often how beautiful I am.  Sometimes when I am talking he will break out into a very random, but very huge smile.  When I ask him what he is smiling about or what is so funny, he simply responds "You just make me smile" or "You are just so cute".  I love having a husband that loves me back! :)  Happy Valentine's day my love!!

Love Bug

In honor of V-Day we made a love bug craft made from hearts and all things pink, purple and red.

 

First, I cut down a purple paper big enough to cover an toilet paper tube.

Then I had Little Man draw a face on it.

Then I had him cover it with hearts and sequence--however he wanted to.

 

The finished result

Next, we glued it on the roll.

 

Then he decorated the wings, which were hearts.

And here's what we ended up with.

 

  

CUTE, CUTE, CUTE! :)

 

Smashed Cauliflower

Did you know that two thirds of your meals should be fruits and veggies?  I try to make sure that our dinners are well rounded.  It gets sort of hard because Michael is not a veggie kind of person.  I try to change it up every once in a while.  The other night I made smashed cauliflower.  It's suppose to resemble mashed potatoes.

First, you take a a head of cauliflower or 16 oz of frozen cauliflower and boil it until it's soft.

 

After they are soft, drain them just as you would potatoes.

Add in some butter and milk (just like mashed potatoes--sound familiar?)

You can mix in lots of things--cheese, sour cream, bacon... the options are limitless.

I just put in a little pepper and some garlic powder.

I added a little too much milk, but I think they still turned out ok.

You can mash them as creamy or as lumpy as you'd like.

Here's our dinner.

 

The chicken was pretty yummy too.  It's a super easy recipe.

You need one pound of chicken (4 pieces, only I used tenders this time).

Mix one packet of Good Seasons Garlic and Herb salad dressing with 1/2 cup parmesan cheese.

Coat chicken and put in dish, cook at 350 or 30 minutes.  Yum!

Valentine's Day Suncatchers

It's time for some Valentine's Day crafts.  We made this suncatcher last year.  It's a little faded because it was hanging on the window for months.  First, I cut two identical heart frames out of red construction paper.  I placed one on contact paper and had Little Man put tissue paper in the heart.  Obviously, Valentine's colors would have looked nicer, but I didn't have any on hand.  Then I placed the other heart on top and more contact paper.  (Don't mind my fingers.  K wrote Little Man's name and the date, so I was covering it up.)

 

Here's this year's suncatcher.  We melted crayons!

First, I shredded crayons with a pencil sharpener.  This was a pain in the butt.

Plus, all the shavingss were sticking to everything.  I thought to myself that I would never do this again.

I was also pretty sure Little Man was going to hate it because of the mess.

 

 Then, I had Little Man sprinkle the shavings all over a piece of wax paper.

I was wrong--he loved it!  He thought it was so cool.

 

He didn't even mind them sticking to his fingers.  He thought it felt neat.

 

He spread the shavings all over the wax paper.
 

Notice there are even shavings on the bottom of the plate.

Next, I placed a kitchen towel on the counter.  Then I put some paper towels on top of that. 

I looked for an old towel, but couldn't find one.  I didn't want to ruin one!

Then I placed the wax paper with shavings on top of that.  Then another layer of wax paper.

 

Then I put paper towels on top of that in order to protect the iron.
 

 We used a hot iron and ironed all over the paper towel in order to melt the wax.

YES, I let Little Man use an iron.  He is so meticulous about things that I knew it wouldn't be a problem.

I explained to him ahead of time what not to touch and how to use it.

He did a GREAT job!  Plus, he thought it was the coolest thing ever! :)
 

Here's what our meltings looked like after we were done.
 

 Then I cut it into a heart and hung it on the back door.

(Don't mind the FOOT of snow or the shovel)
 

Beautiful!

 

Finger Crayons

Have you ever seen these before?

 

I think they are pretty cool.  I'll admit, they are probably for the younger kid, but whatever.  

They've been in the cabinet for over a year and I finally broke them out a few months ago.  

You can buy them on Amazon if you are interested.

I like that they kind of make you learn how to hold a writing utensil correctly.

 

  

I also like that you can stack them up on the table and they don't roll away! :)

A Bloody Mess

Remember this beautiful wreath I made last week?

 

It's hanging on my door.  I have a mini porch type of thing with a roof covering.  I didn't think it would be a problem on there.  Unfortunately, we got a foot of snow over the past few days with up to 30 mile an hour winds.  I came home Friday night to a ridiculous amount of snow and a bloody mess on my front porch.  Well.... at least it looked like a bloody mess.  Snow had blown onto the flowers and the dye started dripping off of them.  There was deep red dye splattered all over the snow at the base of my door.  At first glance I really did think a small animal had died on my doorstep.  Upon closer inspection I realized it was the flowers.  Darn.  I think I'm going to go ahead and hang it back up once the snow stops.  I just wanted to make sure you are aware of this before tackling something similar.  It's still pretty... blood and all! :)