Frugal Art Class

We like to do some sort of art project on Friday's. I do not like to spend a lot of money or time on art...lol...call me crazy...but it's just for fun at this point. So, today's frugal art project was painting a pumpkin! I just printed off a pumpkin coloring sheet.

I always like less mess when we paint, so an easy and cheap way to contain our paint is to use cupcake liners!

Another thing we often do is give little ones a Q-Tip to paint with...it's easy for them to handle and we can just throw it away when we are done!

The finished product! These pumpkins will make wonderfully beautiful fall decor, don't ya think?

Home Improvments

With cold weather coming there is much to do around here! We need to winterize the house and barns...but also, it's home improvement time! This is exciting and frustrating all at the same time! LOL...our house is OLD, and when you try to do any sort of improvement you can count on finding at least 5 things that make you want to cry! LOL. So far, in every room that we have tried to fix we have found crazy electrical work, crooked walls, not properly patched holes, one room of our house is built with boards one on top of the next...and the boards have bowed, so our wall bows in...it's a strong room, I think it was the first room built. Our home started out MANY years ago as a one room "cabin"...and slowly people added to it to make it a farmhouse. Whoever built on to it didn't do it for looks, it must have been just to have space for a family to live. Then, about 30 years ago, my uncle built the upstairs portion...and did a very poor job. Soft floors, uneven everything...the house has settled so much there are cracks in the ceilings and walls...you get the picture! It's a work in progress! We are going to tackle two projects this winter...the mud room and the downstairs bathroom. Should be interesting as these are both part of the very old, original part of the house. I wonder what we will find! It's been fun to see the newspaper that they used to line things with (walls, floors...i guess it was used for insulation??)...but it's not been fun when you see something you had no clue was under the floor or behind walls that could have burned your house down! LOL...Praise the Lord it didn't! I also have a few smaller things to do, I need to finish some painting projects and paint the family closet room and my pantry. Fun times!

Obedience

As of late I have been doing a study on obedience to God. It has been convicting and forcing some soul searching...both for which I am grateful. In the last two weeks I have had two major events come up...My flesh was screaming for me to "take action"...and do SOMETHING! I have learned that the something I need to do is wait. First, I need to be willing to obey God...when He lets me know what course of action to take...I need to say "yes, Lord"...and then comes the hard part...ask Him..."what's next?"...and wait. I have learned that His timing is perfect & I screw stuff up. I am so thankful to have a Bible so I can learn. Each of those situations had nothing to do with me, really...but I was very involved...had I satisfied my flesh and acted hastily, without listening and obeying God step by step, other people's lives would have been effected. It's like a chain reaction.

Today I am not feeling well, so much time will be spent reflecting over what He has taught me...I

Weekly Meal Plan

A frugal tip....PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! It really does save you money. I am trying to cut down on my food budget even more in the next few weeks...wish me luck :0)

Breakfast:

1. french toast

2. muffins & smoothie (from homemade yogurt!)

3. eggs & toast

4. homemade granola cereal & toast (or fruit?)

5. pancakes

6. spice cake (either made with rhubarb or zucchini)

7. homemade cinnamon raisin bread

Lunch:

1, Kielbasa, fries & corn

2. tuna melt & celery w/ p.b.

3. ham & cheese sandwich...and a side

4. hot dog casserole & fruit

5. pizza toast & applesauce

6. p.b. & J & apples & grapes

7. toasted cheese & tomato soup

Dinner:

1. Pizza roll (homemade) & green beans

2. hamburgers, potatoes & corn

3. Corndog patties & veggies

4. "stuff" with biscuits on top (we made it up!) & fruit

5. shepards pie & homemade bread

6. spaghetti & homemade garlic bread

7. "shake & bake" chicken, potatoes & veggies

Having a plan that's not too strict helps as I just pick & choose from the above menu...whatever we feel like cooking that day! another bonus...since I am prganized about my meal plans and food shopping...rob takes me on Sundays after church....and we go out for lunch! I'm sure he would not do this if I was just aimlessly walking arounf the store throwing "stuff" into the cart...and then after all of that ask him what he wants for dinner...LOL....he'd rahter stay home if that was the case! Either way....meal planning saves money and might just get you a date!

Frugal Birthday Party

OK....So, let me give you a bit of background about birthdays and what they are here...I learned a VERY valuable lesson when my oldest daughter was turning 2. She was my only child (I was VERY pregnant with #2)...and thought she needed to "have it all"! We spent well over $400 on her birthday that year! We had a huge party...tons of gifts...a cake special ordered from another town, a new outfit for the birthday girl, and spent tons of time and money on decorations. This is how that party went....guests came, ate, made a mess, didn't look at the decorations, Ashley opened gifts that she never really played with, fell face first into her fancy cake and screamed her head off...and as I was rushing around in a frantic state to make sure everything was "just so"...my pants nearly fell down...for real! (gotta love well used maternity pants, right!)...so I literally dropped the plate of food I was carrying to pull up my pants....you get the picture...oh yeah...and my step-SIL told me I had ugly hair! Whew....that was worth $400, right??

This is now how we "do" birthdays....it's VERY low-key! I spend less than $5 on decorations...usually $1 for a tablecloth in the child's favorite color...and a treat for each spot at the table...and the rest of the decor is FREE! It may be cheezy...but kids DO NOT care about decorations! I think they would be sad if there were none, but they don't care what they actually are as long as it "looks" like a party to them! I put the gifts in the middle of the table (they get as many gifts as years old they are), I color and hang up coloring sheets in any "theme" they choose, and make a homemade birthday banner. They get to choose whatever homemade meals they would like to have that day, and what dessert they would like. Only a few of my kids like cake...they choose ice cream, pie, candybars...all different things! We don't have a single person over, and they still have to do school. We like birthday's, but we keep them in perspective...and cheap! I have never had a kid cry because they hated their birthday, so I guess we are doing ok!

The birthday pictured above was thrown yesterday for the little girl I babysit. It looks just the same as it would if it were one of my own kids. I think I spent around $10 for the whole thing...

decor...was only $1 for the table cloth as I decorated the table with her gifts, and stuff I had here

gifts...she turned 5 so she got 5 gifts...

1. movie, already had...Colton got a double for Christmas (Dora)

2. 10 commandments book (I buy the surprise packs from CBD and then hand out the stuff for gifts whenever I need one)

3. Dora coloring book $1

4. Play jewlery $1

5. A set of dolls $5

She had a brownie "dessert"....free....and the candles I had

She had the time of her life, the girls all dressed up in princess dresses....who could ask for more!

I Can't Comment!

I wanted to let you all know that Blogger won't let me comment on anyone's blog! I try...I want to comment....I just can't! Sorry! I am reading and enjoying....just can't join in. If anybody knows how to fix this issue...please let me know :0)

Blessings!

Frugal School Tip

Just a little tip....and maybe I'm the only one who would do this...BUT...this is a tip on how to be able to re-use all of your home school materials...and never buy the same grade level twice!

It has always irritated me to have to re-buy a grade worth of books that I had already bought once...we use a lot of books that are consumable. I buy a ready made package of curriculum for a very cheap price, and they come in mostly consumable workbook type books. I love the curriculum, the price is SO right, and it really works for us! Again, not thrilled about spending money for something I already paid for more than once....call me crazy! LOL. So, this is what I did and it works very well....I just tore all the pages out of each consumable book and put them in a binder with page protectors. The kids don't write in them, they just simple use a notebook! This is a HUGE savings....I will teach (for instance) 6th grade at least (still praying for more kids!) 7 times. I paid $206 for 6th grade curriculum (all subjects...awesome deal!)...so if I were to buy that same package 7 times (becasue most of the books are consumable, but we like them) it would be paying $1,442 just to teach 6th grade 7 times. I bought it once at $206 and had to buy page protectors and binders...I didn't calculate the exact cost as I had some of the stuff here to do that with...but just say it was around $50 for supplies....that makes the curriculum now cost $256 for gth grade wich will be reused to teach all the kids....that's a savings of....$1,186! I'm sure some of you have better curriculum that can be re-used...but this is what I have found works for us! :0)

Blessings on your day!