How I Pinch A Penny

I went out and found the cello bags today at our local paper supply store. I got the ones that are 6″ wide with a 3″ depth and a 15″ height. I had a lot of fun putting together the bag topper and I hope that you are able to use it and enjoy it.

This is the topper I created. As you can see you get 2 toppers out of each printing. The individual topper is 5 1/2″ wide and 8 1/2″ long. Once printed out, cut the page in 1/2. The topper is meant to be folded in 1/2 and stapled onto your bag. The reason the topper measures 5 1/2″ instead of 6″ is that once the bag is filled it will no longer be 6″!

The file is a .jpg and it is 300 DPI so you will have great quality but a bigish file. This is my own creation using the freebies of others. So please do not redistribute this as your own. Link back to this blog if you must. Absolutely no making money with my generosity!!

Now for credits. I have never posted something that I have made out of the generosity of others so I am going to do my best. All of the elements were posted on DigiFree.
The Papers are from the Wide Eyed Wonder by Misty Cato Sweet Shoppe Designs
The string wrap, heart dangle, and note card were created by Angelflight Scraps
The quote was found on DigiFree and I can’t find the credit! So if it is yours please let me know so I can credit you.

Edit: the word art was created by this awesome designer Thanks for your generosity!

I was having ‘blog time’ and was reading over at Lesley and Pinktoque and much to my surprise she thought enough of this blog to give it the “Your Blog is Fabulous” award. Thanks so much! Lesley has been such and inspiration to me with my digital scrap booking and general crafting. Pop on over HERE to check her out.

As per the instructions here are my 5 addictions (at the moment):
1. Digital Scrapbooking
2. Preparing for Christmas
3. Preparing for Thanksgiving
4. Plucking my eyebrows ( you asked!)
5. Finding ways to pinch yet another penny!

I am suppose to pass this onto 5 other bloggers but I don’t know that many!! I promise as I find blogs that are deserving I will pass it along! Thanks so much Lesley and Pinktoque.com!!

I love to give home made gifts to the people at Bob’s office, Emily’s preschool buddies and friends. Being a penny pincher I am looking for the most bang for my buck. Being a people person I want everyone to share in my findings. So is born the Christmas Make-It Take-It. I send out an E-vite inviting people to the event complete with the details of time, place, what will be made and the cost per project. In the “what to bring drop down” I have them select how many units they would like so I can plan!

This year I was inspired by Harry & David’s popcorn selections we will be doing a variation of gourmet popcorn. Now we have not completed the task (our MITI is Dec. 15) but this is how I am anticipating it going:

Air pop the popcorn (this will give it a nice light feel with out oil to weigh it down.)
Put the popcorn in the biggest bowl you can find.
Melt chocolate chips in the microwave and drizzle over the popcorn.
While the chocolate is still soft add peanuts, sprinkle with salt and add dried cranberries. (omit the peanuts if you have a peanut allergy or if this popcorn is going to a place with children.) Feel free to add or omit items to fit your tastes. Other options include M&M’s, pretzels and white chocolate chip morsels.
Stir to coat.
Spread on cookie sheets
Pop into the freezer to set the chocolate. This should take about 10 minutes.
Fill cello bags.
Fold over and staple.
Add a bag topper if you want. ( I am hoping to have one to download that you can use in a future post. I am just not there yet. I wanted to just plant this seed in your head)

Whalla! You now have a yummy,cheap, gourmet gift to give to co-workers, family & friends.

Our upstairs bathroom sink drain has been slower than molasses forever! I blame it on the builders whom built the house. In my mind they did not put enough of a slant on the drain pipe so that the drain will empty properly. But much to my chagrin it was just clogged.

I started my using tweezers to pull hair and gunk out from the open drain. I was quite disgusted with this step. Next I dumped about 1/4 cup of salt down the drain. I did have to kind of shove it in with my fingers. Next I poured about a 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain. I did have to do more shoving of the baking soda down the drain. Next came the fun part. I poured about 2 cups of white vingar down the drain. I did this slowly. Then I plugged the drain and took a shower.

After my 15-20 minute shower I ran hot water down the sink drain. The sink now drains much better than it did before.

The salt acted as an aggregate in the pipes and the baking soda/vinegar mixture had a chemical reaction acting as a vehicle to agitate the salt.

I am getting ready to make our dinner of sausage and egg biscuits along with a cheese quiche.  I pull out my box of Bisquick and know from the weight of it there is NO WAY it will make a batch of biscuits.  Now is the perfect opportunity to try out a recipe I have wanting to try.

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dry nonfat milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Limoncello. Just saying it makes me want to go to Italy.  But then again, it doesn’t take much for me to WANT to go to Italy.  Limoncello is a fabulous lemon liqueur originating from southern Italy made from the rinds of lemons,  alcohol, sugar and water.  (There are just so many fabulous things about that last sentence!)  If you have not had the pleasure of having limoncello as an after dinner digestivo or over ice cream you need to try this recipe.  From what I have heard making your own is far better than what you can purchase at the liquor store.

Thanksgiving will be here before you know it.  I know you have been racking up ‘turkey points’ at your local grocer to get your ‘free’ turkey.  If you are going to the in-laws for Thanksgiving and still have the certificate for the free turkey, go ahead and either give the turkey certificate to your local food bank or give the actual turkey to the food bank.  I am sure either would be appreciated.  But call ahead and see if they have a preference.  

Thanksgiving is over and the boys are watching football.  You know what that means!  It is craft time!  Clear the table, round up the kids and prepare to get messy!  

For 5 ornaments you are going to need:

1 cup ground cinnamon ( go to your big box store and get the big canister of ground cinnamon)

1 cup applesauce (use the cheapest you can find please!)

1/4 cup white glue

This can be doubled or tripled depending on how many people are participating.

Mix everything in a bowl.  If it seems to stiff for rolling out add a touch of water.  Knead the dough till it is play dough-like.  Allow it to rest while you plan what type of ornament you are going to make and how you are going to decorate them.

Gingerbread men, hearts and candy canes are just a few suggestions.  It is also cute to make a flat circle and press a child’s hand into the dough making an impression.  Be sure to write the child’s name and the date with a toothpick next to the impression.

Roll out the dough between 2 pieces of wax paper.  If you are brave roll it out on a clean flat surface.  If you dough is sticky use a bitt of cinnamon to dust your surface or rolling pin.  Do not use flour.

Roll to 1/2″ – 1/4″ in thickness.  Cut out with cookie cutters or mold into what ever shape you would like.  If you have a flat ornament you can use a straw, dowel rod or pencil to poke a hole for a place for the hanger to attach.   Another option is to  press a metal ornament hanger or an unfolded paper clip into the back.

Now you have the option of baking them at 200* for 2 hours (flip 1/2 way through) or let them air dry for 3-5 days.

I have a diaper champ.  It is pushing 5 years old so I am not real sure how good the  seals are anymore because after a stinky diaper or two the nursery starts to reek!  When it was brand new I could go for days with out smelling anything.  So off to the internet to see if I could find something to suck up the smells wafting from the diaper pail.  I knew that baking soda was an excellent absorber of odors but I wanted to see if there was anything else out there.  Turns out the consensus is that baking soda is the way to go.  But there is a twist.  You need to make a baking soda cake.  Here is how I did it.

Trick or treat is over and your kids have a huge bag of candy that they do not need.  Now is the time to assert you parental authority and confiscate a couple of handfuls.  We are now going to make my version of Sinful Saltines.