How I Pinch A Penny

Here is another one that I had to put together. Wouldn’t these two look so cute as a matched pair?! LINK

Many many thanks to Mirella and Scrapity Scrap and More for allowing me to use her Twas The Night kit. This kit was my FAVORITE kit to use this Christmas. I got so much use out of it. There are so many papers and elements the possibilities are endless!!

I know it is after Christmas and this is a Christmas idea but I just had to share. My cousin gave us a Chocolate bar with a wrapper similar to the one pictured above. Hers was beautifully stamped and had layers of scrap booking papers. I took one look at it and knew it could be hybrid scrapped! So here it is: LINK. You do have to use a LARGE chocolate bar. I thought this was such a cute idea and had to make one to share.

Many many thanks to Mirella and Scrapity Scrap and More for allowing me to use her Twas The Night kit. This kit was my FAVORITE kit to use this Christmas. I got so much use out of it. There are so many papers and elements the possibilities are endless!!

My cousin had one of these in her craft repertoire this Christmas. She is a traditional stamper/scrapper. She used a stamp for the snowman and layers of paper for the wrapper. Me being a digi-scrapper (and penny pincher) thought I would be able to recreate them in photoshop. I did use the smaller tic-tac boxes. I understand there are larger tic-tac boxes but I had a smaller one on hand so that is what you get! If there is a need for the larger one I can create one for you… just ask. The papers are from Shabby Princess Moody Blues free download. The Snowman is from badabina.

HERE is your download.

Step 1. Print out the page on card stock.
Step 2. Cut them apart.
Step 3. Score them 1 1/2″ from the left and the right side.
Step 4. Cut 12″ of 1/8″ ribbon. I used white but red or black would be nice as well.
Step 5. Apply double stick tape width wise on the back of the wrap. I used 1/2″ width of this brand.
Step 6. Center your ribbon on the tape and press to adhere.
Step 7. Wrap the Snowman Poo(p) wrapper around a small box of tic-tacs. Press the tape onto the box. This will help when you tie the ribbon.
Step 8. Tie ribbon.

If you are feeling super creative you can use a round punch to punch out the bottom of the snowman. OR you can use an exacto knife to carefully cut out the bottom of the snowman.

Here is what I have done with that sweater that was the wrong size and how I made the most out of my penny pinching Christmas dollar. In case you haven’t noticed retailers are desperate for your dollars! This is such a good thing for you, the Penny Pincher.

I am very fortunate that I have relatives that attach gift receipts to each piece of clothing that they gift. I take the sweater to the counter and get the clerk to scan the gift receipt to see how much was spent on it. Have the clerk put the amount on a store credit or a gift card. You now have your gift on a gift card/store credit. Now you are able to get full advantage of the after Christmas deals. For example an extra 25% off the entire store! So if you did indeed change your mind on that sweater you just returned you can get it for the sale price, plus 25% off. Your penny pinching relative would want it this way. The catch is you HAVE a gift slip or the actual receipt. Other wise you will get the price the item is selling for that day.

Coffee is wonderful to invigorate you in the morning. You probably have a cup of joe in the morning so why not kick start your routine and start the day with a coffee sugar scrub? The caffeine in the coffee brings the blood to the surface and helps disperse the cellulite cells (over time that is!). The olive oil is an excellent moisturizer and the oatmeal helps retain that moisture. The sugar is a great exfoliant. So this is how I make my coffee/sugar scrub.

Ingredients
Coffee Grounds
Use coffee grounds, ground to an espresso or even turkish ground. They type of coffee doesn’t matter.
White Sugar (brown can be substituted if you wish)
Oatmeal (ground to a fine powder in the food processor)
Olive oil
Vegetable oil

Procedure

Combine equal parts of coffee grounds and sugar.
Add 1/2 cup ground oatmeal per 2 cups of coffee grounds.
Combine.
Stir in olive oil so the mixture looks like sloppy wet sand that you find at the edge of the ocean where the waves crash.
Add vegetable oil if you want it to be more oily. All olive oil can be used but I pinched pennies by doing 1/2 olive oil, 1/2 vegetable oil.

Once this is all stirred around and combined you are ready to package. I found containers at Sunburst Bottle Co. I used the 8 oz. clear with black lid I even got the coordinating shrink bands for that extra special professional look. I am sure there are other packaging companies out there but this is the company I went with. If you happen to choose this particular size container I have a label for you. I printed this on a sheet of self adhesive sticker sheet, cut them apart and put them on the container before I put on the shrink band.

Enjoy!

PS Also pictured are the personalized coffee sleeves I had blogged about HERE.

Did you know that Starbucks will sell you the syrup they use to make their yummy drinks? There is a Starbucks in my Target and they sold me the bottles for under $7.25!! Isn’t that fabulous?! I can get a lot of use out of a bottle. This would be a great gift for the coffee lover in your life. Having a bit of Starbucks at home. Complete the gift by pairing it with a personalized cup sleeve.

Yet another penny pinching idea for the holidays is to make caramel. I know what you are thinking. “Sarah. Come on now. You are crazy. Do you think I have time to sit, watch and stir a pot just to make caramel?” I am telling you this is easy peasy.

Get a can of sweetened condensed milk. Take the label off. Put it in a pot of water. Make sure the entire can is submerged. Boil for 3 hours. Whala! Caramel. Did you catch that? Just boil the can in water. The sugars in the milk and sugar IN THE CAN caramelize making a wonderful caramel. The fabulous thing is you can boil as many cans as you can fit into your largest pot. As long as they are able to be covered in water you are good to go!

Now for some safety:
Do not let the water run out in your pot. The can will explode.
Do not put a dented can in your pot. It will explode.
Let the cans cool completely (over night) before handling them.

Once you have your cans cooled put on the label I have provided for you and present with a couple of apples. In case you don’t like my label or want to customize your own this label is 3 inches high and 9 1/2 inches long.
My label for you

Don’t forget to make a few extra to have on hand for an impromptu hostess gift.

Something that I found to be a cute thing to give to the coffee lover in you life is a custom coffee cup sleeve. I used the template from Some Random Dude found here. He is more than generous with offering the template.

Using PSP ( but use what you have)
For my purposes I did up the DPI to 300 and then erased the instructions. Then I duplicated the layer and was able to fit 2 on a 8 1/2 x 11″ paper. I used papers and fonts that I was able to download for free HERE. I then printed them on to card stock paper. I think my paper is 110 lb. But I think anything over 90 lb. will work. I cut them out and then hot glued them onto the cardboard sleeve you get with your coffee at your local coffee shop. ( minor trimming is required) Don’t feel like spending $4 for a cup of coffee just to get the cardboard sleeve? Just ask the barista for a few. I am sure they will be more than happy to give you a few. Be sure to smile and say thank you!

Now to my friends… act surprised when you are given this gift. I just had to get it up on the blog and share this penny pinching idea with the world! To those friends who do not see their name…your sleeves are not completed. So if you have any requests just e-mail me!

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 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.