I got this idea from a catalog, where the silly thing was close to $60. I took one look at it and said ‘I can do that’.

Baby Onesie Bouquet

This project requires no artistic or crafting ability. If you can fold your own clothes, you can make this.

The whole project cost me about $22, although I did go whole hog and buy fancy flower stems at full price. If you wait until they go on sale (usually 50% off every few weeks) or until you have a coupon, I’m sure you could do this for under $20.

Ingredients:

Pack of onesies – I actually chose 8-12 month size because everyone gets newborn sizes.
Pack of baby washcloths – You can also use socks, burp cloths, etc. the cloths just happened to be on sale.
Artificial Flowers/Greenery – I used baby breath, whatever those blue things are (never claimed to be a florist) and fern leaves.
Floral Wire
Ribbon – I bought the $1 a roll grosgrain. You only need maybe 8 inches so scraps are fine.
Clear adhesive tape.

Step one: Roll your onesies. The goal is to get them into a nice spiral/rosebud shape so you might need to rearrange a few times to get it right. Use a little piece of tape to secure the roll. Reserve one washcloth/burpcloth for the outside wrap or find a nice piece of scrap cloth.
Step two: Arrange the onesies in bouquet. Use the floral wire to wrap around and secure them.
Step three: Add in floral pieces. Try to avoid putting dark flowers next to white or light fabric because the dye could rub off. Use floral wire as necessary to secure.
Step four: Surround bouquet with greens. I had to chop off a lot of stem to get the fullness I wanted. Secure with more floral wire.
Step five: Wrap base with reserved cloth. This just hides the stems. You could also just wrap the stems in ribbon. Use tape to secure.
Step six: Add ribbon band/bow. Secure with more tape.

The whole thing took me an hour, and that’s because I kept rearranging things. It’s simple, easy and pretty inexpensive, especially if you know the shower is coming and can shop sales ahead of time.

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I always end up overbuying Halloween candy because I always hated showing up to a house only to find out that they ran out hours ago. Consequently, I have a metric crap ton of candy left, despite a pretty good turn out.

So what to do with all this leftover sugar-laden goodness? Throwing it out would be wasteful, but eating it all would have horrific effects on your waist.

It really all depends on what kind of candy you have and how handy you are in the kitchen.

If you are not much of a master baker, I would suggest freezing enough so you can have one or two candies a day and then attempting to donate the rest. Whether you put a bowl of candy on your desk at work, leave it in the employee breakroom or try to find a shelter or food bank that could use a little fun stuff for incoming kids is up to you.

If you DO like to bake, start sorting your candy into the following categories: Hard Candy, Chocolate Bars, M&Ms, and ‘other’. We’re going to use these supplies in ‘holiday’ baking, so be prepared to store chocolates in the freezer until you start baking.

Hard Candy: Stained Glass Cookies.

You can follow the recipe or use your favorite roll-out cookie dough. Basically you roll out your dough, cut your cookies and then use a smaller cutout on the inside. Fill the cutout with crushed hard candies and the candy will melt to make a pretty stained glass effect. I prefer to use plain sugar cookie dough, but I don’t hang mine as decorations so I don’t care if they’re sturdy or not.

Chocolate Bars: Surprise Candy Bar Cookies or chop up the candies to use as a topping on ice cream or on cakes/brownies.

M&Ms: Use instead of chocolate chips in your favorite cookie recipe, use on ice cream or use as decorations on a gingerbread house (with hard candy stained glass windows, of course.)

Hershey’s Kisses and other ‘plain’ chocolates: Try chocolate dipped pretzels, Kiss/Thumbprint Cookies, microwave S’mores, or chop up and use instead of chocolate chips in any recipe.

Skittles: Skittles Infused Vodka

‘Other’ candy: Colorful candies make good gingerbread house decorations. Red Hots make delicious baked apples (core the apples, then fill the hole with the candy), caramels can be melted into a sauce or caramel dip.

So what will you do with the leftover goodies?

Further Reading (parenthood.com).

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I ran a similar post last year, so this one’s going to be a little short.

A Tea Party for all the Mothers
Get together as many mothers (and mom-like ladies) in your family as you can and have a nice Sunday tea party. Brew a few pots of tea, make some tea sandwiches and cookies (everyone else can help) and celebrate mom.

Continue reading »

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Everytime I see the pre-made baskets in stores I wince. Who pays that kind of money for cheap crap? If you would like to give an easter basket, here’s how to make one an inexpensive one without looking like a tightwad.

• Use a recycled basket or buy after Easter. – There’s no need to go out and buy a new flaming pink basket, but if you want one buy it in the week after Easter the year before. If you are giving the basket to your child, simply recycle the basket each year. If you’re giving it to someone outside the household, you can recycle a basket given to you OR use any other basket (which they might actually be able to use the rest of the year). No one ever said the basket had to be pastel, just use any old basket and attach a few pretty bows.



• Skip the commercial grass – Commercial plastic or paper grass are a waste of money and that stuff gets everywhere. If you want your goodies to rest on a bed of something (which is a nice way of getting away with putting less in the basket), try shredded newspaper or old packing peanuts (might as well recycle them if you’ve got ‘em). If you want more color, try shredded catalogs, junk mail or magazines. You can also use a pretty tea towel or washcloth from the dollar store if you’re giving it to an adult.
• Don’t go crazy with the candy. Most people will have stuffed themselves full of Easter candy long before the holiday anyway. Almost all kids appreciate any kind of candy, so it’s safe to buy the cheaper bulk packs or you could always substitute inexpensive trinkets and toys. Adults might appreciate some homemade fudge or some fresh baked cookies.
• Consider alternative content. If you know the recipient just isn’t into sweets for whatever reason, you can easily turn an easter basket into a spring time gift basket. Try a pair of gardening gloves and some seed packets. Or some candy-themed, bath products. Or a few different kinds of tea and some pretty, second hand china tea cups.

We’re not really doing the whole secular Easter celebration this year because my birthday was this week and Mr.’s family never did the American Easter thing. That hasn’t stopped me from eating obscene amounts of Cadbury Creme Eggs. I swear they put something in those things to make them so addicting.

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I’ve been very good about getting my shopping done throughout the year to take advantage of sales, but sometimes you do end up with the need to get a last minute gift. It’s usually hard to get a nice gift at the end of the Christmas rush, but if you think outside the box, you’ll do fine.

1. Inside every guy is a little boy who still likes toys. (And there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, I wish more women would let themselves have ‘kiddie’ fun.) Buy him a fun little toy, like a small Lego set, an action figure, or silly, novelty office toy.

2. Every guy wants to feel special and spoiled. Find out what his favorite sweet is and make an entire batch just for him. When in doubt, fudge and chocolate chip cookies are easy and almost universally liked. (Tip: This also works for lady-types.)

3. Offer him a service provided for you. If you’re an awesome cook, maybe you can do a weeks worth of cooking (he pays for the ingredients) and freeze them for him. Maybe you’ll do an post New Years Party apartment cleanup. Tech girls (and guys) can help set up a wireless network. And if the guy in question is your ‘significant other’, the services can be much more interesting.

4. Make him comfortable. Crafty ladies would do well skipping the handmade knickknacks and going straight for something useful and comfy. Scarves and hats are always good, if a little commonplace. If you can sew in a straight line, dig through the clearance sections in the fabric district and make him a comfy throw pillow or two. If you can’t sew, you can always make a fleece blanket.

So what’s your favorite last-minute, go-to gift.

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So what do y’all do to make Thanksgiving a little more affordable?

Here’s what we do:

1. Have a potluck with all your stuck-at-home buddies (or ask your guests to bring a dish). This year there’s only four of us, but dividing  the cost and preparation of dinner will reduce the cost (and work) for everyone. We’re on mashed potatoes and stuffing duty this year.

2. Quality, not variety. Sometimes you have to make an extra dish or two because of family tradition, but remember you don’t need nine different kinds of vegetables or five kinds of mashed tubers. Just make one kind of each dish, but search out the absolute best recipe you can and make sure that there’s plenty of it. (This year is: Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green beans and rolls. Mmmmmm…)

3. Don’t get trendy. Every year the celebrity chefs come out with crazy new takes on our favorite dishes. While it’s okay to experiment, you don’t want to deal with 5 lbs of leftover stuffing the no one wanted to eat.

4. Make as much as you can from scratch. Sure, dinner rolls in a can are easy, but the cost of making them by hand is incredibly low for the quantity. If you have trouble keeping up with all the work, enlist some volunteers to help with specific dishes.

5. Get creative with your leftovers. It doesn’t have to be sandwiches. Try a turkey based “shepherd’s” pie to use up turkey and potatoes. The stuffing could be part of another casserole.

6. Remember you can freeze leftovers. I don’t know about you, but after three days of turkey on white for lunch, I start craving post-Easter egg salad. When you get sick of leftovers, pack up a few meal sized portions and stick ‘em in the back of the freezer. In a month or two, you’ll look forward to turkey again.

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I know, I know, you still have more than three weeks until Halloween. You may not even know if you’re being invited to a costume party, or if you’ll need any sort of costume at all.

Well, it’s time to start thinking about costumes anyway. It’s hard to make a frugal Halloween costume that doesn’t look like a cheap costume, and if you wait until the night before you need it, it will look like a cheap Halloween costume that you threw together at the last possible second.

None of the costumes I’m suggesting should cost you more than $20, even if you have to purchase pieces or supplies and most should take you less than an hour or two.

General Frugal Costume Tips

1. Avoid trendy costumes. First off, they’re more expensive to buy or make and secondly, you won’t be able to reuse them.
2. Be creative on ideas, but don’t get in over your head. I’m sure you’d be the only one going as Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ and the supplies (poster board, some paint, black clothes) would be pretty inexpensive, but do you have the kind of skills to pull that off?
3. If you need clothing pieces for a costume, first raid your closet, then raid the thrift stores (that’s why we’re starting early.) It’s much cheaper to buy a second hand shirt and alter it than it is to buy a ready-made costume piece.
4. Raid party stores after Halloween for cheap gloves, hats, tights and other things on clearance that you can use the next year.

Quick, Frugal, Classic Halloween Costumes

Zombie

You’ll Need – Old clothes, fake blood, dirt, white stage makeup, dark brown, purple/red, yellow and green eyeshadow or stage makeup.

Start deconstructing your old clothes: tear holes, cut some stitches so pieces hang wrong. Then, add grime: put your clothes on and roll around in the dirt/grass, clean your apartment in them… Finally, add a little fake blood (you want a dark brown color because it’s ‘old blood’).

Mix the white makeup with some of the green eyeshadow to make a nice, zombie-ish, base foundation. Cover your entire face and neck with foundation (over your lips too, or use a white eye pencil on them) Apply yellow eyeshadow liberally around your eyes (up to the eyebrow) and in the hollow of your cheeks. Make nice big under-eye circles with your purple eyeshadow and purple splotches where you want bruised flesh. If you really want to get into it, you can add some oatmeal to leftover fake blood. and apply to your face for disgusting, crusty, rotting goodness. Yum!

Pirate

You’ll Need – Black boots, bandana, pirate-ish clothes, corset/waist-cincher (if you have one)

The fun part about pirate costumes is that it’s all about layering. When you attack the thrift store, look for off-the-shoulder 90′s-style shirts in white, black or brown, vests, black or striped pants you can make into cutoffs, scarves, belts, long skirts you can tatter, cheap gold costume jewelry… If you want to splurge, buy yourself a pirate hat.

Greek Goddess

You’ll Need: Old sheet (or two), (white t-shirt), sandals you can paint, gold ribbon, gold costume jewelry

For sandals: If you have gold ones, great! If you don’t, you can make passable ones by buying a cheap pair of flip-flops or other sandals on clearance, painting them gold and attaching the gold ribbons to tie up your legs.

For your toga, cut that sheet in half lengthwise (hemming it is a good idea) and then get to tying:

If you have another sheet of a different color, you can make a wrap with it.
For hair, braiding the ribbon in looks good, so do most updos.

Barbie Doll

You’ll Need – Big, blonde wig, Bright dress in purple or hot pink, lots of glitter/tulle/ruffles (80′s style prom or bridesmaid gown work perfectly), 4-inch pumps (flaming pink, spray paint if you have to)

… I don’t think you really need directions on this one.

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If you read the title of this post and thought “Christmas shopping already?”, you have not mastered the fine art of shopping for gifts.

The time to do gift shopping is whenever there is a sale on something your giftee would like. If you wait until two weeks before whatever holiday or occasion you are celebrating, you are going to pay way too much money for a hasty gift.

Early in the year, take stock of the gifts that you will need to buy throughout the year (Birthdays, Graduations, Weddings, Holidays…) and the next time you find yourself browsing the clearance section or sales, look for an appropriate gift. While you are at it, you might want to consider picking up an extra generic gift or two for those awkward times when you find yourself in an unexpected gift exchange.

And while you are off buying gifts, stock up on holiday wrapping paper in the weeks after the holidays, when it’s 75% off. If you find yourself without appropriate gift wrap, stop in a dollar store for cheap gift bags (nothing wrong with solid colors), tissue paper, and all the other trappings of a nicely presented gift. There’s no reason to buy a $5 bow when you can make 100 of them from a $2 spool of ribbon.

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It’s easy to be frugal on Mother’s Day, because the most important things you can give your mother are free. For Mother’s Day, give your mother all your love and a lot of your time.

If you are close enough to visit your mom, do it! Even if it means working late for an entire week so you don’t have to work over the weekend or begging for a favor from your co-workers. Make it happen. Once you’re at mama’s, treat her like the queen. No, this doesn’t require buying her regal jewels, but she shouldn’t lift a finger. Clean her house for her, fix any annoying problems (or nag Dad into doing it), fix her a lovely Sunday dinner, do anything you can to make her life easier, even if it’s just for one day.

If you aren’t physically close to your mom, give her a call and never mind the long distance bill. You can send a card too, but remember that you don’t have to buy a $5 Hallmark card to tell her you love her. A card you made yourself or a hand written note tells your mother that you spent the time and effort on her.

You don’t have to buy the biggest bouquet or both of chocolate to tell mom you love her. Some inexpensive gifts that say a lot are:

• An favorite photo enlarged in a frame you decorated
• A photo album with new pictures of you (and the family)
• A batch or two of her favorite sweet treat
• A day at the home spa (Try some of these homemade treatments)
• Flowering houseplants OR plant a small garden for her and keep coming back to visit and take care of it.

The important thing is to remember that you’re telling your mom you love her. Don’t buy a gift just because it’s ‘cheap’, buy or make one because you know it will mean a lot to your mother.

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