We started off with a Curious George party, then did the Cowboy thing and finally the lego party. I was starting to run out of fun ideas for my boys parties.
One thing Landon loves to do is draw and color, seemed only obvious to throw him an art inspired party. Now that he and most of his guests are 5 they are able to keep the mess to a minimum so I forged ahead in making this happen.
I bought dollarstore white placemats and cut them into the shape of a painter’s palette. I then adhered plastic die cut circles to mimic paint which are easily washable. Yet another trip to our dollarstore yielded plain canvases on which the kids could paint their masterpiece just like the professionals. I am convinced the one to the far left will be worth money some day.
I knew this cake would be perfect for our art party. No wimpy food coloring for this one, the real dark vibrant food paste was brought in to pull this off. Beware! If you get this on your counter be prepared to love the tie die look because it does not wash off easily. Better yet pawn the job off on your poor unsuspecting parents. It’s amazing what you can get away with in the name of grand kids.
For favors I simply picked up some small tubs of Play Doh, a plastic painters palette, some paint brushes and a few tubs of washable paint. Ironically last minute I forgot to pick up favor bags and tossed the stuff in small green recylcing garbage bags. I figured everyone at some point can use those and will more than likely come in handy when letting your toddlers paint or use play doh…or as in my case both at once.
With three kids I am sure to be repeating one of these parties, or better yet I may even take them bowling. Problem solved.
The dust is starting to settle so I thought I would begin to dabble in the world of blogging once again. I miss learning new tricks from other frugal moms, venting my frustrations but most of all the friendships that emerged.
Since I last reported, our family went from this
To this
Yes you counted right. We now have three little ones.
As one can well imagine, life is crazy. Heck, why sugar coat it, it’s downright insane! I don’t have the luxury of closing my office door for a much needed break (although the bathroom has proved to be a decent substitute) but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
This past year has had it’s share of challenges, mainly due to my little girls health scare at birth. Life gets put into perspective in the blink of an eye and so did my focus. Now that I have settled into a chaotic routine I hope to share some new and improved ways to save money, time and hopefully your sanity (although I may ask for help on that issue from time to time)
Even if I was filthy rich I would still resort to the following frugal tip….come to think of it I would probably do most of them because it’s fun. This one would especially follow me into my new mansion (I can dream can’t I?) homemade dishwashing detergent.
I admit I was a skeptic. After reading many tips and recipes on this subject I found mostly negative results and reviews. Because of this I stuck to my trusty homemade laundry soap and dared not to venture where Borax should not go. All the while I silently cursed every time I squeezed the final drop of Palmolive and had to run to the store because my house came to a screeching halt when the dishwasher was silent. I know what you are thinking, I could always resort to washing by hand but I have done that for many years and I did not want to go back there.
I finally ran across this wonderful article on the “Amazing Dishwasher” by Amy of Mom Advice where she mentioned a recipe that she personally uses and endorses. Since I had tonnes of Borax and Arm and hammer wash soap I thought I had nothing to lose and went for it. A total of 5 seconds later I had a batch whipped up and proceeded to run the load through. Keep in mind this load had been sitting there for nearly 2 days due to my sheer determination to not do them by hand. Upon completion, I sheepishly opened the door fully expecting there to be a heavy film over everything not to mention part of the meatloaf consumed two nights earlier. Much to my surprise everything was sparkling clean….wow. I wanted to test this out a couple of times before signing its praises, so after three more loads without my families knowledge the dishes were radiant.
Because Borax and Arm and hammer wash soda are septic safe I am assuming they are somewhat environmentally friendly. I am all for going green but with a family of 6 and a neverending stream of caked on dirty dishes I needed something more than a little earth friendly rose water and a prayer. I needed the big guns and I think this is a decent compromise.
So here is the recipe, give it a try and let me know what you think.
1 cup Borax
1 cup washing soda (Arm and Hammer)
1/4 cup salt
I mix all together and fill my dispensers before starting. She also suggests keeping the rinse agent area filed with vinegar.
For more works for me Wednesday’s and frugal ideas visit We are that family
80% of the treats in this bag came from clearance after Christmas. By sticking this in our deep freeze I was able to keep my Easter spending to under $15 (for both kids). The tootsie roll bank, 4 pack of kinder eggs and Cadbury mini eggs were a 75% off score after boxing day and the markers, paint smock and stickers were picked up at a local clearance centre for a buck each. I am enjoying the fact I can fool the kids with the Christmas candy knowing I may only have a few more years before they start pointing it out….what am I saying my hubby didn’t even notice. I guess if you are a true chocolate love it doesn’t matter where it comes from or what it’s covered in.
I am always trying to be a holiday ahead when stashing away stocking stuffers, loot bags, Easter baskets and Halloween goodies. For a fraction of the price you can save yourself last minute stress, crowds and overpriced goodies. I am heading out tomorrow to pick up some treats for Dane’s upcoming birthday and several large chocolate bunnies to chop up for my Christmas baking which normally includes lots of melting and dipping.
I had so much fun creating my son’s cowboy themed third birthday party, so much so I had to blog and brag about it. Imagine my surprise when the ladies from Creative parties and Showers contacted me to submit his party for them to showcase.
You bet I did. Thanks Shannon!. Head on over and check out the amazing parties ladies around the worlds have created. I know I’ll never be stuck for ideas with this site on my RSS feeds.
For all of you who ever thought about trying to cook with sourdough but are a little reluctant, check this out.
I recently wrote an intro’s guide to sourdough and several recipes other than bread you can make with this wonderful stuff. So don’t be shy, dive right in and enjoy the health and frugal benefits of this wonderful ingredient.
(jeeze, after taking a good look at this picture, I have come to realize it doesn’t look that appealing, please don’t hold that against it)
So much for spring. Several days ago I spent the afternoon perusing the aisles of Home Depot admiring all the patio furniture (nicer than my living room set I might add) and now I cannot find the deck if I tried. We got a whopping 20+ cm of snow. Instead of being depressed I decided to make a day of it and jack the kids full of sugar. Nothing like being cooped up in the house with a tummy full of Rice Krispie treats to drive a momma crazy. The nice part about this snow is it’s light and fluffy, so when the kids start climbing the sides of the TV armoire they dressed in their one piece snowsuits and booted outside to burn off some energy. I got a chance to sit by by the patio window sipping my three times reheated coffee picking paint chips for the new house. Ahhhh! a snow day at its finest.
I have to tell you about our weird ritual when making Rice Krispie squares. Most people cook them up and ever so neatly place them in a buttered pan, wait until they cool before cutting them into neat little squares. Hence the name. As you probably guessed by now, we do nothing normal.
Growing up Rice Krispie treats became an event. Normally this was made on a storm day or late at night while watching a movie. My Dad, who exclusively made these treats, would whip up a large batch with added peanut butter and pile it on a buttered plate complete with 4 spoons stuck in the middle. We would each take a utensil and ferociously dig out a portion and pick it off with our fingers and gobble it up still warm and gooey. If there happened to be some left it would be stashed away in the cupboard for the following morning’s breakfast. I have yet to see this happen since the arrival of our little porker Dane.
With the horrible weather conditions outside, I knew this would be a perfect day to break out the clearance box of Holiday Rice Krispie and whip up a large plate of ooey gooey goodness complete with tall glasses of milk. I hope my children will remember these moments as much as my brother and I did growing up. A single bite of this treat brings back so many wonderful childhood memories and how we spent it as a family. Amazing how a simple dessert prepared in an unusual way can bring you back to a simpler and safer time.
Funny thing is I don’t remember the belly ache that accompanied this.
Nice combination eh? Yes, that egg IS that big and I would hate to come face to face with the hen that deposited that one.
So what does that unlikely combination have to do with this topic? Well, one of our favourite family recipes has to be egg Mcmuffins. We make these on our outdoor occasions, most recently this one I wrote about. To make our egg’s even and round we cook them inside a tuna can. Simply cut the top and bottom out and place in the centre of the skillet. When flipping you can easily run the metal spatula underneath the egg and tin and flip it. Now they are familiar in shape to those calorie packed, artery clogging goodies normally bought at the golden arches.
For those similar to Subway simply spray the insides of a round Tupperware container with Pam and whisk an egg, some milk and a little butter. The egg pops out easily and can them be piled with fresh veggies.
No more misshapen, lopsided egg mcmuffins. Not like they tasted bad like that but sometimes presentation is nice….sometimes.
Prior to cutting off my long hair, conditioner was a priority in my beauty routine. For years I tried new products, from expensive salon brands to budget friendly generic ones. I never found that ideal run my fingers through my wet hair brand of conditioner.
Let’s just say HYPOTHETICALLY if my hair was not naturally blond and HYPOTHETICALLY I used a boxed hair dye I would find inside a wonderful conditioning product. For years I would use this little gem for the week after colouring to a sleek, tangle free do. I could never find the exact product in stores and nothing conditioned quite like it. I started asking friends and family if they could save them for me. In no time I amassed a large collection and never had to spend precious money on expensive conditioner again.
This was originally posted in Feb. 09, what a difference a year makes, my hair is now short and dark. I pass these tubes of conditioner on to my sister in law who has long hair and she loves it.
For more frugal tips and ideas visit the new home of Frugal Friday’s over at Life as a mom
With the big move nearly 4 weeks away, I have been desperately trying to clean out the freezer so I can thaw it out for easy transportation.
My big freezer cooking marathon happened nearly 6 weeks ago yet I am still able to open up the freezer and have a fully cooked meal on the table in no time. Once a month shopping and cooking is definitely the system I am sticking with. I recently did a guest post over at Virtually organized explaining my menu planning system and how this works for my family at this stage of our lives.
This is what I am feeding the family this week.
Monday – leftovers. Since I have the day off from supper duty I decided to spend the day making several batches of sweets for the kids. When I return from the gym I am going to immediately start baking and have high hopes of completing a batch of oatmeal and banana chocolate chip cookies as well banana bread. I picked up three bags of darkened bananas on clearance that are ready for mashing
Tuesday – stir fry using the many frozen bags of veggies I found in the bottom of the freezer with small amounts remaining.
Wednesday - chicken casserole from the freezer with risotto
Thursday – freezer lasagna
Friday – hamburgers and onion roasted potatoes. instead of unhealthy fries I simply chop up some large baking potatoes and coat with some olive oil and homemade onion soup mix. I have even sprinkled some chili pepper on them for a little kick.
Saturday – sourdough pancakes
Sunday – cabbage sloppy joes. I pick up shredded coleslaw packets when 50% off and simply fry them up with beef for a sweet and tangy sloppy joe dish. This is also a great way to sneak in veggies to unsuspecting kids, grandfathers and hubbies that should know better.
That wraps up my week. Normally Laura hosts this carnival but she is out of town this week and lucky for us Erin from $5 dinners is taking over.
Nice combination eh? Yes, that egg IS that big and I would hate to come face to face with the hen that deposited that one.
