It's Snowing

I love how snow looks, all pretty, and fluffy, and white, when we are getting a good snowfall. I hate how cold it is, how slushy it gets, how dirty it gets, how bad the roads get... I dislike winter.

Today, it looks gorgeous out. Big fluffy white flakes littering the sky, and coating the Earth in a pretty white blanket. It's supposed to keep up all day and night, resulting in the first major snowstorm of the season for us. We've had a few others, but no real accumulation. Today, they are saying 4-6" by dinner. I'd say we've already gotten close to an inch.

Gillian and I walk through the yard, to the road every morning and every afternoon on our way to and from the bus stop. I stomp out the exact same path every morning, to make sure we have a path. That path is now covered already. Once the snow gets deeper than about 2 inches on the ground, we walk around, but because the weather hasn't been as cold as it should, our dirt road has been a quagmire of mud, so I have avoided it thus far. Hopefully, it'll freeze over soon.

In the meantime, my fingers are numb. I went out to put some mail in the mailbox, and stopped to shovel. However, I did so sans gloves. Oops.

And in other news- I've been featured today by Dollar Store Crafts for my handmade fuzzy socks!

Looking For... Dress Up Clothing

My friend emailed me. Her local JoAnn's is going out of business, and she wants to make her daughter some dress up clothes with the great clearanced out fabrics. She looked at patterns, and didn't find much that she thought she could handle.

She's like me- pattern challenged. I told her I would look around the blog world, and see if I can find any good tutorials for making easy dress up clothing.

So- if you've seen some, or made some, post a link to the MckLinky below!

Dress up clothing, or regular clothing that can be made into dress up clothing only, please!
Please link directly to the post, and not the blog!

Organizing and Cleaning

While I want nothing more than to sit back, watch a movie, and make something, I'm going to be disciplined today. No, I don't mean I'm in trouble. I mean, I'm going to MAKE myself start on my resolution of cleaning and organizing better.

On today's list is the easiest room to start with- my bathroom, which is also, incidently, the smallest room in the house. And probably one of the most cluttered. I have no more counter space. I have stuff filling all available spaces. Time to toss the almost empty bottles of stuff I've been saving for 2 years. Time to get the dirty clothing out of there.

Once my bathroom is done, I'm planning to start organizing my craft area. Pack away the Christmas crafts that never got done (Christmas themed, and while, yes, I could keep it out and work on it, frankly, I'm sick of Christmas crafts), and try to make space in there.

A side effect of doing this- I need to sort out books on my book shelf. I have a lot of specific books I keep, because I re-read a lot of stuff. However, there are a lot I don't plan to re-read at all. There is a used book shop in town, so I'll start sorting them out to take in to the shop. That will feed my book addiction nicely, because then I can pick books out for just $.99, instead of $1.99 or $2.99, or even $3.99 for some of them.

So, to recap:

1. Clean & organize bathroom. Put wire shelf in below the sink. Sort & discard half of the magazines (there must be over 100, they take up an entire shelf in my bathroom).
2. Sort & organize crafts by what they are. Pack away Christmas ornaments, and Christmas crafts. 
3. Sort the book shelves. Set aside all books I no longer want, for the book store. Relocate the books on my craft shelf (it used to be a book shelf, but I need the space, darnit!) to the new space on the other shelves.

Will I ever get it done? I hope so. I have a reward in mind. Tonight, the theater in Lansing is showing "The Christmas Carol" on IMAX for FREE to facebook fans. I'm a fan! I am! Mostly, because they do 1 movie every WED for free to fans.

I wanted to go during the day, but the only showing is just a smidge too close to allow me to arrive home before the kids get home from school. Nick said I can go tonight, though. But, I want some serious work done first.

Wish me luck! And no- you will not get photo updates, cause it IS -that- messy.

Grocery Savings

Tonight was that magical time where we are 3 days away from pay day, and we, of course, ran out of a few key items that would be needed before grocery day this weekend.

I checked out the blogs, and Savings Angel, found some coupon deals, and off I went.

I needed:

Bread
Trash Bags
Paper Towel
Lunch Baggies

I wanted:

Coffee mate Creamer
Spaghetti-o's

So, what all did I end up with?

Bread- $1.50 (ugh)
4 cans of Spaghetti-o's- $.50 each, plus a coupon for $1/4, so end price- $.25 each
3 liquid flavored Coffee Mate creamers- $.99 each, plus 2 coupons for $1/1, and 1 coupon for $1/2, for 3 FREE creamers
3 18-count boxes of Peppermint Candy Canes- $.39 each (these are for a Valentine's Day project, in which you melt two together into a heart shape, add a candy stick, and wrap them up as Valentine's Suckers)
1 2-Pack of Viva Paper Towel (My favorite!) on sale for $2.99 (this was cheaper than the store brand, and the rolls were bigger!)
1 box of lunch baggies- $1.50
1 box of trash bags- $2.99
Egg Nog- clearanced out at $1 for being close to the sell-by date (it won't last through tomorrow, let alone all weekend to the sell date)
Nutrigrain Yogurt bars- $1.49 on clearance
Yogos- $1.20 on clearance
Fruit by the Foot- $1.24 on clearance.
1 package of 6 sheets of Christmas Stickers for next year- $.37?

I wound up spending $18.21, and saving $19.96.

I got a coupon for $1 off 2 packs of fruit snacks. When I go back this weekend, I'll grab more of the clearance one's if I can. If I buy 3, I'll get a catalina for $1.50 off my next shopping trip. I've currently got 2 $1 coupons like that. So, if I buy 3 of them at $1.20-$1.24, save $1 off the immediate price, plus the 2 $1 coupons I have, I'll get 3 for the price of $.60-.72 total, and still have $1.50 off my next purchase. 

It pays to look around before going in to the store. I wouldn't have picked up the creamer or the Spaghetti-o's if I hadn't seen the sale price, and found the printable coupons. But, for $1, I got 4 cans of spaghetti-o's and 3 containers of creamer, which Nick goes through pretty quickly. It's expensive, though, for how fast it gets emptied out, so it's a treat.

Now, I spend $20 a month on my Savings Angel membership, but I saved $20 in just 1 visit, and it wasn't even my big visit. On top of that, I earn a $10/month commission because I have had 2 people sign up for SA under me. So, really, I spend $10/month is all. And, when the referral signs up and pays for their membership, you earn a $10 commission, so I was given $20 this month for those two members- so this month was free!

What deals have YOU found lately on groceries?

I Made It, You Made It!

I haven't had my blog all that long, just since October. In that time, I've learned a lot of craft projects from other blogs, and found some amazing blogs out there. I've posted tutorials of my own projects, and ideas, and wound up with an amazing batch of followers!

It really does amaze me that I have people who actually read my blog. ;) I treasure you all!

If you have ever tried out a craft you've found here, I would love to share it with my readers! Either post a comment with a link, or send me an email with pictures at:

herberkids3(at)yahoo(dot)com

I'll feature your projects here on my blog!


I hope to bring you more great ideas in 2010. My goal right now is to post at least 1 craft per week in 2010!

Home Sewn Socks in 2010

Last week, as I sat shivering in the cold Michigan winter, I lamented how quickly soft fuzzy socks lose their fuzz, and shape. They are made for 1 size fits all, but let's face it, they get stretched out quickly, because they are made to stretch up to a size 10 foot, which my feet are not.

I marveled at how soft and warm and cozy my scarf arm warmers were, and was struck by inspiration. Surely these dollar store scarves would work for socks, too, right?

I had some scarves left over from my Christmas projects (and, I'll admit, I'm contemplating picking up 2-3 more to have on hand for next year's crafts, in case they don't get them in again), and started to think. Of course, today was my first day kid-free (though, Nick took today off as one of his floating holiday days, so I wasn't husband free), and I decided a few minutes ago to try my hand.

My first idea was to cut the material at an angle, so there was a definite foot section, and definite leg section. I wasn't sure just where to perform the cut, though, so I opted to first sew a tube, with one end sewn shut. I'm glad I didn't cut it.

I worried that without elastic, there would be nothing to hold my new socks up, but the stretch around my legs did that just fine. I worried that it wouldn't fit, but a quick check with my actual arm warmers showed that it would indeed stretch enough to fit around my feet.

And, here I sit, warm and cozy with my 10 minute home made fuzzy socks that cost me just $1.

How did I make them? See below.

Homemade Fuzzy Socks

You'll need:
1 skinny, fuzzy scarf from Dollar Tree
Sewing Maching
Feet, to try them on

1. Cut the scarf in half. The ends of these scarves have a solid block of color, where as the in betweens of the scarf are striped. I opted to make the solid block of color my toe section. Forget measuring the scarf, as it will become shorter when it stretches as you pull it on.
2. Fold the scarf in half. Yes, this makes it appear impossibly skinny for a human, adult foot, but I assure you, this is what you want. Pin it into place, then decide where you want the seam. I choose to have my seam run along the side of my foot, not under it, and I barely notice it. 
3. Once you've decided where the seam will go, sew one end of the sock shut, rounding it off, and trimming the excess (otherwise, you get boxy toes).
4. Sew straight down the open side, pulling the fabric to stretch it slightly as you do. This gives it a bit of elasticity for stretch.
5. Trim the seam as closely as you can, along with the threads. Turn it inside out, stretch it open like you would a pair of tights, and start pulling it on. 

 

 These fit me snuggly, like no other socks ever do. They feel custom made to my feet! They are warm, and cozy, though maybe not as fuzzy as socks you buy for $3 a pair in the winter. I love them!

I wear a size 8 shoe. These fit me great, and have some extra stretch. I don't think anyone would have a problem with these fuzzy tube socks with size, because they stretch all the way around.  I did not stitch up the raw edge at all, because I didn't want it to constrict how wide the sock would open for me.

I have 1 scarf left. Maybe 2. My next plan is to make 1 scarf and some fleece into two pairs of slipper socks. It might not work for 2 pairs. We'll see!!

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De-Clutter My Life

We bought our home in 2008, and moved in at the end of June. We had lived for several years in a tiny rental house up north with 3 very small bedrooms. We had moved from there to live in a rather large apartment with 3 good sized bedrooms and 1 large bedroom, where we lived for 1 year.

Still, the house was huge. The apartment was 1500 square feet, and was a lot bigger than the 900-ish square feet of the house we had lived in for years. The house we bought is just shy of 3000 square feet. To say it felt empty is an understatement.

In order to fill in space, I began to troll Goodwill. In our new town was a wonderful treasure called an AS-IS center. It was filled with the cast off's from 15 area Goodwill shops. Items that didn't sell. The prices are rock bottom, nothing in the store costs more than $3.79. Most children's clothing is $.29.

When we lived up north, there were yard sales galore, every summer weekend. When we moved to Lansing, the area was too spread out to find many good concentrations of sales. I mostly stopped looking, it was a waste of gas to go from one to the next.

In this town, there are some from time to time, but not like up north. Goodwill has replaced yard sales for me. I have always loved thrift shops, but the Goodwill up north was over priced, and didn't always have much in. I would go in once in a while, and most the time, leave empty handed.

Not so down here. Down here, I go in several times a week, sometimes, and always leave with something. Multiple somethings. Bags of somethings.

I tell myself it's frugal- why pay $19.99 for a new pair of jeans for my teen, when I can find designer jeans in like-new condition for just $.99? In reality, is it frugal if it's something I wouldn't have bought in the first place?

Our home very quickly filled to the point of being overly full, by a LOT. In fact, most rooms have stacks of clutter in the corners, on top of things, against the walls. Too many things.

So, for 2010, I want to declutter. To do this, I'm setting aside 1 day a week where Nick and I (and not the kids, because that doesn't work, they don't toss stuff away) sort through 1 room. We'll declutter it by sorting trash from donations, and clean it by organizing it as best we can.

Any donation items will go straight to Goodwill (where they likely came from in the first place) that day, so as not to be taken back out of the box. Clothing is a huge one. We have way too many clothes. Anything that doesn't fit, anything with rips or stains, and it's gone. Get it out of my house! I have clothing baskets everywhere!

My hope in doing this, will be not just that I have less stuff, but that it will be easier to keep my house clean, and decluttered.

Another thing I'm going to do is limit my Goodwill visits to once every two weeks, with a small budget on how much I get to spend. Hopefully, this will make me more choosy on what I pick up, and how much I spend, and how many items come back into my home.