Thanksgiving Treats Seems To Be Big

Though my little blog has been around less than a month, I have noticed that I am already receiving hits from people doing web searches. Google in particular has really picked up on my posts. The topics vary, but the biggest hit seems to be people wanting to find new Thanksgiving Treats.

Now that Halloween is done, Thanksgiving is the next holiday looming ahead for most people. I've noticed that in often, Thanksgiving is over looked as a plan-ahead holiday, in lieu of people frantically trying to figure out what they are going to do for Christmas. Seeing how many hits I am getting from people looking up Thanksgiving, it makes me smile.

So, in honor of the many wonderful web hits I've gotten from people wanting to find new treats, here area few additions to my growing list of Thanksgiving Treats.

Hot Chocolate-Marshmallow Pudding

What You'll Need:
1 4oz package of pudding mix- any chocolate flavor (white chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, etc)
1 cup mini marshmallows
2/3 cup whipped cream topping.

Prepare the pudding according to the directions, and stir in the marshmallows.
Scoop the mix evenly into single serving size microwaveable dishes.
Microwave on high for 35 secs, or until the marshmallows begin to melt & the pudding is heated through. Stir, and top with a scoop of whipped cream.

5 Minute Triple Layer Cookie Cream Pie

What You'll Need:
Milk
2 4-serving size packages of pudding mix (The recipe calls for Chocolate, but you can mix & match with great results!)
1 tub of whipped cream, thawed, divided
1 pie crust- either graham cracker or Oreo cookie, depending on the flavor you go for.
10-12 sandwich cookies

This pie is super easy, and goes over VERY well.
Mix 1 box of pudding according to directions, and add the 2nd mix in. Do not add extra milk!
Set aside 3 cookies, then break and crumble the rest.
In a bowl, mix half the pudding mix with half of the whipped cream, and the cookie crumbles.
In the pie crust, smooth the plain pudding across the bottom. Top with the cookie, pudding, whipped cream mix.
Top the pie with plain whipped cream. Break the remaining 3 cookies into halves, and insert into the top of the pie. Keep cold until you serve.

Notes:

First off, do not use canned whipped cream- it melts!

When I was first given this recipe, it was called the Oreo Cream Pie. I used chocolate pudding, an oreo crust, and oreo cookies. Over time, I came to realize that the flavors could change easily, by using different types of sandwich cookies, puddings, and crusts. Here are some ideas:

Oreo Double Chocolate: Oreo Cookies, Oreo Crust, Chocolate Pudding & Chocolate Whipped Cream
Strawberry Vanilla: Vanilla cookies, Graham crust, vanilla pudding & Strawberry whipped cream
Oreo 2: Oreo cookies, Oreo crust, 1 box vanilla or Oreo pudding, 1 box Chocolate pudding- for this one, prepare the puddings apart using half the required milk in each package. mix the cookies in with the Vanilla or Oreo pudding OR the chocolate pudding, and layer it.
Butterscotch Vanilla: Use butterscotch pudding, with vanilla cookies & a graham crust.

I'd love to hear more ideas! This pie takes about 5 minutes to make, and there is almost always a little left over mix to dip cookies into. I remember one Christmas eve where the kids and I sat around dipping oreos and watching Christmas specials.

Both recipes are easy for kids to help make, and tasty, kid approved flavors. The pie is a fantastic addition to any holiday meal, and can be done easily, quickly, and best of all, frugally.

The Gift of Time

Last year, I was active on a website that is sort of a mix between a blog, a forum, and a social network, called Gather. Actually, I'm still active there. Last year, people were concerned about Christmas. Many people were laid off, or hours were cut, and a lot of people around the nation found themselves worrying about how to deal with the costs of the upcoming holidays.

This is a post I made last November on Gather, which I still feel is a great gift to give, The Gift of Time.

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This year, many people have lost their jobs. Many have had to take cut backs in income. Even those who haven't are feeling a pinch with the raising costs of living, and the failure to accommodate the income accordingly- though, it goes hand in hand with the economic crisis. In a few years, maybe we can all look back on these lean times, and smile that we got through it, and learned to be a bit more resourceful and frugal at the same time.

But that's the future, and this is the here and now. In the hear and now, many people are struggling on how they will survive Christmas as frugally as possible. More and more people are looking to cut back their list of gifts, by excluding people, participating in gift drawings instead of all out exchanges, and many other solutions.

The list of people signing up for help is outstripping the prior years by a lot. More and more people are in need of assistance, and because of the longer lists, and less people being able to donate, people won't get nearly as much help as in years past.

Being creative is something not everyone is familiar with. Working online is helpful- very helpful when you can earn even 1 or 2 gift cards from Gather or other places, but it still takes more than that.

One of the most frugal, but most appreciated ways to provide a holiday gift this year is by simply giving of yourself- give the gift of time.

Here are a few ideas on things you can give through the simple gift of your time-

• Parents: Offer to babysit for friends or family with young children. Two or three hours of babysitting can easily run parents $20-30 these days. That's daunting enough to make a simple trip to the theater not doable. Or even just to let them go to the grocery store together without the kids.
• The Elderly or Sick: Offer to help transport back and forth between doctor's appointments. Sometimes, they don't have transport themselves, or don't want to drive in bad weather, and those appointments can be very important.
• Anyone: Offer to spend an evening or afternoon cleaning their house up- maybe limit it by rooms or hours.
• Anyone: A get together with a friend or family member- a night of playing cards together, or watching a rented movie, or taking the kids to play, etc.
• Anyone: Offer to make dinner for someone
• College kids, or people living on their own: Offer to send them a small baked goods care package when they want it
• Dog Owners: Offer to walk their dog for a week, if they live nearby
• Pet Owners: Offer to pet sit for a week- going over and feeding, watering, and letting dogs out, or cleaning litter boxes, etc.
• Anyone: A shoulder to cry on- offer an over worked parent, or a stressed friend a quite night and a shoulder to cry on when they need one.
• Women: An at home 'spa'. Bring buckets for warm water to soak your feet in, nail polish, soft music (or upbeat if you like!), a cucumber, and some scented candles. Relax together, paint your nails together, and giggle and talk.
• Anyone: A car wash when it's nice out
• Anyone with a yard: A lawn mowing when it's nice out
• A Teen: A ride to the mall to meet up with their friends, or a ride to the movie theater.
• Your Child: A free day off from chores
• Your Child: An afternoon of 1 on 1 time

The possibilities are endless- there are so many wonderful things you can do just by providing your time. And to a lot of people, your time is worth far more than a gift card, or a trinket, or a new sweater. It's priceless to the over worked, or lonely, or sick.

Sure, there are people who won't appreciate it, but those are the people who are far too materialistic for their own good.

I hope in reposting this, it will give some of you out there an idea. I think time spent with someone is far better than money spent. The memories can last a life time.

Fingerless Gloves for $1

For a while now, my 13 year old daughter has been saying she wants a pair of fingerless gloves. She's a bit eclectic in her tastes. She's more at home in old vintage T's (or, vintage inspired), and a pair of jeans, than anything else. She loves wrist bands, and bracelets, and what not.

Today, as I was surfing new blogs, I found one that showed how to turn a pair of socks into a pair of finger less gloves. I was definitely excited by the prospect, because I could find something really cool at Dollar Tree for the project.

Fingerless Arm warmer Gloves

What You'll Need:
1 pair of socks- at least crew length or longer. Ankle or no show won't work.
Scissors
Sewing Machine
Thread

The socks I chose were a perfect fit for Raegan with a tan, blue, black, and green argyle pattern.

1. First off, you want to cut the feet off the socks, right above the heel, so you are left with the leg portion. Set the feet aside for future project scraps.
2. Turn the sock inside out, and roll the cut end down to form a hem.
3. Using the sewing machine and the zigzag stitch, sew the hem around the sock to keep it from fraying. You can trim the extra length from the hem, as it tends to roll outward otherwise.
4. Pull the sock on your arm, with the elastic side going up your arm. Measure where you want the thumb hole, and with help, safety pin the two sides together where you want the fingers to be separated.
5. Carefully pull the socks off, and clip a small hole for your thumb.
   
6. Using the sewing machine again, stitch a straight or zig zag stitch around the thumb hole to keep it from stretching too wide. Tack the sock together where each safety pin is, to create finger holes.
   

Raegan loves her new gloves, though I think next time around, I'll cut the thumb hole further down, so I can have the gloves go further down her fingers. They are cute, though, and just her style. She already said she can't wait to show them off at school tomorrow!

Dollar Store Craft Day!

Inspired greatly by all the wonderful frugal craft sites I've found over the past 18 hours or so, I decided to take a quick trip to Dollar Tree for some supplies today. I had certain craft projects in mind when going in, and picked up a few other ideas after looking around.

In total, I spent $13 on supplies at Dollar Tree, and $1.97 on ribbon at Walmart. Here's what I got:

4 Decorative Towels
1 2-pack of Pot Holders
2 1-pack of Pot Holders
1 2-pack of Dish Cloths
1 pair of knee high socks
4 knit scarves

And here are my ideas.

Fancy Ruffled Scarf

What You'll Need:
2 lengths of fleece, or 2 premade scarves
Scissors
Thread
Sewing machine, or needle to sew by hand.

1. Cut the lengths of fabric or scarf into squares. The blog I found them at suggests 58-64 4" squares, but said that it came out very long. She used cut up old leggings, but found the pattern herself in a book suggesting using t-shirts. I wanted a practical scarf, so I bought 4 knit scarves premade.
2. Once the squares are cut, turn them sideways, and layer them on top of one another in a diamond, or argyle type pattern.
3. Sew straight down the middle. When it's done, the scarf should form natural ruffles along the sides. My hope is that with 4 scarves, I can make 2 decently sized fancy scarves. One to keep, and one to gift away.
   

Fingerless Gloves/Arm Warmers

What You'll Need:
1 pair of long socks
Scissors
Sewing Machine or Needle
Thread

1. Cut the sock right above the heel, and set the foot portion aside. I have no immediate crafts for them, but I'm sure something can be found!
2. Roll the cut edge inward, and sew a hem along it, to keep it from fraying.
   
3. Measure them on your arm, and cut a slit where the thumb will go.
4. While they are on, use safety pins to pin the fabric between each finger- you may need help doing this.
5. Remove the gloves, and use the sewing machine to tack the fabric together in between the fingers, where the safety pins are.
   
6. Embellish the gloves however you wish! On the blog I found them on, she used a little velvet ribbon and a single pearl bead. I'm not sure yet what I'll do. I may make rosettes out of the left over sock material.
   

I bought the items needed to make 2 more of my Dish Towel Angels. This time, I'm making more of a harvest colored theme, as at least 1 person I am going to give one to has a darker colored kitchen.


And lastly, I bought the material to make 2 of the Inexpensive Children's Aprons. This is the reason I bought a spool of white ribbon for $1.97. In total, it will cost me about $3 to make each apron, though that's dividing the cost of the ribbon between 2, and I know I'll have plenty of ribbon left over afterwards. I'm planning to give one apron to my niece, who is 2, and I think the other apron I'll gift away here, on my blog.


Not a bad little haul for $14.97 total! I'll be able to make 2 aprons, 2 angels, 2 scarves, and a pair of fingerless gloves!

I Am In Love...

Tonight, yet another sleepless night in the life of an insomniac, I remembered a website I had found over a year ago. I couldn't remember the name, of course, but I remember what I found there. It was a website for crafters that holds monthly challenges.

One of the monthly challenges, my favorite, was to make something totally unique out of $10 of supplies bought only at a dollar store. I was amazed at some of the really cool ideas there were, and how totally cool the items turned out.

One woman bought some fleece scarves, and some squishy teddy bears, and turned them into an awesome, fur lined, totally wearable hoodie. Another woman made a replica of Scarlett O'Hara's green & white picnic gown out of a hula hoop, foam pool noodle, garden stakes, plastic table clothes, and coffee filters.

For the really handy with a sewing machine people out there, here's an absolutely adorable, one of a kind doll. Do you know someone who collects snow globes?Here's an idea on how to make one from an Ivy Bowl, a rubber sink stopper, some glitter, and some inserts.

There were just some amazing entries into the contest, which can all be seen here. While I was locating it, I found they had done another dollar store challenge for $5 or under. Not all of the images are still there, as the post is several years old, but it does have some interesting ideas on crafts that can be made cheap using dollar store items.

Also in my search, I found a website called Dollar Store Crafts, which has some really cool ideas for inexpensive, easy to make crafts- again, featuring items found at the dollar store. Here are some of the fun ideas I noticed right away:

Starburst Mirror
A Pocket Advent Calendar- This one is SO easy, and a FUN thing to send to your college kid, or give to a friend!
$.50 Stuffed Chipmunk- As a side note, Walmart sells the Magic Gloves used for this project at 2 pairs for $1.50, so it would make 4 chipmunks for roughly $.37 each.
Mosaic Headboard
Bandanna Quilt- SO simple & easy- if you can sew a straight line, you can make this!

Both sites are simply amazing, and provide endless hours (yes hours!) of craft ideas out of every day, normal, CHEAP items!

I hope you take a while to peruse both sites, because for the crafty among us can find a lot of awesome ideas to use for making Christmas gifts this year. I plan to tackle the Bandanna Quilt soon. The things people come up with just by walking the aisles of Dollar Tree are simply
amazing. The actual websites are:

http://www.craftster.org
http://dollarstorecrafts.com