Paper Mache - Step 2

Here are some of my ornaments drying out in the front yard. Notice the brown grass -due to lack of rain. I dipped Viva paper towels in wallpaper paste and covered each one in 3-4 layers of paper towel. Son#2 thought I was making snow cones when he saw them! After they dried I added more detail with mushed up paper towel soaked in the paste. It takes a while for them to dry-even when the temperature is in the 90's !

Paper Mache Projects

Step one: Use old light bulbs and tin foil to form the shapes. Can you see the vision yet? (hint- This is Halloween)

(hint: These are 4th of July!) Use your imagination! More to come.......

Big Pink

I consider grocery shopping to be one of my "jobs" in the household and I take it seriously! I make a game out of saving money with coupons and sales. Since it can be time consuming I have worked out a plan that works for me, saves time and lessens the stress of misplacing coupons. I would like to introduce you to "Big Pink" -my coupon system. It has many good qualities- a zipper to keep coupons from slipping out of place, many pockets, a cheerful color, and room to organize. Yes, my family does make fun of it......but, they like the snacks that I get for little $$$$.

It has many pages of photo organizers that make the coupons easy to find, labeled and arranged by the aisles in the grocery store.

Pockets for each store I use to keep ads , store specific coupons and lists I plan to buy that week.

Finally, there are more pockets for rebate information.

As I have become more organized I really spend less time working things out. Here are my steps each week:

1. Sunday -buy at least 2 newspapers, cut and organize coupons, plan purchases for CVS, Walgreens, Target, Kroger. Other stores I plan whenever I see the info.

2. Check coupon blogs twice a day, morning and before bed. Add deals to store lists and pull needed coupons.

3. Shop as many stores as I can on one trip. Combine shopping with any errands that I can to minimize gas usage.

4. I carry "Big Pink" in the car, but I only take it in for big grocery trips. I take out the pocket for the store, list and the coupons I have pulled for smaller trips.

5. Celebrate saving money when I get home!

Another benefit of "BigPink" is that I have eliminated the piles and piles of coupons I used to leave sitting around the house! To prove to myself that this is worth it I have kept good records for the month of June to compare money spent and money saved with coupons. I am planning to try to work out a new grocery budget after I see how well I did!

Taking the Plunge??

It's been really HOT in Alabama. Too hot to sit out on the front porch. I sure wish we had a pool! It seems like we have to start a new project before we finish the last one....and the new project is........A POOL IN THE BACKYARD! It seems like we have a million hoops to jump through to make it happen. So much red tape ....and rules....and permission to request... and type of fence allowed in the historic district....you get the idea. But, we have started the ball rolling. Luckily DH really wants this and he is willing to do the paper chasing!

Back on the parlor project - I have finished the valances and we are pleased. The fabric is deep red/burgundy silk like with a smocked texture.
This is not a good picture of the color, but I had to use a flash for the smocking to show. I have made long, pleated panels with this fabric for a customer and fell in love with it. It's not easy to sew on because the wrinkles are hard to cut and seam straight. Good thing the texture hides the mistakes!

Still another little project got started this week with these supplies. Can you guess? I'll show more in a few days. I haven't done much that is crafty lately so I got out the paper mache and I'm working on a Halloween project( got to give myself plenty of time) and a patriotic July 4th project (might not make that one in time! Believe it or not in 2 weeks I will be shifting into Christmas Mode. We start working on the Santas for the Victorian Porch Tour soon!

Finally -when I don't get to go junk shopping- I go couponing! Best deal last week -7 boxes of Mac and Cheese and 4 jars of peanuts for $1.36 and they gave me back $5 in register receipts to use on my next shopping trip! So when we are too poor to buy food I will be floating in the pool eating a bowl of Mac and Cheese with peanuts for dessert! And yes -the cat is on the kitchen table- she wanted to see what I was so excited about!

Wordless Wednesday

Father's Day Weekend

We had a quiet weekend around the house. No new projects! We grilled out and hung around the pond and the patio. The boys were in and out. Daddy had a call or two from the girl in Alaska. DH got to sleep late, a couple of gifts and banana pudding. We are waiting for the next shipment of tile to finish the fireplace, so we didn't work much in the parlor. Last week I finished the sheers so we hung them. This week I'll go get the fabric for the valances and start them.
They really look so clean compared to the old rags I took down! The pond is looking better. The water is clear and the plants are filling in. The fish are really growing and are so tame. They come when they see me or maybe when they see the food can! Youngest boy caught some tadpoles and a frog and put them in the pond.....next thing we knew there were hundreds of tadpoles. They are harder to get pictures of !

Tadpole on leaf!

The fish eat out of my hand! Sometimes they nibble my fingers, too! I hope you all had a restful weekend!

Couponing Trips and A Mistake

I've been "couponing" today- a quick trip to CVS and Kroger. First the results of the Kroger trip: Total before coupons and gift card = @$35.00 and after =$11.55! I've been working with youngest son this summer to teach him the value of food $$$$$. He has his own snack shelf that he is free to share with friends. That way they don't eat up all of our goodies! The catch is his snacks must be coupon items! (Healthy snacks are not included, I'll pay for them!) So to build up his snacks he has been helping me with coupons. We got a good sale on Dr. Pepper using coupons and also won a $10 Kroger card online from Dr. Pepper. Today he went with me to use the card for his snacks! He selected the giant Goldfish and Sunchips. He also used a coupon to save on the Sunchips. He also had fun figuring the price of items after the coupon. I had to laugh when he figured out that many of these items were-FREE!! Now the mistake... I had so much fun laughing with him that I didn't notice that the cashier missed one of my coupons! It was for free cereal-$3.99!!! So my total should have been$7.56!! I know she had it because the register "beeped" so she could write in the price-but I didn't pay attention. It was not on the receipt when I got home! I should have checked before I left the store!!

On to CVS- DH has a buddy stationed in Afghanistan. He is getting together a care package and needed candy!! CVS has a buy $10 get $5 ECB deal. So I got $30 candy, $3.19- Brut deodorant(-$.55 MFC) and magazine $.99. I used $5 off $25, $15.00 ECB . Ended up paying @$14 out of pocket and got back $18 ECB and another $5 off $25. The magazine is "Reinventing Beauty" put out by CVS and has many coupons in it! Fun!