Saturday Steals: JCP Red Zone

Last week my friend Dana told me that JC Penny's had some shirts marked down for super cheap. They had already ran out of the sizes that her boys wear but I should check it out to see if my kiddos could get some new clothes. Well you know what, I got them 4 t-shirts for $6.75 which includes tax.

The shirts normally sold for $7.00 a piece. How awesome is that? I would like to thank back to school sales and the fact that JC Penny's Red Zone has items that start at 60% off. My boys got new shirts for their birthday. I still cant believe they are gonna be two :(

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This post is in conjunction with Camille's Saturday Steals. 

Head on over there and check out the other great things people got a deal on. 

Saturday Steals: A Coat of Paint

It  is Saturday again, and that means that it is Saturday Steals over at Archives of Our Lives.

This week I got a SMOKING DEAL over at Home Depot. I am currently in the middle of redoing the interior of my house. Sounds kinda crazy and intense... and well it is, but its really more furniture and paint changes. We aren't tearing anything out, yet. Someday I would love to tear out my carpet, however it's just not in our budget at the moment. Anyways, I went to Home Depot to pickup some paint so I could get my kitchen island painted. Remember when I was trying to pick out paint colors? Well after getting advised by my super fantastic friend I went with Library Mahogany by Ralph Lauren. So we went to Home Depot with the intent of only buying a quart because paint can be pretty pricey, especially name brand. Well... are you ready for the steal.... Ralph Lauren paint is on CLEARANCE right now. The paint guy said that Martha Stewart's paint line was pushing out Ralph's. I did have to compromise finish in order to get a great deal though. The only finishes that they had at our Home Depot were flat and eggshell. I obviously went with the eggshell finish. I only have gotten 2/3rds of my island painted thus far but am already loving the effect it has. Below is a sneak peak of the project.

So, if you are needing paint and want a super amazing deal head over to Home Depot and buy you some Ralph Lauren paint for super cheap! I got 2 quarts of the paint for $7, it retails $14 for one quart. 75% off!! Seriously, go buy some paint and make over a room in your house or some furniture. 

Cute Pincushion

I am currently in the process of starting adventures in sewing in an attempt to open an Etsy store and make some extra moolah. In my adventures, I have been in need of a pincushion to put my needles on. After searching the internet for some inspiration I decided to make my own. I have combined ideas from these two (one, two) tutorials. I love the second one and will probably make my own once I find a cute flower pot some where for cheap.

Here is what I created with out even having to sew!

Isn't it super cute? Do you wanna know how to make one? Awesome. You are in luck.

I have created a little tutorial for you. {Please bare with me because this will be my first tutorial with pictures and I'm sure it wont be perfection.}

First, gather all of the materials you will need:

a glue gun, scraps of fabric, a toilet paper roll, a rubber band, and some batting or polyfill.

Prepare your items:
-Cut your toilet paper roll to your desired height. {mines about 1.5 inches tall}
-Cut a square large enough to stuff with desired amount of batting/polyfill
-Cut a strip of fabric wide enough and long enough to cover your toilet paper roll. {make sure its at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch wider on each side than needed}

Step One:

Make your batting/polyfill into a ball and place in the center of your square fabric. Gather the fabric. {I found it best to gather the centers of the square before the corners to ensure the stuffing stayed in} Wrap rubber band around the bottom to secure. 

Step Two:

Smother your toilet paper roll in hot glue and wrap the fabric around it. Then glue around the inside of the tube and tuck your edges around and inside. {use a popsicle/craft stick to do this and save your fingers from burning!}

Step Three:

Take your "cushion" and tuck it into the top of your tube. Adjust it to the desired height and poofy-ness that you want and then glue it down from the bottom. {i just poured it in there thick}

You could add a Fourth Step by finishing it off with felt on the bottom. I made this at like 11:30 last night and was not willing to cut anything else out. But, if giving it as a gift it would be super cute with felt on the bottom and maybe some ribbon or ric rac  around the tube. 

See, isn't it super easy? Do you want to make one? Go for it!! 

If you do I would love to see what you created! 

And that my friends, is my tutorial and super cute {no sew} pincushion!

Coolest Bed(s) EVER!

I was over on Design*Sponge today and looking at their Before & After's and stumbled upon the coolest idea for my boys toddler beds ever!!!

Seriously, how cool is that? The great thing is that it's made from pallets. So it's super inexpensive to make because you can find pallets at hardware stores or like us, they are just delivered to our work. I love the rustic look put think it would even be cute painted. I cannot wait till our kiddos are big enough to sleep in toddler beds. Here is the link to learn how to make your own kid a super awesome bed for virtually no cost! Lori Danelle

Penny Pincher

I have been contemplating this post for a long time. Seeing how I vowed the other day to stop thinking and start doing I thought it would be a perfect time to share with you all some knowledge I have gained.

In case you didn't notice, times are difficult for lots of people. We are included in those people who have "difficulties" but we have begun the path to overcome this "barrier" and I think that we are doing much better with a few easy adjustments. I fully plan on getting a good budget started and buckling down in order to see an even bigger reward but for now, this is what I have done.

Cable/Satellite:

You  may think I'm crazy on this one, but cancelling our DirecTv was the best thing ever! We hardly watch TV and when we do we kind of get bored with it. We were so dependent upon our DVR that we never watched the news. Now, we watch it if its on when we get home from work. Just getting rid of that silly box we are saving roughly $80 a month! WOWZA! Seriously, amazing. However, we kind of cheat because we have Netflix on our PS3. We stream movies and kid shows all the time. We aren't paying for our subscription because Kevin's brother gave us the disc... but I don't think it is that expensive a month to get Netflix to your PS3 or Wii. Plus, I think not having TV readily available makes both Kevin and I look to do other things around our house besides sit on our bums on the couch and veg out for a couple hours.

Laundry Soap:

Use up the rest of your laundry soap and then never buy store bought ever again! Why? Because you can totally make it for yourself way cheaper and it will last so much longer! I first got this idea from my friend Heather who hosted a Laundry Making part with her friends. I did the same, but didn't take pictures. You can get the "recipe" from the Duggar Website as well. So far, I have been using mine and haven't noticed anything bad about it. I will admit that I add more than it says, but I'm just a weirdo about my clothes being clean I guess. Also, I have been using Vinegar as fabric softener instead of the store bought kind, and Kevin thinks our clothes are just as soft. This is such a simple and easy change! Seriously, you should do it.

Grocery Shopping:

Eating at home saves you money, if you do it right. My friend Andrea did a 4 part tutorial about being prepared in the kitchen and how awesome it is. Check it out here: one, two, three, four. I have found that by planning out meals, making a list, and really focusing only on that list will save you lots of money. Both Kevin and I are impulse buyers and purchase things that we don't necessarily need, which ends up costing us $$$. I also agree that you should set a budget for your groceries and stick to it. It'll help you to be creative and feel accomplished.

Finances:

I am not fully prepared when it comes to budgeting and getting my finances squared away. However, my friend E*Rocka  introduced me to Mint.com. Its a free website that you put all of your accounts into, banking, credit cards, student loans, home loans, vehicle loans, 401K's, everything and it helps you to monitor your spending. It even told me the value of my house. How awesome is that? You can set your budgets on it and it will alert you when your accounts are low, you get charged a finance fee on your credit card, and when your payments post. It really is great, especially if you are into monitoring your accounts online. I suggest you check it out.


That is all I can think of at the moment, but I promise the next post will have pictures of my kiddos and fun adventures that they have experienced in the last week. Hopefully it will be up tonight once I get them in bed.


***If you have any suggestions for household cleaners please send them my way. I'm looking to test those next. ***