Monday, August 31, 2009

Vanilla

Well we spent 6 days in the PICU with ds2. He has finally been diagnosed with asthma. He ended up in the hospsital with rsv which I am sure he contracted during our 3 hour dr.'s office visit for physicals for all three kiddos. DD also contracted it. Since we got home I have been dealing with 2 sick kiddos who need breathing treatments every four hours around the clock. Needless to say it has been a very long 2 weeks.

Today I was able to actually function though and the boys helped me make vanilla extract. I ordered the vanilla beans from www.organic-vanilla.com for about $7 with shipping and dh got cheap vodka (I am told the cheaper the better) in a glass bottle $6.99. I have enough beans to make another bottle too.
You simply split 4-6 beans and put them in the bottle (750ml).
Then shake occassionally and let sit for 3-4 months.
Finally strain through cheesecloth as you pour into bottles of your choosing.
I will pick up bottles when I find them cheap. Though I hear Michael's sells them for about $1 each with corks.
It ends up being about $0.60/ounce plus the cost of packaging.
I am going to give this to SIL, MIL, Grandma and my Sister

I also took cutting from a Christmas Cactus that was getting too large for FIL's desk at work and potted them up as gifts using old pots and a $4 bag of cactus soil.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Another tutu

Here is another tutu. This one will be for dh's cousin's daughter.

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I bought 2 rolls of tulle 6" wide with 50% off coupons
the flowers were on clearance 70% off plus 20% off coupon $0.59
I found the 1/2" elastic in my sewing boxes
I went back to the Joann's sale and received my free $5 gift card
I used the left over gift card to get some tulle that was in the remnant bin
total spent= $0.09

I love making these tutus so much I think I am going to make them and sell them at a craft fair this fall.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Wallets

I made these last week, but needed fusible velcro to finish them.
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I used the lazy girl designs wonder wallet. I have decided I am going to give these to all of the ladies in my life this year.
It only takes a 1/4 yrd of fabric or a 1/2 a fat quarter each (from my stash). Super simple and super cheap.

Tutu

I went to the grand reopening of my local Joann's store this morning. They were giving away a $5 gift card and free reusable bag to the first 50 customers in the door. We were in line and got one (sorry kids don't get any). While there we picked up 4 yrds of $1.49 tulle= $2.98, some serger thread $3.50, and some fusible velcro$1.79=$8.27 after coupons. Total after gift card = $3.27, but since the serger thread really isn't needed for Christmas gifts I am going to count this as free for Christmas gifts, but coming out of my me fund.

So what am I going to do with the tulle, make a tutu of course for my neice. I will get more and make one for dh's cousin's daughter too.
I used this tutorial http://plumtickled.typepad.com/plumtickled/2007/08/tutu-tutorial-t.html
I used 1/4" elastic that is left over from diaper making

Here is my free tutu
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I am going to buy some hair elastics (pony tail holders) and make hair tutus to match.
I am also going to try and hit the Joann's sale Friday and Saturday too.

I hope you are enjoying these cheap/frugal gift ideas.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Here are some fabric gift bags I sewed last night. I made 6 of them from fabric I bought years ago. Yeah no wrapping paper this year or ever again which is better for the environment and wallet too. (Santa does bring wrapped gifts though)
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Friday, August 7, 2009

My gift giving list

Here is the gift giving list:
Hubby
Christopher (my son age 11)lego cars ($4),stainless steel water bottle ($0.37 at old navy after coupon and gc that was free from the mall) , he was supposed to get a cell phone and we gave it to him early and e ran up a $130 texting bill after being told we don't have a texting plan so each text cost $0.20 each (which is wrong it is actually $0.25) so we have to decide if he get anything other than coal at this point
David (my son age 4)- free geotrax dvd, rocket ship toy organizer/thingy ($2.48 on clearance at Target), Green Eggs and Ham dvd ($2.75 at Target after coupon) , the magic school bus book (free), lego cars ($4), stainless steel water bottle ($0.37 at old navy after coupon and gc that was free from the mall), fishing game (dh found for $1.75), 4 Berenstain Bear books (I won them on a blog giveaway), Carz stamps ($1), Carz notebook ($1), Metal slinky ($1), alphabet placemat ($1)
Juliana (my daughter age 5 mnths now) - baby legs ($2.48 on clearance at Target) Alphabet pal ($0.49) , princess ship organizer ($2.48)
Mom Vanilla extract, vanilla 3 wick candle (free from unpacking)
Stepdad
Logan (my brother age 7)-crayons ($0.25), pj pants made from stash fabric and elastic (free), matching pillowcase (free) , Star Wars coloring book ($1)
Mother in Law vanilla extract
Father in Law
Brother in Law
Sister in Law vanilla extract
Katie (my neice age 1) tutu (free), pj pants (free), Leap frog alphabet pal ($0.49 from Target using coupons and price matching regularly $20)
Ashley ( my neice age 7 mnths)- baby legs ($2.48 on clearance at Target) a Taggies book (from a clearance book store, but was bought as a gift for someone else and never given to them)
Amy (dh's cousin's wife) wonder wallet ($0.89 the price will go down as I make more and use the fusible velcro)
Mark (dh's cousin)
Hannah ( age 1)Leap frog alphabet pal ($0.49 from Target using coupons and price matching regularly $20), pajama pants from stash (free), tutu
Phillip (my nephew age 1)- rocket ship toy organizer/shelf thing ($2.48 on clearance at Target), pj pants (free),Leap frog alphabet pal ($0.49 from Target using coupons and price matching regularly $20)
Chyanne (dh's cousin's daughter age 4)-Fly wheels ($1.48 on clearance at Target), crayons ($0.25) skirt, scrunchy and bag made from stash fabric and elastic
Grandma vanilla extract, Christmas Cactus
Grandpa Christmas Cactus
Grandma (the other one)
David's 4 teachers 1 will get a candle, 1 will get a wonder wallet,
My sisters and bil are off the list because we agreed to not give each other gifts and focus on the kids. Though we will still give pics of the kids and a homemade ornament.
I know there are others that aren't listed yet, but these are who I know about now.

Something for my nephew

I just found this and am thinking it would be perfect for my nephew. He is 1 1/2 yrs old. http://thelongthread.com/?p=308 It will be perfect with his rocket ship toy organizer.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

A gift for a cousin done

I made dh's cousin's daughter a skirt, scrunchy and bag for Christmas.
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I used fabric and elastic I had left over from other projects. I also threw in a fly wheel toy I got at Target for $1.48 and box of crayons for a quarter. Total for the gift is $1.73, I am putting that into the bank from paypal. Plus the bag is going to be the gift bag.
Good morning,
I just found that fischerprice is giving away a geotrax dvd and a precious places dvd. https://store.mattel.com/transition.aspx?TransitionID=156 https://store.mattel.com/transition.aspx?TransitionID=155 These will make great gifts.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Hello

Hello,
My name is Daphne. I am a stay at home mom of three amazing kids.
I am starting this blog to motivate myself to stick to my crazy Christmas plan. So... here goes. I plan on not spending anything on Christmas gifts this year. I have a large stash of yarn and fabric to help me do this. For anything that I want/need to buy I must sell something or earn the extra money through incentive programs like CVS, Rite Aid, rebates, Search & Win and . I have $30 in paypal to start, from items I sold within the last month.

Do you think it is possible?