DIY LETTERING {without a fancy cutting machine or stencil} NOEL BLOCKS

I want a Silhouette machine. Or a Circuit would do. But I don't have one and I don't have funds for one right now. So I make do. I recently figured out  a new way to do lettering-which I used on my "Save the Date Blocks". No vinyl. No cutting out Freezer Paper stencils. Just printing off letters. This is super easy and anyone can do it.

DIY LETTERING:

1. PRINT OUT YOUR LETTERS ON THE COMPUTER.

I used a very large font size, about 300; and used an outline style letter, so that I did not waste all my computer ink. The blocks I made here, were about 5-6 inches high.

2.TAPE THE LETTER TO YOUR BLOCK. Paint the block and let it dry before putting your letters on the blocks.

3. TRACE YOUR LETTER WITH A BALL POINT PEN- PRESSING HARD.

Now your block should have a light outline of your letter on the wood block.

4. REMOVE THE PAPER.

5. PAINT IN THE LETTER. I used my old tole- painting brushes- some had flat bristles and others were very small and fine. You could probably use your child's watercolor brushes if you did not have anything else.

To paint these blocks, I used acrylic craft paints.

 When you are done painting your letters, they will look something like this:

Not perfect, so an easy solution to make them look better, is to distress them a bit with some sandpaper. After that, they look like this:

And that is it. No special letter cutting machine, no stencils, just a font from your computer.

The possibilities are endless- but I'm sure if I did something more complicated, I would prefer a stencil or vinyl. But for now, this works great!

Happy Holidays!

The Hutch is finally Finished! {another furniture make-over}

First of all, thank you for your comments and stories from my last post. It is comforting to know I am not alone! I enjoyed reading each one-thanks for sharing. ♥

I am thinking about folding the laundry, and putting it away, so my husband doesn't have to spend his free time helping me with it.... {yes, he is like that}, but before I think some more about it, and maybe even do it, I thought I'd post a project we finished some time ago. {finally!}

Here it is BEFORE:

It came with another piece on top, that we used to make a bookshelf for our boy's room.

For only $50, it was a great deal! It is solid wood, and from the 1960's or older, as I found a piece of paper inside of it dated, 1967,when we bought it. How fun is that? (Well I think it is fun!)

Here is the SPACE before and after:

Now if we could just afford the nice T.V. to go with it... {sigh} someday soon....

Can't wait to show you the rest of the room! It is almost done- and then I might actually enjoy spending some time in the loft!

Thanks for reading! Hope you are enjoying SUMMER!

Deal of the Day: Free Custom Photo Books from Snapfish

In case you missed it, Snapfish.com is offering 2 photo books FREE when you buy one. So if you have some free time today- get your free photo books! Offer ends today!

(I had to do it first to make sure it worked...and it did!)

Go HERE for the code! (it is under special offers if you go to the home page.)

Toy Story 3 Coupon

If you haven't gotten your Toy Story 3 DVD/Blueray yet, get it now with this coupon at Disney Movie Rewards. Offer ends soon so don't delay!  (You might have to sign up for Disney Movie Rewards.)I love Disney Movie Rewards! This coupon gives you $8 off! And just a little note: Every time there is a Disney Kid's Movie released, there is a coupon! I always buy the DVD's the first week they come out- with the coupon. You get it for the best price that way. :) Want a better price? There is a Campbell's Soup rebate (which is on sale at Target this week) and a Battery Rebate- when you buy Toy Story 3! You can almost get it free! Click here for rebate details.
 ....(p.s. Target also had a deal if you bought the Sound of Music and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang- you get $5 off this week only)

Make your own Disney T-Shirts

This month, we are taking our children to DISNEYLAND for the first time ever! I am so excited!

And as you know- if you have been there- things cost a small fortune. (if it really is the "Happiest Place on Earth", things should really be more affordable, don't you think??)

Anyway- so I finally made some t-shirts-

using white t-shirts, following the instructions for using Inkjet iron-on t-shirt transfer.

yes, people...I might craft...but I have never used this stuff. I know- crazy.

And I love it! I am using it for everything! You simply print the image from your computer and iron it on your shirt. Couldn't be easier.

I think these are cute Disney shirts...not crazy- tacky-like the others they have . :)

 t-shirt image I used  found here

Happy Fall!

Pirate Party Ideas for Pre-Schoolers

I don't know what I was thinking, throwing a birthday party for my four year old when I have a 2 week old baby at home....oh wait.... I know exactly what I was thinking.....: It was something like this: "My big behind has been glued to my bed and chair nursing for how many days now?? We all know this is going to go on for several months....and ...I don't want to spend all my days sitting in a chair nursing....although I do enjoy it..... I want to enjoy my other children too.... I love them too....and...I want something fun to do too- with all that spare time I have when my butt isn't glued to this chair or my bed.....for 12 hours a day.... so why not throw a memorable birthday party for our little guy when the baby is only 2 weeks old-- that isn't too crazy is it?" OK so that is what I was thinking, and it was a really fun party to do, but now I'm thinking, next time I'll recruit some parent helpers, OR wait a few more weeks to have a birthday party:) Nevertheless, the house was a mess, (embarassing) BUT the boys had so much fun! My son is still talking about it, hours later-after it is over!
Here is what we did:

THE CAKE: a Treasure Chest- found this idea on Family Fun.com. Although I did
not do it the same exact way- I used some of the suggestions given in the comments- and added some of my own ideas....but I am NO cake maker, so I was pleased with the end result :) (and I had to do a practice cake- see below) Here are some more treasure chest cakes.

THE PIRATE SHIP: THANKS to my dear, sweet husband, we had a pirate ship for the party :) This was so fun and he did such a great job with it! We had a big box from a glider we got-for nursing- and we saw a photo of a cardboard pirate ship online, well we decided to make one too! Here it is getting attacked by sharks :)

Yo Ho Yo Ho a Pirate's Life for Me! I had to have this saying up somewhere so I made a banner w/ paper crafting stuff and twine: )

Little Pirates on the ship!

My practice cake- Ha ha ha... I'm not a cake maker, but I tried ;)

Pin the eye-patch on the Pirate- using a piece of cardboard from the garage, and looking at some pirate clip art I found on-line, we made this fun pirate for a little game :)

THIS WAS A HIT!! Stories at birthday parties are the best! Talk about calming down a crowd...and we had this story on tape which makes it even more fun to listen to! Much better than a movie- although quite shorter in length ;) Loved this part of the party :)

We found some pirate coloring pages online so we gave each child some new colored pencils and some coloring pages (they just took these home :))

Thank you Oriental Trading- I ordered a few little things- pirate hats, mini- treasure chests for our treasure hunt- that were hidden in a larger treasure chest basket we use for storage. We made the map and since they were all 3 or 4, and can't read, we just had them go room to room looking for clues- you know- a pretend treasure hunt- that they loved! They all had telescopes (cardboard tubes) too, but the treasure maps were a real favorite item :) The mini treasure chests w/ c-a-n-d-y- and some small things, were taken home- doubled as favors :) Upon arrival, they each got a hat and a few "ta-toos", and a candy necklace- since pirates wear jewerly...:)

So now I am going to go take a nap before I have to nurse the baby again :) But it was a fun memory- birthdays only come once a year so we need to celebrate, right?
The reward for me was last night when my four year old said, "I had a really great birthday today, didn't I? And now I am four years old."

Money Saving Deals on Disney DVD's

The last 2 Disney movies I have purchased, Pinocchio and Bolt, both had rebates of $4, when I bought a food item too! What a deal-since I'm going to buy food anyway! This week I found amazing deals for Bedtime Stories too! BTW- You don't have to buy the food item in the same exact transaction. You do have to have receipts or in most cases a copy of the receipt and the proof of purchase to get the money back, along with the official rebate form-which I have included links to below. So here are the links and deals for you too :)

PINOCCHIO: If you buy a package of Sun maid raisins, you can get $4 back . Click here for the form and details. This one allows for a photocopy of your receipt, and asks for the UPC codes off of your raisins and Proof of Purchase tab off of Pinocchio. Offer expires December 31, 2009.

BOLT: If you buy a package of Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta, you can also get $4 back when you also buy Bolt. Click here for the form and details. Offer ends July 31, 2009. Allows for photocopies of receipts. I used a coupon and only spent 79 cents on my pasta product.

Here are the Details this week for Bedtime Stories:

On sale at TARGET for 16.99. OR-Purchase Bedtime Stories (16.99 for DVD) and Tigger and Pooh (17.99 for DVD) and get a $10 gift card. You can use the gift card the same day, but it has to be on a different purchase.

Use the $5 coupon you can print here, and you get Bedtime Stories for 11.99. Coupon expires on April 13th, so hurry!

Rayovac Battery rebate (buy 2 packs of batteries, and any Disney DVD and get $5 back)

print HERE. You can do photocopies on this offer of receipts also. Most Disney DVD's also have 2 Proof of Purchase Tabs, so you can really do 2 different rebates, which is the case with Bedtime Stories. Total now (minus the fact that buying batteries--but you'll use those batteries right?)-7.99

WAIT-- there is another rebate! You can print it here. With this one, buy 2 Ortega Products.

This one ends July 31, 2009 and you can photocopy the receipt if needed. Just use the other Proof of Purchase tab from the movie and the UPC/proof of purchases from the Ortega products. Rebate is $5 so now your total for Bedtime Stories is 2.99!!

And weren't you going to buy food and batteries anyway ? :) Well that is how I do math and that says DEAL to me :)

I have done all these rebates, so I will be getting about 18$ in the mail, and I used the $5 coupon, plus the $10 Target card....so I saved a total of $33! I don't think I'll buy another Disney DVD again-without a rebate or coupon!

TIPS ABOUT REBATES:Many will take photo copies of the receipt, allowing you do to multiple rebates. But some won't accept copies. ALWAYS read the entire rebate form and follow instructions exactly and you should get your money :) Happy DEAL Finding!

Money Saving Monday- Using Pharmacy Coupons

If you get the Sunday paper, then you are probably aware of Pharmacy coupons. Where I live, I have seen them for Target ($10), CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens ($25). Here is how they work: If you fill a new perscription, or transfer a perscription to their store, you get a gift card to use at that store, if you bring in the coupon from the newspaper. I have one that came back in December, for Walgreens ($25) that doesn't expire until February. I have used these at Fry's too, and saved $40 off of my grocery bill all at once-just for filling a perscription- that cost me $4. :) (The Fry's ones come in the mail). If someone in your family needs a perscription or a refill, look for the pharmacy coupons. Hey- it is like getting free merchandise just for filling a perscription-which is probably something you were going to do anyway. Happy Money Saving!!

My love affair with Target continues....(i love target)

THAT'S RIGHT....it was 59.99 and was NOW 14.98!! I had to make a return at Target, and thought I'd just quickly check the baskets, etc. since I saw a laundry basket on clearance a few weeks ago- and wanted to see if it was reduced further.....WELL instead I came across something else....something amazing....something I have wanted/needed/wanted/needed for like EVER...but I was not willing to pay $59.99 or even what you see below-which was the first markdown:
NO... I wasn't willing to pay 41.98 either- too much- but for 14.98??? WHO ARE WE KIDDING!!
AND WHAT YOU ASK did I BUY for this AMAZING PRICE???








RED MICROFIBER STORAGE OTTOMANS!!!!
Since RED runs into practically every room in our home, RED could go anywhere and be used for anything!!!
AND here is how they are being used for now- TOY storage in the family room!


I LOVE YOU TARGET!!! :)
Thank you for helping me get my life organized...and being able to afford it!

Money Saving Monday! Sales + Coupons

Although I have been clipping coupons for 6 years now, I have not been very diligent about using them and organizing them lately. It only takes me about 30 minutes a week, to organize and plan what coupons to use- and I am here to tell you IT PAYS OFF! As part of being organized for this year, I am going to spend a 1/2 hour a week doing this. Today I shopped our local Alberton's Quaker Sale- and Here is the lowdown:

**Before food prices went up, Alberton's had this Quaker sale 10 for 10$. With coupons, back in the day, I could get the things on this sale for 75 cents each or less. BUT with the rise in the cost of food, the sale price this week was 1.57 each. **HOWEVER...using your coupons- from the newspaper, -and don't throw away the ones they print out for you when you buy groceries-I use those too (and sometimes they work for other stuff that is the same brand-so always ask the cashier if you can use it)- I got this stuff for $1 an item!!! In fact, all of this was only 20.25!!! Actually less than a dollar each!! Now if you are going to an Alberton's here, they only let you get one deal per transaction. But you can ring up as many transactions as you like. I did three. Without coupons, 7 items would have cost me $11- which is still a pretty good deal. But with coupons, 7 items cost me $7!

I don't think I have paid over $2 for a box of cereal in over a year- unless of course there is no sale and I buy it at Costco. I never pay more than $2 for a box of Granola bars, and in the past 2 years, we have not paid over a dollar for a container of oats. Now that is what I call MONEY SAVING!! If you don't clip coupons, and don't get the Sunday paper- DO IT!! You will save some moolah!

Thrifty Valentine's Day Decor!

Now I know Valentine's Day isn't until February, but I love red and pink, and so I start early-plus it makes January a little more exciting! Here is my little table I decorate for the holidays. I would spread it out all over the house-but I have two energetic boys that would destroy it. So this way, it is up away from their little hands. :) The little mailboxes below the tree are from the dollar section at Target. I think I will do something with them for V-day w/ my 3 1/2 year old. The stitching pillows are ones that I have made in the past.
I made a "LOVE TREE" - sort of like my Halloween Tree from October. If I had a banister, I might just put these lights and garland there instead. You can make your own garland-with or without lights. I have had these heart lights for about 10 years- I picked them up on clearance at Target.(I heart Target.) I have used them for everything. (I even have ones that are LIPS:)) I ripped up some fabric, (less than $5 from Wal-mart) and tied it right onto the light string. If you don't have lights, you can tie it onto twine. Shoot, I might make one of these for every holiday. It is so easy, affordable and fun! I also bought a few wooden O's and X's at 40% off of course (1.20each)- to put on the tree because what is a "LOVE TREE" without hugs and kisses:)

This was my favorite project so far. Simple wooden letters- already painted white, I just sanded the edges, used some paper, buttons, and fabric scraps that I already had on hand, to decorate. I modge-podged the paper onto the letters. I loved this and it is so easy and inexpensive, I think I will make more in the future!
Please share if you have any thrifty Valentine's Day Decor at your house!
Happy Lover's Day :)

Money Saving Monday- RAINCHECKS

Ever go to the store and they are out of the thing you needed? I always get rainchecks from the grocery store when that happens. It is usually on things that are on sale. So when I go back the next week I am still getting the item at sale price. And as much as possible- I combine the sale item with coupons! HERE is an example of how rainchecks recently helped us out:
A few years ago Albertsons had rainchecks that NEVER EXPIRED!! It was kind of like buying stock in food! (Little did we know how much food prices would go up) I stocked up on rainchecks when they did not have what I needed. I had a raincheck (I actually have two) from 2006 for flour for 5lbs. for $1!!! You can't get flour for that price these days! It was on sale for $2 for 5lbs. a few weeks ago-still a good deal but twice the price. Well we ran out of flour. So we cashed in our raincheck and got 50 lbs.of flour for $10!!
Albertson's recently changed their rainchecks (like the one above) so they expire in 30 days. Fry's does the same thing. 30 days only-not as good as never expiring, but it can still save you money! So check your local grocery store and get a raincheck! You can really save some money!

MoNeY SaVinG MonDaY!

A few months back, I went to the grocery story to do my shopping. I always shop sales and use coupons. This particular time I had some special store coupons. My bill went from over $100 to 20.62 for 40 items! I could not believe it! I always use coupons, but I have never saved this much! Since then I have been looking for more ways to save money everywhere. So finally I am starting my MONEY SAVING MONDAY posts :)

HERE a tip that got me two loaves of bread for $2 this weekend:

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ALWAYS CHECK YOUR RECEIPT BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE STORE. Many stores have a policy that if they charge you the wrong price you get the item for FREE!

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We found our ALPINE VALLEY WHOLE WHEAT bread this weekend at FRY'S. The price on this at Costco has just gone up and up. We have been paying about 3.50 for a loaf of bread! But we are "bread snobs" so we figure it is worth it. Well, at Fry's we found our bread marked at 1.99 a loaf! WOW! So we bought two. Upon checking our receipt, we found that we had been charged 1.99 for one loaf and 3.99 for another identical loaf. One of the loaves was marked 1.99 but rang up as 3.99. We ended up getting 3.99 back. Therefore we paid 1.99 for the bread we usually pay almost 7.00 for at Costco!

Check your receipt EVERY TIME and you will be glad you did! How do you save $ at the grocery store?