Gift Tags from repurposed cards

I know the holidays have been over for a bit now, but they're not really over until you have ALL of the holiday decor put away. In our house the tree and most all decorations come down the 30th of December, that way we are starting the new year fresh.

But we do have a couple of strays: the holiday photo card book and the card garland stay up until we are sure we won't be getting anymore cards that were lost in the mail. Today I took down all of the cards hanging from my card garland. (I'll show you how to make the "card garland" later in the year.)

And that means for us, the holidays are done. My house feels so bare. Everywhere I look there is a lack of color. The door no longer jingles with sleigh bells when it is answered. I can't read by Christmas tree light. I even put away the "Christmas Cranberry" candles.

Ok, I'm done being depressed.

"Cheap Trick of the Day"

As most of you know I have a hard time throwing stuff away, not like a hoarder, I just like to give a new life to stuff. So before you throw all those holiday cards into the recycling make your gift tags for next year.

Here's what I do:

I take all the cards and using whatever cutter I have handy I start cutting the cards up. I use my corner punch on some. Scissors on the big ones that won't fit in my personal paper trimmer. And a craft knife on the ones that have intricate designs. Some cards can even become multiple tags. When I'm done they look like this...

I started doing this a couple of years ago and have yet to buy gift tags because of it.

A-very fun to make-soap dispenser

What you'll need for the "homemade soap dispenser"

Empty Wine or Liquor Bottle-I told you this was going to be fun

Liquor pourer

Liquid Soap

When I was going through the top shelf of my pantry I came across some liquor pourers from "our glory days". (Before we had kids the hubs and I could throw a pretty fun party.)

I was in need of a soap dispenser for the hand soap in the kitchen. We used to have a built in soap dispenser but it seemed like we were constantly trying to fix it, so we took it out and put a cap over the existing hole.

With as often as I wash my hands I wanted the soap to be in easy reach. So I filled up an empty wine bottle with some liquid soap and put one of the liquor pourers into the bottle-instant soap dispenser.

I love the labels on this brand of wine. It has a picture of a bare foot print on it and they use the cutest colors for the bottles, most of which match our kitchen.

On a side note-I use Dr. Bronner's liquid soap. Since it is a concentrate you have to water it down which makes it perfect for this "dispenser".

PS. I have never seen my sink so sparkly clean. I am loving the way it looks in the picture, it doesn't look that sparkly in real life. :-(

Easy and "Green" All Purpose Cleaner

"Cheap Trick of the Day"

Some of you may already know this little trick. This is a little update to our mothers' and grandmothers' cleaning methods. 

Old Version of homemade all purpose cleaner: Equal parts of distilled white vinegar and water. The problem with this old version is that it just plain stinks. After you use it your house smells like salad dressing. Eeewww!

New Version: Still use the equal parts of distilled white vinegar and water. But add some essential oil too. I use orange or lemon oil (and sometimes both) because they have antibacterial properties and I prefer the citrus scent. I have a 32 oz spray bottle that I refill with 2 cups of water, 2 cups of distilled white vinegar, and about 15 drops of essential oil. Make sure to give it a little shake before each use because it likes to separate. 

Juice Boxes-Do you love 'em or hate 'em?

The Juice Box.

I used to be one of those mothers who absolutely hated them. Why? Because what person in their right mind likes to clean up the spills that always happen from them being squeezed? Not me. I try to avoid mess whenever possible. (Think-Monica Geller, from "Friends".) Then I saw these juice box holders and I thought that they were pretty cool, but again this would be something I would have to clean. 

So instead of being the "not fun Mom" who wouldn't allow her children the enjoyments of a juice box I used my head a little and came up with this....

Take a look at the side of the box. You'll see the triangle flaps, or the "wings" as we like to call them. Give them a little pull, and they'll pop right out. Whenever the girls get juice boxes now, they always remind each other to "put your wings out".

These "wings" are now the handles for the girls so that they have something to hold on to and won't accidently squeeze the sticky juice all over. This has made my life easier, and the girls think it's fun. So it's a win-win in my book. (Even Piglet thinks it's awesome.)

As for the Capri Sun juices... I'm still thinking there's no way I'm going to be purchasing them for preschoolers.

I guess I could consider this as a "Cheap Trick" because you're saving money and time doing this little trick. 

Pages have something on them!

My jewelry and craft pages are now up and running. Yay! Please check them out. Over the next couple of days I will be continuing to add to the jewelry page. I have about 4 more weddings to add and some custom pieces as well. Have a great Thursday!

"Cheap Trick of the Day"
Sometimes these "cheap tricks" will be inexpensive ideas, ways to save money, frugal thinking...whatever you want to call it. Today's trick is just me being out right cheap. There is a little story behind this one that you should know...

It goes something like this,

"Hey, Mom! We're out of toilet paper!"

"What?!? I just put a new roll on this morning, you can't be out already."

"We are!"

"Well what happened to the roll, M?"

"C pulled it down for Nicky."
(Nicky is the FurReal Pet puppy we have in our house.)

Oh crap, not again. What are we going to do? This was the second time this week that C thought it would be "cool" to make a bed of TP on the bathroom floor.

Here's what I did:
Squash the roll of TP in half so that the tube is no longer round. It makes it harder for the roll to just take off when little hands get curious because it just bumps around on a lop sided roll. Also keeps the ones who haven't quite mastered the amount to use from using too much-even if they happen to be older than potty training age.

Christmas Photo Cards

What do you do with your holiday photo cards? You can't throw them away-they're too cute (especially if they have my kids on them) ;-)

Anyway, this is a dilemma I faced last year. I had all these photo cards in a basket and they were starting to get worn-OH NO!

So I made this little cutie...

Open her up and this is (kind of) what you'll see.

I normally don't have a normal Christmas card on top but I wanted to keep the privacy of my kids intact. The photo cards we have sent out in the past go first, then I have them in alphabetical order. Yeah, I know it's a little like Monica from Friends.

To make one for yourself you'll have to visit one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. Who is it, you ask? Well, Martha of course! Here's a link to her Holiday Card Scrapbook. I made a few changes on mine to suit my needs. First, I didn't have a grommet setter or grommets. And I didn't want to buy one, so I used a hole punch-it worked fine. Next, I punched 2 holes in mine to make it more like a book. And finally, I added some ribbon to the back cover before covering with the paper completely. In doing this I can tie up a cute bow and keep the dust out while it's not being looked through. I hope you have fun crafting up this little cutie. It will get tons of use.

"Cheap Trick of the Day"

Try a 1/4 c. of distilled white vinegar in place of your liquid fabric softener. I put it in the compartment on the washer. If you don't have that handy little compartment then you can use your downy ball. Don't worry your clothes will not come out smelling like salad dressing. Still not convinced or just a little worried about smell you can put a couple of drops of lavender essential oil on an old washcloth and put it in the dryer. The one and only complaint I have about the vinegar is that sometimes the micro fiber clothes get extremely clingy with static. But I can deal with some static if I'm going to be saving some green.

Here is a little cost comparison from my local warehouse club:

2 gallons of distilled white vinegar $3.38 (this does 128 loads)

Downy fabric softener $9.98 (this does 150 loads)

So I can get about 378 loads of laundry done for the price of 150 Downy loads.

Leg warmers are too expensive!

Do you have a ballerina in the house? If so, STOP paying too much for leg warmers. $15 is the going rate-some are even more expensive and that is just unacceptable. You can make your own out of a pair of these.

Knee High Socks

These ones were purchased at Target for $4 a pair. Here's the proof:

In the past I have purchased cheaper knee highs at the Dollar Tree. They sell them 2 pairs for a buck, but lately I haven't seen any. :-(

Follow this tutorial by Melissa at Nanny Goat. She has great step-by-step instructions with lots of pictures in case you're like me and get confused. She calls them baby legs because technically they are for babies learning to crawl...but shh, don't tell your little ballerina and she'll be none the wiser.

"Cheap Trick of the Day"

The next time you run out of your blue window cleaner save some money by purchasing a 2 liter of club soda instead. Just refill your old spray bottle with the club soda and use as normal. Your windows will shine, your mirrors will sparkle and your stainless appliances will gleam. I use it on anything and everything shiny in my house and I gotta tell you-I like it better. It takes less elbow grease than the blue stuff and it doesn't leave streaks. And unlike the blue stuff this is a "green alternative". With curious little kids in the house the less chemicals under the sink the better.

Update: Here is what the dollar store leg warmers look like. I used child size knee highs. If you would like them a little bigger use women size instead. And to think I saved at least $14.50 by making them myself.

What are these for?

Free entertainment center from a friend who is moving soon and a

5 dollar faucet I found at the Habitat For Humanity ReStore. (You should have seen the faucet before soaking in Coca-Cola for a couple hours-Yuck!)

What is going to become of these diamonds in the rough? Check back later to find out. 

Until then here is a little hint:

These crocheted eggs will be used with them. You can find the pattern for the eggs in this book Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet  I found it at the library but you can order it on amazon too.

ps. I'm sorry for the picture quality. They were taken with cameras on cell phones. Now that I've started blogging I will try much harder to remember to take a "real" picture.

"Cheap Trick of the Day"

Go raid your linen closet, bathroom, or where ever you store your sunscreen. Chances are you'll have some that's expired. Go ahead, I'll wait....Did you find some? Ok, now your ready for the "Cheap Trick".

Use it to shave your legs.  Yes, you read that right...shave your legs. Normally I use hair conditioner from our local wearhouse club but recently I ran out before I could restock. So I gave the sunscreen trick a try and I think I like it better. It left my legs silky smooth. And the moisture it provided was incredible. Make sure you use the lotion kind NOT the oil kind or you'll be sliding all over your shower. Nobody wants a broken hip for the holidays.