Decorating on a Budget - a peek into our house

As I've mentioned before, we moved a few months ago and are currently living in a really cute, but very small rent house. This house is less than half the size of our last house and consequently, most of our things are in storage, including all of our home decor items. Since we were planning to only stay here for a short time, we brought only the bare necessities and it almost felt like we were camping - really (check out the chairs in the living room to see what I mean)! Especially since we did not decorate with curtains or table decor when we moved in.

Over the last few months, this has begun to bother me - I needed this house to feel like home, but didn't want to waste money on decorating a place we would not stay in for more than a year or so. Since we left all of the curtains for the new owner of our last home we didn't have any of that in storage. I made it a mission to make the house feel like home while spending less than $100. I found most of the items at Big Lots. I got window sheers for $5 each, tension rods for $1 each, a table cloth and place mats for less than $14, a throw pillow for $8 and a mantle decoration that says "Home" for $10. I used other things that we already had, like a lamp, pictures and such to fill around the edges. So for about $60 (which I know I could have spent elsewhere - decorating was NOT necessary, but it has been good for my state of mind) we made this place feel like home and not just a some place to sleep. Worth it to me! Here are some pictures:

You can see the "home' decoration, the sheers and the throw pillow in this shot.

The sitting/ reading area (magazines in the basket).

Close up of the mantle.

Dining area, complete with homeschooling stuff everywhere, which adds to the "home" feeling.

It is definitely not completely decorated, by any means, but it is good enough for us and gives the place a soft, homey feeling which is what we were after. And the best part, I think, is that the items we bought will most likely be able to be incorporated to the decor of any house we end up buying and if not, can be sold at a garage sale for close to what we paid for it. We are planning to stay here for at least 6 months, maybe longer, so I will probably add little bits here and there and maybe add things to the walls (besides just the world map for school, lol). In fact, I love this idea and think that maybe even I could make it.

This post is my contribution this week to Works For Me Wednesday.

WFMW: Airing Out My (Clean) Laundry

I just love laundry out on the line waving in the breeze, but my husband has asthma and a severe allergy to tree pollen, so hanging our laundry outside is really not an option these days. We didn't want to give up on hanging our laundry to dry, so we came up with this (free) option. We discovered a shower curtain rod in the closet that we placed in the laundry room between two doors. It is supported by the doorway molding and we've had no problem with it falling, even with a great deal of wet clothes on it.

The clothes dries really quickly. We place it on hangers straight from the washer so that when it is dry, it will be easy to put it away where it belongs.

Check out lots of tips at Works For Me Wednesday hosted by We are THAT Family.

WFMW: Shaving Legs

My friend Melanie over at My Little Patch of Sunshine is always sharing such great tips. I learn so much from her. If you don't already read her blog, you should head over there right after reading this post and subscribe. Anyway, a year or so ago, she shared this amazing, life changing tip for shaved legs. Her suggestion? Shave every day. I know, it sounds like more work, but actually, its a lot less. This doesn't mean you have to shave perfectly every day - that would take forever. What it does mean is that in the shower, spend 30 seconds or so per leg for a quick shave. A few swipes a day will keep your legs presentable because it even if you miss a spot one day, you will probably get it the next day, before it has a chance to really grow out. Okay, so I don't actually do this every single day, but I'd say 4-5 out of 7 days, I run the shaver over my legs, and it has saved so much time and embarrassment.

Check out Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family for lots of tips.

WFMW: Baking Day?

Lots of people do "baking days" where they spend the day stocking their freezer with baked items. I love the way this sounds. But in real life, that just does not work for me. What does work for me is to bake one item every day, right after dh & I get up, but before the house heats up or the kiddos wake up. If I can't get the baking done that early, then the boys help me with my baking in the early evening, after temps have started to fall. This week, we've made or are planning to make:

Banana Nut Bread (I used coconut oil instead of shortening for the fat - this were gone even before it cooled completely. Next time we'll make a double batch, lol)

My Grandma's No Bake Chocolate/ Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (we made these Monday and they are already almost gone - we love these so much!)

Granola Bars (This recipe makes tons so I'm putting some of these away in the freezer because they are great to have when we are traveling, which we will be pretty soon, and if I don't put them away now, they will be all eaten up before tomorrow)

Whole Wheat Honey Muffins (we're making these tomorrow - I'm also hoping to put some in the freezer for traveling)

Oatmeal Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Pecan cookies (making these later this week - I'll post the recipe as soon as I find it.)

Check out other WFMW posts at We Are THAT Family.

WFMW: Reusable Sandwich Bags

A few months ago, our family switched to a reusable lunch box system for both dh's lunches and for the kids and I when we are out and about during lunch or dinner time. You can see some pictures of our Laptop Lunches System here, here and here. We switched over to these for several reasons, but the one most important to me was to stop using disposable products in our lunches. With just my dh's lunches, we were using about 100 plastic sandwich baggies a month (4 per day, 5 days per week). The only holdout after switching was the plastic sandwich baggie for dh's mid morning peanut butter sandwich. I needed it to travel in a soft sided container so that it could fit into the carry bag for the laptop lunches system. I searched online and found several examples of fabric sandwich bags ( here, here and here ). I am not a seamstress, but here is what I was able to make ( I do have a sewing machine and a basic knowledge of sewing).

It is a simple bag, with two layers of fabric and a velcro closure. We are pleased with the way these turned out and the fact that they are easily washable if needed, by turning inside out then tossing in the washing machine.

I used all new materials because I freecycled all of our fabric scraps when we moved the fall. Still, these were very economical to make. It took about $5.00 worth of fabric to make 4 bags. Add a little velcro and your thread and I estimate about $2.00-2.50 each to make.

If you look closely in the above picture you can clearly see my lack of sewing skill :) Even still, we are very happy with our little bags - they are good enough, if not perfect.

This post is my contribution to Works For Me Wednesday, hosted by We Are THAT Family.

WFMW: Getting Free Gift Cards for reading E-mails

Back in December of last year (during my blogging break), my husband (and 15 other people) was laid-off from the job we had just moved to accept. You learn a lot about yourself and your marriage during times like that. Thankfully, we learned that we handled that difficult time better than either could have expected.

One of our favorite little luxuries before the layoff was going out of coffee. There is a local coffee house chain in Louisiana that we love. We often had a date night consisting of browsing the bookstore then going to the coffee shop.

We were blessed that during the layoff, even when we were not spending on luxuries, no matter how little, that we were still able to enjoy our date night on occasion. Although we had to visit a different coffee shop chain, we had free gift cards that allowed us to enjoy our little treats.

I've been a member of MyPoints for one year (my anniversary was last week) and during that time, I have qualified for several free gift cards (at least 5, but I don't remember exactly) without spending any money at all. You can get cards more quickly if you buy things from the advertisers, but my goal is to get the gift cards for free, so I don't buy anything.

By reading emails, using the MyPoints toolbar for searches, using their printable coupons and filling out surveys, I've been able to get free gift cards for our family from CVS, Walgreens, and Starbucks. There are also gift cards for restaurants, movie theaters, discount stores (target * walmart), specialty stores and more. It adds up really quickly. I get a new gift card about once every 2 months.

Would you like to read emails, take surveys and print and redeem coupons and get free gift cards? If you are interested, leave a comment with your email address. I can refer 5 people per month and would be happy to help you get started (and you will be helping me earn some points for helping you get started) :o)

Check out Works For Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

WFMW: The "Mom, I'm Bored" edition

I don't like it when my kids want to watch television or play video games all day long. And I find that I hear "Mom, I'm bored" a great deal when I limit their television or video game time to a few hours a week. Something we enjoy when the kids are bored is read aloud time. While the kids draw or play quietly in the room, I will read a few chapters to them from our current read aloud book (right now we're reading "A Cricket in Times Square").

Sometimes, though, its just not possible for me to sit and read to them for half an hour to an hour. In those instances, I like to have on hand some audio books. We own several audio books, but since they are often more expensive than buying the book, we don't buy them very often. To get new audio books to listen to, we visit our local library. Most libraries have a nice selection of audio books to choose from, and since you don't have to invest lots of money in these, you can try out different things that you might not otherwise choose.

I love to see the concentration on my kids' faces while they listen to audio books (or me reading to them). You can almost see their mind drawing pictures of the scenes they are hearing described. I love that audio books not only entertain, but help stretch their imaginations in ways that television, movies and video games can't. And I love that I get to enjoy the story as well, even if I'm in the kitchen preparing lunch.

Here is a short list of some of the audio books we've enjoyed:

Charlotte's Web (read by the author E.B. White!!)
Trumpet of the Swan (also read by E.B. White!!)
Where the Red Fern Grows
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (performed by Michael York)
The Indian in the Cupboard (read by the author, Lynn Reid Banks)

What books or audio books have your children enjoyed?

Find more boredom busters at We are That Family and Works for Me Wednesday.

WFMW: Packing Lunch for Work or School

As I mentioned in my giveaway post, and many other recent posts, we are huge fans of Laptop Lunches. I was talking with a friend about Laptop Lunches and she was saying that she wondered if she would be able to pack lunches for her whole family and still get everyone out the door on time. In the Laptop Lunches User's Guide, on thing the authors suggest, and something that will work even if your Laptop Lunches System has not come in yet, is packing the lunch the night before. When you are clearing the table, putting away the leftovers from supper and washing the dishes, if you pull out your Laptop Lunches and place them on the counter, you can quickly and easily pack them with leftovers from supper and then just add a few "side dishes" or snacks to the box and then put the whole thing in the refrigerator, ready for morning. Again, this can work even if you don't yet have a Laptop Lunches system.

Click here if you'd like to enter my Laptop Lunches User's Guide giveaway.

With things so uncertain these days, more and more people are starting to pack their lunches instead of dining out every day. Packing a waste-free lunch (where everything is reusable) is easy (and usually much healthier) with just a little planning and advanced preparation.

Go to We Are THAT Family to see more Works For Me Wednesday posts.

WFMW: Remembering Reusable Shopping Bags

Be sure to enter my giveaway by clicking here.

For years, I loved the idea of reusable shopping bags. There are so many benefits to using them. They are better for our Earth, many stores will give you a small discount for using them, they are cute, and the hold a lot more than those flimsy plastic bags. The only problem I had was remembering to bring them into the store with me. Even when I kept them in my vehicle, that did not guarantee I'd remember to take them in to the store. That all changed a little over a year ago, when I figured out how to trick myself into remembering.

Before we leave for the grocery store or farmer's market, I grab our stash of reusable bags from the back of the vehicle and place them on the passenger seat on top of my purse. When I get to the store, I have to pick up the bags to get to my purse, and that is all it takes to remember to bring them in.

Check out We are THAT Family for lots and lots of great Works For Me Wednesday Tips.

WFMW: Getting Your Kids to Eat Veggies

I'd always read that getting your kids involved with growing and preparing veggies would help encourage them to eat those veggies. My oldest is a very picky eater. He likes (and consequently will eat) exactly one vegetable: broccoli. Now I know, if he's going to like only one veggie, broccoli is a good one, but as his mom, I can't help but want more for him. Getting him to try new things is a struggle to say the least. Experts say that getting them involved in the preparation will encourage them to try new things. For years, I'd tried having him "help me" prepare supper by opening the bag of frozen veggies and putting them in the sauce pan. I wondered why he would help me, but still not eat what he was helping me prepare.

Things have been different lately and I think I know why. As of yesterday, he proudly boasts liking 4 veggies (and he's genuinely excited). The first is, of course, broccoli. The second is carrots. Here's how it happened. I asked for his help pulling the carrots out of the garden, then washing them off before bringing them into the house. Once he had them inside, he asked if he could cut off the tops and help peel them with the veggie peeler. After he'd done that, he asked if he could taste one (gasp!). "Ummm. . . yes, of course (trying to sound casual)." Turns out, he likes carrots :o)

A few days later, this same scene was repeated with cucumbers.

And yesterday, we bought sweet corn at the farmer's market (yeah, I know - a kid who doesn't like corn - whats up with that?). I wasn't even planning to prepare one for him since he doesn't eat them, but he asked if he could help me shuck, so I said, "yes". While we were shucking and talking, he casually mentioned that he'd like to eat one, too. So we prepared one for him and he ate it!! :o) And he loved it!

I think the key to making this work is growing or buying the least processed veggies possible. I think it is the act of growing, harvesting, washing, shucking, peeling that makes them want to try it. And I know he won't love every veggie he tries, but I'm going to keep asking for his help and hoping he'll try more new things. After all, we have sweet peas to harvest today.

Visit Rocks in My Dryer for Works For Me Wednesday

WFMW: Homemade Break Apart Cookie Dough

I posted this last August and thought it was time to share it again. I love the convenience of break apart cookies from the grocery store, but don't like all those funky chemicals that I can't even pronounce lurking in my kiddos snacks. Last year, I made a quadruple batch of sugar cookies and baked one, then put the other three in separate gallon sized zip top baggies.



After smooshing the contents of the bag flat, I used chop sticks to make the "perforations". When I want to use them, I take the bag out of the freezer and break them apart while still frozen. It also helps to put baking instructions on the bag in case you can't put your hands on the recipe when you're ready to bake (not that I ever lose a recipe or anything, lol).

Now, when we make cookies, we usually at least double (but often quadruple) the recipe and put some in the freezer for later. And it works beautifully with other kinds of cookies, too. If you'd like to read the original post, click here.

And check out more ideas at Rocks in My Dryer and Works for Me Wednesday.

WFMW - Keeping Salad/ Greens Fresh

For years, I bought bagged salad mix for our family. I guess I had convinced myself that I was being smart and saving money because when I bought lettuce, it usually went bad before we could use it all. There were several flaws in my thinking. First, this approach assumes that we would use all of the bagged salad before it could go bad. This almost never happened, even though we eat salads almost every day. Our bagged salad usually only stayed fresh for at most 2 days. This thinking also assumed that when I bought a $2.50 bag of salad that it was worth paying someone else to prep our salad, because doing it myself was so much work (ha!).

In an effort to get our grocery spending under control, about a year ago, I started buying romaine when it was on sale for $1.00 each (we have at least one store each week with lettuce on sale for $1.00), and washing and drying it myself (I saw a tip on Good Eats about spinning your lettuce in a pillow case in your clothes washer on the spin cycle if you don't have a salad spinner - pretty unusual, but it does work, lol). Washed and dried well, this lettuce will keep for about a week, and conveniently, provides about what our family can consume in a weeks time. Instead of spending $2.50 every other day (or about $7.50 a week) for lettuce, I was paying $1.00 a week (we are paying $0.00 a week right now because we are growing it in our garden from seeds - free salad is delicious!).

What works for me to keep our lettuce fresh for a whole week is to put a paper towel in the container with the salad. This helps to absorb the excess moisture that causes the lettuce to brown. So, our lettuce stays fresh and crisp for at least 7 days (and sometimes even longer, if we haven't finished it off by then.).

For more ideas check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.

Popsicles?

Is that even how you spell Popsicles? Anyway, the kids are already asking for them, which, with the weather lately, isn't that surprising. I've been freezing the leftovers when we make smoothies (I have tupperware Popsicle molds) and they've been a big hit. I especially love that they contain fruit, pro-biotic (in the yogurt), and veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower and white bean purees - but not too much - about 2 tablespoons of each), plus protein and fiber to prevent blood sugar spikes and no added sugar.

A few years ago, I checked out this cookbook from our library (I've since forgotten what its called) which had a recipe for slow cooker caramelized onions. Until then it had never crossed my mind that you could make these in a crock pot! It works so nicely - the onions come out perfect. Here's how you do it - thinly slice about 2 lbs of white or yellow onions and put them and1 stick of butter into the crock pot on high for about 6 hours. That's it! You can use less butter if you'd like, but they may not brown as much. The reason I mention these onions is because there are some going in the slow cooker right now. We're having french onion soup tonight with these sandwiches. We skip the mayo and use whole wheat bread when we make them and they are huge hit over here.

Works for Me Wednesday

Here's a Works For Me Wednesday tip for remembering to read those books the kids check out from the library. We've been putting one book each day on a book stand on top of the bookshelf in the living room. It looks neat and organized (and a little like a bookstore or library) plus we see the book throughout the day so it is remembered when its read aloud time.