Wife to 1 hardworking man, Momma of 3, and obsessed with all things DIY! Here you will find lots of DIY projects, tutorials, free stuff, and occasionally random posts about my life!
Friday, April 27, 2012
FREE $5 Arby's Gift Card! You better hurry!!
Coupon for FREE Starbucks Refreshers in Pepsi Insert 4/29!
Be on the lookout for a coupon for a FREE 12 fl. oz. can of starbucks refreshers beverage, any flavor up to $2.39 ex5/19. This may be regional so make sure your region's insert has this coupon before buying multiple papers! The coupon is in the Pepsi insert this Sunday!
Some other coupons in the 4/29 pepsi insert include:
$1/2 Pepsi NEXT 2liter Bottles
$1/2 Bags Of Tostitos Tortilla Chips
$1/2 Sun Chips MultiGrain Snacks
$1/2 Bags of Lays Potato Chips
$1/1 Any Lays Potato Chips
$1/2 5ct or Larger Boxes Of Quaker Oats Chewy Granola Bars
$2/2 Packages of Starbucks Via Ready Brew
Free Bottle Cap Images
Bottle cap images are used for many crafts! You can make bottle cap jewelry, magnets, hair bow centers, kitchen backsplash, and lots of other things! Here are just a few to get you started crafting. Just click on the link below the graphics to go to flickr so you can download these cute designs! Keep a look out for new freebies every week! If you see anything else in the album feel free to take what you need! :)
FREE Ribbon Graphics!
Remember THIS POST about how to make your own handmade ribbon? Well I thought I'd make it a little easier for you to get started! How about some FREE ribbon graphics? Anyone a Blake Shelton fan? ME ME ME!!! Hopefully you are too but if not, I'll share another one just in case. ;) You can right click and save as onto your computer! Easy peasy right? Oh and before you print, don't forget to mirror image if your transfer paper says to do so! I will post a link below the images for you to go to my flickr account so you can download them. If you see any other graphics you want, feel free to take those too! :)
DIY Decoupage Ceiling Fan
Bored of that old brown ceiling fan? Decoupage it!
Supplies you will need:
Mod Podge
Scrapbook paper (you can use fabric or gift wrap too)
Scissors
Paint
Step 1: Clean your ceiling fan!
Step 2: Take the blades off and make sure they are free of dust.
Step 3: Paint your blades a color that matches your scrapbook paper or fabric.
Step 4: Lay a blade on your scrapbook paper or fabric and trace on the backside. If you use scrapbook paper, you will need to piece it together in atleast 2 pieces...that is how I did this peace sign fan and you can't even tell. If you use fabric you don't have to worry about that.
Step 5: Cut it out and mod podge onto the blades. Make sure you smooth out any wrinkles. Let dry.
Step 6: After about 20 minutes of drying time, mod podge over top of your blades and let dry again.
You're done! If you want, you can spray paint the metal part of the fan any color you want. You can also spray paint the globe but it does cast a tint of whatever you paint it. The pink on the globes makes a pink tint in the room. Thats ok because my girls like that! ;)
I will have to post a tutorial with pictures soon since I will be making 3 more of these in the weeks to come. So make sure you follow me so you get the update!
TIP: You can put a different print on the other side of the blades so if you get tired of one side you can flip it to the other side for a quick change!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
DIY Under $10 Headbaord
So I was tired of the old ugly headboard we had on our bed and sure wasnt about to pay the price of a California King headboard! The sheets cost enough and are hard enough to find as it is! So of course I'd make one! I wish I would have done a tutorial but this was my first time making this ever and didnt even know if I was doing it right. But here is a breakdown of what we did...
Supplies
Plywood from Lowe's (cheapest I could find) $6 (you can make 2 out of this so I count it as $3)
Flat sheet from Walmart $5
Twin size foam mattress pad Free because my mother in law gave me her old one. They cost $10 at Walmart though.
Rhinestones Free because I already had them but they are around $3 at Walmart.
Staple Gun
Drill
Screws
Rhinestones
e6000 glue (already had some but its under $3 at Walmart)
First Step: Measure the width and length of your bed to see what size you will need to cut the plywood and foam.
Second Step: Cut your plywood and foam to the size you measured.
Third Step: Lay out your flat sheet face down (good side should be backwards touching floor and inside of sheet is what you should see facing you) Next, place foam down on the sheet kind of in the center and have even widths on each side of foam. After that, place your plywood down on top of your foam and make sure it is centered straight with your foam. It doesnt have to be perfect but pretty close.
Fourth Step: Wrap your sheet over onto the plywood and use a staple gun to staple the sheet onto the plywood. This is where it is easier to have someone helping you (like my wonderful hubby). If you dont have anyone to help you thats okay dont freak out! You can do it!! Make sure you pull tightly as you staple so that when its all stapled, the front of the headboard is neat and pulled pretty tight...you dont want to see any wrinkles or loose fabric. If you end up with a few wrinkles and loose spots dont give up and throw it out in the yard just yet, you can fix that in this next step.
Fifth Step: Turn your headboard over and if you think it looks good you can leave it like this but if you want it "fancy shmancy" like I did then you just drill in your screws. Make sure you have short screws that wont go all the way through your wood. You just want it long enough to push down the material (sheet) into the plywood. You can measure out and place a dot like I should have done, but if your like me and are super duper impatient you can just go with it and hope for the best!
Sixth Step: Use e6000 glue (walmart craft section) to glue down your rhinestones over top of the screws. If you have covered buttons you can use those too or anything else you may find. Wait atleast a couple of hours to make sure the glue is completely dry so they wont fall off.
Seventh Step: You're almost done! You just need to screw hangers into the back of your headboard so you can hang it on the wall. (We cheated, since our home is our forever home....we screwed some screws all the way into the wall to hold it up...you can't tell because they are mixed in with the other screws and covered with rhinestones :P)
YOU'RE DONE!!!!
10 for $10 Sale at Save-A-Lot!
Hindsale Corn Dogs
Gatorade
Fairgrounds Jumbo Hot Dogs
Betty Crocker Snack Size Cookie Mix
Jeno’s Pizza
David Jumbo Sunflower Seeds
TJ Farms Tater Rounds
Oscar Mayer Sliced Bologna
Chef Gusto Mini Pizza Bagels
Gwaltney Roll Sausage
Libby’s Country Sausage Gravy
Big League Chew Bubble Gum
Save-A-Lot TODAY Cereal
Cracker Jack
Banquet Brown ‘N Serve Sausage
Joseph Campione Garlic Loaf
I will have to check for coupons on these because they do accept coupons!
FREE Barilla Whole Grain Pasta at Walmart!
Free Barilla Whole Grain Pasta at Walmart when you print off this coupon from Barilla's Facebook page! Coupon is good for $1/1 making it free at Walmart since it is regulary priced at .98 cents! You get .02 cents overage per coupon as well. You can print up to 2 per computer.
Jolly Rancher Crunch N Chew Candy .39 cents at Walmart
Jolly Rancher Crunch N Chew Candy 1.55 oz is regular price $0.78
Use coupon B1G1 Jolly Rancher Crunch ‘n Chew, 1.55 oz up to $1.19 from SS 4/22 (exp 6/10)
So the final Price is just $0.39 each when you buy 2
Hidden Valley Farmhouse Dressings & Seasonings just .48 cents at Walmart
Bestlife Buttery Spread or Spray just .48 cents at Walmart
Organic Girl Green Onions .58 cents per bundle at Walmart!
Free Dawn Dish Soap at Kroger!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Kroger Deals until 4/21/12
You have today and tomorrow to get in on these great deals at Kroger!
$0.25/1 Dawn Product (from P&G insert 04/01/12)
$0.50 after coupon and doubles!
$0.50 after coupon and doubles!
$0.60/2 Green Giant Boxed Vegetables printable
$0.70 ea. wyb 2 after coupon!
$0.70 ea. wyb 2 after coupon!
Eggo Waffles- 2 for $4
Use .75/1 Kellogg's Eggo Frozen Product from RP 3/11 insert. Some regions received .75/2 so check your coupons first.
As low as $1.25 each when you buy 2 after coupons!
Money Maker on Hazelnut Wafers at Walmart!
Print this coupon out and go to Walmart to score some Free + overage Schar Gluten Free Hazelnut Wafers. The coupon is good for $2 off any Schar product and the wafers are $1.67 in most stores so you make around .33 cents! That .33 cents goes toward the rest of your items you purchase. I'm not sure where to find the wafers but they are in a yellow package. Ask a sales associate for help finding it!
Nivea Body Wash .50 cents at Dollar General until 4/21
Get Wisk Laundry Detergent for $2 at Dollar General!
Get .50 Hair Color at Dollar General!
Score some .50 cent hair color at Dollar General with coupon $5/2 Clairol Hair Color from smart source 4/15 insert!! Now thats a deal on hair dye!
Great Blogs and Forums to find good deals
It is hard to find deals all by yourself so thank goodness there are blogs and sites that do all the work for you! Here are a couple of go to sites I have used ever since I first started couponing...
Coupon Mom - super easy as it has all stores and you can just click on a store and it lists all the great deals starting with the free stuff!
We Use Coupons - my favorite by far. It is a blog and a forum. The site was created by Nathan Engles aka Mr. Coupon, which was on the hit TLC show Extreme Couponing and is actually from Kentucky!
So there ya go, two of the best (turstworthy) sites I have found to easily find the best deals. Hopefully you will learn a little from Mr. Coupon as well as myself.
Coupon Mom - super easy as it has all stores and you can just click on a store and it lists all the great deals starting with the free stuff!
We Use Coupons - my favorite by far. It is a blog and a forum. The site was created by Nathan Engles aka Mr. Coupon, which was on the hit TLC show Extreme Couponing and is actually from Kentucky!
So there ya go, two of the best (turstworthy) sites I have found to easily find the best deals. Hopefully you will learn a little from Mr. Coupon as well as myself.
Double Coupons
I know when I first heard someone talk about doubling coupons I was like say what? I was so confused! But its not as crazy as it sounds. Not all stores double coupons, especially where I live. The only place around here that doubles is Kroger and up to .50 cents. This means if you have a coupon that says .50 cents off of 1 product then Kroger will double it to make your coupon value actually $1.00 off of 1 product! And if you have a coupon that says .30 cents off 1 product then they will double it and make it .60 cents off! So when you see those measly low coupons don't throw them away! They are worth more at stores who double.
Walmart was actually doing a trial run of doubling coupons in certain stores, like Huntington, WV but not sure if that is still going on. Hopefully all Walmarts will start doubling so we can all find great deals all the time. The only trouble with that would be, finding deals because so many people would be couponing they would need to constantly stock the shelves. But how great would it be to find free stuff at Walmart every shopping trip?!
You just have to call the stores in your area and ask them if they double. Some stores even triple but I haven't been lucky enough to find a store like that yet!
Kmart in my area doubles on certain dates up to $1.00 and I have found cat food for free because I had a buy one get one free coupon and they doubled that as well! Kmart is the only store that I know that has ever doubled that kind of coupon for me so don't go to Kroger expecting them to double a bogo coupon. BOGO means buy one get one by the way. There are lots of abbreviations in the coupon world so I will have to make a post for that to help you understand coupon talk!
Walmart was actually doing a trial run of doubling coupons in certain stores, like Huntington, WV but not sure if that is still going on. Hopefully all Walmarts will start doubling so we can all find great deals all the time. The only trouble with that would be, finding deals because so many people would be couponing they would need to constantly stock the shelves. But how great would it be to find free stuff at Walmart every shopping trip?!
You just have to call the stores in your area and ask them if they double. Some stores even triple but I haven't been lucky enough to find a store like that yet!
Kmart in my area doubles on certain dates up to $1.00 and I have found cat food for free because I had a buy one get one free coupon and they doubled that as well! Kmart is the only store that I know that has ever doubled that kind of coupon for me so don't go to Kroger expecting them to double a bogo coupon. BOGO means buy one get one by the way. There are lots of abbreviations in the coupon world so I will have to make a post for that to help you understand coupon talk!
Stockpile Prices-How much should you pay for products?
That was my first question when I first started couponing and stockpiling. I was scared to death I was paying too much for stuff. So I'm here to help! If you are a beginner, this will help. These are prices that I usually pay for each necessity. However, if you feel comfortable paying a discounted price for something then go for it! You have to create your own comfort zone and as long as you are getting something cheap don't beat yourself up about it. You're still saving more money than those that are paying full price for the same product. You will learn as you go along, like I did. You will make mistakes (and I still do). I have been couponing for a year and coupons are not as valuable as they were a year ago but you can still find good deals. You just have to work for it. But if you stick with me, I'll do all the hard work for you. I'll find us some good deals, you just have to find the coupons and go shopping! Don't get discouraged if you can't build a stockpile right away because no one builds one overnight! It takes time. When you do find a good deal, stock up! If something is free or really cheap that you can't pass up why not donate the rest to charity or share with family and friends? You may think 50 tubes of toothpaste is ridiculous to buy but its definitely not whenever I create gift baskets for my friends and family for the holidays or their birthday filled with all the necessities they would be spending their money on anyway. That is what I give to my family each year and I get no complaints. I mean after all, wouldn't you rather get a huge basket of stuff you will actually use instead of that ugly sweater that you won't wear? lol You will find a lot of travel size products for free with coupons (as long as the coupon can be used on travel size). Use those to put in little goodie bags for the homeless or another charity. You could even use those in gift baskets like I do! Those little travel sizes come in handy for vacation ya know!
Toothpaste- Free - .25 cents
Toothbrushes- Free
Razors- Free - 1.00 or less per pack
Deodorant- Free - .50 cents
Body Wash- Free - .50 cents (most of the time free)
Shaving Cream- Free - .30 cents
Shampoo/Conditioner- Free - 1.00
Air Freshners- Free - 1.00
Laundry Detergent Free - 2.00
Medicine (advil, benadryl itch sticks, tylenol, bayer, breathe right, etc) Free + overage
Bandaids- Free
Pads/Tampons- 1.00 per box or less
Dish Soap- Free- .50 cents
Hand Soap- Free - .30 cents
Food is a little harder to stock up on but I do find really good deals.
Minute Maid Frozen Novelties (frozen lemonade, cherry, etc) Free - I had stocked up on 20 boxes of these 2 different times last summer and they never lasted long!
Rice- Free
Pasta- Free
BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Mustard- .20 cents - .50 cents
Cereal 1.50 per box or less (mostly 1.00 or less but 1.50 is a good price for me too)
Candy- Free- .25 cents (such as full size candy bars)
Pop - Free often if you use coke rewards like I do but with coupons you can get 12 packs for as low as 1.00 sometimes.
Bologna & Hot Dogs- Free
You will find other food for free but these are items I have gotten for free or super cheap most often. I just can't think of them all! This should at least give you an idea of how much you can save with coupons. You just have to match those coupons with sales, and to get items free you often have to shop at a store that doubles coupons like Kroger.
Toothpaste- Free - .25 cents
Toothbrushes- Free
Razors- Free - 1.00 or less per pack
Deodorant- Free - .50 cents
Body Wash- Free - .50 cents (most of the time free)
Shaving Cream- Free - .30 cents
Shampoo/Conditioner- Free - 1.00
Air Freshners- Free - 1.00
Laundry Detergent Free - 2.00
Medicine (advil, benadryl itch sticks, tylenol, bayer, breathe right, etc) Free + overage
Bandaids- Free
Pads/Tampons- 1.00 per box or less
Dish Soap- Free- .50 cents
Hand Soap- Free - .30 cents
Food is a little harder to stock up on but I do find really good deals.
Minute Maid Frozen Novelties (frozen lemonade, cherry, etc) Free - I had stocked up on 20 boxes of these 2 different times last summer and they never lasted long!
Rice- Free
Pasta- Free
BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Mustard- .20 cents - .50 cents
Cereal 1.50 per box or less (mostly 1.00 or less but 1.50 is a good price for me too)
Candy- Free- .25 cents (such as full size candy bars)
Pop - Free often if you use coke rewards like I do but with coupons you can get 12 packs for as low as 1.00 sometimes.
Bologna & Hot Dogs- Free
You will find other food for free but these are items I have gotten for free or super cheap most often. I just can't think of them all! This should at least give you an idea of how much you can save with coupons. You just have to match those coupons with sales, and to get items free you often have to shop at a store that doubles coupons like Kroger.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
FREE Country Crock at Walmart!
FREE Pepsi Next 2 Liter at Kroger!
Free Fly Swatters & Fly Paper at Walmart with this coupon!
Score some Cheap toilet paper!
Score some cheap toilet paper with this coupon! Click on the word this in that last sentence and it will take you to White Cloud's facebook page where you can print $2.50/1 package of 12 or 24 roll toilet paper. This is around $5 at Walmart so you can get it for half price! You can print up to 3 times per computer. When one coupon prints hit the back button to print again!
Got a cat? Get your kitty some treats as low as .19 cents with this coupon
Get your kitty some cheap cat treats for as low as .19 cents with the $1/1 crave soft treats for cats in the 4/15 Red Plum insert.
Kroger has these for $1.19 per bag so .19 cents after coupon!
Walmart has these for $1.38 per bag so .38 cents after coupon! Still a great deal.
Target has these for 1.25 per bag so just .25 cents after coupon!
Prices may be regional but very close! You can find this coupon on ebay or my favorite site when you go into the forum and join! Just look for someone willing to trade them.
This is a great stock up price for me! I will be sure to stock up on these!
Handmade Ribbon
1. Make sure you mirror the image (image is flipped backwards) If your image is not already flipped when you buy it just open up paint and click on rotate and flip horizontal. Make sure you save a copy of it. Make sure you have the right size graphics for the size ribbon you have. Such as 3/8", 7/8" etc.
2. Print out the graphics on tshirt transfer paper.
3. Cut into strips as wide as it fits the ribbon.
4. Flip one strip over onto the ribbon and iron on, for about 30 seconds. Wait for it to cool and then peel back off of the transfer paper to see how it looks. Continue on to the next strips.
It's easy peasy! If you want to learn how to make your own graphics, go to etsy and purchase a template for graphics. Follow the tutorial if it came with one. I use gimp because you can download it for free so make sure you purchase for the right program. If you dont have photoshop dont buy those templates for it because you will have to buy photoshop and its pretty expensive. Here is a good one to purchase because it is cheap and for gimp. You can figure it out fairly easy but I will try to post a tutorial soon. The basics is you open up the template in gimp, copy and paste photos onto your ribbon template (you can resize the photos with gimp too) and I find it easier to use paint to add text.
Best places to buy ribbon!
So if you are new to the handmade world then you've probably already realized that ribbon is one of the supplies you will use the most and it can be pretty expensive especially if you are trying to sell your crafts. Either way you probably want to find the cheapest ribbon possible right? Yes, Walmart and craft stores carry ribbon but it is pretty expensive there. Here are the best sites I have found to buy ribbon...
www.unitedcraftus.com - the CHEAPEST place by far to buy solid ribbon. It is made a less stiff than other grosgrain but it works just fine for me and I've had no complaints. You do have to have a minimum of $50 to order but it is well worth it if you are going to be needing multiple colors of ribbon. You get 50 yard rolls for as little as 1.95/roll last time I bought from there! I think you have to sign up and make an account to be able to see the prices but its free to do so.
www.ribbonheaven.com - you have to have a membership for this one but its so worth it. I think it is $29.95 for the membership but its for a lifetime. I think it was $14.95 on sale. They have minnie mouse, m2mg (made to match gymboree) lalaloopsy and all those unique designs you see on ebay that are $1/yard. Except at this site you get similar prints for around $3-4 for 10 yard rolls!!!
www.tabbywabby.com is the owner of the ribbonheaven site. You can buy from this site without a membership but the prices aren't as cheap.
www.ribbonretreat.com is an okay site but not my favorite. I like their grab bags.
www.ribbonsandbowsohmy.com (aka rabom) is a pretty good site if you want higher quality ribbon. I recommend it over the ribbon retreat site.
If you want unique ribbon I HIGHlY recommend making it yourself! It's easier than you think. You can make your own graphics or buy the ribbon graphics on etsy. I make my own graphics for all size ribbon and print my own ribbon. It's the best thing ever because you can personalize it with anything you want, personal photos, favorite teams, names, anything! I will show you how to do this in an upcoming post!
Handmade Mesh Wreath
Mason Jar Light Fixture
DIY Kitchen Island Project
This actually is our kitchen table with old wood wrapped around it! We propped it up to make it a little higher and nailed wood from our pool deck we tore down to make our kitchen island! This project is still unfinished but we're almost done. I will post an updated pic of the finished product as soon as it's complete! One side is left open with shelves and we are going to add dog bowls as well. The backing of the shelves on the inside is metal from our pool we also tore apart along with the deck. Everything is repurposed, including the nails! We have added a new top...we painted wood with old barn paint given to us after the tornado as it was going to be thrown away. We still have to seal the top and finish the front side of the island which is not shown in the photo. But I promise to post as soon as it's finished.
TV Stand Project
First, I just want to apologize for my superbad photos for these first few projects because I couldnt find my camera so I used my daughter's ipod touch! Also I apologize in advance for all the craft supplies thrown around my home and anything else such as toys, doggies, children, and anything else not meant to be in the photos. Joys of mommahood. <3 Anyway on with this post...
I wish I would have taken a "before" photo but I promise I will start doing that. This used to be an old dresser hubby and I found at Goodwill (my fav place in the whole world). It was really long and looked like it came from a hotel. We took the drawers and door out and painted it white and voila! you have a cute tv stand! We had a hard time finding a tv stand for our 60" tv that was in our price range so we decided to make one! So that was the start of it all...I decided to no longer buy anything brand new again unless we have to! So it's just fitting that this be my first project post. I will add more updated better quality photos as soon as I find that dang camera! The price of the dresser was $25 and we already had the paint so I think thats a good price for a tv stand, dont ya think? Tell me what you think!
My Very First Post!!!!
Hey all!!! This is my very first post and I just want to say how excited I am to share my handmade ideas and projects with you! I hope to inspire you to start (and finish) some projects of your own! I will also share couponing tips and deals that I find to help save you even more money! This will be your place to come and check new deals and project ideas for your own home. Or maybe you will just to see what new project I'm working on next! If your like me, I love Pinterest and I love creating my own home decor, gifts, remodeling, and furniture makeovers. I will share all of that with you here so please tell your friends if they are into saving money and diy projects! Thank you for visiting and I promise there will be lots more to come. I am starting now in my next posts with a few projects I have done or am still working on. I hope you enjoy! Please comment if you have any questions or suggestions. :)
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