» Celebrations

A Very Merry Christmas Wish

Carol — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:27:13 +0000

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours. May simple pleasures bring abundant joy and happiness to your life!

The Gift of Candy for Christmas—it’s the “Present”ation

Geri — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:30:11 +0000

Candy is a sure bet when giving a gift to co-workers, neighbors and friends. Who doesn’t love candy? Plan ahead, shop the sales, use your coupons and then be creative in the way you present your gift.

On New Year’s Day last year Carol and I, along with our friends, shopped the 75% off Christmas sale at Dillard’s where I picked up these beautiful Lenox Oriental Christmas bowls for only $1.00 a piece with the idea of presenting them as gifts filled with candy the following Christmas.

So here a year later I’m ready to put my candy bowls together. I started with a small amount of gift filler in the bottom of each bowl and began adding different wrapped candies and chocolates until the bowls were heaping, then sprinkled a little red tinsel on top. Keep in mind that the photo of my supplies indicates only a fraction of the candy I was able to get into each bowl. I then used one piece of iridescent tissue paper to wrap each bowl using ribbon to tie it off. I then added a Christmas pick on one of the bowls and added a small heart shaped ornament to the other four. Even if I do say so myself, they turned out beautiful!

Here is the cost breakdown:

5 bowls at $1.00 a piece ($5.00)
Large bag of candy ($9.90)
1 bag gift filler (.50 cents)
1 bag red tinsel (.99 cents)
1 pkg. iridescent tissue paper ($1.99)
1 roll (3 ft.) ribbon (.99 cents)
1 Christmas pick (.99 cents)
4 Christmas ornaments ($2.99)

The total excluding tax comes to $23.35 which is a whopping $4.67 per bowl. AND, if you shop the 75% and 90% off sales after Christmas you will be able to get the supplies even cheaper!! So plan ahead!

Caramel Apple Dip Using a Crock Pot and Canned Milk

Carol — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:52:18 +0000

Caramel dipped apples are always a sign of the holidays, but the hot caramel can give you some bad finger burns if you’re not careful. This crock pot method for Caramel Apple Dip is both simple to make and safe. And it makes great tasting caramel!

Easy Crock Pot Caramel Apple Dip

Take one 15 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk and remove the label

Put it on a rack or a towel in your crock pot. (If you don’t own a crock pot, a stove top pan will work.)

Add water to completely submerge the can

Cook on low for exactly 8 hours (or boil for 3 hours if using a stove top pot). Check the water level several times.

And you’ve transformed a simple can of milk into delicious caramel sauce! Once you open the can, you can add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract if you like. Use the sauce to dip apples or pour over ice cream.

And by printing a simple but cute label, you can give the caramel dip as a gift.

Make a Rose-Filled Centerpiece for Under $7

Carol — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:17:08 +0000

After successfully staging my home, I’m helping my friend stage her house for selling. So far, we have spent very little money by reusing pretty items that she already had or by making decorations with supplies from the local thrift store. You can do this easy project yourself with great finds from the thrift store or around the house.

I want to share with you how I made this pretty rose-filled vase for her bathroom. I started with a rectangle vase; having each rose the same height makes for a lovely contemporary effect. It would also be a lovely centerpiece for weddings or other special events.

Supplies you’ll need for this project:

Artificial roses, tulips, or other pretty flowers
Clear, short square or retangular vase
Floral foam or Styrofoam
Small amount of moss
Hot glue gun
Wire cutters

At the thrift store, I bought a clear, rectangular vase for only $2.99 and one bunch of peach-colored artificial roses for a mere $0.99. Unfortunately, I didn’t find any floral foam either at the thrift store or at my house, so I had to purchase it for $2.50 at the local craft store. But if you can snag some at your local thrift store, dollar store, or save some Styrofoam blocks from a package, you could save even more money.

Cut the foam to fit the vase (cut the width and depth about a ¼ inch shorter than the vase dimensions). I used a steak knife and sawed my way through; it doesn’t have to be perfect. Just watch your fingers. Remove the foam from the vase so you can decorate it with leaves.

Next, determine how high you want your roses to be, remembering to leave enough stem to push into the foam. Just eyeball it, and cut the first one with wire cutters. Now cut all of your roses the same height, using the first one as a template.

Snip off any leaves from the lower part of the stem that will be hidden in the foam. Use these extra leaves to decorate the front of the foam. Put a small amount of glue on the back side of the leaf, and hot glue it in a random pattern to the hide the foam. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Carefully slide the foam into the vase making sure you don’t tear off the glued leaves as you go. Now push each rose into the foam. I counted my roses, and then keeping each rose in line with the next one, pushed them into the foam, like this.

You can then add the finishing touches. I turned the leaves around so that the good side is facing out (most will rotate on their attached stems), and filled in the gaps with some moss.

That’s all it takes to make a beautiful, inexpensive centerpiece for under $7. By changing up the type of flower, you can make lovely centerpieces for Christmas, springtime, or fall. And, by the way, you can also use this same technique with real flowers. Just hide the front of the floral foam with moss or decorative stones, fill the vase with water, and enjoy.

Make Gift Wrap using Reused Mylar Balloons

Carol — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:29:10 +0000

Being my frugal self, there’s a part of me that hates throwing away Mylar balloons after a party. They sadly float around the room, each day hovering lower and lower, until finally they’re just too sad and flimsy to tolerate and I throw them away.

But no more! Cut old Mylar balloons into squares and use them to wrap small gifts for other birthday parties and events. With the holidays and wrapping gifts just around the corner, we can reuse deflated Mylar balloons as beautiful gift wrap. Mylar is shiny and elegant, and some stores sell Mylar gift wrap for a lot of money.

Look how this small gift box is wrapped in a used, blue Mylar balloon, decorated with wide strips of the same balloon (reversed) for a “ribbon,” and a metallic-silver bow. Narrow, curled strips of wrap enhance the bow and nicely coordinate – the blue side matches the wrapped box and the silver side matches the ribbon and bow. How pretty! Or use the designs and words like “Happy Birthday” to wrap a cute birthday gift.

Here’s another adorable idea from FreeKidsCrafts.com. They have instructions on making this cute Mylar tote, but I think it’d make a very cute gift bag.

Here are some more ideas for reusing your Mylar balloons:

Cut them up into strips and use them in gifts baskets, Easter baskets and even for packing materials for shipping.
Cut them into pieces and use these pieces for scrapbooking, making crafts, decorate a frame, collages and many other crafts.
Wall Decor – Deflate your balloon all the way and tape onto your child’s wall in their room or a playroom for some fun decor.
Make balloon weights – Use your Mylar balloons at your next party to cover rocks to be used for balloon weights.