• 10 Reasons to get a National Parks pass
    National Parks,  Travel

    10 Reasons to get a National Parks Pass

    10 Reasons to get a National Parks Pass TRAVEL: It’s a great excuse for a roadtrip. INEXPENSIVE: National Park vacations are amazing, even on a tight budget. FAMILY MEMORIES: Spending quality time with your kids provides memories for years to come. EXPLORING: Gives you a reason to go to places you might not have considered. COLLECTING: Collect all kinds of fun cancelation stamps with your National Parks Passport. REJUVENATE: Getting out in nature is good for the soul. PHOTOGRAPHY: The amazing landscapes are photographers dream. WILDLIFE: Witness different kinds of animals large and small out in the wild. EXERCISE: There are many beautiful trails to hike, giving you an up-close look at the unique landscapes. DISCOVERY: National Parks…

  • Thrifty Thursday floral arrangement
    Blog,  Home Decor,  Money Saving Tips,  Spring

    Thrifty Thursday

    This is the first of what I hope will be a regular feature on the blog. Each week I would like to showcase either a new thrifty treasure, or an idea that will save you money. Whenever I thumb through magazines or catalogs I make little mental notes of design trends, table-scapes, wall arrangements etc and then I try to replicate those designer looks at a much lower price. Kinda makes me feel like I’m getting away with something! If you are a brand-name kind of girl with unlimited funds this may not be for you, but personally I love challenging myself to find just the perfect piece at a great savings. Some…

  • Cleaning,  DIY Tutorials

    Homemade Laundry Detergent: A one Year’s Supply

    Due to the mounting costs of remodeling, I am always on the look-out for ways to cut spending on products we use regularly. This spring as I was scrolling through my facebook feed, I came across a post that caught my eye. In the article, the author shared her experiences saving money by making her own laundry detergent at home. Now, I’m no stranger to DIY and making things from scratch. I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to DIY household products, but what intrigued me was that this “recipe” was actually supposed to make enough laundry soap to last an entire year. One less item to have buy at…

  • Christmas,  Gifts,  Recipes

    Homemade Vanilla Tutorial

    How to Make Homemade Vanilla Can you keep a secret? I can…but it’s more fun to just tell someone a secret. Maybe just one person. Well this year, I zipped my lips and didn’t tell a soul about my top secret Christmas project. Now that Christmas is over, it’s no longer top secret and I can spill the beans…vanilla beans, get it?  I love to give homemade gifts and this year I somehow managed to plan ahead early enough that I actually pulled it off! Years ago I read up on making vanilla extract. It seemed pretty straight forward and so I went ahead and ordered a massive amount of…

  • Birthday,  Celebrations,  Crafts,  DIY Tutorials

    How to Make LEGO Minifig Crayons

    When both boys said they wanted a LEGO birthday, I was excited to get started planning everything. There really wasn’t any pre-made LEGO party supplies, so I knew I would be making most of my own party gear. I began searching on-line for ideas for the LEGO party when I saw this cute LEGO minifig shaped ice cube tray made of silicone. It was perfect, but to be honest, I didn’t think the payoff for all the time spent making shaped ice cubes would be all that great! Then I remembered as a kid we used to make crazy crayons by mixing different colors of crayon and melting them into…