A Visit From the Leprechauns

This is a really fun idea that one of my daughters did for her children on  St. Patrick's Day. It has been nearly a year since my grandchildren were visited by the Leprechauns in their home but they vividly remember every detail. They look forward to St. Patrick's Day and they are wondering anxiously what kind of mischief the silly Leprechauns will create this year. This is a really fun childhood memory to create!

(CLICK ON THE TITLE OF THIS POST to see how to create a really fun and memorable visit from the Leprechauns)

St. Patricks Day Tic-Tac-Toe

This tic tac toe game was created for a group game but it can also be used for just two players to play the traditional way. For a group game the blocks were numbered. Each numbered block had a matching question that was folded up and placed in a jar. Teams would draw the question and earn the matching square with a correct answer.

The children loved this BIG holiday version of tic-tac-toe. It is a very easy and inexpensive project to make.

You begin with an inexpensive foam poster board (from the dollar store). To create the tic-tac-toe board cut four strips from a sheet of 12"x12" holiday or special occasion scrapbook paper making them
1 1/2"x12".  Attach the strips to create the game board using a glue stick. Use the remaining 6"x12" piece of  scrapbook paper to create a border at the top for the game name. The game name and shamrocks were designed and printed out on a home computer using free online clipart. If you are crafty you can create your own fun design using colored markers.

Shiny shamrock coins in gold and green were used for the  playing pieces by placing a bit of tape on the backs of the coins. Paper shamrocks cut from two colors of construction paper is another idea that could be used.

This game idea can be used for any holiday or occasion. You can even make your poster board do double duty. How about, one side for St. Patricks Day and the other for Easter. A trip to a local scrapbook store would be an endless source of inspiration.

By tweaking the questions and the scrapbook paper the options are endless. Just thinking about it .... my mind is bursting with ideas. How about making one for Valentine's Day, a family Christmas party, a classroom Halloween party, a birthday party, a baby shower, a bridal shower, 4th of July, or even ones for the seasons!

Please share your ideas too. If you create one please send me a pic!

Buddy Burners

It is so much fun seeing the next generation being introduced to the things that my own children loved to do as kids.

Making buddy burners was a regular activity for my kids. They cooked their own lunches many, many times on their do it yourself buddy burners. Hot dogs, soup, grilled cheese, eggs. Even without the best results the food was gobbled up because they had cooked it themselves!

Since fire and hot wax are involved adult supervision is highly recommended.


How to Make a Buddy Burner:

You will need: short sided cans such as tuna cans, cardboard, candles, lighter or matches, and a gallon can.

1. Cut strips of cardboard to match the depth of the can.
2.  Fill the can tightly with the strips of cardboard.
3. Light a candle and hold it above the can. Allow the wax to fill all of the cracks in the cardboard.
4. Light the buddy burner with a match or a lighter.
5. You can roast over the open flame. Hot dogs, marshmallows, or bits of biscuit dough twisted on a stick are a few ideas.
6. To create a stove top, vent a gallon can and place it over the top of the burner.

Tips: Save the gallon, it can be used over and over. Sawdust can be used instead of cardboard. Save those tuna cans!

My Family

 My middle daughter with her husband and children. These three sisters are my only granddaughters. Little brother and daddy are a bit outnumbered but you better believe they don't mind it a bit!

Old Habits...Not Always Bad Ones

When I was raising my family I was lucky enough to be a stay at home mom. I made it my job to be a very smart consumer and to make the most of my husbands income. I shopped the ads, I knew the ins and outs of coupons, and I always shopped for the best price. I was successful at it and it netted our family many blessings. We were never without a savings, we always had a fully stocked pantry and freezer, we ate well, and we never felt like we went without anything. It was a  habit of frugality that I practiced for many, many years,

In  recent years as our income increased and we have had less mouths to feed I have lost a bit of my frugal habits. I have continued to shop the ads and compare prices for the most part but using coupons became more and more rare.

My recently retired husband has become very helpful and an inspiration in reversing the "kicking of the old habit" of getting the most for our families dollar. We are now clipping, filing, and using coupons together. We are shopping the ads and taking advantage of all of the money saving games and gimmicks that the retailers offer.

I think you will find our recent savings quite inspirational yourself. The Frugal Shopper's Stars were perfectly aligned for us today and this is our money saving tale: Within the last couple of weeks my husband needed two prescriptions refilled. We had them transferred with a simple phone call to a local grocery store who was running a coupon for a $30 store credit for every transferred prescription. These two transactions, which we had to do anyway netted us $60 in grocery store credit. My husband had used prescription promotions from the drug companies to get deep discounts on the prescriptions too. One of them was free and they still gave us the $30 credit!

Today being the first Wednesday of the month the store was offering a 10% discount to senior shoppers. You only have to be 55 to be a senior. We (my husband 55, and I  a non qualifying senior at just 54) searched the ads for great prices on the things we use. We pulled and used the coupons we had for the sale items we wanted to purchase.

Our total purchase was valued at $122.58. After shopping the ads and getting our 10% discount it brought the price down to $52.28. A really great value for the items we had purchased. We used the store credit we had been given from transferring our prescriptions. We are still left with a store credit balance of over $7. The real kicker is that they filled our basket (which had not cost us any money)  and then the cashier totaled up our doubled coupon savings with tax and she gave it to us in cash! Bottom line.....we netted a big cart of groceries and they gave us $6.20 for shopping today!  So, don't be fooled... some old habits are not always bad ones".