Just A Night Owl

Category Archives: My home

Week 33. Coloring Parties, Books, and Makeovers.

Written on May 15, 2012 by just a night owl in 170 School Days. 2011, My home

I love to color. I don’t care if I am 40. Newly sharpened crayons rock. Ever since the kids were little we have had coloring parties.

Stacks of coloring books with big spaces for coloring, those little detailed pictures annoy me. This year on my sweet 12 year old daughter’s birthday, she requested a long overdue coloring party. Our neighbors, who also homeschool, joined us. There were seven kids in the house (ages 2 months through 16). I am not sure why people make such a fuss over homeschool kids being the unsocialized ones.

All of our curriculum for next year has arrived. I love that it is all here and I have four months-ish to look through it, get it ready, and figure out ways to make my kiddies fall in love with 2nd, 7th, and 8th grade.

I have a philosophy that is driven not just by my own personal love for change, but rather actual common sense. If my kids attended school outside of our home, each year would be different. It’s own somewhat stand alone chapter. A different routine, different classroom look and feel, different expectations, and different schedule. I whole heartedly buy into this concept.

…and so the great yearly makeover has begun.

First, if you are new around here, let me catch you up to speed on my ~~psychoticness~~ hard work.

Year one of homeschool brought no clue of what I was doing and a traditional style classroom in our 5th bedroom downstairs. It was a fun place complete with class fish. However, half way through the year, I was irritated beyond belief by my romper room status and a makeover ensued.

Then I got pregnant and we made the decision not to send the kids back to school. I quickly realized that a separate classroom in the back of the house that was just 12×15 would not work for a teacher, three children, a newborn, and an onslaught of baby apparatuses. SO we (meaning I, my poor husband was probably at work and never really knows for certain what the house might look like when he returns) made the decision to move the classroom up into the front of the house that was intended to be a formal dining room and sitting room.

Year two of school commenced with a classroom in the front of the house, that for the life of me I can’t totally remember what it looked like. A combination of continual obsessive rearranging, insane allergies, and the fact that I am forty are my current excuses. I do know that this was one of the walls.

Year three of school, brought us to yet another classroom with the addition of the chicken wire wall and new lockers. That chicken wire wall has made my heart sing all year long. But as all good things do, it too must come to an end. This past year we also added a first grade closet and I had a fun little office. It has worked well.

The fact of the matter is that we do change up a lot of stuff each year and I love a new start and what it does for all of us. This year we are getting rid of the workboxes for my older two. They are both in middle school now and are going to move to these planners instead. WHICH I would like to point out that the white colored one that my daughter will be using has a glow in the dark spiral binding. I think that is important. We also decided to bring the computer into the classroom. It used to be at the built in desk upstairs, but as the kids get older and do more on the computer, we decided that the computer needs to be right out in the open. . I also have found as the kids have gotten physically bigger the layout needs to work just a bit different. I need to separate the areas where they are up and around (like the lockers) from the areas where study is going on. Finally, I do have a thirteen year old son now and while I wish to permanently reside in Neverland, I am trying to grow up our learning rooms a bit.

First stop has been the paint. It literally broke my heart to paint over my Ralph Lauren Shale Blue. However it has been six years and it needed a paint job. I went with a cream color. I can honestly say that I have never chosen a white or off white paint in my life. I’m trying something new.

I have a thing for maps. I love them. I really want one of those vintage pull down types like I imagine Laura Ingalls used. That would be glorious. However, my split decorating personality has also fallen in love with the four foot by six foot canvas map at Ikea. It is fabulous and will find the perfect home on that big giant wall. I have been eyein’ that thing for three years now, at least.

We have a lot of commotion and happy chaos in our house and I really need the learning rooms to be more mellow. Calm, cool, and collected, so that when you throw our crazy into it, it is the perfect blend of fabulous.

I’ve got plans…in progress….as usual and I am considering bringing back the class fish.

Thank goodness for Craig’s List. I would be quite lost without it.

Just three more weeks until summer.

Can I get an AMEN? !!!!!

and since I have overloaded you with links tonight, I thought I would add a couple more.

There is nothing like a good holiday to send blog land into a sea of fantastically sentimental posts adorned with gratitude, delicious eats, and some of biggest tug at your heartstring kid pictures around.

So without further adieu, My favorite Mother’s Day Posts…

Enjoying the Small Things Kelle Hamptons writing leaves me LoL’ing all the time.

Living the Yeh Life My friend Cara rocks the camera like no other and being a camera phob, I love her for it.

Life According to the Christians Perspective.

Blissful Blooms I am now craving donuts, thanks Amy xo.

Big Spender

Written on February 26, 2012 by just a night owl in All Things Thrifty, My home, My kids

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I spent $8.23 this weekend.

Friday morning I got up around ten {thank you hubs} and decided to go for a walk. All additional 5 family members and the dog joined me. I passed a garage sale in the neighborhood and found some unbelievable cuteness. {Thankfully my 13 year old was along with his cash in pocket because I left the house with nothing but my phone and some water.}

Janie and Jack shorts {on average about $30}, Children’s Place Jacket, and Sprockets Jacket. I paid $1.50 for the three items which all look brand new.

Janie and Jack overalls with a crab on them? Yes please {average about $45}. Pediped shoes {average about $30}. I paid $.50 and splurged on the shoes at $3.00. Both of these items were definitely unworn.

So, in case you lost track thats about $150 worth of cuteness for just $5.

I’m Giddy.

Ever since Christmas, I have had a wall that has been begging for attention. You see at Christmas, most of the house decor gets traded out for the Christmas decor and nothing ever returns to its prior place. I found a plant and a couple of pictures in the garage in my pile of I can’t get rid of you yet items. Then I swiped three plates out of the pantry and hung them on the wall.

There might be a time when one has too much chicken wire in their home and I am dangerously close. However, there was a roll of extra after my classroom wall of chicken wire, so I stapled a couple of strips on the wall. I took some clothes pins and covered them with scrapbook paper and hung up some pictures.

Next, I hit Lowes where I bought a couple of fence boards for $3.23. The nice young man cut them to size and I brought them home to stain. I now have a huge area to hang whatever fun things I want. Since this space is over my littlest guy’s toy land, family pictures definitely fit the bill. I need to get a couple of other fun things to hang in the mix. Maybe this or this.

A little robbing Peter to pay Paul can get you places.

All in all, I am out $8.23 and I am one happy girl.

The Chalkboard

Written on January 19, 2012 by just a night owl in My home

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A Miniature World.

Written on January 9, 2012 by just a night owl in Life, Memories, My home, My kids

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Enter a world where the mom, baby, and housekeeper, sit down to a mid day lunch of potatoes, candied apples, Fritos, cheese, chocolate cake, and coke. I’m so totally in. Sounds dreamy.

Look closer…doesn’t it all look yummy?

I took an extra week off of school at the holidays this year, so I could have a week to deal with post Christmas mess and repair. It was great decision. I was able to spend 2 whole days cleaning out our garage while sorting and repacking Christmas. I started to dig through some of the boxes of things from my childhood.

For Christmas, the year I turned 11, I received a big Victorian dollhouse kit. You know the cool wooden kind? My dad built it for me. I remember he put it on a board covered with fake grass that could wheel around my room. The house was totally tricked out with 80′s wallpaper and real working lights. Over the years it became completely furnished and I remember spending hours rearranging, decorating, and creating my little dream home. I loved it. Unfortunately, today I can’t find a single picture of the completed house.

When we were first married, we moved a lot and circumstances did not allow for me to keep the huge and fragile house very easily. At the time, it was better off to sell. However, I did keep most of the furniture and accessories.

A few days ago the girls and I unwrapped each miniature piece. There were plenty of ooh’s and aah’s and despite the fact that I am 40, I am still fairly smitten with it. It’s so dang cute. Everything is so dang teeny tiny.

After the appropriate fuss was made over each piece I left the room and let the girls set up the house. It was a makeshift house with no walls that covered our entire school table. It was complete with a working toaster, ping pong table, perfume bottles, fruit bowl, and gum ball machine. All the essentials.

My eleven year old was questioning why they don’t make toys like this anymore. I told her I thought that pre teens these days were more interested in electronics. She declared this is way cooler than an iPod. I agree. Whole heartedly.

The mini house still remains on our table. We schooled around it today. I am not sure what to do with it all and I can’t stand to pack it up just yet. I am so glad I kept it.

It would rock if I had a guest room and could display it in a fancy Victorian house just for kicks. In a busy homeschooling household of six, that hardly seems possible or practical.

While my wheels spin on where to put all of my treasures, my girls will continue to create magical scenes out of these fragile and outdated spectacular furnishings. I love watching their imaginations. I love that they GET how very fragile these pieces are and they treat them like gold. My little crazy balls of energy become perfect little dainty ladies trying to manipulate potatoes that are the size of a grain of rice.

The whole thing just makes me smile.

Happy Monday.

The Teacher’s Office.

Written on August 28, 2011 by just a night owl in 170 School Days. 2011, My home

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My last BIG project of the summer was to redo my office.

My list of must haves included~ zero primary colors. organization. comfy~ness. pretty~ness.

This was the before {shame, shame, I know, a complete dumping ground}

The first step was to

EMPTY THE ROOM and SELL THE EXTRA FURNITURE…

Everything was cleaned and put back one piece at a time.

Some things that work well now are…

I grabbed my wrought iron easel thingy from the kitchen, for my lesson plan books and clipboard. Great way to hold the things I use daily and it doesn’t take up a ton of desk space like those bulky office boxes.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul is a daily occurrence around here.

My space isn’t super huge so most of my decorations need to double duty as a holder of some sort.

For example, I find ribbon boxes impractical because who only has 5 kinds of ribbon? I hot glued 6 inch strips of ribbon inside the ribbon holes and took out the pole. This way it looks cute and I store ALL my ribbon in the nice big box inside.

I brought in an extra chair that can be dragged up to my desk for all my parent teacher conferences and/or confused students.

I have my cute inboxes {thanks to Ikea} above my globe on the other side of the room.

I have a little bit of “this makes me laugh”

and “isn’t this so true”

My favorite part of the room redo is my updated desk. We have a stainless steel table from the bargain spot at Ikea. It works great as a desk except I do have a couple things that I want to hide underneath. So I bought 3 tension rods and 6 yards of burlap and within an hour I have my new and improved happy place.

The Ikea Expedit is about the best piece of furniture on the planet. It holds a ridiculous amount of stuff.

Now the room is complete {and clean}. I can breathe, teach, scrapbook, craft, and blog…all the live long day.

Bring in the students… my office and I are ready.

I am partying with

I Heart Nap Time!

and

Greyson Land.

Written on May 25, 2011 by just a night owl in My home

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I have had taking pictures of Greyson’s nursery on my mental to do list since October. It is a fabulous combined effort of spending next to nothing, by using what I had and purchasing things at 75% off or more. I love how it turned out. It’s comfy cozy and doesn’t make me choke every time I walk in, knowing that I overspent. I have had the fun of creating four nurseries for my kiddos and this was my last. Tear. Since his birth it has been a flurry of gifts, piles of outgrown clothes, and attachments that are no longer in use from various baby products. Thus creating the “I will clean and photograph tomorrow” thoughts. Today as I was dusting in there I thought, man this got dusty fast. Until I realized he just turned 6 months old and I have never dusted the room at all. Shame.

So I scooped up the piles, put them in the hallway and shot away. I take awful pictures of inanimate objects. It is really hard to photograph rooms. SO, I am going to bail on the perfectionism and use these anyway, for fear I might not get new ones taken before he goes away for college.

Upon the news of the fourth sibling joining our family, Emma lost her private living quarters to bunk with her big sister. Her room received a heavy dose of primer and we mourned the loss of paris poodle land for a day or two. As we began to add our treasures for our coming baby boy, her tears faded. It was fun and frustrating to put this room together over the course of probably five months. Frustrating only because I am queen of instant gratification land. It went from this….

to this…

Over the crib art was created by my sister and I using 1×4′s. It cost under $10.

Burlap was purchased for $1.35 a yard. With just 6 yards needed, I added it to drapery hardware that I already had and came up with very inexpensive window treatments.

We have used the same dresser and crib for all four children. My parents purchased them for us at the birth of our first son in 1998.

We snazzed up the dresser due to the missing knob on the top with some Pottery Barn drawer pulls that were on an 80% clearance. No idea why and I didn’t ask. Perhaps red number drawer pulls are out of style.

The shelves were filled with baby shower gifts, old toys from when I was a child, and the fabulous candle that my sister made for me. These candles are ah~mazing. If you don’t own one, fix that. Buy one or one hundred. You won’t be sorry. Oh and by the way, they smell like vanilla and are on a 4 hour timer, so they automatically light and blow themselves out. Flamless little wonders, I tell ya.

Oh and just so you know, don’t think I am strange, everybody stores their dusting stuff on the changing table, it’s totally the new thing.

Now off to clean the hallway up as it is suddenly a big, fat, mess!

I linked up at

Meet My Pantry.

Written on May 6, 2011 by just a night owl in My home

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Every couple months, I end up spending a couple hours trying to make this mess somewhat presentable. This little space in our house gets used A LOT. It is incredibly difficult to keep clean, much less, to look nice. It is next to horrifying when I entertain and have to get something out of here. It is our closet of shame.

One day I was looking around blog land and found THIS. My heart skipped a beat. I am not kidding. I think if my pantry looked like that you might find me standing there, staring at it, all the live long day. Maybe even petting those pretty little crates on her bottom shelf. Geez, this chica did a great job. Bravo!

Within two hours, operation obliterate closet of shame had begun. There wasn’t any room in this month’s budget to drop cash on buying baskets and pretty canisters and such. So, I set out to do this project for free. I ended up spending only $4.39. Shame, I know. You’ll see what this well spent money went for, in a minute.

I am clearly not a photographer and let me tell you photographing a pantry with no light is super hard. She is MUCH prettier in person, but here is my finished project…aaahhhh, much better.

The warm fuzzy feelings I get when I look in this pantry now, definitely do not translate through my photography skills. However, I was able to make a HUGE change by thinking lets DECORATE the pantry. The true test will be what it looks like in 2 months!

First I emptied out the entire pantry, painted Shale Blue (Ralph Lauren) on the back walls (which was already in my garage). I ripped off and threw out all of the shelf liner and then followed up with a coat of white semi gloss (again already in the garage). That alone would have been a big difference.

Next, I switched around all the contents of my kitchen which provided me with two benefits. First, I hid all of the ugliest things I have behind cupboard doors and second I now get to watch my family go nuts while they search for things in the original location only to remember that they have been moved. I scoured my home for extra containers that were browns and silvers to hold all of the goodies in the pantry and keep things as pretty as possible. Let’s go on a little tour…

The top shelf holds all of my cake decorating supplies, a plant that was in my garage sale pile, and a decorative bowl and wrought iron stand that I didn’t want to part with, but were currently homeless. I also dumped all of our cookie cutters from the box they were in, and put them in the silver pail. The box will never be thrown away and it is now a decoration on the shelf because my dad first gave it to my mom full of Sees Easter Candy, years and years ago when they were first married. She saved it all these years as a home to our cookie cutters and I will continue to save it as well. It’s huge by the way. So interesting how much candy must have been in that box!

Next I have all my sugars and oatmeal together. Not in the budget to upgrade to fancy schmancy canisters, but I gave all of their containers a good scrubbing and they will do just fine! Below is our everyday dishes and our kid friendly every day dishes. This includes the glasses which now live on this fabulous silver tray (purchased Target, after Christmas clearance for 90% off at 2.49.) The tray now has a place to be stored, as it doesn’t get used very often and it keeps the glasses all together. Below that is our bread box and another basket with napkins and our peanut butter and honey.

Over to the other side of the pantry and you will now see the well spent $4. One piece of 2×4 was cut into 6, 16 inch pieces and given a white coat of paint. Now it has become a set of bleachers for my cans, so that I can see them all at a glance. Much better than the shelf risers at the store that cost WAY too much money for this cheapie to buy.

O.K. so by now you are asking why so many cranberries? After Christmas Clearance at CVS. They were like .29 cents a can or something and we eat Cranberry Chicken regularly, so we have had quite a few. This is the remainder of the stash.

The three baskets at the top hold mixes, baking supplies, and toppings. I have all my oils and sprays below that. Next there are my spices and another favorite tray that now holds all my baby food and cereal. The next shelf down has my three cereal containers. We buy primarily from Costco, so I typically never have more than three types of cereal.

We have 2 more shelves to go. Hang in. First a basket for the Magic Bullet. Next a basket for baby bottles and bottle pieces. Then a basket for prepackaged type snacks. Finally, a basket for crackers, goldfish etc. The bottom row has a basket for extras (again we buy Costco), a sliver bucket for potatoes , and our griddle hidden behind our stool.

Finally, is my favorite part. I did this chalkboard last week in our classroom and I had the scrap piece of the wood that I had bought, patiently waiting in the garage to be used for something. Just my luck, it was the perfect size for the inside of the pantry door. I had the leftover chalkboard paint and I used command strips to hold it up and now I have a place for my shopping list! I take a picture with my iphone when I go to the store, so there is no need to recopy the items I need to buy. The kids love to make the list for me now!

If you are still with me you need a medal! That was long! The moral of the story is group like items together by basket. You may be thinkin’ that I have lost my mind and it will never stay this way, but my thought is this won’t take any longer to get things out now because the amount of hours I spent searching for things before was mind boggling. Now at least I will know where the items all are!

You may also be thinking label, lady, label. I agree. I have 9 2×3 inch chalkboards laying around my house somewhere that I plan on using to label these baskets! Once I find them that is. Isn’t it ironic that they are currently missing.

Finally, I tried to minimize our kitchen of useless decorations. Decorations all need to have purpose, so that I could maximize space. For example, our spoons and spatulas found a new home on the counter in an old vintage tin. Another tray found a home to hold them, paper towels, and this totally useless but completely adorable cow. A little imagination and everything found a new home.

All’s well that ends well.

Thanks to the House of Smiths for the gentle nudge to rid our house of our closet of shame.

I don’t know you, but I love you!

Linking up with Tater Tots and Jello and Under the Table and Dreaming.

Classroom Makeover.

Written on April 30, 2011 by just a night owl in 170 School Days. 2010, My home

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Last week our classroom received a re-do. It was originally sparked by the arrival of a set of fantastic lockers. My sister received a new set and so she passed these on to me. My oldest daughter will be entering middle school-home school next year and she had anxiously been awaiting the day when she could use lockers at her previous school. We have been stalking Craig’s for a year now and I will admit that there were prayers sent up on behalf of acquiring lockers for this new milestone in her life. Now WE”VE GOT ‘EM and we are thankful!

The original lockers were tan and we put on green spray paint. It still needs another coat to even it out, but the kids were so anxious to start using them, I will do the second coat and sealer later! I am going to add numbers or their initials or something at some point too.

Chicken wire was stapled to the entire wall to hold whatever we feel like clipping up there! Love blog land and all the inspiration.

The map was purchased to help us with our Expedition Earth Curriculum that we are doing next year {and really shouldn’t there be a map in every classroom in the world?} I bought some wood at Lowes to mount it on, so I could put it on the chicken wire wall. However, the lovely 18 year old who cut the wood for me, made a slight error in size. I didn’t have the heart or patience to drag 4 kids back to Lowes, so I made due. The original plan was to have a 2 inch border of wood showing on all sides of the map. With the error, I scooted the map all the way to the top and left a 4 inch border on the bottom. I grabbed some hooks from the junk drawer and screwed them on to hold the silver buckets and hopefully make it look intentional. The buckets were Ikea. I used a nail and hammer to make a hole and used some old twine to tie them up.

The fabulously functional and questionably pretty workboxes that are sitting under the map, have saved my sanity for a long time now. Sometimes function trumps pretty. Not often, but there are rare occasions.

I have been wanting a chalkboard for awhile now. When I saw THIS FAB ONE it was love at first sight {which was soon followed by a trip to Lowes}. I bought some fence boards {SO CHEAP} and had them trim that pointy part on the top off for me. Another sheet of wood cut to size, multiple layers of chalkboard paint, and some dark brown stain and I now have a chalkboard for about $25.

I am now stalking Craigs for some old vintage school chairs, but for now I collected these four from around the house and they will make do.

This fab chandelier ultimately came from Urban Outfitters, but it had been living in my closet upstairs. It was lonely up there. It’s a little small for the space, but its so sparkly and pretty I ALMOST don’t notice that.

I purchased this table last summer off of Craig’s for a steal, but the blonde w00d had been annoying me for a year and so I finally refinished it a fun silver, with ivory legs.

I hope to add a rug and those elusive chairs over the summer. However, what is fairly common in my home is that FOR NOW this room is “done”. Almost summer time!

Linking up with Tater Tots and Jello , Funky Junk, Under the Table and Dreaming, and Lolly Jane and Chic on a Shoestring, and hiphomeschoolmoms.com.

Time To Save.

Written on March 4, 2011 by just a night owl in Life, My home

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We all know the economy is bad. Everyone seems to be in “save money mode” these days. Here are some things we have been working on over here! We are currently just about 100% debt free and are saving, saving, saving…

1. WE’RE THROUGH. I broke up with the dry cleaners. I dusted off the iron.

2. MIA. I removed the paper towel holder from the kitchen. I realized with 6 of us in the house and no regard for how many paper towels we were using, I was spending about $10 a month on paper towels. That is ridiculous. No paper towel holder? No paper towels. Magically the kids use an actual kitchen towel to dry their hands.

3. GENERIC. I grew up in a land of name brands, but I tell you Market Pantry and Kirkland, although not as pretty labeled, taste just as good as my previous go to brands. They are incredibly cheaper too.

4. STAY HOME. You know why? We have puzzles, and toys, and balls, and bikes, and a park across the street, and games, and crafts, and imaginations, and….no room in the budget for the climbing gas prices.

5. CUT BACK. My 12 year just had his birthday party. We had 7 of his friends over. Video games with a snack bar that consisted of bagel bites (already in freezer), pop corn (already in cupboard), trail mix of gold fish, pretzels, and m&m’s (which were 2.49). Dessert was homemade cake and root beer floats ($10 for all). Favors were mini nerf footballs found for .39 cents a piece on an after Christmas sale. Following video games the boys had nerf wars in the drizzly weather! Invites were done by email and my entire party cost was under $20.

This was hard for me to do a party this scaled back because I love me a good ‘ol party…but not one child said, “I would have had more fun with those elaborate and expensive coordinated party plates!”

6. LIGHTS OUT! We told our kids if we can keep the bill below a certain amount at the end of the month we will take them to ice cream. We are planning on going to Rite Aid for $1 cones. These kids are ON IT! They turn off lights behind me now. I can’t wait to see our new and improved bill.

7. COMBINE IT! I have always planned meals a week at a time. I was able to save quite a bit by planning my meals 15 days at a time and doing one big shopping for that length of time. I plan breakfast, lunch, and dinner and only purchase for what I have planned. We don’t have a bunch of extra food laying around.

8. CLEAN IT OUT! I am systematically working my way through our home and downsizing by 10% at least. In addition, cleaning out cupboards and piles. I am using ebay, craigslist, once upon a child, or donating items.

9. RE USE! When accomplishing #8 I found 3 pairs of jeans from last years winter with holes in the knees. They still fit my 10 year old. I cut them off, folded up the cuffs, and will sew a little bit of lace around the inside of the now frayed cuff. Cutie shorts! No new summer short purchases needed.

10. CASH! We use the Dave Ramsey cash only mind set. We have our little cash envelopes which are categorized and spiral bound. There is something that has been lost in the value of the dollar when you can make one swipe of plastic and spend $5.00 or $500 with that said swipe. I personally have regained that value by counting out our hard earned money each and every time I spend any of it. I have had at least a dozen comments in the last year since we have been living this way from cashiers at various stores. It’s as if cash is as uncommon as 8 track tapes. It cracks me up.

11. SHARE! A family of 6 going out to eat can be incredibly expensive. We don’t do it much, but we really like to. So, this has been our new way of functioning over the last few months. For example, this is our Chevy’s plan. First, we all drink water. Second, we order Nachos Grandes. It is a platter of chips, cheese, chicken, and other toppings piled high enough to feed a small country. All in my family that eat table food share this 9.99 appetizer. We take advantage of the free flour tortillas and butter and are out the door for under $15. Another thing we do sometimes is go to Bjs. They have kids sundaes for .95 cents and mini pazookies for 1.99. We can all get a dessert and drink water for $7. We still get the restaurant vibe which is super fun and it’s cheaper than a trip to Baskin Robbins. We do try and make these trips at off peak hours to minimize the irritation of the servers who are counting on their tips!

12. STYLE ADJUSTMENT! My family loves hair color. My husband and I have dropped down to just one color a piece. (It’s o.k. that he colors his hair, he’s a musician). My girls have gone with the straight across bang and long straight hair because I invested in an $11 pair of scissors from Target and tried out my hair cutting skills. So far, so good. My 12 year old is cutting his Justin Bieber locks off tomorrow to help the length of time he can go between hair cuts as well.

I know there are countless ways to stretch the dollar. Countless coupon sites and deal sites. We have included our kids and are trying to make it “fun”. What do you guys have goin’ on? Please SHARE SHARE SHARE. I’d love to hear other ideas.

Changing Table.

Written on January 6, 2011 by just a night owl in All Things Thrifty, My home

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We have a two story home and I am almost 40.

I think it goes without saying that I need a changing table both upstairs and down.

Craigs list provides multiple listings for old beat up changing tables for just a few dollars.

I purchased this white one, just a few miles from my house, that had been lovingly adorned with crayon drawings and little flowers.

I set out to create something far more agreeable for the corner of my husbands downstairs office.

I started out using the extra dining room paint (which is the most beautiful color Ralph Lauren ever created SHALE BLUE).

I picked up some fun fabric for just $3 and sewed a pillowcase type cover for the new pad that I bought for $17 at Babies r us.

The rest of the stuff I had on hand. I used Modge Podge to attach some scrapbook paper to the bottom to shelves and robbed other rooms for multiple baskets.

My kids actually asked why I didn’t just “buy one in the store, already done” (do they not know me at all?)….and my answer? that simply just isn’t as much fun.

I am linking up with