Search Results for: blog we are cut out of the holidays

Upcycle Your Holidays

If your home is already crammed to the gills with “stuff,” the prospect of adding even more items during the holiday season can make your skin crawl. One way to alleviate this uncomfortable feeling and save money at the same time is to learn the fine art of upcycling.  Pinterest has made a fortune from the fad, so there’s no reason you can’t benefit as well. Before heading to the mall to drain your wallet on expensive Christmas-themed paraphernalia, gather your kids and take a tour of your home.  Look for items that can transformed into amazing holiday presents and … Continue reading →

Balancing the Holidays: Simplify, Blend and Schedule

I don’t know about you, but December tends to be the busiest month of the year.  There is so much to do, so many preparations to make, gifts to buy and a house to clean. Yet this is also the time of year for being with family.  So how can you balance it all?  I think it comes down to three things:  simplifying, blending and scheduling. Let me explain.  First, simplify.  What are some things you can skip doing?  Are there areas of the home that really don’t need to be cleaned? Could you cut down on the amount of … Continue reading →

Braving the Holiday Travel Season Without Going Bankrupt

Time is ticking if you want to score a decent deal on a place to crash this Thanksgiving. Fortunately, you don’t have to win the lottery in order to pay for a hotel room during the busy holiday weekend. If you prefer to stay in drama-free accommodations rather than bunking at your parents, in-laws or Aunt Suzy’s on Turkey Day consider the following: Holiday Inn: With more than 1,500 locations nationwide, Holiday Inn is hard to beat when it comes to convenience and price. Not only do kids under 19 stay for free, but children under the age of 12 … Continue reading →

Birthday Parties and Holidays

Tonight Logan and I went to one of his friend’s birthday parties at Jungle Jim’s here in Utah. This little boy’s mother and I have been friends for several years and have watched each other go through the many struggles of single parenting. However, tonight I watched as her and her ex put aside all their differences so that they could both be there to celebrate their little one’s birthday. They stood beside each other as they took their son around to each of the different rides and laughed and joked with each other about how cute the kids were … Continue reading →

Keeping Scrapbook Layouts Affordable

Scrapbook fans no longer have the excuse of limited funds to explain boring layouts. These days all you need to create eye-popping page designs that look like a million bucks is a computer and printer. The boom in technology has led to a slew of websites offering free scrapbooking embellishments. If you are working with a strict budget and can’t afford to run out and purchase new scrapbook elements for each new layout, let the Internet be your assistant. Sites, such as ScrapbookScrapbook offer hundreds of free scrapbook embellishments, including clip art. You don’t have to spend a dime to … Continue reading →

Simplify Halloween

And by “simplify” I mean “keep it cheap.” Fortunately, cheap doesn’t have to translate into ugly. Goodness knows my 8-year-old would just “diiiiiiiie!!” if I suggested we scale back on Halloween costumes and decor. However, like many families the world over; we live on a budget. A tight budget, that doesn’t allow us to go bat wild celebrating pagan holidays. Still, I don’t want her missing out on all of the candy-coated fun, so instead of canceling Halloween, I find frugal ways we can participate without going into debt. Here are some of the inexpensive ways we keep the holiday … Continue reading →

Halloween Costumes on the Cheap

Ready to have some fun without the frightful prices that Halloween can bring? Believe it or not, it isn’t too early to thinking of ways to save on those Halloween costumes. With holidays seeming to creep up earlier and earlier these days, you might find that last minute waiting means that you just might pay full price to outfit your gang in Halloween costumes. Now that is scary! Here are some ways to save (hint: you don’t have to be a sewing Goddess, either) Use Themed Clothing This time of year, there are plenty of Halloween themed t-shirts and sweat … Continue reading →

Halloween Freebies from Kraft, Hallmark, Hershey’s, and More!

Halloween is just a few weeks away. There are plenty of Halloween sales, deals, and freebies to be found. Those of you who look forward to celebrating the spookiest of holidays will want to check out some of these deals. Make your Halloween fun, and save money while doing it. Kraft Foods is giving away free JELL-O Halloween Brain Molds. It comes with an 8 page recipe brochure that has different brain mold recipe ideas for you to make this Halloween. To get this freebie, you need to go to the Kraft Foods page that mentions it, and put the … Continue reading →

Toddlers and Holidays

Sometimes, it is interesting to think about how and when children come to understand the meanings of the various holidays that their families celebrate. Of course, much of the understanding (or lack thereof) comes from how “into” each particular holiday a child’s parents are. For example, I am not sure whether Dylan understands a whole lot about Christmas because my husband and I have not been overly focused on teaching him about it. He understands Thanksgiving more, because that is our favorite holiday. St. Patrick’s Day is this weekend, and at not quite two and a half years old, Dylan … Continue reading →

The Buzz about Borders

I am on a border kick right now. Whereas I’ve occasionally added patterned paper borders to select scrapbook pages in the past, lately, I’ve been going out of my way to design single and double page layouts specifically with borders in mind. I had a ton of wide ribbon leftover from the holidays and I have been mixing and matching different pieces to create whimsical borders. Of course, ribbon and scraps of fabric are not the only materials that make for eye-popping borders. I’ve had a lot of success crafting personalized borders with scrapbook stickers. For example, if you are … Continue reading →