Directions:

• Unwrap your peppermint lifesavers and set aside.
• Precut your ribbon and set aside. (You can use your craft store coupons to save money on ribbon.)  The ribbon should be about four inches long. 
• Melt the chocolate.  Put a little dab of melted chocolate in the center of some of the peppermints.  You should do this on the back side of the peppermint so that the words Life Savers does not show up on top of the pacifier. 
• Place a mini jelly bean on top of melted chocolate in center.  Set down on flat service to dry and harden. 
• While the pacifier tops are drying, attach the ribbon to the other peppermints (pacifier handles).
• Using melted chocolate, attach pacifier bottoms to pacifier tops.  Let them dry/harden.

These can be arranged on a table as a decoration, set out as refreshments, or placed into favor boxes for your guests.

image (c) Karen Weideman

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4.  Repurpose what you have.  Paint that old lamp or picture frame. Change your night stand into a bookshelf.  Recover your old pillows with fabric. Use a sheet for window treatments. 

5.  Get an outside opinion.  It helps to ask someone else’s opinion for ways to help your decorating space.  Many times others will see things you didn’t see and have ideas you had never thought about.  They may suggest moving a piece of furniture or changing a wall hanging.  Those small inexpensive tips can make a big impact.

6.  Borrow furniture.  When I first got married, I didn’t have any living room furniture.  I ended up borrowing some things from my parent’s house.  All you have to do is get the word out to friends and family that you need some items for your home.  Some people have things in their basement that are just sitting around collecting dust.  Some will let you borrow things and others will just let you have the stuff. 

7.  Be patient.  You can’t expect your home to look perfect right away.  It takes moving things around, searching for deals, and tweaking things a bit.  It will all come together eventually.

What tips do you have for decorating on the cheap?

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1.  Shop yard sales and thrift stores.  I’ve been doing this for years.  Just a few months ago I was at a yard sale and found a really nice living room couch and oversized chair.  The person I bought it from had only used it for a year.  She paid $1200 for it and I got it for only $120.  Sometimes you can find some really unique items by shopping this way.

2.  Check Craigslist.  You just never know what you’ll find on Craiglist.  We’re getting ready to move into our house and the home inspector found some issues with the bathtub.  My husband found a brand new tub with jets on Craiglist for 1/5 the price.  It was one a contractor didn’t use.

3.  Think paint.  Paint is one of the least expensive ways to add warmth and color to your home.  It really is amazing how $30 in paint can transform a room.  I am not very fond of white walls and in our last house, all the walls were white.  Once we painted the living room a taupe color, the whole look of the room changed and I could hardly wait to paint the rest of the house. 

Stay tuned for more ideas and tips on inexpensive decorating.  In the meantime, we’d love to hear the ways that you save.

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Here is a gift basket that I recently helped my mom make for a birthday present. Included in this gift basket is a mug with matching plate, two boxes of tea, a devotional book, $10 Target gift card, and some peppermints.

Even making this gift basket yourself, you could easily spend $50 or more on these items. Here are some tips on spending less:

1)  Look for used baskets that are in good condition.  You can find these at yard sales and thrift stores. 

2)  Shop for clearanced items.  Believe it or not, the coffee mug and plate were purchased at Marshall’s for only a few dollars.

3)  Use coupons to purchase food items.  You can combine a sale with a coupon to get boxes of tea or other items very inexpensively.

4)  Check out the selection at your local close-out or dollar store.  Sometimes theses stores get in close-out items that you can get at a fraction of the normal cost. 

5)  Use your prescription promotion coupons to receive gift cards which can be used in the gift basket or to purchase items to include the basket.  The card shown here was free because of a prescription promotion.

6)  Purchase clearanced ribbon or reuse ribbon from gifts you have received.  The ribbon shown here was purchased for about 75% off and only a small portion of the roll was used for this gift.

7)  Shred your own filler paper or purchase it at a dollar store.  You can shred colorful paper to go inside the bottom of your basket or you can purchase some for $1.  You will only need about half of the bag.

8)  Purchase the gift bag at the dollar store.  The dollar store where I shopped had two gift bags in a package for $1 which was half the price of the discount store.

9)  Use craft store coupons.  Your gift recipient may enjoy craft items, but you can purchase other items at craft stores.  Notepads, picture frames, flowers, and decorations are just a few examples.

10)  Add some baked goodies.  Just about everyone enjoys homemade treats.  Add some to a basket for an inexpensive personal touch.

What ways do you save money on gifts?

images (c) Karen Weideman

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What could be better than saving money, reducing landfill waste and at the same time making your home safer for you family?  Making your own simple cleaning products will accomplish all three of these and give you a sense of self sufficiency that is very powerful.  Who knows, it may start you down the same path that I took ten years ago to simplify my life by teaching myself to do things that I had previously relied on others to do for me. 

Maybe you have started on this journey already but haven’t had the confidence till now to defy the huge marketing machine that bombards us every day declaring that only their chemical laden products can make our house safely clean.  Take heart, with a few simple and safe ingredients you can make products to clean most of your home and make it much healthier.  And despite what the huge cleaning industry bosses say, you don’t need ten products to clean you home.  The following two creations will clean almost every surface that gets dirty.  Have fun!
The long list of complicated ingredients and supplies that will cost you lots of cash (not!):

Clean spray bottle (can be recycled but rinse well before use)
Glass or plastic wide mouthed jar (I use a pint canning jar)
Baking soda
Liquid castile soap (Dr. Bronner’s is good)
Rosemary, Peppermint or Lavender essential oil (can be mail ordered or found at health food stores)

Disinfectant Cleaning Spray
Fill a one quart spray bottle to within two inches of the top with warm tap water.  Add 2 tablespoons of liquid castile soap.  Add 1-2 teaspoons of your essential oil (EO) of choice.  All three of these have disinfectant properties so it is a matter of personal preference.  Adjust the amount of EO to lighten or strengthen the scent.  Shake to mix and shake before each use.  Label the bottle.

This cleaner will cost you about $.50 to make and can be used in so many ways.  Here are the things that I use it for.  Sinks, toilet (both inside and out), wood floors, tile floors, carpet stains, ceramic stove top (for non baked on stains) counters, bathtub and countertops, walls and anything else that gets dirty.  You can spray this directly on dirty little hands too. Just rinse with water to avoid the soap getting into the eyes.  This cleaner is completely natural and non toxic and cleans amazingly well.  Just spray it on, let it sit for a couple of minutes will you receive an aroma therapy session from the EO and then wash off.

Scrubbing Powder
Pour two cups of baking soda into a clean bowl.  Add about 4 tablespoons of liquid castile soap and 1-2 teaspoons

 of EO of choice.  Make sure you use pure castile soap and not liquid dish soap as the dish soap creates a bad chemical reaction with the baking soda.  Mix thoroughly and store in a plastic or glass wide mouth jar.  Label the jar. This will cost you about $.50.

I use this on stubborn sink stains, bathtub rings, and my ceramic stove top.  It also works great to scrub out pots and pans.  If you leave out the liquid soap, you can use it as a great refrigerator, cat box or garbage can deodorizer.

Mirror Cleaner
I know I said we’d talk about two cleaners, but I just had to throw this one in for the pure shock value.

Fill a quart spray bottle with water.  That’s it.  Plain water.  Spray it on and use a clean rag to wipe the mirror.  Switch to another clean, dry rag and wipe till it’s dry.  Amazing huh?  Who needs that stuff that’s dyed blue?  Some folks add a little vinegar but I haven’t found it to be any better.  Make sure you label the bottle as most liquids look alike.

Simple isn’t it?  And talk about saving money.  If you replace just these three cleaners with the expensive ones you are using now, you could save hundreds of dollars every year.  And think of the health benefits to you and your family and all of the bottles that won’t go from you house to the landfill every year.  Please give these recipes a try and you’ll be well on your way to frugal and healthy self sufficiency. 

Herbal Blessings, Theresa Lim

Theresa is an herb farmer and beekeeper in North Carolina.  I am very fond of her natural and therapeutic products.  You can find them at Honey Thyme Herb Farm.

image via Honey Thyme Herb Farm

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1)  Bowling - You don’t have to be a good bowler to go bowling.  Being silly and laughing at yourself are part of the fun.

2)  Parks -  It’s ok to swing on the swings and slide when there’s no kids around.  Plus, it’s dark and you don’t have to worry about looking foolish.

3)  Natural attractions - Just a few weeks ago our family visited my parents.  My husband and I always know we’ll get a date night there.  We went out to eat and then we drove to the water front.  We walked around the pier and then went to the park.  Yes, we climbed on the jungle gym since no one could see us. 

4)  Ice cream – Stopping for ice cream is usually inexpensive.  You can get your ice cream and go to the park to sit and talk.  Or just get your ice cream and sit inside the freezing cold building and talk for a while.

5)  Coffee – Provided you don’t go to “FourBucks”, it won’t cost too much.  Even if you do go to expensive coffee shops, the two of you can probably spend less than $10.  I just have to say . . . you can do some good people watching at coffee shops. Right Kelly? 

6)  Baseball – Going out for a night of baseball can be inexpensive.  Some areas have local teams.  You can usually get seats for less than $10. 

7)  Discount theater – If you’re lucky, your area has a theater for movies that have been out a little longer.  Sometimes you can get tickets for $2-3.  I like going to these because it’s less crowded and going to see a movie as soon as it’s released isn’t a big deal to me.

8)  School musicals – You can find some pretty good talent at school musicals for little cost.

9)  Free attractions – Pretty much every area has free attractions.  It could be a festival in the square, free museum day, a local farm.  The internet is great for finding free entertainment.  Google your city and free attractions.  If you still can’t find anything, then give your chamber of commerce a call. 

10)  Stay at home – Put the kids to bed and make the effort to have a special night together.  Sit on the patio and drink coffee, have dinner on a blanket in the backyard, watch the stars, eat cake, or watch a dvd.  Get creative. 

I know you have some ideas for inexpensive dates.  Please share them with us. 

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