Cupcakes Kisses 'n' Crumbs

21 December 2010

Pantry Pretties!

I had this oil cloth left over from THIS project, and I knew I wanted to use on the shelves in the pantry, but it would take a TON to wrap all the shelves (and it's not exactly cheap) Someone in blogland used the SAME oil cloth and had an AWESOME easy finish on it! I wish I remember which one of the 300+ blogs I follow it was..PLEASE let me know if it's yours!

Anyway I need more oil cloth but since the only place I've found it is almost 2 hours away, I am not making a special trip and absolutely not going before Christmas! But I do need a couple things from Ikea and my birthday is just a few days after Christmas so maybe then!

I usually clean our living room and guest bathroom on Tuesdays and do projects like this on Friday's but we are having family over Friday so I swapped the days.. should make the week more fun!

I just used a permanent marker, a roll of wire for the shape

turned it over

And drew the scallops on the edge

Then cut them out!

Ewww, this is what needed covered.. a entire bottle of vanilla leaked at some point and a bunch of boxes stuck to the paint and ripped the paint off when I cleaned it up..

One side done, hoping the edges will fall down a little once it's been there a while, they are kinda stiff

And the other side! If I have to, I think I can hot glue the scallops down!
So 2 shelves done, about 8 more to go, but I am loving it so far and the oil cloth will be SO easy to wipe up!!

15 December 2010

Kids Bathroom Subway Art

I shared the update we did on the kids super plain bathroom HERE a while ago.. it still isn't as finished as I would like it to be.. but I did do something to it this week that is helping!

Jen over at Tatertots and Jello does some cute subway art, I did it a little different but her ideas have sure made our kids rooms a little more fun! This is the one I did for Finnley's room a while ago.

And here are 2 of the bathroom ones, I have 1 more to do but I haven't been in to town to snag another canvas!

The colors look a little off but I picked the colors to match the rest of the stuff in the set like this..

It's got just about every color in it!

They aren't where I want them to be on the wall but I am short and can't reach so gotta wait for hubby!

13 December 2010

Saving Money

Another way you can save money is coupons.. and especially now that there are SOO many bloggers doing all the hard work for you! It doesn't cost anything to follow these bloggers and pick and choose what your family can use as far as the groceries go!

Some places want you to buy coupons or pay to sign up but that kind of defeats the purpose. Although there are a few times I will pay for coupons, on EBAY! But rarely, usually if I can find the "any Beef" or "any chicken" "or any cheese" then I will, and occasionally for soft drinks. The way it works on ebay is you are bidding for a BUNCH of the same coupon, so you need to be prepared to stock up and USE the coupons so you get your money's worth! Here are some of the great couponing sites that have daily and weekly deals, for the major grocers and even some online sources.

Ok those are my most used/favorite 4! But find ones that are specific to your area too! And don't forget facebook!

Most recommend you subscribe to the paper to get some of the coupons, but if you do that and you aren't a paper reader, see if you can subscribe for just Wed. and Sunday, it's usually a discounted rate and then the coupons and weekly advertisements are delivered right to you!

Also Facebook has some GREAT exclusive coupons, become a "fan" of products you use and they notify you right on the news feed of coupons you can print right there!

Target is one of my favorite places to use coupons because they allow you to use their coupons AND manufacturer coupons.. I especially like it when they match up with their $5 gift cards they give out occasionally!

So follow one or all of these blogs and I am sure in the few minutes it will take to read this week's deals you could find some things your family uses and get a great deal on them!

I *try* to put the money we saved from coupons/sale price matching towards paying stuff off.. I hope to be better at it next year and better at couponing, yes it takes time but if it's helping us get where we want to be then it's worth the time! If I remember maybe I will keep track of how much I can save on groceries in 2011!

What else do y'all do to save money?!

08 December 2010

Christmas decorations 2010

Last year I found the stockings I was looking for (even if I didn't know I was looking for them!) It was Finnley's first Christmas and he didn't have a stocking and I couldn't find one to match our old ones so we got the new ones.. which then led me to stop using the more country style Christmas stuff we did have and start to look for some more whimsical stuff to match these stockings!

I took these pictures Sunday.. and I should have taken them Tuesday after I dusted! I can't believe how much dust there is after 5 days, the bad part about black furniture I guess.

I am lovin' the $1 ornaments this year, seems like all the major stores have some! I wanted to put some fake snow on here, but Finnley can reach this and I am sure he would eat it!

I made this little tree from a Goodwill topiary find and some $1 section boa from Michael's. I wish I remembered where I got the little elf shoe, also another $1 ornament. Lovin all the glitter!