Tuesday, November 15, 2011

DIY CORKER BOWS

So, anyone been wanting to take on the task of making bows? Since my little girl was born, I have been itching too. We still have a while for hair, but these go great on crochet bands. I used the do it yourself tutorial directions from The Ribbon Retreat. I made oodles and oodles of this last weekend. I bought my dowel rod at Lowes and had it cut into three peices.

DIY: NO SEW BLANKETS





First, you want to choose two pieces of fleece. You can choose two pieces that are the same pattern, two different patterns, two plain colors or a pattern on one side and a plain color on the other. I chose to use on patterned and one colored. The two that I made for a child, measured 1 1/2 yards and the one I made for an adult was two yards. You may need to judge by the height of the person you are making it for. Take the peices and align them together. Make sure that you trim edges if needed to make them even. Some of the patterned material has an edging with the company's name. This too will need cut off. Cut the strips about one inch and one inch apart.  Tie the strips hand over hand, switching right to left if you prefer so that the patterned side and plain side  go back and forth. Then, there you have it! Enjoy!



Tuesday, November 8, 2011

PSSST...

Make sure you sign up for Psssst... and get some GREAT coupons and samples!


Right now, sign up and get a 1.10 off coupon on cereal bars!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

SUPPORT OUR VETERANS BY PRINTING COUPONS!!!

Head to Believe in Heroes to print a load of valuable coupons!


These 51 coupons include:
Advil
Clorox Bleach
Hormel Pepporoni
Sargento Shredded Cheese
Angel Soft Toilet Paper
Pop Secret
Spleda
Aleve

and that is just to mention a few!!!

Hormel Foods Coupons

Save 50¢ on one (1) HORMEL® NATURAL CHOICE® Deli Sandwich Meat. Any variety

Head over to www.hormel.com for some great printable coupons!

Sun Maid 10,000 Movie Ticket Give Away


Sun Maid is giving away 5,000 pairs of movie tickets!!! Go to www.sunmaidprize.com to enter to win!

Friday, November 4, 2011

EVEN MORE 4x6 PICTURES FOR FREE @ Walgreens

Head over to Walgreens, Use coupon code FREE4X6 and choose in-store pickup. You’ll get 25 photos for free to pick up at your local store.

The photo deals just keep rolling!

Thanks Money Saving Mom!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

NO MORE RACK DEAL: ANGRY BIRD ALARM CLOCK $9 Shipped!

Angry Birds Classic Alarm Clock
Style: Angry Birds Classic Alarm Clock
You Save: $17.99 (72%)

Head over to No More Rack and get an Angry Birds alarm clock for $9 shipped!!! As you can tell from my previous post on Halloween costumes, we love Angry Birds in our house! I just purchased one that I will put away for my son for Christmas! :)

Thank you Penny Pinching Mom!

HOME MADE: ANGRY BIRDS AND THE PIG

Last halloween, I challenged myself that I would make my son's costume the next Halloween. He was a very Handsome Scooby Doo, but draining the bank fifty bucks for something he would where one time! OUCH! Halloween was getting very expensive, not to mention all the treat bags and goodies for daycare AND preschool.

Michiah decided he wanted to be an Angry Bird for Halloween. Sure, I said, but truly I was thinking how the heck was I going to pull this one off. To stay with the same theme, we decided to dress our 6 month old daughter as the green pig from Angry Bird. I proscrastinated, but finally went to Joann Fabrics carrying a 40% off of one item coupon of course. :)

I grabbed a yard of red fleece, multiple peices of felt red thread, needles, elastic, tool, headband, and feathers. Total spent: $26. The joy of my son: Priceless!

I went home and my journey began. Little by little, I freehanded the whole costume. I found a light green sleeper on ebay to complete my daughters costume and the results:
My son had on a red "cape" that looked like wings. I was so excited to hear all the wonderful comments. So much so that I say bring on the challenge of next years costume!



$35 Kidkraft Wooden Train on AMAZON with FREE shipping!!!

****CHUG A CHUG A CHOOO CHOOOOOooooooooooooooooooo!


Head over to Amazon and pick up the Wooden Railway 70-pc. Construction Train track Set by KidKraft reduced to $34.99 shipped (from $59.99.)

Thank you, She Saved!

BUY TWO GET TWO YANKEE CANDLE COUPON



Stock up on those Christmas Presents! You can never go wrong with candles!
Click for Coupon.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Patience, Anyone?


We all get pulled in when we take our children for pictures, even though we prep ourselves to not buy every picture. For some reason the photographer can get the picture that you want. Granted since we have added number two to the mix, pictures have become more frustrating. While, I do take my kids to get professional pictures taken, in between time, I set the scene and take them at home. You will need a lot of patience, especially when you have more than one child.

I wanted to take full advantage of the Walgreens deal of 40 free 4x6 pictures since Christmas is coming and our christmas cards are already bought and I just need to add a picture. So, even though my husband was at work, I went for it on my own. While, I beg you to please have a couple people on standby helping you.



"Smile"

"Look at the Camera"

One would think that the baby would have been the hardest, however my four year old would never look at me and smile at the same time. Once I would get him to smile and look at the camera, my daughter would be grabbing at his tie and chewing on it. So, you really do need time and patience to complete this task.




 
After 88 pictures, I was able to get one picture of the two of them together. While, I was completely exhausted at the end of all these pictures, it was so worth it!



Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Children's Place 15% OFF and GREAT deals!!!



CHRISTMAS SAVINGS ON TOYS



There are some HIGH VALUE printable coupons at Fisher Price! Start stocking up on those Christmas Presents! Let me know if you come across any great matches! Thanks!

**EXPIRED** WALGREENS PHOTO DEAL, EXPIRING TODAY!!!

Walgreens Photo is offering  40 FREE 4×6″ Photo Prints! Get caught up on all those pictures you have stored in your camera that you have been neglecting! I will be doing the kids pictures for our Christmas cards. :) Make sure to chose in store pick up so you are not paying for shipping.


Order 40 4×6″ Photo Prints
Use Promo Code: DRUGSTORE40
Chose In-Store Pickup
Final Price: FREE!


Remember... this expires tonight! Hurry!


Thanks Thrifty Mama!!!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Saying "NO" to Cable

Two years ago we thought we were making a huge sacrifice by giving up our cable. Football was on my husbands mind deterring him from saying yes. Frustration is the only thing that could describe my feelings every time the bill came in the mail. It was never the same price every month. I mean, lets face it, besides hgtv, football, and nickelodeon... We really only watch abc, NBC and CBS anyway. Finally, we just canceled it. We were paying about $60 a month. That is $624 a year!! We did sign up for Netflix! Which we love! Since the new switch, we still stream at $8 a month ($96 a year.) total savings: 528 dollars a year! I can honestly say I do not miss it! Netflix has also added a ton recently to streaming, including every episode of "Clean House." There is unlimited shows of Thomas, Veggie Tales, and Word World for our son.

Do you have cable? Have you ever considered putting an end to all those cable bills? Share your thoughts and comments...

You are looking a little SHAGGY!

When my husband and I were dating, he once asked me to cut his hair. Eeeek! Do what?!?! That is some trust! I gave it a shot as he walked me through step by step. Ten years later, I'm still cutting it and have to admit I have a knack for it! It takes me a little more time than your typical hairdresser, but I can honestly say I've never really screwed up. :) In the last year, I have started to cut my sons hair as well. For the cost of clippers (about 20 to 25 bucks) and good scissors (15 dollars,) I'm saving loads of money. For both my husband and son to get there hair cut, it costs $30, times that by twelve.... We save 360$ a year!!! :)

Thursday, October 27, 2011

PUMPKINS EVERYWHERE

What to do with all those uncarved pumpkins laying around?!?! Well, with the supposive upcoming shortage in canned pumpkin, why not use it to your advantage? Talk about a lot cheaper too! Just a little elbow grease and now you can really call that pumpkin pie homemade!!!

Freeze for Pumpkin Pie/ Pumpkin Roll
Step by Step Instructions:
Cut the Pumpkin in half
Hollow out the inside seeds with a spoon (put these aside)
Cut off the Stem

Oven:
Lay both sides in a cake pan (or two if using larger pumpkins)
layer the bottom of the pan with water
place in oven at about 375 to 400 for at least twenty minutes.
Microwave:
Put in glass pyrex dish with about a half an inch of water
Cover with lid or plastic wrap
Set timer for 10 mins and check (all depends all size of your pumpkin.)

Once the pumpkin is soft, peel skin off of the pumpkin
Blend Pumpkin until smooth.

You can set aside and freeze the pumpkin in small plastic containers, or I prefer plastic bags because its a space saver.

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds
After cleaning out the pumpkin, clean the seeds
I put them in a strainer and clean.
Once clean, lay on a paper towel to dry.
Place a liner of wax paper on a cookie sheet
Spread pumpkin seeds on cookie sheet.
Spray with cooking spray
Sprinkle with desired about of cinnamon and sugar
Place in oven at 250 degrees for about 15 to 20 mins. Keep a close eye on them as you may want to shuffle them around for even roasting.
Then EAT! :)
Make sure you store in an air tight container!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Mama Knows Best

When I was little I can remember running through Phar Mor (or Par Mor if you knew my Grampy)  with a coupon in hand because they had triple coupons! That was the start of my coupon days. At first it was fun, then it was the "but moooommmmmmm." Over the years, I have always coupon shopped here and there. Before our son was born, I loaded up on Luvs diapers when they were on sale and I had coupons for 2$ a pack! I did not buy diapers until he was a year and a half old! I realized how valuable this time of clipping and running all over Phar Mor was when my husband lost his job in 2008. Once I started getting the hang of it and was loading up an entire grocery cart (including the under rack) for under fifty dollars, it became a high.

At first I started out using a small coupon organizer you would buy at the dollar store. Then, about two years ago as the coupons were piling up my desk and surrounding areas- I upgraded and made my own coupon binder. I use a regular binder and added baseball card holders and dividers. Then label them and organize them in a way you would walk around your favorite store. Categories: Dairy, Produce, Fruits/ Veggies, Breads, Dry Goods, Frozen Foods, Baby, Toiletries, etc.

I guess to fill that coupon binder, you will need to know where you can start clipping. There are many websites that you can print coupons and use them at your favorite stores:
Coupons
Smartsource
Red Plum
also note that if you search your favorite product sites, they also have coupons on their websites.

On Saturday, in our local area, the Pittsburgh Early Edition paper includes inserts. On Sundays, (excluding major holidays) there are coupon inserts in the newspaper. I typically buy two, sometimes more depending on the coupons.

Recently, magazines seem like a great way to get a hold of some great coupons. My favorite is All You. It is usually filled with over a hundred dollars worth of coupons. Before you get a susbscription keep an eye out for great deals. Amazon.com was offering a 6 month subscription for 6$!
Lastly, write to your favorite companys. Often, they will send you coupons when hearing that you love their products. One personal experience- I sent an email to Calbot because I LOVE their cheese. (imagine that for those who know me :) ) Their cheese is about $4 a block of 8 ounce. After receiving my email, they sent me 6 coupons in the mail!

KEEP Tuning In... The party has just began .

Welcome to LENZI FAMILY TIMES!

Welcome to my new blog! I miss my blogging community, therefore I want to return with open arms. My blog will focus on frugal family living, including: , frugal fun, couponing, natural living, crafts, etc.
A. Family- updates on my family and fun times
B. Couponing- There is a love- hate relationship sometimes, but I love to teach people how to coupon!
C. Crafts- Im trying to make more time for crafting and welcome you to join with me. Post your DIY crafts!
D. Natural Living- Since the birth of our daughter and recent medical problems that were discovered, we have been doing some organic shopping as well as making some of our own products to avoid all those chemicals. This is very new to us.
E. Great Deals! I love to find a great deal and share it.

Please feel free to comment and add your opinions. If you would like be a guest blogger, please email me your blog and I will post if feel appropriate. Thanks again!!!

~~ Rebecca