Frugalista!

Today I spent a lot more money then I have in a while on clothes. They were mostly clothes for Z-baby because she is (Finally) having her one year photos taken (I am such a procrastinator!)

I did buy a few items for myself since I am having some maternity photos done too.

I ALWAYS shop from the sale rack.

I can't help it,

It is kind of like an illness.

When I finished my shopping spree today I did not feel giddy like I remember feeling in the (two income, pre-children) past. I didn't feel guilty either- I refuse to let myself! ;)

All I could think was, "I wonder if they had coupons on their website that I missed?"

Seriously.

I am a coupon addict. I could not be on that tv show- extreme couponers- or anything like that. I just love to shop the sales and add my coupons to it, whether it be Publix or Jo-Ann's.

Couponing has really changed my perspective about spending money. I just hate to pay full price because eventually EVERYTHING in a chain store goes on sale.

So in the spirit of being a frugal momma I just wanted to share some tips on how we save money in my family.

TIPS:

1. I love coupons- like I just ranted on! I love the blog Coupon-chix for my area. She post where to find all the coupons for the local sale adds and throughout the week she will let you know if anyplace is having a major sale. She even teaches classes and they are SO helpful. I also love Target's coupons. I always check them before I head to the store. AND I try to join the email list of all my favorite stores because they give out some AWESOME coupons that way.
2. We don't pay for cable. We use netflix instant streaming which is under 10 bucks if you only get the streaming and we watch everything else on HULU. The small things really count with us.
3. we switched our cell phones to no-contract pay by the month phones. I don't have an iphone but I have a smartphone with unlimited everything that I only pay 50 dollars a month for. SWEET!

I have some more tips that I would love to share with you down the road, but for now I think I have chatted your ear off enough! :)

If you have any tips of your own let me know!!

I do LOVE saving money!

~Happy Frugalista-ing

Shelf revamp and easy peasy diy tunic

Helllllo Friends!

Happy November!

I just LOVE this month.

I do wish it could be just a little colder though.

I have been working on several projects the past couple of weeks.

• My craft closet
• Zadie's big girl room
• a cute new tunic
• revamping a homemade shelf

I am not going to talk about those all today. But they will be coming sooooon!

If you noticed my lack of consistent posting the past couple of weeks I am sorry! Between my sewing machine frustrating the crud out of me and fighting the extremes of nesting then NO motivation, I have been foul. Seriously foul.

Sorry friends!

(Sorry hubby :)

Let's start with the shelf:

A few weeks ago I had a mantle reveal. I LOVED the way it turned out.

Except...

My poor mantle shelf was just not well crafted the first time.

So hubs, being the great sport he is, helped me revamp it yesterday.

Here is the before pic

and the after...

Here's a close-up just of the shelf..

It is SOOO pretty!

We were only going to add the supports

BUT

Brent had this wood wax he was DYING to try.

SO

we stained it and then waxed it.

WHA-LA

The new and improved mantel/shelf!

Now for the DIY tunic.

I love tunics. Actually I love anything that doesn't really touch you but still looks spectacular- pretty much anything flowy and light.

I have admitted before that I am a novice in the sewing department. I have been doing it a long time but WITH my grandmother. That means, anytime I had to do anything other than a straight stitch I would pretty much let her handle it and I would watch.

So, in the spirit of independence I decided to start small- NOT- and create my own pattern (Seriously!?!)

It really wasn't that hard, but I did learn some pretty important lessons I want to share with you.

First I found a shirt I really like to use as a starting point.

I laid it on some pattern making paper my grandma handed down and started tracing.

Can you see the tracing?

If you can't, I promise it is there.

Then I took my measurements and started to modify the original pattern.

I wanted the sleeves to drape more and I wanted it to be longer so I could wear it with just leggings or on its own when I am not preggers.

I also needed it to really be a sheath since I am preggo and do not enjoy my pregnant booty.

SO I took a ruler, pencil, and a cutting board and I went to town.

Here is where my lessons were learned. I am just going to list them:

1. When tracing a patterns using another piece of clothing do not trace RIGHT on the clothing line, allow for a seam. -- duh! (This really only affected my neckline thank goodness!)
2. As grandma says, "Always mark the center!" Well I need to start listening to this advise. It would have worked MUCH better had I modified one side of the pattern then simply folded it down the center and traced the modified side. I spent half my time measuring and remeasuring trying to get all the angles the same, and I didn't...
3. Which leads me to this lesson. Cut the fabric with the right sides together. If you do not you will have to match two sides that may not have been cut exactly the same. (duh, duh, duh!)
4. Finally, when working with silky material, serge the ends of the fabric before sewing because they fray A LOT!

Well, even with all these lessons I still think it turned out great. Here you go!

Sorry about the pics. I took them FIRST thing this morning.

Like pre-tooth brushing.

Yuck!

I made this originally as my Halloween costume to match Z-bugs.

But i will be wearing it much more because it is so stinking comfortable and versatile.

Put it with jeans and flats

Or leggings and heals

or just heals

And wha-la

You are ready to go!

I hope you learned some from my mistakes!

~happy seam ripping!

Persimmon Bread...MMM...MMM... GOOD!

One of my husband's patients brought him MORE persimmons. Now, I am not complaining I am simply informing you that we didn't use all of them for the last batch of cookies so we still had some of our own. We had A LOT of persimmons so we decided to make bread. Here is the best recipe we could find (meaning it used the most persimmons :)

Persimmon Bread


Using the higher amount of sugar will produce a moister and, of course, sweeter bread.
From Beard on Bread by James Beard.

Ingredients:
3½ cups sifted flour ( I used half all purpose flour and half white whole wheat flour)
1½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 to 2½ cups sugar
1 cup melted unsalted butter and cooled to room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2/3 cup cognac, bourbon or whiskey
2 cups persimmon puree (from about 4 squishy-soft Hachiya persimmons)
2 cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped
2 cups raisins, or diced dried fruits (such as apricots, cranberries, or dates)

Directions:
1. Butter 2 loaf pans. Line the bottoms with a piece of parchment paper or dust with flour and tap out any excess.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Sift the first 5 dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
4. Make a well in the center then stir in the butter, eggs, liquor, persimmon puree then the nuts and raisins.
5. Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Storage: Will keep for about a week, if well-wrapped, at room temperature. The Persimmon Breads take well to being frozen, too.

We did not use nuts because we did not have any and we used crown as our liquor.
Here are some pics:

 Orange for Halloween.. Right?!

 I was grumpy.. can you tell ;0

 mmm... raisins

 Really, I love the color!

 The dogs waiting patiently for the bread to finish (Like they are going to get any!)

 Sorry about the fork mark in the middle of the loaf. Rookie mistake

 And now for the taste tester shots...

Score! She gave it 5 stars!

It was SO yummy!

We even got to boo our neighbors with the other loaf.

And.... Brent just asked if we could go pick MORE today!

I am going to turn into a persimmon!!

~Happy baking

Crush of the week #2

I have been crushing HARD this week. I mean like, I keep the tab pulled up for this item on my computer ALL the time.

And I have moved it to my shopping cart.

Which is all very sad because it just ain't happening right now... on this end/beginning of the month budget.

I'll share it with you though so you can crush right along beside me.

Brother Deluxe Electronic Sewing Machine - CS6000i

I know there are much nicer machines out there (Like the Brother Project Runway Special Edition--Say what!?) but this little buddy is a much more feasible option for me.

Therefore, I am crushing... hard...

~Happy crushing

Bookshelf annnddd easy DIY Halloween yard decorations

Well hello friends, long time no see!!! Sorry I have been MIA, but I have been busy crafting, sewing and just being a pregnant mommy!

I want to share two old projects with you. Well, I say old, but I just (finally) finished painting the bookshelf today.

Procrastination=1

Rachel=0

I have a small dining room, or maybe I just have a large table. Either way, I don't have a lot of room and I have many many cookbooks.  I needed a small bookshelf that wouldn't draw attention to itself. The room is small enough without adding more furniture!

I got the idea and directions from this website.

After reading through the instructions I realized this shelf was built to hold CDs. I measured my largest cookbook and cut my boards one inch bigger.

It did turn out a little crooked. :/ I think that comes from my mad skill saw abilities.

Luckily Brent says he can fix it!

This is the final result with the cookbooks too.



It is nice and neat in the corner. And it the perfect size to hold all my cookbooks!

And.....

This project was something Brent and I threw together last Halloween. Brent had been working on the AC in the attic and he had some leftover insulation.

Being the creative geniuses we are ;) we decided to cut it in the shape of a tombstone and wha-la we had new Halloween decor!

How easy... Black spray paint and a skeleton from target. I love that it is shiny!

It is double sided too!!

I love the little easy fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants projects that turn out so great!!!

~Happy Halloween

Persimmon cookies... Who knew?!

Anyone else finally feeling the cool weather?! I was SO very excited when I woke up this morning. I know it will leave again since it doesn't truly get cold here until Thanksgiving, but for now I am going to enjoy!

I don't know about you but cool weather always makes me want to BAKE! Today's recipe was picked, found, and made by hubby dearest.

I say picked because he had to go to the neighbors persimmon tree and get the fruit. Our neighbor doesn't even like them!

I'll have to admit... I had my first persimmon last week and it was, well, WEIRD! In my mind orange fruit should be tangy, but persimmons taste like fall. Seriously.

These cookies have won me over! My house smells SOOO good right now!

Persimmon Cookies

Ingredients:

1 tsp. Baking soda
1 c Sieved persimmon pulp
1/2 c Butter or margarine
1 c Sugar
1 Egg
2 c Flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Ground cloves
1/2 tsp. Ground nutmeg
1 c Raisins and/or nuts

Directions:

Stir soda into persimmon pulp and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together.

Beat in egg, then persimmon mixture.

Sift flour with baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
Add to creamed mixture along with raisins or nuts. Mix thoroughly.

Drop by teaspoons onto greased baking sheets and bake at 350F 8 to 10 minutes.

He even did the dishes while they baked!

They smelled so good they woke Zadie up from her nap with a smile! :)

If you have any persimmons (or awesome neighbors:) you need to go make these cookies. Seriously... GO now!

~Happy Fall Baking



Rope lamp

I am going to time warp back to the past for today's project. I am currently in the throws of figuring out a Halloween costume for my sweet lil' peacock. If you read my last post you know I was having a hard time deciding if I should make or buy Zadie's costume. Well, there are no peacock costumes left in her size so make it, it is! (I won't lie... I am very excited about it too!) Anywho I am telling you this as an excuse for the lack of fresh new projects. There will be a good one coming soon... Promise!

A couple months ago I was browsing pinterest and came across this really cute rope lamp. I just NEVER have enough lamps in my house. I really need to go thrift store shopping and find some new ones, but alas I having been putting it off for the last 2 years little while. ;) Well, when I saw this lamp idea I was thrilled because I have this lamp that I spent a fortune (in my world) on- it was $40!!! What!? I don't know what got into me because it is a completely impractical color and the look is very modern for my taste.

I really loved it at the time I bought it but the thrill has worn off. Plus, my dinning room use to be painted a similar color so it helped bring that color into my living room, but I recently changed my DR to gray so now it is kind of just a misfit. 

So,  I went to Home Depot, bought two rolls of sisal rope, whipped out my handy-dandy hot glue gun and wha-la I was on my way to a new lamp.

It was so easy and it is SO much closer to something I would actually use in my house. Here is a close-up of the rope.

I literally just started gluing the rope at the bottom right above the cord hole and wrapped and glued until I got to the top. I began and ended on the same side so that I would have at least one pretty side.

This lamp has not seen it's last modification though.

The lamp shade is getting recovered. It looks like they just glued this fabric to a sheet of poster board. I am going to rip the fabric off and hopefully reuse the same backing. I am thinking about using an off white jute fabric. I would love to do like a blue and white striped and go for the nautical look, but it just would not fit in the decor of my abode.

I also need to do something with the orange knob at the top of the lamp. I am thinking either brown spray paint or more rope. I guess you (and I) will have to wait and see! ;) I hope you like my half finished lamp. Come back soon and see the finished product!

~Happy re-purposing