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Recovered Infant Seat

Mar 20, 2012 by Lindsay

When Andrew was born we had a brand new car seat, stroller, crib, changing pad, you get the idea. First baby = nice new baby gear. All three boys have used all the same gear and while it washes well it has gotten lots of use! I thought about the possibility of a new infant seat for this baby but it just didn’t seem practical when ours is still perfectly safe, just a little tired looking. So I found the idea on Pinterest to recover the seat and I am so happy with the way it turned out. I followed these instructions almost exactly with a few minor adjustments for my particular seat.

Here is the best picture I could find for a “before” shot. That’s Andrew at just 2 days old!

I started by dissecting the entire carseat, I took apart every section at the seam with a seam ripper. I made sure to take pictures of the pieces as I took them apart so I would know which pieces went where when I put it all back together!

Dyeing White to Ivory

Jan 22, 2012 by Lindsay

In the nursery we have an ivory bedspread that I love. It’s simple and versatile and I bought it because I figured it could adapt to any changes that we would make to the nursery without having to be replaced every time I re-decorated! When we found out that baby #4 was on the way I decided to wait until we knew what we were having before I did any other decorating in the nursery, so it has been lacking a bedskirt for awhile now! I had played with the idea of making a bedskirt but quickly changed my mind when I found THIS bedskirt on target.com for $10! For some reason it was the king size bedskirt that was on sale but it worked out because I had the twin bed and the crib that needed a skirt so I just cut up the king and made two skirts out of one! The only problem that I was left with was that it was bright white and I needed it to be ivory. Then I remembered that my mom used to dye lace, fabric and our tights using coffee or tea! I wasn’t sure exactly how she did it but after a little online research I found enough information to figure it out.

Here is the bedskirt before. White and wrinkled.

All you need is some cheap tea and hot water.

Homemade Baby Food

Aug 17, 2011 by Lindsay

I am here to share yet another way I have found to save money! Andrew and Joshua never ate homemade baby food, but with Zachary I knew that I didn’t want to add $14 worth of baby food to the grocery list every week, so we gave this a try and I will never go back!

For vegetables I buy mostly frozen, some fresh. For fruit I have done fresh, canned or frozen as well.

I have made sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, corn, carrots, peas, peaches, pears, blueberries and bananas. (I have not bothered to make my own apples, I just buy natural applesauce in the big container from the store, it’s fairly cheap and I figure it’s ok to cop out on that one!)

Today I made spaghetti squash. First you cook the squash (or any of the vegetables you are making) I put mine in the microwave in a small amount of water and cook it until it’s tender. Then just scrape out the contents of the squash and put it in the blender. (If this were fresh carrots/sweet potatoes/different kind of squash I would peel the skin off first, then cook them and just transfer it to the blender.)

Add a small amount of hot water (I use the cooking water) and blend until it’s a good consistency for your baby to eat. Then I transfer my puréed baby food to a 4 cup measuring cup for easy pouring. Pour your baby food into ice cube trays and put them in the freezer.

Once your cubes are frozen you can transfer them to freezer bags.

When it’s time to eat just pick out a few different fruits and veggies and pop them in the microwave! On the menu today was carrots, peas, squash and peaches!

I add a little bit of cereal to thicken it up.

And I have one satisfied boy!!!

For those that are interested I did a little price comparison. If you buy pre-made baby food you get 2 containers for about $1.10. Zachary eats the equivalent of 2 containers per meal. So that’s $2.20 per day to feed him.

On average it costs me $1 to make 1 ice cube tray of homemade food. That’s $.07 per cube and he eats 6 per meal. So that’s $0.42 per meal, or $0.84 per day. Over 50% savings!

In half an hour you can make two kinds of fruits and two kinds of vegetables that will last you for 2 weeks and you won’t have to think about adding baby food to your grocery list! Happy puréeing!

Coupon Shopping = abundance

May 27, 2011 by Lindsay

So I have been using coupons for a few months now. Learning to use coupons was on my list of New Year’s resolutions in 2010… and I never did it. But this year I decided that I had to learn how to save some money. Being a stay at home mommy means I don’t bring in any money, but I feel like it’s my responsibility to save where I can!

That being said, I am going to attempt to share what I do…..keep in mind that I am no pro at this, I taught myself by looking at a few websites and store ads! haha!

1 – The first thing I did was to start my coupon stash. Spencer’s parents and grandparents both receive the Sunday paper and do not use their coupons and the graciously let me have them! The very first thing I do when I get my coupons for the week is to sort them. I immediately take out the coupons I need/will use and throw the rest away. This helps me avoid purchasing something just because it’s a killer deal, instead I only buy the things we need.

2 – Organize my coupons. I started out with just a little accordion coupon holder, but I found that I had too many coupons for that and it was hard to see what coupons I had. So now I have a little 3-ring binder with baseball card holders that makes it easy to separate my coupons by type/brand/whatever and see them all easily.

3 – Pick a couple of stores to focus on. This is a very important step in order to maintain your sanity! In my area there are so many stores with great deals – Albertson’s, Walgreens, CVS, Winn Dixie, Sweetbay, Publix. If I tried to shop all these places I know I would go crazy. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed with coupons when you are first starting so make it easy on yourself and set the bar low. Don’t expect to cut your grocery bill from $150 a week down to $5, that’s unrealistic! I decided that I was going to shop at Publix and CVS because those were stores that I was already familiar with and are close to my house!

4 – Collect store ads and study them. In our area the grocery store ads change on Wednesday or Thursday and the pharmacy stores change on Saturdays or Sundays. You can get new ads in the mail, get them in the Sunday paper or just view them online! Once you see their ads you will start to understand how the sales work.

5- Organize coupons that coordinate with the deals of the week, write out exact products and quantity to purchase and GO! haha!

I am going to attempt to share one specific example of a deal I got at CVS this week and then share about my entire purchase.

This week CVS had Revlon nail polish on sale for $4.99 per bottle. With each bottle purchased you would receive $4 extra care bucks (CVS money) and I also had $1 off manufacturer coupon. So I spent $3.99 per bottle out of pocket but then I received $4 to spend at CVS later. So technically they paid me $0.01 for the nail polish!

The key that I have found is to buy products that are on sale, or have an extra bucks deal AND I have a coupon for.

This week I purchased the following at CVS

I spent $36 out of pocket, but I received $24 in extra care bucks

Then today I went back to CVS and purchased the following.

My total was $29 but I used some of my extra care bucks and got my total down to $6 out of pocket, then I received $14 in extra care bucks. So total this week I spent $42 out of pocket and received $38 in extra care bucks, so I basically got everything pictured for $6! Make sense? (Please say yes! haha!) I have found that some weeks I spend more out of pocket in order to obtain extra care bucks, and then for the few weeks following I don’t have to pay for anything but tax on my bill. It’s kinda like a cycle. Also, this was a big week at CVS for me, most weeks its only a few items, or none at all!

I have loved couponing so far. I have been saving big time on toiletries, household items, condiments, cereal and some snacky things, all things that we always need! But the thing about couponing is that it is easy to get carried away and want to accumulate things that we won’t use for a very long time. I feel like since I can get things for so cheap and we have as much as we need for a long time I should give out of our abundance. One of the couponing sites I check on a regular basis is Money Saving Mom, she shared earlier this week a tangible way that we can help those in need. She asked that whoever can would send items like toiletries, non-perishable food, towels and blankets to those affected by the recent tornadoes. So I went through my stash…..

And along with some of the purchases from this week I found some things that I think will be helpful to those in need right now. All of which I paid next to nothing for.

If you would like a list of items that can be sent to help tornado victims, go to her post here. Or find somewhere right in your own town that helps those in need can could use your items. Happy couponing!

Homemade Laundry Soap

May 22, 2011 by Lindsay

I love saving money, duh! So when my friend Kristen posted a recipe for homemade laundry soap I was all over it! Kristen and I went to high school together and have been able to reconnect through Facebook. She is the beautiful mommy of two little girls, Ellie and Hannah Rose who is brand spankin’ new! If I could handpick mommy friends to live close to and do life with, Kristen would definitely be one! Go here to check out her blog post on the laundry soap, and look around at all her other posts on things from hosting showers to cloth diapering!

I made a few minor changes to her recipe according to the things I chose to use/things I learned

Ingredients
1/2 bar fels-naphtha soap OR 1 bar ivory soap
1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup washing soda
Water
Large pot (I used the largest pot I had that was 8 quarts and it worked fine)
Clean laundry detergent bottles OR milk jugs
Funnel

Grate your fels-naphtha soap and being to a boil with 6 cups of water. Boil for 10 minutes. Add Borax and washing soda. Boil for 10 minutes, stir often to prevent boil-over. Add 6 cups hot water, stir until dissolved. Using a funnel, split between 2 containers. Fill containers up with more hot water leaving a few inches at the top so you can shake before using. Let sit for 24 hours. Shake before each use, use one cap-full or 1/2 cup.

*The first time I made it I did not add enough water in the last step so when I went to use it for the first time it was a semi-solid in the bottom of my container, so I just added more hot water and shook it and it was fine.
*This soap does not make suds in your washing machine, but that doesn’t mean it’s not working!
*I am very particular about making sure our clothes and house are clean and I feel like this does just as good of a job cleaning our clothes as any laundry soap I have used in the past.
*I was able to find all the ingredients right next to each other in the laundry aisle at walmart. One box of borax and washing soda will last you for many batches of soap! I spent less than $10 on 1 box of borax, one box of washing soda, 2 bars of fels-naphtha and a funnel. It works out to be about $0.01 per load as opposed to $0.25 of store bought.
*This soap is gentle enough for cloth diapers, and the borax box lists all kinds of ways you can clean with it in other parts of your home.
*The ingredients are all unscented, it just smells very fresh and clean without being heavily perfumed.

I really enjoy not having to add laundry detergent to our grocery list anymore, and it’s relaxing to me to spend time making things like this. I love that I feel like I am being a good homemaker and saving our family money!!!! Please let me know if you try it! Happy washing

Junk-a-holic

Apr 27, 2011 by Lindsay

I get chills when I get a good deal.

It puts a smile on my face.

I have to refrain from calling all my friends and family to tell them about it.

My name is Lindsay, and I have a problem buying junk.

Over the weekend Spencer gently told me that I was forbidden from bringing home any new projects until my current ones were finished and we got the garage in order. Humph.

Fear not, I have enough projects to work on to keep me busy for awhile!

A few weeks ago I found this little side table and immediately thought of the big boys room.

Because their room is so full of beds there is not room for storage outside the closet. But I did think this little guy would give a little bit of space for those many pairs of pj’s and play clothes! It was in great shape, the drawers were super clean (which is a big plus for me!) I actually liked it fine the way it was, but it completely clashed with the colors in their room. So I gave it a light sanding, 3 layers of spray paint (Kakhi by Krylon) and some new drawer pulls and….tada!

(I didn’t realize until I took this picture that the top drawer pull is crooked, and someday when I have tons of extra time on my hands I will remove the pull, fill the hole, re-paint it, and drill a new hole….someday!)

Here is my most exciting deal lately

I just can’t say no to a great lamp, with a great shade to boot! At $5 a piece and 50% off……yes please! I plan to put them on their $20 sister someday when she’s all fancied up and sitting in my entryway.

Now, just to keep it real, can we have a moment of silence for the piece that never reached it’s potential?

I bought this mammoth for $30 about 3 months ago and when I got it home I realized how much work I had signed up for. There were so many layers of paint and I really wanted to get it down to the raw wood before I re-painted it for fear that it would be a gunky painted mess if I didn’t. Well, I tried my hand with a chemical stripper and after scrapping and scrubbing I realized that I would spend HOURS just to get it ready to paint and possibly never get the detail on the doors and drawers to look like I wanted I decided that I just did not have the endurance to finish. So we hauled her out to the end of the driveway and a weight was immediately lifted from my shoulders. You win some, you lose some. RIP my first failed project.

Ever wonder what do my boys do while I work on these projects? Well they check the air pressure in my tires and perform daring stunts on Daddy’s longboard, of course!