Homemade cleaners....

I have been making my own homemade cleaners for awhile now and will never go back!  Not only are they better for the Earth, but they are much better for my budget too!  Homemade laundry soap is only the start.  Check out my new page on the website for more info.

Gnome home...

One of the homemade gifts I gave my son was a little "remodel" of the toy treehouse he has.  He never really played with it before and I have always wanted to have a gnome home since I think they are soooo cute.  I bought some unfinished pegs at Hobby Lobby, painted them, and knitted them little hats.  I also brought out some of my old doll furniture for him to use.  We try and decorate it with the seasons which had been fun.  It was one of his favorite gifts which made me feel great!

I believe this guy is writing a Valentines Day card.

Watching some woodland creatures.

Wee Folk Art has lots of ideas for gnome home's if you would like to make your own!

My new website and a recipe for mac and cheese....

Sooo I started a new website http://www.simple-and-frugal-living.com/.  Blogger is aight but I really wanted to go the extra step.  I love all things simple and frugal so I thought it was a good idea to put my knowledge and passion into a website!  I would love if you get a chance to check it out.  I just added a recipe for my easy baked mac and cheese.  It is really tasty and frugal recipe.

I have some other recipes, tutorials, tips, and such.  I will try and post everytime I add something to the site.  If you like what you see, you can share it on Facebook, Twitter, etc. at the bottom of each page.  I would be very appreciative!  I hope you enjoy!

Frugal Kids Birthday Party....

httpYesterday was my son's 5th birthday.  I think everyone had a great time.  My son really loved it!  I always make homemade cakes for my kids as it saves a lot of money and I think they taste better (if I do say so myself!).  He really wanted a banana flavored guitar cake.  Lucky for me I actually have a guitar shaped pan I bought a few years ago for my husbands 30th birthday cake.  I also used this Martha banana cake recipe.  It was really tasty, and not that hard to make. 

Just try to ignore the squiggly lines on the strings!  Lol!  Oh well, the boss liked it so that is all that mattered.  I also made some chocolate cupcakes because I was unsure if people would like it, but it went over really well.  We had the party at 2 so I just did some light snacks.  A veggie plate, no bake cookies, chips, pretzels, pigs in a blanket, and s'mores pops.

I wanted to do s'mores inside over a sterno, but thought this would be safer!  I just dipped the mallows in chocolate and rolled them in graham crackers.  The kids loved them!

I also made a birthday banner for him.

I made this banner out of some scrapbook paper I had lying around.  That is an exclamation point on that last triangle.  It was really simple to make and I plan on putting a little tutorial about it on my crafty blog.
I also made the treat bags.

I made these bags out of an old shirt.  I used pinking shears and just foled the fabric in half and sewed up each side.  I saw this idea on a blog but can't find it so if anyone knows where this idea came from just leave a comment so I can link to it.  I also got those wooden stars at Hobby Lobby and me and my son painted them with some watercolors.  I used a hot glue gun to to attach a pin back to them.  I filled the bags with some "Cowboy Trailmix".  The recipe I came up with was,

2 1/2 cups peanuts
2 cups raisins
11/2 cups chocolate chips

This makes 6, 1 cup servings.

Overall it was a really fun party! 

Sometimes things don't work out....

So my little man turned 5 yesterday and today is his cowboy birthday party.  I have been trying to make everything handmade for his party.  I always make his cake/cupcakes.  While making the chocolate cupcakes I had a great idea...

Marshmallows in the cupcakes!  What could go wrong?  I was so excited, I thought they were going to turn out great!

Yikes!  Where the heck did they go?  Most of them just disappeared.  Oh well.  Thankfully I only did this to a couple.  I have another pan of normal ones.  Better luck next time I suppose! 

I am really excited about how the other stuff for his party turned out.  I will be sharing all of that goodness later, including a tutorial for the gift I made him!