Modge Podge mirror for twen's room

All my girls decided the other day to switch bedrooms. I thought - what a great idea all the rooms will get "deep" cleaned without the girls be aware they had to clean-so I said "sure". Well little did I realize that this switching would be a little like the book, if you give a pig a pancake, or if you give a mouse a cookie. One thing lead to another, to another, to another and before you know it I am modge podging furniture and painting walls -ahhh!!

well the above mirror had been painted white and hung in my littlest girls bedroom for the last 3 years, however with the change (my only rule was the beds had to stay put in the room they were currently in) My oldest the tween
inherited the mirror and thought she would enjoy it - if it wasn't so plain. Her bedroom is being done in lavender and Zebra print. So I ran and purchased some Zebra tissue paper from Walmart in the gift wrapping area.

I modge podged the section of the mirror frame I was covering, modge podge the back of the tissue paper I was about to apply (Yes, I am particular, I would try to trace the shape of the mirror and cut the tissue paper to place in certain areas). After the tissue paper had been applied, and a few minutes had gone by where the paper wasn't just soaking wet and easily torn- I applied modge podge over the top of the applied paper to provide a protective coat. The whole project took about 2 1/2 hours to complete. Still trying to decide If I should apply a coat of lacquer over it.

(I started painting the dresser to match and have ran back to Walmart to buy more Zebra paper to modge podge the front of the drawers and ahhh!!! My walmart is out - ahhahhhh!!!!! So I am going paper hunting later today -when that project is completed I will post pic of it - wich me luck!!)

Are you Frugal?

Are you Frugal? Do write out a budget each paycheck, use coupons, shop garage sales, or consignment stores, make your own food instead of buying convenience food??? Why?

Yes, I did just ask why! If you are not doing any of the above mentioned "frugal" behavior Why not?
For myself, I do much of the above "Frugal" behavior. Now at times I do more of them, than at other times. However, I am pretty much a frugal, or well "tight" with my money. Why, you may ask, well at first I had to, in order for our family to make ends meat. Then as things improved I decided that if I continued my "thrift" or "frugal" behavior it freed up more money from our budget to allow for extras - or as I like to call the "sugar" in life. The "sugar"

items are the extras like: dance lessons for the girls, or a new nice bottle of lotion and matching bubble bath for me. All of the things we could live without but life is soooo much sweeter with them!!!

I love hearing how people spend their money!! I love hearing why they spend their money on certain items over other items. I think it is about as fascinating as a tour of some one's home. So are you frugal?

Frugal Birthday Treat

Every year at my child's school, parents arrive on their child's birthday with a treat for the kid's class. Our school has a strict no homemade food allowed policy (only store bought), thus this means parents arrive at the school carrying a box of 24 cupcakes that cost approx $18.00 to hand out to little Johnny or Suzy's classmate. This cost is on top of the birthday party that the family is throwing for little Johnny and Suzy - you can see how this can quickly add up. However you don't want your little Johnny or Suzy to be the only child who does not have anything special to hand out to the class on his or her birthday.
So I was thinking "This is crazy!", "I don't want to spend approx $20 for kids to eat a cupcake for my daughters birthday - when half of them are coming to her birthday party and will have a piece of her birthday cake then. So I think I came up with a cute, frugal solution. I went to the store and bought 3 pieces of scrapbook paper approx $3.00, 2 of them were solid black, 1 of them were cute decorated bday paper. I cut the 2 solid black pieces of papers into squares. Then because this was for a daughter's day, I took pink thread and sewed the 2 pieces together leaving an opening at the top(I used my sewing machine to sew them together) Basically a pocket. Then I cut the cute decorated paper into a little smaller square than the pockets turned out to be. I then glued the cute (slightly more expensive paper) onto the front of the pockets. Now to glam it up a bit: I glued on little black bows to the front top side of the pocket. (Now I had this black ribbon already at home, I know, you hate it when someone says this, but it's true. However this inexpensive, thin black ribbon is sold for .50 cents at Walmart). I had cute little pink shiny stickers that I put in the middle of the bows. (I did run out 1/2 way thru - so I did not sweat it, some had the sparkle others did not).

Then I went to the store and purchased 3 packages of mini Hershey candy bars. (Dollar General sales a package for $1.00) then I placed a candy bar into each pocket. Filled the basket with the pocket of goodies and off to school I went to deliver my daughters treat for her class in honor of her birthday. (The picture at the top of this post shows the basket filled with the little pocket treats) The teacher really loved this idea because she did not have the mess of the icing from all the cupcakes to pickup. So in the end my daughter got to be the center of attention handing out her special treat for her birthday,and all I had spent was approx $6.00 - whew!! Kept my budget, and my reputation as a loving mother. I luv it, when it all comes together! Hope this helps another mother looking for some alternatives to the "cupcake" game.