Hop on over to Skip to My Lou and see how to make this cool bow and arrow. It would be good for someone who is not ready for a real bow and arrow. Make it as a gift or maybe make it with the kiddos.
Hop on over to Skip to My Lou and see how to make this cool bow and arrow. It would be good for someone who is not ready for a real bow and arrow. Make it as a gift or maybe make it with the kiddos.
I am all about being practical and I love gifts that encourage real life skills! Here is a great tutorial on how to turn an old desk into a workbench.
A visit to the thrift store, some creativity and a days work you can make this!

I love all the kitchen sets I’ve seen on Pintrest!

I will be making something similar to these for Peach!
Do you have any other DYI-Upcycle projects that encourage creativity and skills?
Don’t forget that our instructional DVDs are also great real life skill gifts!
Here is a practical gift. Add a ribbon and a clever note and this would be a great gift.
Place a book of matches and add a lid on it and you’ll have about 40-50 hours of light. These can be made for less than $2.00 if you are buying new jars, but less than $1.00 if you are recycling jars.
You could sell these for $5.00 easily, especially if you market them as “emergency” or “survival” candles.
Go here to see how to make them (super easy), be sure to read the comment section, lots of great ideas.
Here are other frugal giving ideas!
I can’t wait to hit the thrift store to find Scrabble tiles!!! Think names. This would be great not only for the tree, but also as name tags for gifts.
I think I will paint the backside rather than use paper.
Here are other frugal giving ideas!
If you have frugal Christmas gift ideas feel free to link up!
Olivia has decided to make coupon/deal shopping for our family her part time job.
The thing about a job is that you have to be committed, you have to do it even if you don’t ‘feel’ like it. I have shopped the deals from time to time, and there really is no excuse for why I don’t do it now, other than TIME. But if I were on Facebook less and surf the deals more I could make it work (there is today’s confession).
Anyway, Olivia is committed to adding to our family’s economy by shopping the deals. She spent about 4 hours making list, clipping and printing coupons, devising her shopping trip. You can’t save or make money without a good plan!
For us it is about a 45 minute drive to the good stores (which is another reason why I quit the deals). So Olivia and Emma decided to make a day of it. The two of them set out for a day of adventure, deal shopping and memory making!
You can read more about their adventure and memory making at Olivia’s blog.
She bought $191.00 worth of stuff for $41.00!!!
They make money by saving us money! This is the real stuff of life, this is what they will use when they marry!
People are always asking our daughters (21 and 18) what they do now that they are “graduated”. I want to say, “How much time do you have?” They do things just like this. Things like this free me up to spend more time with the younger children and not be so frazzled when my husband comes in from his work. Working together as a family is not easy, but it sure is good when everyone is on the same page.
I’ve written about how Family Life Makes Good Cents and this is one way to prove that!
I just viewed the Moore Family’s latest DVD, More than Making Maple Syrup and I love it! Whether you really do want to learn how to make maple syrup yourself to save money or make it to sell to help build your family economy; or if you just want to see how it is done as part of your homeschool curriculum this is the video for you.
What I love most about this video is that it is made by a down-to-earth family that really does work together. What a blessing it is to see that.
Again the more skills you have, the more marketable/profitable you and your family can be.
Every Christmas my mom and grandma gives us a jug of maple syrup that comes from the tapping of the trees on my grandmother’s farm. It’s like liquid gold.
This is a great film that shows everything from the tapping, to the cooking down, to the canning of the sap/syrup.
Save $3.00 if you buy this before Feb. 29, 2012.
The giveaway winner will be announced February 24, 2012.
To enter, all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me you’d like to be entered.
Linking to The Christian Home.

I recently set up a Mint account (it’s free). Mint brings all your financial accounts together online or on your mobile device, automatically categorizes your transactions, lets you set budgets and helps you achieve your savings goals. Although I know I am not using it to it’s full potential yet, I love it so far. It is a great free budgeting resource. Take an hour or two and set up an account. I’m going to have my older girls set up an account to help them learn more about budgeting.
Building a family economy is about managing what you have,
as much as it is trying to always make more!
This is the best time of year to make some extra cash by selling sweets and other baked goods for the holidays. With busy schedules and so many people not wanting to be in the kitchen, it is the perfect time to strap your apron on and profit from people willing to indulge their sweet tooth over the next few weeks!
There are 13 states (Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Utah) that allow home-based baking and food processing for low-risk foods.
Here is a good article that explains the Food Cottage Law and licensing.
Here are a few suggestions:
Also posted over at The Legacy of the Home.
Although this clip is about keeping your farm dept free it applies to most of us that are in start up home businesses.