Cut Hair at Home!

We just watched the DVD Bring It Home Beauty Hair Edition Volume 1 it is GREAT! It shows how to style hair, how to cut long hair, bangs and a men's cut. It also shows how to do highlights! Right now you can get it for $10.00 on Amazon. Just think, for $10.00 and

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Fiber Arts Monday - Upcycled T-shirts to Dishcloths

Fiber Arts Monday – Upcycled T-shirts to Dishcloths

Don't throw those old used, stained t-shirts away! You can make all kinds of things from them once you cut them into strips and crochet them. These dishcloths are very durable! Starting at the bottom of a t-shirt start cutting a strip about 1/4"-1/2" wide; spiral upward to make one long strip.

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Share the Love... Shop Amazon Here

Share the Love… Shop Amazon Here

Just a friendly reminder, if you do any shopping through Amazon, I'd GREATLY appreciate it if you go through my Amazon link in the sidebar, or here: For every sale through this link I can make a dollar or 2...or more if your spending a lot of money! ;o) Share the love! Many things have fre

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Salt as a Weed Killer

Salt as a Weed Killer

Salt is a great alternative to chemical weed killers and much less expensive. This is our front sidewalk. I poured salt on the weeds. It's best if it can sit for a day or two without rain. The dew helps it penetrate slowly.  Then the rain will let it get down deep. Several days letter t

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3 Secrets to Increase Your Worth This Summer

There are three things that all of us need to be doing so that hard economic times (and they will come and go throughout our lives) will not devastate us. First, live debt free. If you have debt, do all you can to pinch every penny to get the debt eliminated. The best source for how to go about doi

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Draft Stoppers

Draft Stoppers

Everyone needs a draft stopper. They are needful and easy to make, and a good project to give some sewing practice. This is a very simple one I made using the pant leg of a pair of jeans. I sewed one end (seam inside), filled partly with pinto beans (heavy and cheap), and some quilt batting.

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Recycled Houses???

I LOVE THIS! Even if this is not how you would build/decorate your home, you have to appreciate his view on life! His view of teaching others skills, especially to the working poor (note he says "WORKING poor"). And if we will be completely honest, many (not all) people that live in huge, l

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Another Bow -Easy and Eco Friendly

These bows are made from recycled materials. Great project for the kiddos. Supper Easy Tutorial HERE!

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Start Making Your List

  Now that the gardening is over for the most part, and cool weather is settling in, it is time to be working on some indoor projects; perhaps some sewing projects. How about making a list of people you can make gifts for rather than buying gifts?   Napkins made earlier th

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Don’t Forget the Savings Summit

  Our Savings Summit is NEXT Saturday!!!   See ya'll there!      

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Planning for the Pantry-Saving Money!

He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. Proverbs 10:5 Whether you're harvesting your own fruits and vegetables, buying from the local farmer's market or buying straight from the grocery store, summer is the best time to stock up

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A Savings Summit

Here is an event for our local people. If you like the idea maybe you can plan one in your area with your own local 'experts'. :o) A Savings Summit Summit  -noun 1.

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Questions About the Window Quilts

From our inbox- Lisa asked: How did you hang these? I found some great fabric to use and want to give it a try, but I have no idea how you installed them.   Lisa, I folded over the top and sewed in a sleeve, like what you would have on a curtain. Then I just ran a curtain rod through

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Save Money Doing Laundry

  Washing Make Sure They are Dirty Make sure the clothes are dirty before you wash them. They need to look or smell dirty before they go to the laundry room. A couple generations ago when people had to conserve as much as they could they wore clothes several days before washing them. Wash i

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Window Quilts

  As part of our cutting the spending at home and becoming more self-sufficient  we are keeping the air off until June 1st..at least!          One way to help keep the house cooled off some is to block the sun and heat. I looked at some window quilts on

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From Dust Ruffle to Apron

            We spotted a beautiful crib size dust ruffle at the thrift store! Olivia and I immediately thought APRON! All I really had to do was add the bib, straps and a pocket. I used the surger which saves a lot of time.   When you see a

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Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them

  As I said yesterday, sometimes we need to return to the old paths to learn how to do some things for ourselves, after all there is nothing new under the sun. Here is an old book with TONS of neat stuff in it! Let your kids look through it and find something to build that would be useful

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Resourcefulness- Becoming Self Sufficient

I am all for new and improved ways of doing things but there are times we need to return to the old paths, sometimes we need to *experience* some foundational ways of doing things.   Being frugal has always been a way of life for us, well at least I thought it had. Only recently have we c

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Portable Chicken Coops

I've had a few e-mails since my Buying Lumber for Pennies post and my Eggs post about chicken coops. I had planned on posting about this later but this seems like a good time! Jeff built these incredible, PORTABLE chicken coops for some friends of ours, he built two of them.    The si

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Resourcefulness- Buying Lumber for Pennies on the Dollar

    My husband is very tight resourceful. He hates to pay full price for anything, he says it is because he works hard for his money, which I have to agree! Because he is so resourceful he knows how to get a good deal on just about anything! That combined with his carpentry

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From Seeds to Harvest- Seeds

  Leslie, of Journey to Simplicity posted about the importance of what kind of seeds to buy.   Do not purchase seeds that will yield hybrid produce. Hybrids have been genetically modified. Although they are generally less expensive, they have a huge drawback; the seeds from the fruit yi

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Bean Storage and Bean Recipes

These are plastic Maxwell House coffee containers. When I buy large bags of dry beans these are good to store them in. I just label them with a piece of paper and tape. They stack easily. A good place to store  long shelf-life foods is in the far corners under the kitchen counters.  

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Sewing Tutorials- Little Girl’s Dresses

  Here are a few easy tutorials for little girl dresses/skirt. Twirly Skirt   Sunny Day Dresses   The Shirt Dress (Made from a man's dress shirt) Button Shirt Toddler Dress (Also made from a man's shirt.)   Pick up some dress shirts from a yard sale or the t

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Mega-Grilling and Super-Size It!

  When cooking, SUPER SIZE IT!   Another way to save time and money in the kitchen is to grill a bunch of meat at one time. This way you are not heating up the kitchen and making a pile of dirty pans.   Once it is grilled and cooled I package it in freezer bags and freeze, leavin

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Cooking and Time Management

  I think part of the problem as to why so many women dread cooking is the time it takes each day. There is the planning, the shopping, the prep work, the actual cooking and then the daunting task of cleaning up, only to do it again in a few hours.    There are a several ways to sa

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Sewing Cloth Napkins

Today we got together with another family to work on some homemaking skills. We got started with some cloth napkins. I love cloth napkins!!! They really add a touch of class to any table and they save money. This is my sweet friend Robin working on her napkins. My other friend Trish gave me a ser

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What about Worm Farming?

Have you ever thought of worm farming, or even knew there was such a thing?! I heard of this several years ago, and like all 'good homeschool moms', I bought a book about it. :o) We live on a lake and know dozens of serious gardeners so I thought this would be a perfect home business for at least

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Thrifty Thursday

My friend Kelly over at Generation Cedar is hosting a Thrifty Thursday series. Of course my most thrifty idea right now is simply gardening!!! :o) I don't know about you, but EVERY TIME I go grocery shopping I am amazed at the prices. Gardening does cost a little to get started, and it do

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Storage Solutions- Sugar Boxes

If you shop at Sams you can get their Domino sugar boxes (2 lb bags of 10 x sugar and brown sugar are shipped in) and use them for storage. They are good boxes and have lids. These fit perfectly under our beds. I also use them to store empty caning jars in the shed. Because they are uniform in size

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FREE gift wrapping until the end of the year!

Buy any of our DVDs and receive            .

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How to Make Breadcrumbs

Use stale or dense bread to make breadcrumbs.   These were made with some whole wheat bread that actually came out too 'heavy', so instead of throwing it away I tore it up into smaller pieces and put it in my Vita Mix (the BEST blender).     You could do the same thing in a

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Frugal Friday- Buying Nuts

When buying nuts it is cheaper to buy them in the produce section at Wal Mart than it is back in the baking isle. For more Frugal Friday Tips hop on over here.  

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Frugal Friday Tip

Taking a little time and a few scrap supplies you probably already have you can save money by making your own cards. If you buy 20 greeting cards a year, at an average $3.00 per card, you are spending $60 per year. You could make a 500 cards from one pack of cardstock for under $6.00 (you cut your

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Frugal Flower Arranging

  I just loaded a new tutorial on frugal flower arranging on my homemaking blog, you can see it here:  Frugal Flower Arranging   ! 

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