Going Green & Saving Green

Pintrest

2012-02-02T13:04:00.000-06:00

I am now on Pintrest! You can follow me here...

Great Baking Soda Tips!

2012-02-01T08:36:00.001-06:00

With three littles around the house, I like to use safer cleaners, so I tend to use vinegar and rubbing alcohol to clean as much as possible. I've also used baking soda for a few things around the house. Mostly scrubbing the oven and balancing the ph of the laundry once I use vinegar. But I found a GREAT list today of some pretty good uses for baking soda! My favorite? The giraffe. With three little kids, I definitely have my fair share of "surface wash only" stuffed animals laying around! Some have even taken up permanent hibernation in our laundry room because I couldn't get them clean. So, yay! So glad to find another way to clean them!!

http://theartsyfamily.com/2011/07/27/cleangiraff/

Construction Theme Birthday Party Ideas

2011-12-02T10:42:00.001-06:00

Last year for C's 3rd birthday party, we did trucks and tools and since those are still his favorite things we're going to do the same theme this year. We didn't get to do as much as we had wanted last year so I'm hoping to get to have a little more fun with the theme this year.

I thought I'd share some of the ideas I have with you in case you would also like to do a construction themed party.

Fun construction hats
Little trucks for goody bags
Reshaped truck & tool Crayons for goody bags. Here's the how (best directions I've seen so far). Here are some molds to use.
Themed cookies or brownies cut out with these
Dump truck cake (I'm planning on doing cupcakes since I'm not good at icing cakes.)
Chocolate cupcakes iced with "mud" (chocolate icing with finely crushed oreos mixed in)
Invitations & party decorations designed with these scrapbook kits (turned out awesome last year!!)

Under Construction by Laura Banasiak & Suzy Q Scraps
It's A Boy Thing by Crazy 4 Monograms
Bonus: you will already have a matching scrapbook kits to scrap the pictures from the party. You can also use it to make cute borders around the pictures you put in frames. Don't forget matching thank you notes! I use Paint.net which is a free alternative to photoshop to make all these things. I LOVE custom stuff!!

Have truck & tool puzzles for kids to play with (we'll have younger kids coming to this party).
Paper bags lunch bags (for a dirt look) for the goody bags. I folded them down, punched two wholes in the folded part, strung a coordinating ribbon through, and tied a tag made from the scrapbook kits into the ribbon.

Some other fun stuff:

Angel Food First Impressions

2011-05-21T11:19:00.000-05:00

Got our Angel Food boxes today! They look so yummy! Quality looking stuff too! My husband was definately surprised how far the money we spent for the food went. We got the Bountiful Blessings Box and a popcorn chicken special.

Each location is a little different I'm sure, but at our location we just drove up, told them our name, and they loaded the food in our car. As we drove away my husband said, "Do they offer this service for groceries?" It was definitely the quickest shopping trip ever, it was awesome!

My husband already had plans to meet a friend for breakfast this morning so me and the boys ate some waffles and breakfast links. The links were from the angel food box and yummy! C decided to just eat the waffles but O ate both of the boys links! I was surprised once I got them that the links were chicken, not sausage like I've seen before, but they tasted the same! The texture inside was slightly different, but not TOO noticeable.

I'll let you know more once we get a chance to cook some more of it! So far we're definately planning on doing this again!

Yummy Homemade Vegetable Soup

2011-05-20T10:50:00.000-05:00

Did I mention this is so yummy! My husband had a taste (thinking it would be bland) and said, "woah, this is tasty soup!"

I used the recipe on the back of the Kroger 14 oz. can of vegetable broth for a guideline but I tweaked it with what I had on hand and LOVE the outcome! Here you go:

Ingredients:

3 bags (12 oz.) frozen "vegetable soup mix" (Kroger brand)
3 cans (14 oz.) vegetable broth
1 can (29 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz.) crushed or diced tomatoes (if diced, run them through the food processor before adding to recipe)
3 tsp. dried parsley flakes
2 tsp. dried cilantro
3/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano

Directions:

Add everything to a large pot (I used a pasta pot with the strainer removed)
Turn the soup on high to boil
Once boiling, reduce to medium heat and cover. Stir occasionally.
Remove from heat once the vegetables are done (and your preferred softness).
Remove 1 - 1 1/2 cups of vegetables from the soup along with 1/4 cup liquid and put into the food processor. Pulse until veggies are somewhat pureed. Add back to pot of soup and mix thoroughly.

This makes at LEAST 10 cups. We ate a few portions ourselves before I divided it out to freeze and still ended up with just under 8 cups to freeze. So the amount could even be closer to 12 cups! I'll add the exact amount next time I make it. Until then, just know it's a lot! This is a great soup to make ahead to freeze for nights that you don't have time to cook or to bring to someone who is needing friends to bring food to them.

Price:

This is a fairly cheap soup as well. The bags of vegetables are $0.88 a piece at Kroger. I forget how much the broth is but I don't think it's more then $2.00/can. In fact I'm thinking it's closer to $1.50/can. The tomato sauce is definitely under $2.00. And the diced tomatoes always seem to be hanging around my house even though I have nothing to use them for! Well, until now!!! Everything else is just seasonings we always have on hand.

Enjoy!

How Long Can You Cook From What You Have on Hand?

2011-05-19T17:59:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to cook from only what we had in the house this week. It has been interesting for sure!

It all started because we had a small food budget this paycheck. So I purposely went to the store as soon as we got the paycheck and bought as much food "ingredients" (vs. cooked prepackaged meal items) as I could for as cheap as I could. I made sure everything I bought could go together to make a meal (instead of just buying items we liked). Also, I checked prices and made sure to get the best price I could on everything I bought and definitely got a lot of store brand when it was a good option. Something different I also did was order some food from Angel Food Ministries. We'll pick it up this saturday so I can't comment on how that went yet. I'll tell you how that goes once I have a chance to look it over and try some of it.

What has come out of it? A few new recipes and a LOT of hearty wholesome meals! And surprisingly, it hasn't taken MORE time out of my day. Instead of us waiting until we were starving and putting together the quickest thing we can (which probably wont fill us up), I'm cooking up something during nap time and it's all ready to eat when we're just starting to get hungry. Ed and I have both noticed that we have more energy the next day since we've been eating more filling (and rounded out) meals in the evening.

I will be posting some of the recipes I've come up with as well as recipes I've found and used during this time. I plan to continue this until at LEAST next weekend. But honestly, we will probably carry it out longer then that since we have so much food and are really enjoying eating this way. Having only the food in our house as an option has always challenged me to be creative in the kitchen. It's good for us to do this every so often!

Keep in mind the ingredients in these recipes were chosen from what I had on hand. So don't be afraid to tweak them a little if you don't have something on hand. Most of the recipes were loosely based off another recipe and they turned out great!

31 Days to Clean

2011-04-27T14:13:00.001-05:00

Hey ladies!

Do you ever feel like no matter how hard you try you just can't keep motivated to keep you house as it should be? I'm not talking about the over obsessive, wrap your kids in seran wrap so nothing hits the floor clean. I'm talking about the clean and organized home that blesses your family. The home that you can find what you need to in without getting frustrated. The home where everyone knows where to find something. The home where if friends want to come over, you don't cringe inside because it has been way too long since you vacuumed or mopped. If you too struggle with this (I know I do!!), then I encourage you to check out 31 Days to Clean. It's about changing your heart attitude toward cleaning, not just giving you more tips on how to clean. It's an e-book so no waiting for shipping and it's only $4.99! Really, you can't beat that price! So please, hop on over there and check it out!

Water Intake Tricks

2011-03-02T18:54:00.000-06:00

We always hear that drinking enough water is very important, but actually doing it? That's another story all together! Now that I'm pregnant, I'm trying to be more aware of how much water I drink. I know that I tend to not drink enough so it's definitely a conscious choice to get in the recommended amount. Of course, I do live in TX, so with summer heat being right around the corner (didn't you know? We have summer 9 months out of the year here! he he), there's even one more reason to be diligent with my water intake. Here are some things I have done, as well as ideas from friends, to help reach the recommended amount of water each day.

We have a water pitcher (w/filter) to keep us from using the taste as an excuse (Dallas does not have the best tasting water). We even have one with "flavor options" meaning you can push a button and the flavor of your choice will be squirted into your water. Personally, the flavors were too artificial tasting to me, but it did help my hubby drink more water for a while.
We also keep water bottles around. I know they are not the most green choice but it is definitely healthier for my body then no water at all. If I don't have it easily attainable then I will quickly get side tracked and forget to drink it. We are very careful to make sure they all end up in the recycling cart. Please do recycle them if you go this route. That's a lot of plastic that adds up very quickly if you just throw it away.
I also have a few reusable water bottles to take with me so I'm never without water, but you have to hand wash them every couple days. I tend to misplace them around the house, so inevitably, they are always in need of washing. If you go this route and are not a diligent hand washer, then I suggest you go with Nalgene bottles, or another dishwasher safe bottle, to keep them at the ready.
My husband has a camel back from his army days that he still loves to use. He particularly finds it useful to hang on the back of his chair so he can drink while he is working at his desk. He found that this dramatically increased his daily water intake!
After a while I still end up in a water slump no matter which method I use because, let's face it, sometimes you just want something with some flavor! I like hot herbal teas, decaf iced tea, and fruit juices (every now and then) so that helps some. Another thing I enjoy on occasion is a koolade type flavoring packet. I know they are super sweet, but again, I figure that is still better then no water when I'm in a water rut. Here's a trick for you, instead of buying those individual serving packets to throw in your purse, buy a canister of it (think countrytime lemonade). You can then divide it into water bottle size servings in snack baggies. Still individual serving sized, but much cheaper! To determine the right amount for your bottle (16 - 20 oz. if you buy bottled water, various amounts for reusable bottles), look at the back of the canister. It has a tablespoon amount for 8 oz. Just adjust that to the amount of ounces your water bottle holds and you've got personalized flavor packet on the cheap!
A friend of mine had a cool little gadget to help her. She bought a reusable water bottle (at Target if I remember right) that had a digital screen on it. She programed in how much she wanted to drink each day and it told her how much she had left. It helped her out a lot!
Another easy way to get in more water is to increase your intake of water rich vegitables and fruits like watermelon.

Now that I have shared my ideas, PLEASE share yours with us! We can help each other be able to reach our water intake goals for better health!

Sore Throat Remedy

2011-03-02T17:06:00.001-06:00

In one of my searches when my firstborn was a baby, I ran across a great home remedy for sore throats. I do not remember where I found this information, but it seems to be a fairly well known remedy so I feel comfortable posting this without any reference.

The easiest, cheapest, remedy for a sore throat? A spoon full of honey. My husband hates honey but decided to give it a try the other day since he was feeling desperate. You should have seen the look on his face a minute later. He looked at me like I had just come up with a magic cure for something. He couldn't believe taking the pain away could be that easy. So next time your sick, give it a try!

DIY Maternity Jeans Pre-Tutorial

2011-02-12T16:09:00.000-06:00

Ok, so whoever it was that said you "blossom" faster with each pregnancy...they weren't kidding!!!

Here's me at 4 weeks:

And at 6 1/2 weeks:

I am now 7 1/2 weeks and can zip my pants up most of the way but there is no way they are getting buttoned without cutting off some serious blood flow! So I've been pulling back out my beloved bella band.

On a side note...I have a similar maternity store brand band from my first pregnancy, but silly people call it a one size. Yeah right, you think "one size will fit most" pregnant women from 3-9 months?!! You've got to be out of your mind!! It was way too small not very far into my second pregnancy and I am not a big girl by any means. So I am very happy I bought a bella band last time around because it comes in SIZES! Who'd a thunk it?! It is soooo comfy!

So back to the point of this post. I love my bella band, but there are times when it's a little bit annoying. Like when I'm working in childcare at church and I'm bending over every few seconds. It has a tendency to ride up a little when you bend over, so every few bends, it's above the top of the back of my jeans. So I end up readjusting my clothes every couple minutes which gets pretty old about 15 minutes into it.

Sooooo, I'm going to make a transitional pair of maternity jeans to wear in those instances. I debated between buying a new pair of jeans to use (only one kind of jeans really fit me right, thankfully they are from Target so only $20) or cutting up one of my favorite pairs that I already have. I knew I would regret cutting up all of my jeans, after I have the baby, but I didn't want to pay full price in case I messed up or could only wear them for a very short time. I decided on a compromise. One of my favorite pairs of jeans is starting to get thinner in the butt so they are not worth saving until after I have the baby because they will only last a few months longer. I also found a pair of the jeans I like on clearance at Target the other day so I only ended up paying $13+. Two pairs of transitional jeans should be enough for now since I can still wear my other jeans when I'm not going to be bending over a lot. And once I get much bigger, I have a box of maternity clothes waiting for me from the other two pregnancies.

I will be using a mash up of these tutorials:

I have seen anything from 6" - 12" listed as the appropriate hight for your tummy panel. I say do it as big or as little as you want. Personally, I am going for a longer length since my tummy's still got a little of the mommy "fluff" going on. I like having the panel to smooth out my silhouettete. Besides, the longer size gives me the versatility to wear it high, or fold it in half for an under belly style. If you are a first time mom or just really good at keeping your tummy in shape pre-pregnancy then you might can totally get away with one of those cute under belly styles. Just keep in mind, if you're not using your belly to hold your pants up, then you're going to need to be sure your band is tight enough to hold your pants up on their own.

I will be working on these this weekend and will post the tutorial once I'm done.

We're Expecting Baby #3!!!

2011-02-05T18:30:00.000-06:00

(Baby Mine Boy kit by Just So Scrappy used)

We are due at the end of September!

Altered Smoothie Recipe

2011-02-03T15:25:00.001-06:00

I have been making smoothies a lot more lately since I wrote that post on them. My kids and hubby love them!! Only problem is I'm out of bananas and we've been snowed/iced in the last few days so I haven't been able to get more. So I've adapted the recipe as follows:

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup yogurt
2 cups frozen fruit

It is still very thick because of all of the frozen yogurt, although it definitely makes more then the other recipe! I'd say this recipe is for two servings. It is so delicious though!!

Repairing Cloth Diaper Elastic

2011-01-29T23:25:00.001-06:00

I Love my cloth diapers, even the very used ones. But as I was folding them today, I noticed that quite a few of them have VERY shot elastic...as in they lay perfectly flat! he he. So it's definitely time to sew in some new elastic! For any of you who are needing to repair the elastic in your diapers, here's two helpful tutorials I found. Hope they help you!

http://bloomingbums.blogspot.com/2008/06/tutorial-elastic-repair-casing-style.html

http://bloomingbums.blogspot.com/2009/12/tutorial-fixing-elastic-in-ruffle-edge.html

Blog Re-Design Update

2011-01-28T01:48:00.000-06:00

The blog is taking longer then I expected to re-design. It's not complicated, just time consuming. Something has recently come up at our house that is taking more of my time and energy (and attention) so it will be a little while longer before I will be able to get the blog finished. I am so very sorry for any frustration it might have caused. Thank you for your patience!

Smoothies

2011-01-28T01:44:00.001-06:00

An easy way to get fruit into your kids is to make them smoothies. My kids love them! They consider it a treat. They are a great breakfast or snack option...or really you could even use them for a desert if you like! Here is my favorite recipe (from weelicious):

1 banana
1 cup fruit
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk

She calls it the "Smoothie Your Way", and that is exactly what it is. I love this recipe because it leaves lots of wiggle room to make it just the way you or your kids like it...or need it. My littlest one is lactose intolerant so I use lactose free milk. I found a tub of vanilla organic yogurt on clearance so I used that in place of the plain yogurt. You can use whatever fresh fruit you have on hand or you can choose from the variety of frozen fruit that stores carry. It really is up to you. There are lots of smoothie recipes out there, but I suggest you give this one a try if you'd like to have some freedom with the recipe.

I have a 3 cup food processor and this recipe works in there great. It is listed on her site as being one serving, but it makes two servings for my boys.

On a side note, if you haven't ever checked out Weelicious, I strongly advise you to. It has LOTS of great healthy recipes to serve your family.

How to Get Photobucket to Stop Resizing Your Images

2011-01-20T03:23:00.000-06:00

Sign into Photobucket.
Look on the right hand side of the top navigation bar. You should see your username with a little arrow pointing down.
Click on that arrow and choose "Account Settings."
Click on the "Album Settings" tab.
Click "View My Upload Options."
Choose "Best possible quality (while staying 1mb or less)"
Click Save, scroll down and click Save again.
DONE!

Now upload any file under 1 MB and it wont resize it. If you'd like to upload a file larger then 1 MB without it resizing, you'll have to upgrade to a Pro account. I use .gif files whenever possible to keep the file size low.

Please Excuse the Mess!

2011-01-20T02:44:00.000-06:00

I apologize for the glitchiness that will likely last through next week. I'm in the process of re-doing the blog YET AGAIN. But this time...drum roll please...I'm designing the layout myself using some digital scrapbook kits. So please bare with me as I get everything in order. The background is a sneak peak to what it will look like, but even it will get a final tweak before next weekend rolls around!

-Christina

Menu Plans

2011-01-19T20:56:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! I hope this first 2 1/2 weeks have treated you well!

We have been doing a few things differently around my house that I'd like to share with you over the next few weeks. One thing I'd like to introduce today is a meal plan. I realize a lot of other blogs already do this, but I figure every one you look at gives you meal ideas to incorporate into your own life...so the more the merrier!!! :)

I've wanted to do this for some time, but just couldn't get myself together to do it. So this past Monday I decided to do a no pressure approach. In the past, I have always gone about this by pulling out a bunch of recipes, trying to narrow down what ingredients we have in our house, what we might want to eat on what night, and it just gets overwhelming. If it isn't super easy, I'm not going to do it.

So I just wrote down what we had already decided we wanted that night; then I wrote down a super easy meal (tri-color rotini mac-n-cheese) for the next night, that we had already eaten and loved the past week. Next I looked in the freezer and notice we had raw hamburger. So I asked my husband if he'd like tacos or spaghetti for dinner the next night and then wrote those two into the days he chose. That left Friday, which was easy, pizza! Also in the freezer was hot dogs and hot dog buns so that was a simple fill in for Saturday.

Some days I plan on making more specific (exact meal) and other days I plan on just writing the main idea (pizza) which could then become several different things depending on our mood that day (french bread pizza, thin crust pizza, regular pizza crust pizza, or even pinwheel pizza!). Trying to come up with every detail for everyday has always overwhelmed me, but doing it this way was VERY do-able! It took about 5 minutes (including the convo. with my hubby)!

Here's our meal plan for the week:

Monday: Chicken Fajitas
Tuesday: Tri-color Rotini Mac-n-Cheese
Wednesday: Spaghetti
Thursday: Tacos
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: Hot Dogs

For the Fajitas, we already had chopped green pepper frozen (great way to get rid of the rest of a green pepper if you're not going to finish it before it goes bad) and already cut, seasoned, and cooked chicken so this was a really easy meal. All that was left to be done is slice the onion (my sweet hubby volunteered to do the chopping, we used half in this recipe and threw the other half in the freezer so it is ready for the next fajita night!), throw everything in the skillet, and sprinkle on the seasoning.

On Monday, I threw the hamburger in the fridge to thaw. Wednesday, we'll cook both lbs. of hamburger together, then split them into two pans and add the sauce to simmer in one pan, and water & taco seasoning into the other. That way the next night is already half done. Let's keep things simple. That's the only way we're really going to do it right?!

As far as pizza goes, let me teach you a few simple tricks to always being able to make pizza easily (and much cheaper then buying it in the store or ordering out).

Buy a loaf of fresh french bread (I buy the $1.50 loaf at walmart). Cut it into thirds and then cut those in half lengthwise (like a sub, but all the way through). Now throw those in a freezer bag and put them into the freezer for next time you want french bread pizza.
Buy a large can of tomato sauce (29 oz.) - store brand should work fine. Make your own sauce with this simple recipe (cheaper then buying the "pizza sauce" and delicious!) :

29 oz. tomato sauce
6 pinches of Basil
2 pinches of Oregano
2 pinches of Garlic Powder
6 pinches of Sugar

Put it all in a microwave safe bowl and stir until mixed well. Heat on high for 5 minutes. Stir well again. Use however much sauce you'd like to and then set aside the rest to cool completely. Once cool, spoon the rest into a clean ice cube tray and put it into the freezer. Once it's fully frozen, pop the cubes out and into a freezer bag.

Now whenever you need pizza sauce, you can just pop out a few cubes and melt them in the microwave! Just as quick as a jar of sauce but MUCH cheaper!

Keep a pack of pepperonis in the freezer and you can toss them on your pizza frozen whenever needed. This keeps them from going bad in your fridge if you don't use them often.
You can also keep shredded cheese in the freezer and throw that on your pizza without thawing it out.

Some of these will inevitably get shifted around a bit, but that's alright!

Another big motivation for me is pretty things. If it's pretty to look at, I'm more likely to take the time to read it and look at it through out the day. So for my menu plan, I printed out the bottom half (just the months you need right now, we can print out the rest as we need them) of a center folded calendar I had purchased during the holidays to make calenders for family members (I used Just So Scrappy's Center Folded 2011 Calendar). I printed it out on card stock and punched holes in it so it would fit in my kitchen control journal (the central place for recipes I have printed off the web, healthy snack ideas, kitchen how-to's...pretty much whatever I need to have at my finger tips in the kitchen). The dates for the month are already on it so all I had to do was write the meals down. It took me maybe 1 minute MAX.

Hope these tips help! I'll be back soon with more! :D Have a great week!

-Christina

New "My Gallery" Tab

2010-12-09T22:16:00.001-06:00

I've been playing around with Just So Scrappy's digital scrapbook kits a lot lately. I am a creative artsy person and it's been fun playing with a new medium. I've also been making a lot of cards (paper not digital) lately and I'd like to have one place to put everything I've made. Ok, so not EVERYTHING but some I'd like to share with the world. So, I've decided to add a "My Gallery" link at the top of the page to give me a place to share these things. I hope you enjoy! We can all use a little inspiration right? :)

Here's a sample of whats there:

Muffin Day

2010-10-01T21:05:00.001-05:00

Today was muffin day! he he. I'm not really a "cook one meal at a time" type person. I like to cook up big batches of food at a time. So today is "muffin baking day". They're cheap, easy, and so many options...not to mention YUMMY! I store them in the freezer and just pop them in the microwave for breakfast. My boys love them and actually eat ALL their muffin! I can't say that about too many other "healthy" breakfast foods! I ended up baking 4 dozen muffins (a dozen of each flavor) today!!! That will give us breakfast for a while! My favorite muffin recipe is Bacon and Cheese Muffins. This is my mother's recipe...sooo yummy!!!

Two Blog Trains going on right now!

2010-09-19T23:49:00.000-05:00

This first one is super sweet...litterally! The kit is called Sugar Shock and oh so cute!! It's Sugar Hill Co.'s first blog train. Don't forget to leave some comment love for them!

The second is the Creative Sweeties annual blog train. Their blog train is a little different then most. Instead of a matching kit that each blogger contributes too, this one is made up of all random pieces. Each blogger makes something for us out of their favorite kit

*A blog train is where a group of bloggers get together and provide links to each other's blog where they each post on a common theme. For these blog trains, digital scrapbook designers have gotten together and created digital scrapbooking pieces (papers, embellishments, alphabets, etc.) for us to download from them for free. The idea is to promote each other's blogs and also give us something nice in return.

Super Cute and CHEAP Way to Display/Store Earings!

2010-09-18T16:50:00.000-05:00

I'm sending you over to Kevin & Amanda's Blog again for another cute tutorial! If you have dangle earrings, you HAVE to see this!

Great Way to Use Up Scrapbooking Scraps

2010-09-18T16:25:00.001-05:00

Got paper scraps, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that left over from your paper crafts??! Check this out! A little bit grungy and whole lotta cute! And FREE!!!

Grosgrain Blog

2010-09-18T01:48:00.001-05:00

A GREAT way to save money, on clothing, is to make them yourself. Don't have the skills (or the time)?? Here's a even better way to save money! Buy clothes at a thrift store (read CHEAP) and alter them to fit you (and your style). If this sounds interesting to you, you have got to go check out Thrift Store Thursdays at the Grosgrain blog! While you're at it, go check out her video tutorials. It will help you learn a few sewing techniques. Be sure to check out her gallery of clothing she's sewn herself before you go. She's an awesome seamstress! Beautiful work. And the pictures are AMAZING!!!

Check The Blog

2010-09-14T14:42:00.000-05:00

If you're interested in the digital Scrapbook stuff I posted about in the last post, then be sure to check the blog for updates to that post. I will add additional sites when I find them. I have already added another one today. Happy Scrapping!

I have updated the look of the blog yet again (Yes, I have trouble making decisions! he he). I think I have finally found what I want to use. It is actually a blend of two layouts. Just the perfect amount of chaos & cuteness! I hope you like it!

Free Digital Scrapbooking Supplies

2010-09-14T02:11:00.015-05:00

I have SO much to tell you guys! Seriously, I have ideas running through my head all day to write, but when I finally get to sit down and write them, I can't remember what they are!

Okay, first of all, I've found a LOT of digital scrapbooking stuff lately for FREE & really cheap (just price, NOT quality!)!!! And I found a free editing software that is pretty good. Not to say that one of the more popular softwares that you pay for wouldn't be better, but for free, it's pretty stinkin' good! The software is paint.net.

Now, to the scrapbook stuff sites...

http://freedigitalscrapbooking.com/
http://www.shabbyprincess.com/downloads.asp
http://bellagypsydesigns.blogspot.com/ (she has freebie word art/embellishments at the bottom of every few posts)
http://bygonesscrapbooks.blogspot.com/search/label/Freebies (free misc. scrapbooking items at the end of her posts)
http://blog.captivatedvisions.co.uk/?s=freebie&search=Search (free misc. scrapbooking items at the end of her posts)
http://scrapinfusions.blogspot.com/ (misc. freebies at the end of almost every post, LOTS of alphabets!)
http://www.creationsbyrachaelb.com/wordpress/ (misc. freebies at the end of a lot of posts)
http://jennilyndesigns.com/blog/?cat=3 (she has a few cute freebies)
http://wordartworld.blogspot.com/ (TONS of free word art)
http://aplusdesigns.blogspot.com/search/label/Freebie (Freebies at the end of each post)
http://www.justsoscrappytoo.com/public_html/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6 (This is her freebie section with lots of cute brag books and some add on kits. You do have to set up an account, but it's free)
http://www.justsoscrappytoo.com/public_html/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5 (this is her digital kit page, all of her regular kits -- not bundles -- are $1.50!!!)
http://www.persnicketyprints.com/digifreebies
http://www.oscraps.com/shop/home.php?cat=287&treem=1 (Click on the picture, scroll down and click on the download link. No sign up needed)
http://www.deliciousscraps.com/search/label/Freebies (lots of freebies, not everything is labled as such though, so click on anything you think might be a freebie to see if a download link pops up)
http://www.simplescrapper.com/templates/ (You DON'T have to sign up! Just click on the pictures below the sign up window. BUT, if you do sign up, you can get access to a bunch of free layouts. All it requires is your name and e-mail.)
http://misstiina.com/blog/category/freeeee/ (really cute misc. freebies at the end of blog posts)
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/search.php?mode=search&page=1 (you have to make an account there, but it's free)
http://unleashedscraps.blogspot.com/2010/01/freebie-kit-4-you.html (and entire free kit!!)
http://unleashedscraps.blogspot.com/2009/06/more-freebie-kits.html (several free mini kits)
http://unleashedscraps.blogspot.com/2009/06/freebie-kits.html (six free kits!)
http://unleashedscraps.blogspot.com/2008/07/as-little-girl-i-always-loved-peanuts.html (peanuts stickers!)
http://unleashedscraps.blogspot.com/2008/07/pooh-bear-and-friends.html (pooh & friends stickers!)
http://unleashedscraps.blogspot.com/2008/07/i-thought-these-sketches-were-so-cute.html (dragon stickers)
http://summertimedesigns.blogspot.com/ (LOTS of free beautiful FULL scrapbook kits! There's a list of the kits on the right side of her blog.)

Free Font Sites:

**Bonus Tip: At both of the Kevin and Amanda pages, along with the sugar frog fonts and abecedarienne pages, there is a button for downloading all the fonts at once. HUGE time saver!!!**

If you know of any I haven't added, PLEASE leave the link in a comment! Everyone loves free!

Ok, that's all for today. Hopefully I can get on some more soon and write some more! Have a great day!

Healthy Energy Snacks

2010-08-31T02:19:00.002-05:00

I have a big day of shopping ahead for me tomorrow. My back was acting up today so my planned grocery shopping (with the boys) didn't get done AND I already have plans to go shopping with a girlfriend that afternoon to get supplies for a group we're in. So, I'm definitely going to need some serious snacks packed! Here's some good lists for cheap & easy snacks that are high in energy. I thought I'd share them with you in case I'm not the only one needing some serious energy this week. All the articles I chose either had great selection of food items or had a great description of why these items work.

Fitness Magazine

Essortment

Care 2

CBS Money Watch

Cheat Sheet for Parent's of Toddlers

2010-08-18T18:04:00.000-05:00

In case you sometimes get stuck in ruts of what to do with your toddlers like I do, here's a nice list of ideas!

Cheap and Easy Way to Make Artwork for the Wall

2010-08-18T15:33:00.002-05:00

If you're like me, you want to have a beautiful nursery/toddler room, including artwork on the walls, but can't find any that's cheap enough to suit you. If so, then the thought of making it yourself has also crossed your mind. I found a great video today on how to stretch canvas across a frame that I thought would be perfect for doing with pretty fabric as well. Go here to see the great how to video! Another option is to buy a "used" canvas from a thrift store and stretching fabric across that (if getting it stretched correctly seems intimidating to you). Either way would save you some money and still get you that beautiful room! And of course you could do this for any room in your house depending on the fabric used!

Let me know how it turns out if you try this project (either variation). It's on my long list of things to do, but I will let you know how it goes for me too, whenever I finally get to doing it!

Rockin' Green Giveaway

2010-06-18T14:29:00.000-05:00

There's a giveaway for Rockin' Green (your choice of formula & scent) at the Nicki's Diapers blog.

Laptop Lunch Boxes on Sale at Eco Baby Buys

2010-05-25T14:00:00.001-05:00

Laptop Lunch's Bento Bundle is on sale at Eco Baby Buys for today only (while supplies last). They are regularly $33.99. They are Eco Baby Buys deal of the day today at $19.99. They come in four cute color scemes too! If you've every thought about purchasing these, this is a great deal!

Cooking Tip: Biscuits & Bread Sticks

2010-05-19T11:49:00.000-05:00

Last night I was making biscuits for my husband to take to work today. I rolled out the dough and cut the first batch of biscuits. But as you may or may not know, you aren't supposed to re-roll out the dough to cut more. So what are you supposed to do with the rest of that yummy dough? My choice: to make bread sticks.

I just used a pizza wheel to cut the rest of the dough into strips (after re-rolling it out). I then twisted them and rolled them in Parmesan cheese. I cooked them the same temperature as the biscuits, just for a minute less then the minimum time. Yummy!

New Combined Blog Coming

2010-05-17T01:33:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to figure out what to do with the two parts of the blog for some time now. I put all of the info on the parents & kids section and this part gets neglected. And there's a lot of stuff I want to write that doesn't quite have a place at either of the blogs. I have all these ideas during the day but when I sit down to post them, I can't figure out which place to do it. Most of the time, I end up posting nothing.

I have decided to merge the two blogs. This will become a mom blog about going green in many aspects of life while saving some green. It will contain the same info as before but it will all be in one place, along with other things that were not able to be included before. The one blog will carry the same name as this one, and will be hosted here at this address. Stay tuned for the revamp and more information. Thanks for sticking with me through the downtime.

Eco Lips Giveaway (48 hr.)

2010-02-09T17:34:00.000-06:00

$30 Weekly Grocery Challenge is hosting a 48 hr. giveaway for an Eco Lips Gift Pack. Go here for more info.

Ends: 2/11/10 @ 2 pm

Skoy Cloth Giveaways

2010-01-23T02:46:00.000-06:00

**I found another Skoy Cloth giveaway so I am reposting this with BOTH giveaways**

Familylicious Reviews and Giveaways is giving away TWO 4-packs of Skoy cloths. Go here to enter.
To find out more about Skoy Cloths visit their website.

Ends: 1/30/10 @ 11:59 pm PST

Toddler Mama is also hosting a Skoy Cloth Giveaway. They are giving away ONE 4-pack of Skoy cloths. Go here to enter.

Ends: 2/2/10 @ 11:59 pm EST

Mineral Eye Makeup giveaway!

2010-01-22T01:56:00.001-06:00

Toddler Mama is giving away THREE colors of Orglamix Eye Shadow in your choice of colors. Visit her Etsy shop to find out more about her products and see what she's got. Go here to enter the giveaway!

Giveaway Ends: 1/31/10

Taking a break...sort of

2010-01-20T22:24:00.000-06:00

I haven't writtin much on here lately because I've been more actively writting on the sub section of this blog, Parents & Kids. Go check it out sometime! Right now it's got a lot of giveaways listed on it. To get there, click Parents & Kids Home at the top of this blog.

I'll come back here from time to time to write things that are applicable to non-parents, but right now my focus is on that area of my life.

Have a great day! : )

Flip & Tumble Reusable Bag Giveaway!

2009-12-15T18:59:00.000-06:00

A Giveaway Everyday is giving away a Flip and Tumble ECObag Kit! Go here for more information.

Giveaway Ends: 12/21/09 at 11:59 am EDT.

Wrap-N-Mat Giveaway

2009-09-15T00:33:00.002-05:00

Happily Domestic is giving away a Wrap-N-Mat & a Wrap-N-Mat Snack Pouch! The purpose of these is to replace your baggies with a reusable option. What a great idea!! Go here to find out more info! Click on "Happily Domestic" to enter the giveaway. Ends 9/16/09

Construction Dust

2009-09-14T02:03:00.002-05:00

Please bare with us, this site is still under construction. If you have any problems with glitches, please refresh in a little while and hopefully I will have cleared whatever problems you encounter by then. Hopefully not too much dust will fall on you while you're browsing!

If you have or notice any lasting issues, please let me know by commenting here. Thanks for stopping by! Come back soon!

Subscribe via E-mail

2009-09-14T02:01:00.002-05:00

I have now added the option to subscribe to this blog via e-mail! I personally find this a much easier way to follow a blog then just following them via blogger; although, I enjoy doing that too.

Important note: Now that I have split up the "Parents and Kids" info from the other green info, you will need to follow &/or subscribe to that info seperately, if you would like to be updated on it. Just click on "Parents and Kids" at the top (or bottom) left of the page. You will see the options to follow &/or subscribe on that page.

New Layout & info on "Parents and Kids"

2009-09-14T01:56:00.004-05:00

Now that I have switched over to the new layout, we finally have the option for tabs! Yay! This will make it much easier to find the specific info you are looking for without it all being in one big clump. We now have a "Home" tab and a "Parents and Kids" tab.

The "Home" tab will take you back to this page from any other tab.

The "Parents and Kids" tab will take you to the information specifically for moms, dads, kids, & babies.

I look forward to adding more tabs as the blog expands in the future. Let me know if you think certain info should have it's own tab (ex. "Cloth Diapers" & "Parents and Kids" rather then just "Parents and Kids".)

Under Construction!

2009-09-08T00:48:00.005-05:00

Hey guys!

Ok, so this blog is officially under construction! Yay!

Stay tuned for positive changes and hopefully enhanced usability!

Have a great week! :D

-Christina

BLOG UPDATE: Comment Problems Solved

2009-09-02T17:30:00.003-05:00

I changed the screen you go to when you leave a comment so, hopefully, that should solve the issues some of you are having with leaving comments. This also allows me to include a captcha so I can continue to keep this blog spam free as we grow. I plan to update the blog to a new layout soon, but, in the meantime, this should make this layout more functional.

Have a great day! : D

Make Yourself - Popsicles

2009-08-23T23:42:00.008-05:00

Instead of buying Popsicles in the store, make your own! Obviously, it will save you money, but it also gives you the ability to control what and how much goes in them (Organic, sugar, etc.). Not to mention, it is a good way to keep from wasting food. In our house, wasting fruit is a big problem, since the fruit sits in drawers in the fridge, so it's "out of site, out of mind". This way, if I realize something is going to go bad before we can eat all of it, I can just make up some pops!

Go read this great post with some tips and also some interesting ideas to help you get started and think out of the box in terms of ingredients.

Green Factor:

Can be made with organic produce.
Making them yourself cuts out all the unnecessary fillers.
You can control how much sugar (if any) goes in them resulting in a healthier treat.

Saving Green:

Cheaper to make yourself then buy pre-made.

Homemade/Natural cleaners - Vinegar

2009-08-23T01:12:00.006-05:00

I have been learning about homemade/natural cleaners lately. My current favorite is Vinegar.

My favorite use for it is de-stinking. It works wonders for clothes! I have a bad habit of forgetting about the laundry in the washer OR the wet clothes in the basket waiting to be hung up to dry. The clothes are left smelling mildewy and it takes A LOT of washes to get the smell out. Honestly, most of the time the smell wont completely come out. However, I have been using vinegar to get it out and it works in the first wash! I rewash the clothes with the regular temperature and amount of detergent. Then after they are done washing & rinsing, I turn the washer on for another rinse cycle and throw a downy ball full (not just to the fill line) of vinegar in with it and when they are done they smell like perfectly washed fresh clothes! Don't worry, no vinegar smell is left behind. I have used the same amount of vinegar for a small load of cloth diaper inserts and it worked perfectly!

It also works well for smells on hard surfaces around the house. I had a corner of my house my kitties had decided was their litter box! I used 1 part vinegar to 1 part water in a spray bottle and it got a LOT of the smell out. It would have gotten all of it, I'm sure, if the pee hadn't gotten under the flooring. It will smell like vinegar for a little while, but the smell with go away after a while. I used it on painted walls, baseboards, Pergo flooring, & concrete.

Green Factor: Replaces harsh chemical cleaners

Saving Green: MUCH cheaper then chemical cleaners

Another FREEBIE!

2009-08-14T23:36:00.004-05:00

She's at it again! The Green Bag Lady is doing another giveaway of bags. To learn more about this, go here. :) Sorry, it's late and I'm tired. If I type all that out again, it probably wont make much sense!

If you have already received a bag from her, then go tell someone else about the great freebie! You are only eligible to receive one free bag from her per person.

So go to her post and request one! :)

Re-use Curling Ribbon

2009-08-06T23:35:00.003-05:00

You know the phrase right? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Well, here's a great way to reuse something we would normally throw away. Curling Ribbon.

Go here to find a "how-to" on making some cool looking coasters. I imagine you could make it fit any design scheme depending on what colors you used. Have fun!

Green Bag Lady Bags!

2009-07-30T12:44:00.005-05:00

I got my Green Bag Lady bags two weeks ago tomorrow! They got here pretty quick and we've been using them for every shopping trip instead of plastic. It's been nice! I haven't gotten any pics taken yet, but as soon as I do, I'll post them here. I also made one myself from her pattern. For anyone who hasn't used reusable bags before, they hold a LOT! At least two plastic bags worth! And the cashiers seem to fill them to the brim vs. just halfway full with plastic since they are much stronger.

If you are handy at all with a sewing machine, definitely try out their pattern. It's really easy! There are also videos of her making them to help the visual people a little.

I'll let you know when they are doing another freebie and keep an eye out here for a freebie as well. As soon as I get my bags made and have some extra fabric to work with I plan on doing a freebie of my own!

New Feature!

2009-07-30T04:16:00.002-05:00

Now you can rate my posts by "helpful," "interesting," "too much info.," & "too little info."

This helps me know how I'm doing with providing information to my readers. Please feel free to let me know how I'm doing. No hurt feelings! I am doing this blog half for me and half for you so let me know how I'm doing on your half, please. :)

Make your own reusable pledge/swiffer dusters

2009-07-22T00:26:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I use the swiffer wet jet and was looking up a cloth version of the pads so I don't have to buy the tossable ones anymore. I'm trying to rid myself of all the "one use" items I can. There were a lot of options for those, but I ran across something I hadn't thought of before. You know the swiffer and pledge dusting wand things? The ones with the fuzzy "fingers" sticking out all over? Well, someone came up with a really simple "pattern" for making a reusable "refill" for these. I thought I'd share this here for you guys because it looks so easy that it could probably be hand stitched pretty quickly. Go here for a picture of the first one she made and here for the directions (and a picture of the second one).

Make a few of these and they should be just as easy as the tossable ones. You can just use one, toss it in the hamper, and use another one if need be. Still use and "toss," just not toss into the trash! ;)

Organic Food

2009-07-15T17:23:00.004-05:00

Want to know more about organic food and why it's better for you? Go check this out. It also tells you how you can cut back on the expense by knowing which fruits and vegitables you can buy conventional (not organic).

Better Gas Mileage

2009-07-15T14:22:00.003-05:00

I've been watching "Big Green Lies" on YouTube lately and have really learned a lot. This video is about whether or not we all need to "run out today and buy a hybrid." It's worth watching all the way through (a whole 6:16!), but if for some reason you can't find that kind of time, you can skip to the point by sliding the bar to 4:30.

Update on FREE bag

2009-07-15T13:55:00.004-05:00

Yay! They are going to send me one! If you haven't already done so, go to her site and request a free bag! :) They said they had a good amount of them so you very well may get one.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go here.

Eating at home

2009-07-15T12:50:00.006-05:00

Leanne from Savingdinner.com just sent out one of her weekly e-mails. This one caught my eye because it was talking about saving money by eating at home. Yes, it is a GREAT way to save money! It is also a wonderful way to eat healthier and an easy way to "go green."

When you eat out, you have little control over where your food is grown, how it is grown, & what extra additives are in it. When you cook at home though (and I'm not talking about frozen dinners!), you have a LOT of control over these things. You can chose to buy at a farmer's market to get locally grown fruits & vegetables. Not only does that save emissions of the food being trucked all over the country, it cuts out all that shipping time so you get fresher produce. At the grocery store, you can chose organic instead of traditionally grown. When you make it all from scratch you can control what "additives" (additional flavorings, salt, sugar, etc.) and how much of them are included. And you can completely skip all the extras that are added in commercially processed foods.

Even if you don't make it from scratch, you still have the power of information at the grocery store. You can read the labels and chose brands which are more wholesome.

You have to start somewhere right? So why not start with what not only affects the environment, but also, more importantly, YOU!

Sleep! And save the earth while you're doing it!

2009-07-15T10:36:00.006-05:00

Yes, save the earth while you sleep! Okay, so not really save it! But help!

I thought of a not so commonly thought of way of "going green" last night. Get more hours of sleep! Yes, it is WONDERFUL for your body, but it also keeps you from having the lights on. Think about it, if you usually stay up until midnight, and instead you go to bed at 10 pm, that saves two hours of the lights being on. And not only the lights, but you wont be up to be doing other "electrical" things like cooking (late night snacks anyone?), watching TV, computing, etc. Hey, it might not be much, but every little bit counts right?! ;)

So in case your health wasn't a good enough reason, help the planet! Get more sleep!

Another way to keep good things from the trash & help others at the same time!

2009-07-14T20:47:00.008-05:00

My cousin is at it again! Same site, new GREAT idea! She is starting a donation center out of her home for needy families. She is encouraging people to send food and gently used clothing her way. Of course the clothing needs to be "gently used" (would you want to buy it?) and the food needs to be non-perishable. To find out more info go to her post.

In case you're wondering why this is on a green blog, let me reiterate why I have this blog. I think people view going green as a huge decision you make one day and never go back. I think going green is a gradual process, not something you achieve or arrive at. I challenge you readers to look at the things you throw away on a daily basis and see if you can come up with another use for them. If you can't come up with a new purpose for it, at the very least see if you can recycle it. If your city doesn't have a very good recycling program, I challenge you to ask them to beef it up so you can better take advantage of it. I'll post another time about our city's recycling programs to show you an example of a healthy recycling program.

So go raid those clossets!! :D

FREE & Green!

2009-07-14T02:26:00.007-05:00

What's better then FREE??! Especially when it is something you can actually use and cuts out all those plastic & paper bags. Green Bag Lady's post today is a giveaway of cloth shopping bags for FREE! If you want to know more about the amazing things she does go to her site and read all about her or read my post on her for a short sonopsis.

So go to her site (today's post) and tell her why YOU would love to get a FREE bag from her! :D

Let me know if you win one! :)

I will take a pic of mine and let you know if I win one! :)

Keeping good stuff out of the landfill

2009-07-14T00:52:00.004-05:00

Have "clutter" in your house you'd like to get rid of but hate to throw away a good thing. Fear not, there are other options. Anything you can keep out of the landfill definitely helps!

Got something you think might be worth some money (a lot or a little)? Try listing it on Ebay or Craigslist. I assume everyone knows what Ebay is, but if you've never heard of craigslist, let me explain. Craigslist is sort of like an online yard sale, to the extent you list what you have for sale, the price, take pictures and then someone comes to your house to pick it up. It's not like Ebay where people "bid" on your item and the highest bidder wins; although, people do like to try to talk your price down sometimes. Okay, so maybe the like to do that a lot of times! he he. Like I said, it's like a yard sale. You can meet at a public place though if you don't feel comfortable meeting at your home. You have the option to sell it for a profit, or if you'd rather just get rid of it, you can list it in the free section. Or you could always have an old fasioned yard sale! :)

If you'd rather not sell your stuff and would just like to give it away you have a few options. You can list it on Freecycle and a member will respond if they want it and will pick it up at your house. Freecycle works sort of like Craigslist, except everything on Freecycle is free. Most of what's on Craigslist is for sale. Also, Freecycle updates it's members daily on what's been listed. You can also take it to your local Goodwill or Thrift Store. This is especially a good option if you don't want to wait for someone to contact you and just want the stuff out of your house right away.

By the way, if you have lots of clutter in your house, are feeling overwhelmed by it, and don't know where to start...Visit Flylady! She is very helpful in getting your home (and life) organized and setting yourself free of all that clutter. After all, the more you have, the more you have to clean (more toxins in your home), the less happy you are, and the less you know where stuff is, which results in you buying more (spending "green")! (Which of course just results in more clutter!!!) Yes, it is an endless cycle, unless you make a point to stop it and live differently! You can do it. Go visit her today :) She is awesome!

Saving Money Site

2009-07-13T22:27:00.004-05:00

My cousin started a blog that has links to free things and also tips on saving money. It's still small (it's new) but I'd keep an eye on it if I were you. She seems serious about keeping up on this and has some good stuff on there. Enjoy!

Link to her site: http://www.justalittlemooretolove-mms.blogspot.com/

Would you like to contribute ideas?

2009-07-13T21:06:00.001-05:00

If you'd like your "green" ideas to show up on this blog, then post a comment with your idea to this post. You can also comment your idea to another post, but please make it relevent to that post. I look forward to reading your ideas! Together we can fuel the fire in each other to take care of what we've been given.

Homemade shopping bags & produce bags.

2009-07-13T20:54:00.002-05:00

I have some fabric stacked together waiting to be cut out and sewn into reusable shopping bags. I got the very simple pattern from the green bag lady. If you look to the right side of the page, at the third section down, you will see "Free Patterns" for the bags.

Doing this helps the planet as it replaces all those plastic & paper bags. Doing this myself helps save me money because I can make them for cheaper then I can buy them and can use up some fabric I have laying around.

The produce bags are awesome as well because I don't have to keep using those ones the store provides that just go straight into the recycling bin anyway. I don't have much use for them after I get home. This way I can just toss them in the wash and use them next time!

She is awesome by the way. She gets people's extra fabric and makes it into these bags. She then gives them away to people for free (one per person) on the condition that they must use them in place of paper or plastic. She also takes the scraps and makes dog/cat beds and gives them to shelters. Like I said, awesome! :D

Why I started this blog

2009-07-13T19:22:00.001-05:00

I decided to start this blog because I have been making little steps to "go green" & also save money for a while now. I've been doing this many ways. I think being "green" is something we can all improve on every day. It's not something you are or aren't. It's something you work towards. So through this blog I want to share the little steps I've taken to help my family make wiser decisions with our natural resources and also to save us money.

I think it is a misconception that being "green" has to cost you more money. Yes, there are certain things you could do that would cost you more, but there are also many things you can do that wont.

I encourage you to share the little things you've done. I don't think anything is too small. Every little step helps. It changes your thinking, the more "green" things you do, the more you begin to re-think other things you are doing.