Hello, I hope I can be of help and make things a little easier on you as you are cleaning up your house for Thanksgiving.  (I mean, we can not let others know how we really live! He He)  I have some great FREE resourses for you so lets get started.

First, the Mayflower, you can access the directions for this by clicking here or go straight to the webpage here (the best way to print this is to move your curser over the cutout, right click & hit the print picture rather than just print the whole page.)

You can visit The Toy Maker (click here) and find napkin holders, cut out 3-d turkeys & pilgrims, photo frames, place cards, and some other really nice & cute cut outs.   Another cut out turkey can be found here.

Now I have an absolutly incredible site for you.  This is an interactive "thingy" about the pilgrims, their voyage over, how they lived in comparision to the indians, how the children lived, their daily lives;, the first Thanksgiving feast; I can not begin to tell you everything. It is presented in short segments that you can read or hit the speaker icon and hear the story being told to you by various kids.  A word of warning: if you are on dial up, don't bother fustrating yourself with this.  You can access the main home page by clicking here.

And of course, how can you discuss the Mayflower, without the Mayflower Compact. You can read it by clicking here.

If you are into crafty things or need something for the little ones to do, I have a link to a page with a list (and links) to any and every Thanksgiving Day craft I could thing of.  You can access it by clicking here. I also found a really cute Thankful Thanksgiving Day craft for any age; click here.

Now here is a lapbook on Thankfullness. You can get that by clicking here. You can download a free Thanksgiving Day lapbook at CurrClick by clicking here (you have to go through checkout but do not worry, you do not have to put in a credit card number.)

Well, this should keep you busy.  Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. We are getting ready to smoke a turkey, ham & beef briskett.  Yeah, we have a lot of people coming this year. But I was smart.  I asked everyone to bring one traditional side, one new side of their liking, one bread, and one dessert.  Translation: since the hubby is doing the smoker, all I have to do is clean the house and make coffee.  He he. I am good!

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Ok, many of us have  children of varying ages and maturity levels.  When we are at the museums and see something we really  want our teens to see or we really, really want to see ourselves, we generally have two choices: missing out or praying our younger children do not really get it. I have a solution that might work for you.

Here in SC, the state museum has an exhibit put on by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum called Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race.  In their own words, “the exhibit traces the journey of eugenics from its start as a scientific concept in the late 19th century to its deadly use by Nazi Germany as a justification for the sterilization and murder of millions of people. Viewer discretion is advised. “  As a matter of fact, when I was at the museum picking up the info, the curator looked at my kids and pointed to the younger ones and HIGHLY advised me not to take them in to that exhibit.  I told him I wasn’t I was just getting info. 

Well there are many mothers out there who in the same boat.  Here is the solution we came up with: tag team.  Get a group or just one other mother and go to the museum (ps most museums have free or deeply discounted prices with current homeschool IDs)  While some of the mothers are taking the kids through the other parts, the moms & teens can go in groups of two or more and go through the exhibit.  This way, no one misses out but you do not expose kids to something you do not think they are ready for. 

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This is one of the most favorite recipes I post every year about his time ...judging by the emails I get. 

Well, it is starting to get chilly.  (unless you happen to live in SC where the four seasons are almost summer, summer, still summer and Christmas; none of which are cold)  With all of the left over chocolate bars from Trick or Treating I thought I would share my recipe for homemade Hot Chocolate.  We usually make this on Christmas Eve in my house.  Now I warn you, this is NOT low fat in any way shape or form. So it goes without saying, this is probably the tastiest recipe known to mankind.

Hot Chocolate

1 Chocolate bar per person (Hershey’s is still the best) or a hand full of Hershey's kisses

1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream per person

sprinkle of cinnamon for garish (optional)

Pour the cream into a heavy sauce pan.  Heat slowly over med heat.  If it starts to scorch, remove from heat.

Chop up the candy bars (in a food processor works best).

Add to the cream and use a whisk to stir it in.  It should only take a minute to melt the chocolate.  

Pour in a cup and enjoy.  You can sprinkle on some cinnamon or put in a candy cane. 

Lastly, if you drink more than 1 cup a day for a week, avoid the scale for a week or two.  MMMMMMMMM Oh, Yeah, that is good.

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With Thanksgiving Day coming up, I wanted to share a great resource with you.  I found this a couple of years ago and I can not tell you how great this works!!!    This little book is incredible. But do not let the title Primer fool you. This is for adults as well.

It has a complete history of the American tradition,  a section of the Pilgrims as people, recreating a Separatist Service, the manners of the time and recipes from that time period (ps they probably did not have turkey on the menu), the real way they dressed and charts of all garments worn (if you are good at sewing you can easily make these), Pilgrim games, what the children did and something else I love.  They have a traditional picture of the first Thanksgiving meal with the Pilgrims and Indians. The author then goes through and tells everything that is wrong.  There is also a list of the passengers on the Mayflower.  There are great pictures & drawings. This Primer is a “complete guide to re-creating the first harvest festival for your family, friends or church.”

There is also a package deal here that includes a hardback reprint of William Bradford’s own diary which if very enlightening. If you can swing it, I highly recommend it.  You can see in their own words why the Pilgrims came to the New World.  No, it was not for religious freedom.  But I will be doing a post on that closer to Thanksgiving. I am also going to get some free resources up for Thanksgiving, but I have to be honest, I think this book beats anything out there.   

This book is only $6  but well worth it.  Like I said, I have used it quite a bit in this year and for the years to come. If you order it now, you should get it in time for Thanksgiving.   Now before I give you the web address here is my disclaimer.  I am an affiliate of Vision Forum who sells this book.  If you click on the Vision Forum icon in my side bar they will pay me a percentage of your purchase (no charge to you).  If you click on the link here, I will receive no pay. This is a direct link.   I really think this book would be of great use to so many out there that I do not want anyone to think I am recommending it so I can make money.  I want no one to be able to say Mrs. Dani is dishonest. 

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I have some wonderful FREE resources for you today. But first, I encourage you to attend the Veteran’s Day parade in your nearest city.  I know it will be at 11 am.  How to I know that? Out of tradition for the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, ending WWI was signed at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Military.com has a wealth of info form the history, to things you can do to links for Veterans.  You can access that info by clicking here. You can go to  this site  and/orthis site to find out the history of Veteran's Day.

This is a 4th of July site but there are some great printable flags & pinwheels.  You can click here for that.

Now here is the free lapbook from CurrClick.  You do have to go through checkout but it does not require any kind of credit card info.  This is an incredible that site that gives away a lot of free stuff (my favorite kind).  You will be signed up for a newletter that lets you know about freebies.  You can access that by clicking here. I have mine printed up and ready for the kids to do tomorrow.  I also have pictures of some of the Veterans in our family printed up to put in it.  (you can meet one of them, a true hero by reading last year's post, here)

Now some extra clipart for the above lapbook or any notebooking .

For the military branch seals, click here. 

Now at this site (click here) scroll down on the page and you will see links to more military clipart than you knew existed.  You will also find some really cool clipart here. 

Well, this should get you started.  I wanted to get this up early in the week so it would give you time to design and print up what you need.  Again, please make plans to attend the parade.

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Anyway, I found a great free toy for her. Our church goes through a lot of soda.  We do not buy carbonated sugar except on rare occasions.  I generally get the bottles for free and use them for gardening purposes.  I will do a post on that another time. Anyway, I was cleaning them when the cap fell to the floor. The kitten went nuts.  She loves chasing the caps across the floor, pawing them and boy is it funny when she skids them under the stove and cant reach them. She sits there meowing as loud as possible until someone gets it or gives her another one.  Imagine, my kids insisted on paying $4 for a stuffed mouse and $2 for a jingling ball and the cat loves the free stuff!   Ok, maybe this kitten may work out well in the family after all.

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Tis the season to save up to 80% off of fans for the summer….and winter energy bills.

Have I got a great tip & deal for you today!  Here in the south fans are a necessity in the summer to help keep homes cool but did you know they help keep your house WARM too. Heat rises so when you are heating your home a lot of the warm air is hanging around the ceiling!  By having the fan on low you can cycle the warm air down helping to save on your energy bill in the winter as well as the summer.   PS  In warm weather the fan should be going counterclockwise and in the winter it should be going clockwise. Took me forever to get that straight. 

Anyway, my nieces wanted some fans for their rooms. As you can see from the pic they are pretty and pink with flowers and butterflies.  These are both Hunter fans; the industry leader and most quiet you can buy-translation: the best but expensive.  Side note: five or more blades are the quietest.

These generally run $90 each.  Not too bad as far as Hunter fans go.  But by waiting until this time of year we were able to pick these up for…..drum roll please………$30 each. That’s right we paid less for both of the fans than for one by waiting until the end of the season!

Now is the time to pick these up for your homes.  If you ever wondered if these make a difference....trust me they do ( we have 6 in our house)!  So check out your local home improvment stores and see what deals they have!  Also, if you are buying more than two, sometimes you can get a manager to make you a deal!

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Ok, back to Wal-mart.  I found a clearance cart in the diary section with all of the McCormick spices on them.  I stocked up on Allspice, Cinnamon sticks, dried Oregano (in case I was not able to dry enough from my garden this year), Garlic Salt, Cayenne Pepper, even Vanilla Extract and so many others.  I generally pay anywhere from $2.34 to $4.20 a bottle.  This time I got bottles for $.85 to $1.25 a bottle!  Yes, you read that right.  Spices kept in dark cool places (think the bottom drawer of the fridge.) will last at least a year or so.   If you do a lot of baking for the holidays, now is a great time to stock up! We use a lot of Oregano in our home so I bought several bottles!!!

 Good spice hunting!

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Last week we went camping with some friends.  We were not at the camp ground for an hour when a kitten decided my wheel well was a great place to hang out.  Yeah, a lot of you see where this is going.  She hung out there the entire time sneaking out to steal our buddies’ dog’s food and run back under the tire and into the motor.  On the last day, we had to get her out of the motor.  With 9 kids (I think. I lost count after 5) and five adults we literally fished her out with a net.  We took her to the grounds keeper who asked us to please take her. The dirty look I gave him was not befitting of a Christian.  It turns out a lot of people think a camp ground is a great place to dump kittens & cats.  How terrible! Fine, I understand you do not want them but do not dump them somewhere. Anyway, the kids begged their father (they knew better than to try to beg me) to keep him.  Well, he relented and boy is he in trouble.

But I digress.  The kitten had fleas of course.  I used my Aunt Janice’s old home remedy.  The vet agreed.  She hates the chemical stuff sold over the counter at Wal-mart or other retailers and advise against using them. Have you even read what is in these things?  This tip I am about to share with you works better and is safe for the kids. Take a bar of pure Ivory soap.  Yes, the bath soap you get 3 bars for a $1.  Also, it has to be Ivory.  Sorry, Irish Spring, love ya but you will not work.  Anyway, soap up your animal and with tweezers, and then pick off any fleas you see crushing them with the tweezers.  The soap will kill or at the very least slow down the fleas.  Concentrate on the areas under their legs (for lack of a better term, armpits) tails, neck under their chin, around the ears and face.  This will take bit of time, but it will be well worth it.

Ok, I have to go clean out the bathroom and remind the kids to clean out the kitty litter box.  Those of you who know me are laughing their rears off about this kitten but I am battling a sick stomach over this.  Sigh.  Well, at least the kids are happy.  

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I held on to mine even though many of my kids are too old to use them.  I use them at night to hold cold water when the kids are sick.  Sometimes, especially around flu & cold season which we are suffering through, a child can use a sip of cold water but of course you would not dare leave a cup in their bed and we know while they are half asleep there is a good chance of knocking a glass off the bed stand and it would be nice to get at least one extra minute of sleep without the usual, “ Mommy! I’m Thirsty!” .  These sippy cups (though the child is too old) are nice because they can have a sip of water, not spill it in bed and if you nestle it in the stuffed animals on the bed, it will stay colder longer.  

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So I was thinking about this the other day when I noticed my crock pot. Ok, so any of you who have been following this blog know I am always on the lookout for great, easy crock-pot meals.  Now, while I know there are a lot of great recipes out there, but so many of them call for special ingredients.  While I know they are great I just do not have the time, energy, or patience to find exotic ingredients nor do I have the money for two pages long of ingredients.

I found a great site with some really (and easy) crock pot meals.  These can be made the night before and ready in the morning.  Also a great plus if you are heading out early in the morning for a day of field trips. These are recipes with eggs, cheese, potatoes, oatmeal and the like.  In other words, normal.

What is also great is all of these are so versatile.  You can easily cut these in half or double or triple the recipe depending upon the size of your family.  Plus you can add or take out ingredients depending upon your family’s taste buds.    

You can find the site at http://www.thatsmyhome.com/slowcooker/breakfast.htm

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Yep, you read that right. The flu has hit our home.  The regular not the piggy kind that everyone is freaking out about. The hubby came home from work with it.  Now I am trying desperately to keep myself and the kids and the grandparents and the great-grandparents from getting it.  Sigh; not holding out much hope.  Well, at least the turtles and dogs cant get it...can they?  Drat, where is the vet's phone number?

So I may be scarce for the next week.  Hope all of you are keeping well! 

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So I googled Popeil recipes and found this great recipe book for pasta.  You can make basic, whole wheat, Basil Garlic, Beet, Spinach, Carrot, Cilantro, Tomato, spiced and even chocolate pasta! These are sooooo easy to make with ingredients available pretty much at any store.   There are 32 pages of recipes.  You can access it by clicking http://jimspages.com/Pasta.pdf.  A word of warning; this is a pdf file (have to have acrobat) You should print this out or save it to your computer if you intend to use this a great deal. I have sent out this warning before. You never know how long something will stay up on the web. 

Ps. If you need the instructions to the Popeil Ronco Pasta maker you can access that by clicking here.  Again, print out or save to your computer.  I have noticed this link being active one day and inactive the next.

So be on the look out at the next garage sale or your buddies house when they are getting rid of stuff. You will love having this around! 

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I have an incredible tip that I learned just last night!  I saved over $30 on my order for checks!!!

Now I do not keep enough in my checking account (dude, I don’t have enough to keep) to qualify for those higher level checking accounts that have discounted or free checks plus I only order checks every 2 years or so (this time it was 2 ½ years this time).  The bank is too expensive for me.  Sorry, I love my bank but can not afford it.  I have to order from Checks Unlimited because they are almost half the price of the bank.  (ps if you know of a cheaper company, please let me know in the comments section)

So I was on the phone last night ordering checks.  Now the problems we have is there is a 4 box minimum per order and because of the amount of people that write checks off of our account we have to have duplicate checks;  Tried before without them with disastrous results (it was only a $14 difference) .  Now with nothing else fancy the bill came to ……..drum roll…..$101!!!  I gasped and said that is insane. I apologized to the lady on the phone but told her I could not possibly afford that and I would have to call my bank and try to work something out. She asked me to wait just a second. 

After reviewing the “extras”  that I was lead to believe were free; check fraud protection (my bank handles that), check shield (not sure what that was) ,  $15 handling fee (again, not sure what that covers), the charge to even process the order (What!? Is it not enough I ordered from them?), and some other stuff (no idea yet what the charges were for)……the final saving was over $30!  I find that ridiculous.  I know it has been over 2 ½ years since I ordered checks but I do not have anything fancy or extra (with the exception of the duplicate that I explained is necessary for this family.) 

So do not be afraid to say something about the price!  Now I was nice but made no bones about it that the price was way too much for me to pay.  You never know if they will make you a deal.

Another way to save money is to try to pay your bills online.  You will save a lot of money by not wasting a check and a stamp to mail it. Like I said I have not had to order checks in over 2 ½ years!  It may take some time to sign up with each company but it is worth it.  I created a folder in my favorites and save the websites I use to pay bills in it; electric, school loan, car insurance, phone, everything but my house mortgage.  It takes me less than 5 min to pay my bills (when I have the money that is).  Hint: just keep a piece of paper next to your computer with a chart of the company, sign on name and password. Also, if your bank has a free Visa check card use it….this is NOT a credit card (do not believe in those nor do I have any) that removes money from your checking account.  Use it when you can for groceries and other purchases.

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Ok, I have a really neat little quick tip for you today.  Have you ever had to use steel wool to clean out a pan or stove pan or whatever, only to find it has already rusted and you only used it the day before.  Not to mention it left a rust stain on your sink?  While this stuff is cheap, it is still annoying none the less.

I picked up this tip from a buddy of mine.  When you are done using the pad, rinse it out well and shake a bit.  Put in a small Ziploc bag and put in your freezer.  This prevents it from rusting.  You don’t even have to thaw it out to use it!  I have been using the same steel wool pad for close to a year now! Once it wears out, throw it away!  You will never have to deal with rust stains on your sink or counter again!

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Good Morning!  I hope everyone is getting ready to have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.  A lot of you may be getting ready to harvest your gardens.  For a newbie like myself who had to teach herself how to can, I thought I would share an invaluable resourse I found via the web.  This site has step by step instructions, videos, recipes and all kinds of great stuff. 

The site is from the Ball company; leader in canning supplies.   The site is at http://www.freshpreserving.com/ The site is really easy to navigate.

Another great book that was just a great help to me was the Ball Blue Book of Preserving.  Wal-mart carries it for around $7; well worth the money. 

A word of warning to newbies like myself: Be careful using old books about canning (I inheritted many old cookbooks) the procedures have improved a great deal in the last 20 years.  You would be wise to invest the money in a new book.

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Special note: also call around.  The CVS pharmacy near me only has stuff at 50% off. I was near my parents and stopped into theirs.  I told them I wanted some of the fold up chairs but they were marked at $14.99.  I asked if they would give them to me at the price of the other CVS.  The manager said yes, but then she said, no. They were even less because the computer already had the merchandise marked down!  Don’t be afraid to ask for a lower price! If you want to save money, do not be timid!

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I have always loved old photographs.  I was fortunate enough to inherit several tin types from my family including one that has been hand colored.  These are always so very pretty but horribly expensive.  However, these are so easy to do your self. No really! I am serious. I made them of my children and hung them in the hall by my front door.   I can not tell you how people have been at my house commenting on them.  They all are amazed I did them myself.  I have been told they looked like they were professionally and expensively done.  I posted these instructions several years ago but have had so many requests for instructions that I thought I would repost this.

Plus with Christmas coming up, these make an incredibly beautiful, easy, quick & cheap gifts to make. 

 All you need to do is pick a photo to do.  Try to make sure there is not a lot of black in the photo.  Take it and get a photo copy done.  Do NOT scan into your computer and print on an ink jet printer.  The paper will get wet and the photo will run; I know this from personal experience. Wow, talk about a mess!

Take the photo and with a pink color pencil, very lightly color in any skin tone of the person in the photo.  Then take watercolor paints, the kind your kids use, and pick one color.  A bit of a side note: if you try to do more than one color on a person it does not look good.   If you are doing a scenery, try to stick with just 2 or 3 colors depending upon the size of your photo.  If you look at the antique ones, you will see they generally only used one color.  Less is more in this case. Again, I know this from personal experience; I ruined a photo or two. 

Only paint one item.  In the case of the ones for my children, I only painted the main outfit they were wearing.  Leave everything else just as it is. 

I bought several black, scroll work frames from my local Dollar Tree for a buck a piece. Framing them in black frames seem to be the prettiest; to me anyhow.  I would stick with a solid somewhat plain frame so it will not interfere with the beauty of the picture.  As I have said before, let your own tastes or décor be your guide. (our décor tends to be more “lived in” instead of modern or French Provincial)

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My kids are starting to really get into lapbooks, thanks to my buddy Chrys. (p.s. free lapbook & notebooking resources coming soon)  I am going to share my way to store them and other ways my buddies use.  Please share what you do as well.

 First, find some of those plastic magazine holders that you slide the magazine into and then you can put it into a 3-ring binder.   You can get them cheap at most office supply stores, and a lot of stores stocked up on school supplies probably have them about now.

Now they have a slit in the middle that the magazine slips through in the middle.  The manila folders are actually too big to slip through.  Cut open the top part, slid the folder in and then on the back of the lapbook, use packaging tape and secure the folder to the magazine holder.  Now you can slip it in to the binder easily and the kids can access it anytime they want to read it.

 Now another buddy of mine uses masking or painters tape to create an edging that she can punch three holes in it to put into a binder. 

 Another mother I know puts the holes in before they do the lapbook.  I personally do not like this because it limits some of the space for the kids designing their layout. Plus, if you put them in a 3-ring binder, they will not open all the way to read them.  That is just me. 

Also, anything you use to store magazines will also work great, especially those that allow you to flip through them. You can read my post on how to get them free magazine holders by clickinghere.

And of course anything used to store office file  folders will also work.

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• Be written by a committee whose head says he doesn't understand it.
• Be passed by a Congress that hasn't read it (but exempts themselves from it).
• Be signed by a president who smokes (and also hasn't read it).
• Have funding administered by a treasury chief who did not pay his taxes.
• Be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese.
• Be financed by a country that is nearly broke.

What could possibly go wrong?

Am I missing anything?

As much as I wish I could take credit for this, this came from the Patriot Post - a free newsletter that you can sign up for at http://www.patriotpost.us/subscribe.php

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For the garden, you can cut off the stand and mount it upside down on four poles and make a gazebo out of it.  If you plant ivy or another type of crawling plant, it looks so beautiful. No one will guess what it was originally.

For those of you into paintball. A friend of mine who is REALLY into it, said these make great paintball bunkers.  You can flip these over a stack of wood, or drape an old parachute or whatever you use to make a blind.  I was told it was great because of the mesh.  She has a friend who made a whole field of these. 

If any of you out there has anymore ideas, PLEASE share them in the comment section.  I would love to hear of some other interesting ideas for reusing these things.

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We all have magazines and papers we want to keep a while, but organizing them can be a pain.  The magazine holders, both plastic or cardboard are great but can be expensive.  I have a way to get some for free, but you must do it now.

The stores' school supplies should be pretty cleaned out by now.  If you live where school starts later, wait until two weeks after the start date for this. Go to the shelf where the folders are, or were.  There should be many cardboard holders, most empty by now (if they are not empty, do not just put them on the shelf, put them in another holder).  If you pick up a couple with your other purchases , and ask a clerk or at the checkout if you can just have them, they will always say yes!!!! Remind them it will be less for them to throw away.  You can cut the side a bit to show the spine of the magazine if it is a thick one or just keep it the way it is and flip through the magazines. 

You can decorate them by covering them in contact paper or use your imagination.  They fit just perfectly on book shelves.....and best of all it was FREE!!!!!

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Well, I have to say I am surprised.  I did not think they would print my letter!  If you get ahold of paper today, Thurs. August, 3, mine is the first letter.  (or you can click here and read her online)  It is signed Vigilant Mom in SC...Actually that is not how I signed my letter. I actually used Mrs. Dani. My guess is they thought that was my real name instead of a nickname. Anyway, you can see my post about the orginal letter from June 12 by clicking here. You can also see where they took out some of my more forceful language.  I guess they had to edit for space.

Wow! who would have guessed!

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Just got wind of a great new freebie today.  Not sure how long this will stay up so you need to get it now. This is an incredible FREE download. It has so many great things with it!  I think it has over 30 mini books in it as well as a wealth of info. I just finished downloading mine!

Found out about it at The Sun Porch (hope on over and enjoy a cup of cocoa).  It is a $21 value from CurrClick and Live & Learn Press. You can click here to go to the page.  After you put it in your cart (make sure the price is still 0.00. This may only be good for one day!) and when you get to the payment page, dont bother filling anything out, just hit the continue button. A link will be emailed to for downloading! It is that simple. In less than 5 min I had ordered, checkout, and downloaded it!

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I have a small file folder holder on a shelf.  Each child has a folder with their name on it.  I have one for subjects everyone takes part in or for info from field trips we take. I have a folder for our membership papers for our homeschool groups and one for the HomeSchool Legal Defense Association.  At the end of the week, we decide which work to keep and they are IMMEDIATELY filed away or thrown away.  At the end of the year when we do our Yearbook Notebook, these examples of work are put in the book.  There is no daunting task of going through piles of paperwork to decide what to keep. By taking a little time each week, you will save yourself A LOT of time, aggravation, and space at the end of the school year.  Start NOW and it will not be difficult to keep it up.

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Ohhhh, I have a great tip for you today that I just learned about a few days ago myself. I was up at Lowes getting some paving sand for laying some slate slabs for a fire pit.  I had to employ the help of an employee because the bags are too heavy for me. He was helping me figure out how many bags I needed. Now a 5 lb bag was a little over $4. He asked if I would like a recovery bag for a discount.  I asked him what that was. When a bag of soil, mulch, sand, whatever breaks, the store will scoop up as much as it can and put into a clear bag and throw back on the pile.  Generally, they will scoop up anywhere from ¾ of the bag to almost the full amount. Now he gave me both bags for….drum roll….$1 a piece!!!! So I got almost 2 full bags, $8.45 worth, for only $2!!!! A great deal! Instead of spending the $12 I expected to spend, I spent only $6. 

So next time you are at home improvement stores or even Wal-mart, look or ask for recovery bags!  It can save you a ton of money, plus the store still makes some money instead of just throwing it away!

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A lot of people are into the Build-a-Bears.  Now the stuffed animals themselves are really not that expensive.  They have many that run about $10 and if you ask your friends who get the Good Housekeeping or Family Fun magazines or the like to be on the look out for the $5 coupons they have in them every few months , your children can have a really fun time making their own animal.  What is really expensive is the clothing and accessories.   Never fear, I have several ways to help you save a little to A LOT of money.

1. Look for clearance in the baby clothes section of Wal-mart or where ever you shop. The newborn size fits the bears perfectly.  I got an outfit for one of my kids the other day for $2; it would have cost over $10 at the Build-a-Bear store.  Or better yet, hit the yard sales!  You can get some REAL bargains there.  Special note: the 0-3 months dresses will be the length of ball gowns for the bears.

2. Sign up for the free Build-a-Bear Stuff for Fluff club and give the card to your friends when they go to Build-a-Bear. For every $100 spent, you get a $10 gift card.  I can not afford to take the kids to purchase clothes, obviously.   I have several friends who do. So I ask them to scan MY card at the register which they generally are happy to do for me.  I have earned $30 in free stuff so far this year alone doing this! You can do it in the store or click here.

3. Sign up for the Free Build-a-Bear birthday club when you sign up for the Fluff for Stuff program. You can sign up every member of your family and a month before they birthday they get a gift card for $5 mailed to them!

4. Sew your own! At this website (click here) you can find the instructions to make your own patterns!  Or you can use the same patterns for the 18” American Girl dolls.  This makes a great sewing class project.

5. And of course, check ebay!!!! You can always find some great deals!  There was a special outfit two of my nieces wanted.  I signed up for my ebay account to email me daily when anything new was posted under Build-a-Bear clothes.  I found an auction with the two outfits plus several more items.  Over $70 worth of Build-a-Bear stuff for a buy-it-now of $18 with $4 shipping!!! Talk about a great deal!  Just be forewarned if you have never ebayed before. Be sure to check the sellers’ feedback. I generally do not bid on anyone who is under 100% positive. Better yet, find a friend that ebays and have them sit down and help you out.

Be on the lookout for deals. You can come up with some really unique & beautiful items for your bears for not a lot of money. One of my niece’s friends made her a pioneer dress for a birthday gift and it was the most ooohhhhed and aaahhhed over gift! Everyone was impressed! 

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Anyway, I have shared recipes before with you that generated a lot of great responses (mainly in the form of thankful emails).  My recipe for only two ingredients for a roast can be found by clicking here.  Also, this month I shared my tips for converting almost any recipe for use in a crockpot. (you can see that post by clicking here.)  I found a great chicken recipe at 5 Kids and a Dog.  She usually has some great stuff.  A while back she has a great recipe for a crock pot chicken. The link is here. Because links go down I am posting the recipe here but please note this is NOT mine. I do not take credit for what is not mine. 

This recipe is very versatile and forgiving.  My mother did not have some of the spices called for so she just substituted what she had in her cupboard (I did the same) and both chickens came out just beautifully.  You can add the spices you like the best and leave out the ones you do not like!

Roasted Sticky Chicken

Note: I do not count spices as ingredients because you generally have those on hand

1 Tb. garlic salt
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. red pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. black pepper
1 large roasting chicken

optional:
1 cup chopped onion (I leave this out. We have no onion fans in our household)

 Clean & dry chicken.

Mix all seasons and rub all over the chicken (don’t forget the cavities)

Put in the pot & DO NOT add any liquid.  Yeah, this step made me and my mother wonder about it, but it turned out beyond delicious.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until it falls off the bone.

I will save the left overs for my leftover soup (click here to see it)

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These things have a lot of great uses.  I am going to share just a few of our family’s that helps save money and aggravation.  Please, if you have some of your own, do not hesitate sharing them in the comments section.

Compost holder- these are great to have in the kitchen for your organic scraps with the tight fitting lid & when they get nasty, you can just replace it with a different one. The size makes them easy to stash under the sink and the handle makes it soooo easy to carry and dump in the garden.

Painting & Staining – With the air tight lid, this is great for transporting paint from one end of the house to the other. It is great to store paint in when between coats or projects.  In our case, we are having to seal up the wood on a tree house & swing set and each child can easily carry one to the area they have to paint without spilling it….hopefully.

Fish tank- I will use these to put the filters from the aquariums in to transport them to the trash so I do not have dirty fish or turtle water dripping all over my floors.

Motor oil or whatever – the mechanics in the family will use these after they are cleaned out to store various liquids from parts that are being worked.  This way if whatever they drained is still usable, they can save it and put it back into the motor.

Science – I have transported countless bugs, water samples, shells, leaves, you name it home in these. I always keep one in the car.

Shovel / sand toy – you can cut the opening wider and use as a great shovel.  We used this once when a car leaked some oil and we scooped up the soil in it and took it to the local disposal site.

Craft, toy, manipulatives or anything small Storage – you can easily tape a label on them and they stack very neatly in a small space.

Camping/Fishing/Hunting – these are great dry storage for toilet paper & other toiletries. Plus, the handle makes carrying a breeze.

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