Category Archives: Frugal Finds

Frugal Finds

Exfoliate!

I whipped up some homemade Vanilla Brown Sugar Scrub for Elliott’s preschool teacher, Miss Linda, as part of her end-of-the-year thank you gift.

It’s the easiest thing ever.

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup regular sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

6 drops vanilla extract

That’s it!

Pour oil into a clear glass container, then add the sugars and vanilla.

Stir.

That’s it!

I found the recipe here. {It calls for equal parts oil and sugars, but I bumped up the oil by 1/4 cup…too dry otherwise}

Dollar Tree had these cute little glass jars.

I had the oil, sugars and vanilla and leftover zebra ribbon from her party.

Easy. Peasy.

I added a little plastic spoon to make it easy to stir up and scoop before use.

Looking forward to trying the peppermint one for Christmas!

Fashion, Food, Frugal Finds

Bicentennial, Brie, Big Blue & Bling!

This is my 200th post!

Almost 7 months of blogging and 200 entries.

Guess I have more to say that I thought I did!

A HUGE thank you to all who follow along ~ I am super appreciative and look forward to the next 100 with all of you.

*****

This afternoon we tried some fantastic new burgers on the newest addition to the family, Big Blue!

We’ve been without a grill since we moved to the Bay Area almost 5 years ago!

Now that we’re back in So Cal, being without a grill is uncalled for.

A good ‘ol fashioned Weber charcoal grill.

That’s what Jay wanted.

They scare me…but perhaps I will learn how to use it.

Looking forward to grilling some pizzas this summer.

But, getting back to the burgers…

Again, these burgers were wandered upon here on this mouth-watering blog.

Brie & Shallot Parisian Burgers

They’re tres magnifique.

I cheated and used 2T worcestershire sauce in place of the beef broth. I also used 90/10 ground beef.

Two ready to go and two waiting for the tops:

Next time I have to figure out how to crimp the edges better, but how good do these look:

Brie oozing EVERYWHERE!

Pardon the iceberg…I forgot the arugula at the store.

I made a little garlic aioli, too.

I also hollowed out the kaiser rolls a bit before toasting. The burgers sat nicely in the little hole and less carbs!

Oh, but I guess the aioli makes up for that….

These burgers are super filling and the 1.5 pounds of meat makes 4 so we’ll have them again for lunch tomorrow.

I served them with Sun Chips and watermelon.

*****

I heard about the $1 flip flop sale at Old Navy today and was up bright and early to run other errands.

Then I realized I’d be over by O.N. and decided to pick up a couple pairs of cheap flops and try my hand at “blinging” them out a bit.

I then went to Michael’s and grabbed some E-6000 glue and Kohl’s for some little earrings to add-on and embellish them a little.

It’s not much, but they turned out pretty cute:

I like using earrings because you can just poke them down in the little thingy that goes between your toes and then douse with some E-6000 and you’re good to go.

Now that I know how easy it is, I’m going to perk up some Havaianas next!

*****

Fashion, Frugal Finds

Thrifty Thursday

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Holden & I went to TJ Maxx this morning while Elliott was at school.

Wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but since I’m always buying clothes for the kiddos, I was mostly in “ME” mode.

Right off the bat I found a cute Roxy tank in the Junior’s section (shocker….it fits believe it or not!) for $10. Super cute ~ racerback.

After checking out the Kids/Toy section and peeling Holden away, I waltzed past the clearance dress rack only to find a gorgeous orange dress….with a spaghetti strap halter look that I just love!

I normally don’t try stuff on when I have the kids with me, but I HAD to see if this beauty fit.

Holden is still whining to go back to the toy department and trying to climb out of the cart as we arrive at the dressing rooms. The woman gives him the number to hold and we go into the handicapped room. No sooner do I strip down and he bolts out under the curtain. I’m standing there yelling at him to come back in and the dressing room attendant says, “Don’t worry…I’ll watch him.” Um…..OK, but since I don’t trust ANYONE anymore these days I step out there in my bra, orange dress up around my waist and finish getting into it right out in the front where everyone is checking in! Whatevs….gotta do whatcha gotta do.

The nice woman zipped me up and….the dress fits like a glove.

I am so pleased! Now I have a couple options for Elliott’s graduation and dance recital.

$15 people!

Here is the EXACT dress:

Love, love, love it!

Now for some beautiful sandals to go with…

…and a good strapless bra!

Frugal Finds, Funnies

Preschool Going On High School & Vinegar!

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Last night Elliott asked me:

“When I go to Kindergarten am I going to have a locker?”

Oh dear…one step at a time, Sweetheart, one step at a time!

Let’s start out with learning to read, first!

*****

Did you know that it’s super easy to clean your coffee maker?

That’s what I’m doing this morn…

…the coffee’s tasting a bit “off” lately and we can’t have that!

So, if you think you need a new coffee maker, try this first.

How to Clean a Coffee Maker

All you need is vinegar & water and about an hour.

Here’s to a Saturday starting off with fresh, STRONG & flavorful coffee!

*****

This weekend’s recipes: Taco Soup & Jalapeño Spiked Cornbread and Sesame Peanut Noodles

Family, Fashion, Frugal Finds

Thriving Thursday

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Even though Holden was at the edge of our bed at 5:46am holding a diaper and wipe just waiting patiently for me to open my eyes, our Thursday got off to a great start.

I managed to get him out of his jammies and dressed prior to 8:00 ~ this is a feat in itself.

Elliott was dressed in her cute brown and white pinstriped dress for her “Cap & Gown” pictures this morning (didn’t matter what she had on though, it wasn’t going to show!).

They were playing nicely while I actually applied make-up, flat ironed my ‘do and put on my new fun scarf:

Targé ~ $3.74

Thought it’d go well with my red pants!

We were ready to head out the door to school by 8:19am! Things were going our way…we had our “X” for xylophone puzzle piece for Share Day and the letter ‘X” (that’s a hard one!) and a sippy filled with chocolate milk.

We were on schedule to get to school 5 minutes early (another rarity) and wouldn’t you know it…the darn arm at the train tracks was stuck so the traffic was major backed up. I tried to outsmart everyone and go make a U-turn…NOPE! Still stuck. Tried to go make a right and another U-turn and got stuck again! We were now 5 minutes LATE!

But then, things turned around and Holden and I got several errands done in 2 hours. Post Office, bank, Dollar Tree & Wal-mart! Jealous?

We I caved and grabbed these at the checkout:

They are very tasty and proven to help keep a 3-year old awake in the car on the ride home!

*****

I also wanted to share a few of my recent Targé finds aside from my colorful scarf.

I’ve mentioned my affinity for the reddish-orange clearance stickers, right? Well, I hit the jackpot last Friday on my pre-Mother’s Day Weekend “splurge”.

Head to toe…

Fedora ~ $3.24

For those bad hair/haven’t had a chance to cover the grays days!

Then I found this number for either Elliott’s graduation or dance recital:

It’s super cute on! $6.24!

Thinking about wearing it with these:

Also über cheap from…you know where!

Then, in honor of flipflopfollies.com, I had to pick up these:

Again, $3.74! Would’ve gotten them in every color, but this was it.

So, let me recap: hat, scarf, dress & flops = Like $17 (I’m cheap like that!)

Seriously, how can Jay complain about that?

Thanks, Targé! I {heart} you!

*****

Kids are down for a nap and I am sipping on this:

I’ve definitely had worse Thursdays…

Hope you’ve had a fruitful Thursday as well!

Family, Fitness, Food, Friends, Frugal Finds, Fun

Summer On A Shoestring

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Even though we aren’t even half way through Spring, I can’t help but think about Summer. I know it’s going to sneak up on us and in just 9 weeks from Monday “Beach, Pool & Popsicle Season” will be upon us.

Off the top, we don’t have much planned. No trips to Capri, Italy or Disney World or anything. Just a good, old-fashioned, simple Summer, but guaranteed to be fun for all (and frugal!).

It’s hard to keep the kiddos busy and happy for the whole summer and not spend a wad of dough. Fortunately there is a local movie theater that shows free movies two mornings a week (albeit OLD, outdated movies, but the kids don’t care!) in an air-conditioned building! That is heaven here in the SCV during July! We pack our own movie treats and this makes for a cheap day once a week.

Then there is the Saturday night Summer Concert Series that is also FREE and lasts for a good portion of the summer weeks. We went to several last summer and had the best time packing a picnic dinner, sitting in our lawn chairs, visiting with friends and listening to music while the kids ran, squealed, jumped, chased and played with ice!

We hope to take our annual trip to beautiful Wawona, Yosemite to visit my uncle and Jill. We went over 4th of July last year and had the best time ~ stagecoach rides, lunch at the swimming hole, walks along the meadow loop, wine on the deck, train rides, BBQ at the beautiful Wawona Hotel, a barn dance, s’mores by the campfire with wonderful neighbors. Hoping to recreate that again this summer minus these:

Souvenirs from the ‘squitos!

I imagine we will take a couple trips too the LA Zoo with our passes, too:

I also want to get one of these:

Yes, preferably in RED!

And get my hands on the pink lemonade ice cream recipe from Mel! Yum, and SO summery!

I see a lot of sidewalk chalk, hopscotch, bubbles, root beer floats, water table play, homemade lemonade, popsicles, flip flops, wet bathing suits, damp towels on the floor, sandy feet, the smell of sunscreen, cannonballs, beach balls and iced americanos in our future!

Looking forward to keeping everyone HAPPY for about 9 weeks before both my babies start school in mid-August…one to Kinder and one to preschool!

Looks like I will need to work lots of Kleenex into the summer budget, as well…

Fashion, Frugal Finds

TMI & TCFW

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I know this is {t}oo {m}uch {i}nformation, but here goes…

Birthing 2 children + coughing non-stop for the past few days =

Lots of these! (with wings, of course!)

Some things will NEVER be the same after kids. Seriously……

*****

The Easter Bunny found these for Holden’s basket:

Are they not {t}oo {c}ute {f}or {w}ords?

His very first pair of Havaianas….a teeny size 7.

It’s almost, if not already, 100% flip flop wearin’ weather.

Spring is newly here, but Summer is right around the corner!

Fashion, Feathered Nest, Frugal Finds

Simple Spring Spruce Up

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I wanted to do a little something to make our room “POP!” for Spring. A couple months ago I found a bed-in-a-bag deal at Target for next to nothing. Check it out here.

This is our room “before”:

Here is the “after”:

I switched out the little mirrored pieces above our bed with something that had a bit more color. Elliott came home with some sweet, bright & cheery artwork, and once again, I thought that would be the perfect punch for Spring.

I love these mirrored frames by Addison Ross:

I figured I could pick up something similar for far less. I found some small lightweight 4X6 mirrored frames at the 99¢ store of all places. I thought that since they were hung high up framing her darling pieces that would take away the dollar store feel….they don’t look too bad from far away!

My favorite is the yellow in the middle:

Just some simple yellow circles that she cut out and arranged with glue ~ nothing fancy!

And I don’t know who I’m kidding having a WHITE dust ruffle with 2 dogs, but it adds a nice crisp feel.

Also, the vase of daffodils is a joke….those’ll be spilled in 2.5 seconds one night when I’m at the gym, but you get the gist!

I wanted to call this a makeover, but it’s hardly that…just a couple little changes from swapping out the over 3 year old comforter to adding a splash of color. Trying to stay with my new “keep it simple” attitde.

All for about $25.

The cost of ONE Addison Ross 4X6 mirrored frame!