Thrifty Idea: Clean/Repair Don't Replace

I am particularly proud of this thrifty idea because it is also a green idea! We often run out to the store and buy new products every time we need something especially if it is a "cheap" something. This is partially cultural and partially convenience, but the truth is many of the things we have can be cleaned up or fixed up to nearly new condition. I use this philosophy when I look for deals at garage sales, but it is important to remember that it applies in our own home as well!

Take this kiddy pool in the picture above. It only cost us $20 ish new last year so it was not a pricey item. Unfortunately we did not have a place to store it in our garage so it was stored in our backyard during the off seasons. While we did our best to prop it upright it still made for a dirty mess come summer (I wish I took a picture). We were going to toss it and buy a new $20 pool without much of a second thought because it just looked too bad, but one day when the kids were playing in the yard I got it in my head that I was going to clean it instead. I got out my dish soap and a heavy scrub brush and in about 20 minutes it was the picture you see above! No need to spend a new $20 and no need to fill the landfills with another pool.

So nex time before you toss that cheap item ask yourself if it can be cleaned or repaired to like new condition for less than the cost of replacing it! You make spend a little time, but the environment and your wallet will thank you!

Trifty Idea: Build A Bookshelf Yourself

Sorry for the lack of posts yesterday, I spent the day painting (more pics of that later-I am still working on it!) and building this super cute gutter bookshelf. I build it all by myself!

Here is the tutorial on how to do it your self. I did everything here except the brackets at my store were a little different and was able to get my store to cut the price in half for me when I explained that I only needed one and I would not be able to get it home otherwise. You may or may not be so lucky!

It only cost me $28 to do it with tax which is really a bargain if you know how much those forward facing bookshelves cost. And I think it turned out really great!

I Love Garage Sales!!!

Have I told you how I adore garage sales?!?

Today we went to two church rummage sales and look at all the close I got! 59 pieces for $10 and a pair of girls boots for $1!

(26 of them are name brand Old Navy, Gymboree, Baby Gap...so I should be able to resale for more than that when I am done with them!)

I know 59 pieces of clothes is a lot for 2 kiddos but they are not all for one season. Some boys clothes are 3T for my little man to wear right now and in the winter and 4T for next year. The little girl cloths go from 2T for this winter to 4T. Yes, I know that is a long time away, but one of the churches had a deal: each piece was .25 each or you could fill a garbage bag for $5. So I chose the garbage bag option and picked the best pieces I could find (46 pieces came from this one sale)!

Rainbow Cupcakes

For my husbands birthday I made the rainbow cupcakes that I showed a picture of in my "Make your own cookbook post" I had lest one of my magazines out on the kitchen table (I think it was a free copy of Parenting) and he flipped through it to show me these yummy cupcakes. Later that night I pulled the page out and put it in my binder cookbook. When his birthday rolled around I made them for him!

They were very simple to do, although they do take a bit of time.

All you need to do is

Mix up a white cake mix and then die it the 6 different colors with food coloring drops. Then layer the colors in the cupcake liners (the recipe says it makes 16 but next time I will try 12). Bake as directed and frost! Simple as that! While not natural at all they are very fun and if you have children learning colors or how colors mix together you can get them involved if you are brave enough!

Here are the food coloring amounts needed:

purple: 9 drops red 6 drops blue

blue: 12 drops

green: 12 drops

yellow: 12 drops

orange: 12 drops yellow and 4 drops red

red: 18 drops

Thrifty Idea: Make Your Own Cook Book

I thought I would start sharing some thrifty ideas here that are not necessarirly related to the coupons and other deals that I post.

The first is something that I have been doing for awhile. I make my own cookbook!

I actually have a pretty extensive real cookbook collection too! (Most of them were gifts) But often I find a recipe that I want to try from a friend, online or in a magazine. Those end up as hand written cards, printed or torn out pages and can clutter up a kitchen!

I have two books: the light green book was given to me, it is made by Hallmark and is for recipe cards, a recipe box will work for this purpose as well. The second book is a 2" binder with construction paper and category dividers in it. I just add any Internet recipe print outs or magazine tear outs to the binder as I go. Then if you try it and love it keep it in! If you don't enjoy the recipe, just toss the page!

Keeping track of the clutter in your house is just a thrifty (and for me more challenging) as keeping track of your money. Plus this "cookbook" is filed with recipes you know you want to try so when you are stuck for inspiration it is a great place to go!