Produce Co-Op Pick Up #2

Our Co-Op haul from 4/25/12!!!

I LOVE getting all these fresh and yummy fruits/veggies

 

List of our Goodies:

APPLES : FUJI
BANANAS
ORANGES: CARA CARA
MANGOS
KIWI
PEARS
LEMONS
MUSHROOMS BABY PORTS
ROMAINE LETTUCE
BROCCOLI
TOMATOES 4PACK
ZUCCHINI
YELLOW SQUASH
MINI SEEDLESS CUCUMBERS
RED POTATOES
CELERY

 We also got some extra for coming early to help

We gave quite a bit to my parents as well

Tower Garden - Day 10

 Things are blooming in our tower garden!

Day 10 and all is well!

Last weeks photo Day 3

 

Earth Day Celebration

  This year on Earth Day we did our part as a family to RECYCLE and REUSE

1st: We had printer ink cartridges refilled at CostCo instead of purchasing new ones - this also $ SAVES MONEY $

2nd: We recycled 10 old printer ink cartridges at Office Depot

Another plus - we receive $2 each cartridge in reward dollars!

3rd: We used our reusable shopping bags to shop while we were out and about couponing

and 4th: We dropped our old newspapers off at the recycle bins

English Horse Rider Party Designs

My daughter has been riding English for almost a year now

We thought it would be fun to host her 6th birthday party at the stable where she rides.  She couldn't be more thrilled.

It is not easy to find horse themed party designs (except My Little Pony).

It's even harder to find ENGLISH riding anything (mostly all Cowboy or Cowgirl) so I designed a whole theme myself.  

This is the invitation:

I've also designed the thank you card, water bottle labels, cupcake toppers, and treat bag labels all to match the above design:

One of the few cupcake toppers

I'll be using a scallop punch to cut out the design to add to sticks

 

This will probably be printed large on thick card stock and streamers hung from the center as decor

 

 This is the water bottle label (sizing isn't correct yet)

This will be printed onto sticker paper and added to the treat bags

Less then a month till the party!  We can't wait!

Crock Pot Fix

 After many trips into the dishwasher - the plastic handle on my, often used, crock pot cracked, broke, and fell off.

I had this initial knob (from Hobby Lobby) hanging around as a decorative piece and thought, well that's all I need for a quick fix.

 Not only is it now FIXED it's also personalized!

Riding Lesson Progress

 Alyssa has been going to riding lessons since Fall of 2011

This is something my 5 year old has wanted to do for a couple of years at that point and we thought maybe she was ready.

We found a great stable and Alyssa has loved every minute of it.

 This is Gabby, the horse she's rode from the beginning - a sweet mare that is 33 years old.  Slow and steady, just perfect for a beginner little girl and her worrisome mama.

Yesterday she requested to ride a "different horse."  Meet Sprite.  A smaller horse, but also a much more peppy horse.  He was pretty good to her, and she had another great lesson.

 She is in pure heaven at the stable.  It has taught her a lot about listening, caring for an animal, and being responsible.  It's a joy, as a mother, to watch her ride and enjoy it so much.

Custom Clothing Addiction

Recently my daughter modeled for a business called:

Little One Designs
The owner makes beautiful hand made clothing!!!!

It has sparked a new obsession - wanting unique and custom clothing for my daughter's wardrobe

Photo by: Adler Photography, LLC

Of course I had to have the outfit she modeled :)

Then I found Zulily...

This colorful dress was my first purchase from Zulily
My daughter loves it because it "twirls" really well

And this is a new design from Luna B. Tee - a dress instead of a Tee/Onsie

This is in no way a frugal obsession - but they are pieces I would pass down and hang onto instead of donating or selling (except the personalized dress of course). So in some ways, it is sort of an investment.

My daughter's Easter Dress was also a Little One Designs Piece:

And her birthday outfit is also ordered and coming from Little One Designs
LOVE IT

Tower Garden - Day 3

Tower Garden - Day 3

We started a tower garden (bought from Juice Plus)

Before we planted our baby plants into the garden we had to grew most of the plants from seeds.
All but two seedlings where planted into the tower at about 10 days after planting the seeds.
Then added two slow poke seedlings at about 13 days.

We purchased our starter strawberry plants online

This is the tower as of today - 3 Days from planting

Growing in our tower:
Cantaloupe
Broccoli
Cucumber
Lettuce
Two types of Tomatoes
LOTS of Strawberries

In about 4 weeks we should have a full blown vertical garden on our front porch
For more info on purchasing your own tower garden:
Contact Steve C. HERE

Follow the garden's progress each week here at
Creating Cute & Saving Dough

Easter Blessings

Easter has become something different for our family then what I used to remember it being as a child. And I mean that in a, that's not a bad thing, kind of way. I'm blessed to be able to pass on some of my own childhood traditions to my own little girl now.

Our family, Easter Sunday, circa early 1990's

We would always go to church with the family, head back to our Grandparents house where magically the Easter Bunny had always seemed to have had hid the eggs just in time for us to run off all that energy we had stored up sitting in church. Easter lunch was always big and family time was important.

Now as a mother myself - we still hold some of those traditions, but this year Easter was celebrated at our own home.

Happy Easter 2012

Church Egg Hunt
Dress handmade by: www.Little1Designs.com

This year my mom helped me to make the Easter spread, buffet style
Instead of a giant Easter ham, we settled for "fancy" ham sandwiches
The traditional deviled eggs are of course, a must

And I'll leave you with the funniest part of the entire day...
Gramma and Granddaughter take an Easter tumble - right in front of the cameras :)

First Produce Co-Op Pick Up

As a mother/wife that loves to coupon (SAVE DOUGH) and keep myself and my family healthy - I had read up on different Co-Op programs.

I'd actually read many blogs where women/men take part in these Co-Op programs and wished there was one near me.

It was my lucky day when a high school friend decided to start a local Co-Op in our area!

I JUMPED RIGHT ON BOARD!

Today was our first delivery and pick up

The truck arrived about 30 min. late, so it didn't run as planned. But everyone jumped right in to help when it did.

Here is one row of fresh produce

My mom and my hubby with their bags filled to the brim

Here is the list of beautiful fresh produce we received this week:

APPLES PINK LADY
BANANAS
PINEAPPLE
MINNEOLAS TANGELOS
MANGOS
DOLE SLAW
TOMATOES ROMA 8CT
LETTUCE ROMAINE
BROCCOLI
POTATOES RUSSET 5LB
CORN ON THE COB
KALE
CARROTS
RED ONIONS

I found this pin on Pinterest on how to store your produce so that you get the longest shelf life

A great resource if you are involved in a Co-Op or not

This is my little one enjoying a fresh carrot from our Co-Op bundle

She also had an apple as soon as we walked in the door. I'm so glad she loves fruits and veggies!

My hubby already cut up our pineapple to add to lunches tomorrow too.

Healthy is the way to be! And this a a great way to not only save money, get involved in your community, but also help keep local farmers and businesses thriving!

Here is the link to the main Co-Op webpage. See if there is one in your area:

www.communityhelpingscoop.com

Spring Decor

 Spring has Sprung!

Time for spring cleaning, yard work, lots of outdoor activities

 Inside though, the house is blooming

-The entertainment center-

I added burlap bunting to a grapevine wreath

A pitcher of white tulips, a square picture frame holds a photo of my daughter hunting Easter eggs last spring

 A vintage birdcage holds a little ceramic blue bird.  Raffia inside the case forms the "nest."

A glass vase sits on top of a candle holder.  Inside are moss stones and white bird eggs (not real ones of course!)

I cut "Welcome Spring" from black vinyl and added it to a fancy white plate which rests on a plate stand

Cute ceramic bunnies and speckled eggs are scattered along the top

 The wall above out couch is decked out for spring too!

 Another plate with a bunny silhouette, a vase with speckled eggs and raffia, and a mini pitcher with pink spring flowers are on a shelf ledge are on one side

 A spring subway art print (I printed it in gray scale), a mason jar with speckled jelly beans, and a white owl candle holder are on a shelf ledge on the other side

Laundry Room Makeover

I am not the biggest fan of doing laundry - as I'm sure the same goes for just about everyone.

So a makeover was in order to make doing laundry a little less "blah."

BEFORE

UGLY ironing board BEFORE

Split of the AFTER

A small shelf was added over the washer

As you can see above it holds many items that I use daily

I screwed hooks into the wall to hang dedicates

The canvases are from the $1 bins at Michael's, I hung them (like a picture) above the hooks

I hope to add silhouettes of a clothes pin and hanger to each at some point

Baskets hold laundry related items

The ugly ironing board is no more!

I took off the old cover but kept the foam padding

Instead of making a slipcover - I just upholstered the fabric right onto the ironing board with a staple gun

I took an old frame and used the scrap fabric from the ironing board as the background

Then I used my Silhouette machine to cut the cute saying from black vinyl

"Laundry"

"Drop your drawers here"

:-)

And there you have it! An updated laundry room with little effort and little investment

I believe the only thing I purchased was the fabric (Hobby Lobby), the rest were items I already had!!

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