Today we have the great privilege of guest hosting Ruby and Macy from Real Housewives of Minnesota! We met Ruby and Macy at the Minnesota Blogger Conference and were immediately drawn to them because they are awesome girls, they are a blogging duo just like us and, they blog about being thrifty! In this post they talk about saving money while shopping for Christmas presents. Without further ado... How To Be Thrifty When ChristmasShopping When it comes to holiday shopping, it’s easy to spend oodles! But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are plenty of ways to save when doing your Christmas shopping. Here are some thrifty tips to keep your pocketbook safe this holiday season. Photo by armadillo444First off, prepare your list. Take a moment to sit and write out who you have to buy gifts for. Think hard now, and be sure to include any teachers, nannies, coaches, etc. Be sure to cover all your bases before you move on to the next step. Now that you’ve made your list, stick … [Read more...]
Catch Santa On Camera–DIY FREE!
I'm sure you've seen those websites out there that offer to help you prove that Santa was in your home by capturing him on camera for you. "Upload a photo of your tree or fireplace and for $10 we'll put Santa in your photo!" I'm here to tell you, that with a little effort, you can do it yourself for FREE! Don't worry, I'll walk you through how to do it step by step: I'll start by saying that I first posted this tutorial on my other blog (Mommy's Camera). Rather than re-watermarking every photo, I'm just using the Mommy's Camera watermarked photos (trust me, they are mine!). Also, this is Lindsi's fireplace. At the time I started writing this tutorial I did not have my house decorated or my tree up so I asked Lindsi to send me a photo of her house. She's an over-achiever ya know. Ok, on to the tutorial: Step 1) Download my favorite FREE photo editing software Gimp. If you have Photoshop you can still follow this tutorial. You just have to make adjustments for that … [Read more...]
Fun Stuff Fridays (#3)
Remember when Linkys were all the rage in blogging? They were a great way to find and get to know other bloggers before social media and Pinterest became mainstream. It didn't hurt that they brought a ton of traffic to your site too. Lindsi and I started our Fun Stuff Fridays linky back in 2011. We kept it going for 20 weeks before it fizzled out (or we got sick of doing it, I'm not sure which happened). It is now soon to be 2017 and at lot of the links in those linkies no longer exist. Plus, I've let my link up subscription lapse so you can't get to them anyway. Instead of deleting the Fun Stuff Fridays posts, however, I have decided to clean them up and make sure our featured links are still valid. After all, on a rare occasion I get traffic from one of these old posts. The linky may be gone but the featured posts are still valid as of December 2016... ---------- Welcome to Fun Stuff Fridays. Last week we skyrocketed to over 120 link ups! We sure do appreciate everyone … [Read more...]
Fun way to teach your kids how to spell their name
My sister introduced me to this way of teaching my girls how to spell their names and it definitely works! Unfortunately for me, it is hard to explain in black and white. Fortunately for you, you get to watch me make a fool out of myself in a vlog! Without further ado: What do you think? Do you think your kids could learn their names and phone number this way? … [Read more...]
Make Your Own Snow
Wanna play with snow inside and not have it melt all over the place? Make your own fake snow! It's great for decorating , letting your kids drive their toy cars through or just plain playing in! You'll need: A few unused disposable diapers (It would be super gross to use dirty diapers.) Water A container to mix in silver glitter (optional) Ok, now this is so easy you are going to think you missed something! 1) Cut open the diaper and pull out the inside absorbent layer. 2) Put it in the container and slowly add water 3) Mix until it becomes snow consistency! For powdery snow use less water, for slushy snow use more water. 4) Add a bit of glitter for some sparkle. (optional) My girls had a TON of fun playing with the snow! We attempted to add more water and make a snowman but it wasn't really successful. My girls did however, enjoy adding more and more water to see how slushy they could make their snow. We are currently freezing the slush … [Read more...]
Make your own rock candy
When I was little my mom used to do a lot of science projects with me and my sister. One of my favorites was growing my own crystal candy (or rock candy). I couldn't wait to wake up in the mornings and see how much my crystals had grown. Then I couldn't wait to eat them after I thought they had grown enough! I was shocked to find out that when I talked about doing a rock candy tutorial for our blog, both Lindsi and my husband had never heard of rock candy, let alone made their own! Seriously, who's never heard of rock candy?? (*Lindsi edit- butting in...I have heard of rock candy before...just never heard of making your own) Here's what you'll need to make your own rock candy (FYI--I doubled the recipe to make 2--one for each of my girls): 1 cup of water 3-4 cups of table sugar clear glass jars wooden skewers (cut the pointy tip off) clothes pins or something similar food coloring (optional) 1) Boil the water. 2) Slowly add sugar small bits at a … [Read more...]
