Mom on a mission

Dave Ramsey said it best: To be rich, you must live like you're poor.  So, with this in mind, I've decided that 2012 will be the start to my "smart girl" life style.  In order to have the things we need, and the things we want, why not save money where we can to make things more affordable and easier on the wallet? So, in an effort to save money, and for the health of my child's sensitive skin, I've decided to begin to make so many things myself that on average take up most of our grocery money.  This week: Dish washing detergent! On average a load of dishes will cost you .02* per load.   Depending on if you get it o n sale, it might be less.  Again, I went to my favorite grocery P-blix and got the Kosher Salt for .15* (it was on sale and with the use of coupons). I used the store brand of “Kool-Aid” which dropped the price as well. Total, it costs me less then a PENNY PER LOAD! Now, let’s look at it this way.  I wash

Here are some photos that were missing from the party post: I created a special sign and made Mickey Ears for people to write messages to Gavin on. After the party they were placed into a scrapbook for safe keeping until photos are printed and put in the scrapbook.  An idea is to have people take photos with the birthday boy/girl as they come in the door so you can put their message with their photo.  Meredith and I created this wreath for the front door to great people as they came in. Took some time, but such a great thing and can be used again! Simply take 3 wooden circles and attach with hot glue (or use any three rings you can find to make it cheaper!). Cut ribbon into small sections, tie and keep ends short to make them stick out. Easy and cute!

Gavin's 1st birthday went off without a hitch! AND we managed to do it all on budget.  We had 40 people attend the party. First, the groceries were purchased at my favorite grocery P-lix. They often do B1G1 Free, so for the weeks prior to the party, I stocked up on what I could freeze that I needed. All total we spent around 127 for the food. Here's how the table turned out:  I ended up printing off pictures for kids to color (free to print!!!!) from Disney Jr. Great idea, keeps kids busy, and it's FREE!  I printed a sign for the kids to know it was ok to have fun: The sign reads: Mickey's Masterpieces. Here's how the decorations all turned out:  Another way it was made a success (and remained on my $150 budget) was that my wonderful friends MADE his birthday cake and smash cake. The smash cake is the invitation and the birthday cake is the club house: AND the results of the wonderful party! I also made Mickey & Minnie ears (grand total of 12 doll

 I'm about to go through a series of blogs to help with those out there on budgets or who are looking to cut back so they can put their money elsewhere. First, the average cost of a child's birthday party has grown drastically. Through my research, I've discovered that the new average for a birthday party is between $200-500. This is only for the "smaller groups" of around 30 people. So how can parents on tighter budgets pull off these "extravagant" parties and include everyone involved in their child's life? Here are some of my suggestions for those looking to have an amazing party on a tighter budget (and yes, I am doing this myself. Pictures will be posted on Monday, December 13): 1.) Have the party at your home, a family or friends home: Renting a place to host a child's birthday party simply adds extra costs that are not necessary. If you have someone that has a large backyard (great for the warmer months), or someone who has enough room

So, after seeing great ideas on Pinterest, I decided to create labels for the food at Gavin's party. All the labels I had seen were cute, but they were basic in that they were just attached to the container. So again, to go overboard, I created Mickey and Minnie heads and placed the labels on them. First, I took styrofoam balls and cut them in half. I painted each one black. I also painted wooden skewers black and cut them in thirds. I made sure they were all sizes to the table will have some depth to it.  For the paper, I cut out basic shapes, then used scrap booking scissors to cut out the labels and placed them on the colorful backgrounds. Finally, I used foam sheets that have glitter on them and cut them out to make the ears. By leaving the space between the two circles, you are able to easily attach these to the skewers. Finally, for the Minnie heads, I pinned ribbons on there and done! I would have to say, the hardest part of this was coming up with the food.  I wanted

A few months ago, I was speaking with my best friend about my son's first birthday party. Naturally, I planned to have a Mickey Mouse themed party since Gavin seems to love Mickey. While talking, we realized that my wonderful home was going to be a winter wonderland during the party. Gavin, being one of those lucky children, was born a short time before Christmas.  As a holiday baby myself, the 4th of July, I understand the challenge of having a birthday that can be overshadowed by other holiday decorations. So, in an effort to go "over board", my friend and I have taken on the task of creating the perfect Mickey party. The first plan in our grand scheme, to give the right feel from the first moment people are invited. A.K.A: The Invitations! We used a Cricut to cut the Mickey heads, and glued "pants" on with real buttons for a nice embellishment.  We slid the small cutout (thanks embellishment scissors) invitation into the pants. I downloaded a Walt Dis