Giveaways are a blast!

I have to say that its been a fun week for me! As an etsy seller, I have been doing a few giveaways on different blogs for the past few months. My husband encouraged me to enter a few too. So I did. This past week has been the most exciting week for me! I have won a 31 utility bag from 31 gifts by Mary. I won an 25$ store credit to Nezzy's Boutique who is making Gavin a cowboy jon jon. Last night a won a 20$ credit to a local restaurant at our churches fund raiser! And today I just found out I won 7 Alexander Henry Fat quarters from the fabric worm. I am beyond excited and want to thank all these people! Its been a great week for me!

Our 25$ Desk from Craigslist

Back in January, Richard and I were looking for a nice, solid desk for Caylyn to do her school work on. We scoured Craigslit daily trying to find something solid but not outrageously expensive. What we found was this fantastic piece of junk. When Richard went to pick it up, he called me and said he thought I had just wasted 25$ but he did agree that even though it was in bad shape, it was solid wood.


So he and Caylyn went to lowes, she picked out a stain she liked and new knobs for her drawers. Together they spent two months sanding, stripping, and painting this desk. They repaired the damage and they put in new knobs.

Its amazing what our 25$ desk looks like now. I emailed the gentlemen we bought it from because I didn't even THINK to take a before photo for the. I am still waiting for him to get back to me, but I have our after photo! Update: the wonderful person we bought it from sent me before photos! So they are posted above! Thank you Peter!

On The Go

Ok, not as therapeutic as I wish it would be. My daughter needs shoes, she is 11 and her feet are bigger than mine, that and she is taller than me! So we go through cloths and shoes at least three times a year with her. There is nothing in this world I dread MORE than shoe shopping. My husband on the other hand, will gladly spend hours scoping out the perfect pair of running sneakers for himself. He is usually the one to take our daughter shopping when it comes to shoes.
Second, we are celebrating, late, but still celebrating my sisters birthday tonight. She would like spaghetti, and I have a left over rain check from Harris Teeter from January's meal deal I am going to use up.
Last I have a project I need to finish for my boutique this evening and I am missing a supply. So off to Joannes (coupon in tow of course) to pick it up.

It sounds like a busy day and with both kids in tow today, we will probably get home in time to cook dinner.

The Tale of the Leaky Sippy Cups

On our journey from bottle to cup, our biggest obstacle to overcome has been the leaky sippy cup.

Our first cup, which I just dug out of the goodwill bag, was the Nubby. Short and squat with the flexible spout with holes. It was hard to use, it leaked and it was very hard to screw the lid off and on. If you didn't get it on just right we had a leaky mess everywhere. they were 6.99 for a pack of two.

Sippy Cup two, pictured with Gavin's name on it, we got from Toys R Us. They are cute, we always know which one belongs to us. They look small but hold about 5 oz of water. The problem with these are the little plastic pieces inside constantly comes loose and we have water everywhere. We still like these and keep them handy for when we are at playgroup etc.

The third one was the advent. I loved the vintage look to these. They are super cute and stylish. I dont like that they leak out the back of the spout. They are pricey which in my mind, I thought for sure would work. I haven't got up the nerve to toss them yet as they are the least of our leaky cups. They were 8.99 for two.

The next one is again a Nubby with a straw this time. These dont leave as much. The problem we have found is after he takes a drink on one of these there is a small amount left in the top of the straw and he ends up spilling it all over himself and his car seat if we are driving around. It has taken a while to get the rotten smell of milk out of his straps. These were about 3.99 each.

My last one is the cheap pack of learning curve sipping cups. I got two of them at Marshalls for 4.99 for the pair.  They are by far our favorite. They never leak. They are cute and of course Gavin loves that they have elmo and cookie monster on them. The only downside to these is that you do have to suck just a little harder to get the water out but Gavin doesnt seem to mind.

****The review of these cups is solely my opinion, I was not asked by any of these companies to review these products and I was not given a cup to review. *****

How much do I love my crockpot?

Ok, I am all about my crockpot. Not only does it make my life so much easier but its so economical to use! I decided to test out a meatloaf in my crockpot. now I use my crockpot for everything. But meatloaf? Really I was just being lazy because meatloaf takes forever to cook and I didn't want to worry about it come dinner time. So I took a pound of ground beef, a half cup of panco and a tablespoon of my garlic garlic. Mixed and placed in a tin foil pouch  I made and popped in the crockpot on low for 8 hours.

Was I surprised when my family demolished it. My husband said it was the most moist and tasty meatloaf he had ever eaten. We had no leftovers. Except the mashed potatoes. Which we used in our shepards pie last night.

Whats your favorite crockpot recipe?

My blogs status

So with getting my new etsy store up and running this blog has really taken a back seat! But my plans are to be a super mom! I am going to juggle both! haha.

My etsy blog in case you want to sneak over. My etsy store in case you want to shop!

So stay tuned for more ideas from this frugal family!

Super Doubles at Harris Teeter

I am sure many of you already know this as I am a day late and a dollar short posting this BUT Super Doubles is at Harris Teeter this week, which means they will double any coupon up valued 1.98 or less! This can amount to some massive savings! Gavin and I might just make a trip into town.