davidsilver / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
This past weekend I went looking for an inexpensive pizza stone, but luck was not on my side. The cheapest stone was $40. Ouch! Luckily, a thrifty friend told me I could make my own pizza stone for much less. Here’s how.
After doing some research, I learned the stone sold in fancy stores is similar to ones found at home improvement stores, but for about $5. Woot, woot! I’m all over this do it yourself project.
I love crafts, especially when they’re fun and quirky! I recently came across this CreditCards.com video that shows you how to make earnings, bracelets, and much more from old credit cards.
The items are cute and easy to make. Best of all, you can make them one of a kind to gift or keep for yourself! Oh, and did I mention the added bonus? It helps cut your credit card spending! Just cut, cancel, and get crafty with your plastic. What do you do with your old credit cards?
This post is copyrighted by BargainBabe.com. Any other site posting this content is violating the DMCA.
Owenfinn16/flickr
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
A watery glass of luke-warm coffee is a bummer. A good cup of coffee is a treat. A glass of perfectly made iced coffee is a spiritual experience!
Years ago a barista taught me the secret of correctly made iced coffee. The secret is so simple and easy that it is a constant wonder to me that so few coffee shops make so-so iced coffee. Learn my secret and save yourself a few bucks while sipping a delightful beverage.
Here is the secret:
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
TFDuesing/flickr
If you want something you don’t have the money for, figure out how to make it. (I’ve already talked about getting things by swapping or repurposing).
Personally, I have found that learning to make something is the best way to go. I get what I need, and I know how to repair it. Here are my five favorite sites to go to when I want to learn new things:
- General instructions - Instructables - You can learn anything from how to carve a pumpkin to how to build your own computer to how to construct a rocket ship. Instructables has more pictures and instructions than videos.
Jasonwoodhead23/flickr
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
Per Southern California Gas Company, home heating is 65% of a residential gas bill during the winter months. (That’s what it said in my bill insert this month.) Wow! If that is true in Southern California, what is it in actual cold parts of the country?
With so much of your utility budget going toward keeping your home warm, anything that you can do to retain heat in your home or keep the heat from leaving is a money saver. Here are 5 tips that will help you to lower your heating bill:
BaconThenEggs / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Want to save even more money on Christmas? Here are eight homemade stocking stuffer ideas you can make if you are on a tight budget. The best part is that you don’t have to be super crafty to make them.
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
Romantic Crafts/flickr
I love homemade holiday gifts the best. Anyone can go to the store and buy something, but it takes time and thought to give someone a gift that you made.
Here are 7 unusual frugal and homemade holiday gifts. For more gift ideas, check out the Bargain Babe Hot Holiday Gift Guide.
- Firewood. With all the recent storms, it is possible that you are now in possession of lots more wood than you need. Bundle it up and give it as gifts to those you know with fireplaces. Include a couple of mugs, hot chocolate mix and marshmallows. (more…)
This post is brought to you by Mes Footwork, an online custom shoes retailer.
This looks like a really fun DIY project! Just think how fun it would be to go to a holiday party in these bad boys, and how much money you’d save compared to buying designer brands. I wonder how long the glitter really stays on, though…
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
MegaMind mask on cool dude
With Halloween only moments away, here are six last minute frugal activities, costumes, and decorating ideas.
- The MegaMind website. This site is full of activities that will keep you and your kids busy through Halloween week and beyond. Click above to enter the site, then click or skip intro (or watch it because it’s cute), and click on games, and activities. This will land you on a page where you can select an action figure to download. There are other activities as well – a board game, comic books, bookmarks, brainteasers, card games, and coloring sheets. There is enough cool stuff here to make an entire MegaMind party. A truly great site for a MegaMind fan who is young or old, as you can see from the picture to the right.
Today is your last chance to win!
Today is your last chance to win “Fix it, Make it, Grow it, Bake it: the DIY Guide to the Good Life,” by Billee Sharp. Not that I want to give it away. Win my review copy below.
Sharp tackles extreme thriftiness, shares a detox bath recipe, promotes bartering over buying, and that’s only half the book! I got sucked into her tips for unsticking wood drawers, making sourdough starter, and constructing your own Christmas tree decorations. You can read the 263-page book front to back, or flip to a specific topic, using it more as a reference.
Sharp’s directions are simple and easy to follow. What astounds me is the breadth of her expertise. She has suggestions and ideas for every aspect of home and life. Make no mistake, Sharp is a hard core do-it-yourselfer.
But you don’t need to convert to enjoy this book. You can learn and create new habits as much as you are open to.
To win my review copy, comment with a DIY project that you have been putting off, and why. So far, 51 people have entered the contest, so your chances are good! Or buy a copy from Amazon for $12.44 (orig. $15.95). Comment by tonight, Thursday Sept. 29, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. EST to be eligible to win. A winner will be announced Friday!
Comment to win this book!
This is one book that, quite frankly, I don’t want to give away. But hogging “Fix it, Make it, Grow it, Bake it: the DIY Guide to the Good Life,” by Billee Sharp would be cruel. (See how to win it below).
In 263 pages spread across seven chapters, Sharp tackles extreme thriftiness, shares a detox bath recipe, promotes bartering over buying, and that’s only half the book! I got sucked into her tipS for unsticking wood drawers, making sourdough starter, and constructing your own Christmas tree decorations.
Sharp’s directions are
Fruit leathers reader Stephanie made!
Reader Stephanie makes her own fruit leather, beef jerky, and more using a food dehydrator. She initially left a comment on Bobbi’s post about 10 alternative cooking methods and I was so curious I asked for more. My only experience with a dehydrator is the one my grandmother gave us (that promptly went into storage under my Mom’s house). Stephanie’s enthusiasm and her two easy recipes has me re-thinking these small kitchen appliances:
Using the dehydrator to make fruit leathers is so ridiculously easy (and healthy!) it should be illegal.
This sponsored post for Factory Direct Craft was written by Jennifer Richards.
Arts and crafts are my favorite hobby and when purchasing supplies, I try to save money whenever possible by searching for the best bargains I can find. Shopping for discounts can be fun, especially when you learn where to search for these bargains. I am planning to get crafty this fall and create decorations for my house. There are many great ideas to consider when it comes to fall decor, but leaves and pumpkins and some Halloween themed decorations are perfect. You can find the necessary craft supplies for these projects at any craft supply store but online shops seem to have the best prices. Although it can be fun to visit your local craft shop, it is not always the best option for saving money.
I found a retailer called Factory Direct Craft, which had the craft supplies I needed to create these decorations and once I am finished, my kids are going to enjoy helping me decorate the house. My plan is to create decorative pumpkins, leaves and some Halloween themed decorations. I cannot wait to start since they will look great and I will be happy knowing I saved money by purchasing the supplies online.
This is paid content. Interested in an ad? Read my blog advertising page.
Hanging baskets are beautiful adornments to any garden or doorway. Depending on the effect you are looking for you can use trailing, tall or ‘ball effect plants’ to make your own.
Flowers that trail down from the basket give the effect that they’re just growing in the air as they swamp the basket and hide it. These include fuchsia, pelargoniums (ivy-leaved), trailing lobelia, campanula ‘bellflower’ and verbena. Tall flowers that grow upright can add height to a garden by drawing the eye upwards and include geraniums, pelargoniums (dwarf zone), petunias, begonia and upright varieties of verbena. ‘Ball effect’ flowers grow in a bushy style and include impatiens ‘busy lizzies’, bushy varieties of lobelia and clematis.
Not all hanging baskets need simply be a mass-produced pot you affix to your wall, however. With a bit of imagination and a lick of paint you can transform objects you find in second hand stores into stunning centerpieces for your garden. How about removing the seat from old chairs and letting blooms drape down it?
First browse local flea markets for chairs with wicker seats or those whose seat is easily removed. Paint the chair and remove the seat or cut a hole in it.
Next take some chicken wire and make a wire frame in the shape of a bowl to fit the seat. Attach this to the chair – use a nail gun to tack the wire to the wood, or get out your trusty Bosch drill to screw the wire against the wood.
Next line the frame with coconut fiber and fill this with a potting mix. Now you are ready to plant a very unique hanging basket. You can use this simple DIY hanging basket effect on any items you wish – so get creative and enjoy your garden.
This is paid content. Interested in a sponsored post? See Bargain Babe’s blog advertising page.
I’m taking today off to work on a kitchen renovation project. After week of not having a kitchen, we are finally installing cabinets. Post have been light this week because I’ve been sneaking down after lunch to sand and paint. There are still two weeks of washing dishes in the sink in our future, but things are starting to get less chaotic, not more. (The entire kitchen was relocated to the dining room/living room).
Expect a post soon about ways to save money on kitchen renovation! I’ve accumulated a lot of tips.
See you Monday.
~Julia
aka Bargain Babe
