Frozen Hot Chocolate

Awhile back I was able to get several boxes of Hot Chocolate mix for super cheap. I had so many I wasn't sure we would be able to drink it all this winter...until I came upon this recipe.

Frozen Hot Chocolate:

3/4 cup milk

2 packets hot cocoa mix

ice

Put the milk, hot cocoa mix and ice in a blender. Blend until it is the consistency that you like. Enjoy!!

Pin the Party Hat on the Monster

Now that Christmas is over I am back to working on my boys parties. I made a pin the party hat on the monster game for my soon to be two year old son. I traced the design I wanted and then cut it out of felt.

I made a different party hat for each kid attending the party. I have attached a few of them so you can see what they will look like. The hats are also made out of felt and stick really well to the felt monster.

Photo Magnets

I wanted to give some of my friends a simple gift for Christmas. While I was looking for ideas I came across these super cute magnets. You can use scrapbook paper but I chose to use photos of their families. What better way to hold up your fridge clutter then with pictures of your kids?

I started out with the following items: Mod Podge, foam brushes, small round magnets, clear jumbo gems and a round punch.

I found the pictures I wanted to use and then printed them off in color.

I used the punch to cut out round picture circles.

I brushed on some Mod Podge to the back of the gem (the flat side) and pressed on the picture. Make sure to pat it down with your fingers to get the air bubbles out. I forgot to do that to a few and you can see the bubbles.

I then spread a thin coat of Mod Podge over the back of the photo. The Mod Podge goes on white but will be clear when it dries.

Coat one side of the magnet with Mod Podge and then press onto the back of the gem.

This is what the back looks like once it dries.

Once I had all the supplies it only took me about 15 minutes to do 20 magnets. They were fun to make and I plan to make some for my fridge really soon.

Reindeer & Snowman Oreo Pops

When I was asked to help with my sons school Christmas party I was so excited. I knew exactly what I was going to make. I had seen a post for these on another blog and wanted to try them. They are simple to make just takes a little time while waiting for the chocolate to harden.

1. Take double stuffed Oreos and take the top off. Put a stick into the cream and put some melted chocolate over the stick to help it stay in place. Put the lid back on and give it time to dry.

2. Dip the Oreos in melted chocolate until covered. Put broken pretzels into the sides to look like antlers. I used white chocolate chips for eyes and red M&M's for the nose. Let dry.

3. Finish up by putting a dab of black writing icing as the pupil of the eye. Let dry.

For the snowmen I did the same thing for the stick. Once dry I dipped them in melted white chocolate and let dry.

I used black writing icing for the eyes and mouth and white frosting with yellow and red food coloring (to make orange) for the nose.

These were super yummy and got rave reviews. Can't wait to make them again for a different holiday.

Monster wash clothes

I recently came across an idea for making monster wash clothes. I really liked the idea but wanted to make them a little different. I have been wanting to learn to sew and thought this would be the perfect project to practice on.

I cut different size circles out of wash clothes and sewed them together. Then I cut out the parts for the mouth, tongue and teeth and sewed them together. This was harder then I thought because they kept unravelling.

For the "bodies" I took wash clothes and cut them in half. Each washcloth made two monsters. I made some rounded at the top and some more square. I sewed the eye and mouth on and sewed up the side of the bodies. I put Velcro on the bottom of the monsters. Now I can put little soaps inside and Velcro them in. This will help kids wash up without continuously dropping the bar of soap.

Robot Birthday Banner

I have been working on the banner for my sons Robot party. I have finished it all except stringing it together which I will do closer to the party. It is made out of scrapbook paper that I cut out so it didn't cost very much. My sons favorite color is green so he insisted that his name be in green.

Smith's Trip August 31st

Smith's is running a deal where they are doubling all coupons to $1 this week. So if you have a 25 cent coupon it is worth $1. There were a few good coupons in last Sundays paper that made free or super cheap items this week. I planned to get 7 paper towels but they only had one. So I got one paper towel, 3 Barilla pasta sauce, 7 Colgate toothbrushes and 4 bags of skittles for $2.25.

Save Mart Trips

This is an awesome stock up week at Save Mart. They have select Kellogg's brand items on sale for $2.98. If you buy 10 items then $10 automatically comes off your total and then a $10 Catalina prints out for your next purchase. So far I have done 2 trips and plan to do another 1 or 2. On top of the great sale there is a Kellogg's coupon booklet out that matches perfectly. There are coupons for things like Save $2 off one gallon milk when you buy two Keebler cookies, Save $2 off store brand bread when you buy two Kellogg's fruit snacks. I love free bread and almost free milk.

My first transaction I had to buy some produce which always makes my totals higher. I paid $26.45 OOP for the above items. $10.53 of that total was produce or eggs. The things I got free are the two baggies, bread, and 59 cents for milk. I also received a $10 Cat for my next purchase. I paid $10.57 for the above items after my $10 Cat from the above purchase. Plus I got back a $10 Cat for next trip. I got the 3 loaves of bread and baggies free. It has been great to be able to stock up on cereal and fruit snacks. We are going to Disneyland in December and a lot of the snacks and juices will go with us as snacks for the boys. A LOT cheaper then paying Disney prices.

Felt Monsters

I recently mentioned that I am working on my boys birthday parties. My youngest will be 2 in March and we are doing a monster party for him. We decided on this theme because he has some cute monster puppets that he likes to play with.

While I really enjoy planning my boys birthday parties, I don't want to spend a lot. My goal is always to do as much as I can myself for the cheapest amount possible. That is why I always plan far in advance. That gives me a chance to buy things as inexpensive as I can and have plenty of time to make things without getting stressed out. I decided to make a monster banner to hang above the food table. I searched around online for ideas and then made the monsters out of felt. It turned out to be a lot of fun seeing them come to life. They each seem to have their own personality. Closer to the party date I will sew them onto some ribbon to finish the banner.

Smith's Trip July 31st

We are pretty well stocked up on food since I have been doing once a month cooking but there were a few good deals I couldn't pass up. The stores here don't double coupons very often but for 4 days Smith's is doubling all coupons to a dollar. That made for some really good deals.

45 cans tuna fish (Reg. $.75, Sale $.50 - $1/5Q = 45 cans for $13.50)

Kroger black pepper (Reg. $1.69, Sale $1.39)

C & H Sugar (Reg. $3.99, Sale $2.49)

2 Kroger Cheese (Reg. $2.79, Sale $1.50)

Speed Stick Deodorant (Reg. $1.59, Sale $.88 - .50Q doubled to .88 = FREE)

9 Crest Toothpaste (Reg. $2.39, Sale $1 - .50Q doubled to $1 = FREE)

3 dozen eggs (Reg. $1.29, Sale $.79 each)

Fast Fixin Chicken Nuggets (Reg. $1.99, Sale $1 - $1Q = FREE)

I paid $23.19 OOP and saved $51.07 which is 69%.

Yard Sales July 31st

I headed out this morning to hit a couple yard sales. I was very excited to find two cook books (one is Williams-Sonoma) and some Wilton cupcake liners all for $5. I also found a couple air duct things that we can use to build robots for my sons birthday party. It was a slow day but still fun to get out by myself.

CVS Trip July 31st

I realized this morning that I had a coupon expiring today for a free bottle of Suave shampoo or conditioner. Since I had yet to do the Kotex deal I headed over to CVS. My youngest son also threw his toothbrush in the toilet this morning so I had to pick one up today as well. Boys!! Kotex Tampons (Reg. $5.29, Sale $4.99 - $1 CVS Q = $3.99, Earn $4.99 ECBs) Oral B toothbrush (Reg. $2.99, Sale $1.49) Suave conditioner (Reg. $2.69 - $3 free coupon = overage of $.31) I paid $1.99 ECBs and $3.89 OOP. I earned back $5.99 ECBs. $4.99 for the Kotex and $1 for my green bag tag.

Target Toy Clearance

Today was the day that my Target marked down their toys to 75% off. I was there when they opened at 8 AM, boys in tow. Target marks down a lot of their toys twice a year, in January and July, to make room for the new toys. This is when I buy about 95% of my Christmas and Birthday gifts for my boys, the cousins and to add to my birthday party stash. I keep a big tub full of toys and when we get a birthday invite I pick out several age appropriate toys and then let the boys "go shopping" for the gift they want to give. It saves a lot of time, money and stress. Here is what we got today. It is $445 worth of toys and I paid $119.66 including tax. We had a lot of fun today and I am now looking forward to January when we can do it again.

Save Mart Trip July 28th

Save Mart is having a great sale on selected Kellogg's items. They are on sale for $2.77. When you buy 10 you get an instant $10 off your purchase making them $1.77. Then at the end of your transaction it spits out a $10 cat to use on your next purchase. There have been several coupons out for these items which makes the deal even better. After the instant $10 off and coupons I paid $13.45 and got back a $10 cert. $3.45 for 10 items isn't bad.

The finished Robot

The finished Robot

Making a Robot

One of my favorite things to do is plan my boys birthday parties. I enjoy it so much that I actually start about 11 months before the actual party. Partly I do this so I can pick up things for cheap and partly because I enjoy it. It keeps my mind busy. For my oldest sons 5th birthday we decided on a Robot party. His birthday isn't until next February but we have already started working on it. Last week we made our first robot. We picked up a few items at Home Depot for less then $5. I am looking for more items at yard sales but decided to try out our first one so we know what to expect.

Here is the things we used to make the robot

The robot is put together. Next we will paint him all silver.

CVS Trip March 11th

I went to CVS to do the cereal deal. I started out with $5.50 in ECBs. While there I picked up the toothbrushes and Nivea lip care. I also found a doll to add to my gift stash. After coupons and ECB's I spend $8.40 OOP and earned $10.99 in ECBs to use next time.

CVS Trip March 3rd

I went to CVS today with this grand plan to get 4 boxes of cereal, body wash and energy gels for free. Sadly when I got there they only had 2 boxes of cereal left. So I did my best to put together a new deal while dealing with two boys that asked for everything in the store that had sugar. Excedrin (Reg. $5.99, Sale $2.50 - Free coupon = FREE) 2 kashi cereals (Reg. $4.69, Sale $3 - 1 free coupon & 1 $1.50 off Q = $1.50/2) 1 Soft Soap body wash (Reg. $4.99, Earn $4 ECB) 1 Power Bar energy gels (Reg. $1.69, Sale $1.50, Earn $1.50 ECB) 7 Libby's green beans (Reg. $.99, Clearance $.25) 9 Libby's peas (Reg. $.99, Clearance $.25) 1 Mr. Bubbles bubble bath (Reg. $3.29, Clearance $1.65) I used a $5 off $20 from the paper and paid with $9 ECBs and .50 OOP for tax. I earned back $5.50 ECB.

Target Trip February 26th

We ran out of batteries for all the toys (again!) so we made a quick run to Target. I picked up a couple other items while we were there. Dawn dish soap (Reg. $2.34 - $1.50Q = $.84) Joy dish soap (Sale $.89 - .30Q = $.59) Duracell batteries (Reg $9.99 - $1 Target Q - $1 Q = $7.99) Kellogg's Fruit Snacks (Reg. $2.19 - $1.50Q = $.69) Apple Juice (Reg. $1.84) Oral B toothbrush (Sale $1.99 - .75 Target Q - $1 Q = $.24) Total spent $13.18 and saved $7.68.

CVS Trip February 25th

I originally headed to CVS to use my $5 off $20 coupon to score some cheap soda but they were out of the Ear Rinse that would help push my total up to $20. So I walked around the store a bit and noticed some great clearance deals in the food isle. 2 Libby's Peas (Reg. $.99, Clearance $.25) 4 Jello (Reg. $.99, Clearance $.25) 2 Pears (Reg. $1.99, Clearance $.50) 6 Nesquik Strawberry (Reg. $2.49, Clearance $.62) 1 Handisnack cheese and crackers (Reg. $.69) The total came to $6.91. I paid using a $7 ECB and earned $1 ECB for bringing my own bag.

CVS Trip February 17th

I went to CVS to pick up a couple things and was happy to find some grocery items were marked down 75%. These just happened to be on my grocery list so I went ahead and got them at CVS. Aussie Conditioner (Reg. $4.29, Sale $2.99 - $1Q = $1.99, Earn $2 ECB) Colgate Total (Reg. $3.89, Sale $2.99 - $1Q = $1.99, Earn $2 ECB) Organix Conditioner (Reg. $6.99, Sale $4.99 Try me free Rebate) 2 Glade Sense & Spray (Reg. $9.99, Sale $6 - $4Q & $3 Q = $5, Earn $4 ECB) 2 Crest Pro Health (Reg. $3.89, Sale $3.50 - .75Q = $2.75, Earn $3.50 ECB) 3 Mushroom Stem and Pieces (Reg. $1.17, Clearance $.29) Mushrooms whole (Reg. $1.17, Clearance $.59) Mrs. Cubbinson Croutons (Reg. $2.39, Clearance $1.20) Ortega Diced Chili's (Reg. $1.27, Clearance $.64) Lollipop ($.50---to keep the boys busy at the store) Garlic Powder (Reg. $.99) Stamps ($8.80) I used a $5/$20 Q I got in the paper. I paid using $19.98 in ECB and $9.86 OOP. I received $15 ECB. I will send in the Try Me Free Rebate and receive back $4.99.

Smith's Trip February 17th

I went to Smith's to do my weekly shopping trip and came across a couple great buys. I was very excited about the Pillsbury Pie Crusts. They were on clearance for 59 cents because they expire tomorrow. I had a $1/2 Q making them 9 cents each. I got home and threw them in the freeze. They will be good in there for a couple months. I spent $58.82 and saved $49.24 which is 45%.

CVS Trip February 11th

4 Nivea Lip Care (Reg. $2.99 - 1 b1g1Q = $8.97/4, Get back $5 ECB) Gillette Fusion Razor ($9.99, $8.99 - $4, Earn $4 ECB) I used a $5 off $20 Q found in the paper and $6 ECB. I paid $4.19 OOP ($1.23 of that tax) and earned $9 ECB. I ended up spending $1.19 for these items including tax.

Smith's Trip February 2nd

Sorry I forgot to post this while the deal was going on. I just found it on my camera. I purchased these items during the buy 10 get $5 off deal.

4 Sobe drinks (Sale $.99 - .50 for mega event - 2 b1g1 Q's = FREE)

6 Goldfish crackers (Sale $1.38 - .50 for mega event - .75Q = .13 each)

My total OOP was 71 cents. I am not sure of the percentage off as I already threw the receipt away.

Smith's Trip January 31st

I got a couple hours alone this morning so headed over to Smith's to stock up on a few items. I have already done my weekly shopping trip so this one was just for stocking up on items we use a lot. I got 10 bottles Sobe, 8 packages of shredded cheese, 2 blocks of cheese, 9 cans tomatoes, 3 cans Rotel, mustard, bananas, milk, apple juice 8 boxes of Capri Sun, Raisin Bran, 2 bags Goldfish, 3 muffin mixes, lunch meat, butter, 2 jars mayo and 2 bags of dog treats. I spent $35.69 and saved $83.50 which was 70%.

CVS Trip January 31st

CVS has the Dove Men + Care items for $5.49 get $5.49 ECB this week. While I was picking up the Dove products I noticed a table with clearance items on it. The Gillette shampoo was on clearance for $1.25. I had a coupon for $1 that expired today so I picked that up too. I paid using the $10 ECB from the Pepsi deal and $2.17 OOP. I got back $10.98 ECB.

CVS Trip January 30th

This will be my first post since we moved. I had high hopes of getting to our new town and being the coupon queen. However, when we got here I found out they don’t double coupons. It was a huge disappointment. After a couple months of stomping my feet and pouting I decided to get back in the game. I ran to CVS tonight to pick up a couple things before the Pepsi sale ended.

6 cases Pepsi (Reg. $5.19 each, Sale 6 for $20, Earn $10 ECB) 2 Oust Surface and Air (Reg. $3.99 each – B1G1Q = 2/$3.99, Earn $3 ECB each) 1 Gillette Shave Gel ($4.29, Sale $2.15 - $1.50Q) I used a $5 off $20 coupon I got in the paper and paid using $16 ECB and $4.29 OOP and earned back $16 ECB. I was excited to get all that for $4.29.