Project of the Month-April

I was just going to skip April since I did Daisy's Candyland party and that probably equates to about a year's worth of "project of the month"s, but I just finished this and it was kind of a small project so I decided to throw it up here for April anyway.  I get all of Tommy's baby food about a month at a time.  It's great because we never run out when we need it most, however it creates a little problem with where to store the food.  Due to strategic couponing I don't have any room in the kitchen cupboards for more food, and keeping them out on a shelf just looks cluttered.  We go through a LOT of ice cream in the house, and our favorite comes from WalMart.  I have found that these WalMart ice cream buckets come in handy for MANY things so I hoard them.  That's right.  Hoard.  There are some things that I don't feel bad about collecting and having a ton of when I know that we will use it.  Enter: Baby Food Storage Buckets.  I've been using the buckets for about 5 months or so, always with the intention of "prettying" them up a bit.  Since the big move and the big party are both over, I finally got a chance to do it.

It really was so easy that I'm not sure it bears a walk through, but here we go...here's the stuff I used.  A straight edge cutter, scissors, stickers, scrapbook paper, and a hot glue gun (not pictured).  I found a font in Google Docs that I liked, and printed out "meats", "fruits" and "veggies".  I should have gotten a better "before" pic of the buckets, but you can kind of see them here.

Contrary to my usual process I did NOT use a measuring tool!  I know.  I'm branching out.  I held the paper up to see where I should cut, and cut it to fit the sides and the lid.

I cut around my titles and glued them to some paper.  Glued the paper all around the bucket, added some stickers, and voila!  No more ugly buckets on my shelf!

See that black bar at the top on the lid?  It used to have the flavor of ice cream written on it in white letters.  At first I tried using a green marker to color them in because it was a green bar, but that didn't work so well. You could still see the white through the green.  So in the end I just broke out a black permanent marker and colored over all of it.  I like this much better.

I contemplated removing the red handles but in the end decided to keep them.  They will be more handy if I ever need to move the buckets around and aren't too much of a distraction for me.

Of course I missed getting a good picture of the tops.  The lids all have the matching design paper coordinating with the sides.  I'm very happy with how they turned out!  It only took me two afternoons (would take only one if you don't have three little monsters interrupting you every 2 seconds.  :) so it wasn't very time consuming at all.  You could do this with any bucket or storage container you have lying around.  Or if you're like me and you have an ice cream addiction, an empty ice cream bucket works PERFECTLY! :)

a candyland party success

Well the big Candyland party that we have been brain storming for, planning and anticipating is finally over!  And we've got one very happy and content 4 year old in its wake.  We have a lot of family and friends who live halfway across the country and could not be here, so this post is essentially for them, while also passing on some of the great ideas I came across in blog land for anyone looking to throw their own Candyland extravaganza!

Let's start at the very beginning - invitations!  I knew I wanted to make my own, but ideas out of the blue is not my strong suit.  I usually do pretty good at recreating someone else's ingenuity, however.  The problem is, I forgot to take pictures of the ones I made, and I didn't make any extras.  So I will have to settle for the original from which I got the idea in the first place: Gumball Invitations These invitations look much better than mine, but I was pleased with how they turned out anyway.

 


My vision for the outside came to life.  It really did.  It was exactly the way I wanted it to look.  I had another peppermint lollipop at the end of the driveway too.  Then the balloons at the end of the driveway shrunk.  And a few posterboards blew away, and the sign would not stay in it's place for anything.  I'm so glad Josh got a picture of it before it fell apart.  At least we know what it looked like, even if our guests only saw one or two squares!  :)

The peppermint lollys were fun to do.  This idea was all over the internet.  The one I referenced is HERE.  I made it with paper plates, craft paint, cellophane, thread and a wooden dowel.  I was a little hesitant on the peppermint design at first but once I got going it was pretty easy.  I painted the outside of two plates and then used hot glue to stick them together.  I bought a roll of cellophane at Target and the wooden dowels I swiped from the kids' windmills (sshhh! ;)  Then I just tied the balloons on with some ribbon.

We almost lost this puppy.  At just a few minutes before the party was supposed to start, we realized the white part had come off and blew away.  Josh found it on the neighbor's tree.  Several pieces of packing tape later we were back in business.  

 


The Birthday Wreath!  I think I am probably most proud of how this turned out.  I originally made some candy in different colored fabric because I was using what I had.  But then I went to JoAnn's and found this purple and pink fabric in the remnant section and picked it up.  I'm so glad I did because it looks so much better!  The candy idea came from this blog post at Small Fry & Co. For sake of time, I switched it up a little.  I cut my wreath circle out of cereal box cardboard, and painted it red so it wouldn't stand out against the red door as much.  I cut up toilet paper rolls and stuffed them with polyfill.  I cut the fabric into rectangles and sewed up the long side making a cylinder shape.  I stuffed it all in there, twisted up the sides and tied it with white thread!  It was really pretty easy.  I do think I would have liked it better with the cellophane like this blogger did originally, but I just didn't have much time.  I really like how this turned out though!  Oh, and I got the idea to put the 4 in there from a picture on Pinterest, but it was an Etsy listing and no longer exists so I couldn't link to the original post.  I just cut it out of the cereal box cardboard, painted it white and then painted different color dots all over.  I love it!

This paper plate candy was pretty easy, yet a little time consuming.  Sadly, it's the only one I made.  I wanted more, but just didn't have the time to make them.  

Candy on the walls and lollipops on the mantle.  The lollipop sticks were supposed to be painted white but again...ran out of time!  I blame it on moving two weeks before the party.  Link for lollipops.  I don't have a link for the balloon candy.  I found it on Pinterest and my computer won't take me to the site due to a suspicious link.  Weird, but you really don't need instructions.  Just wrap a balloon in cellophane!  I tied it with white thread so you couldn't see it.  

I lied.  I said the wreath was my favorite, but I think this garland is my favorite.  I didn't really have any instructions for this because the link I found was to an Etsy site where someone was selling it.  But it didn't look too hard to me so I gave it a whirl.  I did it a little different in that I left about 4 inches of space between circles rather than sewing them right next to each other.  I think I like it better because you can see into the next room very easily and it gives such a nice "pop" to the decor.

The sugary treats display!  I put some boxes under the table cloth to make it a little different.  Now that I'm looking at the picture I would have arranged it a little differently but at this point in the set up I was feverishly piping and decorating the cake while quickly spouting off to Josh where I wanted everything.  More on the cake later - whew!

I thought these marshmallow pops were a perfect addition, and being a bargain shopper I was excited to find them at the dollar store.  Daisy tasted one yesterday and said it was yucky!  Oh well.  At least they looked good.  :)  I stood them up in a goblet-full of marshmallow ice cream cones.

Having the party just a couple weeks after Easter came in handy this year as I was able to save a lot of extra jelly beans as well as get some on a major sale after the holiday.  I love the idea of displaying the cake pops this way.

Here are the original candy pieces I had made and decided I didn't like for the wreath.

These might have been the biggest hit with the kids...or maybe it's because they were closest to the edge of the table, but by the end of the party there were only a few left!  I took locations from the game and put up signs next to candy that resembled it, just to add a little cuteness.

Sweet Tart gummies!  I originally thought these would be fun on skewers and then I thought, "what am I thinking?  Skewers at a toddler birthday party?"  Yeah.  Glad I thought that one through.

I've been wanting to try these cake pops for a while and just never took the time to.  This was the perfect opportunity and they turned out great!  SusAnna's Sweets will definitely be adding these to their site!

One of my favorites: Laffy Taffy!

Marshmallow sticks!

Another fun pop display.  These cupcakes were a lot harder than they looked! 

I like how the black basket turned out with the ribbon threaded through it.  Unfortunately this is the best picture I have of it.  Cupcake cake bites and marshmallow cupcakes along with some very large dot candy!

Now...the cake!  I was very happy with the crumb coat.  It was the best I've done on corners, I think.

Here it is iced up, before attempting to smooth it out.  I made a mistake and stuck it in the fridge before smoothing it.  I didn't think it would make a difference, but with my time crunch it definitely did.  When I pulled the cake back out to smooth it and decorate it, I had very little time to work with.  I like to use the hot knife method when smoothing cakes but with it being hardened in the fridge it just did work.  So I just tried to cover up the really bumpy parts as best I could.

I could sit here and tell you everything I had planned to do that I just couldn't because I didn't have time, but I think I will just show you the cake and leave it at that.  :)  I think it turned out cute, even if it wasn't totally what I had originally planned out in my head.  The ice cream accident on the top is my favorite part.

I also like the cake bite cupcakes on it.

Okay, I will tell you one thing I was going to do different.  I wanted the letters in her name to be all different colors, but the white on white is okay too.

Red KoolAid?  At first I couldn't figure out if this was really smart and cute because it was a Candyland party, or just really stupid to have at a toddler's birthday party after just moving into a new place with nice carpet.  Thankfully it was a nice day and the kids were able to be outside a lot so we came out unscathed with zero spills!  I missed getting the plates, napkins, forks and spoons in the picture, but they were all different colors.  I loved that part of this theme.  And as you can see, part of my garland became a table decoration when Jesse decided to high-tail it through the hanging circles over and over at lightening toddler speed.

I can't believe I didn't get a better picture of these.  I made some candy beanbags out of felt for the kids to play games with.  The idea came from this post, although I think I actually like mine better.  :)  For some of them I painted on a peppermint and spiral design, and I used white thread to sew them so you wouldn't be able to see it very well.  The only thing is, I didn't have small beans, I only had lima beans, but I'm a big fan of using what you already have on hand if at all possible.  So I used the lima beans, and they worked great, but probably would have been even more fun with little beans.  

The kids had a blast with it.  We had them try to toss them into the bowls.  Fun times for all.  :)

I thought the treat buckets were fun.  I had a different color bucket for each kid.  Each bucket held an ice cream lollipop, a toothbrush, and then before leaving they got to pick whatever candy they wanted from the table to fill up their bucket.  I'm sure the mommies appreciated me.  ;)  It was a great party, our girl had fun.  That being said, if ever we have a birthday during a time when we are going through a major life change (like, oh say moving, for example) I will never do this again.  Haha!  I think if this ever happens again we'll be doin it up Chuck E Cheese style.

couponing for birthday presents

I mentioned a couple posts ago about Daisy's birthday coming up.  I found a deal on Chutes and Ladders and couldn't pass it up since she has enjoyed Candyland so much.  I got the game at WalMart.  Regular price was $7.77 and I had a $3 coupon making it $4.77!

Dollar General Couponing Venture

I think I talked before about my rock bottom price spreadsheet where I keep track of the lowest price I have paid for an item.  If our family is in need of an item and I can't find a good coupon deal for it, usually I will buy it at WalMart, Aldi, or the Dollar Tree, depending on what the item is.  For diapers, my go to is WalMart brand Parent's Choice.  With their diapers at regular price I spend .14/diaper.  If I find a deal that beats out WalMart, I know I need to get it.  Now with this Luvs deal, it actually ended up being the same price as WalMart.  The reason being I had to get one box of size 3 and one box of size 4.  You will notice there are more diapers in the size 3 box than in the size 4 box.  I wanted to get two boxes of size 3 to get optimum savings, but they only had 1 box left. I have never coupon shopped at Dollar General before.  It was  good experience, for the most part.  Here is the deal:

1 box Luvs size 4 diapers and 1 box Luvs size 3 diapers - 14.75/box (store sale price down from 15.75)

I used an online coupon I printed from the Dollar General website that was spend $30 get $5 off.

I also bought a peppermint patty (more on that later) for .75.  My total before coupons was 32.25.  Total after coupons was 25.25.  

Why the peppermint patty, you ask?  The coupon I had was "spend $30 get $5 off".  The blog where I saw this deal did not mention a sale (sales are usually regional), so here is where my plan had a small hitch.  When the cashier rang up the two boxes with the sale price of 14.75 each and not 15.75 each, the subtotal came to 29.50.  I was .50 short of spending the $30 to get the $5 off.  I didn't plan for this before I got to the register, so when I saw the subtotal I quickly looked around the register for something that was .50.  Of course the cheapest thing I could find was .75.  On a sidenote, why in the world at DOLLAR general are the gums/candies MORE expensive than at, say, WalMart or even Walgreens?  Silly, that's what that is.  So anyway, that is why I bought a .75 peppermint patty.  I essentially spent .75 to save 5.00 so I really saved 4.25 if you want to look at it that way.  :)

I also had a near run in with the cashier.  I say "near" because thankfully it was avoided.  When she first tried to scan my coupon, the register wouldn't take it (because my subtotal was 29.50 and not 30. but neither of us realized it at first).  Here's how the conversation went:

Cashier : "Okay, it won't take the coupon."

Me: "Oh really?  How come?"

Cashier (a little defensive) "I don't know, it just won't take it and I can't accept it if it won't take it."

Me: "Oh I know you can't override it, but I wonder why it's not accepting it?"

Cashier (very defensive)"I don't know, it doesn't tell me!"

Me: "I'm not trying to cause a problem I just want to figure it out."

Cashier: (a little less defensive)  "Oh I know it's just that a lot of these have come through here and they haven't been working."

This is when it clicked in my brain that with the store sale it might be preventing the subtotal from reaching $30.  I asked her what the subtotal was and she told me.  I told her that must be why and that's when I grabbed the Peppermint patty.  Then the coupon worked!  The cashier seemed relieved.  

I've had my fair share of run ins with cashiers.  Some are good, some not so good.  And I get it.  I am sure they have a million people who try to use a coupon the wrong way and get all mad and mean to them when it doesn't work, but please don't assume that I'm going to jump on you as soon as your register won't scan my coupon.  I simply want to find out the reason so that I can get better at couponing.  So that next time I can avoid this hiccup all together.  Usually if you as the customer are calm and keep your tone pleasant no matter the conversation, you can keep things from escalating to a bad experience.

Walgreens - A Diamond in the Rough

I titled this post A Diamond in the Rough because I feel like that's what the deals there are now.  While Walgreens used to be a place I went every week for great deals, I usually only go now once every 2-3 weeks whenever I find a deal here and there.  I used to love Walgreens.  Back when getting deals was easier!  I get the feeling that not many share my opinion, but it is just that: an opinion.  I started couponing about 6-8 months before my area Walgreens started the Balance Rewards system.  Before that it was all Register Rewards.  I liked the RRs because the savings were instant.  With the Balance Rewards system you have to accumulate a certain number of points on your card (I think it's 5,000) before you can acquire $5 off an order.  They do still have occasional RR deals and sometimes some great Buy One Get One Free (BOGO) or Buy One Get One 50% Off (BOGO 50%) deals that are still worth it, especially since my Walgreens is just down the road.

Here's my latest trip:

6 boxes Kraft Mac n Cheese, .46/box, 2 packs Lever 2000 Bar Soap 2 ct, .25/box, 2 Almay makeup remover, 2.24 each, 2 packs Nice! Jelly Beans, .67/pack, 3 packs Peeps Candy, .67/pack.  Total before coupons: $36.13.  Total after coupons: $11.05.  69% savings!

I was especially excited about the Almay.  I actually missed a better deal a week or two ago just because life is extra crazy right now with trying to get ready to move.  However, this product is the only thing that I am brand specific about, and it lasts me forever.  The last time I got a deal on this I was able to get them for cents on the dollar.  I stocked up with several of them and I am still using that stash.  That was about 3 years ago, and it was the smaller ones so I'm hoping these two will last me almost that long as well.

Thanks to the last couple candy deals I've found I am pretty much done with the kids' Easter baskets.  I told JP the other day that I was done with candy for the baskets and he informed me that they have to have Peeps and Jelly Beans, both of which I hadn't gotten.  So now I can check that off my list.  Can't have the baskets missing those essentials, now can we?  :)

Brainstorming Candyland

Our sweet little Daisy will be turning 4 in just a few short weeks.  I have been talking to her about what kind of party she would like to have, and she kept telling me she wanted a Dora party.  Now, I have no beef with Dora, not really.  Daisy has loved her for a long time now and she does learn a lot from watching her.  But I just felt like Dora would be sort of....run of the mill.  I just felt like there were a ton of other, cuter, more fun options out there.  Also, Daisy didn't seem very excited about it.  She was just sort of interested.  So since it's my party, I mean, Daisy's party, I suggested to her a Candyland party.  We had gotten her the boardgame for Christmas and she loves it.  Ever since that suggestion she has been so excited and keeps wanting to talk to me about her Candyland party and what all we will have there, what we can make, what we can do.  THAT'S how I wanted her party to be!  Something she was over the moon about!  She has looked online with me to see what ideas we can come up with for food, decorations, etc.  Of course, she wants everything so we are picking and choosing.  I have found a ton of great ideas.  I just hope I can pull it off!  Have you ever done a Candyland party?  Do you have some great tips, suggestions, ideas for us?  Any ideas welcome!

Pampers Deal!

My latest CVS trip was a little bit of a repeat.  You might remember I got this paper towel deal the last time I went.  I don't know if they stopped it and started it again or if they just continued it, but either way I had more coupons so decided to stock up on 'em!  Also, with Easter right around the corner I was happy to score some cheap candy.  

You will very rarely see me buy Pampers.  I usually say that Pampers are the Mercedes of diapers.  You pay an arm and a leg for them, and while most will probably tell you that "you get what you pay for" and they are absolutely the best, I have found in my experience that they really don't work any better than Luvs or even the WalMart Parent's Choice brand.  I have been blessed so far with little behinds that don't flare up and react to any particular diaper, so I have been able to avoid being brand specific when it comes to buying diapers.  That being said, I would definitely buy them if they proved to be the cheapest option.  However, even with couponing it's rare that the price will beat out another one out there.

I purchased the above items in 2 transactions.  Put together, the total before coupons came to $68.23.  The total I spent after coupons was $22.48.  A 67% savings!  The paper towels were $3.00/8 pk (.38/roll), The Starburst Jelly Beans were .99/pack, and the diapers were $4.83/pack!  Here's the breakdown:

Transaction #1:

2 packs Easy Ups and 1 pack baby dry = $30 (store sale 2 for $20, down from 13.39 for Easy Ups and 11.99 for Baby Dry)

Extra Bucks (EB) Deal: Buy $30 and get $10 EBs

I used 2 coupons for $2 off one pack Easy Ups and 

I used 1 coupon for $1.50 off one pack Baby Dry Diapers

$30 minus $5.50 equals out of pocket cost $24.50.

Now whenever you get EBs (especially such a high value EB) that print out with your receipt, you want to try and use them in this same shopping trip so that you get immediate savings and don't have to make sure you get back to the store before they expire to use them.  So since you can't just use it in the same transaction that generates it, you need to split of your items into multiple transactions.  In order to use mine, I paid for the diapers first, got my $10 EB, and then used it when I paid for my second transaction.

Transaction #2:

2 packs Starburst Jelly Beans - 2.49 each (on sale down from 2.99)

EB Deal: Buy 2 Get 2 EBs

I used 2 $1 off 1 pack Starburst

My out of pocket cost was 3.98 with $2 EB.  Final cost 1.98 for 2 packs.

2 packs 8 ct Sparkle paper towels (on sale 2 for $10 down from 8.99)

EB Deal: Buy 2 packs get $2 EB

I used 2 coupons that were $1 off one pack Sparkle paper towels

My out of pocket came to $8 with $2 EBs making final cost $6 or $3/pack.

My subtotal for the second transaction was 11.98, I used my $10 EB from my previous transaction making my subtotal then 1.98 with $4 EBs.

I hope that this makes sense.  When you are just starting to delve into the world of couponing, it can be very difficult because it does take time to pick up on the rules and different stores' policies.  I usually tell people who are starting out to please commit to giving it a try for at least a solid 3 months.  It takes some time, determination, and even a few failed trips here and there to really get the hang of it.  But, once you do you will be SO glad you did!