I made some Back-to-School gifts for a group of girls at church.  These are made with a roll of Rolo’s Candy and made to look like a pencil.  They turned out super cute and are very easy to make!  I got the inspiration to make these from Simple J Studio, where she made these as Valentine’s for teachers.

What you will need:

• Rolo’s
• Hershey Hugs (or Kisses)
• Yellow and Pink Cardstock
• Foil
• Glue Dots
• Ribbon or String
• Craft Scissors w/ Pinking Edge (optional)

Pull the Hershey’s label out of the Hug, and use the Glue Dots to attach the Hershey’s Hug to one of the ends of the Rolo. If you aren’t familiar with Glue Dots, they are the best things EVER!!  Everybody needs a box or two or three in their house.  I usually pick them up at Michael’s with a 40% off coupon.

Cut about a 1″ thick pink strip to add to the top of the Rolo to resemble an eraser.  I cut a circle and attached it to the top to finish it off.

Next cut a piece of yellow cardstock to wrap around the Rolo’s.  Fold it about an quarter of an inch over and over to create the crease marks for the pencil, and then attach it to the Rolo’s

Cut a thin piece of foil to cover the part where the yellow and pink overlap, this works as the metal portion of the pencil. Lastly, you can attach a note to the finished product with a ribbon or string. You are done!

Optional: You can cut one end of the yellow cardstock with pinking scissors so it has more of that sharpened pencil look.

Welcome to Thrifty and Thriving! You may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or have the once a day email delivered to your inbox. My Facebook Page is an excellent way to stay up-to-date on the hottest deals.

The following is a guest post from Laura, who blogs over at Confessions of a Serial Cheapskate, you must check out her blog, she shares so many wonderful ideas!

I am so excited to be here at Thrifty and Thriving today– it is SERIOUSLY one of my favorite sites out there.  While I still have a LOT to learn – I always pick up new tips and tricks from Christy.  Thanks for having me today!

Since we’re all friends…

Nope, I still can’t believe I’m about to show you the inside of my closet, but it’s to prove a point so…

Here ya’ go (p.s.- it’s really hard to get good shots of the inside of ones closet).  *Note specifically the shoe portion:

I’m hoping everyone has an area just like this and it’s not just me– a space in his/her closet that could use some extra organization.

(how come it looks like I have so many shoes (and this isn’t even all of them)? I guess I don’t wear a lot of them… actually I see a few pair of shoes right now that I should pull out and donate…)

I just came across the cutest tutorial for a quick, easy and (depending on what supplies you have on hand) FREE shoe hanger project and I just HAD to make some…

Too cute right?! They start as these:

and end up as these:

I can think of a million other potential uses for these cute hangers too– I’ll list them all at the end of this post– after the tutorial.

For purposes of demonstration I used a blue nylon coated wire hanger so that it would show up well on the white background. I would not recommend using nylon coated wire hangers though (as you will see a little later)

It’s super simple to do.

Supplies needed:

• wire hanger(s)– that you can bend with your hands
• needle nose pliers
• diagonal pliers (for cutting)

optional:

• spray paint
• ribbon
• glue
• embellishments

Take your wire hanger and cut off the bottom piece:

Then using your needle nose pliers, curl under each end like so:

Then using just your brute strength, bend up the “arms” of the hangar into a cute scroll-y type shape.

See– easy peasy! And if you wanted to stop there, you can! Insert flip flops and you’re done:

Wow! What awesome flip flops you say? Learn more about them HERE.

OR, you can hang your flats on them too…

And like I said I have a million other suggestions, but they’ll have to wait until the end of the post.

When I was bending my hangers, they started to get a little chipped and “distressed” looking. Now I like the distressed look on SOME things, but not necessarily when my clothing or shoes are involved so outside I went with my handy dandy spray paint.

I highly recommend priming these first– just to be sure the spray paint will adhere properly. And yes– I got super dorky and used my scrap wire pieces to create some additional cheesy sculptures. I actually kinda like some of them …

The spray paint just gives them a fresh feeling and really unifies them all.

From here, I referred back to the tutorial where I first learned of this neat trick and created a little jacket for one of my hangers. It only took a few minutes, but as I was doing this I realized I like the look of them without the jackets too.

In the interest of time, here’s a breakdown of the “hanger jacket” tutorial from the original source at Epbot:

I decided to embellish mine with what else– a fabric rosette (like I used here, here and here) of course!

All in all it was a pretty quick, painless (except for the bruises on my plams from trying to cut the hangers) and brainless craft. Definitely something you can do while in front of the tv — my favorite time/place for crafting.

I don’t really have a great place to hang mine right now, but love how the originator at Epbot used her space. If we could drill into the wall to put in a low hanging bar (stupid apartment), I totally would.

You could also do this in a front hall closet to store some “running out to get the mail” shoes that live in that closet.

And now as promised– the list of 1 million additional ways you can use your wire hanger hooks.

• curl the “arms” in a bit and use to hang dish gloves to dry
• hanging doll clothes
• hanging scarves or belts
• hanging necklaces (like this one)

• hanging aprons
• hanging (light weight) purses
• hanging baseball caps (instead of the scrolly ends you could make a T shape with the ends and spray them navy blue for something a bit more masculine)
• organizing extension cords
• displaying crafting supplies out in the open and within reach (ie. hang via thumbtack on a cork board over a craft desk)

yes, I own a crazy number of scissors (I have AT LEAST 2 or 3 additional pair)

• holding rolls of tape for a gift wrap station (or cute washi tape)
• displaying items at a craft show table
• holding keys
• hanging measuring spoons/cups

OR create different variations of this:

• string beads on it and form the ends into hearts for a little girls room
• cut the hanger just in the center of the bottom portion and create multiple humps on each side for a tie or belt holder

I swear the possibilities are endless (although I only came up with 15 off the top of my head)

And here’s why NOT to use nylon covered wire hangers:
(I thought it would save the hassle of not having to spray paint them, but no such luck)

And just so you leave with happy thoughts of all the new uses you’ll have for the old wire hangers that are no longer worthy of your clothes– take one last look at how cute they can be with just a little TLC.

What would you use these for?

Looking for a frame for some artwork or project you have? Keep an eye out for clearance artwork, because it may be cheaper than just buying a frame outright.

I picked up this artwork on clearance for $4.98, it was regularly $39.99.  I wasn’t interested in the artwork on the inside, but I knew that I could re-use the frame.  This frame is a shadow box, and I thought that $4.99 was cheaper than I would probably find a shadow box for.    So, I picked it up!

There are so many ways that you can actually make your own artwork. Using paper cut-outs is a simple one, because it is cheap and you can customize the colors and designs to whatever you need.

Since this will be going in my daughter’s room, I cut some butterflies out in colors that matched her bedding. I used the Silhouette Machine to cut out the butterflies. Don’t Forget! You have the opportunity to win a Silhouette Machine here on the blog this week. Plus, Silhouette is also offering a discount package to Thrifty & Thriving readers. Check it out!

I folded the wings, because I wanted them to be three dimensional inside the shadow box.

I added some “bling”, because my daughter loves all things sparkly. Plus, it gave the butterflies even more dimension.

Here is how the final piece turned out. I am very pleased, the colors are perfect and my daughter loves it! That’s what really counts, because it’s going in her room, right?

The final cost of this project was around $7!! I would love to hear how you decorate your home in frugal ways, just leave a comment and let me know.

This month I mentioned that we were in the process of re-doing my daughter’s bedroom.   I like to do things as frugal as possible, so I mentioned that when I decorate, I usually start with an inspiration piece, and then add other inexpensive pieces slowly until I have enough items to start putting the room together.

Here is the inspiration piece for my daughter’s new room.   We found this comforter on clearance at Target, it was 75% off, and it only cost us $14.98 for the comforter, sham, bed skirt and sheet set.  SCORE!!! Her two favorite colors are the purple and the aqua, so we decided to accent the room in those 2 colors.

The comforter came in this fabric bag, so I plan on making some throw pillows out of it.  DOUBLE SCORE!!  We picked up the Valance and Curtains at 75% off.

We plan on adding a desk to her room, so I picked up the wastebasket and the cup, both of which were found in the Bath Department.   We plan on using the cup as a pencil holder on her desk.   Both items were 75% off!   I picked up the frame all the way back in November, it was actually part of the Halloween clearance.  I picked this one up at 90% off!!

Our most recent purchase was the purple lamp, again at 75% off.   Are you starting to see a theme here?

Here is the cost breakdown of her room thus far:
Comforter/Sheet set 14.98
Lamp 4.24
(2) Valance 2.48
(2) Curtains 1.24
Wastebasket 4.98
Pencil holder (cup) 2.24
Frame .49
Total Spent = $34.37 (retail = $140.91)

Next up: I will show you what we are doing to change clearance artwork and frames into something new to match her room.   Can’t wait to show you!

I am going to be redecorating my daughter’s room, and I am going to take you all along for the ride!  (Details and photos coming next week!)  When I re-do a room, it isn’t usually a quick get it done in a weekend kind of thing.   I like to do things frugally, so I pick up pieces on clearance here and there until I have enough items that will help me to finally start putting the room together.

The thing that works best for me is to start with an inspiration piece – something that I LOVE!   I love Target and clearance deals, so my inspiration pieces often come from there.   Nothing is more inspiring than an item at 75% off, right?   I am going to give you some examples with items that I picked up for my son’s room, over 7 years ago.

We will start with the inspiration piece!   I saw this old gas pump bookcase in a Target ad probably about 8 years ago.   I fell in love with it!!   I thought it would be so much fun to decorate my son’s room with a theme that went around the bookcase.   Unfortunately, I saw that bookcase when things weren’t the best for us financially, so I knew purchasing it was out of the question.   I waited!

I know that everything in Target will eventually be clearanced, and I was hoping to grab it at 75% off.  A girl can dream, right?   I had to wait for over a year!   It finally went on clearance, but I had to wait for 50% off, beccause I couldn’t afford anything more than that.   I went to Target the day it should be 50% off, and it was gone.   I called every store, and nobody had any left.  My dream of a super cute boys room that involved a gas station bookcase had died!

I was at Target one day and I spotted my beloved bookcase on an end cap.  I think I squealed!  Somebody must have returned it.   I ran back up to the front of the store to grab a cart.  I was afraid somebody might steal my bookcase while I was grabbing a cart (please tell me I am not the only one that worries something will disappear while you are grabbing a cart).   When I put it in my cart I realized that it had now been clearanced to 75% off – I squealed again!

Now that I had my inspiration piece, I was able to add these other pieces, all at great prices too!   It took me several months to gather all of these pieces.   I never try to decorate in a hurry, I can find the best deals if I gather pieces slowly and just wait for clearance deals to pop up.   Here are the other items I was able to find:

Quilt for his bed at 50% off

Knobs for the dresser at 75% off

Propellor coat hook at 50% off

Matching Wall shelf at 75% 0ff

Bookcase at 50% off

Gas Pump Light at 75% off and a denim valance (which stayed at our old house) at 75% off

I will be back next week to show you the inspiration piece that I picked up (at 75% off – of course) for my daughter’s room.   It should be fun!   I would love to hear what you do to save some money when decorating your home.

I currently have a Homemade Holiday series going on, but I certainly didn’t want to leave out Thanksgiving, so this is the first post in our Thrifty and Thankful series.  We will be sharing several ideas to help you celebrate and prepare for Thanksgiving.   First up in the series, is a homemade fall wreath shared by my sister-in-law Shauntel, who is a new contributor here on the blog.   Enjoy!

I’ve always admired the wreaths hanging from my neighbors’ doors or in the craft stores, but never wanted to spend $30, $40, or more for a store bought wreath, that just seemed outrageous to me as a frugal mom.  So I decided to save money this year by making my own wreath – and you can too!

A few things you will need are:

*1 wreath frame – I picked mine up at Dollar Tree for only $1.

*2+ fall garland or leaves – I used my 40% off coupon from Michaels and only paid about $3-4 each, or you might be able to find something that will work at your local dollar store for cheap.

*5-6 Small gourds – Again, I found a package of  these up at my local dollar store and only paid about $1.25.  I did find a package of gourds at Amazon
if you can’t find any locally.

*Plus a hot glue gun and plenty of hot glue sticks.

Putting it all together:

There are two ways to approach that start of your wreath.  You may simply wrap the garland around the wreath frame and use a hot glue gun to secure it where you want it.  Or you may do as I did and remove the leaves off of the garland, position, and hot glue them into position.

The next step is to add the gourds.  Again position them where you think looks best and secure with hot glue.  If you wish, you may also add fall berries or glitter picks, ribbon, etc.

A few tips:

When glueing items onto your wreath, position the item as you would like it, add glue, then let it cool slightly before you move on to the next item or it may slide down or fall off before the glue has time to set.  Also, the more leaves you put on the wreath the better it will turn out.

My Total Cost:$9.25 + tax

Sign up to attend a FREE Do-It-Herself workshop at the Home Depot featuring Martha Stewart Living products.   The workshop will be September 30th from 7-8:30 pm.   You will need to R.S.V.P. if you plan on attending.

The first 30 attendees will also receive a FREE project organizer.

Since Strawberries are finally in season here in Washington, I made a trip to Spooner Farms for some fresh picked Strawberries. YUM! They are so good. I am spending the day making freezer jam and other goodies with strawberries. I have been making this version of Strawberry Freezer Jam for awhile, and I love the results. It’s quick and easy, doesn’t take a lot of sugar and tastes super sweet and fruity – just like fresh picked strawberries.

Interested in making some for yourself? Here is what you will need:

Ball Simple Creations No Cook Freezer Jam Fruit Pectin

1/1/2 cups sugar

Pour in the packet of Fruit Pectin and mix with sugar.

Add 4 cups crushed strawberries to the sugar and pectin mix, stir for 3 minutes.  When crushing the strawberries, you can have a a few chunks of strawberries, or make it more smooth, whichever you prefer.

I like to use these Ball plastic containers, they are the perfect size.

Pour the strawberry Freezer Jam into the containers and freeze. Super simple and so delicious!!

Next up: Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

This Saturday, April 24th,  Home Depot will be hosting a FREE How to Workshop on Vegetable Gardening from 9-10 am.   This would be a great thing to attend if you plan on having a vegetable garden sometime in the near future.   While you are there, don’t forget to check out the Buy One Get One FREE seed sale.

Thanks Coupons Connections NW!

I had the opportunity to attend a gardening class last week, I was able to gather lots of information that will help us plan our garden this Spring. I thought I would share a couple resources that were recommended for gardeners here in the Northwest.

Resource for planting and when: It was recommended that we use the Ed Hume Farmers Almanac for planting times. It tells you what type of vegetables you will want to plant  each month. This small booklet can be found next to the Ed Hume seeds in many stores. It is really inexpensive and sells for $1.79.

The city of Tacoma offers TAGRO, which is of a blend of Class A Biosolids—the EPA’s highest rating— highly screened sawdust and other gardening elements. TAGRO provides plenty of nutrients for your plants. The best part, is you can get TAGRO for FREE!!!

To pick up a small amount of TAGRO Mix, you will need to bring your own shovel and containers down to TAGRO (2201 Portland Ave., Gate 5/6). You can shovel as much as you can haul from the “you shovel” pile for free (this ONLY applies to smaller amounts of TAGRO Mix from the you-shovel pile, as available). You can go HERE to learn more about getting TAGRO delivered and the prices they charge.

SoundGRO is another option you have, and it can be used as a fertilizer. SoundGRO can be purchased at the Pierce County Chambers Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. Unfortunately, do to popular demand, they are sold out at this time.   Keep an eye on their site for updates when more will be available.  You can also purchase SoundGRO from one of their distributors.