Saving Money on Jewelry!!!

I went to a jewelry party at a friends house earlier this year and ended up making that obligatory purchase of this necklace for $68.00!!!  Wow, what was I thinking, so I went home kicking myself for stupid spending!!!

So the next thing I did was go to Michaels and get a kit to make my own Jewelry. For less than $10 after the forty percent off coupon, the kit made two necklaces, two bracelets and two pairs of earrings. The best bargain by far, but very time consuming to make!

My latest Solution?!?

These awesome designs from JGOOD.  Everything they sell is 70% off of retail price, ALL THE TIME!

JGOOD: Quality at Incredible Value…join today!

Get the hottest jewelry styles for spring at JGOOD

As a very special offer for all my readers, JGOOD is offering an additional 10% off their already reduced prices!  All you have to do is enter coupon code MYFRUGALFAMILY at checkout!

Snowy Weekend!

We have had just a little Winter Weather blowing through our area this weekend, so we took our St Patty's Day Weekend to get out and play in the snow!

This is Lil Princess, she is standing on about three feet of packed snow and the snow that she is in is what fell Friday Night!

Sorry for no sledding pics, but evidently I took all videos to not miss any of the flips and spills!

One of my daughters was in Vegas for the weekend and another was in North Carolina, Vegas was 60 - 70 degrees and NC was in the 80s.  Old Man Winter, Spring is supposed to be here not winter just getting here!!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday weekend!!

What Little We Know About St. Patrick's Day

I don't know about you, but when I think about St Patricks day over my lifetime, when I think of St Patrick's day as a child, it simply meant wearing green to not get pinched and stories of leprechauns. As I came of age, it took on a whole new meaning with partying, dancing and green beer. Now as I settle into my forties, it had become just another day except for reminding the kids to wear their green, that is, until I read this awesome article by Natalie at Detail Oriented Diva.

Detail-Oriented Diva!: St. Patty's Preview: Shamrock and The Trinity

I had no idea who St Patrick was. I know the saints are generally associated with the catholic church. And that is one church that I have never attended. I did pass out in one, but that's a whole other story that is not entirely unique as I have heard of many people passing out during their long wedding services. But it was just a few weeks ago that my pastor was talking about how hard it is to explain the trinity to believers yet alone get nonbelievers to understand. So I was searching the Internet for some St Patrick's day inspiration and stumbled across this and thought it was too good not to share.

If you are not a Christian and are offended by this post, my apologies. My intent is not to offend anyone just share some more info about the history of St Patricks day.

Shoofly Pie

One of my husband's favorite desserts is an old time recipe that takes him back to his childhood trips to the Amish country in Lancaster,PA.

This dessert recipe would normally make two pies but I haves the recipe from his mother to make just one. This would be taken to barn raisings to be shared with the community.

Mix together until crumbly:

1c. AP flour

3/4c. Brown sugar (light or dark)

1/8 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. Salted sweet cream butter

Set aside 1c. For topping

To remainder of crumbs add:
1 egg
3/4c. Molasses
1/4c. Karo corn syrup (light or dark)
3/4c. Hot water

Mix well, in a separate bowl mix together:
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c hot water
Stir until dissolved and add to previous mixture.

Pour into uncooked pie crust... I am not a pie crust maker, I trust Pillsbury for that!





Top with reserved crumbs. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 375. Bake for an additional 30 minutes until top is dry and done.

That's all there is to it, as a side note if you are unsure of your oven being level, you might want to put a cookie sheet underneath for easy clean up and so you don't have to smell burning sugar the whole time the pie is baking. I didn't know mine was unlevel so now I know what I will be covering this week for Tips and Hints Tuesday!

Day Tripping Across California

It was a beautiful day in Northern Nevada after all the snow earlier this week and DH had a rare weekend day off, so we decided to take the kids over to the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA.

From Reno you have to drive over the Sierra Nevada Mountains through the Tahoe National Forest which is always so pretty with the recent snowfalls!

First stop-Fairfield, CA at the Jelly Belly Candy Factory

The kids loved the Harry Potter made out of Jelly Beans

Lil Princess just loved wearing the hat!

When we were done, since we were so close to the coast, we decided to go have some fresh seafood for dinner.  We had some family with us that had never been to San Francisco so the first stop before the sunset was the Golden Gate Bridge.

Sorry for the bad pictures, they looked better on the iphone which was the only camera I had with me for  this impromptu trip!

From the bridge area, you can see where the San Francisco Bay meets the Pacific Ocean

Then we went down to the Marina and had some fresh seafood and enjoyed the lights of the city.



This east coast girl even finally decided to have a west coast crab. 

I tried the Dungeness crab, it was definitely different than the blue crabs this Maryland girl is used to, but very tasty and delicate almost a more similar taste to lobster!

Then the long drive back over the mountains, to get some sleep.  Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

My Christmas Savings Update

In January I set a goal to save $25 a month using my Shopkick app towards Christmas. In January I exceeded that goal and save $35.

In February I saved $40!! So in two months I have saved $75!!!! With nothing coming out of my pocket. This is just taking a few minutes a day to play with my phone and a few minutes a week walking into stores. If you missed out earlier and still wish to get in on this, just sign up here!

I also found another app that I have been playing with that also gives gift cards . I'm gonna try it out and report back in a few. If anyone out there uses either Shopkick or checkpoints meet me in the comments and lets talk about what you like or dislike about each one.

Winter has finally come to Northern Nevada!

Sorry for the absence again, I started the new job and it is about 60 miles away from my house. So, of course, winter decided to arrive this week since I had to start driving... I have been averaging a 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day each way. When I get home, the kids want Mommy time and DH wants wifey time so unfortunately the blog has gotten neglected again. Hopefully I will quickly figure out this new schedule and get back in the saddle soon.

Some ideas for snow days:

Sledding ( duh)

Build a snowman ( check out these cute kits on Pinterest and I even found  one in the Target dollar spot!)

Snow painting -I fill a spray bottle with water and a few drops of food coloring and let the kids paint!

Hot cocoa and baking are always fun ways to occupy the kids when they need to warm up and spend some fun time indoors! ( check out these recipes for homemade marshmallows and monster cookies)

Have fun and enjoy, I know some of my friends back east have been mowing their lawns this week so I may be the only person finally gearing up for winter.

I have been so blessed!!

I  told y'all how I got laid off last week.  Well 1 week to the day from my layoff I was offered a new job.  A few less hours, but still will be able to make our budget.  And I am blessed to have AWESOME Coworkers... They gave me some of their call for the week and I will end up starting the new job on Monday without a loss of income at all!!!!  To top it off, I got three other leads this week and two want to interview me.  I cannot believe what LUCK I have had!!!

So in honor of my good luck and blessings, I am gonna share some more St Patricks Day finds.

                                         This cute Leprechaun Hat from BHG.com

This fun mobile that is easy enough for the kids to make!

A fun little Leprechaun Hunt for the Kids!

Some Cute Cupcake Wrappers

And My Wishes to all my friends and followers!

A Frugal Lunch and some Angry Bird Mommy School!!

Since I am staying home, I have re instituted more Mommy School with Lil Princess.  She loves this quality time and has a ravenous thirst for learning.  I am always on the lookout for free printable lesson plans that I can do with her!  So today I had an interview this morning, did a little shop kicking on the way home ( because it was Black Friday 2- made $10 just on the way home from the interview) and then picked her up from Mema's and came home and made lunch.  Since nothing was planned, I had to think outside the box!

I took:

 a frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 package of chicken ramen noodles

1/4 c of frozen veggies

a little extra chicken bouillon powder

3 cups of water

Boil the chicken breast in the water, remove about half way through fully cooked.  Set aside.  Put the ramen noodles and veggies in the boiling water along with the bouillon and seasoning packet.  While that is boiling, slice the chicken breast into desired pieces.  Add back into the pot, continue boiling until the chicken is done and veggies are to the desired tenderness.  Lil Princess loved this, she is addicted to chicken noodle soup anyway, so this was right up her alley.  It fed me, Lil Princess and the pictured bowl left over for DS after school, for about $1.13.  It was a little salty for my taste, so do not add extra seasoning without trying first.

Angry Bird Mommy School

Carisa over at 1+1+1=1 has the most awesome sets of toddler through middle school age printables and lessons, I have found anywhere.  She also keeps a lot of ideas stored on Pinterest.  Go over and check her out, while you are there, follow me as well.

For the Angry Birds, I used this printable pack as well as a few others that I have found on Pinterest.

This lesson plan is designed for a week, but we usually finish them in a day or two and repeat for another day or two, along with additional activities I can find!

This is a packet designed I believe for PreK and Kindergarten age.  This is Lil Princess working on her money identification and values.  Prior to this week she called everything pennies or quarters and now she can tell you what each coin is worth, can pick it out of a pile and separate into values.  Now we are working on additional info such as how many pennies makes a nickel, etc.

There is also fractions and basic reading in this pack! 

Stop by and give Carisa some love and check out her great stuff!

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