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.