Toddler’s Toy from Recyclables

I’m at a stage in my life where I have more time than money. I have found that being creative can save me a few bucks, and entertain my boy, Tigger. Here is a simple toy I made from things we had around the house.

A family member gave me a stack of old cards they weren’t using that Tigger could play with. I decided to make a container that he could drop the cards in and then dump out and start again.

I found an old corn meal container to use. I started by cutting a slit in the lid.

I could’ve stopped here, but I wanted to make the container a little more colorful. So I added construction paper and personalized it. I then dropped all the cards inside and let Tigger play to his heart’s content.

Now Tigger has a fun, colorful toy to play with made from recyclable materials. It keeps him and our budget happy, it works for me.

See more ideas at Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are That Family.

Homemade “Cars” Blanket: A Lesson in Perseverance

If I were good at sewing this would be a great “how to make a kid’s blanket” post. But the truth is that despite numerous 4-H sewing projects as a kid, and hours of tutoring by my mom, I’m still horrible at sewing. In fact, if Tim’s shirts need to be mended, he usually tackles that project himself. But I do try to save a few pennies where I can, and sometimes that involves sewing.

During my husband’s childhood he had a treasured blanket complete with roads that he could drive cars on to his heart’s content and he suggested I make something similar for Tigger. I had seen several rugs with roads and buildings designed on them, but never for less than $20, and the rough thing about a rug is that you can’t sleep with it. One night we saw some Cars fabric at Wal-Mart and as Cars is the most loved DVD in our home, I knew it was time to make a blanket.

After I had spent about $10 for the batting, material and thread, I set about cutting the material. I really should’ve listened to my mother better because I didn’t realize that some material is 36″ wide and some 45″ wide, which meant my fabrics and batting didn’t line up. So I called my mom, cut out a smaller size blanket, and pinned it.

I then started putting it together on my machine. After I had sewn up half a side, my husband informed me that the batting would end up on the outside of the blanket, (I told you he was much better at this). So I ripped out the tiny stitches, called my mom, whined to my husband and adjusted the stitch size on my machine. I forgot to mention another reason I don’t sew very often, I get a wee bit cranky.

So I finally got the two sides sewn together, sewed a circle in the middle to hold the batting together and put it on the floor. And, after all that hard work it looked perfect for a toddler’s blanket. Yes, some parts were wider than others, but it would perform its function and make him happy.

Sometimes frugality just takes patience and a willingness to try something, even if the process intimidates you. By sticking with sewing the blanket I saved a few bucks but most importantly poured my love into something for my child to cherish. In the future I will branch out for a few sewing projects, but at this moment I am using another frugal tactic to make Tigger an apron-bartering with a friend.

Storing and Rotating Children’s Clothing

This week, once again, it was time to rotate my little, chubby, 5-month old Sweetpea’s wardrobe. We’ve been blessed with a multitude of outfits and hand-me-downs from friends and family, and in our little apartment I had concerns about storing all of hers and Tigger’s clothes. I used to dread rotating Tigger’s baby clothes because I always felt disorganized. But somehow, with Sweetpea it wasn’t so daunting. Here are a few tips I’ve learned.

1) Decide how many clothes you really need. I know people who only have seven shirts and seven pants for each child, (plus I assume pajamas). Such limited outfits keeps their laundry at bay and their storage and expenses minimized. I’ll admit to having more than seven outfits for each kid, and I’m always amazed at how many outfits I put into storage or donate when rotating that clothing. Perhaps that’s because I keep Sweetpea in pajamas all day in the winter, or let Tigger run around without a shirt on in the summer year-round. These habits are things I need to take into consideration, when deciding how many clothes to keep.

2) Find a storage solution that works for you. Starting out I put Tigger’s clothes in empty diaper boxes, and stored them under his crib. But then I heard about the big Ziplok bags and decided to give them a try. They worked for me and the best thing was that I could easily view the clothing inside, and their smaller size limited the amount of clothes I would save. I store them under cribs, beds, and dressers due to the size of my apartment. My only complaint is that they don’t retain their smaller shape after being shrunken. I also have a couple of sizes of clothing stored in rubbermaid boxes.

3) Keep Track of What You Have

Last summer, I noticed Tigger was outgrowing his clothes and began looking through his size 2 pile. I was surprised to find only a few shirts and a couple of pants, and discovered I had dropped the ball on keeping track of his clothes. We had received hand-me-downs that only ran up to size 2 and I didn’t realize he didn’t have any more clothes. Luckily it was the start of garage sale season and I was able to find some cheap clothes. I tried to keep track of all our clothes in a catalog grouped by size, but I invariably lost the list, or forgot to record new clothes. I’m going to give this a go again this summer when garage sale season comes around so that I am not buying clothes that I already have. If I still can’t manage to keep a list of clothes I’ll just have to go through that size and make a quick  tally of what is missing.

4) Sort, Wash and Store New Clothes Right Away

Soon after giving birth to Sweetpea a good friend of mine blessed me with a trunkload of girl’s clothing ranging from newborn to preschool. I was very grateful but a little daunted with the enormity of the pile. Even though I wasn’t getting much done around the house due to Sweetpea, I made it a priority to take care of the clothing right away. That way I wouldn’t misplace any of the clothes and they would be kept in good condition.

I’m sure as time goes by our clothing system will change, but as for now this system is working for us and keeps all our children’s clothing manageable.

Snowy Day: Reaping the Fruits of Summer Garage Sales

Tigger had a great time with his Daddy in the snow last weekend. As I watched them play I was amazed to notice that I had picked up almost all of his winter clothes at garage sales this past summer. Here is the rundown of his attire:

Hat (Free): It’s really his Daddy’s hat since we seem to have misplaced Tigger’s. But Tigger’s head is so big that it almost fits anyway.

Coat with mittens ($5-$10): Picked up at a garage sale, I forget the exact price. I love how the mittens are attached so that we never lose them.

Pants (Free): OK, so they’re not true snowpants. We layered his yellow swishy pants over some sweats and it kept him warm and dry. I believe both the pants were hand-me-downs. I don’t think he’ll have true snow pants for this season since we don’t have a backyard to play in and they’re so bulky to store.

Boots ($1): Picked up at a garage sale. This one was a steal.

Tigger had a great time playing in the snow, and it was even better that we were prepared and didn’t have to run to the store and pay exorbitant prices. I’m looking forward to summer for many reasons, and garage sales are one of them.

Saving for the Expected: The Baby Fund

I often hear the old adage, “Save for a rainy day”, in reference to unexpected occurrences such as unemployment, health issues, and accidents. But I rarely hear people express the need to save for major expected expenses that can just as easily derail your budget and potentially lead to unwanted debt.

Last year we were fortunate enough to bring baby Sweet Pea into our home. Although we have great health insurance, we still knew that we had to make room in our budget for medical expenses  associated with her birth.

Shortly after we found out we were pregnant, I started doing my research on the estimated costs for a routine delivery in our area. I looked into various doctors, hospitals, etc. and after extensive online research and numerous phone calls I felt confident estimating the cost to deliver our baby.

We put our emergency fund savings on hold for a few months and funneled all of our savings into “The Baby Fund”. After this was fully funded we returned to building up our emergency fund.

My estimation for the cost of her birth, was roughly accurate. The only reason we had to dip a little into savings was an extra day in the NICU.

Knowing that our baby was paid for without going into debt, allowed us to fully enjoy her without worrying about finances.

Cutting A Toddler’s Hair: Broom edition

I have been cutting my husband’s hair for years and recently got brave enough to touch my boy Tigger’s blonde locks. He’s had a few haircuts from family and friends, but I have always been concerned about cutting a wiggly, noisy, toddler’s hair. But, in the end, hair cuts are expensive and this was one task that I needed to learn.

I talked to some of my friends who have been cutting their boys’ hair for years. One of them suggested turning on the clippers before you start the haircut and letting your toddler feel the vibration so they won’t be scared. Another one said she cut her boy’s hair in the bathroom, and let him color on the mirror with bathroom crayons to distract him.

After I shared these ideas and my concerns with my husband, this is what he came up. This is an i-pod ingeniously strapped to a propped-up broom handle so that Tigger could watch “The Lion King” in our kitchen, while I quietly cut his hair.

The haircut went off without a hitch, our boy still looked as cute as ever, and I was finally able to relegate my broom to its official duty: clean-up.

Garage Sale Season is Here!

One of our family’s favorite things to do in late spring and summer is attend garage sales. We can usually find some good deals and enjoy spending the time together. Here are a few things we do to get the most from garage sales. You can also skip down to the bottom of the post to see our latest finds.

1. Set aside a certain amount of cash each month specifically for garage sales
This month we set aside $14 for garage sales. We already had $11 left over from garage sales last month. The $11 doesn’t include clothing or furniture. We have set aside $20/mo for clothing and in the summer we buy most of that from garage sales. Since we moved into an apartment with less storage space, we have also set some money aside for shelving which we plan to pick up at a garage sale or off of craigslist.com. I simply divide my cash into different envelopes labeled “garage sales”, “clothing” and “furniture”. And when the money’s gone, it’s gone.

2. Know your target price on items
As I have gone to a few sales in the area this year I am starting to set my target price on items like shoes, clothes and children’s books. I try to get clothes for $0.25-$0.50 a piece and will pay no more than $1 for shoes. We are also trying to build our children’s library and my target price for books is $0.25-$0.50. Since I could go overboard easily on clothes and books, having a target price helps limit my spending.

3. Make a ListI find this especially helpful when trying to buy children’s clothes 1-2 seasons in advance. We have been very blessed to have been giving most of my son’s clothing up until 24 months, but one day I realized he had no clothing beyond 24 months. Since his 2nd birthday is this summer I recognized I had to get busy building his wardrobe during garage sale season. I have since compiled a list of the number of shirts, pants, etc he has in each size so that I know exactly what types of clothes to look for at garage sales.

4. Plan your route and if possible attend neighborhood or multi-family sales
On mornings when we are going to garage sales, we look up listings from our local newspaper online and check out craigslist.com for sales in our area. We highlight any neighborhood or multi-family sales to save on gas and time. We also take into account the areas where sales are. Since we live close to some wealthier suburbs we can often find high-quality items for a cheap price. After we have chosen the sales we print out a multi-destination map from mapquest and head on the road.

5. Leave early and bring snacks for kids
Although we rarely are out the door by 8:00 AM, we try to leave before 9:00 to beat the summer heat. In addition, leaving early means we make it back home by lunchtime and have a happier child. We have also learned the importance of bringing snacks for the road.

We have made great memories as a family attending garage sales and finding steals. Sometimes, like this morning, I just drive to a neighborhood garage sale and walk around to get some exercise and enjoy the weather. On these days if I happen to find a deal then great, if not I’m not too concerned.

This morning I went to a local neighborhood garage sale and picked up the following items in the top photo for a total of $10.

Here was the breakdown of the prices:

Baby BJorn Carrier: $3
Baby Bath: $1
Child’s Sleeping Bag: $2
Boy’s Snow Boots: $1
Boy’s Dress Shoes: $1
3 Bottles: $0.25/ea
2 Cans of Formula: $0.50/can
Girl’s Dress: $0.25

I was very excited to find the carrier and reasonably priced snow boots for my son. I am planning on breastfeeding our next baby but I picked up some bottles and formula just in case in an emergency we would need formula on hand. One of the lessons I learned from this week was to remember to check the condition of each item. After I got home I found that the sleeping bag’s zipper was broken. For only $2 I can’t complain since I could maybe (?) fix it, but I still should have checked the condition at the time. Overall though I thought I did great for $10.

The Simple Life: Using Creativity to Solve Problems

Since our son is allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts I struggle with feeding him enough protein. It doesn’t help that he usually spits out any chicken or hamburger that I try to sneak in. Then I had a revelation, why not make eating chicken fun?

When we went on our trip last week we introduced our son to the joys of dunking his french fries in ketchup. I usually cover our son’s chicken nuggets in ketchup but I had never tried to show him how to dip it himself. So, when Tim made some homemade chicken nuggets for our son, I squirted some ketchup in a bowl and demonstrated the dipping technique. He loved it and ate every piece of chicken!

Now I know this is a simple remedy that probably every other mother in the world would have thought of before me, but it worked and that is what counts. I think in many areas of our life if we try to be a little more creative we can find simple solutions to our everyday problems.

Dollar Tree Cookie Cutters

I was so excited. I found this set of Christmas cookie cutters for $1. Now we can make some fun decorations to hang on the tree without worrying about our little boy getting into trouble.

The Simple Life

Part of achieving simplicity is counting your blessings and being content with what you have. Making a list of what you are grateful for truly puts life into perspective.

Every Thanksgiving I make a thankful list. By doing this I feel so much gratitude for what I have and I realize the most important things in life aren’t money or things. Below are twenty of the things which I am grateful for, and this is just the beginning.

• God
• Family
• Friends
• Health
• Youth
• Education
• Freedom
• Food on the table and in the cupboards
• Warm clothes
• Shelter
• Running water
• Hot showers
• Sight
• Hearing
• Running car
• Technology
• Beautiful world
• Husband’s employment
• Savings
• Opportunity to stay at home and raise my child

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