1st Week in Coupons

So I have started a project that seemed simple enough but has been alot harder than I thought. I have been trying to save some money with coupons, I had no idea what I was getting into. I bought 2 papers and then I steel Mine and Nates parents coupons every Sunday. They say that the best way to save is to start out with seven papers! holy crap that is alot of coupons. After really trying this for the first time I can totally see what they mean. There were so many time where I wished I had two or three more coupons.

Anywise I used to sort my coupons by not cutting them up and filing them by the date they came in the paper but it was such a pain when getting ready for a shopping trip because I would have to sort through all of the inserts multiple times and that started to get old fast. Now I spend a day and cut them all out and organize them into sections ( frozen, Kids, Pets, Hygeine etc ) and then put them into a binder. The first time I did this I had ALOT to cut 4 or 5 weeks worth and four copies of them I was about ready to give up. But I kept going and going and going and finally got them all clipped out and organized.

Next I looked on some of the coupon sites. Some of my favorites are The Krazy Coupon Lady and Totally Target I see what is on sale this week and put together a list of what I want. The trick to this is not to buy what you need right now but to buy what you will use in the next 6 months. its a totally different way of thinking. You want to eventually be to the point where you never have to buy something unless it is on sale and you will also have a nice stock pile of supplies etc. on hand whenever you need them.

Now its time to shop this I think was the worst part of it all! actually going to the store and finding the product BEFORE they are wipped out is going to be the biggest challenge of all. I know that I am in trouble when I go to the store and Find three other ladys with their coupon binders, and I know that we are all looking for the same deals, because we all follow the same sites and the sites all follow each other. I ended up saving a good amount but still spending more then I really wanted.

This is what I got:

Total Amount of merchandise $111.57

I ended up spending $65.53

Amount saved with coupons and Ads $46.04

Amount earned in store credit $26.00

So I got $111.57 worth of product for $39.53

Its not extreme but its a start!

I finished

Happy Halloween

Halloween Costume

Well i decided that i was going to make ashlyn halloween costume this year I had a hard time deciding between a ballerina and a bear. well the bear won. I decided that the skirt would look cuter when she can walk and might get in the way when she crawls. I decided to do the pattern below of the lion but I am going to not do the mane and do a bear fur fabric.

I can't waite to see how it turns out. I wasn't going to post a picture of it until i got it finished but I didn't think about buying a zipper and i need to borrow a zipper foot so why not blog about it unitl it is done.

This is the softest fabric ever! Its too bad that it will be on the out side. I think that i am going to buy some more so that i can make a blanket out of it.

I could use the same pattern and make her pj's. That might be my next project.

It is even pink on the inside. they also had a tan color. but i like the pink.

Joh Deere

I have a friend that is in love with John deere, and when i saw this fabric i just had to make it for her boy. They had some really cute pink patterns that i wanted to make for a girl as well. I started this blanket for her son that was born in January, but i had a few things to occupy my time since then and i am finally finishing it. She should have it by the end of the week. Since this picture i have put the brown minky on the back and tied it so all i have to do is the binding..... Wish me luck because I have never done it before. This is actually the first quilt that i have made since hight school i was surprise at how much i had forgotten over the years..

Tinkerbell

So all the girls at work are making pillow cases for their kids and grand kids. I only have one kid and she dosen't have a pillow yet so I mad one for a friend's Daughter that is having a tinkerbell birthday in October. I ended up loving the pilowcase so much that i decided to make a matching blanket to go with it. I can't wait to give it to her. Below is the finished pillow case and almost finished blanket

The pillow case looks alot cuter with a pillow in it!
I think that i am going to add another row to this since I have some extra fabric. And then i am going to put the thick swirly lime green munky on the back. I will post final pictures before I give it away

Blessing Day Projects

This is my blanket that i made for Ashlyns blessing. I just LOVE this blanket i think that it is the cutest pattern ever. The flowers are the biggest pain in the but to cut out but once you do that it is cake to put together. When I finished it I thought that it might be to small so my next one will be bigger but looking back it might be just the right size for a snuggle blanket. I don't know what it measures the block are something like 7 inches long. I got the idea for this idea from a pattern that my friend gave me that had the same concept but I changed the actual flower pattern and they layout so I am claiming it as my pattern now. I took it in to a quilt shop so that i could get an idea for another quilt and the girls there loved it they wanted me to write up a pattern with instructions so that they could sell it. I thought that that was pritty cool!!

And of course I just had to put a few pictures of Ashlyn with her blanket. I can't beleive that she was ever small enough for it.

And this is the cake that I made for it that nobody ate! But the girls at work were sure excited when I brought them a whole cake to eat!!