Target: Deals for the week of March 29-April 4, 2015

Here are some of the best deals at Target this week, with thanks to Marcy from Stretching a Buck for her help in compiling them: Betty Crocker Cake Mix, 15.25 – 18.3 oz – $1 Use $0.75/2 printable Stack with $0.75/2 SavingStar e-coupon […]

Boy Mom Madness Series: Staying Organized

Welcome to Day 2 of a weeklong “boy mom” series! (You can check out yesterday’s post on boys’ bedrooms here.) I’m teaming up with other boy mom bloggers this week to talk about all things “boy,” and we’re ending the week with a fun giveaway on Friday. (I’m participating Monday, Tuesday and Friday of this […]

The post Boy Mom Madness Series: Staying Organized appeared first on DIY on the Cheap.

Free Ebooks: Beyond the Grind, Positive Discipline, The 5 AM Club, and more

Download a free copy of Us: A User’s Guide. Download a free copy of The Action Bible Easter Story. Download a free copy of The Impressionist: Becoming the Masterpiece You Were Created to Be. Download a free copy of Why […]

My Monday Morning Plan + Today’s Deep-Cleaning Project

It’s Monday and guess what that means? That means it’s time for our weekly deep-cleaning project! Every Monday morning this year, I’ll be assigning us all a deep-cleaning project to tackle (well, that is, if want to join us!) Today’s […]

The Top 5 Most Popular Posts This Past Week

Why I Like My Smaller House My Top 10 Favorite Free Homeschool Sites Trim Healthy Mama Flourless Chocolate Cake How to Spend Money Without Guilt & Still Be Frugal A Day In My Life

This week in microfashion...

Alternate title: A queen and her cat.



Oh, the princess stuff. I try to walk a fine line but I have my own internal struggle on the issue. I'm oddly both delighted and repulsed. I want her to enjoy being a girl without being defined by it. Part of me thinks this is what 2 years old like, it's not going to have a lasting impact on her internal motivation and self image. The other part of me watches Cinderella and wonders why couldn't have she just walked out and saved herself - and why am I showing this to my impressionable child?

Clearly this is my problem, not hers. I think Cinderella Ate My Daughter will be my next read.

Moms of girls - what do you think?

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Amazon.com: 50% off Ladies’ Denim + my secret to finding jeans that actually fit!

Today only (March 27, 2015), Amazon is offering 50% off Ladies’ Denim. If you typically buy more expensive jeans, I’d recommend taking a look as many of the prices are quite good for these quality brands. As I’ve mentioned before, […]

Free email course: How to Be a Better Friend

I’m excited about this and just signed up! The (in)courage writers have come together to share their 10 Tips to be the Friend You Wish You Had, and we’d love to invite you to join us. For five days in […]

Amazon.com: The best household grocery & online deals this week

Here are some of this week’s best grocery & household deals from Amazon.com, courtesy of Terry and Mandi from Jungle Deals & Steals. Many of these prices are higher than what you’d pay by combining coupons with sales, but they […]

I have found true freedom... Financial Freedom

I have found true freedom and peace.... in Financial freedom and the peace which only Christ can bring. I grew up in a financially stressed household. Constantly 'floating' checks, hoping to not receive another overdraft. My parents built a real estate empire, but had mortgages attached to every property. Every month was stressful. Especially when a renter didn't pay or trashed a house and moved out. Because credit was the only thing I knew, I used my credit cards ($100,000+ worth) to help start a business. I was trying to juggle a full-time job (at a credit card company) and full-time college. The stress of a house payment, 2 car loans, and all the credit cards was too much to handle. I ended up dropped my school down to part-time. I wanted to cut back at work, but I wouldn't be able to make all my payments. After 3 years of juggling payments, and getting the 2 cars paid off, our daughter was born. I quit working to focus on her and the business. It was at this time Dave Ramsey started on our radio station. At first, I laughed at Dave's answer. Get out of debt! Yeah right. Not possible. But every time I heard a debt free scream, it gave me hope. Hope that maybe, some day.... I could find financial freedom. Our business was hit hard with the sluggish economy. We started a construction business to try and make ends meet. Over the last 9 years, our construction business has doubled in size every single year. By following the baby steps, we paid off our credit cards, hospital bills, student loans, business loans and car debt. We also paid off our personal home, and 2 rental properties. We paid off $552,000 in debt in 6 years. Everything we own is paid for! It's been 2 months since we paid off our house, and the financial freedom is starting to become real. We've been able to cut back at work a bit, and spend more time with our kids, and enjoy life. Best of all, we've been able to give, and give generously. Dave, Thank you. You've changed our life, and our family tree. You've taught me how to create a legacy for my children's children and one that will perpetuate through the generations.

Crazy 8: 50% off Spring Styles + Free Shipping!

Crazy 8 is offering 50% off Spring Styles PLUS free shipping when you use the coupon code PARTY at checkout This deal is valid now through Wednesday, March 25, 2015.

How to Treat Yourself to a Spa Service for Just $10 to $20!

Guest post from Kim of Money Under the Cushions You’re a busy lady… you work hard, you take care of everyone, you are the definition of frugalista. You deserve a spa day! No, I’m not talking about the unplanned yogurt […]

The 4 Most Popular Posts This Week

Why You Should Not Trust Hair Tutorials on the Internet When She Gets That Thing You Really Wanted Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins A Day in My Life

Rite Aid: Deals for the week of March 22-28, 2015

Here are the best Rite Aid deals this week, with thanks to Shannon for her help in compiling them. If you are new to shopping at Rite Aid or have questions about their coupon policy, click here. Brut Deodorants – […]

Inspired by Brass: How to Get the Look

If you were a child of the 80s (like me), then there was probably a time in your life when brass became synonymous with tacky. That is definitely no longer the case. Brass is back in a big way, but not the shiny yellow brass of the 80s and 90s. It’s as if that brass grew up and […]

The post Inspired by Brass: How to Get the Look appeared first on DIY on the Cheap.

Must Make: Pom Pom branches

How did I not think of this? Genius idea from the inter webs that I have somehow missed. Pom pom + branches = cheap and whimsical decor. This particularly lovely example from The Surznick Common Room.



If you wanted to be really crazy, you could buy a huge sack of pom poms to pomify your backyard! I think I'll save that idea for a future Easter egg hunt.

Want a sneak peek at my latest project? Follow Brooklyn Limestone on instagram, facebook and twitter for lots more.

Why do your parents push you to be mediocre?

Why are our parents and friends always on our case about getting a “stable” job, getting married, and buying a house? Why are they always crinkling their noses in disgust when they hear us trying something new? “Oh, what is … Continued

Why do your parents push you to be mediocre? is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

Free sample of Simple® Micellar Cleansing Water

Sign up for a free sample of Simple® Micellar Cleansing Water. Thanks, Family Savings!

Immy turns four with a knights and princesses party

This little princess turned four on Sunday! And it's the last year I get away with immy having a family-only party because she has little friends from preschool now (it's so cute to see these little friendships bloom). I asked what she wanted to do for her birthday kind of hoping she would just talk about cake but she wanted a princess party. "A dress-up princess party" to be exact. I may have swore on the inside, but on the outside I of course smiled and said "of course! What about a Knights and princesses party?" thinking we'd do cool jousting on pretend horses and make flower crowns and dance around a maypole. And then as usual I realised I just didn't have the energy to go overboard so I asked her what games she wanted (pass the parcel, piñata, cookie decorating) and we went with that in a princessesy way - crown piñata, star glow wands in pass the parcel, glittery sugary pink sprinkles and mash mallows for the cupcake decorating (we ended up with cupcakes instead of cookies after I forgot to make the dough in time). And then of course there was cake - a castle as the princess demanded and I have to say it was one of the easiest cakes I've ever decorated!! No cutting involved! My only "effort" was making a some little puppet theatres for the kids to decorate and a brown-paper castle that I taped SO neatly and effectively (!!) to one of those pop-up shelters we had. In my head the castle looked so good and worked perfectly. In reality it didn't want to stay upright, tore easily and had packaging tape all over it. The kids thought it was cool though and honestly that is all that matters right! Imogen had several costume changes throughout the day - her birthday outfit she opened that morning (pictured above), then she quickly changed into an Anna dress when it was gifted to her and again into Elsa - another gift. Then at the end I made her get back into her birthday dress for these pictures and after they were done she was Anna again. Phew!

I may or may not have stolen roses from the next door neighbour's rose bush that is so tall it towers over the fence and so was teasing me with its perfectly rosy petals calling to be torn up and thrown on the ground - a fitting ground cover for princesses....

My sister made these awesome costumes for my nephews - how cute are they?! Zak told me every day for two weeks he didn't want to dress up; he didn't want a costume. The day of the party? "I want to be a knight". Cue much frustrated yelling. I told him to make a sword. He needed my help. I spared him about five minutes to glue it together. He wore a Socceroos champions jersey and carried his sword for exactly 35 seconds. Glad I didn't make that costume!

Perhaps not so princessesy was the whacking of a piñata - I've decided it's easier to just cover the sides of piñatas with paper or thin cardboard rather than painstakingly fringe up tissue paper!!! They still get cracked open just fine and you can go into more detail with the design (if you really wanted). This time I covered the sides with white paper then cut out the silver crown, glued it on and had the girls glue the cut-outs and sprinkle glitter on. It was s little messy when it was hit but I didn't hear anyone complain of glitter in the eye! We did have an egg on the head though when my 2-year-old nephew walked up as Zak leant back to whack it and instead whacked Ben in the head. Eek. Bad timing - and amazingly, our first piñata accident (there have been A LOT of pinatas in the eight years I've been throwing kids parties).

THE CAKE! Sponge cake (two layers from Woollies) with jam rolls for the turrets slathered in vanilla buttercream and topped with mini waffle cones also covered in buttercream and sprinkled with pink sugar glitter (no idea what it's called). The bamboo skewers through the tops of the cones keep it altogether and are topped off with a little tape cut into the shape of a flag. Mini marshmallows on the edges create a kind of "stone edge" effect and the parapet (YES I googled castle parts to work out what it's called). And a squirt of chocolate-fudge-in-a-tube made a wonky door. She loved it.

THE GAMES:
In our very authentic medieval castle - with parapets - we played pass the parcel, musical chairs and decorated and played with mini puppet theatres I made out of toilet rolls.

They were pretty easy - cut a little window using a scalpel and hot-glue-gun on a little hat for the Rapunzel tower. Cut a parapet around the top of the toilet roll and a drawbridge at the bottom for the castle. Draw up a little knight and/or princess on cardboard, cut and stick to a bamboo skewer and have the kids decorate them. The just stuck on some little flowers and drew on vines and bricks or just coloured in. They can then use them as a puppet and theatre in one.

Cupcake decorating is messy but a good one for kids to do. It keeps them busy and helps you out! You don't need to worry about how they look! One less job! Here is Layla's efforts. Yes, a lot of sugar was consumed...

What is a party without balloons? I made a simple balloon garland for the inside decorations which at the end of the day became the number-one-thing-to-play-with despite all her presents. She grabbed the garland, knotted it up and ran around the yard again, again and again. Good way to wear her out!

Her request for the morning was animal balloons like I did for Layla last year. But I had to change it up a bit so made her a princess, a heart and a number 4. She was thrilled.

And so another party done! Another child is another year older. And I have yet another one growing swiftly and celebrating her birthday next week - Annika is turning ONE! Already! It's really starting to freak me out how quickly birthdays roll around in this place!

Well, Well, Well...

A small part of me was hoping it was actually chocolate milk...

It's been over a year since we moved out to the sticks and I have to say that other than close proximity to grocery stores for late night ice cream runs, I don't really miss living in the city. That's not to say that country living doesn't have some pitfalls. Most recently, our well ran dry. Cue the sad trombone! (If you follow me on Instagram, this isn't news to you, but here's the longer story.) My Mummu and Mom were actually visiting me when I consumed the last drops of water. We were tinkering with the Etsy shop, photographing new items and writing listings. I was washing a few new finds when the water started to come out in spurts - like there was air in the lines. Was the pump failing? Were the lines frozen? Was the well dry? All of these were questions that I was ill-equipped to answer. Hubby was out of town so, at a loss, I crawled into our basement to investigate. The pump was working overtime and making angry noises, but I didn't spot anything else out of order. I wasn't standing knee-deep in water, so that was a good sign. I tried calling Hubby, but I couldn't reach him. It was getting dark and I didn't like the prospect of a water-less evening, so I tossed some clothes in a duffel bag and booked it into town, actually "blowing the doors off" my Mom's Jeep as I passed her on the highway (in my zeal to enjoy a nice hot shower). I was able to reach Hubby shortly after rolling into town. He asked if I'd thrown the breaker on the pump before I left.

Nooo....

At 10pm my Dad and I drove the hour back out to the lakehouse, and I threw the breaker (puttered for a few minutes, to my Dad's chagrin), and then drove another hour back into town. At least I could sleep easy, knowing the pump wouldn't overheat and catch fire. The next morning I drove back out to our house to meet my father-in-law, who kindly drove out from his place to investigate. Long story short: our well was dry! I also learned that the well cover is ridiculously heavy concrete. We suspect that because of our really, really cold winter, coupled with very little snowfall, the three sources that feed our well had frozen. That's the problem with less snow: it doesn't provide the insulation we country folk need. Fortunately the lines to our house weren't frozen, so we were able to pay for a water delivery ($225). At first, the water level kept dropping so the whole truck ended up getting pumped into our well - it's the same price, apparently, whether we need some or all of the water. We had no idea if the water would stay, or disappear overnight, because unlike a reservoir a well won't just hold water indefinitely. I started melting snow to flush the toilets and we crossed our fingers.

It looks like topping it up - combined with balmy temperatures that helped things thaw - worked, because we're back in business. We check the level daily and, not only did enough water stay in the well, it also looks like water is coming in again because the levels have dropped only a little bit. Whew! Happily, this didn't happen earlier in the winter because we might have had to make a monthly, or weekly, appointment for water. I know people who have gone a month or more without water because their well or water lines froze, and so a water delivery wouldn't even help.

Just another reason to love spring! And another way that rural living keeps us on our toes. Next time I'll have to tell you about our $400 internet bill...

Recipe: No Knead Irish Soda Bread

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, famous for corn beef and green beer but my personal favorite March treat is Irish Soda bread.



I was fortunate to practically live in the house of an Irish friend growing up and grew addicted to her mother's amazing soda bread. I've been chasing that childhood memory for years.



A true Irish Soda bread requires cutting cold butter into the flour in such a way that doesn't overwork the dough but evenly distributes the butter. I have come to accept this as one of the skills I will never master. So I'm happy to share this recipe for Irish Soda bread that requires no such special technique that is almost as good as that mythical childhood version. This recipe is easy even for the novice baker (like me).



For those of you who aren't familiar with Soda Bread, its a cross between a sweet bread and a scone with a crusty exterior and flaky inside. It's especially delish slathered with Irish butter and served with a cup of tea. If you've never had it, I urge you to throw this recipe together and let me know what you think.

May the road rise to meet you & the wind be at your back this St. Patrick's Day and always.

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Gretchen’s $46 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan

Homeland 2 Skippy Peanut Butter – $2 each, used $0.55/1 printable (doubled) and $0.50/1 coupon from the 2/8 SmartSource insert (doubled) – $0.95 each after coupons 1 Post Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal – $2.50, used $1/1 coupon from the 2/8 […]

Obsessed: Party Barn

I will be the first to admit: I'm very much a city mouse and that isn't going to change. But anyone who knows me well knows that should I ever cast off city life in favor of country expanse, there are a few must haves in my imaginary country house. One of those things is a party barn. (Granted, if I move away I will have no one to party with me in this party barn but allow me my fantasy)





So when I stumbled upon this VRBO listing, I had to share it because it has that perfectly cozy rustic vibe that would make for some beautiful celebrations. Just take out the beds and this is the perfect party barn. Now if I could just fit this in my Brooklyn backyard!

Want a sneak peek at my latest project? Follow Brooklyn Limestone on instagram, facebook and twitter for lots more.

Cents of Style: Winter Accessories for just $5 + free shipping!

Cents of Style is holding a huge Winter Accessory Blowout Sale where all Winter Accessories are just $5 when you use the code WINTERSTEAL at checkout. You’ll find a wide selection of products, from knit scarves to head wraps and […]

This Sweet Little Table

Do you remember that little metal table that used to reside in the townhouse guestroom? It was a wedding gift my Mummu received in the 1950s, and she gave it to me. It was originally black but then, with her permission, I painted it mint green:

I didn't fully love the colour - it was bordering on sage green - but it looked nice with the mint and aqua upholstered chair and so I left it as-is.

Once we moved to the lakehouse, and lost a guest bedroom, it migrated to our bedroom and it looked good until I added the teal back tab curtains.

The teal made the mint look super dull and drab - and its buddy, the Mingo chair, was displaced anyway. The paint had also seen some wear in the move, so a fresh coat of paint was in order. Because this little table will get the boot soon (our dresser dilemma has been solved!), I opted for a neutral colour so I can move it from room to room with ease.

I decided white would be perfect for such a transient little table but then, on impulse, I decided a pearlized white would be even better - Rustoleum Pearl Mist looked nice on the cap. I hauled it over to the super awesome spray paint booth my in-laws have (winter spray painting!) and - ta da!

The pearlized paint is really pretty, but it seemed to take forever to achieve this coverage.




It went on really, really sheer and the green continued to peek through, coat after coat. It still does, a little, but I don't mind that slight green tint. If I wanted a true pearl white, a white base coat would definitely be necessary because this paint is like a clear finish with some metallic sparkles in it. I Googled around, curious if the "mist" in the name indicates its sheerness and I'm just a total goof, but it seems other people have had issues with coverage too. On the plus side, this could add a really pretty shimmer to furniture without masking the colour - or it could help tone down a too-bright paint job. If you're tempted to try this paint, buy double what you would normally need for your project, or start with a white or cream base.

Even though it took a little extra spray paint huffing, I'm happy with the result. This might end up a plant stand in the office, a side table if we turn the guesthouse into a proper bedroom...I'm not sure. What I do know is that there are more bedroom changes happening soon. But did I mention that I painted this table three months ago? "Soon". You keep using that word, but I don't think it means what you think it means.

Product for this project was provided by the folks at Rustoleum, who have been kindly indulging many of my DIY project fantasies for awhile now. Any comments, opinions and projects chosen are all my own!