I’m SO sorry for being nearly a week late on this, guys. Let’s just get right down to business and take a look at the awesome projects we all completed!
Here’s mine:
A wonky doormat! I kind of love it, though it weighs about 80lbs (or the amount of exactly 3 Posh Spices).
I’m the one who hassled you all to finish up your Pinterest projects by January 15th so we could have a big celebration and then didn’t follow through because I haven’t had internet since Thursday and I’ve been busy MOVING INTO A HOUSE and cleaning and unpacking and losing my mind (but more on that later), but I mostly just wanted to say I’m so sorry for being Flaky McFlakypants, let you know that I’ll have a roundup of all the awesome projects you completed and show you mine and now I’ll end this super long run on sentence with a big fat I LOVE YOU.
OKAY. IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN TLC’S NEWEST DEMENTED WEIRDNESS DOCUMENTARY ENTITLED, EXTREME CHEAPSKATES, YOU HAVE TO DO IT NOW. CAPS NECESSARY.
A friend of mine was telling me about this show and how much I would love it/hate it/barf when I watched it, so I set that thing to record and finally got around to watching the horrors last night. Have you seen it? DID YOU GAG? I mean, I gagged, at least 45 times during the goat head segment alone. Okay, I’ll stop being all vague and explain.
The episode highlighted 5 or so people who are extremely consumed with the idea of saving money. I’m not ragging on them for trying to be frugal, it’s just the lengths they go to save VERY little are just… I don’t even know. Watch this clip about a lady who doesn’t buy toilet paper for her family. Keep an eye out for the STAINS.
You saw the stains, right? gaggfaklsdjf;alksdfjgag
There’s also a guy who goes dumpster diving for funsies and collects a bunch of random crap to give his wife for their anniversary. Like, he actually presented the gifts to her while they were out to dinner in a ceremonious fashion, right before he asked the other dining patrons if he could have their leftover food. Classy fella, that one. What exactly would you do if your husband gave you an old tea kettle with mysterious dumpster stains on it? I was asked this same question, and I can honestly say I would first beat him over the head with said kettle, then promptly drown myself in the moldy dumpster water it contained. There’s… there’s just no point.
So after Justin and I watched the show, we were so inspired by all the people who could think outside of the box that we started coming up with our own winning money saving ideas. It’s our new thing now, and our goal is to make our ideas as gross as possible. I’ll be washing dishes and Justin will come in and be all, “I have another good one. Clean all your old hair out of the drains, dry it out, then use it to stuff pillows for the couch!” And I’ll be like, “Why don’t we rinse out that bag the hotdogs came in and I can carry my makeup in it!”
Today I was hanging out with my brother and he came up with some pretty inventive ones too.
Old grapefruit peel as a key catcher on your entry table.
Old shoe becomes the perfect charging station! (Notice the cord running through the hole? I die.)
Soda can vase... a frugal gift for that special someone.
Don't throw away that toothpaste tube! Cut off the end and you have a glasses case. (Thanks for the high fashion model pose, bro.)
It’s all about upcycling, people. Now go find that show and watch it.
Over the weekend, I came up with a simple centerpiece idea for a Mickey Mouse themed baby shower. I pretty much just used the supplies I had on hand and –> FAIL <-- didn’t take photos of the process, but it’s easy enough to explain.
Materials for base:
A mason jar
Red filler (Red Hots, red M&M’s, Hot Tamales are great candy options) – BUY ENOUGH SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO IMPROVISE WITH TISSUE PAPER, MMK?
Two white buttons
Materials for Mickey’s head:
Go chop off Mickey Mouse’s head… if you laughed, you need help.
1 Large Styrofoam ball
2 Small Styrofoam balls
1 wooden dowel
2 toothpicks
Black paint & brush (I used acrylic craft paint)
Glue
Process:
Paint the Styrofoam balls black and allow to dry for a few hours.
Stick the dowel in the large Styrofoam ball. If it wiggles around too much, use some glue to secure it inside the “head”.
Put a toothpick inside each smaller Styrofoam ball and stick them into the larger one to form a head with ears.
Fill the mason jar with red candy (or whatever your brilliant little mind came up with) and stick the dowel in the center. My mason jars were on the smallish side, so I had to saw the dowel in half for this to work. Also, I ran out of Red Hots and since the party was 2 hours away, I improvised with red tissue paper for the top portion. YOU DON’T HAVE TO. It looks cheesy, dude. I’m aware.
Glue the two white buttons on the front of the jar.
I think if I had more time, these would’ve turned out better. Can you imagine how cute a Minnie one would be? A bow on top? Adding little skirt somehow? STOPPIT RIGHT NOW.
(Also, the chevron towel is from Target. I saw you eyeballin’ it.)
A 25 year old mother to the strongest-willed toddler in the universe. Wife to the handsomest geek. Reader of teenage romance novels. Lover of all things Anthropologie. Just gave birth to baby #2 and happy to tell you all about my nutso new life as a stay at home mom.
