DIY little boy stocking stuffer round up

Christmas around here is a DIY fest, and I love it. I might be crazy, but I grew up getting DIY gifts made lovingly by my parents and I think it is a great tradition to carry on. We have a rule that Santa gifts should be conceivably hand made, if not by us (me) then by some one else. It is a great way to support local (and ot so local) artisans and give simpler toys to our kiddo that leave lots of room for open ended creative play-the kind that builds imagination and inquisitive minds.
That said, stocking stuffing can get pricey fast! A little DIY spirit can also stretch the Christmas budget with out skimping on fun! Follow the jump for my picks for toddler friendly stocking stuffers any boy is bound to love!

Quick Fix: Super Easy Slate Trivet

Want to make a super easy, super quick rustic trivet? Are you Craft-Impaired? Can you apply a sticker? Well then. grab a slate roof shingle, some felt furniture pads and follow me!

Double Your Donation: Track your donation spending

So, hopefully by now you have started your donation box for your local food bank. How are you doing? Are you buying BOGO deals to double your dollars? Are you couponing? How are you tracking your spending?
Because I like spreadsheets and I am a NERD, I made a couple of quick spreadsheets to help us see if we are truly doubling our donation. The first one is a simple chart, like a checkbook register (remember those?).

I printed out a copy and tossed it in my coupon binder so I could take basic notes while shopping. You can download the PDF version by clicking the link below.
Double Your Donation Tracker PDF
Because I don't love doing math long hand, and because excel exists to do it for me, I made a slightly more detailed excel version. Then I downloaded it to my iPad and opened it in Numbers (because numbers is cool like that) and entered the info once I got home.

It is calculating the totals for me, AND spitting out a report at the bottom to let me know just how I am doing...

A 50% increase represents a doubling of my donation dollars. So far, I am doing pretty good. This week I have to pick up a few fresh items for Thanksgiving and will be picking up a few stock up deals for the donation box as well. The super nerd in me is excited to see if I can push that total back up above 50% (I was at 55% last week!)

Download the excel tracker below, and use it on your PC in Excel or iOS device in Numbers.

Double Your Donation Tracker EXCEL

Let us know how you are doing in the comments! Is there anything we can do to help you meet your goal?
-Jen

Posted with Blogsy

Give to the Max Day!

When I lived in Minneapolis I always donated on Give to the Max Day.  Now that I no longer live there I am focusing my efforts a little closer to home.

Double Your Donation Challenge: Couponing Basics

So you've never couponed before, and here we are asking you to coupon and DOUBLE your donation. This is going to be really hard right? WRONG! This is a piece of cake. Follow me!

Double Your Donation Challenge.

It seems like tough times are going viral these days. The recovery never really happened, pay for the working and middle class has been stagnant, and the price of everything has gone up. At my house, (and we can't be alone) the usual money stress (let's be real, every house has money stress) has been increased by an onslaught of medical bills (we are on track to meet two individual deductibles this year) and some urgent household repairs (the pipes backed up, the washer broke and had to be replaced, and a gutter cracked and must be replaced before winter), we need to save for my upcoming, unpaid maternity leave, and the holidays are coming. But still, we are the lucky ones. We have more than most.

Quick Fix: Flowers

Flowers make everything cheerier, but sometimes keeping them alive is a challenge. Especially plants that must be watered from the bottom like African Violets. They do sell special pots for this, but I have an easy, cheap fix that I used to use when I worked as a florist during grad school.

Free Money.

What if every week I handed you money to go shopping? You probably would use it right? You wouldn't say "oh thanks" and toss it in the trash would you? Nope, not a chance. What if I told you that every week you are doing just that?

My grocery bill this week should have been $39.67. Instead it was $20.32, here's how it happened.

Salsa (nearly) Verde

I love canning. Especially in the fall when it makes the house warm and cozy. I also love that it is a easy way to preserve and share the bounty from the garden, and homemade canned goods can make great Christmas presents-presents that you are done with in October. I had about 6 quarts of green and mostly green tomatoes that I decided needed to become salsa. I used a recipie from Ball as my guideline.