Couponing Tips

I am a huge fan of shopping sales and using coupons to get great prices on things. I have a few tips that have helped me build up a stockpile and get great prices for the items. (If I even paid anything for them!)

1. Get the sunday paper. The coupon inserts have many coupons you can't find anywhere else. You can find coupons online but you really need the sunday paper to get the best deals. I would recommend a paper for each person in your household. That way you have a few coupons to build a stockpile. If you don't want that many papers, I would at least get two. The price of the sunday paper will be nothing in the end due to the amount of money you save from the coupons.

2. It usually takes 2-3 months to get the hang of using coupons. Don't get discouraged at first if it seems confusing or hard. It comes over time. :)(Walgreens was the hardest for me to get the hang of-I will have a post coming soon on shopping at Walgreens.)

3- Stock up on items that are extremely cheap or free. By buying a few of the items ahead of time, you won't have to run to the store when you need it and pay full price.

4- Make a savings goal. Try to save $20 dollars the first month and keep going lower and lower. We have got ours down right now to where we spend $200 a month for any shopping at all. Grocery shopping, toiletries, diapers, formula, etc. Not only in that budget should you be able to get all the necessities, but also to build up your stockpile.

5- Try paying cash for groceries. Once the money is gone its gone and thats all you have for the month. This way you will not go over your budget and will really try to find good sales.

6- When a good sale comes around, you don't need to buy a million of that item. If a good sale comes around on something, it will come around again.

7- Don't be loyal to just one store. If there is a sale on something at one store that you usually don't go to, go to it!

These are the main things that have helped me save money. You really can save a ton on items when a sale comes along and you can put a coupon with it. As far as non-food items, I never pay more than $0.50 for toothpaste, toothbrushes, shower gel, shaving cream, razors, deodorant, dish soap and paper towels. I constantly can find shampoo, conditioner, makeup (especially cover girl), toilet paper, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, feminine products, medicine, baby products (diapers, formula, wipes, baby shampoo) all for around a dollar or two. Many of any of these items though often I get for free or they actually give me money back! You can get almost anything at a fraction of the price!! There is lots of other items you can get for a lot less but thats all thats coming to mind right now. :) You can also save on food items too! (A post coming on food items soon too.) I have been couponing for a year or so and have got a good stockpile in a small amount of time and paying nearly nothing for it. (I will post pictures soon. We are moving right now and lots is in boxes.) Any of you can do it too! :) I hope this has helped. If you have any questions you can e-mail me or leave a comment. :)

Closing on our house!

We're headed to close on our new house! So a post will come later today. Sorry not this morning.... But when I come back I will own a different house! Yippee!! :)

Easter weekend & Pillows

We had a great Easter at our house! It was extra fun where it was Baby B's first Easter. We went to church and then had family parties all afternoon. Made for a busy but great day!

He said he didn't like the "good egg" shirt his mom made for him. :) (saw the idea here)It was so quick with the Silhouette! Fun shirt and didn't take long at all.

Decided he would be a little happier now...

This was how the bunny turned out that I made for one of our family parties. I don't think it would have raised quite so much had I done the wheat bread like they said. :) It still turned out fun though!

So we are buying a new house and hopefully closing in the morning! Finally!! :) So with moving, I have decided to change up our room and been working on lots of projects for that. It is currently tan, brown and maroon. I now am changing it to grey, white, turquoise and a little bit of black. So in other words everything has to be changed because it's completly opposite colors!

I am working on a bed spread but thats for another post because it's not quite finished. :) But I have been doing pillows that are done! They both were easy and one very quick and the other a little more time consuming.

The first pillow was so simple!

First decide what size of pillow you want. Cut the fabric an inch bigger. Cut a one inch strip that is twice as long as you want. I put my first strip an inch from the edge of the fabric. Gather as you go and you get the ruffled look!

Super easy and quick. I think from start to finish this pillow took less than thirty minutes! I just enveloped my pillows so I could pull off the cover and change them again if I wanted or just to be able to wash them. (I don't know if everyone knows how to envelope but if not leave that in the comments and I can do a tutorial on that.)

The second pillow was a little more time consuming but still really easy. I got a bowl and a cup and that is what I got the pattern from. I traced them on a piece of paper and then cute them in half. I traced a million half circles on the back side of the fabric and once traced, cut them out. The outside layers are bigger half circles and the inside smaller.

After you have cut them out, you sew the circle part, but not the straight part. I should have taken more pictures along the way. Sorry! Put the good sides together so once it is sewn you turn it inside out and the good sides then will be out. Then iron them flat. Once ironed, you pin in a circle on fabric. After pinning, sew a big circle at the bottom of the circles so once the next layer is on the stitching will not show.

Keep going until you reach the center. Once I got closer to the center is when I switched and did the smaller half circles. There is no right or wrong to how many because each pillow will be a different size. For the center I just did a bigger and smaller circle to finish it off. I stitched through the back layer of the top circle to the back of the pillow top so that it would not show on the front.

Then you are finished! I am excited to finish our bed spread so I can start using the pillows!

Finished pillows-

HAPPY EASTER!

I hope everyone has a great Easter! We are having a great Easter at our house!

Pictures of the bread dough bunny to come later. :)

Sugared Popcorn and Easter cards

For our family, I make a card from Baby B each holiday. For easter this is what I did.

I used craft paint and made thumb prints on a piece of paper and made them into bunnies after they dried. (Trying to get thumb prints from a 9 month old is near impossible!) For the writing on the card, I used my Silhouette and used the Sketch Pens. It was so fun! The ears I just found at the dollar store. To go with it I decided to make some popcorn that in springy colors. I had a fun recipe for Sugared Popcorn in one of my recipe books and decided to try it out.

Sugared popcorn
1 stick butter (real butter)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
food coloring
1 tsp flavoring (I did 1 tsp and it had tons of flavor, so if you dont want a lot then try less and taste to see if you want more.)

Bring all of the ingredients to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes. Remove and pour over popcorn. I used my air popper and did a cup of popcorn.(A cup before popped) If you are popping bags I think 2-3 would be about the right amount. Coat all of the popcorn and let cool. (I put my popcorn in a big bowl and coated it in there and then poured it on a cookie sheet to let it cool faster) This is a really quick and easy recipe!

I did pink and flavored it raspberry cheesecake and turquoise and flavored it tutti frutti. I think they turned out fun!

I think were about set for Easter now! off to get working on the bunny veggie tray.

First Easter egg hunt and Easter food idea

Hello today! This morning was our baby's first Easter Egg Hunt! He wasn't quite sure what to do, but loved picking up the bright eggs! Who needs a rattle when you have an egg with candy in it?!

Okay maybe he didn't find quite that many... He may have taken the empty eggs from everyone else to take a picture.

For Easter I am going to make this veggie rabbit for our family party. I saw it on Studio 5 (A crafty show that comes on each day in Utah) the other day and thought it was so cute! I decided there would be no point posting it Sunday because it wouldn't give anyone time to make it if they wanted to. So I figured show the link today so anyone who wants to make it can and I will post a picture of the one I made when its done! I am using white bread dough instead though...

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=204&sid=15141359

I think it will be soemthing fun and different! Another post coming later on a fun popcorn idea for Easter...

Last minute Easter Decor

Yes I know Easter is in 3 days... But where I'm just starting my blog I figured I might as well still post them. And truth be told, they all are quick so even with the time left anyone could still make them.
I was at the store the other day looking at paint colors to redo a table I got at a yard sale and I got the idea to make an Easter garland out of the paint chips. I had some at home from a previous project so I grabbed the paint chips and got started.

I cut out an easter egg shape from my Silhouette (Yes I love love it and I use it all the time!) I traced the egg on the back so the pencil marks wouldn't show and then cut them out.

I have a tiny hole punch and punched two holes in the top and threaded hemp cord string stuff through. (Good name for it huh! Dont really quite know what it is but any sort of string/yarn/etc. would work.) It was a really quick project but has been lots of fun! I hung it on my piano under other Easter decorations.

One other last minute project I did was an easter egg wreath...

Yep they are sideways... :) I should have taken pictures along the way and forgot... I just wrapped a wreath in white fabric so the yarn eggs had something better to stick to. I started at one end and strung yarn around and around while putting hot glue every so often to get it to stick. This project on the whole was pretty quick even though wrapping the egss was a little time consuming fairly quick. It could have used a few more eggs but I ran out of plastic eggs so for today thats how it will stay. More eggs will get stuck on eventually. :)

Both pretty quick projects and fun to add to the Easter decor collection. Now hurry and get working on your last minute wreath and garland too!

About me....

Hello friends! My name is Britli and I am the girl behind Bits of this and that. I am married to my best friend and a mom to a fifteen month little boy. My very favorite thing is to spend time with them! I am a stay at home mom and love it! In my spare time I love to craft, sew, decorate, organize, paint, coupon and scrapbook. This blog will be bits of this and that, a little of everything! Have a great day and see you soon! :)

You can contact me at britli{dot}bitsofthisandthat{at}gmail{dot}com.