Our fall wreath

This actually turned out even better than I imagined:

You might remember my inspiration pictures here. I never found any one wreath that was exactly how I imagined -- so I decided to go to the store and wing it.

First of all - wreath supplies are expensive! You can buy flower picks for $7.99 per flower! That can add up very quickly, and suddenly the Pottery Barn wreath no longer seems expensive after all.

I wanted to do this on a budget - so I clipped coupons, looked up sales, and made multiple trips to 3 different stores. I spent a total of $18 and am SO happy. 

First, I started with a grapevine wreath. I like how you can have parts of the base showing -- unlike a styrofoam base.

I had bought a few branches and garlands that I could cut up, and used flower wire to attach to the wreath. Another pro of the grapevine -- attaching was easy.

In case cutting these is much harder than you imagine, get out your bolt cutters. Oh wait. You don't have bolt cutters? You don't have a mother who has a love for both crafts and power tools and decides that every female should have bolt cutters in her craft box? Hmm. Well then, come on over! My bolt cutters are your bolt cutters.

Once cut, it was just about that simple. I started with the leaves and the gold pieces.

Added the white flowers and the berries.

Made a bow out of burlap. (Note: In case you decide to buy burlap on your lunch break, walk into the fabric store in your suit jacket, grab a very heavy burlap roll and hug it to carry it.. you have a bit of explaining to do when you get back to work. For the burlap will be all over you. Just something that I have heard).

Secure the worth-the-dry-cleaning-bill bow to your wreath with another piece of wire. 

And ta-da .. the finished product!

I think it looks so good with our brown door. I love seeing it every time I drive home. 

Despite the 80 degree weather, our front door knows its fall!

Fall bucket list cross-off:

• Make a fall wreath. Consult Pinterest if necessary.

Extreme couponing

Okay, not extreme at all. But using a coupon is pretty extreme for us. Don’t get me wrong, we are frugal people. Mom, I said ‘frugal,’ not ‘cheap.’ We like to buy when things are on sale. I like to price check. Shop at Trader Joes for the staples, and then, anything I can’t get, run over to Harris Teeter. And I LOVE a good garage sale. But we aren’t good with coupons.

If we run across a coupon, we will cut it out. And by run across, I mean, it has to slap us in the face, and maybe be handed to us with someone saying “here is your coupon for a free Starbucks!” At this point, we put it in what we have deemed ‘the coupon drawer.’ It holds our straws, fabric samples, and other miscellaneous items. We will then wait until precisely a week after the expiration date, and yell in misery that “WE FORGOT TO USE OUR FREE STARBUCKS!!” And then, drown our sorrows in a not-free, really-too-many-dollars latte. Whew. I feel better.

Rinse. Repeat. 

Our weekend started with an “extreme double coupon week at Harris Teeter” commercial. Dan was hooked. We had to try it. This was our week. 

Harris Teeter doubles one-dollar coupons on any day, but this week they would double up to two-dollar coupons (ie four dollars off). I envisioned myself finally starting that stockpile of trial-sized off-brand body wash to last us until 2030. They would all be free, and I would have extra money left over for shampoo. We would fill an entire shopping cart for $2.83. Today was going to be a great day.

We started by emptying the coupon drawer. “Four dollars off your Double Shots that expired YESTERDAY.” “Five dollars off any purchase at Harris Teeter that expired last month!” “Expires in January 2012!” “Do we EVER go through this drawer?!” “Hey look, a penny!”

Then we bought a Sunday paper. “This better be worth the four dollars.” “Rule number one: don’t cut out the ones we won’t use, that’s wasting money. It’s the only couponing rule I know.” “There are SO many coupons for kitty litter.” “Cat food.” “Cat Treats.” “WHY DO ALL THE CAT PEOPLE GET THE GOOD COUPONS?!” “Let’s get a cat.” “OMG. We NEED a cat!”

You people are crazy.

Koda threw water at our face. We stopped being irrational, grabbed our wad of coupons, and proudly strolled into Harris Teeter. We got my deodorant for 50 cents. Honey Nut Cheerios for a dollar. Break and Bake Cookie Dough for 50 cents (now, I am ALL about homemade, but compared to the four dollar Oreos that Dan likes, this worked for us). A box of Band-Aids and a tube of toothpaste for FREE.

Now, we weren’t rational the entire time. “This one doubles for four dollars!” “Do we use Neutrogena lotion?” “No, but we should find one for $4 and get it for free!” “It’s all like $16.” “That’s okay. Four dollars off. Four dollars SAVED.” “That makes the lotion $12, is that a good deal?” “No, but maybe we need it. We’re saving FOUR dollars!” (I now see how the marketing strategy of coupons works).

Overall, we saved $100 from our coupons. We probably don’t need toiletries for a few months. And I am not a contender for TLC’s newest show “Extreme Couponing turns Hoarding Buried Alive.” If this happens, TLC, I only want one percent of profits. Although, we do have room in our crawl space and under our fridge for some stock piles.

I consider it a success. We vowed to use the coupons in the coupon drawer (ha, we will see). To check the Sunday paper. And to remember which coupons make things free or fifty cents, and buy then.

Meanwhile, Dan will let you know if $16 lotion is, indeed, worth the four dollars saved.

DIY coasters and brownies

I have two things for you to do this week or weekend.

First, a DIY.

This has to go down in history as the fasted DIY ever. I love feeling accomplished by making things myself, but there are some days when you don't have a few hours to sit down to do a project. (Okay, maybe more than 'some' days). And I love saving money. Two in one? Yes, please.

I have recently seen a rendition of this on Pinterest that involves scrapbook paper, Mod Podge, and spray paint. (Are those successful? Have you seen Mod Podge when it gets wet? Yuck. Let me know).

Coasters can get very expensive. Especially when you need them in your dining room, living room, bed rooms, etc. I have a version that can cost less than $0.20!

First, you go on over to Lowe's and grab those furniture felt dots. The ones you put under chair legs, to keep from scratching the hard woods. Except, get the small ones. Apparently we have thrown away the packaging, but here is what they look like:

Then you get some pretty glass tiles.

Or maybe some stone tiles.

Lowe's even has a "less than a dollar - tile" section on their website here.

Then, get this. The hard part. You stick the felt to the underneath of the tile.

And bam. DIY coasters. That are pretty, hardly cost anything, and took you about 8 seconds. Enjoy!

Second, a recipe:

Now I have tried many from-scratch brownie recipes, and never found the perfect ones. Until this last weekend.

The recipe can be found here. I followed it to a T. I always alter recipes, but for some reason found the urge to follow this exactly.

Don't worry about the number of eggs. I was very worried these would turn out too cake-y, and almost substituted some oil for one of the eggs. They are incredibly fudgey.

And bake based on the time. With all of the chocolate chips, my toothpick never came out clean. I am very glad I took them out at the 35-40 minutes instead of waiting.

They were to die for! And I know my brownies!

After four days our pan looks like this:

Shhh. Don't tell Jillian. 

Garage-saleing ... yes I made up a verb.

I love garage-saleing. My mother says it’s because I am cheap. (Thanks, mom). I like to think of it as a hobby.

Between getting up early, digging for those finds, and a wad of cash in your cut-off jean-short’s pocket. (Okay, so maybe I just garage sale because it is a socially acceptable venue to rock jorts). To that wonderful moment where, indeed, yes, that piece of furniture that you don’t need WILL fit in your (very) compact SUV.

I leave Dan and Koda to sleep in and head out pre-7am. Every garage-saler knows that people will line up at 645, even if the sale starts at 8. Then, since we live in an area with a lot of neighborhoods, I drive around following the garage sale signs. (I also eavesdrop on other people’s conversations about great sales that day). Tip # 2. You’re welcome.

I am sure you can find a much better system. One where you research the sales and map out your route .. but I never had much luck looking online. Plus, I would rather be impulsive.

Anyway, I wanted to show yall my scores garage-saleing last weekend! I spent a grand total of $29, and scored some wonderful finds … if I do say so myself. First, I wanted coasters to use in our dining room. Since our chargers and candle sticks are silver-plated, silver was my first choice. But really, I mostly wanted something to protect our table. I found this set of silver plated coasters for only $1!

And they polish up nicely! (Disclaimer: I have a much nicer camera than my phone camera, and I promise I am going to use it more, and take much better pictures. Hang with me. Hold me to it.)

Secondly, I got this wonderful little vase for 50 cents! I wanted some smaller vases to hold a few small clippings—like these wonderful smelling gardenias. So this one was a necessity!

Next, I got these chairs that I completely do not need love. I just fell for them. They are currently on our porch. I love the shape. I love the color. I got all four for $15. Heck, worst case, I can sell them in our own garage sale.

Next, I got this huge score. For Dan’s birthday, I surprised him with a mini-re-do of his ‘mancave.’ More on this later! But we had no form of seating up there, it is a very small room, and I really didn’t want to spend a couple hundred dollars on a sofa. Behold. $10.

No I am not lying. $10. TEN. Plus, it didn’t fit in my car, so the guy gave us the keys to his truck to get it home. Talk about trusting! I guess a girl in jorts looks pretty harmless. I asked if he wanted my keys for collateral. He said, “Nope, I just want to get my sunglasses out.” I wish I had a picture of us driving this man’s truck, with our sofa in the back.

If you are doing the math, I have $2.50 left to account for.

The timer was $1. We always need these around Christmas, and they cost around $15! Another vase for $1 – love the fact that it is metal. And then, the-never-before-been-opened, still-has-the-$30-price-tag, coffee grinder. For you skeptics, I have tested it, and yes, it works. We’ve never bought a coffee grinder because it wasn’t worth the extra money. For the price of 2 gumballs, you can’t say no! Maybe it’s just me that can’t say no. I couldn’t say no!

So there you have it. A wonderful use of $29 (in my mind!) and a wonderful use of the pre-9am hour.

Stay tuned for the ‘mancave’ re-do. As well as my how-to on ‘dislodging a stuck $10 sofa from your staircase without ruining your marriage.’