Summertime, and the Living is Thrifty–Maggie of Smashed Peas and Carrots

 

I am pleased as punch to introduce to you today the super-sweet Maggie of Smashed Peas and Carrots. Maggie is one of those people who I’m pretty sure I would have a ridiculously good time laughing with. I can’t prove this, but I bet she would have a Really Good Laugh. What am I saying, would. I bet she DOES have. By no means am I indicating that Maggie has lived a life that has and will be devoid of laughter unless we happen to cross paths someday. She has kids, I’m pretty sure laughing is right up there with crying and touching poop in the ‘Its Inevitable’ category.

 

Maggie not only runs a household that includes three kids under four, she also runs a fabulous etsy shop that has the same name as her blog, full of adorable goodies. When she’s not being awesome at everything… well, she might be sleeping. Bet she’s an awesome sleeper, too. But I digress. Maggie is a thrifty queen, as evidenced by this big ol’ roundup of just a sampling of the thrifty projects that she’s already done on her blog. Maggie also is the one who shared that Sopapilla Cheesecake recipe I keep raving about (quite awkwardly, as I’m still not sure to pronounce it.)

 

 

Hi everyone!!  I'm Maggie from Smashed Peas and Carrots!  I'm excited to be here today to share a round-up of some Thrifty Living ideas from my blog.  I am a momma to three little ones four and under and I also own my own small business with my husband.  I know the fear that Laura and her husband have right now of not having a regular paycheck coming every week or every other week when you work as an employee for sure.  When we first opened our business it was extremely scary for us to not know if we would succeed but we are doing great and I'm sure your hubby will do awesome too!!

 

It's cool to be thrifty peeps!  Now let's rock out the round-up!!

 

Since it's summer, let me first share a few ideas I have for entertaining the kids this summer:

 

Blank Postcard Printables are perfect to give to your kids when momma needs a little downtime!

 

 

A Scavenger Hunt (and another free printable!) will be hours of entertainment for car rides, wagon rides and long walks around the block.

 

Why spend money on bubble solution when you can make your own Best Bubbles Ever...so easy and you get like 10x more for your money!!

 

Same goes with liquid sidewalk chalk...don't by that expensive Crayola stuff!!  Make your own Liquid Sidewalk Chalk here!

 

Are you thirsty for more?  How about some thriftiness for your home?!!

 

Ever thought about making your own air freshener?  It's so easy and much better for you and the environment.  Check out how to make your own Natural Air Freshener here!

 

You can even make your own deodorant!  You only need 3 ingredients...really!  I have been using this recipe for Natural Deodorant for years and I can vouch that it really, truly works!!

 

Do you need some easy thrifty recipes?  I thought so!  Here are a few good ones I pulled from my blog:

 

No need to spend money on those taco seasoning packets...save your money and make your own plus it won't have all the added junk in the ingredients.  Enjoy my Taco Seasoning recipe for your next taco night :-)

 

Store bought pizza sauce?  Umm why, especially when you can make it yourself in less than 5 minutes!! Check out my recipe here!

 

And my last one, I swear!  Here's a super yummy recipe for DIY granola bars...they are chewy and customizable, perfect for adding in any mix-ins you want!  See my Granola Bar recipe here!

 

I hope you enjoyed a small hint of some of the Thrifty Living ideas you can find on my blog!  Thanks for having me Laura!!

XOXO,

Summertime, and the Living is Thrifty–fun&games

Sometimes the best kinds of thrifty fun can happen when you go with your impulses and use the most basic things you have available. Blanket forts, reading a favourite book with crazy voices, and simple sock puppets are all examples of simple, classic fun you can have with your kids. So put a no-TV-before-noon ban on this summer and cruelly force your kids to play like you did when you were a kid!!

Some more simple fun:

Small socks taped onto a headband.

Nicole declared that morning that she wanted to be a bunny. I was in the middle of folding laundry and possibly even had a baby sock in my hand right at that moment, so I thought, meh, why not?! If I had done it to show you a sweet, aesthetically pleasing project, I would have probably at least done matching socks. More likely there would have been felt, and glue, and a perfectly pretty project. This, however, was just good clean fun, 100% for Nicole’s benefit!  

She had a blast; other variations can be using long socks tucked into waistbands for tails, add extra arms to be a bug or spider with stuffed pantyhose (save your torn hose!) - pin the waist area to a shirt and then use yarn to connect the end of the pantyhose arms to your children’s wrists. They don’t care if it looks ghetto, it’s all about the fun!

Don’t have a pool? Pull out any bucket and fill it with water. No, your kids cannot swim in a bucket of water, but you’d be amazed how much they enjoy just having water play! Also, there’s nothing wrong with picking up the $12 pool from Toys R Us and tossing it in your backyard. I empty and refill mine almost every time we use it, since you put so little water in it its no big deal. Plus its clean water so I care not if they decide to drink half of it, or if they go straight from the pool to their beds.

Pool noodles + sprinkler. Most people have sprinklers, and you can pick up a pool noodle for about a dollar, maybe two dollars, depending where you go. Your kids can have an epic battle with the sprinkler; you would not believe how long they can keep themselves entertained this way. Bonus, if you’re cool with it and they’re between four and six (older can generally wield them well enough to sting), they can do epic battle with each other. It is pretty hard for one four year old to hurt another four year old with a pool noodle. Careful though, you know your kids best, and some of them can figure out pretty quickly how to get enough momentum to do some damage.

Kids love to be the epic hero in their own mind. Whether its a battle against the sprinkler or a rousing game of the-carpet-is-made-of-lava, they eat it up. If you feel really sneaky, you can incorporate this into cleanup – set a timer and tell them its a bomb, and the only way to diffuse it is to clean up all the toys in time. Then tear around the house crazily with them, shouting at them to hurry, quick, we’re running out of time! The most ridiculous things can become awesome in your kids eyes if you’re willing to jump in there yourself and act like a looney toon.

Take costumes outside. Obviously this only works on cooler days for some costumes. I am working on building up a dressup box; you can find costumes right after halloween on clearance, or you can often find a great deal at a garage sale. The above costume I bought for $2 at a garage sale. Acting like a wild beast of the forest takes on a whole new level when you’re actually outside. Dress like pirates and go to the park, the play structure is your ship and arrrr, matey, thar she blows! You don’t even need a dress up box for that one; cut up some playclothes to be more ragged, tie on a bandana, and whip up an eyepatch. Be adventurers and pitch a tent in your backyard (or if you don’t have a backyard, pitch a tent in the park! You might get some strange looks, but who cares? Just grin and explain the game and that you’re not moving in for an overnight stay ;) lol). If you do have a backyard, you can even sleep in the tent.

Later this month I’ll show you how to make a temporary tent out of four emptied & cleaned 4L milk jugs, some sheets, some twine, a bunch of clothespins, and either a laundry line or a tree branch. 

What’s your favourite simple kid-pleasing game? We are always up for more ideas around here! 

Summertime, and the Living is Thrifty–Cheri from I Am Momma, Hear Me Roar

Today’s guest is the beautiful and talented Cheri. She is the mother of two handsome little men and always has something ridiculously cool up her sleeve. Whenever friends tell me they have a hard time finding projects to do for or with boys, I send them Cheri’s way. Don’t hesitate to stop by there if you have a girl, though… she’s got projects for girls – and their moms! – as well. Cheri also has a great big heart, this year she is doing a series called Wake Up Wednesdays and each week she issues a challenge for improving yourself and the world around you. Cheri also has some amazing projects for helping your little ones have a Christocentric approach to things like holidays, and to have a heart for Christ let your light shine. I’m a pretty big fan overall, obviously. Lastly, but certainly not least, Cheri has amazing hair is a great friend. (Also, I want to go to Cheri’s house and do this activity. No, not my kids. Me.)

 

 

Hey!  I'm Cheri from I Am Momma Hear Me Roar.  When Laura asked me to be a part of this series I was excited.  Why?  Because she rocks (clearly) and because I loved the theme.  We've been trying to save money around our house as well and I love coming up with ideas that don't break the bank.

Since it's summertime and a lot of you have kids at home I wanted to come up with a thrifty idea that involved the kids.  So, I'm going to show you the Superhero Scavenger hunt I just did with my boys.  It didn't cost a dime and they absolutely LOVED it.

 

 

(First off, I adapted our hunt from an idea I saw HERE.  It didn't all come straight from this noggin :)  Here's how it went down.  My boys are REALLY into superheros.  However, you could obviously change the theme of the hunt to suit your needs.

It started off with Captain Cold and a note.  (My oldest is turning four, so I still had to read it to him, but he thought the notes were cool anyhow.)  It says, "I've captured all the superheros...now you have to find them.  Look up at the sky for your first clue."

 

We headed outside and hunted until we found Joker tied from a tree branch with a note.

 

 

His note read, "We were working together until he said he had a different plan.  He said something about setting the town on fire."  It was really fun to talk my kids through the clues.  They were so excited.  This one led to our firepit.

 

 

Batman was there with another note.  "He said 'fire' wasn't his style.  He said all the superheros were going to be frozen in time."

 

We ran to the freezer to find this.  (I had taken some tupperware the night before and filled it with water and some of his superhero guys.)

 

 

I told him he had to figure out how to rescue them.  The ice slid out of the tupperware pretty easily.

 

 

After a few guesses about how this might be done we got out the hammer (and our goggles, of course).

 

 

Superheros, a chance to use a hammer, goggles....let's just say he was in heaven.

 

 

After chipping away the ice we let the superheros recover in the warm sun.  That helped melt off the extra bits of ice as well.

 

 

Then we reveled in our victory.  Our city was safe again....thanks to Super Rex.

 

 

So, change it up, make it work, throw some toys in the freezer and you've got happy kids for an hour without spending a dime. 

Thanks for having me Laura!

Helping Hands

You might be surprised sometimes where you might find some helping hands. What started out with me finding something for Nicole to do to keep her out of Chris’ hair while I was doing the dishes turned into me being impressed by her eagerness to help. In my urge to always get things done quickly so I could move on to the next thing lately, I had forgotten what I had previously considered So Important… letting her help. Letting her help at this age does not necessarily mean tasks are going to be done faster or properly. But it does set good habits that I will be grateful for when she is a bit older, and she is already starting to surprise me with how helpful she can actually be.Last night, she first helped me load the dishwasher. This does mean that I set aside certain dishes for her to load, like cutlery and plates and cups, that I could load myself in the same amount of time. Oh well! She enjoys helping me, and I enjoyed her eagerness to help. She’s been helping me unload for ages, and even gets annoyed at me when I do ‘her things’… the cutlery (after I pull out the knives) and the big pots, which go in the stove drawer.

Then I started doing the hand washing. “What’s next, mommy?” I would have handed her a few things to “dry”, even though I tend to let things drip dry, but the laundry monster had eaten all the drying towels. (hehe… I’m mostly caught up, honest! But since I let things drip dry, those hit last priority.) So instead I let her wash the table for me (after I gave it a quick wipedown first so it would really be done.) “What’s next, mommy?” I am going to endorse another Norwex product here… the mop. The handle easily goes from long to short and back again, so I made it Nicole-sized and let her go at. If you observe the lines on the floor, clearly my floor has not been mopped to pristine. But hey, if I let her do it every day, it should be clean by the end of the week, yes? LOL

Once she dubbed that complete, I assigned her to wash the windows in the livingroom, and she did a pretty good job of what she could reach. Then she moved on to wash the walls, or at least a portion of them, and once I ran out of other things, she washed the chairs. (This was probably more ‘water play’ than actual cleaning, but it entertained us both.) I finished the hand washing at some point in there, but her eagerness to work inspired me to scrub down my cupboards as well, plus a few other tasks I don’t need to do every single day.

I have resolved to make a point of letting her help me more often again. In the craziness of having a baby I forgot to do some of that kind of thing with her, but it really is so important. Done in good spirits, it allows us to bond, while setting good habits for her future. It also sets good habits for myself, I’ll admit I leave a lot of tasks for the next morning that I would feel much more refreshed in the morning if I just did them the night before! So, I can keep her busy after supper and before bedtime, without getting her hyped up or setting her in front of the tv. (Which she has watched less than three hours of in the last two weeks, yay for us!) I’m sure a lot of you are like, “Well, duh.” But for me it was a bit of an ‘oh, yeah…’ ;)

And of course, lets not forget my other little helper, who helped me fold laundry after the first one had gone to bed. Yup, she can already do short spurts in her Bumbo chair! Little turkey… I don’t think she realizes she is not even two months old yet. My babies really do not like to stay babies… Nicole was the same way. Actually, I think Olivia is a little “worse” for it than Nicole was! I’d like to take a moment, too, to be grateful to be very blessed with a good sleeper. This girl likes to have a late bedtime, but she goes down before midnight every night (generally around 11) and does not get up until 5:30, and she’s done it since she was four days old. I’m also already able to sleep train her, and now have her to the point where I can lay her down sleepy and she’ll put herself to sleep unassisted. Most of the time without even a soother! I’m so very, very blessed that my second is such an easy baby.