Free Paint At Ace

These free paint samples are a great way to test colors or if you're like me, start projects.  I never need more than a small amount of paint.  So this is perfect for my crafty booty!  Valid on Saturday only.

Details available here.

Spa Water Recipes

Spring is here!  Time to think about fresh fruits and summer parties and baby showers and lunch on the back deck with best girlfriends. 

Want a fancy pants drink to serve on a super duper budget?  Something that is delicious and refreshing and beautiful but nearly free?

Spa Water!

I make these all the time.  For parties or just for myself.  Hey, I'm worth it!  Ha.  I did a whole post HERE on a variety of fun recipes.  Flavors such as Creamsicle, Lavender Berry and Tropical.  Every single one of them is crazy inexpensive and stunningly beautiful.

Drink up, girls!  Cheers! 

Sweetest Baby Gift : Ribbon Ruffle Socks Tutorial

I know this blog is about coupons but I think this is a fun (old) post to share from my main blog.  Years ago I did a tutorial on how to make ribbon ruffle baby socks.  They can be made a rock bottom prices too.  Over the last year there have been so many opportunities to buy kiddy socks at Target for nearly free.  And every crafter has ribbon scraps hanging around the house.  Take a glance and let me know if you give it a try.  I promise it will be the EASIEST sewing project ever and it is sooo inexpensive (possibly even free) to make!

Click here for a full, easy to follow tutorial with step by step photos!

So I finally convinced my father to give body wash a try instead of bar soap.  Seeing as how I can score bags of free body wash every month.  The man is set in his ways.  Loves himself a bar of soap.  And that's fine I guess.  But bar soap leaves the entire shower just so gross.  It clings to the tub and holds on to dirt.  Have you ever noticed that? 

Anyway, he begrudgingly agreed to try body wash for a week to stop my nagging.  And a few months later, he agrees that it is better than bar soap.  Wishes it came unscented, but does like it.  And on that topic, what is up with the heavy scents of all the boy products on the market?  They are all SOOO strong.

Back to the body wash though.  He likes it.  But doesn't like that you have to balance the bottle upside down after a certain point to easily get the soap out.  I came up with an easy peasy solution though.  That I am definitely going to do for myself now too.

I washed out an empty lotion pump bottle.  I didn't use soap- just hot water.  And pumped hot water through the pump until it came out clear.  Then squeezed in the body wash.  Screwed the pump top back on and you are good to go.  Easy to use body wash every morning!  At no extra cost to me.

Easy and Inexpensive Gift Ideas

I thought this might be a good time to show y'all some gift ideas that have been big hits in my family over the years.  My biggest challenge is always kids from age 5-16.  I don't seem them enough to know what's cool and not cool and what they have already.  By that age they certainly have big wardrobe opinions.  And in my family, they are nearly all little boys.  A complete mystery to me.

This was a BIG hit!  I picked up lots of funky flavored sodas as well as a bottle koozie and funky straw (pack of 6 just $1 at Dollar General).  Put everything in a colorful bucket from the $1 section at Target.  Added crinkle and wrapped it all up in a big bag.  As always, click the images to see the original explanation posts.

And for the family gift exchange, a little bucket full of nips.  These are fun to make single drinks or to add to a hot bevvy during the 75 months of winter we have ahead of us.

These were other favorites.  What I called Sugar Buckets.  I bought buckets at the Dollar General.  And kiddie snacks and sweets at various stores.  Very inexpensive.  And a HUGE hit with kids.  Parents, perhaps notsomuch.  Ha. 

I love how I wrapped them and actually use this method a lot with oddly shaped gift baskets.  Take a yard of scrap fabric, place the bucket or odd shaped gift in center, and tie with a grosgrain ribbon bow.  Simple as can but but be prepared for everyone to make a big fuss over your amazing gift wrapping skills. 

Oh and last year I made initial towel wraps.  You need to know some basic sewing skills but they were pretty simple and inexpensive.  And I hope pretty useful- bath, pool, beach, etc.  Again, click the images to see better explanations of the gifts.

New Flip Flops For Under $3 - A Tutorial

I've had this idea in my head for years and years now.  But never sat down to put thought to ribbon.  Why?  No idea.  This was a ridiculously easy, cheap and fast project.  Make your own Switch Flops!

I had the ribbon at home already.  My word, I own more ribbon than My Martha.  And I had the old pair of flops.  And the jewel do-dads.  So the only purchase was for sticky Velcro at Walmart.  I think it was around $2.50.  And I used nearly the entire package to make one complete pair of flops.  However two packages would make THREE complete pairs of flops.

What you need...
* Pair of flip flops
* Package of self stick Velcro
* @ 1 yard of ribbon (I needed less but each shoe is a bit different)
* thread/iron on no-sew stuff
* cheap scissors
* 2 straight pins or close pins or paperclips
* accessories/gems/flowers/bows

Directions...
* Chose an old pair of clean flip flops.  Or a cheap new pair that you find on clearance. 

* Measure out how much ribbon you will need and add two extra inches.  Cut two- you know- one for each shoe.

* Fold ribbon in half, right sides together.  If your ribbon has a design on it, make note of which way you would like your design to face.  Sew the center on the diagonal so that when open, it forms the shape of the flop.  Trim the excess ribbon so that it opens without a big triangle hanging down the center.  Repeat with second ribbon.

* Pin the ribbon in place on the flip flops and determine where you want each of the sides to end.  Fold under, wrong sides together.  Pin in place (I actually just held this with my hand but I am trying to make my directions significantly less allovertheplace).  Sew and then trim excess ribbon. 

* Good news, the sewing part is over.  Pretty painless, right?!  If you really cannot sew, you could use that no-sew iron tape stuff.  But seriously the sewing part is so easy.  Just give it a whirl!
* Take the Velcro out of the package and work on one shoe at a time.  In order to get the most for your money and waste as little as possible, you need to do the opposite treatment to each shoe.  So the first shoe, use the fuzzy side of the Velcro on the ribbon's wrong side.  And the hook side of the Velcro on the shoe's right side.  On the second shoe, use the hook tape on the shoe and the fuzzy tape on the ribbon.  If you don't do this, you will need more than one package per pair of shoes if you plan to make several pairs of ribbon straps.

* So measure out how much Velcro tape you will need for each part being covered.  And use a cheap pair of scissors to cut the Velcro.  (cheap because the sticky back of the Velcro will get all over the scissors.  You should be able to get it off by running it though the dishwasher but just in case, don't use your good sewing scissors.)

* Peel off the sticky back and stick it to the shoe/ribbon.

* I hot glued a snazzy jewel that I had on hand to the center.  This is optional.  It looks just fine without anything.  But it also looks cute with a flower or bow or button...

So there you go, I turned an old blah pair of flops into a cute little ribbon pair for less than three buckaroos.  It took me mere minutes to accomplish too. 

Now if you pick up a second package of the sticky Velcro, you should be able to make two more, for a total of three, ribbon straps to interchange.  Just like Switch Flops.  But at a fraction of the price and limited only by your imagination.  Just remember to use the correct hook/fuzzy side of the tape for each shoe.