Last year I put together a list of $5 to $10 gift exchange ideas that uses one of my favorite strategies – combining a simple homemade item with a complimentary store bought item. This is a strategy that’s worked so well for me over the years and it’s a great way to be able to …
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Dark Chocolate Bark Recipe
Some of the recipes that I enjoy most are those that are more of a “method” or a “formula” than a recipe. Rather than having to very closely follow instructions and a list of ingredients, they are more of a process that can be easily used to create new versions of the original. Today’s recipe …
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Homemade Cinnamon Spice Body Scrub
Making homemade things makes me happy. No secret there! And one of the things that always adds to my happiness is if all the ingredients are easy to find. Sure, I know that I can probably search out what I need on the internet if I have to, but if I can just grab everything …
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Homemade Chocolates {No Sugar}
One of my little indulgences in life is chocolate. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and can bypass lots of desserts without too much effort but when it comes to chocolate? Well, chocolate will almost always get a yes from me! And so it was that I found myself slipping into a habit …
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How to Make A Crumb Coating for Fish
For many years I was intimidated by cooking fish. My idea of having fish for dinner was to pick up a package of frozen fish sticks. Thankfully I progressed a little bit beyond that option and we now have several homemade recipes for baked fish at our house that we really enjoy. One of the …
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Homemade Bubble Bath Salts
I’ve gotten in the habit of keeping epsom salt around the house because I use it in my favorite homemade laundry soap recipe. But I was reminded again the other day as I was looking at some of the info on my bag of epsom salts, that it can be used for other things too, …
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Round Knit Scrubby Pattern
If you’re a knitter, you might be a little envious of crocheters who can whip up those nylon net scrubbies. Around and around they go with their crochet hooks and in no time they have a sweet little round scrubby. But what if you like to knit? Are we knitters forever stuck making flat rectangles …
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Summer Corn Chowder {Copycat Panera}
Once in a while when I’m out and about I treat myself to lunch at Panera Bread, and one of my favorite things to order is their Summer Corn Chowder. But as the name implies, it’s an item they have on their summer menu and you can’t always get it at other times of the …
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Recycle Old Newspapers To Make Your Own Bags
One of the little things that always makes me happy is when I can use what I already have to make what I need. That kind of thinking has always fit with my frugal nature, but it’s also become a bonus for me to know I’m not creating more waste in the world. Today’s project …
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One Skillet Mexican Quinoa Dinner
One thing I quickly realized when trying to add more vegetables and plants to our daily meals, was that this also meant more chopping, and slicing, and dicing when it was time to make dinner. And at the risk of sounding like a whiner, sometimes it just feels like too much work. Yes, at the …
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How To Make Your Own Tea Bags
Every once in a while when I’m in the midst of trying to figure something out, I end up making some other fun discovery at the same time. And that’s exactly what happened a few years ago when I was trying to make homemade flavored tea with loose tea and ground spices. That approach didn’t …
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2020 Free Printable Planner Pages
It’s that time of year again when I start thinking about making my own planner for the next year. I’m so happy that I’ve finally found a system that’s working for me and that I’ve been able to stick with (the Arc notebook system). Because it’s worked well for me, I’ve been happy to share …
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Pick-Your-Flavor Freezer Pie
A quick and refreshing freezer pie recipe that can be made in many different flavors using the simple ingredients of jello, yogurt, and cool whip. Sometimes I like my homemade recipes to be quick and easy. Sometimes, especially during the lazy hazy days of summer, it’s nice to have a few quick and simple shortcuts. …
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Got Stress? Make Your Own Stress Ball!
Let’s face it. Sometimes stress happens. And telling ourselves not to be stressed . . . well, that might just make us more stressed! Instead, it’s good to have an outlet for the nervous energy that can go along with stress. And that’s where a homemade stress ball can come in handy. Stress balls, if …
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How To Make A Reusable Grocery Bag
I’ve been using reusable grocery bags for several years now and I must say, once you start using them, they really are nicer than those flimsy plastic bags. They’re sturdier, hold more groceries, and reduce disposable plastic waste. I don’t always remember to bring them into the store with me, but I probably do use …
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Quick Homemade BBQ Sauce for Meatballs
Today’s recipe is a quick little sauce mixture that I’ve relied on so many, many times over the years. I clipped this recipe out of a newspaper a long time ago, and it was actually two recipes: one for meatballs and another for homemade BBQ sauce to go with it. For some reason I never …
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DIY For Dummies {Favorites Edition}
Homemade doesn’t have to be complicated. I’ve said that many times around here. And every summer I like to celebrate that fact too with my annual DIY For Dummies list – a gathering of some of my previous ideas that you can make with just two ingredients. Yes, if you can put just a couple …
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DIY Toilet Cleaning Fizzy Bombs
I love to make homemade cleaners but I’ll admit that making simple sprays for general cleaning has been much easier than coming up with a good homemade toilet bowl cleaner. I’ve tried a couple different homemade liquid mixtures for toilet bowl cleaning in the past, but had a continuing problem with the ingredients not staying …
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