where I disappeared to.

Just in case anyone wondered where I have disappeared to I have fallen down the rabbit hole of couponing. I had a big trip this last weekend with lots of arens and things like on Saturday we couponed, walked a 5k for autism, went and did two full foils and 3 hair cuts ,then couponed some more with my sis in law. So it was a long weekend. We drove home with the car packed to the hilt the trunk would barley shut and the kids had stuff by their feet lol. So here is my stock pile so far. I used to just have two shelves in this pantry ...

but it was way over stuffed so we set up this...
which is full. and we added this

peg board for the putsy hang up stuff like toothbrushes and mascara and razors. Anyway so far this month I have saved 43% on my grocery bill. I have went over budget but I figure it is fair due to the fact that we got such great deals on something and I am going to spend a bit more in summer when my hubby has over time to stock up for winter when we don't and money is tighter. :) So this will be my nut this little squirrel is storing for the winter. :)

anyway. I also have been working on this. A special bag for a customer from etsy. I made the yarn from hand from "upcycled" t-shirts and then knit it up into this owl purse..

"upcycled" the handles from a bag at a local thrift store charity that benefits the hospital


I hand embroidered the details and

I even sewed a lining and then hand stitched it to the inside of the bag with a magnetic closure. I put blood. sweat, tears. and love into this one and I hope she finds it worth the wait :) I am making a rag rug for my living room at the moment and some sock monkey trivets for my sis and me and a Taylor shrug for Monkey Butt. ( I know what the heck has got into me I am a one project kinda girl) I guess it just shows how spread out and crazy my life has been this month. Well I am going to climb into bed next to fire monster who beat me to my own bed and read a book until I can fall asleep. :) I should have some interesting stuff to show you by the big holiday weekend coming up. :)

teddys tulips

So this last week I have been absent I just haven't had much to say. I haven't done anything gone anywhere done any shopping or pretty much left my house when not forced. I did work on a new pair of Teddy's tulips socks. I made this pattern up last year with some help from my girlfriend Angela. They are for my daddy who passed away 5 years ago last week.

Tulips were a big thing with us.

and I had bought this socks yarn (knit picks stroll tonal in queen ann) because this was very close to the tulips I brought to his memorial service.

My daddy was someone who definitely wasn't perfect but he shaped who I am and made sacrifices for me that I will never forget and I will always love and miss him and always tell my girls about all of his wonderful things that did mean allot to me. I have hoped to make this a pattern and put up for sale with the proceeds going to cancer research (my father had lung cancer and my girlfriends mom had breast cancer) but I have no clue how to set up a chart on a computer :( Well I love them and they will make me warm and happy every time I put them on I will think of my daddy.

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got curly hair want a brazillian blow out

I have another great beauty tip for you curl/wavy hair folks. My sister (not the one making the weird face but the one with something in her mouth and frizzy red hair) has some hair issues

We have learned to work with them. Foiling hair that naturally red is always interesting and the crazy texture makes it tricky to cut too. Not to mention it is coarse and THICK..

So she was hearing allot about Brazilian blow outs but they are $200-$400 in a salon. She saw this in walmart for 13$ and decided to give it a shot . (it is the formaldehyde free kind)

What you do is wash your hair with the shampoo it comes with, and then smear in this product. Then let it sit for 30 minutes DO NOT RINSE OUT blow out your hair and then flat iron it (flat iron should be up to 450 degrees this has heat protector in it ) and do not kink it for 2 days no ponies do not put your hair behind your ears and if it gets kinked flat iron it again. Then you can wash after the 48 hours. It is supposed to work for a month!!! I am sure it depends on how often you wash your hair.

My sister says her hair is super soft and she loves it. So give it a dabble it sooo beats $200 to $400 right!

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Whos up for some beauty tips.

So I have been sorta burned out on knitting this week after the craft fair. (if you have been noticing the lack of knitting from this knit picker) but I have found some great beauty tips to distract you...

I learned this one today, and it is brilliant!! Have you ever had your favorite eye shadow break!!! What a bummer well next time DO NOT THROW IT OUT Just mash it up in the little container you want it in, pour just A FEW DROPS of 70% rubbing alcohol over it and mix it up and squish it down with the back of a spoon!!! The rubbing alcohol will evaporate leaving it good as new!

How about your kids get a hold of your fav lip stick. Just scrap it out into a little jar or pill container nuke it for a couple seconds (if you want to turn the last scraps of your fav to lip gloss just mix a bit of petroleum jelly before you do the nuking) and then toss it in the freezer until solidified.

How about brittle lashes? Well lashes need some conditioning too! Us ladies are tough on the lashes ! So before you go to bed after you wash your face rub a bit of petroleum jelly on the lashes. Think of it as a deep conditioning treatment for your lashes. :)

My coupon results after one month..

So it has been a long month adjusting to couponing hardcore, putting together the binder, figuring out all the best deals and quarks to the system. But I feel like I am getting a handle on this thing. I have my results after one month now. I have tallied EVERY SINGLE trip to the store. Before we were spending I am guessing between $400 -$450 a month. This month we spend $304.62. That includes EVERYTHING. I saved $272.80!!!. I brought home $576.60 worth of groceries and toiletries. So we have a back stock of toothpaste, floss, hair color, make up, snacks, and numerous back stock of cereal, salad dressing, snacks, soda, popcorn,8 body wash, razors,9 deodorant,3 laundry detergent, 2fabric softener, 2 things of dish washer tabs, 2 packs toilet paper, and tons of other stuff. So I am not running out of things and running to the store. I got them super cheap so I have some built up and won't have to buy at full price I can hold out.

So If you are interested my fav sites are krazy coupon lady(has great great things like stuff for you binder and other resources), I heart the mart, my litter, and pocket your dollars( she has a where you can click the match ups you want and print the list). I also like that if you go to hy-vees site and click helpful ideas tab it helps give you match ups for coupons!! They want to help you save money which is great. Also look around on youtube just search coupons you would be amazed! and of coarse watch extreme couponing on tlc on wed nights!!!

So just to give you the total between the money we saved from making changes to our house hold bills (like Nate Burkis says "found money") totaling 268.00 (my hubby refinanced our car payment ) and 272.80 that is a total of 540.80!!! woo hoo (now why aren't we rich lol every little bit helps right )

hyvee deals 5/4

Okay so I woke up and checked this weeks hy-vee ad on line. I was super excited because there was a couple great deals in there. (I know I am becoming a coupon freak lol) I got all this for $8.94 (it would have been 6.94 but the girls talked me out of those two $1 sodas lol)

so let me break this down for you. In this weeks news paper there was a coupon for $2 off two packs of sun chips, which are 2 for 5$ this week. That makes them 1.50 each...but that isn't all we also get a free salsa with a store coupon from the ad ...and... there was another coupon in this weeks paper to get a free sierra mist natural 2L with purchase of two sun chips!!! So I paid 3$ and got 2 packs of sun chips, a thing of salsa, and two liter of soda!

Then v8 splash which is yummy was on sale 1.99 and had a coupon for 1$ off two and so that makes them 1.49 a piece! I then swung by walmart and got my last free coupons for nivea body wash and they are still out of 3 pack bar Ivory soap or I would have grabbed those!

There is also a great cereal deal but I have to reconfigure that and get back to you tomorrow because I was hoping I could get fiber one on sale but it isn't :( <- that is me sad because I love fiber one.

besides becoming a coupon freak today I ran over to The Purple Iris and met some great ladies from out of town. It is always nice to meet some great new knitters. (if you see this hi ladies ;) But I need to get busy cooking dinner (chicken breast stuffed with stuffing and fresh green beans ) I need to have everyone tucked in so I can watch extreme couponing :) See you later ladies

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todays coupon deals I picked up :)

I am still going strong with the couponing. I even hit a few good deals over the weekend picking up some finish dish tabs, fabric softener, and Terra chips for under a buck each! and got my sister some free splenda and a 6 pack of paper towels for two bucks. (she was out of both) But today even though fire monster had the stomach flue and woke me up at 4 am by puking on me I had to run to hy-vee since they trade sales on Wednesdays . So I decided to hit walmart too. I got all this for $8.83

At hy-vee I got:

two boxes of great grains they were 2/5 and I had a dollar off coupon for each making them 1.50 a piece.

a 2.5lb bag of chicken breasts on sale for 3.99

and degree was on sale 10/10 and I had a b1g1 coupon. So 50cents a piece.

My total for that transaction was 8.13 but when I paid I got a catalina for 1$ off my next purchase and since 2 liters of soda were .69 cents I went back and grabbed 2 paying only .47 cents.

At walmart I got:

two reach floss that were .88 a piece I had 1.00 off and made .12 cents a piece on those.

a degree deodorant for .97 had a 1.00 off made .03

3 packs of Noxzema bikini razors they were 1.97 and had 2.00 off coupon made .03 a piece.

all in all it was tax and after my overage there I paid .23!!

So there is a update on my couponing. I will give you a review of the totals for my first month of couponing later this week. I had a few really great coupon items that were sold out and I will have to check for them later this week ;)

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