Wowser Wednesday - Old Book Purses

I would so do this if I were a purse person, but I am not. So as much fun as this would be, I know it would just gather dust in my closet, but it you are a purse person, why not take an old book with an interesting cover and make a purse out of it?

OOOOh! come to think of it, for my author friends out there, make one from your newly published book, if it releases in hardcover. Like a walking billboard for your new story! Marketing Marketing!

Here are two sites with good picture directions:
Wikihow Book Purse
Scribbit Book Purse

Here is one that has a video for those who like to see it in action
Curbly Book Purse

Crayon off of Furniture

My child just drew on her grandmother's table. What to do? I consulted a book in my library and chose the cheapest method first, and it worked easily.

To get crayon off of furniture and walls without destroying paint, wet a washcloth and dab it in baking soda, scrub off.

Fabric Gift Covers

I like to use towels, blankets, dishcloths, tablecloths, etc. to wrap up gifts when possible. You could also just use scrap fabric. Here is a link to Furoshiki, the art of wrapping gifts in fabric that you can print out. It gives you many different patterns based on what you are wrapping.

Furoshiki

Happy Birthday to Me!

So tomorrow, I hit my third decade of life. So, as a gift to myself, I am not making myself come up with a post and putting the pressure on you.

Have you ever come up with a themed birthday on a frugal budget? Tell me what cool cheap things you did and approximately how much it cost down there in the comments section. Kid parties count too.

Like my child's first birthday was a princess party, from the dollar store I bought plastic crowns and feather boas for each cousin, let them dress up and took their pictures together in front of a white sheet. Then using Photoshop, I superimposed their image in front of a castle, these pictures I printed on cardstock and sent as thank you for attending postcards as a memento. Also from dollar store bought princess stickers and a princess coloring book to share. They were happy. And I maybe spent $10.

Ok, so I ended up writing a post anyway. It's soooo unlike me to be wordy. Sheesh.

Reader Help - Baby Wipes Containers

Jill wrote in asking what to do with her extensive stash of baby wipe containers.

Here are some of my ideas:
If they are the boxier kind, building blocks for kids
Barbie Clothes Trunk
Snow or Sand Fort Brick Molds
Car First Aid Kit, fill one for each vehicle with bandaids, alcohol wipes, etc.
Car Kleenex Holder - Kleenex boxes always get smooshed in my car, so take the kleenex out of the paper box and put them in baby wipe box for durability in the car
Drawer Organizers
Craft Item Organizers
Ribbon Holder - Get a small dowel rod slightly longer than the baby wipe box, cut two holes in the opposite sides of box for the dowel rod to fit through, thread spools of ribbon onto the dowel rod and then insert it in the holes and now you have a box of ribbons where you can just pull the ribbon off the spool without getting tangled messes
Planters, using 2, Cut one in half (cut off top half) and the other one cut some holes in the bottom. Nestle the holey one in the cut one and fill it with a plant or herb garden for kitchen window.
There were a few things I already wrote on the blog in the past about how to use them.

Do you have any ideas on how to use a lot of baby wipe containers besides the above? Leave them in the comment area.

Wowser Wednesday - Muffin Pan and CD case picture holders

Check out at Repurposed how she changed a muffin pan and CD cases into photo art displays.

Milk Carton Reusable Lunch Box Holders

If you haven't checked out the magazine, FamilyFun, you really should. Seriously, I am not fond of paying for magazines, but I do pay for this one. I got this idea from them. My hubby takes lunch to work, (You didn't think our cheap selves would eat out for lunch now did you?).

So, FamilyFun suggested this instead of lunch baggies, plus it is tons more durable so it will keep your items from getting smashed.

Take a gallon milk jug and mark off three of the sides small like in the picture and one tall side up to the top. (FamilyFun shows a milk jug without the divets, if yours don't have them, even better, you have to fiddle with it if you do.)

Cut it out. If you have divets, cut the interior flaps down until they don't touch it when folded, otherwise it doesn't close securely, lets in too much air although this will never be well sealed. Place a piece of sticky velcro on the top long interior flap and on the corresponding bottom flap.

Place in your bread.

And fold in the flaps and velcro it closed. No more squished sandwiches. Wash with the dishes when yucky.

P.S. My poor hubby's coworkers shake their heads in pity that I send the man to work with lunch containers made from trash, but I promise there is a reason behind my madness! Tupperware would do the same thing, look prettier and clean up easier, but my hubby's lunch pail is too small to accommodate a bulky sandwich container. That's why we use this, it fits.

Tshirt Laminate Floor Underlayment

We took out a fireplace downstairs and it left us with hole in our floor. One day, I want to redo the entire downstairs flooring, but that time is not now. So what to do with the floor?

I went to our local cheap house fixtures and flooring place and asked if they had any mismatched laminate flooring in the back. There was a pallet of left over laminate flooring. I found one that was super close to the piece I had brought in and so instead of paying $1.78 sq. ft for the closest match up front, I paid 50 cents a square foot for last 3 boxes that was enough to cover my hole. (Now they don't totally match, but my plan is for it to make it just a few years until I decide what I want to do with the floor and save the money to do so.)

But, you don't get the underlayment cushion when you buy out of the scrap pile. I thought we could just do without, but it made a crunchy sandy like noise when you stepped on it. So, instead of going out and buying a big roll of it on special order since I didn't need flooring with it, I cut up t-shirts and an ugly flowery t-shirt material scrap to fill the hole. Just cut to cover the majority of it, gaps were fine.

Perfect, no more crunchy noises.

Milk Carton Skeleton

Wanting to get the Halloween decorations up this weekend? How about recycling your milk jugs and making a hanging skeleton? Directions here.

Vacuum Cleaner Pudding

Got this recipe off of starwish on a yahoo group I'm with. Thought I would share it here, this is like the ultimate making do with leftover desserts recipe.

My Mother used to make this for the family. With meals and packing lunches, she had an odd assortment of leftover cookies/cake/pie bits 'n pieces. She saved everything (including the crumbs in the cookie jar). When she had "squirreled away" enough (in the freezer) to feed the family (usually once or twice a month) she made her "famous" Vacuum Cleaner Pudding ("You never know what you're gonna' git." Forrest Gump).

Vacuum Cleaner Pudding Oven: 325 / 30 min.
Microwave: 50% power / 15 - 20 min.

Broken cookies (including crumbs)
Misc. leftover cake and pie
one package of instant pudding/pie filling (flavor your choice)
Milk (see pudding instructions)
2 whole eggs
vanilla flavoring to taste (optional)

1. Press cookies/cake/pie into greased loaf pan
2. Mix milk, eggs, and vanilla
3. Warm the milk mixture until it is hot - but not boiling
4. Pour pudding powder into milk mixture and blend
5. Pour liquid over the top of the dry ingredients in the loaf pan
6. Cook until set up (check by inserting knife point)

Cut into squares and serve warm, topped with whipped cream/ice cream or even warm milk.
Enjoy!