Ever since I had the idea of sharing this craft / recipe with you guys I have been overly excited! Just ask my husband! I am sure he would confirm. One of the reasons is, if you have ever been online to order a fruit arrangement you know how crazy expensive they are! Cra-zy expensive! I think I figured out why…
This project takes a little bit of time, especially if you have little hands wanting to help! All together this probably took me about 2 – 2 ½ hours. Not too bad. But the great part is that to buy a bouquet like this online would have easily cost over $50 plus shipping! I made mine for around $15! Worth it! Right?!
Do you know anyone that wouldn’t want 14 days of gifts? I don’t! I have always wanted to make Valentines Day a little extra special for my hubby, maybe extend the holiday a little. This is the year! I decided to pull together 14 different small acts or gifts to show him that I love him. Starting on February 1st he will get one simple gift that I will surprise him with until Valentines day on the 14th. Continue Reading →
For my hubby and myself, it can be easy to get caught up in the same “at home movie date night” routine with our, definitely not normal, schedules. My husband’s job leaves us with “weekends” not on the weekends and “nights” not necessarily at night. So, we make the best of it and take a date night whenever we can! This takes some creativity!
When babysitters aren’t available our go to date-night-in is a fun movie night! I’m sure your thinking, “Big deal! That’s not very creative!” Well here are two simple things you can do to take your movie nights to the next level.
With Valentines just around the corner you will begin to see a theme here for the days preceding this lovely holiday. To kick off the Valentines inspiration I wanted to share some inexpensive but still romantic and fun dates that I am sure pretty most of us can fit into our budget, no matter how small that may be.
I have heard so many different times and from so many different people who I respect, that it is very important to always set aside that special time with just you and your spouse. My husband and I have taken this to heart from the very beginning of our marriage. Those weeks where we don’t make having a date night a priority, I definitely feel myself longing for that special time to reconnect with my hubby.
So don’t forget to make date night a priority! It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant or even need to cost a cent. Just making sure you have that time once a week to get back on the same page will really make such a difference. To make process this a little easier, I have put together a list of date night ideas to mix up your normal dating routine.
This list is great for a Valentines date night but it can also be used for a spur of the moment night out or in together!
$5 Target Gift Swap
This was one of our go-to mix it up date nights back when my hubby and I were in college. We went to school in the middle of freezing cold Idaho and in the dead of winter it was easy for a pair of outdoors loving people to get stir crazy. Not many options for places to go. So we would set out to the local superstore and start our date.
The rules were simple, buy each other a thoughtful or fun gift but the budget was $5 each and you had 30 minutes to make your purchase. We would take the gifts home wrap them up and anxiously wait for the other to open their gift. We never found anything amazing but it was so much fun to see what the other person came home with.
Themed Movie Night
Choose a movie that you both will love and plan the evening around the flick you picked. An example of this would be if you chose a romantic comedy you could start the evening off with a nice romantic dinner, maybe finish off the meal with a shared dessert, and really set the mood by creating a special viewing area to watch the movie by decorating with twinkle Christmas lights or romantic candles.
Maybe your choice is an action movie that takes place on the streets of New York City. Cater your dinner to the theme by ordering take out or building your own personalized pizzas. Try to think of something special to tie the whole night together.
Cupcake Wars
I havn’t done this one yet but I can’t wait to try it out. All you need are two boxes of cake mix (or ingredients to make from scratch if you are both more advanced in the culinary department!) and various ingredients you already have in your kitchen.
The objective, each make your own unique cupcake creation and see whose dessert turns out most tasty. You will have to be unbiased in your voting but remember to play nice, don’t forget you are on a date!
Hotel de (Insert Last Name Here)
This one might take a little extra planning but I am sure the prep won’t go unnoticed. The idea for this one is to transform your bedroom into an escape from your everyday routine around the house. Create the illusion of a brief one-night stay at a fancy schmancy hotel without taking one step out the front door. This option is 100 times cheaper than the real thing by the way.
Set the stage by making the bed with fresh crisp sheets and bedding. Top the pillows with mints and place a nicely printed “room service” menu front and center.
“Drive-in” Movie on Location
Only items needed are a car, a laptop or something to watch your movie on, and some cozy blankets. Drive to a not so distant location to provide a beautiful backdrop for your movie night. Pick a spot to park and enjoy each other’s close company while cuddling up to a great movie. Super simple but takes you away from the norm.
All right ladies, let’s give your man a break. Now it’s your turn to pick an idea and make it a special night to show your hubby how much you really do care and that you have put some extra thought into the night.
I hope your date night thoughts have been sparked and you are just as excited as I am to try these ideas out!
Today I am way excited to introduce you guys to a super sweet girl named Kelley! She is visiting from Lavender and Cream and has so much knowledge and insight into eating healthy and clean. If you are interested in learning more about eating tasty and healthy foods then you really need to go check out her blog! She is here today to share one of her healthy yet frugal recipes with us!
Now lets get right on to the good stuff, here she is:
Hi, I’m Kelley! I’m a freelance writer, social media enthusiast, food lover, and blogger at Lavender & Cream. My blog focuses on nutritious food that tastes amazing, as well as healthy lifestyle tips and weight loss encouragement. You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Now let’s get you in on a few tips!
Raise your hand if you’ve heard of chicken broth!
Duh.
Now raise your hand if you’ve heard of bone broth!
….Yeah, I wasn’t too aware of it either until recently.
Lately bone broth has been everywhere. Blogs, magazines, talk shows, you name it. People have finally started to recognize the simple broth that has amazingly powerful healing benefits—and the best part? Bone broth can be bought or made for merely pennies.
Pennies.
So what is bone broth?
Bone broth is made from exactly what it sounds like—animal bones! I know it sounds kind of…um…creepy. But I promise you, it doesn’t taste much different than your average chicken broth. And the health benefits that this broth packs will be well worth the small creep-factor.
You could use chicken or beef bones, even fish bones if you wanted to. Spices and veggies are added to boost the flavor, and the result is a stock pot filled with health-boosting liquid gold.
Why drink it?
There are a ton of reasons to drink this stuff on the reg (seriously, I could go on forever), but I’ll give you the top 7 absolute best reasons.
1. 1. Drinking bone broth improves digestion, allergies, gut health (yes, “gut” is a technical term), and your immune system. Studies show that bone broth actually fights off viruses such as the cold and flu.
2. 2. The amino acid glycine, found in bone broth, promotes sleep and helps to calm the mind (uhhh, hi I need that!)
3. 3. Bone broth is filled with anti-inflammatory amino acids.
4. 4. Packed full of magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium—vitamins and minerals needed to help keep our bones healthy.
5. 5. The gelatin and collagen in this nourishing broth ensure glowing skin, strong nails, and hair growth.
7. 7. It’s super cheap! You can make your own by buying bones from your butcher (make sure they’re bones from grass-fed animals) and slow cooking them in a crockpot for a day, OR you can buy a box of organic bone broth for the same price as plain old chicken broth. Whole foods sells it, and any health store near you should also carry it.
So there you have it! A nutritious meal, jam-packed with vitamins and minerals that won’t break the bank.
DIY in gift form means thoughtful and heart felt gifting. When you put your time and talent into making something specifically for someone else, it not only is a one of a kind gift but it has a lot more thought put into it.
If you are like me and still need a few more gift ideas here is a list of 10 DIY gifts that you can create and give to your friends and family. These are all great ideas but also great tutorials to help make this genuine gift giving experience easy and thoughtful and these gifts won’t leave you penniless.
Make one or a few, these are all super cute and easy to make gifts that are sure to impress! I don’t know about you but I am going to be making a list of things to buy or round up and will be getting to work! Make sure to post pictures on Pennies into Pearls Facebook page or Instagram with #penniesintopearlsgifts of the gifts you make. Have fun!
Please note that all images above are from the linked websites, if pinning one specific project please pin from original site. Thanks!
Happy Friday! This year I have been feeling like I need to spend a little more time focusing on the reason I celebrate Christmas. So I decided today I wanted to share some Christmas spirit! So here is a free printable for you and let’s be honest, it’s for me also. It’s for all of us, just a little reminder of the reason behind the season!
You can download it here, print, and frame it for a simple and frugal way to bring a little more Christmas into your home.
I hope you are taking the time to really enjoy this Christmas! Trying not to get caught up in the “hustle and bustle”. Today is a reminder to myself to make time to play with my kids, hold my husbands hand, look for opportunities to serve and refocus my thoughts on what really is important.
I found that if I plan my meals out for two weeks at a time I can work the grocery shopping better into our budget, since we get paid every two weeks. The very first thing I do before I start planning our menu is I look through all of the stores weekly ads. The first thing I look for are really good deals on meat. Depending on how good of a deal it is determines how much of the meat I buy. If it’s just an “okay” deal then I might only buy enough meat for one meal but if it’s a smoking deal then I will buy what my budget allows and put the extra meat in the freezer.
Now that I know what meat I have available I start planning my menu. Even though I plan my menus for two weeks out, I will still look at the ads for the week that I already have planned. If there are any really great deals, especially on meat, I will buy and stock up for the coming weeks.
So hopefully this gives you an idea of how I plan my weekly menus around a budget and you can use this information to start doing the same for your family. But to make it even easier for you I wanted to post what meals I am going to be making in combination with the deals I found. Remember that some stores sales are specific to the area but most US chain stores have similar sales.
It’s time to do Pennies into Pearls first giveaway! When thinking about what I wanted to give my readers it didn’t take me long before I knew what it was going to be. A Target gift card of coarse! You could win a $25 Target gift card! There really isn’t much you can’t find there and with Christmas less than three weeks away I thought it was perfect!
So here is what you need to do to be entered in to win, it’s simple. For every social media of Pennies into Pearls (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) you follow, that counts as an entry. Make sure to tag @penniesintopearls on Facebook or use #penniesintopearls so I can see your entry. Every time you share a post (one per day per social media), each count as an entry! So take a peak through some recent or not so recent posts and start sharing your favorites! If you do each of these entries your chances are looking pretty good at getting your free Target money!
I am super excited about this giveaway and I hope you are too! But you need to hurry! This giveaway is only open starting today December 10, 2014 through Friday December 12, 2014 closing at 11:59pm. There are so many ways to enter but only one person will win. Good luck!
Oh! One more thing, don’t forget to sign up for our email list to stay in touch about learning how to turn your pennies into pearls!
