Couponing

My mother and grandmother have always been ones to find a good bargain! : )  My sisters and I have grown up laughing at how many rolls of toilet paper my mom has stored in the cabinet at one time.  She loves finding the sales and stocking up. 

Well, recently, I have started reading some great couponing blogs (http://www.hip2save.com/ and http://www.couponing101.com/).  I have started really getting into it!  Now, I live in a tiny apartment, and only have to buy for myself, so I have to pass up on a lot of good deals.  I can't really store that many extra things, and I don't have to buy a lot of food.  If you take the time to really look at the ads, though, you can find great deals!

This is what I bought today. 

Can you believe I got all of this for $1.19??

I got these 3 things at Walgreens.  Here is how I did it.

-Toothpaste:  On sale for $3.49, and you got $3.49 in Register Rewards (made it FREE!)

-G2 Pens:  On sale for $1.19, used $1 off of 1 coupon (made them 19 cents!)

-Paper:  On sale for $1.99, and I had $1 in Register Rewards to spend (made it 99 cents)

I Think I'll Go to Boston

Sorry I have been MIA for a few weeks now! I just got back Saturday night from a week long trip to Boston with my church.  We went as a group of singles, along with a student choir of about 250 high schoolers, and 50 other adults to Boston.  We had a great time!  I knew that Boston is a dark, lost city, but I don't think I quite knew the magnitude until we spent time there visiting churches, and getting to talk with pastors.  One pastor told us he cannot name a single Christian bookstore in all of Boston, and he said he does not know of a congregation over 1,000 in the city.  I take growing up in a Christian home for granted far too often.  This week really opened up my eyes to that. 

Here are a couple of pictures from the trip. :)

Our whole group

The Red Sox were playing the Rangers while we were there, so we got to go to the game! :) 

Tremont Temple Baptist Church

We had worship here one night.  It was a beautiful, historic church.  It seats 3,000 people, and at one time, it had that many attendees.  Now, however, the congregation is around 100.  Most congregations around Boston are around 100 people or less.  It was truly incredible to know we were in the same country we have grown up in, yet in a city so dark, lost, and different from our own.  God changed lives while we were there, though, and there is hope for Boston! : ) 

I WON!!!!!

I won, I won, I WON!!!!  :)  I never win anything! 

I have entered a few giveaways lately that I have seen around as I visit people's blogs.  I didn't really think I would win anything, but I won a fabulous prize. 

Have you ever heard of CSN stores?  They are on online store that has practically everything!  Go to http://www.csnstores.com/ and check it out!  I won a $40 giftcard!  I am moving into a new apartment this week, and I know that $40 will be put to great use!! 

THANK YOU, Kendra, at Creative Ambitions for hosting a great giveaway!  :)

I BUILT a Coffee Table!!

We finished!!  Well...almost!  My friend Deena and I set out on a carpentry adventure Saturday morning.  We wanted to each build the same coffee table, so we worked together and started both of them.  We worked all day Saturday, and all afternoon/evening on Sunday.  We finished building one, and we started the frame of the other one.  We still have to sand, prime, and paint, too. 

I can't believe how great it turned out, though.  I knew that Deena is very good at things like this, but I doubted my abilities.  I have never really built anything, and we built this from scratch.  We even measured and cut our own wood! 

If you have never tried to build anything from http://www.knock-offwood.com/, you should!  She gives great building instructions, and you can do so much more than you think you can if you have the right tools.  I will post pictures in a couple of weeks when I get it completely finished and in the living room.  :) 

I'm linking this to:

The Trendy Treehouse

Sneak Peak

Stay tuned to see what I am building! :)

In the meantime, if you have not checked out Knock-Off Wood, you should go now!  She has simple building instructions for so many great projects.  They are all modeled after cute furniture at Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, etc., but you can build your own for a fraction of the cost. 

Oh, the Things You Can Do...with ModPodge!

When I saw this tutorial from Creative Little Daisy, I knew I wanted to try it!!  My first attempt was fairly successful.  The finished product looks okay from a distance, but I did learn some things for next time. 

I started with this jar I found at the thrift store.  It was $1.99, but it was 75% off, so yes - that made it 50 cents!  You just can't pass that up!

I poured around 1/4 of a cup of modpodge (didn't measure) into a cup.  I added 3-4 drops of water to water it down.  I then added 3 drops of blue food coloring and 2 drops of green.  I mixed it up, and it looked like this. 

Once it was mixed, and the color looked good, I poured the mixture into the glass jar.  I put the lid on and swirled it around until the whole jar was covered.  I then poured out the excess modpodge mixture back into the cup.  HERE IS WHERE I MESSED UP a little.  I did not get enough of the modpodge mixture out of the bottom so it kind of made a glob at the bottom.  It's not that noticeable, but it still could be better. 

I turned on my oven to the lowest temperature (170 degrees) and put in the jar.  I took off the lid, because it would not dry as fast with the lid on.  I left it in the oven around 15 minutes, checked on it, and left in in for another 5 minutes (trying to let the glob at the bottom dry!). 

I let it cool for a few minutes, took it out of the oven, and re-attached the lid.  It is, of course, not safe to put food in, and I wouldn't wash it since the mod-podge would just get sticky and come off.  I think I will put some fake flowers in it, or put it on a high shelf just as decoration. 

Overall, I like it!  (especially for 50 cents!!) 

I'm linking this to:

  

Thrift Store Treasures

I went to the thrift store today, and I found some great things!  I can't wait to start on a few of these projects! : ) 

The best part is, I only spent $22 on everything pictured here! 

I found a headboard for $15 which I need for my new apartment.  All my bedroom furniture is black, though, so I think I am going to sand this down and paint it black.  I love what I have now, but it is a wrought iron piece that will just ruin the walls in the apartment, so I shall stick with this wooden one.  I think it will work just fine. 

I also found these items. 

I am using the plate and the candle holder to make a plate stand.  I'm going to try to stain the large jar a teal color to put flowers in or for decoration in the kitchen.  I just loved the calendar!  I can't decide if I am going to leave it white and make it more antique looking or paint it another color.  We shall see!  I also cannot decide yet what I will do with the silver platter.  My original thought was to modpodge scrapbook paper in the inside and paint the handles, but I kind of like the silver.  I might just paint the handles.  Maybe I will get inspiriation soon!