Showing posts with label frugality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugality. Show all posts

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Thrift Score!

I know a lot of people are really skeptical about whether there's really anything good to be had at the thrift store. While it's true that I do come home empty handed sometimes, I find really cool store more often than you might imagine.

Thrift store yarn score.


I thought I'd share my latest haul with ya'll, a ginormous stash of mostly wool and cotton yarn, for around ten bucks total. One ball of pink and orange cotton yarn still had a tag on it, which said $12. (There were 6 large balls of it. My picture is terrible, but it's beautiful hand dyed yarn)

I broke my self imposed yarn buying fast, just this once...

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Dollar Store Decorating & Playing Catch Up

Mini pumpkins and dollar store leaves.


I could write a long post about all the behind the scenes stuff going on around here, but I won't bore you with it.

Here's the short list: 

I've got a house full of unfinished projects, (more than usual.) Hopefully I'll finish some stuff soon, and have some new things to show you. 

Our kitchen is partially disassembled, (while we repair the flood damage.)

My mom had surgery to remove lymph nodes last week. They came back negative, (thank God!) She'll be starting radiation soon. She's doing well, considering.

And this: My oldest sister was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis last week. My mother has MS, but even so, the odds of my sister having it are very small. We're all pretty shocked and horrified. (And heartbroken.) I don't even know what to say about it.

In spite of the above list, I've been doing a little fall and Halloween decorating here for the kiddos. It's still nearly 90 degrees here most days, not very fall-y, but whatever, right? The calendar says it's fall.

The first pictures shows some mini pumpkins and faux leaves from the Dollar Tree. I've sprinkled the leaves all over the house, and made a little garland of them over the dining room doorway. They're fun, and easy, and nonbreakable, which is always a good feature in holiday decor at our house.

I also picked up this creepy looking skull from Dollar Tree, to glitterize. (Is that a word? It should be.)





Dollar store skull.

Here he is, post glitterization. If you wanted to save the trouble, Target has glittered skulls for sale for a few bucks, although where's the fun in that?

Glittered dollar store skull.


I've got some fun giveaways in the works, from Freschetta, and My Memories, and some reviews you may be interested in, including LeapFrog Products, and homeschool curriculum from Founder's Academy.

I also just purchased a ginormous amount of burlap feed sacks, so um, you can be expecting some burlap projects in the near future. 

Monday, September 26, 2011

Easy Glittered Pumpkins

Is there anything that can't be improved upon with a coating of Martha Stewart glitter?




Inspired by these pumpkins of Martha's, I picked up a few packages of sad looking little gourds from Dollar Tree to transform.

Dollar Tree gourds.
A couple of quick coats of glitter, and I had a fun little centerpiece. (I also had another ginormous glittery mess in the kitchen, but it was worth it.)

Gllittered Dollar Tree gourds.

Tip Junkie handmade projects

Thursday, September 22, 2011

T Shirt Week-Day 4: Who's That Pokemon? It's Charmander!

Not to be left out of all the t shirt making, L put in a request for a Charmander shirt. I traced the pattern through the shirt on this one, and then painted it, and touched up the outline with a sharpie after the fact.

DIY Charmander shirt.
(I promise I'll go back to making other stuff soon. Seriously...)

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

T Shirt Week-Day 3: Plex the Magic Robot Superhero?

Yep, another Yo Gabba Gabba shirt.

DIY Plex shirt.


The pattern for this one was obtained from a an enlarged version of a coloring sheet from Nickjr. This one was the easiest one yet. Since the shirt was light colored, I placed the pattern inside, and traced over it with fabric markers. I'm tempted to make one of these for myself...

You'll note that she's also wearing a superhero cape. It's actually a recycled t shirt project, which is based on a tutorial from The Southern Institute. (Psst, it's a no sew project that takes about 5 minutes. Go check it out.) Since V loves anything pink, and I love anything tie dyed, I tie dyed a pink t shirt to use as the cape. 

Super V to the rescue.

To say she loves it would be an understatement.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

T Shirt Week-Day 2: Pumpkin Shirts

DIY pumpkin shirt.


Today's shirt was made essentially using the same technique as yesterday's. I tinkered around with the sizing of this template, and used it as my pattern. My cost on these was a buck a piece. Cute, easy, and quick.

L modeling his shirt, complete with messy morning hair.

I made one for each of the kids. I'm determined to get some cute Halloween pics of the both of them together, at some point. (Am I the only one who cannot take a good picture of both kids at the same time? They're never looking in the same direction, or else their eyes are closed, or their mouth is open...) 

Monday, September 19, 2011

T Shirt Week-Day 1: $1 Foofa Shirt

Dollar Store Foofa shirt.


V's love for all things Yo Gabba Gabba related is stronger than ever. Several years ago, it was fairly easy to find Yo Gabba Gabba shirts, pjs, and socks, at places like Target and Walmart. Now the only place to buy them is online or occasionally at little shops in the mall. And they're pretty expensive.

Now if you've been reading for any length of time, you know I'm kind of cheap. I like to think I'm also practical. Instead of buying expensive clothes for the kids, and then harping on them all day to not get dirt/paint/chocolate/any other joyful substance on their clothes, for the most part,  I just buy 'em cheap clothes, and let 'em have fun.

I recently noticed that Dollar Tree was carrying 100% cotton t shirts. I originally had planned to buy some to cut up for other projects, but on closer inspection, most of them didn't have any visible flaws, and they were actually nicer than the shirts from the craft store, which are usually a 50/50 poly cotton blend.

I picked up a pink shirt in V's size, and came home and got to work.

Here was my technique, if you want to call it that: I printed out the Foofa mask pattern from the Nickjr site, scanned it into my computer, imported into Print Shop, and enlarged it quite a bit. After printing that out, I cut out the facial features, traced them onto the shirt with a washable Crayola marker, and then painted the features using regular old t shirt paint, and a brush. Finally, I ended up doing the black part of her eyes with a Sharpie.

It sounds like a fairly long process, but it really wasn't. If I were blessed with any sort of drawing abilities, I could have cut out several steps, but using this process, even I, a stick figure drawing person, was able to turn out a pretty good result.

It goes without saying that one shouldn't sell projects like this, since they're A) based on a trademarked character, and b) based on a fun freebie from Nickjr, but if your kiddo is a Yo Gabba Gabba fan, this is a pretty cool way to make a shirt for a buck.

If your little one isn't a fan of Yo Gabba Gabba, (do such children exist?) you could use the same process to make them whatever kind of character shirt they'd love.

Stay tuned for more t shirts for the kids all week long.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Save Those Yogurt Cups

Yogurt cup greenhouses.
Yogurt cups of any sort make pretty good seed starting pots. They're about the right size, they're free, and you get bonus points for reusing something that would have been thrown away.

YoCrunch cups are even better for starting seeds though. The raised, clear lids make a great little greenhouse.    The beans we planted in these came up in record time.

What are some things around the house that you've found a good second use for?

Monday, July 4, 2011

Target Finds

If you haven't dropped into Target lately, now's a good time to do so. They have lots of great "school-y" finds in the Dollar Spot, including nice workbooks, pocket charts, books, and fact cards.



They also have a little section devoted to Dr. Seuss stuff, which I adore.


Go stock up! This stuff always goes quickly.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

WFMW: Read Awesome Free E-Books Without a Kindle

Several years ago, when e-books first came out, I found myself sort of puzzled. As the owner of a desktop PC, I couldn't imagine why you'd want to tie yourself to the desk for hours and hours in order to read a book.
After that came the Kindle and Nooks. Although I thought they sounded neat, they amounted to an extra, somewhat pricey, gadget to buy and keep up with. I didn't take the bait.
Last year my husband gave me an iPhone. It's taken me a while to discover all the things it can do, but I thought I'd share one of my favorite uses.
You can download the Kindle app for free on your iPhone, which allows you to read digital books from the Amazon Kindle store. That's pretty good news, but it gets even better.
There are lots of free books to be downloaded. Nearly all of the old "classic books" are now in the public domain, which means they are free. There are also a surprising amount of new releases that are offered for free for a limited time. (I find out about many of these by following my favorite publishers on Twitter.)
With the Kindle app on my iPhone, I'm never without a book. (And ya'll know I love books.)
For more Works for Me Wednesday posts, check out www.wearethatfamily.com.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Library Book Sale Haul

It's library book sale time! As a homeschooler and a bookworm, I look forward to the library book sales every year. 

Today we went to the Fort Worth library sale, and for around $26, picked up 19 books, 6 cds, 7 movies, and an audio Bible.



Next weekend our little town has their sale. I'm excited to see what's up for grabs this year.

If you've never been to a library sale near you, it's worth looking up on the web to see when the next date is. Be there on the first day of the sale for the best selection, or go on the last day for even better deals. Also, if you have wee little ones, like I do, it's probably better to leave 'em at home, (if you can.) Mine get tired of looking way before I do...

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Last Minute Advent Calendar

I had thought I'd sew up a new Advent calendar this year, but never got around to it. Then I started seeing blog posts showing calendars made of things like toilet paper tubes, and matchboxes, and thought I'd surely have enough time to at least make one of those. I never got around to that either...
Today I realized it was now or never. (Well, not really never, but not until next year, at least.)
Inspired by several blog posts, like this one at The Crafting Chicks, I decided to make one of paper library pockets I had picked up from Dollar Tree a while back.


I used some Martha Stewart glitter I had on hand to make the numbers. The pockets are hung on fine ribbon with paper clips.

It super simple, but I love it. It has all the ingredients for success here: loud colors, lots of glitter, and it was fast and inexpensive.

There's still time to whip up one for yourself tomorrow, out of about $3 worth of office supplies...

If you're wondering what's in the pockets this year, some days have notes about the day's activities. (Christmas Eve=birthday party for Jesus, etc.) Every day will have a Jesse Tree ornament from the Advent Devotional at A  Holy Experience. They'll also be a piece of yarn in each pocket, to line the manger with "hay." (For more info on that idea, check out this post at Live, Learn, Love.)

For more WFMW posts, check out http://www.wearethatfamily.com/ .



Celebrate Christ

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Stocking Stuffers for the Rest of Us

Several years ago, I started noticing something about stocking stuffers. They were getting expensive.
To me, stocking stuffers are supposed to be small, fun gifts. If I buy the kids a couple of $50 video games to put in their stockings, and a GPS system for my husband, I'm already out a couple of hundred bucks before I've even started buying "real" gifts.

I thought I'd put together a list of stocking stuffers that are fun, inexpensive, and largely consumable, which means they won't result in a ton of junky plastic thingamajigs that never get played with. In addition to my own little nuclear family, I also put together stockings for 12 or 15 of our extended relatives who celebrate Christmas with us each year. Some of the following suggestions are for little ones, some for adults. (And no, in case you're wondering, nobody gets everything on the list in any given year.)

1) Candy-Here's the deal with candy. There doesn't have to be a ton of it, but it has to be good. For most adults that means chocolate. (Good chocolate!) My kids love lollipops (and are especially fond of Yummy Earth Lollipops.)

2) Fruit-My kids actually loves apples, so this works for us. You could always substitute a more exotic fruit, or even something like Funky Monkey Snacks.

3) Coffee-Not for the kids, of course, but those teeny little bags of specialty coffee make a nice treat for grownups.

4) Popcorn-My kids love popcorn. The mini 100 calorie bags of popcorn are just the right size for stockings.

5 ) Snacks-This one is only cool if you buy the particular snacks someone loves. (For my kids, it's raisins and goldfish. For my mom, it's a certain brand of granola bar.)


6) Toothbrushes-Spring for the character or battery operated toothbrushes for the kids, even if you don't usually buy them. (After all, if it makes the kids want to brush their teeth, it's worth it's weight in gold...)

7) Toothpaste-I know, that sounds pretty practical. The thing that makes it fun is that you're going to get the kids the one they like, be it Dora, or Spongebob, or whatever.

8) Bubble Bath-My all time favorite bubble bath is AVON. It smells great, and makes more bubbles than any other brand I know of. A hit with all ages.

9) Cosmetic Samples-This is a fun treat for tweens on up. I make a couple of orders from Sephora a year, and get between 3 and 10 samples each time, depending on what promos they're running. People get a kick out of trying new perfume, or skin cream or whatever.

10) Nail Polish-Even my two year old likes to get her nails painted.

11) Fun Band Aids-What kid doesn't like Band Aids? Buy the the Kai Lan or Transformer ones, not the boring flesh colored ones.

12) A New Box of Crayons-Pretty self explanatory, right?

13) Coloring Books-Our local Dollar Tree carries lots of cool licensed coloring books, like Cars, Blue's Clues, and Word World. They're the same ones that sell elsewhere for $4 or 5 bucks.

14) Books-Suitable for all ages, and again, pretty self explanatory, but I thought I'd put in a plug for the $1 books from Scholastic Book Clubs. (Don't forget that you can sign up to order from the book clubs if you are a homeschooler.)


15) Stickers-My kids are still young enough to get pretty excited about stickers. (Older kids might enjoy getting personalized address labels from somewhere like Vistaprint.)
16) Notebooks or Journals-You can get really creative and make your own matchbook notebooks, or you can just buy a cute one readymade. (Everyone needs somewhere to write all those bogus New Year's resolutions, right?)


17) Craft Supplies-For kids, this could be as simple as a pack of glitter glue or some beads.

18) Sidewalk Chalk-A perennial favorite here, with my own kids, and just about anyone else who happens to drop by.

19) Bubbles-Another one of those things kids just don't seem to get tired of. (You'll thank yourself for buying the spill proof ones...)

20) Play Doh-No, I'm not on Play Doh's payroll, although maybe I should be. ;) All the kids, even the really big ones like getting Play Doh. It's sort of expected here.

21) Christmas Ornaments-This is another item where the coolness factor comes from matching them to the recipient's interests. You can buy them of course, but I like to make them. (Perler beads, felt, shrinky dinks, take your pick...)

22) Homemade Coupons-For adults, things like a car clean out, or a morning of sleeping in are appreciated. Kids like coupons for a solo outing with a parent, or a family movie night.

23) Fun Socks-Target frequently has kid sized character socks in the Dollar Spot. (My kids want some every time we pass by.)


24) Silly Bands, Googly Bands or the like-Our Dollar Tree intermittently sells Googly Bands for a buck, instead of the $3-5 they cost elsewhere.

25) Magazines-Everyone's got a special interest, and many people consider magazines sort of an expensive luxury. My husband likes bike magazines, I like crafty ones, and L likes video game mags.

What are some of your favorite stocking stuffers?

Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way for any of these recommendations.

Linking up at http://www.wearethatfamily/ for WFMW.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

WFMW Curriculum Share



I'm pretty sure I've posted about Curriculum Share before, but I thought it warranted another mention. Curriculum Share started out several months ago as something along the lines of a Paperback Swap for homeschoolers. People post things they have to offer, and other folks can request them, paying only for shipping. It's really a neat resource, and I've participated on both sides, as a giver and a receiver.
As it's evolved, more and more forums have been added. There's now a forum open for offering and requesting toys in giftable condition for Christmas. (What a great way to recycle and save some money, in a time when we're all looking to save a few bucks.) There's a couponing forum for sharing deals, a crafty forum for sharing ideas, and many others.
While the membership at Curriculum Share is growing rapidly, it still has that friendly, just-starting-out feeling. If you're a homeschooler, a preschool at home-er, or a family contemplating homeschooling, I'd highly recommend you come check it out.
Curriculum Share works for me. For more WFMW posts, check out http://www.wearethatfamily.com/.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

WFMW: Cut Homeschooling Costs

This past week, I followed a link on Twitter to a new homeschooling forum that was just getting started. It's called Curriculum Share, and it's pretty awesome.
It's sort of like Freecycle for homeschoolers. People post things their family doesn't need anymore, and the recipient pays only for shipping.
It's been fun for me to pass along some of our unused stuff to other families who were looking for them, and I've also found several things I've been looking for.
If you homeschool, and you're looking to cut costs, (is there any other kind of homeschooler?) you should definitely check it out.

For more WFMW posts, check out http://www.wearethatfamily.com/.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Low Budget Back Porch Makeover

When we purchased our little house a few years ago, one of our favorite features was the large, screened in back porch. It needed some work, but we envisioned using it as a second living area, or a playroom, either of which would be a plus, in our small home.

Baby V was born several months after we closed on the house, and along with a lot of other projects, this one was put on the back burner. Indefinitely.

Last year, we bought a nice little set of patio furniture from Ikea, but that's about all we've done. The porch has otherwise become a depository for things we don't have room for elsewhere. (By the way, the dog's eyes aren't normally that creepy looking. Just in case you were wondering.)


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We've decided to start working on it again. On as close to a zero budget as possible.


Our first task was to basically just clean up. We got rid of some junk, relocated other stuff to the garage, and rearranged what was left.


After that, we hung up these cool curtain tracks that we picked up from Ikea last year. I purchased a whole bolt of burlap to make curtains, although that still ended up not being quite enough, so I'm waiting on Hobby Lobby to restock, in order to finish a couple of projects.

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I sewed some pillows for the furniture out of some pretty old fabric I had lying around, and then tie dyed a tablecloth I already had, as well as some muslin fabric, which I them used to make a couple of more pillows.

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Image and video hosting by TinyPic

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Finally, I added the previously blogged about do-dads wrapped in jute, and a
couple of ferns.

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We spent:

$25 for the burlap

$5 for one fern (The other came from the front porch.)

$18 for fiberfill stuffing for the pillows

From the craft stash and/or repurposed from elsewhere in the house:

Curtain hardware, patterned fabric, muslin, fabric dye, jute, jars & canister, tablecloth, tealights

It's not totally finished yet. I still have several other things in mind to do, and we are still trying to come up with a nice, but cheap flooring option. The floor is currently just icky old concrete that's impossible to keep clean.

Not bad for a $48 makeover, huh?

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href="http://thecsiproject.com" target="_blank">Visit thecsiproject.com

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Out of the Box Sources for Homeschoolers

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Everyone knows you can find some pretty awesome learning supplies at a teaching store, and you can find nearly ANYTHING online. If you keep your eyes open though, you can find neat things nearly anywhere. I've posted before about my love of Goodwill and Dollar tree. They're both great places to find puzzles, games, art supplies, and (at Goodwill,) books.
Today I thought I'd share with you another of my favorite places to scavenge for fun homeschool-y stuff: Tuesday Morning. They nearly always have a wide range of nice puzzles, Montessori type block sets, science projects, craft sets, and more, for way cheaper than you'd pay at a teaching supply store.

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I picked up two of these little science tool sets yesterday for $1.99 each, which made them even cheaper than cobbling together a similar set of dollar store finds. I also picked up a neat card game for the kids, and a chocolate making kit, for around $11 total.

Montessori Hack: Sand Writing

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I love looking through Montessori catalogs. The materials are so pretty and I love the idea of the kids getting to use "real" things, not just toy versions of things. I find the educational theory interesting, but it isn't doesn't really fit our lifestyle, for a number of reasons. Nonetheless, I've decided to put my own spin on some of the neat materials and Montessori excercises. I'll be sharing them periodically.

This first one is almost too simple. I saw a similar setup in a catalog for about $50, except the sand was natural colored, and it came in a pretty wooden box. My version has cool blue Crayola colored sand in a plastic food container, but the purpose is the same, to encourage kids to practice writing letters and numbers in the sand.

Pretty cool, huh? (And cheap...)

Thursday, November 19, 2009

A Thrift Store Primer for Reluctant Shoppers...

Some people are afraid of thrift stores. Maybe your mom used to drag you to Salvation Army to buy scratchy double knit bell bottoms when you were a kid. Maybe you think they're dirty or smelly, or full of only broken, worn out stuff.
It's true, you can still find some gnarly clothes at the thrift store, and yes some stores are kind of icky.
But most of them aren't. Goodwill is one of my favs. It's generally pretty clean and well organized, and it's often times where we look first, when we realize we need something, before we head off to Target or wherever.
There are a couple of "rules" that I might suggest to a newbie thrifter.

*Try not to take the kids along, especially if they're young. They'll run out of patience before your done looking. (Because it does take a while to search through what's available.) Believe me on this one...

*Try to allow yourself enough time. It's not Macy's or Barnes and Noble, after all. You're going to have to dig through piles of books, and racks of clothes.

*Don't go to Goodwill on 50% off day, unless you like that Black-Friday-at-Wal-Mart scene. It is nuts. You'll save a few bucks, but lose a few hours waiting in line, and probably some of your sanity. Not worth it.

*Take some hand sanitizer. Even if the store is clean, you're still talking about stuff that's been hanging around people's garage or storage shed for a while. Hand sanitizer will make you feel better.

*Wash everything when you get home. Clothes are obvious, but don't forget dolls, Legos, everything. (Ok, this might not be strictly necessary, but I'm kind of a germaphobe...)

So now, you may be asking, is it really worth it then? I'd say yes, it is.

If I were buying only new clothes for my kiddos, they'd have a modest sized wardrobe from Target or Ross. By buying at thrift stores, I'm able to buy nice, brand name clothes, for much less than that. I'm frequently able to resale these same clothes later, and get my money back. (No, I'm not a label snob, but clothes from the Gap, and Zutano, and Hanna Anderson really do wear and last longer than clothes from Wal Mart.) Last week, I picked up a like new, designer sweater coat for V, that retailed for $75 for $5. L got a pair of new looking cords from the Gap for $1.99. (Also if wearing "used" clothes gives you the heebie jeebies, consider this: that shirt you purchased at the mall was probably tried on several times. Technically speaking, it's "used" too...)

If I were buying only new toys for the kids, they wouldn't have many. New toys are expensive, and the kids cycle through them so quickly. By buying at thrift stores, I'm typically able get things the kids are interested in at a fraction of the retail cost. My son had been eyeing a Thomas the Train Lego set for about a year at Target. It's around $50. I recently found the whole set for $5 at Goodwill. When he's sick of it, I can sell it for at least five bucks, and get him something else. I am also forever finding new in the package, sealed toys, games and craft kits for a couple of dollars.

Finally, If I were only buying new books, the kids wouldn't have nearly as many of those either. By buying at the thrift store, I'm able to pick up new books, old classic books, craft books, and (new,)workbooks, for between .35 and .75 each. I LOVE to read, and this is huge for us.

Besides buying less in general, the other way to save money is to find the same stuff at better prices. Thrifting allows us to find the same stuff at better prices. Better than retail, better than a good sale, even better than clearance sales. Not quite as good as free, though... ;)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

WFMW Preschool Homeschooling on the cheap (and a giveaway!)















If you've been following along, you know that we only formally started homeschooling L this past week. We've been informally doing so pretty much since he was born. I don't propose to have much (any?) wisdom to share about homeschooling, however if you want to know about finding things cheap, I'm your woman..
Now it goes without saying that you could theoretically teach a young child everything they needed to know with little more than a library card, a back yard, and some crayons. We are not taking such a minimalist route. I wanted to provide as many stimulating things for L as I could, without having to pay much for them.
So, for this WFMW post, I thought I'd share some of my cheap sources of educational stuff.

For Free:

First there's the library. Inter library loan is awesome, and you can get just about anything. This is great when your kid is suddenly into bugs or trains. You can request a boatload of movies and books, and go pick them up in a couple of days.

Next is freecycle. People are always giving away books and craft supplies. You can also put out requests for specific things every so often. A wile back, when my son was really into Magic School Bus movies, I asked for some on freecycle, and got some.

The internet is also a huge source of free lesson plans, craft ideas, etc, especially for the prek/k aged child.

For Cheap:

Garage sales. Children's books usually run between a dime and a dollar. You can also find lego's, k'nex, lincoln logs, and other open ended toys for just a few bucks. I once found a whole trash bag of lincoln logs at a garage sale, and paid a dollar for them. :)

Dollar Tree. If you need popsicle sticks, googly eyes, foam sheets, or basic workbooks, dollar tree is a great source. I've also made several small felt boards by gluing a piece of felt on a cork board from Dollar tree. There's lots of "raw material" there.

Goodwill and other thrift stores. I frequent Goodwill, because it's right down the street. I drop in about once a week, and find books (children's books, new never used workbooks, and teaching resource books) for under a buck, games and puzzles (some of them have never been opened) for a dollar or two, and the occasional set of bristle blocks or legos. I also find Leap Pad cartridges for about three dollars pretty often.

If I need to buy a pricey crafting item, I wait until I have a coupon for Hobby Lobby or Michael's and get it for 40% off.

I buy books every so often from http://www.bookcloseouts.com/, and the clearance section at http://www.christianbooks.com/. The selection is pretty random, but but the prices are great.

If I'm looking for a specific book title, I usually buy it from half.com or amazon.com. It pays to check both places, though, because sometimes the prices are significantly different.

There's another way to get cool educational stuff for free, and that's to win it. I've been lucky enough to win several blog giveaways lately, including a fun game, several books, and a Spanish DVD/CD set.



I've got a giveaway today, and it includes the following new items:

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26 Interactive Alphabet Mini-books (pre k -1)
Primary Portfolios (k-4)

A package of Foam Letter Stickers

A set of letters and numbers, for your felt board. I printed them on my computer, and I'll let you cut them apart, since they'll ship easier as one sheet.

A set of Alphabet Soup plastic letters ( These are a scrapbooking item. We've used them to make an eye spy bottle, and also for L to spell with. They're small however, so please excercise caution with kids that still mouth stuff.)

We have our own set of these items, and I thought you might like to win a set for your kiddos too!

To enter, you must become a follower, and leave a comment saying you are. If you're already a follower, just leave me a comment, letting me know you want to be entered. You can also get an extra entry for blogging about the giveaway, and leaving a link to your post.

This contest will end at midnight central time on June second, which I'm arbitrarily choosing because it's my ninth wedding anniversary. :)

if you want to read more WFMW posts, go check out We Are That Family.

(Please encuse the wierd spacing. Blogger is giving me fits today.)