The Spunky Diva

As the heat of the summer approaches, I thought I would share this thrifty way to make ice cubes for our canine friends.  And so the first ever Doggie Edition post commences…   The thrifty part of this is the reuse of yogurt containers as the ice cube maker.  Now… make sure you use yogurt containers that are larger at the top than the bottom.  Obviously this prerequisite eliminated using the standard Yoplait containers, LOL!  But you can use these new ‘GREEK’ Yoplait yogurt containers.  Ms. Diva’s would like to point out that her favorite crackers/pretzels are present in the background. Here is a close-up of the packaging {a little plug for 2x protein yogurt}.  PS~This is not my favorite yogurt by any means.  Another thrifty concept: the HEB brand costs $0.20 less than the Yoplait brand.  One more reason to buy the store brand over the brand name. I wash the cups out with soap, and then fill them up to about 75% full.  Sti...

Used 6.5” strips from used jeans to cover a 24” x 24” Super-Sized pillow.  A fun pillow to add to our western/country style living room.  One more item off my to-do list! Linking up with: The CSI Project, Reduce ~ Reuse ~ Recycle Projects

What can a clean jam jar and a fifty-cent candle stick holder from Good Will create?  This… When I saw this project on Hi There Cupcake , I thought it was soooo cute.  Today when the kiddos slept longer than my house cleaning took, I took a few moments for myself to create this fun Easter decoration. I didn’t have a pickle jar, but did have a clean jam jar.  So, I put the jar together with the candlestick holder with hot glue {not the recommended way to glue glass to glass, but works for me for now}. FYI ~ You can see in this picture that the candle stick holder is leaning.  I think I got more hot glue under one side than the other.  It looks straight in the top picture because I used the straighten tool in my photo program.  Cheating, I know, but it made for a better photo, right? Add some ribbon {the pink was from one of Ms. Diva’s baby shower gifts}, fill with Easter Kisses, and you have a fun piece décor! I left the jar top purple {purple for grape ja...

Went to Kohl's the other day, and found some really fun appliqued placemats.  Making pillows of of these placemats was done quit a bit, and linked up by several people to the different link parties.  Here is a tutoral on how to create these fun easy pillows: Easy Placemat Pillows by Meredith at Heardmont.  I have to admit though... all I did was use a seam ripper to undo about 4 inches of stitching, stuffed the placemats, and then restitched using mathcing thread.  Took about 5 to 10 minutes to create each pillow.  $2.50 per placemat and half of a $3.00 - 12 ounce package of poly-fil = less than $5 per pillow.  Making this a thrifty way for you to add some festive holiday pillows to your living room. I really like the peaking bunnies!  While checking out the Easter placemats I also picked up a very cute St. Patrick's (70% off = $1.00) and a fun Valentine's placemat.  I figure these can store flat until next year, and then get 'stuffed' jus...

Who wouldn't want to have this cute bathroom toy container ?  Who wants to spend the money on it?  {Not me!} Here is how I created a perfectly cute, usable, and cheap toy storage basket to use.  I got two baskets for a buck, and so I used one for this project, and the other is in the kiddos room.  So the project cost is just 50 cents! Not as cute as the frog with suction cups , but very cost effective, LOL!  And as an added bonus... if you use your shower/bath for adults and kiddos... this option keeps the kiddo level of cuteness in control. Linking up with... Sew Cute Thursdays at Between U and Me Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple Thrifty Thursday at Saved By Love Creations Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty 101

As the holidays approach, now is the time to start collecting boxes to ship off your packages.  I love the convinence of gift cards, but... young ones really do love opening packages, LOL! I keep cardboard boxes that are nice and sturdy, and you can use brown paper bags to cover the box and cover the printing.  Then you have a shipping package out of stuff you have already.   I tack down the paper bags with regular scotch tape.  Then run packing tape over the seams for durability during shipping.  For this diaper box I used two take-out bags from The Texas Steak House.  For most boxes I have found that two brown bags from the grocery store are plenty to cover most boxes. Now the box is ready to be addressed and sent off! Linking up with: Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple

What to do when your new crawler seems to aquire enough toys to arm a small nation overnight?  1) Take a diaper box ( if you don't have one available, wait two days until you have to buy more diapers then continue to Step 2 ). 2) Grab some handy, dandy Contact paper.  Pick either a solid colored roll or one with a pattern that matches ( or at least doesn't clash ) with the living room.  You can find Contact paper almost anywhere.  Make sure you pick out a darker color to cover up the print on the diaper box. 3)  Add Contact paper to box.  Add name signage if needed ( or if Daddy decides to be ultra creative ). And now you have a toy box to corral all those unruly toys!