DIY — The Coupon Girl

DIY Betty Crocker Warm Delights

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August 27, 2011 by Tracy at 1:49 pm MST

Okay I am officially in heaven now that I discovered this nifty DIY tasty goodie and I just had to share with all of you. I mean seriously, do you know much money you can save making your own Betty Crocker Warm Delights! I am so glad that my friend Coupon Kristin told me to visit Mile Hi Mama because is the discoverer of this nifty DIY project

I adore cake and hubby loves moderation because he’s a total fitness buff and this can be our new best friend. Sinful cake in tiny moderations, yum!

Check out Mile Hi Mama for the scoop on how to make your Betty Crocker Warm Delights! Be sure to read the comments as well to see a few reader tips on what they did.

Filed Under: DIY, Frugal Tagged With: DIY, Frugal Baking

DIY Adorable Bird Feeder

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August 1, 2011 by Tracy at 2:01 pm MST

It’s summer time and what a fun and very inexpensive DIY craft project to have the kids try out! The gals from Eighteen 25 have the full scoop on these adorable DIY Bird Feeders! I think even young kids can do this project with a little supervision, we don’t want them trying the bird seed out. Winking smile

Most items you probably already have in your house so you may only need some bird seed!

Thanks Eighteen 25 and Pinterest where I discovered the gals crafty goodness!

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: Bird Feeder, DIY

DIY Make Your Own Playdough

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June 7, 2011 by Tracy at 1:21 pm MST

It’s summer time and what better way to have fun inside when it’s too hot than make your playdough with the kids. I love the pretty playdough Rebecca made using Kool-Aid flavors, she used cherry, strawberry & ice blue raspberry lemonade. Aren’t they the prettiest colors of playdough ever?

Be sure to scroll down on her post to see the Playdough Recipe after you read how to make your playdough cutters! She’s one frugal, crafty gal!

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: DIY, Playdough

DIY Homemade Organic Baby Wipes

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June 6, 2011 by Tracy at 12:43 pm MST

I thought since I recently posted on how to make your own baby food I would add another much needed DIY tip for those of you with babies. Don’t have a baby? Don’t worry, the creator says they make great make-up remover cloths too. Nothing like a 2 for 1 tip!

Homemade Organic Baby Wipes - White House, Black Shutters

I love that Ann Marie of White House, Black Shutters created a tutorial for making organic baby wipes. I don’t think I’ve seen any organic tutorials on this so I couldn’t pass this by as I know it is important to protect those little baby behinds.

If you decide to make these wipes please come back and tell us how you liked them. I’m always looking for good ideas to share with friends and family that have little ones.

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: Baby Supplies, DIY

DIY Homemade Baby Food

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June 1, 2011 by Tracy at 5:04 pm MST

I’ve had many requests for saving money on baby food and one of my lovely Facebook readers answered my call for help. I am so thankful for all the documenting that my reader, Tanya, has done regarding her journey into homemade baby food. I’m truly blessed with such savvy readers that love to share with others!

Here are some recipes and tips Tanya shared with me regarding the process of making your own baby food.

Steamed Pureed Peas

Put the frozen peas in a steamer basket or similar then put that in a pan.
Fill the pan 1/4 the way up its legs so maybe 1 cup of water.
Steam 8 to 10 minutes.

From there Tanya proceed with the following but found a better way later on. (see Steamed carrots)

Take the peas while hot thinking the skin would pull away better and put them in this strainer.
Using a rubber spatula push them through. (Tanya was trying to make stage 1 baby food.)
Put tablespoons of water to steam them in and thin it out.

Tanya found it was a HUGE mess and said no, not doing it that way again. This was her first attempt and a great learning process for her and cooking healthy homemade food for her baby girl.

Steamed Pureed Carrots

For this method Tanya steamed the carrots the same way as the peas but choose a hand blender this time.

Steamed Pureed Cauliflower

Tanya got creative and steamed the cauliflower in a Ziploc Steamer bag with 3 tablespoons of water.

From there she placed the steam cauliflower in a potato ricer and found it was a bit easier than previous method.

Pureed Mangos

By now Tanya had moved on to using the blender and made some yummy pureed mangos for her baby!

Place ripe mangos and some Mango nectar into blender.
Blend well.
Pour into clean ice cube trays or equivalent for freezing. (see first image for frozen baby food pic.)
Once baby food is frozen, pop the cubes out and place into freezer bags with name of food and date.

When defrosting baby food you could do it overnight in the fridge or gently warm in microwave. Be sure to stir thoroughly and make sure there are no hot spots in the warmed food so your baby doesn’t burn their delicate mouth.

If you need more recipes I’ve found a couple of baby food sites to take you further into your homemade baby food journey.

Again, a huge Thank You to my gracious reader Tanya B. for sharing this info with all of you! Photo credit goes to Tanya as well!

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: Baby, DIY, Recipes

DIY Cloth Napkins and Save Money on Paper Towels

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May 31, 2011 by Tracy at 11:54 am MST

red, black_ white napkins Photo credit: Chez Beeper Bebe

Are you tired of constantly buying paper towels with the usual $0.25 or $0.50 off coupons and wasting your RRs and ECBs to get them free? Well I was there earlier this year and started using cloth napkins! I purchased some and made some thanks to a nifty tutorial on 5 different ways to make cloth napkins.

If you’re not crafty find them on sale when you can and check the clearance racks. Don’t forget to check out stores like World Market, I’ve snagged some gorgeous cloth napkins on clearance there. I’ve even got some basic every day ones at Big Lots for super cheap too, quality was cheap but for lunchtime it’s not too bad if company isn’t coming over.

Now I will state I still buy paper towels but I don’t buy them as much as I was because I’m using cloth napkins and washing them versus the old use and toss routine with the paper kind. I use the paper towels for my kitty’s fur balls, I don’t think I want to associate my cloth napkins with her unwanted offerings regardless of how many times they’ve been washed. Smile

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: Cloth Napkins, DIY

DIY Interchangeable Flip Flop Heel Straps for Kids

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May 7, 2011 by Tracy at 5:57 pm MST

Photo credit: Makeit-Loveit.com

Do you have trouble finding little flip flops for those precious small feet in your lives? If so I highly recommend this fabulous DIY Interchangeable Heel Straps for Flip Flops tutorial from MakeIt-LoveIt.com, if you know how to sew. These are just too cute for words and could even be used on those slide version of flip flops that you just slide your feet into. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen those for tiny feet too.

If you want to go all out with your kids flip flops you could order a kids size of RayDazzled Expressions bling flip flops and then make a heel strap for them using the tutorial above! Those would be some serious mini-diva flip flops!

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: DIY, Flip Flops, Sewing

Never Miss Another Deal!

DIY Betty Crocker Warm Delights

DIY Adorable Bird Feeder

DIY Make Your Own Playdough

DIY Homemade Organic Baby Wipes