Tightwad Tracey-Christmas Tree

I didn't feel like decorating my tree the traditional way this year and by accident I came across some cute ideas on pinterest.  There were several that decorated their tree to look like a snowman, so I thought I would give it a try.  No, it wasn't necessarily cheap because I already have all the things to decorate it traditionally but it didn't really cost that much.  The white stuff is $2.50 a bag and I used 6 and the black bulbs came in a pack of 12 for $2.50, the buttons were less than $2 and the hat was $10.  I had the lights and the bird ornaments and sticks are pretty easy to come by.  The banner says:  Unto to you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord.

Here it is:

Merry Christmas everyone!

Until next time, stay blessed.

Tightwad Tracey--Jam and Syrup

I have been getting boxes of food from His Food Ministry for several months now, which had accumulated in my freezer because that is mostly what comes in the boxes (a post from the other day) and I was needing space in the freezer, so what did I do?  I made jam and syrup.  And it was super easy, of course, there is no other way.

I had 8- 16 oz. bags of frozen blackberries and 9- 16 oz bags of frozen strawberries.  Out of that came 11 half pints of jam and 5 pints of syrup.  And they are yummy.

All you need is:
liquid pectin  (I bought it on accident, but I liked it)
sugar (and lots of it)
berries
food processor (you don't need one, but it makes the process quicker)
water
canning jars
cheese cloth or something to strain the berries for the syrup (I ended up using gauze.  Don't worry, it was clean).
a pot big enough for a boil water bath
a pot big enough to cook the mixture in
and finally, the directions that come in the pectin box.

I followed the directions for the jam and everything went perfect and very quickly.

And wouldn't these make great Christmas gifts along with a homemade jarred biscuit mix.

For the syrup, I used the recipe from petticoatjunctionsmom.  She has a bunch of great and easy canning recipes.  I plan on stalking her website frequently.

Until next time, stay blessed.

Tightwad Tracey-Tis the Season

I think it was three Christmases ago (and I'm not sure I spelled that right) I decided to make jewelry for all the females in my family.  It was something that I learned to do and really enjoyed and wanted to share with them.  Last year I made Christmas wreaths and homemade sugar scrubs and lotion.  I can't tell you what I'm making this year (maybe after Christmas) because then they will know.

I am saying all of this because, I hate to shop!  Especially this time of year.  You never really know what to get anybody and prices are ridiculous on things that aren't built to last.  So I decided to go "old school" on everyone.  It was hard at first because I really didn't spend that much money at all.  And I thought everyone, even those I didn't "make" for would be like "she is such a tightwad, she couldn't even spend money for Christmas gifts" but I don't think anyone said that, at least I didn't hear anything.  I really wanted to do this, and what I did spend was time.  Isn't time more valuable than money?  I told them that first year that this was going to be the new norm from us.  They were going to get something handmade every year.  I would love if Christmas and gift giving, in general, would go back to those days when you made something for everyone and in return got something handmade.  Maybe I am on a one woman mission to make that happen in my family.

Some advice:

• We all have a talent of some sort.  It may hidden deep in there, but it is there none the less, find it.
• Look at craft stores for ideas.
• PINTEREST!!! is crammed full of ideas.  You could spend weeks finding things on that website alone and never get to the end of it.
• Recycle, up cycle or whatever cycle you can do.

No, you may not save money all the time, but you will feel like you gave a gift worth giving.

Until next time, stay blessed.

Tightwad Tracey-Jewelry Organizer

I would love to have one of those big floor model jewelry boxes but have you priced them?  I have, and they aren't cheap.  So I had things organized in my dresser (that's an earlier post, Things I've Been Working On), then I found this at a yard sale for $10 and after seeing things on Pinterest, my creative juices started flowing.

I started putting hooks for earrings and bracelets and little button things for rings.  I found a random bar in the garage and hung it.  This is what I got in the end.

I am so happy with it! I have it hanging on my bedroom wall and it is such a pretty piece of art.  I've made some of the jewelry and some are purchased, so it is a perfect way to display everything.

Until next time, stay blessed.

Tightwad Tracey-Syrup

This may not sound like we are health food junkies and I don't claim to be.  I like to take shortcuts.  Who doesn't?  My confession...I buy frozen waffles...All the time.  I love the chocolate chip ones, of course I do.

My tip for today...make your own syrup.  It is soooooo easy.  And it tastes so good, even my kids like it.

No, I don't tap my maple trees and all of that.  I wish I could, but then where is the shortcut there.

What do I do, you ask?  Well for starters, I bought a small bottle of maple flavoring.  You can find it where you buy vanilla extract.  On the back of the box are two recipes.  I use the one with sugar, not because I am afraid of corn syrup but because I like my syrup to be thin and the corn syrup one says it will be thick.

Here is the recipe....
Pour one cup boiling water over two cups sugar.  Add 1/2 teaspoon maple flavor and stir.  Makes 2 1/4 cups.  EASY!!!

I make it in a quart mason jar.

Until next time, stay blessed.

Tightwad Tracey--Nails

I recently got a manicure and had my nails painted up real pretty and then went to pay and was shocked at how much it cost.  I couldn't really understand what the lady was saying and when she asked if I want this or that I just said yes but how much and it never really seemed like a lot more.  Well....

So I ordered this wonderful brush kit from Amazon so I could do my own nails.


Since I am going out of town this weekend I thought I would try out one of the pins from pinterest.




Here is what mine look like.

Until next time, stay blessed.

Tightwad Tracey-Crock Pot Freezer Meals

For the last two weeks I have been taking the freezer crock meal recipes I have pinned on pinterest and actually fixing them.  I have put together 7 different meals which once put in baggies comes out to 14 meals.  I am pretty excited about just pulling something out of the freezer and sticking it in the crock pot, already put together, spices and all.  All the prep work has already been done.


Once I got the kitchen cleaned up, it took me a little over two hours to put it all together.  Not really that bad considering that now all I have to do is plug in the crock pot and stick the contents of the baggy in.


Here are things I made:


Teriyaki Chicken
Savory Vegetable Beef Soup
Healthy BBQ Chicken
Stephanie's Goulash/Beef Stew
Savory Pepper Steak
Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
Salsa Chicken


You can find the recipes here:
melissafallistestkitchen
six-cents

Here is a picture of the first group:

All of this...

To all of this...

I plan on using these on Thursdays, which I have assigned as "errand day", something I picked up from reading Large Family Logistics.  If you haven't read that book and are interested in scheduling and home management, you should give it a try.

Until next time, stay blessed.

Hanging Weekly Planner

Ok, I have decided that I like nice things but I don't like to pay for them, so I am challenging myself to find those things and make them myself.  All these things will be tagged under Tightwad Tracey.

My first project was to reinvent my home management board.  I was really proud of it but then the more I looked at it, the cheaper it looked.  So I found something that would work perfect but it cost $45 and wasn't set up exactly the way I wanted.  I don't really need pockets for things and I wanted more "dry erase" space.

Before

After

I don't know how much I have in it because I had everything to make this already except for the little clippy thingy.  But if I had to guess, I would say less than $10.  That works for me.  


Not really a hard project at all.  
Things needed:
Fabric--however much for the size you want, plus enough to sew a hem around it, and some for the file   folder holder and marker holder.
Laminating paper
Card stock or pretty paper
Grommets
Clip or something to hang pages from unless you don't want that.
Dry erase markers
I used my label maker to label the pages but you can hand write also.

It took me about 2-3 hours but I think it was worth it because I made it to work for me and my family.

Until the next time, stay blessed.