3. Save anything with names or pictures of places visited to use in your scrapbook. This page was made from the gift bag my postcard came in, much easier and cheaper than using stickers or chipboard for the lettering.

4. Use Magazine or newspaper clippings for lettering or other elements on your page.

5. Use stamps, stencils, or other reusable materials for lettering. I can't bring myself to buy stickers, chipboard and other fancy and expensive products for lettering. You use it once and then you have to buy it again. It just causes too much guilt for my practical, cheap lil' self. But I hate my handwriting so I bought some cheap letter stamps that I use frequently for my page titles and such. Stencils or typing on the computer are other cheap options I've used.

6. Collect scraps- tags, parts of cards, stickers, parts of gift bags, etc. It seems a shame that clothing tags are so cute and just get ripped off and tossed in the garbage. Save any tidbits that might have cute pictures, relevant words, pretty pieces of ribbon, whatever. Think outside the box and look for things you could use. Even the size/age tags on clothes could be useful in a baby book. And there's a kids clothing brand called "Emma's Garden" that I collect tags from to use in my daughter's scrapbook. Here's some examples of things I've saved in my scrapbox:

By the way these collections are great for card-making too. Collect cute pieces from different cards to make an original cute card of your own (maybe I shouldn't be admitting this to the people I receive and give cards to but I do put time and some of my own materials into them).

Well, that's just a few ideas I've come up with but I'd love to hear others. One thing I need to do is add more journaling to my pages. Any ideas on how to do that on old pages (keeping in mind my handwriting is not presentable)? What tricks do you use for making cute but inexpensive pages or cards? Or what's your alternative to scrapbooking ( I think blogging is part of the reason I've cut back)?

Myrtle's Buns of Garlic

Got left-over hot dog or hamburger buns? You can have a meltdown in the grocery store like George Banks (name that movie) or you can rejoice at the idea of too many buns and turn them into breadsticks. Just spread on some butter, sprinkle on some garlic salt, parsley, paprika; whatever you like, pop it in the oven, and you've got an easy and delicious side for your pasta dinner. And if you have hot dogs and spaghetti in the same week you know you're saving money.

Saving on Utility Bills

Here's a few ideas for cutting back on those ever-increasing utility bills:

1. Open your windows (including the shades) during the day and let the natural light light your home (and maybe give the windows a good shine first)

2. Use energy saver bulbs. Look for big packs on sale at Sam's Club/Costco. On lights that use multiple bulbs (i.e. fans, bathroom) use the minimum amount of bulbs needed. I find one bulb is sufficient enough to light our bathrooms and most the fans (especially when the blinds are up). I even took some of the long, flourescent bulbs out of the lights in the basement.

3. Run your dishwasher while you do your nightly activities (make sure it's full) without the heat drying option then pull out the racks and let the dishes air dry overnight.

4. Turn off the shower water while lathering shampoo and soap (same with hand-washing in sinks). I admit I don't do this in the winter, too cold without the water.

5. Instead of filling up a dirty pot with water to soak, just stick it in the sink and let it catch the run-off from other things you're rinsing and from hand-washing.

6. I keep some large buckets out by my garden to catch water when it rains and use the water for the garden (of course it rains quite a bit here and the weather's agreeable enough for a garden).

7. Turn off lights you don't need. I'm the light nazi and get on my kids about turing off the light in the bathroom and playroom and hall when they're not there. During the day I pull the light cord on the fan so the kids can't turn on the playroom light because the sunlight through the window gives the room plenty of light. In fact during the day, we really don't use any lights.

8. Unplug toasters and other appliances when not in use.

9. My mom used to airdry our jeans on the chairs out on the patio. Toss them in the dryer at the end of a load to get rid of the stiffness. I live in Georgia where it rains frequently and it's humid, so this method doesn't work for me.

10. Run full loads in your washers. With little kids around, it doens't lake long to fill these.

What do you do to conserve and save on your utility bills?

Date Night

When you have kids, getting out for a date not only gets harder to find time for but gets more expensive too. I'm far too cheap to get a babysitter so we try to find things we can do at home after the kids go to bed. Here's just a few:

1. Movie night at home- Pop in a movie and pop some popcorn after your kids go to bed or if you have two tvs you could put the kids in another room with their own movie). Not a new idea but there's a few ways to do this. You can always watch a movie from your own collection but you can also swap movies with friends. I also like getting movies from the library. They're free (but ony a week so watch those late fees) and depending on your library there's usually a pretty good selection of shows. I've even been able to find new releases. You could also pull up tv episodes online to watch together or subscribe to Netflix.

2. Adult Dinner Night- So when you have kids your menus often become limited to their tastes. So plan a night where you cook a grown-up meal together to enjoy (after the kids go to bed)! It's nice to have your husband help with the cooking and not have little kids pulling at your legs while you prepare. You can use this as a time to try out new recipes too.

3. Game Night- Pull out your games and invite some friends if possible.

4. Projects- Make a homemade Christmas gift for your kid(s) or someone else. Or have another project or hobby to do together.

Alright, I'm out of ideas. As you can see, I'm not very good at this so what ideas do you have?

Baby Food Solutions

With five in our family to feed I hate going to the baby aisle and buying the baby his own specialized food at higher prices so I do what I can to incorporate our food into his diet. Here's a few things I do:

1. Buy large jars of no sugar added applesauce (not baby food jars). Great for breakfast mixed with baby oatmeal or other homemade foods. My older kids like applesauce too so we keep this stocked.

2. My wonderful mother-in-law bought me a food processor one Christmas. A gift I never knew I needed but LOVE! Not only does it help make meals quickly but I use it all the time for making baby food. I buy the plastic, stackable baby food containers (Parents Choice-Walmart now has some) and then wash them after they've been used. Throw some canned veggies (no sugar or salt added) into the food processor and fill up 3-4 containers and refrigerate. I also buy the large bags of baby carrots at Sam's Club (Costco), great snacks for the rest of us. I cook some, throw them in the food processor with some applesauce (for taste and texture) and he loves it.

3. Mash ripe bananas with water. Good way to get baby use to texture. Mix in some rice cereal or oatmeal to thicken.

4. Munchkin brand sells a "fresh food feeder" with a mesh pocket to allow babies to eat whole foods on their own. It can be a pain to wash but when you're desperate for hands-free time and your baby's craving independent feeding, it can be a life-saver. When my baby's crying for food and I'm trying to make dinner I toss him in the highchair with this contraption. Bananas are easy (killer clean-up though). I also like baking a sweet potato and cutting off chunks to throw in the feeder (if you bake instead of boil, the skin peels right off).

5. Make your own Zwieback Toast by toasting bread until crispy and slicing into strips. When my daughter refuses her crust, I just hand it to the baby (as long as it doesn't have honey, pb, or strawberries on it).

6. Cut fruit, cooked veggies, and hard cheese into tiny pieces for baby to self-feed. My 9-month-old wants real food now and has little patience for the spoon anymore, so this is how we compromise right now, while he eats his tidbits I sneak bites of baby food in (when he opens his mouth for his fistful I stick the spoon in).

7. If I'm trying to get baby to eat a food he doesn't care for (or something new) I give it to him with something I know he loves. So if he has pured turkey I'll serve it with peaches. I alternate bites so he keeps his mouth open in hopes for the peaches. Or I scoop up a little turkey then peaches in the front of the spoon.

What's your baby-feeding secrets? Got a favorite "recipe" or trick?