Tips On Tuesday/Fast Fall Decor On A Budget

    Before I get into today's post I just want to let you know the Linky  is Here
Please forgive the wonkiness of this post.  Not sure if it is my computer or blogger.  My paragraphs are all goofy!
                  
             Welcome.  I'm ready for Fall.  Are you?  

And now for Tips on Tuesday.   I've been ready to start adding pumpkins to my Fall Decorating . . .

Guess what.  None in our neighborhood grocery store! 

I did find these today. . .


To make these on Thursday with my grandson . . . 

                         Source
Pumpkins are such a fast way to add a little Fall to your decorating. 

                                                Source
            
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               Whether you going over the top.

 Or super simple . . . 

                 Source

 Even if your thinking super simple buying fresh pumpkins 
can be expensive.   

Instead of decorating with fresh pumpkins or even buying a few at Hobby Lobby or Michaels why not try making a few! 
                
Last year I made a few small pumpkins all from my fabric stash. 
But if you have no stash just a few yards of fabric is inexpensive.

Super Simple Orange fabric available at Walmart for $3.49 a yard.
You can make a lot of small pumpkins from a yard of fabric. 



Available at Hobby Lobby for $2.99!  

Maybe you have more options in your area Jo Ann's or Hancock's.
JoAnn's has broad cloth on sale for $1.99 which
is a great option for simple pumpkins.  

Last year when I made mine I looked for a tutorial.  Yep I can sew a quilt and garments (if I choose to) but I didn't know exactly how to make a pumpkin.  

So, over to Pinterest I went and I found lots of inspiration and help! 
Here are a few. . .

Source
These are super cool.  But a little more fussy than I was looking for last year.  Mainly because I wanted to make a lot!  

I looked for a more simple option . . . 


                                       Source
Gorgeous.  I wish I had some vintage chenille that I'm willing to cut up. It is available now at the shops if your interested.  Just 
google to find a retailer.  

I liked this source because she included this:

Size 1          6 1/4″ diameter            9″ circumference

Size 2                9″ diameter           13″ circumference

Size 3              13″ diameter           18″ circumference

Size 4       16 1/2″ diameter            22″ circumference

Size 5       20 1/2″ diameter            30″ circumference

Super.  This gives you an idea of how big your pumpkins will be.
This tutorial also suggests using foam core as a template.
I just kind of 'winged it' (I didn't see this tutorial)  and just looked for dinner plates and platters to trace around directly on my fabric. 

There are some other more fancy and shabby options . . . 

         
            Source                                                    Source                                                                                              I think the options are endless.  
       I've seen cheap plastic Jack o Lanterns all spiffed up! 

Making a few fancy or simple pumpkins can really make your 
home Festive and Fabulous!  

                 Have you made your own pumpkins?

                 Have you begun your Fall decorating?  
 The Fabulous Fall Party   is a great place to show and share your creations. 
        The party is going on all the way to the end of October!
You can link anyday.  Join the party.  Click Here 
The linky changes every Thursday.  Come over and link all your Fall Themed posts!

Linking with The Art of Homemaking, Create With Joy, 
Share Your Cup, Make It Pretty Monday, Thrifty/Vintage Finds, No Place Like Home Party, Tuesdays At Our Home 

Inspire Me Tuesdays, The Scoop, Lou Lou Girl's Linky Party, Tips and Tricks Linky Party, You're Gonna Love It Tuesdays ,Tuesdays with a Twist , Brag About It Tuesday Linky Party , Wonderful Wednesday @ One Heartsie Girl .

Talk of the town @ Knick of Time, Homestead Hop,
Vintage Charm Party

Tips On Tuesday

Welcome to my Tuesday feature
                         Tips On Tuesday                                         
This week I'm sharing my thoughts on Menu Planning.
   
Whether your family is big or small planning a weekly menu helps in a lot of ways. 

As wives and mothers we travel through many seasons. 
From the season before children.  A full house of children. 
And then to that season of 'empty nesting'. 

Throughout all these seasons your wonderful home can 
benefit from making a menu plan for your week. 
           
It saves you money... having a ready plan helps keep you from realizing you've not taken anything out of the freezer and having to rush to the store or call in a pizza!
I've been there.  Done that.  Waaaay too many times!

It saves you time...once your menu is planned you can plan your grocery shopping.  Many times I plan my menu around the grocery store ads.  It saves me money too.  

It helps you use food you already have on hand...
We really shop ads.  We usually have a full pantry which makes it really easy to plan meals.  This can help you make thrifty meals. 

It helps you think healthy... By planning my menus 
I can look at previous meal plans when making new menus. It helps me make sure I'm including veggies and fruit.  And not too much fried stuff!

And the biggest help for me at this stage!
It saves waste...The hardest for us (we are empty nesters)
is remembering to use up leftovers.  By using a menu plan I can easily remember when I served a dish and remember to get it on the plan or remember the leftovers for lunches.  
It really helps me from putting things in the fridge and then wondering how long its been there!  

             Do you make a menu plan?  Ready to try?  

To make menu planning more fun here's a free printable
                                                                                                                                                    Source
                 
Planning a menu is another way that helps me make each day feel like a Holiday in my home.

                     Linking with my favorite parties.  See the list below 
                                                                
Join me for the Fabulous Fall Party.  Come back Sept 1 to link  
                                                                                                                                                                              

                                 Happy Trails
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
Linking at . . . 
The Art Of Homemaking
Create With Joy                                                                        
No Place Like Home Party 

Tuesdays At Our Home 
Inspire Me Tuesdays
The Scoop

Lou Lou Girl's Linky Party
Tips and Tricks Linky Party 
You're Gonna Love It Tuesdays

Tuesdays with a Twist

Brag About It Tuesday Linky Party  

Wonderful Wednesday @ One Heartsie Girl 

Talk of the town @ Knick of Time

                   



                                     

Wordless Wednesday

                             

                                                     Happy Trails
                                       

Linking with The Art of Homemaking, Share Your Cup, Create With Joy, Imagine-in-ing, 

WW@Talbert Zoo  Picture Perfect @ Amandas Books and More, WW@Moms Own Words,

WW w/ Claire Justine , WW @ Oh My Heartsie Girl , Creatively Unleashed,
WW @ Just Playing House, Saturday Sparks , Best Of The Weekend

5 Star Frou Frou Link Up, Simple Homestead Blog Hop , Vintage Charm Party

Tips On Tuesday--Making Flowers Last Longer

I love a vase of fresh flowers in my home.  Lately I've been 
lucky enough to find marked down flowers at my grocery store . . .

I'm in the store often.  Almost every Tuesday I stop after work for produce.  I never hit it at the right time.  
But on Friday nights or Saturday mornings I find bargains.  
Last week it was this bouqet...
   
I separated it into two vases.  The blue is on my night stand. 
The green and yellow are on the dining room table. 

                   
I always trim them as soon as I come home and stick in water.
Even if I'm not ready to display them.  The enamel pitcher in the photo on the left is under my sink.  I grab it and dump in the flowers as soon as I get home.  

Then when I get time I trim the stems.  I just cut them off about half way up.  That seems to work for the depth for most of my vases.   

Next I trim of all the leaves.  
                                        
Once all the trimming is done I display in vases.  I usually separate into two vases just because I like flowers in different rooms.  

I put half the food packet that is included in the vases.  I save the other half and change the water in about a week.  I also trim the stems again.  
                          
This seems to work great and my blooms last a long time.  Making one marked done bouquet a frugal buy.  I can usually get a bouquet to last at least 3 weeks. 
                                 
                           That's my tip for the day.  

                           Do you have a tip to share?  
     Would you be interested in Tips on Tuesday linky party?

Having a bouquet of flowers makes my day seem like a Holiday! 

                                    Happy Trails
                                                                                 
                                         
                                                                     

            

                                                     

Basil Harvest and Party Plan's at GiGi's House

I'm still harvesting Basil.  It's about the only thing that made it in our gardening attempt.

Opp's I should have moved the empty pot!  
.
That's a little better!  See my super cool new basket I bought at Hobby Lobby!  Love it!

I bet I wasn't the only one.  But I'm the one that found marked down to $4.00.  I love a bargain!

I did harvest and brought some Basil in.  I love putting these blue candle sticks (from Pier One waaaay back in the day).  They make great vases too.  The fresh Basil makes my kitchen smell so good.
I trying to freeze some this time.  I saw this on Pinterest.  Everyone says it works we'll see. 

I am getting ready for a GiGi party tomorrow.   The table is set for dinner for 3 . . . 

Notice the Texas shaped pencil?  I'm planning a Blue Scavenger Hunt tomorrow.  My sidekick is gonna get a little photo class/lesson while taking pics of Blue things around the apartment. 

For the cooking class part we are going to . . .

Talk about harvesting the Basil.  And we're going to make 
Italian spice blend from our dried ingredients.  

So tomorrow we'll be making new memories and making our 
Thursday kinda like a 
                                      Holiday    
                                  Happy Trails                                                                                                                  
                                                                                     

      Linking with my regular favorite parties.  See my favorites at my new party page!
And a few new ones:   Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home, Simple and Sweet Friday,
Sweet Inspirations, Peace, Love Linky Party

Frugal Friday

I love making everyday a holiday.  Any day can be a party day!

Finding fantastic deals can help make some special days.   I found some super cheap fantastic deals this week.  Here's a few . . . 
           
Check out my super cheap .67 table runner!  It's actually dark Blue.  The flowers were part of a .99 bouquet I found at Sprouts last Saturday.  These pics were taken on Thursday!  
The cool place mats were .67 too.  I bought a set for me and a set for my daughter for Christmas
          
Another pic with the super cheap .50 each ornaments for our 
daughter and grandson. 

If you look close you can see the price stickers I took off this . . . 
          
I was so excited to find this super cool piece of wall art! 
It is all metal!  I paid $10.00.  Super bargain.  Here's another shot...
                    
If you look really close you can see nuts in the boats.  The Cowboy was really impressed with this purchase.  It's sitting on the mantle now.   I've been wanting something all summer for the mantle.  
I am so glad I was patient. 

Today I found this at Kroger . . . 
    
I've never attempted growing an orchid before but I figure for $1.00 I can try.  I cut all the spent blooms except the one.  The leaves are still really green so with a little luck I can keep it alive!  If not I have a $1.00 really cool pot.  I'm actually planning on going back tomorrow to see if they mark more down.  I'd like a group of 3 for the mantle.  

The orchid did look pretty here . . . 


I wanted something pretty on the night stand.  But I don't think it would survive.  My new summer bedding is another bargain.  I bought a bed in a bag at Big Lots for $39.00 but I had a $10.00 coupon!  My new super frugal summer bed! 

Since I shop cheap when I can then I have a few extra bucks for ...

                         
This is the rest of the .99 bouquet sitting in a vase with an ivy cutting that I got from a friend.  Free.  I like that! 

      So did you find any bargains this week? I'd love to hear about your bargains.  Write a post and invite me over and link at some of my favorite parties! (see my list on my parties page)  
   
                  Let's make today a Holiday!
                           Happy Trails