Halloween Activites: At Home

Too old for trick-or-treating?

Don't want to spend a lot of money?

Want to stay home for Halloween?

Throwing a Halloween party?

Having to babysit kids for Halloween?

No problem! 
Here's a list of things you can do at home with your friends or family this Halloween:

The purpose of the game is for each person to draw one of these from a hat and has to do whatever the note says. Some are group activities (watch a scary movie, bake treats, etc) and some are individual (run around house, etc). 

Add additional ideas to your hat, such as a "Wild Card" (they can pick whatever they want to do, or choose someone else to do something) or a "Safe Spook" card (that they can keep and "opt out" of a card they pick later on).

Be creative!

(print ideas, cut, fold, and put in a hat to draw)

What you'll need (many can be bought at a dollar store):

• a small selection of scary movies (or one)
• pumpkins and carving materials
• broom
• garlic (fresh or powder)
• apples
• caramel
• ingredients for baking Halloween treats and snacks
• dark nail polish color
• candle, glow stick, or flashlight
• bubba teeth
• red food coloring or fake blood container
• bags of candy
• marsh mellows
• camera
• whiteboard or paper for Pictionary
• red white-board marker or lipstick for mirror
• cardboard or other material for mask
• ingredients for slime
• toilet paper
• computer for playing Youtube videos and music
• ingredients for making beverages
• candy corn or other small Halloween candy

Harmless prank ideas:
 http://doitandhow.com/2012/05/29/assorted-pranks/

Halloween treat recipes: 
http://pinterest.com/cklovelace0911/fall-halloween-thanksgiving/

Pumpkin decorating ideas:
http://pinterest.com/cklovelace0911/fall-halloween-thanksgiving/

Pumpkin carving designs: http://itswrittenonthewalls.blogspot.com/2011/10/130-free-halloween-pumpkin-carving.html

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how we spent the weekend

A couple of weeks ago, we imagined that there was to be a Star Wars-themed restaurant and we were hired as creative consultants to come up with its menu. Yes, we are geeks. And yes, we were very entertained. I do think our dishes would be better than this though:

These are real. Read about them here. My question is- what are those white chunks on the Jedi Burger?

Our restaurant would be much classier. My plan is to go on 24-hour Restaurant Battle and pitch it. Here is the sample menu for your perusal.Thanks to Carson and Steven for helping us come up with the list!
 
Appetizers
Wedge Antilles Salad (with Croutaun Tauns)
Roasted Sebulbutternut Squash
Naboochos
Mon Calimari
Spinach and Arti-force-choke Dip
Star Destroysters
Buffalo X-wings
Dengarlic Bread

Soups
Rancorn Chowder
Wattomato Basil
Zuppa Tuskana Raider
Twi'Leek Soup
Chicken Brothans
Shmiso Soup
Kit Fistew
 
Entrees (Each entree comes with your choice of Fry'leks or I Thought They Smelled Bad on the Out-side Salad)
Boba Fettucini
Obi-wan Kenobean Chili
Ewok-charred Salmon
Yavindaloo
Baby Dewback Ribs
Chicken Walker Cacciatore
Pad Thai Fighters
Chile Millenium Fal-con Carne
Queen Amidalasagne
Wompratatouille 
Han Solo Mein
Droidekasserole
Wampanini
Roast Porkins Tenderloin

Children's Menu
Sy's Noodles
Tattoiners
Mon Mothmunch
Admiral Ackbars
C-3PO's
Hoth Dog

Breakfast
Princess Leia Organic Granola
Salacious Crumb Donuts
Yodagurt
Grand Moffins

Desserts
Wookiee Lime Pie
Mos Eiscream
Creme Bruleia
Dagobahnanas Foster
Qui-gon Gingerbread
That's No Moon Pie
Count Dookookies

Drinks
Zam Wassail
Uncle Owen and Aunt Brew
Darth Mault
Apple Palpatini

We had a few more, but boiled the menu down to this. Any other good ones you can think of?

Also, have you seen the mind-boggling perversion that is Kinect Star Wars? A great article here.

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Halloween 2012: A World of Pure Imagination

I love making Halloween costumes. I really do. Something about it gets me so excited. I know when I have more kids I may not be able to handcraft everybody's costumes like I've done so far, but in the meantime, I am enjoying every minute of Halloween-costume craftiness. Previous years here, here and here. 

***For previous Halloween Posts, see:
Halloween 2009: Where the Wild Things Are
Halloween 2010: UP
Halloween 2011: Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood
Halloween 2013: I've Got No Strings
Halloween 2015: The Force Awoke

I also know at some point Calvin will realize that children generally choose their own costume for Halloween. So far, he thinks that Halloween is where Mommy chooses something and makes a neat costume for you to wear. We are going with that as long as he'll let me.

This year, we are Willy Wonka and an Oompa Loompa. Thanks for Amberlyn for taking the pictures! Here is an inspiration picture:

Calvin as Mr. Willy Wonka:

Willy Wonka Costume - $14 total

Tuxedo Jacket- $4 (DI Thrift Store)

Fabric Spray Paint in Lavender - $3 (Hobby Lobby)

Vest- $0 (had on hand)

Purple embellishment for vest - $1.49 (Joann Fabrics)

White shirt - $0 (had on hand)

Dress pants - $0 (had on hand)

Shoes - $0 (had on hand)

Cardboard for hat - $0 (had on hand)

Fabric for hat - $2 (Joann Fabrics)

Fabric for bow tie - $1 (Joan Fabrics)

Ribbon for hat and bow tie - $0 (had on hand)

Dowel for cane - $1 (Hobby Lobby)

Drawer knob for cane - $1.49 (Hobby Lobby)

I painted the Jacket and added decoration on the vest with a hot glue gun. The bow tie is made from a long strip of fabric and tied pretty. Besides that, all I had to make was the hat and the cane. The cane is just a painted dowel with a fancy drawer pull on top of it. The hat is the only thing I made from scratch. Here's how it went: 

I started with a priority mail box and formed it into a circle, cutting strips at the top and the bottom. The top strips got folded in to form the top of the hat, the bottom strips were folded out to form the brim.

I hot glued a circle of cardboard on the top to make it solid. and the edge of a paper plate around the brim to do the same. Then I bent the cardboard to shape the brim.

I began covering the hat with the fabric using Mod Podge, beginning with a circle on the top.

I just painted the hat with Mod Podge and kept covering and pressing down the fabric as I rotated the hat. Calvin took this picture!

Lastly, I put a ribbon around the bottom edge, covering up the ugly seam I had. That's it!

Next is our little Oompa Loompa!

Oompa Loompa Costume - $15 total

Brown turtleneck - $3.88 (Wal-mart)

White bias tape for stripes - $1 (Wal-mart)

Heat N Bond Transfer Paper - $0 (had on hand)

Fabric for pants - $2 (Joann Fabrics)

Velcro for suspenders - $1 (Hobby Lobby)

Tights - $2.88 (Wal-mart)

Brown fabric marker for tights - $1 (Hobby Lobby)

Big Buttons - $1 (Hobby Lobby)

Pom pom balls - $1 (Hobby Lobby)

Felt for booties - $0 (had on hand)

White cream makeup for eye brows - $1 (Wal-mart)

Kool-aid for hair dye - $.25 

To make my Oompa Loompa, I added stripes to a turtleneck shirt using white bias tape using Heat N Bond transfer paper. You could also sew or hot glue these on as well. I drew stripes on the tights with a brown fabric marker. I tried to find some white pants to begin with, but couldn't find any so I decided to just make them.

I used a pair of shorts that I knew fit him well and turned them inside out to make a pattern from them. Then I added the triangle sides to my pattern, cut everything out and sewed it all together!  

Here's the shorts before I added the suspenders. I just hot glued the buttons on the front and back of the pants after I sewed the suspenders on.

To make the shoes, I covered existing booties with brown felt.

 I love these brothers.

Other Halloween Years:
Halloween 2009: Where the Wild Things Are
Halloween 2010: UP
Halloween 2011: Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood
Halloween 2013: I've Got No Strings
Halloween 2015: The Force Awoke

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Coupon Organizing Ideas

There's more ways to organize coupons than you think. 

It literally comes in all shapes and sizes. 

The Accordion

What: Accordion style binder that folds out and has multiple sections to store stuff inside. Collapsable binder. Comes in small, medium, and large sizes.

Cost: $3-10

How To Organize: Depending on the number of sections the binder allows, designate each section per product group. For example: grocery, clothes, auto, health, school, beauty, dining, etc. If you have many sections, you could name them more specifically. For example: drinks, grocery items, dining out, clothes, auto gas, auto maintenance, school, work, cleaning products, lawn, etc.



The Photo Album

What: Photo album with multiple sheets to insert coupons into the photo slots. Comes in small, medium, and large sizes.

Cost: $3-15

How To Organize: Section off your photo album by your main product topics (food, auto, entertainment, misc.). To do this, insert tabs, sticky notes, or other indicators that show where the sections are divided. Insert coupons into the photo slots either individually, or by grouping similar ones into one slot. For example: you may have 4 pizza coupons, so instead of putting one in each photo slot, you put all 4 into one photo slot.



The Photo Box

What: Photo box usually comes with multiple dividers for your shopping topics. But you can buy extras for cheap or make your own. Comes in a medium size.

Cost: $2-5

How To Organize: Designate each tab to the specific topics (Food section: grocery, drinks, restaurant, fast food, etc.)






The File 

What: The file box with separated tabs indicating different product topics. File boxes can be stored in individual containers, large filing cabinets, drawers, or other containers.

Cost: $6-50

How To Organize: Designate each color section to the broad product topics (food, auto, entertainment, misc., etc). Then in each colored section, designate each tab to the specific topics (Food section: grocery, drinks, restaurant, fast food, etc.)




The 3-Ring Binder

What: Binder with 3 ring bracket in the middle that you can insert clear pages for coupon organizing. Comes in sizes .5" - 3" wide brackets. Clear page inserts with organization dividers and tabs are available to purchase to insert into the brackets.

Cost: $2-10

How To Organize: Purchase clear sheets with built-in dividers (as seen in photo above) that enable easy use for coupon storing. Then purchase tabs to divide the pages by group topic.



The EZ Shopper

What: Coupon holder that attaches to the shopping cart for easy use of getting out your coupons while grocery shopping. Comes in many different styles.

Cost: $4-14

How To Organize: label each tab to your grocery topics for easy use of finding. For example: drinks, meat, dairy, baking, produce, snacks, etc.

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BEWARE: Advice for Groupon, KGBDeals, etc.

Groupon: a successful site that promotes deals and discounts through vouchers for products, services, and other businesses in your local area. 

It's no wonder Groupon has become a multi-million dollar company. 

People love to shop, and even more so, love to "save money".....BY SPENDING.

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But that's beside the point....

Groupon and other discount sites offer multiple deals everyday. You come across one of their many offers and it may seem like a great deal at first...but even if it is a good deal, chances are that the shipping cost you will have to pay out-of-pocket will make the "good deal" seem "not-so-good" after all. 

Example: Groupon is offering "Cute clutches for only $5 each (reg. $50)." You think to yourself, "Wow that is such a good deal, that could be a good gift for some friends for Christmas this year." So you buy 3 of the clutches, a total of $15 on Groupon. 

But then you have to apply the voucher code to the clutches' website (clutchesmaniac.com) and you end up having to pay an additional $24 for shipping/handling, a total of $39 for the clutches.

Then you start to think you could have bought cuter clutches somewhere else or even something different for your friends for Christmas at a better overall price. 

Moral of the Story:

Groupon (and similar sites) do have good deals, but sometimes the shipping cost that you have to pay in addition to the vouchers on the discount site will balance out the cost of buying a similar item in a store....if not more. 

WOULD YOU HAVE PURCHASED THAT ITEM FULL PRICE AT A STORE? WERE YOU GOING TO BUY THE ITEM ANYWAY? 

IF NOT, DON'T BUY IT ONLINE! 

Just because it's online, or on a "discount" site, it doesn't mean it is TRULY a good deal. 

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2 Tips For Buying in Bulk: Is It Cheaper?

There are so many articles arguing one side or the other if buying in bulk is the cheaper option.

Well, is it?

It's confusing when you hear both sides of the argument and you still don't know which one is the cheaper option. Therefore, I decided to do my own case study and found that there are some items that buying in bulk is the smarter option, and some items that are not.

Here are my receipts after shopping at Sam's Club and Wal-Mart for the same items. Click on the link below to see which is cheaper: http://themoneysavinggarden.blogspot.com/2012/10/which-one-is-cheaper-sams-club-or-wal.html

Just because it's in bulk, doesn't mean it is cheaper.

While warehouse clubs do offer some good deals, not everything in the store is cheaper than its discount store equivalent. Many stores, such as Kroger and Walmart, have started selling bulk items. For example, you will see double packs of body wash, pens, and cereal boxes.

To really see which item is the better buy, calculate the "per unit" or "per use" cost of each size. 

Product sizing is typically tiered in thirds, making math more difficult on the fly. However, armed with a calculator (or even a cell phone, which usually offers a calculator utility), a frugal shopper can convert prices to unit costs and make an educated buying decision.

Example of fabric softener choices:
$10.99 for 120 loads – $.0916 per load
$6.84 for 90 loads – $0.076 per load

The 1.5 cent difference doesn’t sound like much, but if the larger container was offered in a 90-load size at the same unit price it would cost about $8.24 - a $1.40 premium over the smaller package. 

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The Cheaper Buy: Sam's Club or Wal-Mart?

If you shop at one or both of these stores, you probably want to know which one is actually the cheaper option when comparing the two. They're owned by the same company, but they do have different concepts when it comes to purchasing items --which can affect the price.

*Below are examples of real data proof that I pulled off of my receipts after shopping at Sam's Club and Wal-Mart for the exact same items. 

*Disclaimer: All prices are rounded to the nearest nickel cent.

(For example, if it was $5.44, I rounded it to $5.45. If it was $2.98, I rounded it to $3.)

# Purchased	Quantity of item	Item Name	Cost
1	2 pack	Tostito chips	$6
1	(large) Bag	Shredded lettuce	$2
1	18 count	Eggs (cage free)	$3.20
1	2 pack	Cereal (Kashi)	$7.90
1	2 pack	2-in-1 (S&C) Head & Shoulders	$13
1	3 count	Bell peppers	$7
1	2 count (64 oz)	Butter (Smart Balance)	$6.80
1	Gallon	Drink powder (Gatorade)	$9.50
1	8 cans	Black beans	$4.90
1	8 cans	Corn	$5.90
1	16 count	Granola bars (Nature Valley)	$9
1	5 cans	Chicken breast	$10
1	12 count	Gum (Orbit)	$8.70
1	2 pack (48 oz each)	Chicken broth	$6.50
1	2 pack (large)	Half & half	$3
1	3 pack (half gallons)	Soy milk (Silk)	$7
1	Pack (40 oz)	Whole coffee beans	$16
1	20 count	Gum (Wrigleys)	$7.15
1	Gallon	2% Milk	$2.35

# Purchased	Quantity of item	Item Name	Cost
1	Box	Cereal (Kashi)	$3
1	6 count	Granola bars (Nature Valley)	$3
1	Bag	Chips (Tostito)	$3
1	Bottle	2-n-1 S&C, head and shoulders	$5
1	51 oz	Drink powder (Gatorade)	$8.40
1	1 can	corn	$0.70
1	48 oz box	Chicken broth	$4
1	4 count	Gum (Wrigleys)	$2.25
1	3 count	Gum (orbit)	$2.25
1	12 oz	Whole coffee beans	$5
1	(small) bag	Shredded lettuce	$2
1	18 count	Eggs (not cage-free)	$3
1	Count	Bell pepper	$1.60
1	15 oz	Butter	$3
1	Can	Black beans	$0.90
1	Can	Chicken breast	$2
1	½ gallon	Soy milk	$2.40
1	1 quart	Half & half	$2.70
1	Gallon	2% Milk	$3

The Comparison:

• Cereal: same price, or cheaper at Wal-Mart
• Snack bars: same price or cheaper at Sam’s
• Chips: same price
• Shampoo/conditioner: cheaper at Wal-Mart
• Canned veggies: same price or cheaper at Sam’s
• Canned meat: cheaper at Sam’s
• Chicken broth: cheaper at Sam’s
• Gum: cheaper at Sam’s
• Whole coffee beans: same price or cheaper at Sam’s 
• Lettuce: cheaper at Sam’s (larger quantity size)
• Eggs: cheaper at Wal-Mart (but not "cage-free" eggs)
• Milk/Half & Half: cheaper at Sam’s
• Bell peppers: cheaper at Wal-Mart
• Butter: cheaper at Sam’s (larger quantity size)

Tally It Up (Who had the Cheaper Price):

Walmart: 3

Sams: 6

Both/Depends: 5 

DIY:

Want to find out for yourself which one is the cheaper place to shop at for you? 

Here's how:

Make a list of items you buy most often or one's that are consumed the fastest. Grocery shop at Wal-Mart first and keep the receipt. Next time you need those items, get them all at Sam's Club and keep your receipt. You can buy other items while shopping around at either store, but after you shop at both Sam's and Wal-Mart, compare the prices and see which one is more worth making the trip to for your grocery shopping needs. 

If the stores are near each other, you can shop for specific items at each one (whichever has the cheaper price option). Most Wal-Mart and Sam's stores vary in prices.

Check it out for yourself, or take my word for it. 

Sam's is most likely going to be cheaper in the long run for your groceries....but BEWARE: only buy things in bulk at Sam's if they will get eaten before the expiration date, if they get consumed often/fast, or if they are pantry and freezer items that will last a long time. Otherwise, you will waste a lot of money when your food becomes spoiled before you can eat it all! 

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