You know I love a good bookmark. I made myself and my daughter some for the Christmas season, and wanted to share them with you. I have included a free printable, so you can get some of your own.
I love polymer clay. I enjoy the satisfaction of how quickly you can get the end result. This past week, I have been working on Christmas tree earrings to try and sell as a side hustle or gift, and I thought it a good idea to share this simple idea with you.
What You Will Need:
Polymer Clay
Small Christmas tree cutter
Rolling pin
Tray
Baking paper
A skewer
Earring hooks and jump loops
Black or white acrylic paint pens
Method:
Roll out your clay to an even thickness of approximately 2 – 3 millimetres.
Using your cutter, cut as many shapes as you can from your clay.
Carefully use your skewer to make a hole in the very top.
Lift the earrings carefully from your surface, smooth the edges lightly and place the on a tray lined with baking paper
Cook to your clay’s instructions. Mine cooks perfectly at 130 for 15 minutes.
Once cooked, put them straight into a bowl of water to cool, then allow them to dry.
Once dry, use your paint pens to add detail.
Allow the paint to dry before adding jump loops and earring hooks.
Fork biscuits are a firm favourite in my house, so what better treat to make for Halloween? Only, Halloween fork biscuits require a little more imagination, right?
Ingredients:
100g softened butter
50g sugar
150g SR flour
White cooking chocolate
Icing googly eyes
How to Make Fork Biscuits:
Beat together the butter and sugar.
Add your flour and continue to mix.
Once it is forming a dough, use your hands to bring it all together.
Separate your dough into 2 inch balls and roll them in your hands.
Place them on a baking tray, evenly spaced out, and taking a fork, gently press them flat.
Bake at 180 for about 12 minutes.
How to Decorate Your Biscuits:
Allow to cool thoroughly
Melt your chocolate in the microwave, stirring at 30 second intervals.
Once melted, using a spoon or a piping bag, drizzle your chocolate over the biscuit to make lines (mummy bandages)
Using two blobs of the melted chocolate, stick on your eyes.
Popcorn is great because you can buy or make large quantities inexpensively. Disposable cups or cellophane / paper bags work well, and for that finishing touch, why not add one of my labels? Just download a sheet of 12 labels for free and attach them to your popcorn favours. You can print as many sheets as you require.
Yes, I know we are only in September, but this is your reminder to start Christmas prep now! If you want to spread the cost of Christmas and give yourself a stress free December, try the following things:
If you can buy a few items you will need each week leading up to Christmas, you can spread the cost of your Christmas food bill. I even buy my turkey well in advance and pop it in my freezer. Starting early also helps you buy when items are on sale and not full price in the festive season.
Buy a Gift or Two a Week:
This follows the same train of thought as the previous point, spreading the cost and giving yourself time to search for sales or deals. It’s worth checking the charity shops each week too.
Start Making Your Handmade Gifts:
If you are a crafter or have a skill/hobby, why not make your gifts to save money? Start now to allow yourself time to work on your crafts.
Set Boundaries:
It is okay to not buy gifts, or to spend less than previous years. Now is the time to discuss budgets with friends and family. I’m sure they will be as relieved as you are to set lower budgets or come up with alternative ideas ie Secret Santa.
I am very aware of the energy price cap increases and how this will make winter particularly hard (UK). I have been gathering up some things and prepping for winter to lower our electricity usage where possible:
Tips:
Warm Yourselves Before Your Rooms
Can you add layers and try to keep yourself warm before turning up the heating. I have rummaged through the cupboards and made sure we all have dressing gowns, fleece blankets, and slippers or fluffy socks etc.
I plan to line dry as much as possible, but the weather will be adverse. I have a clothes airer and plan on investing in a second to ensure drying space indoors.
I have stocked up on LED battery operated lights and candles. I shall use these in the evenings to save on electric lighting. Great for power cuts/ black outs too.
Bed warmers whether they be a hot water bottle or the microwave heat packs, work great for warming your bed before you get in it. Once you are in bed, you don’t need the heating on high, and an electric blanket would also cost you energy.
We have electric storage heaters in our house and they can be energy guzzlers. We have a small, portable heater that allows us to heat a room for just as long as necessary.
Avoiding the Oven
If we can cook a meal in the slow cooker, air fryer, or microwave we will do. Our oven is the least energy efficient of them all.
Finding out when the off peak times are on your tarriff, and do energy intensive chores such as running the washing machine during these times, means you’ll pay less for your energy used. We do ours early in the morning.
The start of the school term is fast approaching (UK) and for many it can be an expensive time. I am all for keeping back to school costs low, and here is how I suggest to do it:
Shop your house first. Check your stationery supply, and see if old uniforms still fit etc. There isn’t any point in wasting money on all new items.
Check Local Charity Shops
As they say: why buy new when used will do? Your local charity shops may have a stock of second hand uniforms for the local schools. They also stock rucksacks etc.
Check Local Online Selling Sites
Are there uniforms, shoes etc on Facebook Marketplace locally? You could even put out an ‘items wanted’ post. Someone in our local area has set up a selling page on Facebook purely for uniforms etc for our school and schools from the surrounding area.
Ask Friends
Ask friends with older kids if they have any school supplies they could sell on to you. You could even swap items between yourselves.
Ask the School
Check to see if your school has second hand uniform to sell. Some schools will let you buy items left behind from the year before.
And if you are really struggling, some schools have spare uniform that they can give to families in financial difficulty, so it is worth asking if you require this.
Shop Unbranded
New bills have been passed (UK) to ensure uniform is affordable. By 2023 all schools have to allow parents to buy uniforms etc without logos.
I hope this post as helped you in some way. A little time, effort, and searching around can save you lots of money.
If you have some bananas that are going brown, you can always use them up in banana muffins (basically banana bread but in a muffin case). I like to make these as they are easy to pack in lunchboxes and for people to just grab on the go.
Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
125g melted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
10ml of milk
250g self raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
150g brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180
Mix all your wet ingredients together in a bowl.
Mix all your dry ingredients together in another bowl.
Combine the two, but do not over mix.
Spoon evenly into muffin liners.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180, or until a knife comes out clean.
If you have gardeners in your life, what better gift than something from your own garden? If you have plants that go to seed, when you harvest them, put some seeds aside to make the perfect gift.
I like to harvest my poppy seeds and lupin seeds as they are some of the most beautiful plants in my garden. Once the pods are dry you can harvest the seeds within. Store them in a cool, dry place.
You can gift your seeds in whatever way you like, but I stick with simple money envelopes:
If you have lots of packets of various seeds, why not tie them together in a bundle with ribbon, or gift a pack of seeds with a flower pot?
When it comes to keeping the kids entertained in the summer, I am all for cheap or free ideas that we can do as a family. I have compiled 30 ideas into one free printable that you can download, print, and check off as you complete each task
Sensibly Frugal Living 