Kvell

Look at the beautiful picture my oldest daughter drew.  Good job, sweety!

Shower Curtains

Save yourself some aggravation. Don't toss those plastic shower curtains, save them to use as drop cloths for all of your and your kid's messy art projects.

My older girls now use it when they have nail polish fun. The heavy duty liners are especially nice.  Keep 'em where the kids can grab 'em. Let the kiddos know when they do something messy or artsy or even close to potentially messy they need to have that underneath.  It really works!

Cheapskate moves...toothpaste

Just a pea sized dab of toothpaste is all you need. More than that is just a mouthful of soap that you have to spit out. A complete waste.

When the tube is "empty" after pushing up all the toothpaste you can and squeezing the top inwards to get it all out, cut the bottom seam off and insert your toothbrush to get many more uses.

More cheapskate moves...

Constantly check the recycle piles in your apartment building or on the street.  I've found awesome treasures large and small over the years. So many folks put things out that are in great shape and want someone to take it home. Yesterday I scored big time!!!  Two great cook books in first rate condition (see picture). I also regularly raid recycle bins for coupons and "box tops" from Cheerios and other containers for my kids' school. 

I've rescued CDs still in the wrapper,  magazines, a patchwork quilt, decorative items, and much much more. Anything can found, one time I got a fabulous dinosaur backpack that my son loved and used for a year (before he lost it). 

What were your scores???

Can't wait to use these!!!!

I found these this morning and had to run back upstairs to drop them off.  LOL.  They look really good. 

Cheapskate moves that will save you money

To extend the life of your sponge, just cut it in half. It turns out you really don't use the that much sponge at one time. Try it and see.

Plus, you can put in the top rack of the dishwasher for a deep clean as well as microwave it for a few seconds to kill the germs.

Spongebob Birthday

My son decided that for his eighth birthday he wanted to take a few of his friends to see the new Spongebob movie.   However, he wanted to go the opening weekend to make sure no one had seen it yet.

I searched the internet for a Spongebob cake I can make and gave it a whirl.  Historically, the cake part of my cake never really comes out tasting great. Taking past experience into consideration plus I was short on time, I went with two box mixes (which I always keep a couple on hand for emergencies that I buy on sale).  The buttercream frosting and filling was made from scratch.  The filling was enhanced with vanilla pudding mix and chocolate chips.  All of the three pounds of confectioners sugar were purchased for about two bits each (that's fifty cents) two Black Friday's ago at Acme when they had triple coupon deals. (So sad that Acme location is closing.)

The cake didn't come out too shabby, if I do say so myself.  It was really down to the wire and I couldn't get some of the colors right.  That brown was a killer and never really came out.  I even had brown food gel but it was too light so I mixed in black, red, blue, orange, and some more black and got something closer to dark brown.

Here's my work station.  What a mess I made!!

I think it came out pretty good considering how crappy it started out and the color issues.  :) I bring piping bags with icing and monogram the plates for the kids.

More work station prep goodies.

The aftermath!   I snagged some tables at the movie theater.  The yellow plates were from a birthday party of years past (don't remember whose or what birthday) and the "8" candle was reused from a previous kid.  Lol.  Napkins, white tray, lighter, and plastic forks were extras from my daughter's bat mitzvah. 

Unfortunately the ticket price and cost of movie snacks were full price. Ticket price was even extra because it was 3D. Birthday boy and parents were complementary though.

My son and his guests had a great time and that is the most important thing!!!

We went to the Regal Theatre in Battery Park City.  OMG. You have to go through the gorgeous Conrad Hotel to get to the theater.  One entrance is the amazing lobby, the other entrance passes fancy  shops and restaurants. 

Check out the lobby...

Another duct tape masterpiece

And one more duct tape beautification project.  This one was also at my request. Who knew duct tape and tin cans can be so useful???