Bless My Heart I Married A Yankee

Mother's Day is coming up soon.  I thought my peeps might want to have some thoughts on DIY gifts for a mother in your life.   Tomorrow I leave for a short vacation with my daughter.  My beautiful girl turns 25 tomorrow!!  I can not believe my child who made me a mother is turning a quarter of a century.  Time sure does fly.  We are going to a spa on Wednesday.  I am looking forward to spending a relaxing day with my child.  I also have a cold and do not feel well so hopefully, this will help me feel better.  With the spa day fast approaching I thought I would post this recipe for a body scrub.    Since I made my  Vanilla Sugar  I have been wanting to make a sugar scrub.  They are rather expensive when purchased in a store.  My frugal heart is all about saving money plus I love to know what I am eating or using.  My skin is extremely sensitive so I must be very careful what types of scents, perfumes, and lotions I use.  Even shampoos, conditioner, and other hair products have

Last night I finally got my  vanilla extract  recipe posted.  This morning I woke up thinking I must go to the ABC store today to get rum to stay my next batch of extract and with that thought, I started thinking what can I do with the beans once I bottle the extract.  My husband said to just start another batch but I do not think once you have made a batch there would be enough goodness to do another batch.  Well, that left me stumped.  I hate waste so what can I do with these beans?  Why not infuse some sugar with my beans?  Sounds good, right?  BUT how do I do that because my beans are wet?  Common sense would be to dry them out.  OK well, that is simple.  Just take them out of the bottle and lay them out to dry, right?  Heck yeah.  I have 5 beans but how much sugar should I use?  Sound it be ounces or pounds per bean?  Heck, this is an experiment I can have fun with it.   Let me think, sugar and dried vanilla beans.  Just throw the beans in a container of sugar an

First I want to say this will probably update often.  You might just want to bookmark it so you can check it out for changes. As I have said multiple times I am very frugal.  I hate waste.  AND I love neat ideas of any kind that helps me out by making things easier. Since blogging the last 6 months or so I have realized how many helpful things I have known, figured out or in some way come by that I want to share with all of you. As my journey beginnings, you will learn a few things you can do with something you may have otherwise thrown out.  Or you might just find out an easier way of doing something.  Either way, I hope this trip will be full of fun and rewarding to all of us. MESH TEA BALL STRAINER:   Yeah you know they are good for a cup of tea but did you know you can use it for anything you wish to infuse a flavor with?  I use mine all the time for when I cook or can and the recipe calls for spices put into cheesecloth.  It is re-usable and saves money.   COCKT

Mother's Day is coming up soon and with that thought why not make something handmade and heartfelt?  I remember when my daughter, MacKenzie was about 8 and at Sunday School she made me this pin for Mother's Day.  It was horrible looking.  I mean, let me backtrack, it was not very color coordinated but VERY colorful.  My sweet girl gave me this with so much love in her eyes that today it breaks my heart to remember the moment she handed it to me.  Homemade gifts are heartfelt and made with love.  I wish I knew where it was today.  Yeah, My Bad. So, as Mother's Day approaches I decided to compile a list of things you could make for whoever you wish on this special day.  My thoughts are to find things that are simple, frugal and loving all at the same time. Also, I kept in mind things I would enjoy receiving.  MacKenzie, did you hear that??? Vanilla Sugar Scrub Epsom Salt Scrub Lavender Milk Bath Eggshell Facial  Caramel Coffee Syrup Mini Herb Garden Hangi