I keep telling you I am CHEAP!

So I decided to do an official run down of my Halloween costume. I figured this would let everyone know that I follow my own thrifty advice.

One bed sheet ruined by my husband- on hand
One gold snake belt- $2.60 at "Savers"
Two packs of plastic snakes- $2 at dollar store
One large rubber snake- $1 at the dollar store
One package of gold pipe cleaners- $1.50 at the craft store
Sandals- On hand (though to be fair I only paid $3 for them in the summer)

Grand total= $7.10 ($10.10 if you count the $3 sandals)

So here you have it my costume "Medusa"

And an upclose view of my hair

Not bad for less than $10! I cant wait till next year and stay tuned for some Christmas ideas coming soon!

Its not the size that matters........

As it gets closer to Halloween those small pumpkins they sell at the grocery store get cheaper and cheaper. Most people buy them and just leave them plain to use as filler decor. Some get a little creative and place them in flower arrangements or cut out the top and use them as candle holders. I usually don't bother with these pint size pumpkins mainly because YOU CAN'T CARVE THEM! This year however my clever sister in law used them as favors for her Autumn themed wedding. Most people just drew funny faces on them with pens and didn't even bother to take them home. I grabbed a bunch and decided I would figure something to do with them eventually. I only took one that had been drawn on because the doodle was just too good to pass up, the rest were naked (haha naked pumpkins). So after a few days of brainstorming and creating I thought I would share with you what my crazy imagination coughed up.

The first one I did was the one that had already been drawn on. I simply used my old cuticle cutter to scrape the image out, then used an exaco knife with the smallest chisel blade I had to make the image deeper. I used the same technique to scrape out the word BOO on another lil pumpkin. I sponged on some black to help the images stand out better (plus its black and orange traditional Halloween colors), and glued on on top of the other.

My next idea kind of came from necessity. I have a "Funkin" or fake pumpkin I bought last year and decorated it with a black glitter spider web. I did also make another "Funkin" with a large spider carved into it sut SOMEHOW that one never made it up from Texas when my parents sent me my belongings. So I decided to make a spider for my web. This one was easy easy easy.....oh and did I mention it was easy. I simply painted a face on the pumpkin (I went with something that wasn't too cartoony but also not realistic), then poked 4 small holes in each side and added pipe cleaners and it was done.

For my last one I examined the dang pumpkin for like and hour before taking notice of how the very bottom kind of resembled the iris of an eyeball. I took a permanent marker (you could use paint if you wanted) and drew in the other parts of an eyeball and highlighted the "iris". I ripped up some white cloth into strips and used tacky glue to adhere them all around the pumpkin. To me it sort of looks like a monster eye from something Dr. Frankenstein might have made.

There you have it 3 ideas for the cheapest of all pumpkins, the tiny pumpkin!

Costumes for cheap bastards!

So Halloween is right around the corner and lets face it we are all pretty much broke! If you did spend any money on costumes chances are it was only for the kiddos and not yourself. Well I am here to help out and give you a few ideas that cost little to no money but look good and clever as well. So lets stop gabbing and start the ideas flowing shall we.

  Toga party- This one can go a few ways but it all starts with a bed sheet. I am actually using a variation of this one for Halloween this year since my husband somehow managed to slash a huge slit in our bottom sheet. You can use a sheet that has been ruined in your own home or turn to your local thrift store to obtain the basis of this costume. Now you have to decide if you want to go classic Grecian or take it the frat party route. I have decided to go with Medusa myself so I only needed to raid the dollar store toy isle for some rubber snakes to complete my look. For the classic costume all you really need to add is some greenery from any stash of silk/plastic flowers you might have on hand or hit up the trusty old dollar store. You can also dig threw your Christmas decorations for gold cording to add to the "toga" for a more regal look, and your done. For those who want the frat look go for a sheet that is not white and the more kitschy the better, kids sheets would be perfect but a loud pattern will work well too. Now add a red plastic cup filled with beer and your set.

  Cereal killer- This one is a clever play on words. You can pretty much wear any clothes you like but stick with something basic like a plain T-shirt or flannel and jeans. Now you need a few empty cereal boxes (the mini variety pack ones will work best but the regular size ones can work well too) add some fake blood to them and adhere them to your clothes. To do this there are several methods, you can actually sew them on with a few stitches done by hand, you can use scrap booking tape, rubber cement, or just glue them on. Make sure the method you use works with the fact that you may or may not want to wear the clothes again (the sewing method will be best if you don't want to ruin your outfit). Last thing you will need is a fake knife, if it does not come with some fake blood already on it add some and then poke it right threw another cereal box. Voila you are now a cereal killer!

  Famous people- This one is a good easy one. Simply raid your closet and/or your local thrift store and put together something similar to what any one celebrity has or would wear. Flip threw a cheap tabloid or do a few searches on the net for some ideas. Choose a celebrity with a hair color and length similar to your own or opt for a wig. Remember any famous person past or present is up for grabs here. Found a cool red leather jacket in the thrift, store add a white Tee and jeans some hair gel and your James Dean. A few simple alterations to a cheesy 80's wedding gown, add some bangles, tie a white lace band around your head and a black eyeliner mole your Madonna ala her "Like a Virgin" days. You can pretty much throw on anything crazy and a big hat (add a blond wig if you don't already have light locks) perhaps some funky sunglasses and your Lady Gaga.Use your imagination for this one and don't go to literal and try to copy an outfit exactly, your just satirizing the celebrity.

  Zombie- BRAINS.....err um, Ya this one is a real classic and very easy to accomplish. Any and I mean ANY outfit will work for this, the possibilities are literally endless. Take the outfit do some shredding, ripping, tearing, burning, staining, dirtying and generally destroying of the clothes. Again add some trusty fake blood, a basic cheap Halloween makeup kit, and if you can a fake brain then you have it. You can get pretty fancy with this and invest in some of the higher end makeup kits that come with fake scars and wound prostheses, but that kind of defeats the cheap aspect. 

  Stood up date- This is mainly one for women but with a few alterations could work for a man too. This one is done almost entirely with things you already have on hand and doesn't ruin any clothing. Don your hottest date night or clubbing outfit, now instead of slipping on some hot heels put on your rattiest pair of slippers or house shoes. Put your hair in a sexy style then mess it up a little, do your makeup with plenty of mascara (don't use the waterproof variety) and eyeliner, now put some eyedrops in (or add some water from a spray bottle) and let the tears flow taking your makeup with it Tammy Faye Baker style. The streaks of make up really make the outfit. You can also carry around a flask or empty liquor bottle to add to the effect. You now look like a sad pathetic stood up date!

  Gift box- This is an all ages any gender costume. All you need is a large box, wrapping paper, a pair of suspenders and a big bow (you can raid your Christmas stash for this). Take the top completely off the box, cut a hole in the bottom big enough to fit your legs and/or lower torso threw. Now wrap all 4 sides in the wrapping paper and either add the bow to the front or tie it to the top of your head. The suspenders should clip onto the box if not a few slits in the cardboard and some patients will work. Now put on an outfit that is all one color step into the box and slip the suspenders over your shoulders and your ready to go. A good idea to add would be a large piece of card stock or construction paper cut into a tag shape with To, From written in marker could be a clever touch for this costume.

  Drag- This one is mainly for the men, but it could be a great couple's costume if you dress like each other. I can not tell you how many costume contests I have seen won by a guy in drag, its a Halloween staple. There are two ways you can go about it though. One is to just be ridiculous with it, don't shave ANYTHING and don the worst wig you can find. You could also opt for the so well done its scary method, shave your face, legs, and pits, manicure your nails or wear fake ones, get a perfectly beautiful wig or if you have long hair style it in a feminine way. Either way you go about it its best to enlist a female friend, lover or family member to help in the transformation. Oh and don't forget to accessorize!

  Brides maid- Unless you have been in many a wedding you will need to hit up the thrift store for this one. Again this is one for the ladies but a guy could use this idea in conjunction with the above drag idea. So you need to find the frilliest, loudest, ugliest formal dress you can. Tease your hair sky high with enough hairspray to withstand a hurricane maby add a big bow, and don't forget the powder blue eyeshadow (or baby pink, whatever looks atrocious but matches the dress). Throw together some random fake flowers wrapped with ribbon and the look is complete. If you can find them a pair of wrist length lace gloves would be a nice touch.

So there you have it some cheap costume ideas for cheap people. Now I am going to include some links to fake blood recipes and other good home made make up to help with the ideas I have given.

Budget101.com
This one has some great fake blood recipes and DIY special effects makeup tips. I would include more links but this one pretty much covers it all!

Its like a warm fuzzy sweater for your inside!

Its getting cold here in New England..... and I hate it! I do however love cooking for cold weather. One of my husbands favorite things that I make is my potato soup. I have been perfecting this recipe for a while now with many.....MANY failed attempts. I have finally come up with my perfect recipe for creamy tasty potato soup that comes out perfectly and I thought I would share.

Ingredients

(I usually don't measure so these are approximate)

-4 to 5 med russet potatoes, or 5 to 6 large white potatoes cubed
-1/3 to 1/2 of a 16oz jar of Alfredo sauce
-1 can of cheese soup
-4oz (or half a package) of cream cheese cubed
-1 pint of heavy cream
-1/4 cup of chicken broth
-5 to 6 slices of bacon cut up
-1lb sausage browned (this can be optional)
-bit of regular milk to thin if soup seems too thick.

Directions
-In a crock pot combine all ingredients add some basil and garlic to taste (I also add some red pepper flakes to spice it up). Stir well and cook on low for 8 hours. Stir every couple hours and check a potato around the 7 hour mark. Thin the soup with milk after a few hours if it seems too thick. Make sure to wait the few hours because the soup will thin as it cooks especially if you added the sausage.

This is so warming and great in cold weather. Don't be afraid to add to or remove things in this recipe to make it your own. Oh and this is not a diet friendly recipe by any means but with the cold weather setting in putting on a few extra lbs is not necessarily a bad thing. ENJOY!

Strawberry Shortcake is a punk!

I am a fan of fruit in desserts, well in desserts, on desserts, around desserts whatever! I needed something of the food persuasion to take to a party the weekend after I basically catered the desserts at my sister-in law's wedding reception and so was in no mood to spend a lot of time on anything. I looked threw the things I had leftover from said catering adventure in order to figure out what would be easy yet impressive. What I came up with was basically a pseudo fruit tart. It was very tasty and impressive but unfortunately it did not travel well at ALL! When we got the fruit tarts to the party the whole batch looked like a big mess of strawberry goo and soggy cookies. I have still decided to include this recipe here because before they went into my car these tarts were pretty and tasted wonderful so I still consider them a success, just make sure you use this recipe only if your dessert does not need to go any further than the next room or two.


Ingredients

One bag of sugar cookie mix
One can of strawberry pie filling (or any other kind you might like)
A few fresh strawberries or any other fresh fruit might make a good garnish
Other ingredients required by the instructions on cookie mix (eggs and water is all I believe was needed)

-The sugar cookie mix has two sets of instructions, you'll need to follow the drop cookie instructions. Mix according to directions and place spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheet spaced far apart. Now do not leave them in ball form, you'll want to flatten them a bit but no too much.

Once the cookies have baked make an indent in them before they cool. this will create a crevice to hold the pie filling. That leads to the next step, after the cookies have cooled spoon the pie filling onto the cookie utilizing the dent you made in the middle (redundant I know).

I added a few sliced strawberries to the top for decoration, I don't have a picture of that unfortunately since we were running late. So it really is a simple dessert but you can make it your own. It just goes to show that with a good imagination and some random stuff in a cabinet you can come up with great desserts, just be careful if you have to travel!

This was actually posted on anther blog site of mine but its just too funny not to share!

 The trouble with cat poo!

It was the week before Memorial weekend, a Tuesday or Wednesday I think. It was beautiful weather wise, so hubby and the kids were both outside doing their thing. I take times like that to relax and be "alone" its my zen time. So as per my usual alone time I was playing Pogo on the computer and kind of half watching what ever was on TV when I see my rather large fluffy white cat walk by. I put down my hand so he could rub on me and I could scratch behind his ear, again like usual. He began to walk away after his moment of lovin when I noticed a dark spot hanging from his behind. I thought it was just a little "hanger on" , Ya know a "Klingon", he is a long haired cat after all its not uncommon to have to pull a lil dingle berry from his backside. So dutifully I went to the kitchen and got a few paper towels to grab the offending dangler. After half scratching, half grabbing the back of his neck to control the front I went in for the kill on the other end with a hand full of paper towels. Of coarse he did the exact move that every living thing with a butt seems to do automatically when accosted unexpectedly, knees buckle and hind quarters pull in as far as it will go, at the same time head spins around and gives dirty look. It was at this exact moment (I can almost pin point the second) that 2 things happened almost simultaneously, I realized that what was now smeared on my only paper covered hand was not in fact a stiff ball of poo but a very smeary mess of crap which is also now all over the cats ass, the second thing was my hubby yelling for me to come and talk to the neighbor about something kind of important. I was literally at a loss, I couldnt let the cat go, lord knows what he could rub his butt on! I couldnt just ignore hubby yelling and deal with the cat, not to mention the crap filled paper towel in my hand. I did the only thing I could, dragged my now pissed cat by the scruff the foot or so to the trash and got rid of one of my problems. I then grabbed him by the mid section carefully holding the rear end way out and to the side and picked him up. Opened the door pissed shitty cat in hand and yelled "Cant talk now the cat had an accident" slammed the door with my foot, somehow managed to get one of my plastic cleaning gloves on and headed straight to the bathtub. By this time the kids are in the house and laughing like hyenas at the poor poopy feline.

  Now a little back story here, I have given the cat a bath before, he dosent like it at all but he does not go all frenzied Freddy on me luckily. So when I shut the door and got him into the tub my hand moved straight to scruff again, I knew that was pretty much all I needed in order to control him. He knew what was coming too as soon as I turned on the water he started to bounce so I knew I had to be fast. I pumped soap from the sink into my hand then sudsed up his butt (with the gloved hand). Now I am scrubbing cat ass, and the kids keep opening the bathroom door to laugh at the wet cat. All I can picture at this point is the cat leaping from my grasp and out the door with his now soapy, shitty rear, even worse is that he goes down into the basement and hides in the dirt floored corner area. So this image in mind I am yelling at the kids to shut the door, dealing with a wiggly cat and trying to finish washing the crap out of his butt fur. All the noise causes my hubby to come in and find out what happened apparently because just about the time I start rinsing the cat his head pokes in the bathroom. I tried to briefly explain the situation as he chased the kids off but didnt get too far when I noticed him TRYING not to laugh. I wasnt in to much of a haha mood at this point (its fucking hilarious now but not at that moment) so that did nothing for my situation.

  After my part was done and the cat clean I let him out of the bathroom, we were both happy it was over I am sure. Weird thing is he runs only 4 feet or so from the bathroom to the middle of the kitchen floor and began to lick himself, no lie he did this for almost 45min straight only stopping long enough to shoot me an evil look. At this point you might think the story is over and nope, no such luck, buahhahahaha. Later in the evening hubby was cutting somthing and it gave me the bright idea to clip most of the hair from the cats butt so we could avoid having this problem again in the near future. He held the front I worked gingerly in the back to remove the hair from around his butt with scissors. It was quite a sight just ask my mother in law who came in right in the middle of that scene. And my husband wonders why we have a poped water tube with the funniest little slit in it that has pretty much messed up our bed. We now have to get a foam insert for our bed.....and oh ya the poped tube was on MY side of the bed.

Its not even Halloween yet!!!

As we all know Christmas comes earlier every year, and normally I am one of the many people who complain about the Christmas trees showing up in stores before trick or treating even starts. However that being said I do start my Christmas crafting very early especially since most of my crafts are ornaments for my tree. I usually like to use things I already have or recycle things into my ornaments. In years past I have made great use of old Christmas cards when making ornaments mainly because I just couldn't stand having such beautiful images end up in the trash or simply hung from a holder. I will be making a few more closer to the holidays and putting up a tutorial for the two methods I have used in the past. I am also currently working on a garland made from some pesky vines growing along my fence line. I will most defiantly be posting that tutorial soon! Today however I will be discussing how to make use of rubber stamps for simple Christmas ornaments.

My mother in law used to work for a national thrift store chain that also dabbled in charity work, (I am not mentioning the name because I am not sure of the legal ramifications, also they did my mother in law wrong so I simply don't like the company). She would always bring me craft supplies that would come in and so I ended up with some beautiful Christmas themed rubber stamps. I decided to make some ornaments to utilize the gorgeous designs on them, and so here is my method to make ornaments.

 First you need to ink up the stamps and press them down on a sturdy piece of card board, (wood could also work well). I used the back of a paper pad but you could also use the cardboard from a case of soda or beer, anything sturdy will work so be creative and use something that might otherwise be thrown away. Once the ink is dry use crayons, colored pencils, paint, or markers to color in the designs.

With the color in place you may want to embellish your design further or leave it as is. Add glitter as I did here or you can add 3 dimensional features like beads or ribbon. Once you have your design exactly to your taste its time to back it with something. I simply used scrapbook paper but scraps of wrapping paper would be wonderful to use as a backing, I just didn't have any at the time. Again use what you have and be creative.

Now it is time to finish your ornament. I like to frame my design, but you could simply leave the design as is and add a hanger. I have used a couple different methods for my ornaments but almost all of them have a mat. I simply made the mats as I would for a picture in a scrap book. I actually made my mats but you can find pre made ones in most craft stores. Its best to add the hanger in this step as to hide the ends in the mat, or you can use a whole punch to create a place to add your hanger. The possibilities are endless really and I used a few different methods.

The pics may be fuzzy but I will be posting more when I actually put up my tree closer to the holidays so you can see the ornaments in action. So there you have it from rubber stamp to pretty tree adornment. So go and try it your self and just remember......be creative, and use things you already have!