Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Thrifty Peach Blog Hop #11



Hi all,

   Just Peachy in Dixie and the wonderfully whitty "Thrifty Crafty Girl"  have combined our two blog names to create....














  We will be hosting this blog hop every Tuesday. We welcome all family friendly links.  We would love to hear about your homemaking tips, frugal living ideas, crafts of any genre, recipes, homeschooling or encouraging inspiration.   The rules are simple, follow the two host blogs, "Just Peachy in Dixie" and "Thrifty Crafty Girl" in spots one and two through GFC.  We would love it if you could put our button either somewhere on your sidebar, the post you are linking, or your blog hop page to help spread the word.  Then link as many posts as you would like.


Link up below, and I hope you all have a blessed day!

Happy Hopping!

Jennifer



Sunday, October 30, 2011

My Fall Kitchen Table 2011








Hi all,
  Well, here's my fall kitchen table decorations.  The tall basket stays on our table all year round.  It normally has ivy in it.  For this  time of year I just put in some fall foliage that I picked up at Michaels last year for 50% off. :)  I picked up the runner at our local Dollar General two years ago.  It is so colorful and vibrant,  you should really go check out the Dollar General in your area. You won't believe the cute holiday decor you can find there!














The little scarecrow was picked up at Big Lots about 7 years ago for a dollar I think.  Added a great smelling red candle in a beautiful glass jar.



















 The bronze leaf pedestal bowl was a great outdoor market find.  I just fill it with some leaf garland and faux gourds and jeweled fruit.  I took some of the remaining leaf garland and wrapped  it around the bottom of the bowl for color.













  This cute little terracotta bunny also stays on the table all year.  For the fall decor, I just gave her a cute little bow (left over from that purple ribbon I mention in my front door post) and added a sprig of the fall berries in the center.   Doesn't she look cute?


How are you decorating this fall?  I can't wait to start decorating for Christmas!!


Happy Decorating!
Jennifer

Saturday, October 29, 2011

My Fall Front Door Picture for 2011

Hi all,
  I've had my front door decorated now for almost a month, and I'm just getting around to posting the pictures.  Better late than never! :)  I usually stick with a more fall theme then the Halloween theme.  That way I can keep it up until Thanksgiving.  Well, up until the weekend before Thanksgiving, which is when I normally decorate the outside for Christmas.

  After Halloween, the jack-o-lantern will be replaced with a mum.  The small pumpkin on the mini bale of hay is faux.  We got it a Michaels a couple of years ago.  My daughter painted a ghost on one side, a happy jack-o-lantern face, and a girl jack-o-lantern.  She just turns them around when she sees fit. :)

  I finished off the look with a spotlight so that the whole display can be seen at night.








  My front door needed something, and I didn't have a nice colorful fall wreath.  So my thrifty decorating wheels starting turning in my brain.....I had two of those cinnamon brooms, that no longer smelled of cinnamon, some leaf garland, and some purple checked wire ribbon that I got on sale at Dollar General last year for $.25.  I just criss crossed the brooms, wired them, wrapped the leaf garland around and secured with wire.  Then tied a bow with the purple ribbon and well-ahhh!  A nice colorful fall door arrangement!  I was quite pleased.



 The bale of hay was lacking something, so I put a cornucopia at the scarecrow's feet.  I stuffed a small yellow towel in the bottom and filled the top with leaves that fell from the garland, and some faux fruit.  I think it filled in that space nicely.  If you look at the bottom of this picture, you can see the girl jack-o-lantern my daughter painted.....green eye shadow and all. :)



I hope you all have been enjoying your fall so far!

Happy Decorating!
Jennifer

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Save Your Wallet While Helping Save The Earth Tip #1

Hi all!
  I haven't been posting very often lately.  Been waiting for some inspiration.  I've got some great posts planned and hope you will be sure to come back to see what I've come up with. :)

  While we are definitely not the greenest family....I have been trying to slowly find ways to help reduce our carbon footprint.  In doing so, I have found that I am also increasing the green in our wallet.  Woo Hoo!!  In discovering this revelation, it has inspired some great ideas for blog posts.  Yipee!  This is just a win, win, win situation! :)

Hence was born...."Save Your Wallet While Helping Save The Earth" tips.  For those of you who are super green heroes, bare with me and don't laugh to hard at this newbie, as we are just easing our way in.  For those of you who are new to this whole idea, wait until you see the discoveries I've made! ;)

Save Your Wallet While Helping Save The Earth Tip #1:

Recycling!  Duh! Duh! Duuuuuuhhhh!  (Insert low piano key tune here!)  Don't worry...great tips coming up here:

 Our garbage pick up service did not offer recyling, so for years everything has been tossed in the garbage. I mean who has time to:
1)Buy containers to sort, then
2)Find space for all the containers
3)Actually sort them, and finally
4)Make a trip to the recycle center, that is not convenient?

Not me!  I found a solution!  Another trash service left an advertisement on our mailbox.  I called, they offer recycling AND were a couple dollars cheaper per quarter. Save Your Wallet part 1.  Hurray!!!  No brainer there.  I just switched services and well ah....

Nice big recycling can!

  No sorting, just rinse, and all the newspapers (ahem...couponers, myself included!!), junk mail, cardboard (cereal boxes), plastic, and cans (not just soda, but veggie too!)  I was SHOCKED at how fast that recycle can filled up!  I am utterly embarrassed and ashamed to think of all the things that we have just tossed that could have been recycled.  Lesson learned, so I guess that's the whole point.  

  Now onto the Save Your Wallet part 2....I'm not using as many garbage bags.  We all no how expensive those can be!  Not to mention, less bags in the landfill.  Yes, I know there are biodegradable bags, and that I can buy products with less waste...baby steps here! ;)  

  So call around, see if other garbage services offer recycling in your area.  If they are not cheaper or the same price, don't be afraid to ask if they will match your current service price.  If you have no luck, then maybe you could just recycle a little at a time, by filling up your plastic grocery bags and taking them back to the grocery store.  I've noticed most of them have recycle bins there.  You know you are in that store at least twice a week! ;)  Even that small baby step will make a difference in how often you have to buy more garbage bags.  

I hope you found this post helpful and will check back for more posts on how to, "Save Your Wallet While Helping Save The Earth."

If you have tips or a blog post on this subject to share (especially for those who don't have a garbage pick up that offers recycling), please share in the comments.  I'd love to hear ways to improve. 

Happy Recycling!
Jennifer

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Thrifty Peach Blog Hop #10


Hi all,

   Just Peachy in Dixie and the wonderfully whitty "Thrifty Crafty Girl"  have combined our two blog names to create....















  We will be hosting this blog hop every Tuesday. We welcome all family friendly links.  We would love to hear about your homemaking tips, frugal living ideas, crafts of any genre, recipes, homeschooling or encouraging inspiration.   The rules are simple, follow the two host blogs, "Just Peachy in Dixie" and "Thrifty Crafty Girl" in spots one and two through GFC.  We would love it if you could put our button either somewhere on your sidebar, the post you are linking, or your blog hop page to help spread the word.  Then link as many posts as you would like.  


Link up below, and I hope you all have a blessed day!

Happy Hopping!
Jennifer

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