Welcome to this weeks Happiness is Homemade Party!

Welcome to our party! This week we have some news to share with you before get to the features and the party. We are sad to say goodbye (for now) to our wonderful friend and most fabulous hosts, Cathy from over at A Peek Into My Paradise. She has made many of us in the blogging world a better blogger with her wisdom but most of all her sweet friendship is a blessing.

Cathy is stepping down not just from a host of this party, but from the blogging world for a bit. Life happens to all of us and for Cathy, it means focusing on family and new chapters in her life. As of Sunday, January 31 she will blog her last post and shortly after that her blog will shut down. She tells me that she’ll definitely miss blogging and all of us but will remain active on her social media venues. So, if you have not yet connected with her, this is the time! I’ve listed her links below. This wasn’t an easy decision for her but it’s one that needed to be made. I consider her the “mama” of the many link parties I have co-hosted or participated in as she is always “there” as a host in some fashion.

Now, that I’ve grabbed my tissue, wiped my eyes, and blew my nose; let’s get going with this week’s features and party! Let’s make this the BEST one yet! Also, I invite you to leave her some love on her site, or on any of her social media links (even in the comments below, she’ll see them!)

This Week’s Features

How to Make a Supreme Snack Stadium from

Savvy in the Kitchen

Great Food for the Big Game from

Love My Messy Messy Mess

Raspberry Cupcakes with Italian Meringue Buttercream from

Alwayz Bakin’

Valentine’s Day Oreo Cookie Bark Recipe from

The Rebel Chick

MEET YOUR HOSTS

Cathy’s Social Media Links:

Twitter Facebook Instagram Pinterest Google+

Now, that’s enough talking!

Let’s get this party started!!!

Click to Tweet and tell others about Happiness is Homemade Link Party!

The rules are really simple! Make sure you visit a few other blogs and make some new friends along the way. Feel free to link up your favorite recipes, crafts or your latest DIY project. We want you you share it all! As always, please make sure to follow your hosts and co-hosts!! Link up your posts, make some friends, and earn the chance to be featured at Happiness Is Homemade Link Party! We will feature the favorite posts each week! Disclaimer: Adding your link to this link party gives permission to all 12 Hosts, along with any co-hosts, guest hosts, and participants of Happiness Is Homemade, to share your posts and pictures via social media and as features, roundups, etc. with an explicit link back to your original source. Therefore, linking up you agree to allow us to use your images on each of our blogs in features relating to Happiness is Homemade Link Party.

An InLinkz Link-up

0 Comments

Welcome to the Happiness is Homemade Linky Party!

Hello again, savvy savers! This week flew by in my house and I am really not sure if that’s good or bad! One thing is for sure – there is not a short list of great recipes, DIY, crafts, and tips on last week’s Happiness is Homemade! We loved them all.

If you’re in the path of this nasty winter storm, stay safe and warm. Cozy up with a hot cup of tea or coffee while you browse our Link Party and check out what everyone has been up to.

After you’ve linked your latest and greatest posts, please remember to check out all of the Hosts and their blogs and give them some love.

This Week’s Features

Honey Sriracha Chicken Zoodle Bowls from

Almost Supermom

Apple Pie Cookies from

Shibley Smiles

10 Valentine Ideas From Around the Net from

Marilyn’s Treats

10 Creative Valentine’s Day Boxes from

Mom on the Side

MEET YOUR HOSTS

Now, that’s enough talking!

Let’s get this party started!!!

Click to Tweet and tell others about Happiness is Homemade Link Party!

An InLinkz Link-up

2 Comments

Welcome to the Happiness is Homemade Linky Party!

Can you believe January is half over? I could use a few extra days to keep organizing my house. I’ve been de-cluttering my kitchen which is nearly as hard as cleaning out the craft closet. That ONE item you NEVER use but MAY – do you keep it? Or donate it?

The struggle is real.

Then there is our Happiness is Homemade Link Party – So many delicious recipes, creative crafts, fabulous DIY projects and amazing tips – all in one place yet HOW do you decide on JUST four to feature!! This first party of the year was amazing and I’ve had such fun looking at all of the Hosts’ blogs and all of the posts linked up.

In case you missed it, we’ve expanded our party to include 9 amazing bloggers to share in the duties of host of Happiness is Homemade (that’s 12 blogs your post will appear on). We couldn’t be happier to have them with us.

So get your “clicking” finger ready and link up, browse, pin, drool, and dream with us!!

Remember to check out all of the Hosts and their blogs and give them a warm welcome.

Then link up your best posts and remember to check out the other links and give them some love, too.

This Week’s Features

Pasta Fagioli with Fresh Pesto from

Ramblings of a (Bad) Domestic Goddess

Taylor-Made KitchenAid Sandwich Bread from

Taylor-Made Homestead

DIY Curtain Rod Makeover Using Drawer Pulls from

The Painted Hinge

Free 2016 Meal Planner Printables from

Simply Stacie

MEET YOUR NEW HOSTS

Row One:

Cathy from A Peek Into My Paradise

Brittany from Mommy on Demand

Lisa from Blogghetti

Row Two:

Michelle from The Painted Hinge

Anne from Upstate Ramblings

Krista from While He Was Napping

Row Three:

Sinea from Ducks ‘n a Row

Katie from Love My Messy Messy Mess

Linda from A Labour of Life

Row Four:

Nicole from The Lady Prefers 2 Save

Bev from Eclectic Red Barn

Audrey from That Recipe

Now, that’s enough talking!

Let’s get this party started!!!

As always, please make sure to follow your hosts and co-hosts. Link up your posts, make some friends, and earn the chance to be featured at Happiness Is Homemade Link Party! We will feature the favorite posts each week!

Disclaimer: Adding your link to this link party gives permission to all 12 Hosts, along with any co-hosts, guest hosts, and participants of Happiness Is Homemade, to share your posts and pictures via social media and as features, roundups, etc. with an explicit link back to your original source. Therefore, linking up you agree to allow us to use your images on each of our blogs in features relating to Happiness is Homemade Link Party.

An InLinkz Link-up

2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Happiness is Homemade Linky Party!

It’s a brand new year! We hope you had a wonderful holiday and have started the New Year off with a bang.

We’re back with a NEW Happiness is Homemade Link Party and exciting changes! We wanted to expand our party so we have asked 9 of our fabulous past Co-Hosts to become a part of our party as permanent Hosts.

This is going to make our party bigger and better by bringing you more of the best bloggers and their creations to link up with us. Each week your links will appear on 12 blogs!

We’re super excited to have them with us!

Please check out all of the Hosts and their blogs and

welcome them.

Then link up your best posts, remember to check out the other links and give them some love.

2 Comments

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope you and your family are having a blessed and refreshing week of celebrating.

This past week I have enjoyed a lot of family time, a lot of “me” time, a lot of time spend unplugged from blogging, social media, and all the trappings of life. Mind you, having extreme nausea and our entire family simultaneously having the flu has not helped one bit either. While it has been awesome to be offline, know that I’ve missed you all!

Please note, the remainder of this month’s No-Spend December Savings series will continue with an update and new challenge post on December 27th!

Over the next few days, I will be formulating a few more ideas, and in the mean time will be taking more time to sit, read, sip chai, and enjoy the blessings of this season.

Thank you for continuing to be the tremendous blessings your presence has been this past year for my blog, and myself.

Be blessed, safe, sound, and peaceful,

0 Comments

How to Make Holiday-Inspired Fire Starters

Good morning, savvy savers! Continuing with this weeks DIY Holiday Gift Ideas, I wanted to share one of my favorite tips to not only stay debt-free but to add a festive flare around my home for the upcoming holiday season with Homemade fire starters!

I came up with this tip to help my family have a more economical way to start both our fireplace and patio fire pit during chilly nights, or when company way over. Mind you, this project was also born out of a cheapskate moment when it dawned on me that store-bought fire starter logs were over $4.00 per log, and as I like to use our fireplace nearly daily, I could easily spend over $100.00 monthly for this seasonal luxury!

Though the DIY was awesome on its own, the best part for me is that most of the items to make this project should be staples you already have around your home, making this project a perfectly fun, frugal, freebie gift idea this holiday season!

Here’s what you will need to make this DIY project:

Pine cones
Twine
Wax
Newspaper sheet
Used wax (from candles or wax melts)
Aromatics (dried spices or herbs)
16″ x 16″ Decorative Brown Paper Squares
Gloves

Here’s how to make the fire starters:

To start, you’ll need pine cones. Cones that are approximately 4-5″ tall. You can gather pine cones in your yard, the park, or from family and neighbors (with permission). Look for “pretty” pine cones, cones with their seeds emptied and their petals fully opened. Make sure pine cones are cleaned out; you can also bake pine cones on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil for 11 minutes and then cooled for 1 hour, to make sure they are bug-free.

Once your pine cones are gathered, inspected, and clean, set your pine cones on your long strip of wax paper, topped with newspaper, to protect your work surface.

Next, plug-in your plug-in candle warmer, and melt 1 tablespoon of wax (approximately 1 wax melt amount in size) per two pine cones you will be making; melting should take 15-20 minutes. The quickly drizzle your cones with your reconstituted wax. And, with equal measure, sprinkle on your aromatics. I like to use dried rosemary but ground cloves, star anise, and cinnamon work well too.

Then lay your pre-cut twice to the side of your work area. Using gloves, take each pine cone and stuff your pre-cut twine strips into each pine cone. Start 1 inch down the pine cone, wrapping gingerly around the cone, and ending at the base of the cane. Be sure to leave enough twine so that it can be wrapped around the cone and into the wax in the next step.

Now, lightly drizzle more wax around and down the cone, and sprinkle your aromatics around the cone. Be sure to let each one dry for 20 minutes before packaging. Finish your cones by wrapping them individually in your pre-cut 6″ x 16″ Decorative Brown Paper Squares, and tie with a bow using your second twine strip.

So, there you have it! Homemade aromatic fire starters! I make my version for around $0.15 each. Make sure to store these starters in a cool, dry place. I will store them decoratively around my health, in a basket, during the holiday season. Also, consider making a small basket of these cones for a hostess, PTA, Co-Op Groups, or for quick holiday gift ideas this coming season.

I hope this DIY will inspire you to step out into nature and see what other great gift-giving ideas may be waiting for you in your own backyard! Now I want to ask, do you give DIY gifts this time of year? If so, I’d love to hear about your gift-giving ideas below!

0 Comments

December No-Spend Month Challenge Day 16: Cinnamon Stick Candle Tutorial!

Hello again, savvy savers! I hope you are all well rested and ready for a new daily December No-spend Challenge!

Continuing with this weeks DIY gift giving theme, I want to share with you one of my favorite fun, frugal gift ideas, cinnamon stick candles!

So, why cinnamon stick candles? Well, if you are anything like me than you love the scent of a good beeswax candle this time of year. Moreover, what’s more quintessentially Christmas than a home that smells of fresh, spicy, earthy cinnamon?

For me, the smell of fresh ground cinnamon make my home smell so good and feel so very cozy. So, this year several of my friends and family will be receiving cinnamon stick wrapped candles this holiday season.

Here’s How To Make a Cinnamon Stick Candles:

Supplies Needed:

large pillar candle, 6-9 inches in length (mine was 8″ from the Dollar Tree)
bundle of large cinnamon sticks ($0.50 per bag at the Dollar Tree)
burlap ribbon (1.99 per roll at JoAnn Fabrics after 50% coupon; 1 roll makes six candles)
jute twine (3-pack of spools for $1.00 at the Dollar Tree)
scissors
hot glue gun
hot glue sticks

Cost per candle: $2.30

How to make the candle:

To assemble the candle, start by putting a small dab of hot glue on a cinnamon stick and place each stick on the candle; if using smaller sticks you will need to have two rolls of sticks, or a single layer for taller sticks on the candle.
Please note, the hot glue is not a permanent adhesive, its just going to hold the cinnamon stick to the candle temporarily so that you can adhere the embellishment to the candle itself. Once the candle is burning, the hot glue will melt. I recommend using a high temp hot glue gun for this project, and giving a glass candle dish (also available at the Dollar Tree for $0.50 each) as well.
Continue gluing the cinnamon sticks to the candle; they will vary in height and width.
Please note, one package of cinnamon sticks went around my 4″ diameter candle, but depending on your cinnamon sticks and your candle’s diameter, you may need a second bundle.
Next, cut a strip of burlap to 1.5″ wide by 12″ long, and hot glue the burlap in place so that it holds cinnamon sticks together tightly.
If you like a fringed edge to your ribbon pull one strand out of each end of the ribbon before gluing to the candle; you can also remove a center strand of burlap is you need help in creating a straight edge line to cut your ribbon too!
If you want to add any embellishments to your candle, now is the time to do so.
After all embellishments have been added, glue a strand of cut jute to tie around your candle.

And that’s it! This is such a fun, frugal gift and can easily be mailed too! The neatest part about this project is that most of the materials you may already have on hand. So, today I challenge you to see what you may have on hand in your pantry, craft room, and art stash to turn into affordable holiday gifts!

Here’s to saving,

0 Comments

Older Posts

Newer Posts

Nicole

This Week’s Features

MEET YOUR HOSTS

Cathy’s Social Media Links:

Now, that’s enough talking!

Let’s get this party started!!!

Click to Tweet and tell others about Happiness is Homemade Link Party!

This Week’s Features

MEET YOUR HOSTS

Now, that’s enough talking!

Let’s get this party started!!!

Click to Tweet and tell others about Happiness is Homemade Link Party!

This Week’s Features

MEET YOUR NEW HOSTS

Row One:

Cathy from A Peek Into My Paradise

Brittany from Mommy on Demand

Lisa from Blogghetti

Row Two:

Michelle from The Painted Hinge

Anne from Upstate Ramblings

Krista from While He Was Napping

Row Three:

Sinea from Ducks ‘n a Row

Katie from Love My Messy Messy Mess

Linda from A Labour of Life

Row Four:

Nicole from The Lady Prefers 2 Save

Bev from Eclectic Red Barn

Audrey from That Recipe

Now, that’s enough talking!

Let’s get this party started!!!

search