Holidays

Holiday Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Pets

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ToPetsWithLove #CollectiveBias

Our pets are members of our family. If you haven’t met our band of rascally critters here on my blog before, let me introduce you: Roxie the West Highland White Terrier, Sassy the Shih-Tzu, Harley the Chihuahua, Shadow, our beautiful Bombay, and Boo Radley, an American Shorthair cat.

While we consider our motley crew of furry friends family, I think we love them all the more because each came into our lives as adopted pets, and as the old saying goes, who rescued who? I also like to think that our pets love us equally in return, and not just for the copious amounts of table scraps my family sneakily gives them during meals!

With the holiday season soon upon us, I wanted to make sure that we included our furry friends in this year’s Christmas festivities, and what does any full-fledged member of the family receive each holiday season? Well, a stocking, of course!

Each year I make sure that our pets have nice stockings and stocking stuffers at Christmas. This year I wanted to mix things up a bit and include a few DIY pet toys among the presents they receive.

For our cats, I made a DIY Hanging Cat Scratcher. This scratcher will hang on a doorknob and give my cats a means to harmlessly indulge their natural instinct to flex their claws and scratch. This was a very simple project to make and cost only around five dollars to create, making this a very frugal pet stocking stuffer idea.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

12″ section of 2″ x 4″
50′ package of sisal rope
Wood glue (not in photo)
Non-Toxic Kids Trim Paint
Paint Brush
Drill
Ribbon (optional)

To begin, make sure your board is smooth to the touch. Sand if needed. You will then need to pre-drill two holes so your scratcher can be hung. Measure out and drill 1 inch down and 2 inches apart from both the top and bottom of your board. After drilling, wipe away any dust or shavings left over with a clean cloth. You’ll now need to paint the top and bottom four inches of your board on both sides. Allow the paint to dry for 24-hours before moving on to the next step.

To create your scratcher, start two inches from the end of your board and spiral the sisal rope around the bottom of the board, gluing it in place as you go. Remember, wood glue takes a while to dry. Go slow in the beginning and gauge your work accordingly. Allow your board to dry for a full 24-hours.

Now you will need to cut a 1-foot section of rope for your handle. To make a loop, simply lace the two ends of the rope through the back side of your board and tying a knot on each side of the sisal.

Your scratcher is now ready to be hung and enjoyed. If giving this scratcher as a gift consider adding a ribbon bow to the finished project. This will make your scratcher a bit more festive.

Now for my canine companions, I created DIY Doggy Doughnut sock toys! This is another quick and inexpensive project to make as they can be made from mismatched socks or from festive holiday socks. Either way, they’re awesome!

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

1 Pairs of Holiday Themed Socks, per doughnut
1 Pair of thick socks, per doughnut
Needle & Thread
Ribbon (optional)
Scissors

To begin, cut off the toe from all your socks. You want to have openings at both ends of your socks. Once your socks are cut lay them in lines and turn them inside out. Then place your holiday socks inside of the plain socks.

To form your donuts start by rolling the plain sock inward towards itself until you form a ring. To prevent your doughnuts from unrolling, take a needle and thread and quick stitch around the hem of the underside of the sock roll. If you have a dog that isn’t an aggressive chewer, you can skip this step altogether. To finish off your doughnuts, simply stack them up and tie them together with bakers twine or ribbon!

Once my DIY’s were done it was time to assemble my stockings. This year I decided to create two separate stockings, one for our cats and another for our dogs.

The stockings were repurposed and embellished with DIY crocheted bands, bows, and glittered star ornaments.

Now for the fun stuff! I also included lots of fun and frugal treats for my pets. Here’s everything our cats and dogs will be receiving this in their stockings:

Beggin’ Strips
Busy Bones
Chewnola Busy Bones
Purina DentaLife Sticks
Fancy Feast Purely Trays
Friskies Party Mix
Whisker Lickin’s
Rope toys
Cat Wand
Stuffing-less dog toy
Squeaker mouse

To finish everything up, I stuffed my stockings and hung them up for safe keeping on my vintage wooden ladder. This way I’m hoping to be able to keep all of these awesome treats safe in their stockings until Christmas!

Just like with my stocking stuffers, I also give my dogs the best food I can each day. I give them Beneful IncrediBites dry dog food because it has been reformulated to feature meat as it’s #1 ingredient and without any added sugar. I love that this newly reformulated recipe was created directly from the feedback of real pet owners, like myself, who demand wholesome, antioxidant-rich ingredients for their own furry family members.

As a pet owner, it’s important for me to provide my pets with foods and treats that are as tasty as they are good for them.

As you can see, Shadow and Boo really enjoy their Fancy Feast Purely cat food trays, which features real seafood, chicken, or beef, without any by-products or fillers, and the yummy Whisker Lickin’s Soft & Delicious treats.

Roxie, on the other hand, loves her Busy Chewnola Dog Treats, which provide her with a long-lasting chewy treat that’ll keep her both busy and happy this holiday season, and maybe even out the Christmas tree this year! As for Harley, he’s always game for a Beggin’ Strip, as they smell and taste like bacon because they’re made with real bacon!

Since all of my pets really enjoy eating these awesome, affordable Purina products, I made sure that I keep extra Purina treats on hand for them to enjoy for the entirety of the holiday season too!

What’s even better? When picking up everything I needed to fill my pets holiday stockings this year, I didn’t have to go out of the way as your local Kroger store is always full of all of your pet’s favorite food, treats, and toys.

From the newest Fancy Feast Purely formulations to delicious Purina DentaLife treats, you can stock up on everything your pet needs this holiday season right on the pet aisle in-store, making shopping at your neighborhood Kroger an easy way to show your pets how much you care. Even during the hectic hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

Did you know that you can help spread the holiday cheer to your furry friends with the help of Purina? Now through the end of November, take advantage of great savings on your favorite Purina pet products available at Kroger with this Coupons.com link, while supplies last.

Well, friends, I hope these tutorials gave you a few ideas for creating your own pet stockings this holiday season. Also, be sure to be sure to click here for more #ToPetsWithLove pet gift giving ideas as well!

Just remember that when it comes to buying treats to fill those stockings, by choosing quality Purina products you’ll have all your pet’s nutritional and play needs to be met. After all, they’re family and family deserves the best!

So from our furry family to yours, we wish you have a wonderful holiday season filled with lots of love and delicious pet treats from Kroger!

Please note, the above statements cannot be taken as professional veterinary advice. Please consult your veterinarian for recommendations and practices appropriate for your pet.

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10 Freezer Meals to Give as Holiday Gifts

Believe it or not, home cooked freezer meals make for a fun and frugal holiday gifts for nearly everyone on your list. Gifting freezer meals shouldn’t be given only to new parents, new neighbors, and the bereaved. Truly anyone would enjoy a homemade meal prepared with love. Especially from you.

While I once associated the holiday season as a time to buy and receive gifts, generally believing that receiving goods from my own holiday wish list would make me happier. In reality, my life was already cluttered with a myriad of unnecessary things. What I truly needed in my life wasn’t anything material, but simply the love and friendship of family and friends during the holiday season.

This was especially true several years ago when our neighbors, out the blue, gifted us a smoked ribs and trimmings dinner. Our neighbors wanted to bless our family. They just wanted to be good neighbors.

It was through that crazy, brave, generous act of kindness that leads me to rethink my views on my own holiday gift-giving habits and the overall mass consumerism of the modern holiday season.

Did I also mention how awesome those ribs were? Every last part of that meal was savory and delicious. Even more important was the break it gave me that night. Not only was it nourishment for our bodies, but it was solace for my soul. And my holiday budget, too. That meal was given during a time when my family had first started working our way out of debt, so being blessed with a meal meant we would have more resources and ingredients to allocate back into our menu plan in the days and weeks ahead.

That meal also inspired me to come up with ways that I could pass my neighbor’s act of kindness onto others. While I was not really into the idea of cooking and delivering hot meals to friends and family for all of December, I did enjoy the thought of giving others freezer meals that they could prepare on their own schedule during the holiday season. So the idea of gift giving freezer ready meals was born!

For me, freezer cooking was a great way to save time, economize, and give the gift of great eats to those on my gift list all in one fell swoop.

It also goes without saying that you need to put the same amount of love into giftable freezer meals as you would any other gift. Consider buying inexpensive reusable dishes for your meals. Or consider gifting mason jars of soup. To do this, simply fill quart mason jars with soup up to the fill line (the etched glass line under the ring of the jar), freeze your jars until set, and then add rings, seals, fabric, and decorations as needed!

When it comes to gifting freezer meals make sure that dinner isn’t the only meal you consider. Quick, healthy breakfasts and lunches are invaluable to anyone who works a busy job or odd hours. Also, should you meal pair perfectly with bread or salad on the side, be sure to include that into your gift as well.

Moreover, never underestimate the comforting power of a good dessert. Is there anything more loving than a plate of warm banana nut muffins or chocolate cake? Consider making large batches of a favorite holiday cookie, cake, or dessert for those on your list this year!

Be sure to also remember that presentation matters. People taste their food first with their eyes! Tie a bow on each package. Add parchment paper and striped bakers twine to a jar. Consider putting food together in a small wooden crate, lined with a festive napkin, and coordinate it all together with a bow.

Now if you are ready to try your hand at giving a few freezer ready meals this holiday season here are a few recipe ideas (including some serious throwbacks from my early days of blogging) to get you started:

Crock Pot Pork Loin with Cranberries recipe

Cinco de Mayo Chicken Mole

Harvest Crockpot Apple Butter

Ms. Carol’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

Freezer Cooking Baked Spaghetti, Lasagna Roll-Ups, and Chicken Parmesan

Blueberry Freezer Jam

Blueberry Butter Pecan Pancakes

So savvy savers, remember that when you give the gift of holiday freezer meals what you are really gifting others is time, comfort, good health, nourishment, and a moment of a much-needed break from the stressors of life.

More importantly, you are giving the gift of love. A freeze-it-forward kind of movement, if you will. And that’s always something worth sharing.

Now it is your turn! Are planning to gift a meal? How do you do it and what tips have you learned that you might be able to share with others? Please share them in the comments below.

Here’s to the holidays,

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Date Night In Couples Photo Shoot

As a couple, my husband and I love taking photos. Our photos of our first holiday together in New Orleans. Our wedding photos. The pictures of our babies. We love the pictures we have of our family. Pictures are part of our love language to one another. Photography gives us an expressive, personal, frugal way of documenting those big moments in our lives. The moments that bring life to our days, and sometimes, simply take our breath away.

But here’s the thing, photography should be more than a chronicling the big stages of our family’s journey together. Life is made of lots of tiny moments, of laughs and kisses, of that lasting, tender, forever love and the daily deepening of romance that comes with living with your best friend. As a couple, you grow and change. You learn to love the profoundness to your relationship. The partnership that easily gets overshadowed by life as a family.

One way my husband and I keep the embers of romance glowing is by creating silly, seasonal couples date-night-in photo shoots. A Thursdate, if you will. This is not the traditional itchy, tacky, crazy Christmas-sweaters kind of shoot. This is a time for just he and I. For you and yours. And our latest shoot? Thanksgiving theme shoot!

To prepare for the shoot I simply headed over to Pinterest to download one of the many free Thanksgiving-themed photo props kit available for download.

To assemble the props, I cut out all the shapes and secured the cut outs to seasonally colored paper straws, which acted as handles for the props.

I then spruced up out front porch for later that evening. And we were all set!

The shoot took only minutes and we had a ball! We finished the evening by having a great meal and having a Netflix night in. We plan to use the photos as part of digital cards to send friends and family out of state, and abroad, later this month as well.

The best part? We plan to use the photos as part of digital cards to send friends and family out of state, and abroad, later this month as well. Making this Thursdate both frugal and practical.

Now if you would like to throw your own Thursdate photo shoot, here are few tips:

1) Reflect and Relax: Before your shoot, take some time to relax and prepare your mind for time together as a couple. This will be a time for you both to connect with one another and to take pictures of who you really are together. Just you together. No kids, no elaborate parties, no stressful preparations.

2) Block your time: You will want your photo shoot to be as stress-free as possible, so carve out a simple 30-minute session to film. While you may be in the midst of crazy holiday preparation and season, remember you are carving this period of time for quiet, reflective romance. And who doesn’t want a small, extraordinary romantic escape in the middle of ordinary life? I know we do.

3) Seek Simplicity: This couples shot is not about the artistic, thoughtful photography of your wedding day. This is about being silly and sappy. Pick and theme and keep it simple.

4) Set the Mood: During your shoot, don’t forget to set the mood and tone of your shoot with music that goes well with your proposed theme.

5) Have fun: Remeber to have fun first. If the shoot feels stressful it’s not going to produce great results.

6) Dress the Part: I suggest you take the time to dress up for your pictures. If you are going out on a date, then you are likely already going to be dressed up, but if you’re not going out, then get dressed up anyways. You will be much happier with the final pics if you have taken the time to look nice. If you are going for a casual, themed shoot as we did, they aim for neutral, seasonal pieces to wear.

7) Lighting: Natural light is best. Try to schedule your shoot during the times of day most conducive to utilizing the natural light in your area, and if you can’t go outside, open all of your blinds to let in as much light as possible. That being said, you’ll want to do you photos during the day.

8) Poses: This can be by far the hardest part of any photo shoot- knowing how to pose. I always feel like a klutz when it comes to posing for pictures. To remedy this, Daniel put on some music for me to dance around to, which lightened the mood and made the shoot progress nicely. Also, remember to also take turns taking shots of one another as well as a few seasonal selfies. These make for great keepsakes as well.

9) Props: Like with our shoot, it can be nice to have some props in your picture. If you need frugal ideas, Pinterest is likely your best bet.

10) Backgrounds: Backgrounds are key to a photo shoot. Even low-key affairs. Be sure to look around your house, outside, or neighborhood for great backgrounds. If you live in a major city, tall brick buildings make for wonderful photo backdrops. Country lanes and trees do as well!

So that’s it folks, my ideas for hosting your own Thursdate photo shoot! Hopefully, you will have as much fun with this free date night idea as we did this week. I encourage you all to try and create your own date night photo shoot as well. If you do snap a few awesome shots, I’d love for you to tag me online with the hashtag #nospendnovember16 so I can see them too! And if you have any tips for date night photo shoots, I’d love for you to let me know below!

Here’s to date-nights-in,

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Follow Us This No Spend November

Just in case you haven’t darkened the doors of the mall, patronized a retail store, turned on the radio, or browsed your inbox as of late, let me gently bring you up to speed- it’s nearly that time of year when everyone on Earth wants your hard earned money!

Even as a blogger, who admittedly make a partial living off of affiliate deals and sponsored posts, I still feel the stress of simply uttering the phrase, holiday. I mean just in case, others may not know, posting deals for others online can be stressful too!

My personal remedy? This month I’m giving myself the permission and grace to take a financial break by way of a No-Spend November.

While many folks are already planning their entry and exit plan strategies for Black Friday shopping chaos, I have decided to take a break from the traditional madness that November entails and take an intentional spending break.

And I feel I may not be alone. For most, the holiday season can be a killer for most people’s budgets. However, November is also the month that many people celebrate a holiday centered around appreciating what you already have. That makes November perfect for a spending freeze.

Why a holiday? Holiday season’s in years past have been a killer for most people’s budgets, mine included. Even years where I have been very careful with our family holiday budget things have always seemed to go awry. And where does the madness generally begin, you may ask? You guessed it, November.

In my opinion, from overspending on Black Friday, to having to purchase the biggest gobbler of them all, far too much money is spent in November. November spending starts the spiraling of conspicuous consumption that leads many people to tons and tons of crazy, unnecessary credit card bills come the new year.

Luckily, there is a saving grace to this narrative. While November can be one of the most expensive months of the year, it is also the month that many people celebrate a holiday centered around appreciating what you already have. A time for gratitude. A period of rest and reflection. A season where minimal living is frankly, en vogue. Which is what makes November perfect for a spending freeze.

This No-Spend November, like with any personal budget challenge, is super simple in that you can design the rules for yourself, deciding what you want to accomplish during your personal spending hiatus. Want to wait until December to start shopping for gifts? That’s great. Maybe you want to simply ban all impulse Amazon purchases for the next few weeks in preparation for Cyber Monday. That’s totally doable too! Generally, any spending freeze will give you time to take to pen and paper and drastically narrow down which sales and “deals” will be truly worth your time, energy, and income.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with spending money during this time of the year. I am in no way trying to guilt others into shying away from purchasing awesome things for their friends and family. I am however suggesting that if you want to proactively protect your holiday budget at a time when it’s most vulnerable, scheduling a period of downtime while you create holiday spending ground rules for what you’ll actually be spending is key.

Each day in November I will be posting ways to fine tune your holiday budgets, create affordable DIY projects, simple, natural spa products you can make at home, free date night ideas, ways to have a more minimal holiday at this season, and ways to better cultivate an attitude of gratitude at home. I’ll also be posting to my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds with additional tips, recipes, and resources as well, and if you are following along, I’d love for you to use the hashtag #nospendnovember16 so I see your posts and help encourage you on this month as well!

So whether you are seeing this post on November 1st or later in the month, please note you can create a spending freeze at any time. It’s Never Too Late to Participate in “No Spend November.”

There’s always time to save a few extra dollars!

Here’s to November,

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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,

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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!

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DIY Halloween Lamp Shade Silhouettes!

Hello again, spooktacular savers! To end my posts today I wanted to share a fun craft the family and I make yearly at Halloween. Today’s post features my favorite Halloween Lamp Shade Silhouettes! This year I chose bats. Call it a preference, perhaps its that Periscope new bat heart inundation, but to me they seemed the cutest. Mind you, any shape can be used. My family loves the silhouettes, and the best part? Aside from ink, paper, tape, and time this project is free!

To begin I used:

A Standard lamp shade
3/4″ Scotch Double Sided Transaprent Tape
Scissors
40 watt light bulb
Bat Silhouette print outs; I used bats from First Palette!

To make this shade project:

Print out silhouettes; I used 16 for my medium sized shade.
Remove, dust, and clean your lamp shade and finial.
Take an inch piece of tape, doubled over, and placed on the front of the bats.
Place the bats, silhouette side facing out, on the inside of the shade.
The tape will extend the bat slightly above the shade, creating a more 3-D look.
Replace existing light bulbs with 40 watt bulbs, to ensure safety.
Replace your lampshade and finial.
Turn your lamp on, and voila… Halloween pizzazz on a dime!

I always love the look of these bats, and after Halloween, I save the bats in the inside of a folding manila envelope, store on the bottom of my Halloween decor storage bins, for use next year. The bats make an awesome backdrop for reading holiday stories the week before Halloween too!

So, if you all have any other battastic Halloween ideas, I’d love to hear about them!

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ToPetsWithLove #CollectiveBias

Please note, the above statements cannot be taken as professional veterinary advice. Please consult your veterinarian for recommendations and practices appropriate for your pet.

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